News

Reuters reports: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ testimony that he opposed a proposal for President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign team to meet with Russians has been contradicted by three people who told Reuters they have spoken about the matter to investigators with Special Counsel Robert Mueller or congressional committees. Sessions testified before Congress in November 2017 that he “pushed back” …

GOP Sen. Rand Paul today published a blistering op-ed attacking Trump’s pick to head the CIA. An excerpt: Over the past several days, there has been an increasingly granular debate about the degree of Gina Haspel’s participation in the torturing of detainees at the CIA’s Thailand “black site,” with neocons going out of their way to try to defend the …

CNN reports: With an assist from President Trump, James Comey’s book is surging on the best sellers list. The book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” won’t be released until April 17. But on Sunday morning it was No. 2 on Amazon’s constantly updated list of best sellers. The ranking reflects a sudden spike in pre-orders. On Saturday morning, …

The Associated Press reports: When the Kushner Cos. bought three apartment buildings in a gentrifying neighborhood of Queens in 2015, most of the tenants were protected by special rules that prevent developers from pushing them out, raising rents and turning a tidy profit. But that’s exactly what the company then run by Jared Kushner did, and with remarkable speed. Two …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump is “engaged in desperate and reckless conduct” against the law enforcement entities investigating his 2016 campaign, Senate minority Whip Dick Durbin said Sunday morning, actions that should push Congress to take steps to protect the office of special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump lashed out earlier Sunday against Mueller, accusing the lifelong Republican of filling his …

The Hill reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday said he believes the Senate Judiciary Committee should hold a hearing on the firing of former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe. “I think we owe it to the average American to have a hearing in the judiciary committee where Attorney General Sessions comes forward with whatever documentation he has about the …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a Republican candidate for Florida governor, attended the Republican Party of Palm Beach County’s Lincoln Day Dinner on Friday night at Mar-a-Lago. The sold-out event was headlined by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Putnam tweeted thanks to host Donald Trump Jr. last night with a photo that included Mark Foley, the …

Mother Jones reports: The Trump administration has launched a commission at the Interior Department to promote big-game trophy hunting and the “economic benefits that result from US citizens traveling to foreign nations to engage in hunting.” The council, which will cost taxpayers $250,000 a year, is charged with making recommendations to Secretary Ryan Zinke about removing barriers to importing trophy …

The Associated Press reports: An engineer left a voicemail two days before a catastrophic bridge failure in Miami to say some cracking had been found at one end of the concrete span, but the voicemail wasn’t picked up until after the collapse, Florida Department of Transportation officials said Friday. The voicemail left on a landline wasn’t heard by a state …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump is moving his fight to keep Stormy Daniels silent about their alleged affair to federal court — and she’s now threatened with $20 million in damages if she doesn’t keep her mouth shut. The lawsuit that Daniels filed last week in California state court was moved to federal court in Los Angeles by Essential Consultants …

The Hill reports: Fox News chief news anchor Shepard Smith announced Friday afternoon he was taking a “previously-planned one-week vacation” and joked that when he returns “everything will be peachy-keen & hunky-dory.” The announcement comes just hours after fellow Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham slammed Smith as “clueless” about what the opinion side of the network does …

Talking Points Memo reports: Asked about claims that porn actress Stephanie Clifford, who uses the stage name Stormy Daniels, was physically threatened in order to keep quiet about her alleged affair with President Donald Trump, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee on Friday said that the White House does not condone any threats. “Obviously we take the safety and security …

Earlier this week we noted that MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki had stolen the show with his coverage of the Pennsylvania House race. Today MSNBC has posted a tribute to Kornacki which breaks down his coffee, espresso, and macchiato consumption as the show rolled into the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Judging by the network’s well-wishes, it appears that Kornacki has since …

Mueller, Mueller, Mueller: Today’s briefing will most likely include questions about the reports that special counsel Robert Mueller is subpoenaing the Trump Organization for documents about the president’s business ventures in Russia. President Donald Trump has said that investigations into his family’s finances should be off limits to the special counsel, though Mueller, undaunted, is moving ahead. This could certainly …

Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post reports: Vanessa Trump hired a criminal defense attorney to represent her in her divorce from Donald Trump Jr. just as special counsel Robert Mueller subpoenaed the president’s family business, The Post has learned. White Plains, NY-based lawyer David Feureisen is representing Vanessa Trump, according to paperwork filed in Manhattan Supreme Court late Thursday. Vanessa and …

Mediaite reports: Video outlet NowThis put together a stunning supercut of Fox News anchors talking about the prospect of the U.S. president meeting with North Korea’s leader — and there’s an astonishing discrepancy between their reactions, based on which president it was. When Barack Obama suggested that he would meet with North Korea without preconditions, Fox News absolutely skewered him. …

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reports: Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, who had represented the Rochester area in Congress since 1987, has died. She was 88. Three sources confirmed the death to the Democrat and Chronicle Friday morning. Her office later released a statement confirming her passing. Her office revealed earlier this week that she had suffered a head injury after …

Pittsburgh’s CBS affiliate reports: In his first TV interview since election day, Republican Rick Saccone says it’s way too early to call it quits in his nail-biter race with Democrat Conor Lamb. “You haven’t conceded, right?” KDKA political editor Jon Delano asked Saccone on Thursday night. “That’s right. We’re still going through the process. It’s not over yet, said Saccone, …

USA Today reports: The lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels said Friday that his client had been physically threatened to remain silent over her alleged affair with Donald Trump. Lawyer Michael Avenatti, appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program, did not elaborate on who made the alleged threat and whether it occurred before or after she signed a non-disclosure agreement with …

The Washington Post reports: For a week, the world has waited: When would “60 Minutes” air its interview with porn star Stormy Daniels alleging an affair with President Trump? CBS has been silent. Now there is a planned date, March 25, according to two people familiar with the timing. Daniels’s attorney, Michael Avenatti, heightened the suspense. After Daniels sat for …