Though there are various records laws that prevent the government from completely purging information gathered by its agencies, the government can take information offline. That means the data is available, but only in one physical location.

They appeared to be convinced of the need to obtain Clinton’s private emails and make them public, and they had a reckless lack of interest in whether the emails came from a Russian cut-out. Indeed, they made it quite clear to me that it made no difference to them who hacked the emails or why they did so, only that the emails be found and made public before the election.

Sputnik was launched by Rossiya Segodnya, a Russian state-run news service, in 2014 and has been accused in the U.S. of being a propaganda tool of the Kremlin.

Tillerson has grown especially agitated that less experienced figures like Miller ... have been giving him commands.

Under Mr. Obama, the science division was staffed with nine employees who led the charge on policy issues such as STEM education, biotechnology and crisis response.

Kobach told the Kansas City Star on Friday that he would not be providing any parts of Kansas voters' Social Security numbers because that data is not publicly available under state law.

Some have even gone so far as to stand up in front of reporters and offer the ringing denunciation that, “Obviously, I don’t see that as an appropriate comment,” as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan did. Fiery rhetoric, and appropriately so!

The provisions that stand to be more popular (and less harmful to many Americans) are front-loaded, occurring before the 2018 midterms. Cuts to premium subsidies and Medicaid come after that, and many of them are delayed until after the 2020 presidential election.

A report on Alex Jones’ InfoWars claiming child sex slaves have been kidnapped and shipped to Mars is untrue, NASA told The Daily Beast on Thursday.

You might know Alex Jones as the guy who peddles conspiracy theories about politics and pizza.

the White House announced two moves that could spoil the U.S.-China party: the latest round of arms sales to Taiwan and fresh sanctions on North Korea that target a Chinese bank.

The rules that Ms. DeVos wants to repeal are called the gainful employment regulations. ... if students borrow lots of money and can’t get well-paying jobs — the program is deemed “failing.”

“We got a call that ‘hey the National Enquirer is going to run a negative story about you guys,’” Scarborough said. “And they said ‘if you call the president up and you apologize for your coverage then he would pick up the phone and basically spike this story.’”

“So long as class remains unacknowledged as a key source of social disadvantage, Trump’s insults will feel to some of his supporters like a delicious poke-in-the-eye of elites.”

What Vietnam did to hollow out our military, Tillerson is doing to State.

...lawyers for the state and for a Hawaii imam say guidance the Trump administration issued Thursday takes too narrow a view of what family relationships qualify to exempt a foreigner from the travel ban

After months of winding through the courts, the so-called "watered down," revised version of President Donald Trump's fiercely litigated travel ban will finally go into effect at 8 p.m. ET Thursday.

...hackers wanted to get emails from Clinton’s server to an intermediary and then to Mike Flynn

“any documents that are submitted to the full Commission will also be made available to the public.”

“The president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by members on that program, and I think he's been very clear that when he gets attacked, he's going to hit back,” Sanders told reporters

“Inappropriate. Undignified. Unpresidential.”

“If Republicans want to confirm every liberal caricature of conservatism in a single piece of legislation, they could do no better than vote on the GOP bill in its current form.”

That nobody in the White House has prevailed upon Trump to cut this out pretty much says it all when it comes to whether he's both getting and accepting good advice.

Portman’s opposition shows just how far McConnell is from getting the 50 votes he needs to pass the bill. It’s not a matter of several conservatives or moderates not supporting the proposal. McConnell appears to be as many as 15 to 20 votes shy of majority support.

—Mark Kornblau, Senior Vice President, Communications, NBCUniversal News Group, which airs "Morning Joe".

It was not immediately clear what specific comments set off the Twitter attacks.

The 32-year-old O'Keefe founded Project Veritas in 2010 and has produced a number of controversial undercover videos. He has at times been criticized for releasing content that was selectively edited to portray people in a negative light.

Chaffetz will be a contributor to the network starting July 1, the day after he will officially resign from Congress.

Mattis said it appeared that Mr. Assad “took the warning seriously.” He declined to say whether preparations that were noted in Mr. Trump’s statement had ended. But he repeatedly noted the lack of a chemical weapons attack in the two days since the White House issued its warning.

It was the loudest manifestation yet of how frustrated Tillerson is in his new role. He has complained about White House attempts to push personnel on him; about the president’s tweets; and about the work conditions in a West Wing where he sometimes finds loyalty and competence hard to come by.

Republican voters had long held a healthy distrust of Putin, but Trump’s persistent affinity for Moscow and other Republican leaders’ silence are changing Republican voters’ minds

The effort reflects the tight timeline McConnell faces in his attempt to hold a vote in July — and the pressure he is under to change the bill to garner enough support to pass it.

Stepsiblings and half-siblings are allowed, but not nieces or nephews. Sons- and daughters-in-law are in, but brothers- and sisters-in-law are not. Parents, including in-laws, are considered “close family,” but grandparents are not.

"...if the ... bill that passed the House with 217 votes had been in effect this year, I would have saved — I can give you the exact figure. I would have saved $679,999, or over 17% of my tax bill."

While the Seattle-based company fought for years against efforts to collect sales tax on internet sales, Amazon now does so in all 45 states (plus the District of Columbia) that levy sales taxes, even though it's not legally required to.

The idea lit up Twitter as people ... recalled Chaffetz’s comment earlier this year that low-income people could afford their own health care if they would scale back spending on things such as “that new iPhone they just love.”

Mitch McConnell miscalculated.

