Pompeo's elite taxpayer-funded dinners raise new concerns  —  WASHINGTON — As federal workers file out of the State Department at the end of a Washington workday, an elite group is often just arriving in the marbled, flag-lined lobby: Billionaire CEOs, Supreme Court justices …

Trump administration declassifies full Susan Rice email sent on Inauguration Day  —  On the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration, outgoing national security adviser Susan Rice sent herself an email that has since drawn intense scrutiny from Republicans.

A complicated life and conflicting accounts muddle efforts to understand Tara Reade's allegation against Joe Biden  —  New details emerge on Reade's exit from Biden's office  —  (CNN)As Tara Reade was leaving her job at Joe Biden's Senate office in 1993, she told a close colleague …

Pompeo Declined Interview Request From Inspector General About Saudi Arms Sales  —  The secretary of state instead offered written answers.  He was aware of the inquiry and the specific lines of questioning about his decision to resume the sales.  —  WASHINGTON — Secretary …

Why Ronan Farrow Is Indeed Too Good to Be True  —  Editor's Note: After Matt Lauer submitted this piece, a response to Ronan Farrow's book Catch and Kill, Mediaite editors independently fact checked the accounts of the four witnesses/subjects Lauer spoke with and cites in this piece.

Trump allies lining up doctors to prescribe rapid reopening  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican political operatives are recruiting “pro-Trump” doctors to go on television to prescribe reviving the U.S. economy as quickly as possible, without waiting to meet safety benchmarks proposed …

Jane Roe's Deathbed Confession: Anti-Abortion Conversion ‘All an Act’ Paid for by the Christian Right  —  REVEALING  —  The new FX documentary “AKA Jane Roe,” out May 22, contains a shocking revelation: Roe (of “Roe v. Wade” fame) played the part of an anti-abortion crusader in exchange for money.

Is Donald Trump Lying About Taking Hydroxychloroquine?  —  President Donald Trump announced at a White House event on Monday that he has been taking the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine for “a couple of weeks” as a preventive measure against COVID-19.  —  A lot of people don't believe him.

Donald Trump administration open to conditional Israeli annexation, as Palestinians abandon all past agreements  —  Europe, Jordan and other Arab states have rejected the plan  —  The Trump administration is leaning towards a conditional acceptance of Israeli annexation planned in July …

Vaccine experts say Moderna didn't produce data critical to assessing Covid-19 vaccine  —  Heavy hearts soared Monday with news that Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine candidate — the frontrunner in the American market — seemed to be generating an immune response in Phase 1 trial subjects.

Joe Biden calls Donald Trump Jr. ‘sick’ for suggesting he's a pedophile and says Donald Trump is ‘petty’ for not wanting to hang Barack Obama's portrait  — Joe Biden laid into two generations of Trumps Tuesday night while appearing at a virtual town hall hosted by Yahoo News

Federal judge says all Texas voters can apply to vote by mail during pandemic  —  District Judge Fred Biery granted a preliminary injunction that allows all registered voters under 65 to apply to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic after finding the state's existing election rules violate the Equal Protection Clause.

Michael Flynn's lawyers try an end run around federal judge  —  Flynn's lawyers also accused a U.S. District Court judge of bias and asked that the case be reassigned for any future proceedings.  —  Former national security adviser Michael Flynn.  Lawyers for former Trump national security …

Mount Everest is Visible From Kathmandu, Nepal for First Time in Living Memory  —  Last week Mount Everest was visible from Kathmandu for the first time in living memory.  —  Due to the global lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, vehicles are off the roads, and industry has ground to a halt …

Democrats open investigation into Trump's replacement of acting Transportation Department inspector general  —  Three leading House Democrats said Tuesday that they plan to open an investigation into the replacement of the Transportation Department's acting inspector general …

CDC: Arkansas coronavirus outbreak linked to church services  —  35 of the 92 people (38%) who attended services at a rural Arkansas church March 6-11 tested positive for the coronavirus, ultimately killing three, according to a case study released Tuesday by the CDC.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in talks to become Joe Biden's VP pick  —  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has confirmed she is in talks with Joe Biden's campaign to become his running mate, as the race to join his ticket reaching an unseen fever pitch.  —  “I've had a conversation with some folks …

I Spent a Week Down the Right-Wing Media Rabbit Hole—and Was Mesmerized by It  —  BONNE AVENTURE  —  Here's what it's like to spend a full week of COVID-19 quarantine holed up consuming nothing but Fox News, talk radio, conservative websites, and One America News.  —  Isolated.  Detached.

Glenn Greenwald's Invented Claims in Defense of Bill Barr and Mike Flynn  —  Last week, Glenn Greenwald did a podcast defending Bill Barr's efforts to overturn the prosecution of Mike Flynn (here's a transcript; the italicized language below is my correction of that transcript).

Tesla Owners Try to Make Sense of Elon Musk's ‘Red Pill’ Moment  —  A liberal status symbol now has a founder who is moving to the right.  —  Owning a Tesla, the luxurious electric car, is a major liberal status symbol.  It signals nothing more than good taste — the perfect balance of wealth with care for fossil fuels.

EPA staff warned that mileage rollbacks had flaws.  Trump officials ignored them.  —  In its rush to roll back the most significant climate policy enacted by Barack Obama — mileage standards designed to reduce pollution from cars — the Trump administration ignored warnings that its new rule …

Asian American doctors and nurses are fighting racism and the coronavirus  —  Across the country, Asian Americans have reported a sharp increase in verbal abuse and physical attacks  —  Lucy Li tries not to let fear dictate her interactions with patients as she makes the rounds in the covid-19 intensive care unit.

Rand Paul says no-knock warrants ‘should be forbidden’ in wake of Breonna Taylor shooting  —  LOUISVILLE, Ky. — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is speaking out about the controversial shooting of former Louisville EMT Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police during a “no-knock” search warrant that experts have heavily criticized.

Florida's scientist was fired for refusing to ‘manipulate’ COVID-19 data  —  BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - The scientist who created Florida's COVID-19 data portal wasn't just removed from her position on May 5, she was fired on Monday by the Department of Health, she said, for refusing to manipulate data.

States accused of fudging or bungling COVID-19 testing data  —  PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Public health officials in some states are accused of bungling coronavirus infection statistics or even using a little sleight of hand to deliberately make things look better than they are.

Trump is purging the Pentagon of perceived enemies and installing loyalists in their place, critics say  —  President Donald Trump has always prized loyalty in his subordinates, but news about pending personnel moves at the Pentagon could indicate the president is determined to root out perceived enemies within the Defense Department.

Michael Jordan: A history of flight  —  YEARS AGO, AFTER a bad hurricane hit Wilmington, North Carolina, Michael Jordan came back to help the recovery effort.  Jordan doesn't go home very often, but he had some friends with him on that trip and wanted to show them where he'd grown up while they were in town.

Trump Administration to End National Guard COVID Deployments One Day Before GI Bill Benefits Kick In … In 2017, Donald Trump signed something called the “Forever GI Bill” at his company's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.  The law expanded the educational benefits that had been made available under …

Georgia Senate poll: Ossoff leads Dems in Perdue matchup, Loeffler trails Collins  —  A poll released Tuesday shows Jon Ossoff leading other Democrats in a potential head-to-head matchup against U.S. Sen. David Perdue, the latest in a string of surveys that shows a tight race for the seat.