“Bunk”: From P.T. Barnum to the post-truth age

These days renowned poet and cultural critic Kevin Young is one of the most reviled and dismissed of figures: He's a learned expert on fakery. The author of "Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News" began the book six years ago, long before "fake news" became a depressingly common pejorative.

About Time: ABC Suspends Ross Without Pay for Monumentally False Scoop on Flynn

Early Saturday night, ABC suspended chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross for only four weeks without pay for the latest and most egregious error of the journalist's career, falsely claiming on Friday that candidate Donald Trump had instructed Michael Flynn to make contact with Russian officials. In reality, Trump had only done so after the election.

Two senior FBI officials on Clinton, Trump probes exchanged texts disparaging Trump

WASHINGTON The former top FBI official assigned to special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election was taken off that job this summer after his bosses discovered he and another member of Mueller's team had exchanged politically charged texts disparaging President Donald Trump and supportive of Hillary Clinton, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. Peter Strzok, as deputy head of counter-intelligence at the FBI, was a key player in the investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server to do government work as Secretary of State, as well as the probe into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election.

Tax bill clears Senate in big boost for Trump, GOP

Republicans muscled the largest tax overhaul in 30 years through the Senate early Saturday, taking a big step toward giving President Donald Trump his first major legislative triumph after months of false starts and frustration on other fronts.

Exclusive: Mideast nuclear plan backers bragged of support of top Trump aide FlynnReuters

Backers of a U.S.-Russian plan to build nuclear reactors across the Middle East bragged after the U.S. election they had backing from Donald Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn for a project that required lifting sanctions on Russia, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The documents, which have not previously been made public, reveal new aspects of the plan, including the proposed involvement of a Russian company currently under U.S. sanctions to manufacture nuclear equipment.

Stocks tumble, gold spikes on report that Flynn is prepared to testify against TrumpBusiness Insider

Stocks fell sharply on Friday on an ABC News report that Michael Flynn would say President Donald Trump told him to contact Russians. Stocks rose to new highs this week as Senate Republicans advanced their tax bill, though news related to the Russia investigation has now overshadowed that in markets.

Amir Khans father welcomes Faryal Makhdoom into the family

Mother's boyfriend is arrested over disappearance of three-year-old Mariah Woods and police believe the little girl is dead Trump celebrates 'biggest tax cuts in history' after 'great Republicans' push sweeping $1.5 TRILLION bill through the Senate - despite Democrats claiming they had no time to read scribbled small print Mexican man convicted of kidnapping and sexually abusing two Oregon women GRINS in court and tells their families he'll 'see you in Hell' - as it emerges he'd already been deported TWENTY times before Terrifying footage shows the moment jilted deputy cornered his ex as she walked her dog, shot her in cold blood and then killed himself JARED 'is the mystery official who ordered Flynn to contact the Russians': Trump adviser puts president's son-in-law in Mueller's crosshairs and promises to testify against MORE family members after admitting lying to the FBI 'You never ... (more)

Senate OKs tax bill as Trump, GOP near big legislative win

Republicans pushed a nearly $1.5 trillion tax bill through the Senate early Saturday after a burst of eleventh-hour horse trading, as a party starved all year for a major legislative triumph took a giant step toward giving President Donald Trump one of his top priorities by Christmas. "Big bills are rarely popular.

In Flynn, Mueller unearths more lies – and a key witness

Michael Flynn's guilty plea Friday added a new layer of lies to the far-reaching investigation into ties between President Donald Trump and Russia, and put heightened scrutiny on the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. But Flynn's admission, and all of the criminal cases thus far, have not resolved the fundamental question special counsel Robert Mueller is seeking to answer: Still, Mueller has left no doubt that his investigators have amassed a wealth of knowledge about the contacts between Trump associates and the Russians, and they're looking to gather more facts from Flynn, a new key cooperator.

President: Dems will lose voters because they are weak on crime

President Donald Trump lashed out Friday after a jury acquitted a Mexican man in the killing of a woman on a San Francisco pier, calling the verdict "disgraceful" and suggesting Democrats will pay a price for being "weak on Crime." Trump launched an aggressive series of tweets over the 2015 shooting of Kate Steinle, which he often cited during his presidential campaign to push for a wall on the Mexican border.

Flynn pleads guilty, is co-operating in Trump-Russia probe

Michael Flynn, the retired general who campaigned at Donald Trump's side and then served as his first national security adviser, pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI about reaching out to the Russians on Trump's behalf and said members of the president's inner circle were intimately involved with - and at times directing - his contacts. Flynn's plea to a single felony count of false statements made him the first official of the Trump White House to admit guilt so far in a wide-ranging criminal investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.