Friday's Headlines: Trump’s lawyer was known for taping conversations, stoking fears the FBI has the recordings

In memoir, Comey says Trump fixated on disproving lewd dossier allegations; In sharp reversal, Trump tells officials to look at rejoining TPP amid trade dispute with China; Tony...

Democracy Dies in Darkness     The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Trump's lawyer was known for taping conversations, stoking fears the FBI has the recordings Allies of President Trump are worried that recordings made by Michael D. Cohen were seized by federal investigators in a raid of Cohen's office and residences. Legal experts said Cohen's taped conversations — digital files that he used to replay for colleagues — "would be considered a gold mine" for prosecutors. By Ashley Parker, Carol D. Leonnig, Josh Dawsey and Tom Hamburger  •  Read more » In memoir, Comey says Trump fixated on disproving lewd dossier allegations In a new book, former FBI director James B. Comey describes Trump as having been obsessed with the prostitutes portion of the infamous dossier compiled by a former British intelligence officer, raising it at least four times with the FBI head. By Philip Rucker  •   Read more »   In sharp reversal, Trump tells officials to look at rejoining TPP amid trade dispute with China President Trump, who had criticized the pact and pulled the United States out in early 2017, ordered officials Thursday to reconsider it, but he later qualified his proposal on Twitter: "Would only join TPP if the deal were substantially better than the deal offered to Pres. Obama." By Erica Werner, Damian Paletta and Seung Min Kim  •   Read more »   Critic's Notebook Tony Gilroy, 'Beirut' and the ongoing battle for good movies for grown-ups Gilroy, the writer-director of the renowned "Michael Clayton," is an avatar for the survival of movies for mature, discerning audiences within an industry that seems to grow more infantilized by the day. Which is why it's such good news that "Beirut," a geopolitical thriller set amid Lebanon's civil war in the early 1980s and bearing Gilroy's name, is opening at all. By Ann Hornaday  •   Read more »   Paul Ryan forcefully resists calls to step aside for quicker transition to new House speaker Republican lawmakers are increasingly fretting about a lame-duck speaker hurting fundraising, even as Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise emerge as front-runners to lead the fractious caucus. By Mike DeBonis and Seung Min Kim  •   Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT Opinions   The Michael Cohen raid could backfire. This story shows how. By Gary Abernathy  •   Read more »   God help us. Clearly, Paul Ryan could not. By Michael Gerson  •   Read more »   Everyone benefits by protecting Mueller — even Trump By Thom Tillis  •   Read more »   A balanced-budget amendment is always stupid. Right now, it's a joke. By Catherine Rampell  •   Read more »   Enough whiplash on Syria. Trump needs an actual strategy. By David Ignatius  •   Read more »   Confirm Mike Pompeo By Editorial Board  •   Read more » ADVERTISEMENT More News   Trump orders review of Postal Service after falsely accusing Amazon of cheating it The president ordered a sweeping overhaul of the Postal Service's business model, forming an administration task force, to be chaired by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and directing it to evaluate the Postal Service's finances and operations. By Philip Rucker and Josh Dawsey  •  Read more »     Trump expected to pardon former Cheney aide 'Scooter' Libby President George W. Bush had commuted Libby's sentence in disclosing a CIA agent's name, but he refused to pardon. It is unclear why President Trump is making the move, but the pardon has been under consideration for months, two people familiar with the president's thinking said. By Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker  •   Read more »   Trump signals a more deliberate approach on Syria, reviews options for possible attack Missile strikes had appeared imminent after the president took to Twitter on Wednesday to respond to what the United States has called a poison gas attack by the Syrian regime. By Anne Gearan, John Wagner and Missy Ryan  •   Read more »   Today's WorldView | Analysis Zuckerberg barely talked about Facebook's biggest global problem Facebook is being used to stoke hate and division around the world — and in smaller, poorer countries, these infractions receive scant attention in the company's headquarters. By Adam Taylor  •   Read more »   'Tell my mom that I love her': A teen's frantic 911 calls as he is crushed to death in a minivan Kyle Plush had reportedly climbed onto the rear bench seat of his family's minivan and was trying to reach his tennis equipment when the seat "flipped up and over toward the back hatch, pinning him upside down beneath the seat." By Lindsey Bever  •   Read more »   Wild storm charging across nation to unleash all modes of extreme weather through the weekend This storm has it all: blizzard conditions, tornadoes, fire risk, wild temperature swings and torrents of rain. By Jason Samenow  •   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. 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