Evening Edition: Trump says he was going to fire ‘showboat’ Comey regardless of recommendation

Acting FBI director: No White House effort 'to impede' Russia probe; Senate Democrats demand answers from Rod Rosenstein about involvement in Comey firing; Inside Trump's anger — and his sudden decision to fire Comey; The Daily 202: Why Ryan waited 24 hours to defend Trump's firing of Comey; Trump expected only applause when he told Comey: 'You're fired'; Kushner's family drops out of China presentation amid criticism that it took advantage of his position; Sarah Huckabee Sanders is suddenly the star of the feel-bad story of the week; More U.S. soldiers may be heading to Afghanistan. That might not solve the problem.; FBI searches Republican political consulting firm in Annapolis; White House launches a commission to study voter fraud and suppression; Senate conservatives lobby for changes that would drop millions of adults from Medicaid; Hazel Drew's brutal murder was all but forgotten. Until she inspired 'Twin Peaks.'; This hostel in Berlin is a clandestine cash cow for North Korea; Scott Van Pelt, ‘sick and freaking tired’ of Caps’ playoff routine, speaks for every fan;   Democracy Dies in Darkness     The day's most important stories   Trump says he was going to fire 'showboat' Comey regardless of recommendation The president said that over dinner and during two phone calls — one of which Trump initiated — the then-FBI director assured him he was not under investigation. The discussion of an ongoing FBI probe with the president is something Justice Department policy generally prohibits. By Devlin Barrett  •  Read more » Acting FBI director: No White House effort 'to impede' Russia probe Andrew McCabe vowed to tell Congress if there is ever any interference in a hearing with top U.S. intelligence officials before the Senate Intelligence Committee — a hearing that has taken on new significance since Trump suddenly removed James B. Comey from the FBI's top post. By Matt Zapotosky and Karoun Demirjian  •  Read more »   Senate Democrats demand answers from Rod Rosenstein about involvement in Comey firing They warn that failure to start answering questions from Congress could jeopardize his decades-long apolitical reputation. By Ed O'Keefe and Paul Kane  •  Read more »   Inside Trump's anger — and his sudden decision to fire Comey Accounts from more than 30 officials at the White House, Justice Department and on Capitol Hill indicate that President Trump was angry that FBI Director James B. Comey would not support his baseless claim that President Obama had his campaign offices wiretapped. Trump also fumed that Comey was giving too much attention to the Russia probe and not enough to investigating leaks to journalists. By Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, Sari Horwitz and Robert Costa  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   The Daily 202: Why Ryan waited 24 hours to defend Trump's firing of Comey Repeating the pattern of last year's campaign, the president sucked up all the oxygen and put Paul Ryan on the defensive. By James Hohmann  •  Read more »   Trump expected only applause when he told Comey: 'You're fired' For a president who operates in the moment, the decision to fire the FBI director illustrates a penchant to act swiftly and unilaterally, and a belief that there is no profit in considering the lessons and contradictions of the past. By Marc Fisher  •  Read more »   Kushner's family drops out of China presentation amid criticism that it took advantage of his position The sister of White House adviser Jared Kushner pulled out of a presentation to potential investors amid claims that she appeared to promise special visa treatment during an earlier meeting when she mentioned her brother by name. By Shawn Boburg  •  Read more »   Sarah Huckabee Sanders is suddenly the star of the feel-bad story of the week The spin from the deputy press secretary may not have been wholly different from what you may have expected from Sean Spicer. But her manner certainly was. By Paul Farhi  •  Read more »   More U.S. soldiers may be heading to Afghanistan. That might not solve the problem. Many observers agree that no military surge can solve the problems that have made peace so elusive without a complementary political policy aimed at bolstering the weak government and pressing fractious leaders to get along. By Pamela Constable  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   FBI searches Republican political consulting firm in Annapolis Authorities retrieved documents related to the firm's campaign activity. The company has worked with Republican candidates nationwide and was sued in 2014 on allegations of fraudulent fundraising practices. By Fenit Nirappil, Josh Hicks and Matea Gold  •  Read more »   White House launches a commission to study voter fraud and suppression President Trump signed an executive order setting up the commission, which will review his controversial allegations of widespread voter fraud and will be led by Vice President Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has aggressively pursued allegations of voter fraud in his state. By Jenna Johnson and John Wagner  •  Read more »   Senate conservatives lobby for changes that would drop millions of adults from Medicaid Some senators believe this and other changes will help reduce health-care spending, prevent tax-credit dollars from paying for abortions and expand access to health insurance by lowering premiums — all arguments supported by conservative advocacy groups. By David Weigel and Elise Viebeck  •  Read more »   Hazel Drew's brutal murder was all but forgotten. Until she inspired 'Twin Peaks.' The 20-year-old's death in 1908 in Upstate New York became a media sensation — and influenced one of the biggest TV phenomena of all time. By David Bushman and Mark Givens  •  Read more »   This hostel in Berlin is a clandestine cash cow for North Korea For years, North Korean embassies in Europe have allegedly helped to finance the regime's nuclear weapons program. By Rick Noack  •  Read more »   Perspective Scott Van Pelt, ‘sick and freaking tired’ of Caps’ playoff routine, speaks for every fan The ESPN anchor said what Capitals fans were thinking Wednesday night after Washington dropped yet another Game 7 to the Penguins. By Dan Steinberg  •  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. 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