Flynn told Mueller people tied to Trump and Congress tried to obstruct probe  —  The communications could have affected “his willingness to cooperate,” special counsel Robert Mueller wrote in court filings.  —  Former national security adviser Michael Flynn told investigators that people linked …

Post-Roe America Won't Be Like Pre-Roe America.  It Will Be Worse.  —  The new abortion bans are harsher than the old ones.  —  This week, Alabama's governor signed legislation banning most abortions without exceptions for rape or incest, with sentences of up to 99 years in prison for abortion providers.

Trump Tells Pentagon Chief He Does Not Want War With Iran  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump has told his acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, that he does not want to go to war with Iran, according to several administration officials, in a message to his hawkish aides …

Barr: Review of Origins of FBI's Trump-Russia Probe Could Lead to Rule Changes  —  ‘Government power was used to spy on American citizens,’ Barr says  —  SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador—Attorney General William Barr said his review of the origins of the Russia investigation is focused …

Frustrated House Democrats Pin Their Hopes on Mueller  —  WASHINGTON — House Democrats, frustrated by President Trump's efforts to stonewall their investigations and eager to stoke public anger about the president's behavior, are pinning their diminishing hopes on Robert S. Mueller III.

Ukraine Prosecutor Says No Evidence of Wrongdoing by Bidens  — Hunter Biden, Burisma not targets, despite Giuliani's pleas  — Long-running investigation said to focus on another Ukrainian  —  Ukraine's prosecutor general said in an interview that he had no evidence of wrongdoing …

Trump reports making at least $434 million in 2018  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump made at least $434 million in 2018, according to his annual financial disclosure released Thursday by the White House.  —  That includes $40.8 million from his Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, just blocks from the White House.

Donald Trump trip to Ireland in doubt amid venue disagreement  —  White House indicates US president may visit Scotland after questions raised over Doonbeg use  —  Disagreement over the location of a possible meeting between US president Donald Trump and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has thrown …

Republicans' Messaging on Abortion Puts Democrats on the Defensive  —  WASHINGTON — With grisly claims that Democrats promote “birth day abortions” and are “the party of death,” the Republican Party and its conservative allies have aggressively reset the terms of one of the country's …

I.M. Pei, Master Architect Whose Buildings Dazzled the World, Dies at 102  —  I. M. Pei, who began his long career designing buildings for a New York real estate developer and ended it as one of the most revered architects in the world, died early Thursday at his home in Manhattan.  He was 102.

Does he want to work for Trump?  Kiss frontman Gene Simmons goes on tour in D.C. - popping up at the Pentagon and the White House with wife Shannon Tweed - but won't say what he's doing there  — Legendary rocker Gene Simmons, lead singer for the band Kiss, was on a different kind of tour on Thursday …

Steele Identified Russian Dossier Sources, Notes Reveal  — Christopher Steele told a State Department official a former Russian spy chief and a top Kremlin adviser were involved in an operation to collect compromising information on Donald Trump.  — The State Department official's notes …

‘Not a Big Deal,’ Police Commander Said as Eric Garner Died  —  The revelation provoked gasps at the disciplinary hearing for the officer who applied a chokehold to Mr. Garner, who died after exclaiming, “I can't breathe.”  —  A police commander in Staten Island received text messages …

Trump Administration Revokes $929 Million for California High-Speed Rail  —  Transportation Department follows through on threat after state scaled back plans for troubled project  —  The Trump administration carried out its threat to cancel nearly $1 billion in funding …

Flynn Case Update LORDY HE HAD TAPE(s)  —  As many of you may know earlier today I asked Claude to “tease out” the following Flynn Update.  For the record and should you be inclined...  I've written 39+ entries about:  —  Flynn, Flynn Intel Group, Marshall Plan, Mark Lamber, Cohen, EDVA …

Panhandle county that backed Trump among Russian hacking victims  —  TALLAHASSEE — Russian hackers breached a county elections department in the Florida Panhandle where voters turned out heavily for President Donald Trump in 2018, according to a report confirmed by POLITICO.

Reclaiming the Future  —  One day last February, I found myself seated on stage, rather incongruously, between the neoconservative Never Trumper-turned-Resistance hero Bill Kristol and my friend Natasha Lennard, a radical anti-fascist writer and activist I first met at Occupy Wall Street back in 2011.

Mueller Testimony to Congress Stalled by Executive-Privilege Claim  —  Special Counsel Robert Mueller's appearance before a House panel has been stalled partly due to discussions on whether the White House's assertion of executive privilege would limit his testimony, according to people familiar with the matter.

HUD's Ben Carson broke law with furniture order, GAO says  —  Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson broke the law when he failed to report an order for a $31,561 dining room table set for his office as well as the installation of an $8,000 dishwasher in the office kitchen …

The Night The Lights Went Out  —  Or dare I say... given away?  I am the least reliable narrator when it comes to the story of my brain exploding.  This is because, from the time right before I suffered a freakish brain hemorrhage last year to the time I regained full consciousness roughly two weeks later, I remember nothing.

Power Up: Joni Ernst says there's more momentum than ever to tackle military sexual assault  —  Welcome to the weekend.  Well, almost.  Have a good one and see you on Monday.  Thanks for waking up with us 🌞  —  On The Hill  —  A WAY FORWARD: Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) …