There was no March 1, 2009, issue of Time, and Trump did not grace the cover of the magazine at all that year.

Huckabee Sanders even qualified — twice — that she couldn't vouch for the accuracy of O'Keefe's new video. But she nonetheless said everyone should watch it.

...the prototypes would be added to the existing border walls in San Diego and would allow the agency to evaluate which barriers are most effective

Trump on Tuesday interrupted his call with the new Irish prime minister to bring attention to a reporter, saying, "She has a nice smile on her face, so I bet she treats you well."

The effort to make good on a seven-year promise has cost the Trump administration precious months of its first year in office, with tax restructuring backed up somewhere in the legislative pipeline, infrastructure idling somewhere no one can see it and budget deadlines looming.

The current rule, known as Waters of the United States (WOTUS), unambiguously gives EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers authority that many think the agencies already possessed under the Clean Water Act.

Until Tuesday afternoon, the president was largely on the sidelines as the fate of one of his most important campaign pledges played out.

...the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, on Tuesday delayed a vote on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act

Although Roosevelt, who himself suffered from polio, used his name and popularity to raise money for his treatment center, it did not receive federal dollars

Republicans now control the governorship and legislature in 25 states, compared to only six states for Democrats. Last November, the GOP seized all the levers of lawmaking in four new states – Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and New Hampshire – making it much easier to pass far-reaching legislation.

If Obamacare repeal fails in the Senate, the GOP might be forced to compromise with Democrats.

Senate Republicans’ bill to erase major parts of the Affordable Care Act would cause an estimated 22 million more Americans to be uninsured by the end of the coming decade

...it has evidence that Syria is preparing to launch another chemical attack and warned that it will “pay a heavy price” for doing so.

Critics will long cite this episode as evidence that CNN is precisely what Trump has called it — “fake news.” Yet the departure of three journalists immediately following a mangled story provides a counterpoint to this particular slander. Purveyors of fake news, after all, don’t take drastic personnel moves following a bogus story. They rejoice in it.

Before taking office, he vowed “insurance for everybody” that would be “much less expensive and much better” and explicitly promised not to touch Medicaid

Senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump says she tries to stay away from politics.

Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, said Monday that they would vote against even debating the health care bill, joining Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, who made the same pledge on Friday.

Because Germany is home to the largest Turkish population in the world outside Turkey, one flash point for which authorities have been preparing is a possible clash between Turkish nationalists and Kurds, joined by protesters on the left.

...the ban “may not be enforced against foreign nationals who have a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.”

The Senate’s bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act is not a healthcare bill. It’s a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, paid for by a dramatic reduction in healthcare funding for approximately 23 million poor, disabled, and working middle class Americans.

They can afford to lose only two votes, but five Republican senators have announced that they cannot support the health care bill as drafted, and others have expressed concerns.

The Senate bill still faces hurdles to passage. But if it passes, it will remove an issue that otherwise might complicate Republicans’ work on tax reform.

The analysis found four times as many states with Republican-skewed state House or Assembly districts than Democratic ones.

Kennedy ... will turn 81 next month and is the longest-serving current justice, named to the high court almost 30 years ago.

Palestinian officials were “greatly disappointed” by their meeting with Kushner and Trump’s Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt.

Medicaid remains a major concern of the Koch network, which campaigned successfully against expansion in many red states.

Most troubling, perhaps, is that rather than reassert themselves, the moderate Republicans have almost all rolled over entirely.

When U.S. officials entered shuttered Russian compounds in Maryland and New York last December, they found damaged materials that could have been used in intelligence gathering

The now-deleted story ... was published Thursday and cited a single, unnamed source who claimed that the Senate Intelligence Committee was looking into a "$10-billion Russian investment fund whose chief executive met with a member of President Donald Trump's transition team four days before Trump's inauguration."

“I cannot support a piece of legislation that takes insurance away from tens of millions of Americans,”

The emphasis on their ties, besides being aimed at undermining Mueller’s credibility and the legitimacy of his investigation, could also be an attempt by Trump to make the case for an eventual Mueller dismissal on conflict of interest grounds.

"As he said yesterday, the president is very supportive of the draft Senate health-care bill, which represents the next step in repealing and replacing Obamacare."

“No. 1: It’s in the jurisdiction of Bob Mueller. And secondarily, I would think Judiciary has jurisdiction over the Department of Justice and the FBI”

...the future of Brexit has been thrown into question by Prime Minister Theresa May's failed gamble on a snap general election.

All four hail from states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA and have received billions of federal dollars to help them cover more low-income Americans.

EARHARDT: Big news today, you didn't have — you said you didn't tape James Comey. Do you want to explain that? TRUMP: ... But when he found out that I, you know, that there may be tapes out there, whether it's governmental tapes or anything else, and who knows, I think his story may have changed.

The problem was never Obamacare. It was uninsured America — people who had been cut out of the system, but who were nonetheless pushing us toward collective bankruptcy. Obamacare just cleaned the water enough for us to finally see the time bomb in the depths.

President Trump has a new morning ritual. Around 6:30 a.m. on many days ... he gets on the phone with a member of his outside legal team to chew over all things Russia.

The intelligence captured Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.

By undoing that change, insurance companies would return to the same rules as other firms, and have a stronger incentive top offer big money to their top executives.

McConnell, you see, almost landed in a wheelchair himself. He contracted polio in his quadricep at the age of two while living in Alabama.

...the administration announced that Thursday's press briefing by Sarah Huckabee Sanders would be one such no-video affair, then introduced a Kafka-esque twist by declaring that the announcement itself was "NOT REPORTABLE."

