House Backs Off Holding Barr in Contempt in New Resolution  —  WASHINGTON — After weeks of pledging to hold Attorney General William P. Barr and the former White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II in contempt for defying subpoenas, House Democrats appear poised to pursue an alternative path to try to force them into sharing information.

Key figure that Mueller report linked to Russia was a State Department intel source  —  In a key finding of the Mueller report, Ukrainian businessman Konstantin Kilimnik, who worked for Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is tied to Russian intelligence.  —  But hundreds of pages …

Joe Biden reverses course on Hyde abortion amendment  —  ATLANTA (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is reversing course and declaring that he no longer supports a long-standing congressional ban on using federal health care money to pay for abortions.

Poll: Majority Want To Keep Abortion Legal, But They Also Want Restrictions  —  Three-quarters of Americans say they want to keep in place the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade, that made abortion legal in the United States, but a strong majority would like to see restrictions on abortion rights …

Jobs creation slows dramatically with payrolls up just 75,000 in May, much worse than expected  —  KEY POINTS  — March's job count was revised lower from 189,000 to 153,000 and the April number was lowered to 224,000 from 263,000, for a total reduction of 75,000.

Koch network floats backing Democrats in revamp of influence operation  —  The Koch network is shaking up how it tries to influence Washington heading into 2020, starting with plans to spend money to reelect lawmakers from either party who back its issues and are facing primary challenges.

The Racial Reckoning Comes  —  Trump has changed our national narrative.  —  When I was a boy I was taught a certain story about America.  This was the land of opportunity.  Immigrants came to this land and found an open field and a fair chance to pursue their dreams.

House Dems Ready to Investigate Giuliani's Ukraine Shenanigans  —  The president's lawyer says he welcomes the scrutiny and plans to turn it to his advantage.  —  Top congressional Democrats are actively discussing opening a probe into Rudy Giuliani for his overseas political work …

Michael Bloomberg Promises $500 Million to Help End Coal  —  WASHINGTON — Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, will donate $500 million to a new campaign to close every coal-fired power plant in the United States and halt the growth of natural gas, his foundation said Thursday.

US commander says he believes Iran threat still ‘very real’  —  BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran has chosen to “step back and recalculate” after making preparations for an apparent attack against U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf region, but it is too early to conclude the threat is gone, the top commander of American forces in the Mideast said.

Trump's Twists on Confronting Iran Confound Allies in Europe  —  PARIS — President Trump and his aides have sent a dizzying, seemingly conflicting set of messages to Iran in recent weeks, ordering more troops to the Middle East and a carrier to the Arabian Sea as military threats …

Mexico aims to avoid tariffs with potential deal limiting migrants going north, allowing U.S. to deport Central American asylum seekers  —  U.S. and Mexican officials are discussing the outlines of a deal that would dramatically increase Mexico's immigration enforcement efforts and give …

Russia is making its own ‘correct’ version of Chernobyl that will blame AMERICA and the CIA for the nuclear disaster following the unexpected success of the new HBO show  —  Furious at the breakout success of the HBO series Chernobyl, Russia is planning to make its own series portraying …

DC Dyke March Bans Jewish Pride Flag  —  A gay pride parade in Washington, D.C. has been criticized by Jewish and LGBTQ groups for banning Jewish and Israeli symbols from its Friday event.  —  The D.C. Dyke March is designed to include people of diverse races, religions and gender identities …

Republicans Have Become the Except-When-Trump-Does-It Party  —  Before heading off for a break at his Trump-branded golf course in Ireland, President Trump this week attacked the mayor of London as a “stone cold loser,” called an American-born British princess “nasty” and then denied he said it …

Are Voter Opinions on Trump as Stable as They Seem?  —  The great irony of the Trump presidency, one that is built on chaos and drama, is how stable it is.  By that, I mean the stability of opinions of this president.  Despite all of the twists and turns and tweets over the last three years …

Automakers Tell Trump His Pollution Rules Could Mean ‘Untenable’ Instability and Lower Profits  —  WASHINGTON — The world's largest automakers warned President Trump on Thursday that one of his most sweeping deregulatory efforts — his plan to weaken tailpipe pollution standards …

Trump Brings Rare Dose of Stability to a Continent in Flux  —  Though he launched a few barbs at domestic targets, the U.S. president was diplomatic with his European counterparts  —  COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France—At a time of political upheaval across the European Union …

New Files From GOP Operative's Hard Drive Suggest N.C. Republicans Lied in Court to Maintain Racial Gerrymander  —  The latest bombshell from the formerly secret files of the GOP's top gerrymandering guru emerged on Thursday, and it's astounding: Voting rights advocates claim to have evidence …

Two of Fox News' most vitriolic hosts just lost a major advertiser: Bayer  —  The multinational pharmaceutical company Bayer has dropped Tucker Carlson's and Laura Ingraham's Fox News prime-time shows, Judd Legum reported in his Popular Info newsletter.  —  Bayer's departure is a devastating blow …

Trump Supporter Arrested After Allegedly Threatening To Kill Members of Congress  —  Scott Brian Haven of Utah is accused of making over 2,000 phone calls to the U.S. Capitol over a three-year period about Democrats threatening Trump's presidency.  —  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) …

Nearly 1 in 6 D.C. residents ride e-scooters, according to Post-Schar School poll  —  They've been zipping around the District for more than a year, becoming a source of both convenience and consternation.  But their ubiquity raises the question — how many people are using electric scooters, and who are they?

Bill Barr's Dangerous Claims  —  Attorney General William Barr has repeatedly used the word spying to refer to the counterintelligence investigation into Russian contacts with Donald Trump's team in 2016.  Barr's loose use of language risks a panoply of harms, undermining public confidence …

No, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was not misquoted in Nieman Lab  —  There is the word.  And then there is Twitter.  —  An interview with Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg and executive editor Adrienne LaFrance in Nieman Lab about the 162-year-old publication's efforts to include …

Google rewards reputable reporting more than left-wing politics  —  Our statistical study revealed no evidence of ideological bias in the search engine's news tab  —  “Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives”, tweeted Donald Trump in 2018.  “They are controlling what we can & cannot see.”

Catch-45  —  The twisted logic of Trump defenders would make a fine Joseph Heller novel.  —  There are many things you could call the professional Trump apologist: loyal, creative, unrelenting.  Logically consistent?  Not so much.  —  “Congress is too partisan to investigate the president!”