Trump claims witch hunt, says hea s most hounded leader ever

Brimming with resentment, President Donald Trump fervently denied on Thursday that his campaign had collaborated with Russia or that he'd tried to kill an FBI probe of the issue, contending that "even my enemies" recognize his innocence and declaring himself the most unfairly hounded president in history. Asked point-blank if he'd done anything that might merit prosecution or even impeachment, he said no and then added concerning the allegations and questions that have mounted as he nears the four-month mark of his presidency: "I think it's totally ridiculous.

Russian election meddling probe now a criminal probe

The Justice Department 's look at Russian meddling in the presidential election has turned from a counterintelligence investigation into a criminal probe, leading senators said Thursday as they emerged from a secret briefing with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein . Addressing lawmakers a day after he appointed a special counsel to head the investigation, Mr. Rosenstein also confirmed that he knew President Trump was going to fire FBI Director James B. Comey even before the president tasked the deputy attorney general with writing a memo justifying the ouster.

the Drive: Spies upset over leak; Fbi pick near; Times Square suspect had issues

The United States and Israel are publicly brushing aside President Donald Trump's reported sharing of a highly classified tip from Israel with Russia, but spy professionals on both sides are frustrated and fearful about the repercussions to a critical intelligence partnership. "I know how things work in Israeli intelligence," said Uri Bar-Joseph, a professor at Haifa University in Israel who has studied and written widely about the Jewish state's spy operations.

Trump says he’s ‘very close’ to naming a new FBI director

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is "very close" to naming a new FBI director to replace the one he fired more than a week ago. During an Oval Office appearance with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Trump was also asked whether former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman was a top candidate for the job.

Trump interviews 4 candidates to post of FBI director

President Donald Trump on Wednesday interviewed four potential candidates to lead the FBI, including former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating and Andrew McCabe, currently the bureau's acting director. White House press secretary said Trump would also meet with Richard McFeely, a former top FBI official, in addition to the three other candidates.

Round-the-clock Senate sessions start with DeVos nomination

The Senate will be in session around the clock this week as Republicans aim to confirm more of President Donald Trump's Cabinet picks over Democratic opposition. Democrats intend to drag out the process as much as possible using all the time they can under the Senate's arcane rules.

LIEBERMAN: Trump’s election ‘represents a sea change’ in US policy toward Iran

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, an opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, predicts a "sea change" for US policy toward Iran, but hopes that President Donald Trump doesn't rip up the deal entirely. Lieberman, who is the head of an advocacy group called United Against Nuclear Iran that opposes the deal, said Trump's presidency might be a good opportunity for the US to renegotiate the 2015 agreement with Iran that places restrictions on its nuclear program for a period of time in exchange for sanctions relief.

The Latest: Lieberman returns to Senate to recommend DeVos

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has returned to Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to support the nomination of Betsy DeVos as secretary of the Education Department. Lieberman asked senators at DeVos' confirmation hearing to "give her a chance to change the status quo" in the nation's schools.

Lieberman defends Trump’s controversial Israel ambassador pick

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman on Thursday defended President-elect Donald Trump's controversial selection as the next Israel ambassador, explaining that "some of the things he said really don't reflect what he believes." "I think you're going to find in the weeks ahead in the confirmation process on David Friedman that it's going to be very clear that he wants -- he and President Trump want to be a part of achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians -- and that some of the things he said don't really reflect what he believes," Lieberman said in an interview on "New Day."

Joe Lieberman, stumping for a Clinton in Florida, feels like he’s ‘home again’

Joe Lieberman is in South Florida doing the shul and seniors circuit for a Clinton, and he's relishing the gig. "How does it feel? It feels like I'm home again," Lieberman said Thursday in a phone interview, his voice relaxing into a remarkable confession for the former senator from Connecticut who set fire to his bridges with his party in 2006 and torched them completely in 2008 when he endorsed the Republican presidential candidate.

Lieberman: Trump Rise ‘Inevitable’

Former Connecticut U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman said as his days in Washington wound down, he could see a growing chasm between lawmakers and the people they're elected to govern. "As the political system has failed to deliver for people and people have in our country have become more and more angry at Washington, it was just inevitable that somebody who was an outsider would come along," Lieberman said, following a news conference Friday.

Tribe says Connecticut owes it $613M for land taken in 1800s

A Connecticut-based Native American tribe is suing the state for at least $613 million in damages for land it says was taken from the tribal reservation more than a century ago. The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation said in the suit filed Thursday the state took 2,000 acres it was managing for the tribe without compensation between 1801 and 1918.

Ex-Sen. Lieberman: UN Should Treat Rouhani As Pariah, Not Honored Guest

Iranian President Hasan Rouhani should be treated as an international pariah, not an honored guest, former Sen. Joe Lieberman said at a rally outside United Nations headquarters on Tuesday, a day before Rouhani is scheduled to speak there. Lieberman compared the Iranian regime to that led by Kim Jong-un in North Korea, saying both were "brutal" and totalitarian and spend "much too much money building weapons to threaten to their neighbors."

Today in History: Aug. 8

On Aug. 8, 1974, President Richard Nixon announced his resignation, effective the next day, following damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal. In 1911, President William Howard Taft signed a measure raising the number of U.S. representatives from 391 to 433, effective with the next Congress, with a proviso to add two more when New Mexico and Arizona became states.