“This lie increases Trump's legal exposure for obstruction and witness intimidation—more evidence of corrupt intent”

And in the end, it wasn't just another bluff from Trump; it was another bluff that was called and that continued to chip away at Trump's honesty and credibility, for no discernible benefit.

After what felt like years of hammering Hillary Clinton for failing to adhere to federal email transparency policies, you might think politicians would take pains not to make the same mistake.

But even with a subpoena, the panel stands little chance of actually compelling Trump to turn over anything he doesn’t voluntarily want to produce

One could even argue that bog-standard Republicans, under the leadership of Ryan and McConnell, represent an bigger threat to our democracy than Trump, possessing as they do more competence and cunning than the TV-addled overgrown toddler in the White House.

The Senate bill — once promised as a top-to-bottom revamp of the health bill passed by the House last month — instead maintains its structure, with modest adjustments.

To control and edit the messages radiating out of the White House is media hound Trump’s keenest ambition.

Remember when Obamacare was written “hastily,” “behind closed doors” in “secret” negotiations, so that Democrats could “jam” an unpopular health-care bill through Congress? Remember when this showed that they “didn’t care what was in it” and that they had betrayed the “trust” of the American people?

The Obama administration feared that acknowledging Russian meddling in the 2016 election would reveal too much about intelligence gathering and be interpreted as “taking sides” in the race

Both parties spent the $50 million race for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District trying not only to win the seat but to test strategies, messages and ideas.

...the majority leader is deeply aware there's a strong possibility the whole effort might lose steam if his members return to their home states for the July Fourth recess without finishing their work on health care before then.

While there is no indication that Trump himself was involved in the decision, it is nonetheless a stark illustration of how his financial interests can directly rise or fall on the policies of his administration.

While Handel’s victory only brings the Republican House majority back to its baseline level after the 2016 election, it denied Democrats a momentum boost toward the 2018 midterms

Trump entrusted him with the nation’s secrets despite knowing that he faced a Justice Department investigation over his undisclosed foreign lobbying.

...the vote is being rushed for the express purpose of getting it done before the July 4 recess, because the failure to do so “could open Republican lawmakers up to pressure from constituents,” some of whom might be “concerned about losing their health coverage.”

The U.S. often sends powerful warplanes in times of heightened animosities with North Korea

The federal government’s leaders are hiding from public scrutiny — and their penchant for secrecy represents a stark departure from the campaign promises of Trump and his fellow Republicans to usher in newfound transparency.

Asked why the briefings are now routinely held off-camera, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said in a text message “Sean got fatter,” and did not respond to a follow-up.

Voter turnout is expected to be sky-high, and both parties are watching for clues about how to fight the 2018 elections.

Warmbier had gone to North Korea as a tourist on his way to Hong Kong for a study-abroad program, but was stopped when he tried to leave the country.

The data offered a strikingly complete picture of the voting histories and political leanings of the American electorate laid out on an easily downloadable format

Jay Sekulow, 61, is, however, a fixture on conservative talk radio and a celebrity among conservative organizations for his high-profile First Amendment court battles over religious rights.

Senators are expected to see the text of the bill as soon as the end of this week, those sources said, provided this week's work goes smoothly.

Once upon a time, Republicans almost uniformly claimed that large and growing loads of debt were an urgent economic crisis that required immediate action. But of course, back then, Obama was president.

Health industry groups generally don’t love Obamacare enough to jeopardize their ability to shape the rest of the Republican agenda — including big corporate tax cuts.

For four days last week, representatives for President Trump skipped the usual on-camera briefing to take questions off-camera.

...part of a broader overhaul of the administration’s most public-facing operation that has long been the subject of President Trump’s ire and criticism.

McConnell faces the same challenge that Speaker Paul D. Ryan confronted in the House. A bill that caters to conservatives risks alienating moderates.

Britain and the European Union opened difficult negotiations Monday that will end the country’s 43-year membership in the economic and political alliance

No one else was injured

CIA chief Mike Pompeo spends three hours almost every day driving downtown from Langley to brief the president, and he’s not alone.

...threatening to target aircraft flown by the United States and its allies over Syria.

Republicans are trying to repeal the ACA under special budget rules that eliminate the need for Democratic votes. Even so, it is highly unusual for the majority party’s senators to be kept in the dark on a top party priority.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from Wisconsin that could clarify whether redistricting plans can be unconstitutional because they're too partisan.

...the previously unreported dinner was one of two meetings he had with Manafort on visits to the United States during Manafort’s five months working for Trump.

Iran fired missiles on Sunday into eastern Syria, aiming at the bases of militant groups it holds responsible for attacks in Tehran which left 18 dead last week

Macron’s La République en Marche (LREM) party is expected to take 319 of 577 seats in the lower-house National Assembly

A van drove into a group of pedestrians early Monday near a mosque in London, killing one person, and injuring 10

The U.S. military says it shot down a Syrian air force jet that dropped bombs near U.S.-backed forces

Trump appears willing to test the bounds of convention and his own powers against a legal and political establishment that he believes is conspiring against him. The higher the pressure, the more defiant the President becomes -- even if it puts him at odds with his legal team.

On Wednesday, almost 200 Democratic members of Congress filed a federal lawsuit asserting that Mr. Trump’s business activities — including his intellectual property rights abroad — violate the Constitution’s ban on a president’s accepting gifts from foreign powers.

