First Run News

DATA: Twitter Daniel McLaughlin / Globe Staff © 2018 Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC

Percipient Strategies specializes in, among other things, identifying potential political and “reputational risk” for its clients.  Ayyadurai — who has three MIT degrees and no political background — apparently doesn’t go by the usual standards to measure support.   A presentation about the plastic bag ban got testy on Monday.   Massachusetts is ground zero in the latest round of the nation’s culture wars.  ‘’Everything about his challenger and her campaign makes me proud,’’ Deval Patrick said in a statement that did not mention Pressley by name.

Gina Haspel promised senators she would never restart an interrogation program in the future, if she is confirmed as director of the CIA.  As if a porn star, Playboy Playmate, and hush money weren’t sexy enough, the probe of the Trump fixer may now have a link to a confidant of Vladimir Putin. Novartis said its agreement with Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s firm was aimed at gaining insight into the administration’s health-care policy.

Gina Haspel promised senators she would never restart an interrogation program in the future, if she is confirmed as director of the CIA.  As if a porn star, Playboy Playmate, and hush money weren’t sexy enough, the probe of the Trump fixer may now have a link to a confidant of Vladimir Putin. Novartis said its agreement with Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s firm was aimed at gaining insight into the administration’s health-care policy.

Gina Haspel promised senators she would never restart an interrogation program in the future, if she is confirmed as director of the CIA.  As if a porn star, Playboy Playmate, and hush money weren’t sexy enough, the probe of the Trump fixer may now have a link to a confidant of Vladimir Putin. Novartis said its agreement with Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s firm was aimed at gaining insight into the administration’s health-care policy.

Secretary of State MORE and the country's leader Kim Jong Un, the State Department said Tuesday. "The Secretary has arrived in DPRK at the invitation of the North Korean leadership," Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the department, said. "He is traveling to prepare for the historic meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un. We have no further announcements." Pompeo's trip to North Korea – his second in roughly a month – came as a relative surprise.

Pastor Mark Harris has upset Rep. Tuesday primary, toppling the incumbent congressman after nearly him in a primary two years ago. Pittenger conceded the race late Tuesday night, telling his supporters he had called Harris. The victory sets Harris up for a tough general election fight that could draw outsized attention. Harris mounted one of the toughest primary challenges to any incumbent congressman against Pittenger in 2016, where he fell just short of beating him.

Stormy Daniels’s attorney Michael Avenatti said Tuesday that MORE’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen received $500,000 in the months after the 2016 election from a company run by a Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Avenatti said the funding may have been used to reimburse the $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels to stay quiet about her alleged affair with Trump. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani revealed last week that Trump had reimbursed Cohen $130,000, which was given to Daniels just days before the 2016 election.

MORE announced on Tuesday that the United States will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Trump had long expressed dismay at the terms of the agreement, negotiated during former President Obama’s second term in office and signed in 2015. Beyond the decision to abandon what he called a “horrible, one-sided deal,” what were the main takeaways from his announcement? A sharp break from Europe The United Kingdom, France, Germany are all signatories to the Iran deal — and had all urged Trump to stay in it, in some shape or form. Recent visits to Washington

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is projected to win the GOP Senate primary, ending Republican fears that ex-coal executive Don Blankenship could win the nomination and blow Republican chances in November for a key Senate seat. The Associated Press called the race at 10:19 p.m. EDT. Morrisey defeated his leading GOP rivals, Blankenship and Rep.