Feds monitored Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's phones  —  EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier today, NBC News reported that there was a wiretap on the phones of Michael Cohen, President Trump's longtime personal attorney, citing two separate sources with knowledge of the legal proceedings involving Cohen.

A Pruitt Aide's Attack on Zinke Angers the White House  —  As Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces a seemingly endless stream of scandal, his team is scrambling to divert the spotlight to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.  And the White House isn't happy about it.

House chaplain rescinds resignation after furor over his ouster by Ryan … The Rev. Patrick J. Conroy, the House chaplain who announced his resignation under pressure last month, informed Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) Thursday that he wanted to rescind his offer and remain in his position at least through the end of this year.

Trump Orders Pentagon to Consider Reducing U.S. Forces in South Korea  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prepare options for drawing down American troops in South Korea, just weeks before he holds a landmark meeting with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un …

Alan Dershowitz Hired as Harvey Weinstein Consultant  —  The Harvard Law professor is helping the embattled movie mogul get “exclupatory” emails from The Weinstein Co.  —  Alan Dershowitz may not want to jump aboard Donald Trump's legal team, but apparently, he has no qualms with advising Harvey Weinstein's legal team.

Leak: The Atlantic Had A Meeting About Kevin Williamson.  It Was A Liberal Self-Reckoning.  —  In a staff meeting, Jeffrey Goldberg and Ta-Nehisi Coates discussed the hiring and firing of a conservative writer.  But it wound up being about a lot more than that.

Special counsel Robert Mueller focusing sharply on links between Trump confidant Roger Stone and former campaign official Rick Gates, sources say  — Special counsel Robert Mueller is focusing intensely on alleged interactions between former top Trump campaign official Rick Gates and political operative Roger Stone.

Why the Justice Department Is Defiant  —  A House subpoena, another missed deadline.  What is the department hiding?  —  The feud that has simmered for months between Congress and the Justice Department erupted this week into a cage match.  That's because the House is homing in on the goods.

U.S. freezes funding for Syria's “White Helmets”  —  Less than two months ago the State Department hosted members of the White Helmets at Foggy Bottom.  At the time, the humanitarian group was showered with praise for saving lives in Syria.  —  “Our meetings in March were very positive.

A New Book On Hillary Clinton Has Reporters Angry At The New York Times  —  Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images  —  At a book party Tuesday evening, reporters and editors at the New York Times toasted the publication of Chasing Hillary, a rollicking new memoir by Amy Chozick …

Hysteria over Jade Helm exercise in Texas was fueled by Russians, former CIA director says  —  Gov. Greg Abbott's decision in 2015 to ask the Texas State Guard to monitor a federal military exercise prompted significant criticism.  A former CIA director said Wednesday that the move emboldened Russians to next target elections.

Camille Cosby Compares Husband to Emmett Till and Blames Media  —  Camille Cosby, the wife of the disgraced comedian Bill Cosby, disparaged the media, Mr. Cosby's accusers and his prosecutors in a caustic statement released Thursday, her first public comments since Mr. Cosby was convicted of sexual assault last week.

An Open Letter to Trump's Evangelical Defenders  —  A Christian's primary purpose is not to defend his own religious liberty.  It's not even to fight abortion — as vital as that task is.  His basic task on this Earth isn't protecting Christian education or preserving the freedom of Christian artists.

Blankenship goes after McConnell's ‘China family’ in new ad  —  West Virginia GOP Senate hopeful Don Blankenship is amping up his racial attacks on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with a new ad declaring, “Swamp captain Mitch McConnell has created millions of jobs for China people.”

Whoops!  Jared Kushner Made Even More Mistakes in His Federal Filings  —  It keeps happening.  Jared Kushner filed the wrong information about two of his loans in Brooklyn.  He has had to update his disclosure form at least 40 times.  —  Jared Kushner's ethics disclosure filing misstated …

Keeping your account secure  —  When you set a password for your Twitter account, we use technology that masks it so no one at the company can see it.  We recently identified a bug that stored passwords unmasked in an internal log.  We have fixed the bug, and our investigation shows no indication of breach or misuse by anyone.

Neil Cavuto Calls Out Trump on His Pattern of False Statements: 'Mr. President, That's Your Swamp'  —  During a monologue on his Fox News show Thursday, Neil Cavuto called out President Donald Trump for railing against “fake news” while constantly giving them ammunition with his inconsistent and often contradictory statements.

Humans didn't exist the last time there was this much CO2 in the air  —  The last time atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were this high, millions of years ago, the planet was very different.  For one, humans didn't exist.  —  On Wednesday, scientists at the University of California …

Should Ivanka be off limits to probe as Giuliani insists?  - CNN Video  —  The Lead political panel weighs in.

Sam Clovis is leaving USDA  —  Sam Clovis, the former Trump campaign aide who had been serving as USDA's liaison to the White House, is leaving the Agriculture Department and will return home to Iowa, a USDA official confirmed Thursday evening.  —  Clovis' last day is Friday.

We Need a NATO for Infowar  —  Western countries have pitifully few defenses against ever-more-powerful disinformation campaigns.  Banding together can help.  —  It was Sweden that manufactured the nerve gas that nearly killed Russian double-agent Sergey Skripal in Salisbury in March.  Or the Czechs.