"The Trump Administration has no strategy to address the on-going HIV/AIDS epidemic, seeks zero input from experts to formulate HIV policy, and—most concerning—pushes legislation that will harm people living with HIV and halt or reverse important gains made in the fight against this disease."

Clarke was expected to start in a role at DHS at the end of June

Trump has thrown his weight firmly behind the two countries where he has business ties, raising new concerns about the appearance of a conflict between his public role and his financial incentives.

Over 140,000 people have already voted in the race between Karen Handel and Jon Ossoff, including 36,000 who didn't vote in the first round.

Senate Democrats fear the White House may go overboard in preserving its power to talk to Russia and seek to defang the sanctions bill

The campaign and the early months of President Donald Trump’s presidency have been good for Donald Trump.

The interests of the president and his aides are diverging, increasing the legal risks for those who try to stay loyal instead of hiring their own lawyers.

...dropping its previous support for workers to throw its weight behind management.

"Generally, what are the big problems this bill is trying to solve?" "Almost all of them. They’re trying to get to 51 votes."

...assuming Rosenstein does recuse, the spotlight now shifts to the recently confirmed Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, who would become the Acting Attorney General for the Russia investigation.

...privately acknowledged to colleagues that he may have to recuse himself from the matter, which he took charge of only after Attorney General Jeff Sessions' own recusal

“Americans should exercise caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to anonymous ‘officials,’ particularly when they do not identify the country — let alone the branch or agency of government — with which the alleged sources supposedly are affiliated”

In the past ... the order of succession is no more than an academic exercise — a chain of command applicable only in the event of an attack or crisis when government officials are killed and it is not clear who should be in charge.

...the latest indication that the Russia probe overseen by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is intensifying and could end up focusing on a number of Trump associates

Trump has reportedly appointed a long-time Trump family supporter and event planner with no housing experience to oversee federal housing programs in New York.

...former transition team members “have a duty to preserve any physical and electronic records that may be related in any way to the subject matter of the pending investigations.”

...he is widely viewed by Republicans on Capitol Hill as the de facto leader of the GOP—not just the safety parachute for a free-falling presidency, but a polished, respected statesman from whom members can take their cues.

Authorities in China have provisionally approved nine more trademarks for the Trump Organization that had previously - and inexplicably - been rejected.

The president’s policy, set to be issued Friday, will roll back Obama’s efforts to normalize relations with the island.

“What kind of a rule, what kind of a law is this?” Mr. Erdogan said ... “If those bodyguards would not protect me, why I am bringing them with me to the U.S.?”

The rescinded 2014 memo would have granted work permits and reprieves from deportation to 4 million parents of U.S. citizens and green card holders, provided that they passed a criminal background check and met other requirements.

FBI agents and federal prosecutors have also been examining the financial dealings of other Trump associates, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Carter Page

Republicans do not want the country to know what is in their health care bill.

The posts marked a dramatic shift in tone from the president, who spent Wednesday in a unifying mode following a shooting at a GOP congressional baseball practice in Virginia.

Pence’s move to hire an outside attorney could set off a scramble among other West Wing aides — many of whom are already bracing for subpoenas — to do the same

“If Comey will be under the threat of political persecution, we are ready to accept him here,” Putin said

“We’re winning in the real polls,” he continued, to gales of laughter from the audience. “You know, the online polls.” He added, “They are so easy to win. I have this Russian guy.”

“I have family ancestors from the Boston area and I think the Salem witch hunt has to be the greatest witch hunt in American history”

Hodgkinson, who had been living in his van in Alexandria for the past few months, had posted anti-Trump rhetoric on his Facebook page and had written letters to his hometown newspaper blaming Republicans for what he considered an agenda favoring the wealthy.

One key point is that Mueller did not start this obstruction investigation. According to the Post, that probe began “days after Comey was fired on May 9”

“Fast-tracking a major legislative overhaul such as health care reform or a new national energy tax without the benefit of a full and transparent debate does a disservice to the American people,” McConnell said in 2009

The attorneys general of D.C. and Maryland filed a suit on Monday... Two days later, nearly 200 members of Congress also sued Trump.... Trump’s attorneys at the Department of Justice, meanwhile, are busy fighting another emoluments lawsuit, this one filed back in January on behalf of an ethics watchdog and Trump’s business competitors.

...arrest warrants have been issued and that the suspects, all believed to be in Turkey, are now wanted in the United States.

The move ... marks a major turning point in the nearly year-old FBI investigation, which until recently focused on Russian meddling during the presidential campaign and on whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

—Rand Paul (who was present at the baseball shooting earlier today), US Senator for Kentucky, in a tweet from 23 June 2016

It is widely presumed on Capitol Hill that Jeff Sessions chose to testify before the Senate Intelligence committee, rather than the committees that have jurisdiction over his department, because he has more friends there who would run interference on his behalf.

First, executive privilege, if it even applies in this case, can only be invoked by the president, as it attaches to his office. Sessions cannot “preemptively” invoke it on the president’s behalf.

Scalise, 51, a representative from Louisiana, is the third-highest ranking House Republican and has a round-the-clock Capitol Police detail.

News of the lawsuit emerged less than 24 hours after attorneys general in the District and Maryland, both Democrats, filed suit alleging that payments to Trump violated the Constitution’s anti-corruption clauses.

...a dramatic and unexplained break with tradition that was soon reversed amid a wide rebuke from journalists, Democratic lawmakers and free-speech advocates.

The President will likely accept whatever they come up with -- "Pretty obviously (he's) not a details guy"

Sounding by turns defiant and wounded, Mr. Sessions ... often infused his testimony with more emotion than specifics.

