Evening Edition: Trump denies telling Comey to back off Flynn investigation

Rosenstein knew before he wrote his memo that Comey would be fired; Comey prepared extensively for his conversations with Trump; Trump says Joe Lieberman is top contender for new FBI director; Why Michael Flynn will keep haunting the Trump administration; At least one dead, many others injured after man drove down sidewalk in New York's Times Square; Vice President Pence has a growing credibility problem; Roger Ailes, architect of conservative TV juggernaut Fox News, is dead at 77; Trump administration formally launches NAFTA renegotiation; Jason Chaffetz will leave Congress in June; Trey Gowdy favored to become House Oversight chairman; Treasury secretary to call for rolling back regulations on thousands of banks; Death of Soundgarden frontman, a founding father of grunge, ruled a suicide; Why researchers think dinosaurs were minutes away from surviving extinction; He was paralyzed in a shooting, but she still wanted to marry him. Now that future is gone.;   Democracy Dies in Darkness     The day's most important stories   BREAKING NEWS Trump denies telling Comey to back off Flynn investigation Asked whether he urged James Comey to back off the investigation of Michael Flynn, President Trump told a news conference: "No. No. Next question." The terse denial marks Trump's first public comments since reports this week that he had pressured the then-FBI director to end the probe, part of a broader investigation into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. By Ashley Parker and David Nakamura  •  Read more » Rosenstein knew before he wrote his memo that Comey would be fired The deputy attorney general told the full Senate he knew that former FBI director James Comey would be fired before he wrote his controversial memo that the White House initially used as justification for President Trump firing the FBI director. Sen. Richard Durbin said that Rosenstein told the senators that he knew on Monday, the day before Comey was fired, that Trump was going to fire him. By Sari Horwitz and Ed O'Keefe  •  Read more »   Comey prepared extensively for his conversations with Trump Associates say that the FBI director, out of concern that the president was unlikely to respect the boundaries governing their respective roles, fielded practice questions in advance of meetings and wrote highly detailed notes afterward in his car. By Devlin Barrett, Ellen Nakashima and Adam Entous  •  Read more »   Trump says Joe Lieberman is top contender for new FBI director The president told reporters the former Democratic senator from Connecticut and vice-presidential nominee was his top choice, saying, "We're very close to an FBI director." By Ashley Parker  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   The Fix | Analysis Why Michael Flynn will keep haunting the Trump administration Lobbying for Turkey while working for Trump raises all sorts of questions about what Trump knew when — and gets at the heart of what a democracy is. By Amber Phillips  •  Read more »   At least one dead, many others injured after man drove down sidewalk in New York's Times Square Reporters at the scene said police noted that the driver "lost control" of the vehicle on Seventh Avenue in Times Square. By Lindsey Bever  •  Read more »   The Fix | Analysis Vice President Pence has a growing credibility problem The vice president has hardly been immune from President Trump's foibles, and twice in the past week his defenses of the White House have been directly contradicted. By Aaron Blake  •  Read more »   Roger Ailes, architect of conservative TV juggernaut Fox News, is dead at 77 The longtime chairman and chief executive presided over the network for more than two decades until his abrupt ouster last year amid sexual harassment allegations. By Marc Fisher  •  Read more »   Trump administration formally launches NAFTA renegotiation Negotiations with Canada and Mexico will begin as soon as Aug. 16, the administration said after starting the clock on a 90-day period to consult with Congress about goals. By Ana Swanson  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Jason Chaffetz will leave Congress in June; Trey Gowdy favored to become House Oversight chairman Chaffetz's departure on June 30 opens up one of the most powerful and closely scrutinized posts on Capitol Hill, but it's unclear whether Gowdy (R-S.C.) wants the job. By Mike DeBonis  •  Read more »   Treasury secretary to call for rolling back regulations on thousands of banks Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, Steven Mnuchin said he would call for exempting all banks with less than $10 billion in assets from rules under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law. By Damian Paletta  •  Read more »   Chris Cornell | 1964—2017 Death of Soundgarden frontman, a founding father of grunge, ruled a suicide Cornell, 52, was found dead early Thursday morning in his Detroit hotel room, police said. The medical examiner ruled his death as hanging by suicide. By Travis M. Andrews and J. Freedom du Lac  •  Read more »   Why researchers think dinosaurs were minutes away from surviving extinction After drilling into the asteroid crater that coincides with their disappearance, an international team is making a radical argument that the demise of the fabled reptiles was not an inevitability. By Peter Holley  •  Read more »   Perspective He was paralyzed in a shooting, but she still wanted to marry him. Now that future is gone. Zaan Scott and Jamese Harvey, both 25, had no intention of letting a devastating robbery derail their life together. Then the wounded swim instructor stopped breathing. By Petula Dvorak  •  Read more »           Share Evening Edition:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Headlines. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2017 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071