President Donald Trump on Saturday defended his firing of the inspector general who told Congress about the whistleblower complaint that led to his eventual impeachment, saying he thought Michael Atkinson “did a terrible job, absolutely terrible.” Trump said that Atkinson, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, “took a fake report and gave it to…

The coronavirus outbreak has led to near shutdowns of entire states — from schools to restaurants to retailers — with one major exception: local government. The pandemic has upended the 2020 sessions of state legislatures and forced state lawmakers to move toward innovative forms of conducting “business as usual” in a time of an unprecedented…

When Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a statewide shelter in place order for residents earlier this week, he attracted widespread criticism for saying he and state officials were just “finding out that this virus is now transmitting before people see signs,” despite publicly available findings that have circulated for weeks about such risks.The statement drew…

John Mele is one of roughly 700 inmates who were released from county jails in New Jersey to address the growing novel coronavirus pandemic. But when he was handed two bus tickets and freed, he said he was frightened, not relieved. “I was scared to leave,” Mele told CNN. “There ain’t too much sh** that…

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor is used to dealing with disasters like hurricanes that cripple her Florida city. But none have ever come close to the magnitude of destruction she is bracing for with the novel coronavirus pandemic. When there’s a hurricane, the rest of the country comes to their rescue. Not now. Covid-19 is like…

Eight hours and 48 minutes. That’s how long Camilla Christiansen Poole waited on hold with the North Carolina Division of Employment Security, trying to find out why she could not file for unemployment online. The Asheville, North Carolina, resident had been laid off from her job as a medical courier on March 24 — one…

President Donald Trump made yet another series of inaccurate or misleading claims at a coronavirus briefing on Friday. He incorrectly asserted that some states are not in jeopardy from the virus, incorrectly suggested that his February claims that the virus would simply go away have been proved correct, incorrectly suggested again that nobody could have…

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a cable to all diplomatic and consular posts Friday to clarify where American diplomats overseas should direct incoming requests for Covid-19 medical supplies from foreign governments, authorities and international organizations. The cable demonstrates an effort to streamline the overwhelming number of requests the Trump administration is getting from entities…

The federal court that oversees national security surveillance wants the FBI to explain newly uncovered missteps in government warrants to eavesdrop on Americans after a recent internal audit found the FBI fell short of the standards required. The Justice Department inspector general said in recent days that after reviewing a sample of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…