I never received any information about the campaign. I thought there was a problem with me being able to serve as attorney general over this issue and I felt I would have to recuse myself

Republicans, Schiff added, “have shown a willingness to make excuses for the most destructive behavior of a president in office that I can remember.”

Rosenstein ... said only he could fire Mueller, and only if he found good cause to do so.

Those who know Kasowitz say he is sometimes prone to exaggerating when regaling them with his exploits. But if true, his assertion adds to the mystery surrounding the motive and timing of Bharara’s firing.

...including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously reported.

Sessions's citing of a "historic drug epidemic" to justify a crackdown on medical marijuana is at odds with what researchers know about current drug use and abuse in the United States.

"By codifying existing sanctions and requiring congressional review of any decision to weaken or lift them, we are ensuring that the United States continues to punish President (Vladimir) Putin for his reckless and destabilizing actions"

Collins and other Republicans said they had no indication Trump was considering firing Mueller. But lawmakers were taken by surprise last month when Trump fired Comey, who was then overseeing the Russia investigation.

The decision came in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from American Oversight, a nonprofit that says it relies on FOIA to investigate the Trump administration.

Quigley's bill would add an explicit mention of “social media” to the Presidential Records Act, a law mandating the preservation of presidential communications.

Part of their justification, they explain, rests on Trump's own tweet from June 6, where he cited the dangers posed by the countries, not the citizens of the countries.

...delivering on Monday the latest in a string of defeats for the administration’s efforts to limit travel from several predominantly Muslim countries.

(2) DOJ regulations give the top non-recused DOJ official the right to fire the Special Counsel ONLY for "good cause shown"—a high standard.

Firing Mr. Mueller would be a politically explosive move that would raise new questions about Mr. Trump

"The Attorney General has requested that this hearing be public. He believes it is important for the American people to hear the truth directly from him and looks forward to answering the committee's questions tomorrow."

At first, I thought Trump was just going to have the new members of the Cabinet spend a few minutes praising him. NOPE! It soon became clear that Trump planned to have every Cabinet member speak. And when I say "speak" what I really mean is "praise Trump for his accomplishments, his foresight, his just being awesome."

...when you spend the better part of 17 months habitually breaking political norms with your unusually nasty campaign, you can't spend time during your presidency complaining about the nastiness of the political system that you will now oversee as president.

Shouting “We demand answers,” and “Stop lying and stealing,” tens of thousands of protesters turned out Monday across Russia in a nationwide anti-corruption rally

...the Supreme Court is being asked to uphold a lower court’s finding that the Wisconsin redistricting effort was more than just extraordinary — it was unconstitutional.

...the world is "not sure of American leadership, whether it be in Siberia or whether it be in Antarctica."

...alleging that he has violated anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution by accepting millions in payments and benefits from foreign governments since moving into the White House.

So far, Asia’s rising superpower and the Middle East’s most reactionary autocracy have gotten everything they’ve wanted from the White House, including unconditional public support from the president.

Mattis ... is driven by several considerations, including his belief that the military’s political neutrality can help hold together a deeply divided nation

It was unclear on Sunday whether the committee planned to question the attorney general on Tuesday in an open or closed session.

...half a million Puerto Ricans voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to become America’s 51st state, in a flawed election most voters sat out.

Melania Trump and Barron remained in New York so the 11-year-old could finish out the school year

Spicer, in a statement on Sunday, refuted the idea that Priebus is facing a July 4 deadline. "Whoever is saying that is either a liar or out of the loop," Spicer said.

...he received a handful of "unusual" phone calls from Donald Trump after the November election that made him feel uncomfortable, and said he was fired after declining to take the third call.

“I'm not going to speculate on what he will, or will not, do.”

The US president said he did not want to come if there were large-scale protests and his remarks in effect put the visit on hold for some time.

Trump has made few changes to the way people enter the United States from the countries he has deemed the most dangerous, despite his frequent campaign promises to institute “extreme vetting.”

Macron needs an outright majority in the 577-seat National Assembly to have a clear path to enact his sweeping program.

It mattered little that Mr. Comey had said no such thing. The tweet quickly ricocheted through the ecosystem of fake news and disinformation on the far right

Comey ... testified that the Russians had not only intervened in last year’s election, but would try to do it again.

The party allows winner-take-all primaries by congressional district or statewide— which in many states hugely magnified Trump’s delegate totals. Trump won 32 percent of the South Carolina vote, but all 50 delegates. He won 46 percent of the Florida vote but all 99 delegates. He won 39 percent of the Illinois vote, but 80 percent of the 69 delegates.

“In light of reports regarding Mr. Comey’s recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum,” Sessions wrote. “The Senate Intelligence Committee is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information.”

Images and reports from witnesses in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa suggest that the United States-led coalition battling the Islamic State there has used munitions loaded with white phosphorus

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Mueller has been quietly and methodically building the equivalent of a small US attorney's office -- a team of formidable legal minds who've worked on everything from Watergate to Enron, unlikely to leave any stone unturned.

Theresa May’s chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, resigned following the Conservative Party’s disappointing results in the U.K. general elections.

An increasingly vocal anti-Muslim activist group is holding protest rallies in numerous cities across the country Saturday, marching in opposition to Islamic law, which the group believes is threatening American society.

The White House is brimming with aides, lawyers, and communications gurus who are begging President Donald Trump to stop tweeting. The lone exception is Dan Scavino, the president’s former golf caddy who now oversees the White House’s messaging on social media.

