Grassley Says ‘Spooked’ Kushner Won't Agree to Russia Interview  —  Committee to release other transcripts on Trump Tower meeting  —  ‘That section of our investigation is done,’ senator says  —  A “spooked” Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser …

Exclusive: The full ‘secret society’ text between FBI agents: Was it meant in jest?  —  For the past 24 hours, a number of Republican lawmakers have been suggesting that a months-old text message between two FBI officials reveals a “secret society” of federal law enforcement officials clandestinely plotting …

I've Watched Trump Testify Under Oath.  It Isn't Pretty.  —  In a 2007 deposition in my libel case (which he lost), he was underprepared and overconfident.  —  “There's been no collusion whatsoever.  There's been no obstruction whatsoever.”  —Donald Trump, Jan. 24, 2018

The U.S. Can No Longer Hide From Its Deep Poverty Problem  —  You might think that the kind of extreme poverty that would concern a global organization like the United Nations has long vanished in this country.  Yet the special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston …

Trump and the great GOP abdication  —  THE MORNING PLUM:  —  Something remarkable is happening in our politics right now.  On multiple fronts, it has fallen to Democratic elected officials to step up and defend the integrity and basic functionings of our government …

The Trumps asked to borrow a Van Gogh for the White House.  The Guggenheim offered an 18K gold toilet instead.  —  The emailed response from the Guggenheim's chief curator to the White House was polite but firm: the museum could not accommodate a request to “borrow” a painting by Vincent Van Gogh …

GOP Senate candidate flips out over 'women's rights': ‘I want to come home to a cooked dinner every night’  —  Republican U.S. Senate candidate for Missouri Courtland Sykes blasted “women's rights” this week.  —  In a statement posted to Facebook on Tuesday, Sykes said that he had been asked if he “supports women's rights.”

The Photo That Never Saw The Light of Day: Obama With Farrakhan In 2005  —  A journalist announced last week that he will publish a photograph of then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D) and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan that he took in 2005 at a Congressional Black Caucus meeting …

Cuckolding can be positive for some couples, study says  —  (CNN)In our current political climate, the term “cuck” — short for “cuckservative” — has become an insult of the so-called alt-right, aimed at men they view as spineless and emasculated.  The slur has its roots in the concept of cuckolding, or having an adulterous partner.

Bill Kristol takes on Fox News, Tucker Carlson: 'I don't know if it's racism exactly - but ethno-nationalism of some kind'  — Bill Kristol was often a guest on Fox News, but he appeared gradually less on the network, he says, after he declined to do something for the late Fox News chief Roger Ailes.

Their school deleted an article on a teacher's firing.  So these teens published it themselves.  —  The teenagers' newspaper story started with a simple question: Why had a well-liked history teacher at their high school been missing from campus?  Was there a medical issue, or something else?

In three years, LGBT Americans have gone from triumph to backlash  —  The movement for LGBT rights has made stunning progress in recent years.  But the latest results of an ongoing poll commissioned by the gay rights organization GLAAD, which is releasing the results at the World Economic Forum …

Teen killed in Kentucky school shooting called mother as she died  —  The parents of a Kentucky teenager who was fatally shot in a mass shooting at her high school this week said their daughter called them as the violent scene unfolded in the background.  —  Bailey Holt, 15 …

Rep. Pat Meehan will have to step aside, Republican insiders say  —  Pennsylvania Republicans increasingly believe Rep. Pat Meehan, the latest elected official to be tarnished by a sexual harassment claim, will not be able to run for reelection this fall — and it's now a question of whether …

Be Smart: Mike Allen Wrote The Rules Of Washington And Now Donald Trump's Destroying Them  —  Every morning, Washington wakes up to Axios AM — Mike Allen's top 10 stories of the day, filled with short bits of breaking news, feuding White House insiders, and, some days, sober, moral pronouncements on how weird the Trump era is.

Ex-Justice Dept. lawyer offered to sell secret U.S. whistleblower lawsuits to targets of the complaints  —  Jeffrey Wertkin had a plot to bring in business and impress his new partners after joining one of Washington's most influential law firms.  —  As a former high-stakes corporate-fraud prosecutor …

California Considers $1,000 Fine for Waiters Offering Unsolicited Plastic Straws  —  Ian Calderon wants restaurateurs to think long and hard before giving you a straw.  —  Calderon, the Democratic majority leader in California's lower house, has introduced a bill to stop sit-down restaurants …

Putin Family Split Offers Peek at Secret Dealings of Russia Inc.  —  During his courtship and marriage, Kirill Shamalov catapulted into the ranks of the super-rich with a little help from some of the closest allies of his father-in-law: Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A dangerous piece of fake news is spreading like wildfire on Facebook  —  Two weeks ago, Facebook announced that it would be reformatting its maligned News Feed, looking for the latest means of steering away from the fake news controversies that have dogged the company over the past year.

Rubio rejects bipartisan immigration gang  —  Marco Rubio is done with gang life in the Senate.  —  The Florida GOP senator, a key co-author of the 2013 Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration bill, has no plans to join a swelling bipartisan group of senators trying to strike a deal to protect Dreamers.

The Doomsday Clock just moved: It's now 2 minutes to ‘midnight,’ the symbolic hour of the apocalypse … The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists advanced the symbolic Doomsday Clock a notch closer to the end of humanity Thursday, moving it ahead by 30 seconds after what the organization called a …

Seung-Min Kim joins The Post's White House team  —  Announcement from National Editor Steven Ginsberg, Deputy National Editor Lori Montgomery, Senior Politics Editor Peter Wallsten and White House Editor Dan Eggen:  —  We are excited to announce that Seung Min Kim is joining our White House team.

Sanford teacher sends home spelling list containing racial slur  —  Angry parents want apology  —  HIDE TRANSCRIPT SHOW TRANSCRIPT  —  SANFORD, Fla. —  “That bothered me.  I was very offended by it,” Terry Day told WESH 2 Investigates.  “In today's society, it's very prevalent.  Racism!

Bernie Sanders summons team to discuss 2020  —  Bernie Sanders convened his top political advisers in Washington on Saturday for a planning meeting that included a discussion of the feasibility and shape of a possible 2020 presidential campaign, half a dozen senior Democrats familiar with the gathering confirmed to POLITICO.

Why Democrats Won't Get Their Way on Immigration  —  They were not elected to run any branch of government.  That's hard news to break to the liberal base.  —  As a right-leaning libertarian, my heart goes out to liberal pundits right now, who face the unenviable task of explaining …

Mueller Almost Done With Obstruction Part of Trump Probe, Sources Say  —  Other portions of investigation could last months: officials  —  Intelligence officials, Trump aides interviewed in past weeks  —  Special Counsel Robert Mueller is moving at a far faster pace than previously known …

Trump's 24-year-old drug policy appointee to step down by month's end  —  A 24-year-old former Trump campaign worker who rose rapidly to a senior post in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy will step down by the end of the month because of controversy surrounding his appointment, the White House said late Wednesday.

The DNC's New Chief Security Officer Knows All About Crisis  —  THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL Committee has hired Bob Lord, most recently Yahoo's head of information security, to be its chief security officer—a brand new position, created in the aftermath of the historic hack by Russian operatives …

Pelosi Tries to Extend $137,000 Tax Break for Two of Her Multi-Million-Dollar Homes  —  Congress's wealthiest woman plays the tax game too: Pelosi rushed to pre-pay property taxes after decrying GOP tax overhaul as middle-class tax hike and corporate giveaway