Friday's Headlines: Trump moved to fire Mueller in June, bringing White House counsel to brink of quitting

President bristles under some rules imposed by orderly chief of staff; Rep. Patrick Meehan, under scrutiny for alleged inappropriate behavior with aide, will not seek reelection;...

Democracy Dies in Darkness     The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Trump moved to fire Mueller in June, bringing White House counsel to brink of quitting President Trump sought the firing of Robert S. Mueller III shortly after the special counsel took over the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The president backed off only after White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn threatened to resign over the move. Trump, when asked Friday about media reports of his effort, said the reports were "fake news, folks. Fake news." By Rosalind S. Helderman and Josh Dawsey  •  Read more » President bristles under some rules imposed by orderly chief of staff An impromptu media scrum underscored the unusual and sometimes strained relationship between President Trump and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, who has curtailed the access once enjoyed by many people, including Trump's children. By Josh Dawsey, Robert Costa and Philip Rucker  •   Read more »   Rep. Patrick Meehan, under scrutiny for alleged inappropriate behavior with aide, will not seek reelection "Unfortunately, recent events concerning my office and the settlement of certain harassment allegations have become a major distraction," the Pennsylvania Republican wrote in a letter to his campaign chairman. By Mike DeBonis and Robert Costa  •   Read more »   White House proposes path to citizenship for 'dreamers,' $25 billion for wall The plan, to be sent to the Senate next week, also calls for an end to family visas for parents and siblings of U.S. citizens. The plan is a concession to Democrats but is likely to produce sharp blowback among conservative Republicans. By David Nakamura and Sean Sullivan  •   Read more »   Perspective I was getting buried in clutter. Here's how I finally got free. With a little self-reflection, one pack-rat got to the bottom of her bad habits and unloaded 100 bags of junk — so much stuff that in the first weeks of her efforts, a neighbor assumed she was moving. By Valerie Peterson  •   Read more »   Trump wins over global elites at Davos. All it took was a $1.5 trillion tax cut. While there was some apprehension about President Trump's stance on immigration and trade, many executives lauded an economic agenda built around corporate tax cuts and deregulation.  By Heather Long and Tory Newmyer  •   Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT Opinions   GOP leaders' complicity grows as their members undermine the rule of law By Editorial Board  •   Read more »   For conservatives, character counts — when you're a Democrat By Eugene Robinson  •   Read more »   How Mick Mulvaney is dismantling a federal agency By Catherine Rampell  •   Read more »   Rest easy about Trump's fitness By Marc A. Thiessen  •   Read more »   Ex-spy chiefs weigh how to say enough about Trump without saying too much By David Ignatius  •   Read more »   Undocumented and disillusioned, I decided to leave America. This loss is mutual. By Ariel Rodriguez  •   Read more » ADVERTISEMENT More News   Trump offers to apologize for retweeting anti-Muslim videos from far-right British group In an interview with Good Morning Britain, the president said he was unaware of the group's politics and that the tweets showed his concern over the threat of radical Islam. "I am often the least racist person that anybody is going to meet," he said. By Paul Schemm  •  Read more »     He fawns over Putin but disdains Muslims, journalists and the E.U. Pro-Europe Czechs want him out. Milos Zeman this week faces a presidential runoff that is being watched as a barometer of populist and nationalist fervor in central and Eastern Europe. By Griff Witte  •   Read more »   GOP Senate candidate says feminists have 'snake-filled heads,' hopes daughters don't become 'she devils' Courtland Sykes, who is running to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri, said in an interview that he supports women and that he doesn't think his comments were demeaning. By Eli Rosenberg  •   Read more »   Russians got tens of thousands of Americans to RSVP on Facebook for phony political events Russian operatives in 2016 publicized 129 phony event announcements that were seen by nearly 340,000 users — many of whom said they were planning to attend — according to a Facebook document released by a Senate committee. By Craig Timberg and Elizabeth Dwoskin  •   Read more »   The Trumps asked to borrow a Van Gogh for the White House. The museum offered something else. New York's Guggenheim Museum suggested an alternative to a 19th-century painting for the president's private living quarters: an interactive work titled "America," an 18-karat, fully functioning, solid gold toilet that critics have described as pointed satire aimed at the excess of wealth in this country. By Paul Schwartzman  •   Read more »   Michigan State's president resigned over the Larry Nassar scandal. She could make $750,000 if she returns. Thanks to an unusual perk in her contract, Lou Anna Simon stands to make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year if she returns as a professor. By Susan Svrluga  •   Read more »   Fire rips through South Korean hospital, killing at least 39 people More than 100 people were injured in the blaze, making it one of the country's deadliest in recent years. The fire started in Sejong Hospital's emergency room and had engulfed the first floor by the time firefighters arrived. By Hyung-Jin Kim and Youkyung Lee | AP  •   Read more »         Share Today's Headlines:    Twitter     Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Today's Headlines or because it is included in your subscription. 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. ©2018 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071