Politico reports: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Thursday asked special counsel Robert Mueller whether his team reviewed President Trump’s taxes as part of their investigation into Russian election interference as Trump said he assumed they had. Klobuchar, who is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, wrote to Mueller seeking information on whether investigators obtained Trump’s personal tax returns or …

Charlotte’s ABC affiliate reports: The suspected gunman behind a shooting at the University of North Carolina Charlotte allegedly researched the Sandy Hook school shooting, sources tell a local CBS affiliate. Trystan Terrell, 22, is accused of killing two students and wounding four others on Tuesday. The sources told the television station that Terrell made a full confession to police and …

The Washington Post reports: Facebook said on Thursday it has permanently banned several far-right figures and organizations including Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Infowars host Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Laura Loomer, for being “dangerous,” a sign that the social network is more aggressively enforcing its hate speech policies under pressure from civil rights groups. Facebook had removed the …

Newsweek reports: A man has been found guilty of threatening to record himself beheading Vermont senator and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in the style of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS). Robert Francis Pratersch, 57, of Kissimmee, Florida, has been convicted of threatening a federal official and interstate transmission of a threat to injure after leaving at least three …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump on Thursday announced new ‘conscience’ protections for health providers during a speech in front of faith leaders gathered for the National Day of Prayer. Ahead of the announcement, conservative groups who have raised what they perceive as religious liberty concerns have welcomed the rule, which was first proposed last year, while LGBT and other …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Thursday took aim at the investigations into his administration during a National Day of Prayer event, telling attendees that he has survived the “witch hunts” in part by thinking about God. “People say, ‘How do you get through that whole stuff. How do you go through those witch hunts and everything else?’ ” Trump …

The New York Times reports: President Trump said he would not nominate Stephen Moore for a seat on the Federal Reserve board after several Republican lawmakers raised concerns about the conservative economist’s previous comments denigrating women. Mr. Moore, who continued to insist as recently as Thursday that he retained Mr. Trump’s support, appeared unlikely to win Senate confirmation after Republican …

The Independent reports: A right-wing activist who was wearing a swastika necklace in the middle of Union Square, Manhattan, has been pelted with eggs by a bystander. The man wearing the swastika has been identified as 26-year-old Jovanni Valle, a renowned Trump supporter who has attended far-right and white nationalist rallies. In the clip, which was shared on Twitter on …

Politico reports: During a closed-door meeting on Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Attorney General William Barr of committing a crime by lying to Congress. “We saw [Barr] commit a crime when he answered your question,” Pelosi told Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) during a private caucus meeting Thursday morning, according to two sources present for the gathering. Pelosi’s comment was an …

Fox News reports: A man was arrested in Washington state on Wednesday after reportedly making death threats against conservative talk show host Ben Shapiro. Shapiro told Fox News he couldn’t comment on pending legal proceedings but confirmed the situation, as reported by TMZ, on Twitter, thanking law enforcement “for their quick and hard work here.” The suspect reportedly threatened both …

The Netherlands Times reports: American preacher Steven Anderson will not be allowed into the Netherlands and the rest of the Schengen area, State Secretary Mark Harbers of Justice and Security said on Wednesday in response to parliamentary questions. According to Harbers, the government is “taking strong action against extremist speakers who, by spreading their beliefs, restrict the freedoms of others …

Mediaite reports: Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) brought props to the House Judiciary Committee hearing that Attorney General William Barr cancelled on: a ceramic chicken and a jumbo bucket of KFC. The spin House Democrats want to convey is clear: that Barr is too scared to appear for questioning on his handling of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and report. Rep. …

Helena’s NBC News affiliate reports: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock will announce his bid for the presidency in two weeks, MTN News has learned — adding to the 20 Democrats already running for the 2020 nomination to challenge President Trump. Bullock, a two-term governor who can’t run for re-election in 2020 because of term limits, isn’t talking publicly yet about his …

The Hill reports: “Imagine, Rachel, that you had one of the Democratic nominees for 2020 on your show and that person said, ‘You know, the only other adversary of ours who is anywhere near as good as the Russians is China,'” Hillary Clinton said last night during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “‘So why should Russia have all the …

The New York Times reports: Michael Bennet, the moderate, studious Democratic senator from Colorado known for his work on education and immigration reform, announced his candidacy for president on Thursday. He joins a field so crowded with candidates that it now includes six of his colleagues in the Senate and his former boss, John Hickenlooper, a past governor of Colorado. …

An excerpt from Time‘s cover story: To some Americans, Buttigieg may just be the man to vanquish America’s demons. In a field of more than 20 ­candidates­—including six Senators, four Congressmen, two governors and a former Vice ­President—Buttigieg (pronounced Boot-edge-edge) has vaulted from near total obscurity toward the front of the Democratic pack, running ahead of or even with more …

CNN reports: Russia is one step closer to creating its own, independent internet—at least legally speaking. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law new measures that would enable the creation of a national network, able to operate separately from the rest of the world, according to documents posted on a government portal on Wednesday. For now, the network remains …

The Associated Press reports: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has confirmed that he will fight extradition to the United States, where he is accused of conspiring to hack a government computer. At a court hearing Thursday, Assange said he would not surrender to extradition for doing what he called “journalism that has won many awards.” Assange appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court …

Yahoo News reports: An attorney representing Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann said Wednesday that he filed a $275 million defamation lawsuit against NBC Universal on Sandmann’s behalf. The complaint accuses NBC Universal of attacking Sandmann in its coverage by “relying heavily on biased and unreliable sources without conducting any reasonable investigation of the circumstances surrounding the January 18 …

CBS News reports: 2020 Democratic hopeful and former Vice President Joe Biden said he thought Attorney General William Barr should resign after his testimony Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I think he’s lost the confidence of the American people, I think he should” resign, Biden told reporters in Des Moines, Iowa. iden’s call for Barr to resign followed many …