...he had no obligation to keep confidential the memo in question

"Shutting down oversight requests doesn't drain the swamp, Mr. President. It floods the swamp," Grassley wrote

Every network aired it live, but not every network covered it in the same way. While MSNBC and CNN emphasized possible wrongdoing by the president in their coverage, Fox News hedged on Comey's accusations and removed context for some of his statements.

...to dismiss a lawsuit that accused President Trump of violating the Constitution by continuing to own and profit from his businesses, arguing in part that, even if he had broken the law, it would be up to Congress, not a federal judge, to act.

“The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has been a funder of terrorism at a very high level,” Trump said

Worry is increasing among conservatives inside and outside the Capitol that the bill is “tipping toward the moderates"

"[W]e heard you, Mr. Secretary, just say, 'We'd love your support.' For what? We don’t even know. We have no idea what’s being proposed," McCaskill said. "There’s a group of guys in a back room somewhere that are making these decisions. There were no hearings in the House."

He hinted again that he had tapes of his private talks with the former F.B.I. chief that would disprove Mr. Comey’s account, but declined to confirm the existence of any recordings.

“Well, I'm committing the United States, and have committed, but I'm committing the United States to Article 5”

But here’s the problem: The conversations between Trump and Comey were not classified. Moreover, because the president himself has publicly referred to the conversations in question, he has already waived any claim for executive privilege.

The House requested Comey and the White House provide the records, including tapes if they exist, by June 23.

There is always something obscene about the abuse of power, even if it isn’t sexual.

With considerable enthusiasm, some in Europe interpreted the election results as a decisive rejection of a hard Brexit by British voters.

Trump isn’t the only president to have faced harsh criticisms just months into office. At this point in former President Barack Obama's tenure as the leader of the free world, right-wing news outlets were condemning his use of Dijon mustard as a condiment. Yes, really.

He declined, for example, to answer a question in open session about Vnesheconombank (VEB), a Russian government-owned development bank linked to President Vladimir Putin. Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met last year with VEB executives.

Theresa May has said she will put together a government with the support of the Democratic Unionists that can provide "certainty" for the future.

“Twitter helped make Donald Trump president. It may also lead to his impeachment.”

Rather than clarity, Britain is staring at an even more complicated predicament, troubled by questions about what sort of government will emerge and whether the shape of the withdrawal negotiations will be altered.

The ruling Conservative Party (nicknamed the Tories) thought it was going to increase its numbers in Parliament, but has instead lost seats - and its slim majority

Trump initially took sides with the Saudi-led group before apparently being nudged into a more even-handed approach when U.S. defense officials renewed praise of Doha, mindful of the major U.S. military base hosted by Qatar

...saying Trump wasn’t “steeped in the long-running protocols” of how to interact with law enforcement and is “new at this.”

(1) Not ONE Committee Republican alleged that Comey lied—or that Trump told the truth—in their "he said/he said." ALL accepted Comey's word.

Mr. Comey did not say exactly what he believed was incorrect about the article, which was based on information from four current and former American officials, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information was classified.

Gowdy would replace outgoing Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who will resign at the end of June.

This is part of an ongoing process of Republicans lowering the bar for Trump’s statements and conduct in a way that is both nonsensical and dangerous.

The vote is a significant step for a measure that still faces long odds of becoming law because of the slim majority that Republicans hold in the Senate.

The president decided ahead of time that he would not live-tweet the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing ... and watched some of the proceedings in a White House dining room surrounded by aides and lawyers.

In the letter, Kasowitz attempts to frame former FBI director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee this morning as a win for his client, and it’s such an amusingly desperate fumble that we couldn’t help taking him down a peg.

I am Marc Kasowitz, Predisent Trump's personal lawyer.

“No, I can definitively say the president is not a liar,” Sanders told reporters at the White House during an off-camera briefing Thursday. “It’s frankly insulting that that question would be asked.”

“This should only take a minute. Thanks.”

"...the administration then chose to defame me and more importantly the FBI by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. Those were lies, plain and simple."

Trump issued a statement on Wednesday mourning the attacks, but added: “We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.”

"Comey Covfefe Specials"

...polls show the race has unexpectedly tightened over the past few weeks, leading to a much closer battle than anyone expected.

(1) Obstruction of Justice IS a legal term and federal criminal statute. It has a strict legal definition. It is NOT open to interpretation.

White House aides are trying to keep Trump busy Thursday morning with meetings so he won't watch TV and tweet during the hearing. "But if he wants to watch it, it's not like we can say, ‘oh, the TV doesn't work,’" one official said.

...researchers at the Atlantic Council, a think tank, excavated the root of one such fake story, involving an incident in the Black Sea in which a Russian warplane repeatedly buzzed a United States Navy destroyer, the Donald Cook.

The attacks unfolded as a number of gunmen stormed the main gate of the parliament building in central Tehran and opened fire. At the same time, a shooting spree targeted Imam Khomeini’s shrine about 25 kilometers away in south Tehran.

"What you’re seeing is a president who is now very publicly learning about the way people react to what he considers to be normal New York City conversation"

No explanation for the cancelation was given, despite the fact that the interview had already been promoted on the air on Tuesday.

A few moments later, the President said, "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty." I didn't move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence. I do not know how many hours passed as we sat there, staring and unmoving. Though it was night, the shadows seemed to lengthen and the candlelight flickered 'gainst the wall. When had the stewards lit the candles? I sat, paralyzed by my own horror or some eldritch secret I cannot fathom. At times the face of my puissant companion seemed nothing more than a mask from out of something older, more alien, peered ever into my own transfixed gaze. And then, with a start, I saw something move! Atop his head—it was—but no, my thoughts recoil, my memos fail, a horror too great to utter.

