Feds monitored Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's phones  —  CORRECTION: 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.

Trump lives out his LBJ fantasy: no chief of staff  —  LBJ withheld the title of chief of staff from his top aides, and President Trump is now living out that fantasy even with John Kelly in the building.  —  As part of his exasperation with being handled, Trump has taken to telling friends that …

Influential outsiders have played a key role in Scott Pruitt's foreign travel … Scott Pruitt's itinerary for a February trip to Israel was remarkable by any standard for an Environmental Protection Agency administrator: A stop at a controversial Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

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.

Donald Trump's Pursuit of an Oval Office Meeting with Vladimir Putin  —  Inside the mystery behind the President's surprise invitation to Russia's leader, and his team's struggle to figure out what to do about it.  —  Late on Monday evening, the Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, started making calls to European allies.

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 …

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.

40 Questions Special Counsel Robert Mueller Needs to Answer Now  —  A Republican lawmaker contends the prosecutor has a lot to explain about his present job and prior posts as well  —  A firestorm was ignited earlier this week when The New York Times published a list of 40 questions …

They Voted for Obama, Then Went for Trump.  Can Democrats Win Them Back?  —  RITTMAN, Ohio — In the daily race that is her life, Sharla Baker does not think about politics very much.  —  She rises early, drives to the gas station to buy coffee, feeds her baby, dresses her two other children …

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.

Deputy Consul General Of Israel Allegedly Forced Out Of Uber Ride For Speaking Hebrew On Phone  —  CHICAGO (CBS) - The Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, Itay Milner, says he was ten minutes into his Uber ride on Lower Wacker Drive Thursday night when he was thrown out by the driver.

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.

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.

No 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, Panel Says Amid Sexual Abuse Scandal  —  STOCKHOLM — The Swedish panel that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature said on Friday that it would take the extraordinary step of not naming a laureate this year — not because of a shortage of deserving writers …

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.

Detroit radio station boycotting Kanye West music after controversial comments  —  A hip-hop and R&B radio station in Detroit has decided to stop playing Kanye West's music after the rapper's controversial remarks about slavery.  —  On-air DJs BIGG and Shay Shay at Detroit's 105.1 …

The Iran Deal Is Strategically and Morally Absurd  —  Editor's Note: This article is part of a debate about whether to stay in the Iran deal.  Read the other entries here.  —  It was surely Barack Obama's profound aversion to the use of American military power that so enfeebled …

New York City Just Announced It Will Open Safe Injection Sites  —  New York is now the fourth city in the US to announce it will open sites for people to inject illegal drugs.  None currently exist in the US.  —  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday evening that the city …

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.

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 …

British schools are removing analog clocks from classrooms because kids can't read them  —  Schools in the United Kingdom are beginning to remove analog clocks from the classroom — because students are complaining that they can't read them, reports say.  —  Officials have begun replacing …

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