NBC News reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recusal leaves any Justice Department investigation of alleged Russian election interference temporarily in the hands of an official who began his career as a prosecutor under President Ronald Reagan and was promoted by Barack Obama. That means it’s the job of Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente to oversee any investigations related to …

CNN reports: Russia’s foreign minister pushed back Friday at assertions that his country’s US ambassador is a spy, and echoed US President Donald Trump’s contention that the controversy over contacts between Kremlin officials and Trump’s campaign is “a witch hunt.” “The ambassadors are appointed in order to maintain relationships,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference in …

Peter Montgomery reports at Right Wing Watch: More than 150 members of the secretive right-wing network known as the Council for National Policy have signed a letter calling on President Trump to sign an executive order “protecting the practical exercise of religious freedom,” something Religious Right leaders have been clamoring for since Trump took office. On Wednesday, Fox News pundit …

The Indianapolis Star reports: Vice President Mike Pence routinely used a private email account to conduct public business as governor of Indiana, at times discussing sensitive matters and homeland security issues. Emails released to IndyStar in response to a public records request show Pence communicated via his personal AOL account with top advisers on topics ranging from security gates at …

“Disney has aired a cartoon with same-sex couples kissing. It has also been announced that their new movie ‘Beauty and the Beast’ will feature a gay character in an attempt to normalize this lifestyle. They’re trying to push the LGBT agenda into the hearts and minds of your children—watch out! Disney has the right to make their cartoons, it’s a …

The Indy Channel reports: Before walking into Downtown Olly’s bar Sunday night, Indiana State Police say Brandon Savage called them, saying he was “getting ready to go into a gay bar and shoot everyone. It’s going to be like Orlando.” According to a probable cause affidavit, Savage told police he was armed with a Glock, a Derringer and a machete. …

So this happened right before Sessions recused himself. The Hill reports: President Trump said Thursday that he has “total” confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions, dismissing bipartisan calls for Sessions to recuse himself from federal investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump told reporters he “wasn’t aware” of Sessions’ conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., …

From the Daily Beast: Attorney General Jeff Sessions will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, amid a firestorm over The Washington Post’s report that he had spoken with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, twice last year while also serving in a senior surrogate role on President Donald Trump’s campaign. During his confirmation hearing on …

The New York Daily News reports: Alt-right news website Breitbart, under the leadership of Stephen Bannon, filed to acquire the trademark rights to the term “Big Gay Hate Machine,” documents obtained by the Daily News show. Breitbart News filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the offensive term on May 20, 2015, according to records from the …

Nothing is surprising anymore. Nothing. Via Mediaite: Back on October 11th of last year, exactly four weeks before his father’s victory in the presidential election, Donald Trump, Jr. spoke at an event in Paris held by the Center of Political and Foreign Affairs (CPFA), a French think tank. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal published a report further scrutinizing the …

USA Today reports: The Senate has confirmed former Texas governor Rick Perry to serve as Energy secretary under President Trump. The vote was 62-37 on Thursday. Perry — who once pledged to eliminate the department — has repeatedly promised be an advocate for the agency and to protect the nation’s nuclear stockpile. Perry also has said he’d rely on federal …

The Austin Statesman reports: U.S. Sen Ted Cruz said Thursday that calls for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign or recuse himself from an investigation of ties between the Russian government and the Trump campaign were “political theater,” and that Sessions’ meeting with the Russian ambassador during the campaign — that he failed to disclose at his Senate confirmation hearing …

The Hill reports: The White House is dismissing calls for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. “There’s nothing to recuse himself,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in an interview with Fox News that aired late Thursday morning. “He was 100 percent straight with the committee, and …

ABC News reports: Sen. Chuck Schumer today joined several Democratic lawmakers in calling for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ resignation amid reports that he met with the Russian ambassador to the United States on two occasions, despite denying during his confirmation hearing that he had made contact with Russian officials. “The information reported last night makes it clear beyond the shadow …

Venerable newsman Dan Rather went to town on Jeff Sessions this morning. From his Facebook page: Every once in a while in Washington, the fuse is lit for what seems to be a big scandal. Much more rarely does that fuse lead to an explosion of the magnitude we are seeing with Russia and the new Administration, and frankly the …

Bloomberg reports: House Republican leaders have a new version of their major Obamacare repeal and replacement bill. They just don’t want you to see it. The document is being treated a bit like a top-secret surveillance intercept. It is expected to be available to members and staffers on the House Energy and Commerce panel starting Thursday, but only in a …

The Associated Press reports: The intense attention being given to the new U.S. attorney general’s meetings with Russia’s ambassador could obstruct improved Washington-Moscow relations, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. The spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters he did not know about the meetings last year between Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Jeff Sessions, who at that time was …

The Washington Post reports: Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was confirmed Thursday as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, bringing into President Trump’s cabinet a Washington outsider with no prior government experience and a staunchly conservative view of public assistance. Support for Carson’s confirmation came down largely along party lines, highlighting the intense partisan and ideological conflicts …

Mediaite reports: NBC caught up with Attorney General Jeff Sessions this morning, just hours after a Washington Post report said that Sessions did not disclose contact he had with the Russian ambassador during the campaign when he was going through his Senate Judiciary hearing to become the nation’s top prosecutor. “Well I have not met with any Russians at any …

Business Insider reports: The head of the House oversight committee on Thursday morning said Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from the investigations into Russia’s election-related hacking and communications with President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, said on Twitter that “AG Sessions should clarify his testimony and recuse himself.” House Majority …