January 6 Briefing: Creating written records immediately after one-on-one conversations with Mr. Trump was my practice from that point forward. This had not been my practice in the past.

Trump, by refusing to sell off his companies or place them in a blind trust, is in ongoing violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause — which prohibits the president from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments

Senate Republicans are closing in on a bill to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, diverging from the House on pre-existing medical conditions and maintaining federal subsidies

This is the fourth missile test since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office in May.

"Donald, under no circumstances will we pay for this stupid, useless, racist monument"

“At the end of the day, we have a lot of leverage on the Qataris and they are not going to walk away. But the president has thrown fuel on the fire. If we are going to build a coalition to fight extremism, you have to smooth over differences, and this is going to inflame them.”

China has not explicitly criticized the US decision to leave the agreement. But Xi's meeting with Brown could easily be interpreted as a thinly veiled message to the Trump administration: China believes climate change is a problem and doesn't think the US is doing enough to solve it.

"I've never seen hatred like this, and to me they're not even people. It's so, so sad, I mean morality is just gone, morals have flown out the window we deserve so much better than this as a country."

One by one this winter, then-FBI Director James B. Comey pulled aside three of the bureau’s top officials for private chats.

U.S. Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub told Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) that his office lacks jurisdiction to examine whether benefits Trump gets from federal government dealings with his private businesses run afoul of the domestic emoluments clause in the Constitution.

Mexico agreed to demands from the United States to cut exports of refined sugar, striking a deal on Tuesday in a contentious trade negotiation that was closely watched as a prologue to talks on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

And while donors to the Eric Trump Foundation were told their money was going to help sick kids, more than $500,000 was re-donated to other charities, many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests

Mr. Comey believed Mr. Sessions should protect the F.B.I. from White House influence, the officials said, and pulled him aside after a meeting in February to tell him that private interactions between the F.B.I. director and the president were inappropriate.

...lawyers for several users he has blocked argued that his account was a “public forum” from which the government may not constitutionally exclude people because it disagrees with views they have expressed.

The education secretary repeatedly said that any school "receiving federal funding is required to follow federal law," but said federal law is unclear on protections for LGBTQ students.

...the attorney general offered to resign out of a sense of obligation because he was aware of how angered Trump was about his decision to recuse from the Russia investigations

With Trump in the White House, there’s seemingly not much point in Republicans trying to pick a fight over this, and it should have been pretty smooth sailing. Except the White House can’t even agree on what it’s doing.

...the president is expected to speak at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Comey is scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate intelligence committee beginning at 10 a.m. that day.

“The concerns were, ‘The guy won’t pay and he won’t listen’”

The disclosure of Saudi spending, however, could spark fresh debate about President Trump’s decision to retain ownership of his real-estate and branding empire while serving in the White House.

Haley used Venezuela's alleged human rights violations as an example of anti-Israel bias.

“I will not tolerate my peers and I being shamed for voicing our opinions. My generation is the future. I will be working and living in a society created by today’s decisions. So why shouldn’t I be able to speak my truth?”

"I've been in motorcades for a couple of years now ... I've never seen so many people flip the bird at an American motorcade as I saw today"

Trump's entire policy agenda depends on thinking terrorism is a huge, world-swallowing "big deal" — and Khan's pleas for calm vigilance are a threat to that mindset.

...the Trump Organization announced plans for a new three-star hotel chain with a patriotic flair, echoing President Trump’s campaign slogan about putting America first

There is no $110 billion deal. Instead, there are a bunch of letters of interest or intent, but not contracts.

...blaming him for various troubles that have plagued the White House.

I see an angry man lashing out at enemies real and imagined — a man dangerously overwhelmed.

As the head of the embassy ... it was Rank’s responsibility to deliver a formal notification of the U.S. intention to withdraw from the climate pact. ... Rank was unwilling to deliver the demarche.

“When you have a special relationship it is no different from when you have got a close mate. You stand with them in times of adversity but you call them out when they are wrong. There are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong.”

The U.S. Government Agency determined that six individuals printed this reporting. WINNER was one of these six individuals. A further audit of the six individuals' desk computers revealed that WINNER had e-mail contact with the News Outlet.

Reality Leigh Winner, 25, a contractor with Pluribus International Corporation in Georgia, is accused of "removing classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet"

The report indicates that Russian hacking may have penetrated further into U.S. voting systems than was previously understood.

Trump endorsed a proposal on Monday to privatize air traffic control ... But Mr. Trump’s announcement did not have any binding effect, and Democrats are all but certain to reject his proposal.

...they will rule on whether a search warrant should be required before authorities obtain information from mobile-phone companies that can reflect a user's approximate movements in the past.

The countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain — released separate and apparently coordinated statements saying they would cut air, sea and land links with Qatar

...all of Trump's tweets should be formatted as official presidential statements, "because he's President."

Trump doubled down on his incorrect characterization of comments by London Mayor Sadiq Khan

Of the 559 positions ... Trump has announced 117 people to fill the positions

...the president also disappointed—and surprised—his own top national security officials by failing to include the language reaffirming the so-called Article 5 provision in his speech.

