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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

A complicated life and conflicting accounts muddle efforts to understand Tara Reade's allegation against Joe Biden  —  Tara Reade: Biden should not be running on character  —  (CNN)As Tara Reade was leaving her job at Joe Biden's Senate office in 1993, she told a close colleague that she believed …

'He's ready to hit the trail': Trump turns GOP lunch into campaign rally  —  President Donald Trump is no longer holding raucous rallies with adulating supporters.  So for now, he's settling for the friendly confines of the Republican Senate.  —  The president's closed-door lunch Tuesday …

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 …

New poll shows Sen. Martha McSally losing ground to Mark Kelly and that's not even the bad news  —  From the Republican uh-oh department: Arizona Sen. Martha McSally is sliding in the polls, dropping four percentage points in a month.  —  McSally now trails Democrat Mark Kelly by 13 points …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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).

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 …

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 …

Wearing a mask can reduce coronavirus transmission by 75%, new study claims  — Experiments by a team in Hong Kong found that the coronavirus' transmission rate via respiratory droplets or airborne particles dropped by as much as 75% when surgical masks were used.

Whitmer order bans ‘nonessential’ plant tours, but Trump's Ford visit still on; automaker will require mask  —  When Ford Motor Co. hosts President Donald Trump on Thursday for a tour of its Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti, the automaker will be doing so in technical violation …

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.

Donald Trump Doesn't Want Authority  —  The coronavirus crisis offered the president an opportunity to consolidate power.  It turns out he only wants attention.  —  For the last four years two Western political figures have loomed particularly large in the imaginations of anxious liberals.

Why Anger At Trump May Not Help Democrats Win  —  One dominating response to Donald Trump's presidency has been anger.  —  Trump has stoked outrage among his supporters, who have echoed his rhetoric and fury, and his detractors, who have launched anti-Trump resistance protests and helped recruit new congressional candidates in 2018.

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.

Steve Salis has made up his mind: Kramerbooks is leaving Dupont  —  Coronavirus or no, Steve Salis has made up his mind: Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe is moving out of its Dupont Circle home.  —  Salis, the co-founder of &pizza who bought the Dupont retail institution in 2017, has been considering a move for some time.

Inventors Develop Mask to Let You Eat and Stay Safe  —  Inventors developed a coronavirus mask that lets you eat without taking it off.  Here's how it works: You squeeze a lever and it opens a slot so you can go at it like Pac-Man.  Inventors say the mask lets you dine out with friends without taking your mask off.

Maryland Reports Largest Rise Yet In Coronavirus Cases 4 Days After Reopening  —  The Maryland Department of Health reported 1,784 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, setting a new high mark four days after the state began reopening its economy.  Maryland is now reporting 41,546 cases …

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.

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.

Living underground before the Romans?  2,000-year-old rooms found by Western Wall  —  Purpose of unique ancient complex still unclear, but indicates possible subterranean Second Temple-era life in Jerusalem's Old City prior to the Roman conquest in 70 CE  —  A singular two-millennia-old …