A Presidential Smear  —  Trump imitates the Steele dossier in attacks on Joe Scarborough.  —  By The Editorial Board  —  Donald Trump sometimes traffics in conspiracy theories—recall his innuendo in 2016 about Ted Cruz's father and the JFK assassination—but his latest accusation …

“Close them down”: Trump threatens action against social media platforms  —  President Trump threatened to shut down or regulate social media platforms due to anti-conservative bias in a pair of Wednesday tweets — the day after Twitter's first fact-check against the president's claims on its platform.

Trump's 2016 campaign brass warns he's in trouble in 2020  —  David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski, two key allies and former political advisers to Donald Trump, went to the White House last week to issue him a warning: The president was slipping badly in swing states, and he needed to do something to fix it.

Ex-Pompeo staffers asked to sign letter against ‘smear campaign’  —  Former House staffers to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are being asked to sign a letter offering him support after a “smear campaign” that he and his wife asked staffers to carry out trivial tasks such as bringing him lunch or getting his dry cleaning.

Cooped up: A shameful Central Park encounter demands all New Yorkers be better people  —  In the latest episode of the everyday-fresh-hell that is New York City under quarantine, one white female, Amy Cooper, was caught on video calling the cops on one black male, Christian Cooper.

“We're surging:” Alabama reports largest COVID-19 increases to date  —  Alabama saw its largest single-day increase in new COVID-19 cases Monday, according to the state, as daily case counts continue an upward trend and hospitals across the state report increasing hospitalizations.

Trump tweet throws House vote on government surveillance powers into doubt  —  Hurd slams FISA court abuses: ‘Absolutely outrageous’  —  (CNN)A House vote to reauthorize national security surveillance authorities that have been expired since March was thrown into doubt on Wednesday following …

Justice Department Closing Insider-Trading Investigations Into Three U.S. Senators  —  Probe into trading earlier this year by Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina continues  —  The Justice Department is closing investigations into three U.S. senators for stocks trades made shortly …

4 Minneapolis Police Officers Fired Over George Floyd Death  —  The move comes after a video showed an officer kneeling on the neck of Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on Monday.  —  Four Minneapolis police officers were fired Tuesday following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died …

New research rewrites history of when Covid-19 took off in the U.S. — and points to missed chances to stop it  —  New research has poured cold water on the theory that the Covid-19 outbreak in Washington state — the country's first — was triggered by the very first confirmed case of the infection in the country.

AP-NORC poll: Half of Americans would get a COVID-19 vaccine  —  Only about half of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if the scientists working furiously to create one succeed, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Trump attorney accuses Mueller of ‘monstrous lie and scheme to defraud’  —  John Dowd, one of the lead lawyers who represented President Trump during Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian collusion, said Tuesday that the special counsel engineered a perjury trap for Trump in the exact same …

Antibody tests for Covid-19 wrong up to half the time, CDC says  —  (CNN)Antibody tests used to determine if people have been infected in the past with Covid-19 might be wrong up to half the time, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in new guidance posted on its website.

Marco Rubio zeroes in on Russia — not Obama  —  Donald Trump's allies on Capitol Hill are pushing aggressive new investigations targeting the president's political opponents.  Marco Rubio isn't joining the fray.  —  As Rubio assumes the acting chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee …

Air Force admits ‘persistent and consistent racial’ bias against black airmen, records show  —  WASHINGTON - Air Force officials have privately acknowledged racial bias against young black airmen in judicial proceedings while also fighting the release of documents detailing the problem and their response …

D.C. will likely reopen Friday after city changes key thresholds for reopening  —  D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) is expected Wednesday to announce the gradual reopening of the capital, saying the city has been meeting key thresholds to contain new coronavirus infections.

Where U.S. coronavirus cases are on the rise  —  (Reuters) - Twenty U.S. states reported an increase in new cases of COVID-19 for the week ended May 24, up from 13 states in the prior week, as the death toll from the novel coronavirus approaches 100,000, according to a Reuters analysis.

Whistleblowers say Facebook has not warned investors about illegal activity, in new SEC complaint  —  The complaint, which was obtained by The Washington Post, includes dozens of pages of screenshots of opioids and other drugs for sale on Facebook and its photo-sharing site Instagram

California DA launches investigation into Tara Reade testimony  —  The Monterey County District Attorney's office has launched an investigation into whether Tara Reade lied on the witness stand while acting as an expert witness.  —  Reade, under the name Alexandra McCabe …

As pandemic bore down, Rep. Phil Roe snatched up Zoom shares, unloaded stock in cruise lines  —  NASHVILLE — With a global pandemic threatening to hit the United States earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Phil Roe made hundreds of financial transactions, buying stocks in companies now working …

New USAID religious-freedom adviser has history of anti-Islam comments  —  On Tuesday, the U.S. Agency for International Development got a new “religious freedom adviser” who has a long history of making and promoting anti-Islam comments on social media.  —  This is just the latest reason officials …