For Spy Agencies, Briefing Trump Is a Test of Holding His Attention  —  President Trump's intelligence briefings have gotten renewed attention since he blamed them for failing to sound the alarm early on about the coronavirus.  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump has blamed many others …

Trump in Private: I Wish I Could Run Against Hillary Again  —  The playbook that worked in 2016 isn't so far in 2020.  And some in Trump land are feeling nostalgic for their old foe.  —  In 2016, Donald Trump and his campaign staff found themselves up against a Democratic nominee …

Lockdown Delays Cost at Least 36,000 Lives, Data Show  —  Even small differences in timing would have prevented the worst exponential growth, which by April had subsumed New York City, New Orleans and other major cities, researchers found.

Senate confirms John Ratcliffe as next director of national intelligence  —  The Senate confirmed Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Tex.) as the next director of national intelligence on Thursday, capping an unusually protracted process that saw the congressman withdraw his nomination last year in the face …

The mastermind of George W. Bush's White House victories is advising Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, focusing on swing state battlegrounds and Republican voter outreach  — Karl Rove, the senior adviser to the last GOP president, has been helping the Trump reelection effort as an unpaid and informal role.

Trump to Withdraw From ‘Open Skies’ Arms Control Treaty  —  Mr. Trump's decision, the third major retreat from arms control agreements, will be viewed as evidence that he also plans an exit from the last major arms treaty with Russia: New START.  —  President Trump has decided to withdraw …

Dire Situation In Alabama Capital: ICUs Full, Coronavirus Cases Double In May  —  The mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, says the city's health care system has been “maxed out” as cases of coronavirus have more than doubled in May—a sharp contrast to the slowing coronavirus spread that's taken place across …

The Hypocrisy of Mike Pompeo  —  In the few short years since his time in Congress, the secretary of state has conveniently reversed himself on multiple fronts.  —  Many of those around Donald Trump had evinced a certain moral or political flexibility, but few have eclipsed the purely distilled, cynical hypocrisy of Mike Pompeo.

California Couple in College Admissions Case Agrees to Plead Guilty  —  BOSTON - Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in connection with securing the fraudulent admission of their two children to the University of Southern California as purported athletic recruits.

The Coronavirus and a World Without Meat  —  If you care about the working poor, about racial justice, and about climate change, you have to stop eating animals.  —  Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of “Eating Animals” and “We Are the Weather.”  —  Is any panic more primitive …

Warren pivots on ‘Medicare for All’ in bid to become Biden's VP  —  In the thick of primary season, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden brawled over “Medicare for All”: He called her approach “angry,” “elitist,” “condescending”; she shot back, anyone who defends the health care status quo …

‘How Could the CDC Make That Mistake?’  —  Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers.  Find the collection here.  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conflating the results of two different types of coronavirus tests …

‘Ridiculous,’ ‘scary,’ ‘distraction’: Whitmer berates Trump's threats to cut off Mich. funding  —  Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday slammed President Donald Trump's threats to withhold federal funding to her state as “ridiculous,” a “distraction” and “scary.”

Researchers: Nearly Half Of Accounts Tweeting About Coronavirus Are Likely Bots  —  Nearly half of the Twitter accounts spreading messages on the social media platform about the coronavirus pandemic are likely bots, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University said on Wednesday.

Flynn's name was never ‘masked’ in FBI report on phone call with Russian  —  WASHINGTON — In a blow to GOP efforts to create a cloud of scandal around so-called “unmasking,” two sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News that then-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's name …

Several GOP senators press for more stimulus payments during coronavirus crisis  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has sought to hit pause on the government's massive spending for coronavirus-related relief packages, but several of his Republican colleagues are pushing for additional stimulus measures during the economic crisis.

American billionaires got $434 billion richer during the pandemic  — U.S. billionaires saw their fortunes soar by $434 billion during the nation's lockdown between mid-March and mid-May, according to a new report.  — Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg had the biggest gains.

The religious roots of Trump's magical thinking on coronavirus  —  (CNN)As the novel coronavirus has spread across the globe, President Trump has repeated one phrase like a mantra: It will go away.  —  Since February Trump has said the virus will “go away” at least 15 times, most recently on May 15.

U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain Announces Charges and Guilty Plea of Former Philadelphia Judge of Elections Who Committed Election Fraud  —  PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced today that Domenick J. DeMuro, 73, of Philadelphia, PA, a former Judge of Elections …

Why are liberals more afraid of the coronavirus than conservatives?  —  President Donald Trump tours a Honeywell International Inc. factory producing N95 masks in Phoenix, Arizona.  Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images  —  Covid-19 and the complex politics of fear.

Mueller deputy Andrew Weissmann to headline Biden virtual fundraiser  —  The former lead prosecutor on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team, Andrew Weissmann, is leading a virtual fundraiser next week for Joe Biden's presidential campaign.  —  According to the Biden campaign …

Trump should cancel his dangerous West Point speech.  Graduation is not a combat mission.  —  Some 1,000 West Point cadets from all corners of the country will soon be returning to the academy in New York, summoned by President Donald Trump so that he can deliver an in-person speech.

FEMA Tells States to Hand Public Health Data Over to Palantir  —  Aggregated COVID-19 information matters to public health, but it's also a big economic opportunity.  Now a Trump-aligned company gets that data daily from all 50 states.  —  The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency …

After false claims about Michigan and voting, Trump repeats false claim he was Michigan's ‘Man of the Year’  —  Dale: One of my favorite Trump lies out of thousands  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has a favorite way to illustrate what he says is the strength of his relationship …

Many Jobs May Vanish Forever as Layoffs Mount  —  With over 38 million U.S. unemployment claims in nine weeks, one economist says the situation is “grimmer than we thought.”  —  Even as restrictions on businesses began lifting across the United States, another 2.4 million workers filed …

‘Hot’ nurse disciplined for wearing bra and panties under see-through PPE gown  —  This naughty nurse is going viral.  —  A nurse in Russia was suspended from the hospital where she worked in Tula, 100 miles south of Moscow, after she arrived at her shift in the all-male coronavirus patient wing …

Reopening reality check: Georgia's jobs aren't flooding back  —  Georgia's early move to start easing stay-at-home restrictions nearly a month ago has done little to stem the state's flood of unemployment claims — illustrating how hard it is to bring jobs back while consumers are still afraid to go outside.

Active shooter ‘neutralized’ at Texas Navy base  —  Security forces “neutralized” an active shooter this morning at a Texas naval installation, the Navy announced.  —  One naval security force member was injured.  A Navy statement said the sailor was in “good condition” and is expected to be released Thursday.

Senate committee approves nominee to oversee U.S. media agency criticized by Trump  —  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday advanced the nomination of a Trump administration pick — whose nonprofit organization is being investigated for possible tax violations …

The Anti-Abortion Movement Was Always Built on Lies  —  This week, it was revealed that Norma McCorvey, a.k.a. “Jane Roe,” admitted on her death bed that her late-career anti-abortion crusade was all a ruse funded by the Christian right.  Laura Bassett takes a hard look at the house of cards …

How ‘60 Minutes’ survived CBS upheaval to become ‘the Tony Fauci of newsmagazines’  —  Early this month, with the “60 Minutes” season nearly ready to wrap production for the summer, executive producer Bill Owens took a heartfelt pitch to his boss, CBS News president Susan Zirinsky.

What's behind the rise of “COVID contrarian” Alex Berenson in right-wing media?  —  In the world of conservative media, author Alex Berenson is a star.  Thanks in large part to his relentless Twitter criticism of how mainstream media and Democratic politicians have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic …