US House candidate Bouchard says he impregnated 14-year-old when he was 18  —  U.S. House candidate Anthony Bouchard had a relationship with and impregnated a 14-year-old girl when he was 18, he told the Star-Tribune late Thursday, hours after he disclosed the relationship in a Facebook Live video to his supporters.

Trump administration secretly obtained CNN reporter's phone and email records  —  Washington (CNN)The Trump administration secretly sought and obtained the 2017 phone and email records of a CNN correspondent, the latest instance where federal prosecutors have taken aggressive steps targeting journalists in leak investigations.

An interview with Emily Wilder, recent Stanford grad fired from AP job over criticisms of Israel  —  Emily Wilder, a journalist and 2020 graduate of Stanford University, started a new job as an Associated Press news associate based in Maricopa County, Arizona, on May 3.

GOP Senators Dig In Against January 6 Commission  —  Many say they still haven't read the legislation.  But they have problems with it.  —  Good morning.  I know some of you are tired of January 6 coverage.  But we think this is a critical moment for congressional Republicans.

Inside Biden's ‘quiet,’ ‘relentless’ diplomatic scramble on Gaza … WASHINGTON — As the first rocket fire was exchanged between Israel and Hamas, President Joe Biden settled on a strategy.  And as he had throughout the 2020 campaign, Biden adhered to it despite mounting criticism from Republicans and even his own Democratic Party.

Sen. Ted Cruz insulted a ‘woke, emasculated’ U.S. Army ad.  Angry veterans fired back.  —  The first half of the TikTok video shows a muscular Russian man with a shaved head doing push-ups, jumping out of a plane, and staring down the scope of a rifle.  The second half shows …

Covid on the Run  —  The pandemic may now be in permanent retreat in the U.S.  —  I want to end this week by showing you two Covid-19 charts.  They contain the same message: The pandemic is in retreat.  —  In the United States, there is now an excellent chance that the retreat is permanent.

Since leaving office, Trump has charged the Secret Service more than $40,000 to use space at Mar-a-Lago  —  Former president Donald Trump charged the Secret Service more than $40,000 this spring for rooms that Trump's own protective detail used while guarding him at his Mar-a-Lago Club, according to federal spending records.

The threat of violence now infuses GOP politics.  We should all be afraid.  —  American politics is being conducted under the threat of violence.  —  Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who has a talent for constructive bluntness, describes a political atmosphere within the GOP heavy with fear.

What We Believe About U.F.O.s  —  We still don't know what they are — but we may be close to finding out.  —  Mr. Reid is a former senator.  —  This personal reflection is part of a series called The Big Ideas, in which writers respond to a single question: What do we believe?

Crime App Citizen is Driving a Security Car Around L.A. and Won't Say Why  —  The vehicle is linked to a private security company which describes itself as a “subscription law enforcement service.”  —  Joseph Cox  —  Citizen, a widely popular app that sends alerts to local residents …

Few plea bargains in U.S. Capitol riot cases as prosecutors stand firm  —  Nearly four months after the U.S. Capitol attack, just one of more than 440 people charged has pleaded guilty, a sign of tough conditions set by prosecutors for plea deals and resistance by defense lawyers to their demands.

‘Not tolerating this nonsense’: Seventh noose found at Amazon construction site in Connecticut  —  Amazon is shutting down a construction site in Windsor, Connecticut, after a seventh noose was found there, the Connecticut NAACP and the company said Thursday.

Bitcoin Miners Are Giving New Life to Old Fossil-Fuel Power Plants  —  The lofty prices of cryptocurrencies have investors sinking money into electricity generation, risking a backlash  —  Across America, older fossil-fuel power plants are shutting down in favor of renewable energy.

