TOP STORIES
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ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS RECUSES HIMSELF FROM INVESTIGATIONS INTO 2016 CAMPAIGN, TIES WITH RUSSIA Bowing to bipartisan pressure following news that Sessions had met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak twice in 2016 after telling the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath that he hadn’t had any communications with Russians. Sen. Al Franken, who asked the Russia question in Sessions’ hearing, wants to know why he didn’t come clean earlier. President Donald Trump said he had “total” confidence in Sessions. Here are four ways Congress could investigate potential Russian election meddling. And check out this timeline of Sessions’ meetings with Kislyak, a list of other administrative officials who have met with him, as well as an explainer on just who the Russian ambassador is. [HuffPost]
INDIANAPOLIS STAR: MIKE PENCE USED PRIVATE EMAIL FOR STATE BUSINESS AS GOVERNOR, WAS HACKED And yes, Pence was critical of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. You can read the full report here. [HuffPost]
THE SEARCH FOR THE ‘SECRET’ GOP OBAMACARE BILL Some Republicans were able to read drafts of the proposed GOP Obamacare bill in an undisclosed location. Democrats and Rand Paul went in search for the mystery bill Thursday, and shenanigans involving transportable scanners and soliloquies to statues of Lincoln abounded. [HuffPost]
DREAMER ABOUT TO BE DEPORTED WITHOUT A HEARING AFTER SPEAKING TO THE MEDIA “A 22-year-old undocumented immigrant arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Jackson, Mississippi, on Wednesday after speaking to the media about her family’s detention is set to be deported without a court hearing, her attorney said on Thursday.” [HuffPost]
‘ACTIVISTS, DOCTORS JOIN FORCES TO STOP ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S MOST RESTRICTIVE ABORTION BANS’ “Pennsylvania could ban abortions after 20 weeks and criminalize a medically accepted abortion method.” [HuffPost]
JUDGE IN CASEY ANTHONY CASE: MOM LIKELY KILLED HER DAUGHTER BY ACCIDENT The retired Florida judge offered his theory almost six years after the acquittal of Casey Anthony in the death of her daughter, Caylee. [HuffPost]
YES, INTERIOR SECRETARY RYAN ZINKE SHOWED UP TO HIS FIRST DAY OF WORK... ON A HORSE Honestly, you couldn’t make up the news of the past 24 hours. People wouldn’t believe you. [HuffPost]
WHAT’S BREWING
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‘THE EPIDEMIC OF GAY LONELINESS’ “Gay people are now, depending on the study, between 2 and 10 times more likely than straight people to commit suicide.” [HuffPost]
JANE FONDA OPENS UP ABOUT PAST RAPE AND ABUSE “I’ve been raped, I’ve been sexually abused as a child and I’ve been fired because I wouldn’t sleep with my boss,” Fonda said. “I always thought it was my fault; that I didn’t do or say the right thing.” [HuffPost]
WE MIGHT HAVE A ‘GAME OF THRONES’ RELEASE DATE And it’s a bit later than May... [HuffPost]
WE CAN’T BELIEVE WE ARE SAYING THIS But these cockroaches are cute? [HuffPost]
‘WESTWORLD’ MIGHT BE MORE REAL THAN WE THINK A sex doll brothel is opening in Barcelona. [HuffPost]
THAT SILK SHIRT YOU’RE WEARING? Worm spit made that happen. Sorry. And want more bizarre news? Check out our Weird News email.[HuffPost]
BEFORE YOU GO
~ We’re not crying, you’re crying over Viola Davis’ only childhood photo.
~ This video of a turkey mob is truly terrifying.
~ Wait ― what color are these strawberries?
~ We’re with Deadspin ― this is may be the coolest thing we’ve ever seen a baseball prospect, nay a human being, do.
~ Ellen DeGeneres finally taught George W. Bush how to put on a poncho.
~ Did Ed Sheeran just give away when we can expect new Taylor Swift music?
~ The truth behind this baby orangutan giving a thumbs up is pretty dark.
~ Here’s Jimmy Kimmel telling the longform version of how the impossible happened Oscars night.
~ We love Chrissy Teigen’s frankness about having help in order to do it all.
~ American hero Tom Hanks gave the White House Press Corps a coffee machine.
~ And Lorde has graced us all with a new single.
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