“Obamagate” Is Niche Programming for Trump Superfans  —  Donald Trump will not shut up about Barack Obama—not now, not ever.  On Thursday morning, amid the gravest economic crisis in a century and a deadly pandemic that will have killed more than a hundred thousand Americans by the end of this month …

McConnell says Obama administration ‘did leave behind’ pandemic plan  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday walked back comments made earlier this week, where he said the Obama administration didn't leave behind a “game plan” for a pandemic.

Georgia Senate's Perdue Moves to Lean Republican  —  Both Georgia Senate seats are on the ballot this fall, but the regularly scheduled race where Republican Sen. David Perdue is seeking a second term has been overshadowed by the special election in the state, with appointed …

Michael Flynn's Fired Lawyers Just Filed Court Papers to Reappear in His Case  —  The federal judge overseeing Michael Flynn's criminal prosecution has directed the law firm that Flynn fired to reappear as an interested party in the controversial proceeding.  On Thursday, that firm complied by filing a notice of appearance.

Tara Reade's Dubious Claims and Shifting Stories Show the Limits of #BelieveWomen  —  Last year, a then-56-year-old California woman named Tara Reade publicly accused Joe Biden of sexual assaulting her in 1993.  The issue caused an awkward rift among Democrats, one that has only widened since Biden became …

De Blasio Relies on Aide Who Saw ‘No Proof’ Closures Curb Virus  —  The head of New York City's public hospitals pushed to keep the city open in early March.  Now Mayor de Blasio has put him in charge of contact tracing, deepening a rift with the Health Department.

Reviving the US CDC  —  The Lancet  —  The COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen in the USA with 1  ·3 million cases and an estimated death toll of 80 684 as of May 12.  States that were initially the hardest hit, such as New York and New Jersey, have decelerated the rate …

‘They are angry’: Pandemic and economic collapse slam Trump across Rust Belt  —  The Industrial Midwest was always going to be a battleground in November.  —  The region is now becoming a new front line for Americans' lives and livelihoods as coronavirus hot spots proliferate and jobless rates spiral.

We need to prepare for the possibility of Trump rejecting election results  —  Since 2017, so many events in U.S. politics that were previously unthinkable have come to pass.  Don't believe me?  A few days ago, the president of the United States baselessly accused a cable television host …

Coronavirus Is Making Young People Very Sick.  I Was One of Them.  —  Young, healthy people like me are getting very, very sick from the disease caused by the coronavirus.  —  Ms. Gay is a member of the editorial board.  —  The day before I got sick, I ran three miles, walked 10 more …

A majority of Americans going to work fear exposing their household to the coronavirus  —  Even as most Americans spent the past two months hiding indoors, Damion Campbell has been rushing into retail and grocery stores in Columbia, S.C., each day.  —  The 45-year-old owns …

Coronavirus is now invading Trump counties in the swing states  —  The novel coronavirus continues to shift our political geography.  The latest development: It's now penetrating counties in the battleground states that were carried by President Trump, which raises the possibility …

Top health officials vanish from national TV interviews as White House refocuses messaging  —  New York (CNN Business)The nation's top physicians have stopped appearing on national television for interviews as the White House exerts increased control over communications during the coronavirus pandemic …

Florida man beats Covid, for now  —  Presented by The Mortgage Bankers Association  —  FROM THE NON-FRONTLINES — Good evening, and greetings from Florida, where we feel the need to inform you that it's not a post-apocalyptic hellscape of coronavirus infection and cadavers stacked like cordwood.

Mark Kelly's business subsidies, ties to Chinese tech firm under fire  —  Democratic Senate candidate Mark Kelly has cast himself as a successful astronaut-turned-entrepreneur who has made millions from good investments and generous speaking fees.  —  Republicans are now hitting Kelly …

Law firm hackers double ransom demand, threaten Donald Trump  —  The ransom demand for the secret files of a cyber-attacked lawyer to A-list stars has doubled to $42 million — as the hackers now threaten to reveal “dirty laundry” on President Donald Trump in just a week if they are not paid in full.

Meet the people who can't wait to get back on a cruise ship  —  Amber O'Hara was stuck at sea.  But that didn't ruin her appetite for another cruise.  —  The Golden, Colo., retiree had been aboard the Azamara Pursuit for nearly two weeks when the industry decided to pause operations because of the coronavirus pandemic.

CDC offers brief checklists to guide businesses, schools and others on reopening  —  With hundreds of millions of people still seeking advice on resuming their lives safely, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a scant six pages of recommendations Thursday to guide schools …

U.S. Navy Releases Videos of Unexplained Flying Objects … The incidents in the videos were investigated by a little-known Pentagon program that for years looked into reports of unidentified flying objects, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.

White House preparing executive order requiring certain essential drugs be made in U.S., sources say  — The White House is preparing an executive order which will require certain essential drugs be made in the U.S., sources told CNBC on Thursday.  — One of the sources told CNBC's Kayla Tausche …

ACLU sues Betsy DeVos over new campus sexual assault rules  —  revised federal guidelines on how sexual assault allegations should be handled on college and K-12 campuses is the target of a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, claiming the changes would “inflict significant harm” on victims and “dramatically undermine” their civil rights.

Ex-Green Beret Thought U.S. Supported Failed Venezuela Raid, Family Says  —  Luke Denman's loved ones plead for State Department's help after mission ends in disaster  —  WASHINGTON—Luke Denman, a former Green Beret, was searching for meaning after serving in places including Iraq …

A metrics-obsessed White House struggles to define success on coronavirus  —  President Donald Trump stepped into the Rose Garden for a news conference Monday and stood between two enormous signs that graced the West Wing colonnade.  —  “AMERICA LEADS THE WORLD IN TESTING,” the signs read.

How Brad Parscale Conned Donald Trump  —  What if the Trump campaign's digital operation is a Potemkin Death Star?  —  1. Trump Digital  —  A lot has been written about the Trump campaign's super-sophisticated digital operation.  I am . . . not skeptical, exactly.  But let me say this:

It's Time to Take Biden-Warren Seriously  —  The coronavirus has transformed Joe Biden's campaign, and his search for a running mate.  And it has transformed Elizabeth Warren's chances of being picked for the job.  —  The Massachusetts senator and the former vice president don't have much of a personal relationship.

Postal Services launches review of package delivery fees as Trump influence grows  —  Deputy Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman will leave before new agency head Louis DeJoy takes the helm  —  Weeks before a Republican donor and top White House ally becomes postmaster general …

Battered by upheaval, novelist Yu Lihua told raw stories from a speckled blue desk  —  Years before Yu Lihua was spurned by the English literature department at Taiwan's top university, before she was rejected by English professors at graduate school in Los Angeles, she overheard her mother longing for her to be dead.

Trump to Salena Zito: 'Joe has absolutely no idea what's happening'  —  ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania — President Trump, speaking to the Washington Examiner ahead of an event at a medical supply facility in this key swing state, took aim at Joe Biden's mental faculties, at one point claiming …