Florida investigating Sidney Powell's Defending The Republic fundraising campaign  —  Nobody knows how many millions the former Trump lawyer has raised or where the money has gone.  —  1 hr ago  —  Investigators for the state of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services …

Kindergartners' questions helped get them off hijacked school bus, driver says: ‘Enough already’  —  The hijacker forced his way onto the school bus with a rifle and commands to “Get out of town, now!”  It was “one of the scariest” scenarios possible, law enforcement said later …

David Brooks Interviews Joe Biden  —  What happened to Joe Biden?  Many people thought he was a moderate incrementalist, but now he's promoting whopping big legislative packages that make many on the progressive left extremely happy.  —  I asked him that when I spoke on the phone with him this week.

Beijing rebuffs Pentagon requests for high-level military talks  —  Stand-off comes amid rising tension over China's military aggression towards Taiwan  —  Beijing has rebuffed the Pentagon's requests for talks between China's top officer and the new US defence secretary …

Corporate Media's Double Standard: They Attack Whomever They Want, But You Cannot Criticize Them  —  On Monday, The Washington Post's media reporter Paul Farhi contacted me to say that he had spoken with numerous editors and journalists at The Intercept, who voiced to him a wide range of personal and professional accusations about me.

Los Angeles Mayor Calls Attack on Diners ‘Anti-Semitic’  —  The attack came amid escalating violence in Israel and Gaza that has sparked protests in the United States.  —  Local officials and Jewish leaders in Los Angeles on Thursday condemned an attack against Jewish diners outside …

Texas Pushes to Obscure the State's History of Slavery and Racism  —  Texas is awash in bills aimed at fending off critical examinations of the state's past.  —  Every morning, schoolchildren in Texas recite an oath to their state that includes the words, “I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God.”

POLITICO Playbook: W.H. gives Whoopi the VIP treatment — but snubs Meghan McCain  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  TGIF, Playbookers.  We have a juicy item today featuring MEGHAN MCCAIN, WHOOPI GOLDBERG and CEDRIC RICHMOND.  But first a look at the major storylines as we head into the weekend. ...

The Texas Mask Mystery  —  When the governor lifted the state's mandate, liberals predicted disaster.  But it never came.  Why?  —  Staff writer at The Atlantic  —  In early march, Texas became the first state to abolish its mask mandate and lift capacity constraints for all businesses.

The Shock Jock Texts That Could Be Critical in the Matt Gaetz Probe  —  If Joel Greenberg was Matt Gaetz's wingman, Joe Ellicott was Greenberg's right-hand man.  And texts between Greenberg and Ellicott show an attempt to cover up sex with a minor.  —  Text messages between Rep. Matt Gaetz's wingman …

Inside the Simon & Schuster Blowup Over Its Mike Pence Book Deal  —  Petition demanded publisher drop potential blockbuster, saying it betrayed company's promise to oppose bigotry, while CEO defended commitment to broad range of views  —  During an April workplace-culture session …

From Deal Frenzy to Decoupling: Is the China-Hollywood Romance Officially Over?  —  Five years after an unprecedented era of frenzied East-West dealmaking, cash flow has stopped, Donald Trump's trade war lingers, censorship is on the rise and human rights abuses in the Middle Kingdom …

Betsy DeVos must testify in student loan forgiveness lawsuit, judge rules  —  WASHINGTON — Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos must testify in a class-action lawsuit about her handling of student loan forgiveness claims, which involved delays in the administration's decision-making …

The Trump criminal probe's heating up.  Here's why the Trump children might want to lawyer up.  —  This week, New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed that her civil law inquiry into the corporate entity known as the Trump Organization has become a criminal investigation.

The techlash is a bust  —  After three and a half years, the U.S. backlash against tech's biggest firms has failed to dent or daunt them.  —  The big picture: Today, Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook are massively richer, more powerful and more determined to push their products and services deeper …

Regime vs. Regime  —  We who swear to uphold the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic owe no allegiance whatever to the oligarchy that now runs this country.  —  The attempt of America's ruling class to convict 455 persons of “armed insurrection”—i.e. of waging war …