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Carol D. Leonnig Josh Dawsey May 10 at 11:05 PM President Trump sought to have former White House counsel Donald McGahn issue a public statement last month that he did not believe the president had engaged in criminal conduct when he sought to exert control over the Russia investigation — a request McGahn declined, according to people familiar with the episode. McGahn had told the special counsel’s office that he…

His initial invocation of the tax code provision — Section 6103 — was novel and set off a flurry of legal scholarship. The section gives the chairmen of Congress’s tax-writing committees unique powers to request information on any taxpayer from the I.R.S. and says only that the executive branch “shall” furnish the material upon request. The House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee routinely use this method to…

Cargo is unloaded from a container ship at the main port terminal in Long Beach, Calif., on Friday. Two days of trade talks between the U.S. and China ended without a deal to avert more tariffs. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Cargo is unloaded from a container ship at the main port terminal in Long Beach, Calif., on Friday. Two days of trade talks between…

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Vice President Joe Biden’s connections to Ukraine have become a subject of deep interest among the president’s political allies. | Ethan Miller/Getty Images President Donald Trump told POLITICO on Friday that it would be “appropriate” for him to speak to Attorney General Bill Barr about launching an investigation into his potential 2020 rival, Joe Biden, or his son, Hunter. The question of whether Trump could pressure Barr to probe Biden…

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. commercial ships including oil tankers sailing through key Middle East waterways could be targeted by Iran in one of the threats to U.S. interests posed by Tehran, the U.S. Maritime Administration said in an advisory. The U.S. military said this week that a number of B-52 bombers would be part of additional forces being sent to the Middle East to counter what the Trump administration calls…

The Chinese markets had a surprisingly good day Friday, given that the U.S. just massively jacked up tariffs against Chinese imports, and the trade negotiations between the two countries appear likely to fail. The Hang Seng Index, having seemed set to plummet around lunchtime, ended up 0.84% up on the day. The Shanghai Composite Index did even better, soaring 3.1% by close. And the positivity may be spreading: the Stoxx…

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The Chinese markets had a surprisingly good day Friday, given that the U.S. just massively jacked up tariffs against Chinese imports, and the trade negotiations between the two countries appear likely to fail. The Hang Seng Index, having seemed set to plummet around lunchtime, ended up 0.84% up on the day. The Shanghai Composite Index did even better, soaring 3.1% by close. And the positivity may be spreading: the Stoxx…

CLOSE Students of the Colorado STEM school shooting stormed out of an “interfaith vigil,” saying their trauma was being politicized. USA TODAY HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — Emotions are running high as prosecutors prepare to bring charges against two teens accused of attacking their suburban Denver charter school earlier this week, killing one classmate and injuring eight others. The pair are due in court Wednesday amid many questions about the shooting, how it…

The Chinese markets had a surprisingly good day Friday, given that the U.S. just massively jacked up tariffs against Chinese imports, and the trade negotiations between the two countries appear likely to fail. The Hang Seng Index, having seemed set to plummet around lunchtime, ended up 0.84% up on the day. The Shanghai Composite Index did even better, soaring 3.1% by close. And the positivity may be spreading: the Stoxx…

President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is on a new mission now that he has finished jousting with the special counsel: stopping former Vice President Joe Biden from becoming the 2020 Democratic nominee. “Explain to me why Biden shouldn’t be investigated,” Giuliani said Friday in a tweet that went on to level allegations against the former vice president, who is now a leading Democratic candidate for president. In a…

One of the students accused of opening fire at a Denver area STEM school, killing one student and wounding eight other people, bullied younger kids and would make jokes about shooting up the school, students said. The suspected shooter, Devon Erickson, “would whisper, like get really close and kinda put his arm around you, and whisper in your ear, ‘don’t come to school tomorrow,’” said Kevin Cole, a former student…

Taylor Telford Damian Paletta May 10 at 9:52 AM President Trump on Friday defended his decision to impose steep tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports and promised much steeper penalties would follow, putting the rest of the world on notice that he will follow through on his protectionist agenda no matter the blowback. In a series of tweets, Trump said that talks with Chinese leaders would continue, but…

In the lead-up to the February summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, North Korean officials reportedly requested “famous basketball players” be sent to North Korea to help mend relations between the two countries. The appeal was made in writing, ABC News reports, and at one point North Korea urged that the request be included in the joint statement on denuclearization. The bid was made as…

President Trump on Thursday distanced his Iran position from that of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton. As Trump put it, “What [Iran] should be doing is calling me up, sitting down, and we can make a deal. A fair deal. We just don’t want them to have nuclear weapons, it’s not too much to ask. And we would help put them back into great…

Although many appeared to be modern, some were 50 years old or more and a few may have been collectibles dating back to the Civil War, KABC-TV reported. ‘‘I had never seen so many weapons in my career of 31 years,’’ police Lt. Chris Ramirez said. ‘‘That’s such a big arsenal in a residence like this, in this type of neighborhood. It’s astounding.’’ One man was arrested at the scene…

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Video James Comey: The FBI doesn’t spy, they investigate Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy says former FBI Director James Comey didn’t think the American people were smart enough to pick a president in 2016 so he put his thumb on the scale. Former FBI Director James Comey described deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as not having “strong character” Thursday while appearing on a CNN town hall telecast. “I think people…