First Run News

NEW YORK — President Trump offered a simple defense Thursday to accusations he broke campaign finance law by directing attorney Michael Cohen to orchestrate hush-money payments to conceal Trump’s alleged affairs: He was following terrible advice from a bad lawyer. ‘‘I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. It is called ‘advice of counsel,’ ” Trump wrote on Twitter. The advice-of-counsel defense is a real thing. But Trump’s ability to use it, if he were ever formally accused of a crime, is far from certain.

JOAN VENNOCHI If Warren wants to run for president, she should.  Editorial The Trump administration’s “public charge” rule is chilling and cruel, and letters from Massachusetts officials show how the policy would hurt immigrants.  Opinion | Laurence H. Tribe Our country’s governing document makes good on the promise that no one is above the law.   Warren is highlighting ties to black leaders and emphasizing her work on legislation that would probably appeal to black Democrats.  Your Week Ahead Take in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” or the MatzoBall, Jimmy Tingle Standup, and more.

JOAN VENNOCHI If Warren wants to run for president, she should.  Editorial The Trump administration’s “public charge” rule is chilling and cruel, and letters from Massachusetts officials show how the policy would hurt immigrants.  Opinion | Laurence H. Tribe Our country’s governing document makes good on the promise that no one is above the law.   Warren is highlighting ties to black leaders and emphasizing her work on legislation that would probably appeal to black Democrats.  Your Week Ahead Take in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” or the MatzoBall, Jimmy Tingle Standup, and more.

JOAN VENNOCHI If Warren wants to run for president, she should.  Editorial The Trump administration’s “public charge” rule is chilling and cruel, and letters from Massachusetts officials show how the policy would hurt immigrants.  Opinion | Laurence H. Tribe Our country’s governing document makes good on the promise that no one is above the law.   Warren is highlighting ties to black leaders and emphasizing her work on legislation that would probably appeal to black Democrats.  Your Week Ahead Take in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” or the MatzoBall, Jimmy Tingle Standup, and more.

JOAN VENNOCHI If Warren wants to run for president, she should.  Editorial The Trump administration’s “public charge” rule is chilling and cruel, and letters from Massachusetts officials show how the policy would hurt immigrants.  Opinion | Laurence H. Tribe Our country’s governing document makes good on the promise that no one is above the law.   Warren is highlighting ties to black leaders and emphasizing her work on legislation that would probably appeal to black Democrats.  Your Week Ahead Take in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” or the MatzoBall, Jimmy Tingle Standup, and more.

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) inspector general announced Friday it would investigate the death of a 7-year-old migrant girl who died after being taken into Border Patrol custody. The watchdog will investigate the circumstances surrounding the girl's death and release a report on its findings, the inspector general's office said in statement. The inspector general said it would also continue its unannounced inspections of U.S.

the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional, saying congressional leaders should now focus on crafting a new health-care law. “As I predicted all along, Obamacare has been struck down as an UNCONSTITUTIONAL disaster! Now Congress must pass a STRONG law that provides GREAT healthcare and protects pre-existing conditions," Trump tweeted. "Mitch and Nancy, get it done!” Trump added, referring to Senate Majority Leader MORE (D-Calif.). U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, an appointee of former President George W.

MORE as his acting White House chief of staff, capping off a week of frenzied speculation about who would take over the key West Wing role. Trump said in a pair of Twitter posts that Mulvaney would start at the beginning of next year after outgoing chief of staff MORE leaves his post. “Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration,” Trump wrote.

A federal judge in Texas on Friday struck down the Affordable Care Act, throwing a new round of uncertainty into the fate of the law just one day before the deadline to sign up for coverage for next year. U.S.

Special counsel MORE on Friday rebuked former national security adviser Michael Flynn for suggesting that FBI agents had duped him into lying about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. “Nothing about the way the interview was arranged or conducted caused the defendant to make false statements to the FBI on January 24,” Mueller wrote in a filing Friday afternoon, asking a federal judge to reject Flynn’s attempt to “minimize the seriousness of those false statements to the FBI.” “The defendant chose to make false statements about his communications with the Russian