—George Conway, husband of Kellyanne Conway and until last week under consideration to head the Justice Department’s Civil Division

Next week, those suing are expected to file arguments on the matter with the Supreme Court, and Trump’s latest remarks will surely be a part of their briefs.

—Neal Katyal, attorney representing Hawaii in their challenge to the revised travel ban

Vnesheconombank, or VEB, is no normal bank. It is wholly owned by the Russian state. It is intertwined with Russian intelligence. And the Russian prime minister is, by law, the chairman of its supervisory board.

...businesses on both sides of the border are watching to gauge what the sugar negotiations signal about Washington’s approach to renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“Do you think we’re gathering compromising information on all of them right now or something? Are you all — have you all lost your senses over there?”

But this is vintage Trump — impulsive and cruel, without an ounce of class or human decency.

"Mr. President, every day we are having a gun debate because every day 90 people in our country die from gun violence. Many of them are kids"

...the mayor “has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump's ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks.”

The low-tech but high-profile attack will raise questions about how British security services failed to stop yet another mass-casualty strike after years of thwarting such attempts.

Bad leaders are an effect before they are a cause — an effect of people who are ready to self-destruct. They don’t arise in a vacuum.

Their liberal base, emboldened by Senator Bernie Sanders’s forceful advocacy of government-backed health care last year, is increasingly unsatisfied with the Affordable Care Act and is demanding more drastic changes to the private health insurance system.

Three attackers drove a white van into pedestrians on London Bridge on Saturday night and stabbed people at nearby Borough Market, killing at least seven people and injuring 48

“In some ways,” he added, “it’s become yet another of the long list of litmus test issues that determine whether or not you’re a good Republican.”

...the three attackers, who were later found to be wearing fake explosive vests, were shot and killed.

Many people blasted Trump for making an international tragedy about himself

Spicer has repeatedly argued to reporters that the executive order is not a "travel ban"

Saturday’s attack was the third in a series of recent similar incidents, including a suicide bombing that killed 22 people in Manchester May 22 and an attack that claimed five victims and injured dozens outside the British parliament in central London on March 22.

...the uncertain status of the cost-sharing payments now looms as the biggest threat to the stability of the insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act.

The French video goes on to refute the main arguments in the US video using new slides with text edits.

...arguing that the rules for such forms are so ambiguous that a lawsuit challenging the disclosure must be thrown out.

The resolution, adopted unanimously by the 15-member council, sanctions four entities, including the Koryo Bank and Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army, and 14 people, including the head of Pyongyang's overseas spying operations.

We imagine the villains of history as cunning strategists, brilliant masterminds of horror. ... But a careful reading of contemporary accounts will show that both Hitler and Stalin struck many of their countrymen as men of limited ability, education and imagination — and, indeed, as being incompetent in government and military leadership.

Trump is used to being a king ... Unfortunately for Trump’s ambitions, that’s not how the American government works.

Macron's eloquent speech prompted people to take to Twitter in droves to hail his proficiency in the English language as superior to that of Donald Trump.

...engaging in the same practice that President Trump has accused the Obama administration of abusing

In the years before running for president, he called it “nonexistent,” “mythical” and a “a total con job.”

...after President Trump announced his intent to nominate another Richard Spencer to be secretary of the Navy.

...Richard V. Spencer, an investment banker and retired Marine aviator

“I don’t think we’re going to change our ongoing efforts to reduce those emissions in the future either, so hopefully, people can keep it in perspective”

In terms of politics, this means that Trump’s abandonment of the Paris Agreement ... could well be a live issue during the next presidential campaign.

Pence says the climate deal would have burdened taxpayers and he doesn’t understand why Democrats have made the issue a priority.

The declaration amounts to a new level of partisanship in Washington

Trump’s administration moved quickly to try and lift economic sanctions on Russia and other punishments ... as soon as it took office in January

The bank maintained this week that the session was held as part of a new business strategy and was conducted with Kushner in his role as the head of his family’s real estate business.

The government’s filing late Thursday asks the justices to set aside the 4th Circuit ruling and accept the case for oral arguments. It also asks the high court to lift a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in a separate Hawaii case.

Trump frequently relied on dubious facts and unbalanced claims to make his case that the agreement would hurt the U.S. economy

Trump has created a vacuum of global leadership that presents ripe opportunities to allies and adversaries alike to reorder the world’s power structure.

On Wednesday, the California Republican appeared to dive back into that inquiry, exercising his authority as chairman to unilaterally issue subpoenas to the intelligence community for information on the alleged improper “unmasking” of Trump campaign officials

“Our tax bill is moving along in Congress, and I believe it’s doing very well”

The new coalition, called the United States Climate Alliance, will serve as a way for states interested in dealing with climate change to coordinate

Final details are still being worked out and no official date for his testimony has been set.

“There is no such thing as a retroactive waiver,” Mr. Shaub said in an interview. “If you need a retroactive waiver, you have violated a rule.”

“Make our planet great again.”

Incidentally, NOAA Is predicting an above-average hurricane season this year. Trump's proposed budget has targeted both agencies for cuts.

This is a call to arms.

The party simply does not believe climate change is a serious problem.

The leaders of France, Germany and Italy said in a joint statement that they regretted the United States' decision to withdraw from the accord, but affirmed "our strongest commitment" to implement its measures

Trump said he wanted to negotiate a better deal for the United States

There were times when on-air stupidity of this sort was ignorable, back when presidents could identify propaganda.

Trump made the decision to defer action on the embassy “to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians”

Putin of Russia denied any state role on Thursday but said that “patriotically minded” private Russian hackers could have been involved.