Blackwater founder Erik Prince, ex-CIA officer John R. Maguire, and Iran-Contra linchpin Oliver North have been shopping a proposal to President Trump's White House and CIA Director Mike Pompeo to create a private global network of expendable spies that would report directly to Trump and Pompeo, and Pompeo wants Trump to approve the contract, The Intercept reports, citing "several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals." The Intercept confirms and expands on BuzzFeed's report that intelligence contractor Amyntor Group, Maguire's employer, is a potential organizer of the new private spy network.

"Pompeo can't trust the CIA bureaucracy, so we need to create this thing that reports just directly to him," a former senior U.S. intelligence official tells The Intercept, paraphrasing White House discussions. "The whole point is this is supposed to report to the president and Pompeo directly." Maguire was on Trump's transition team and used to work for Prince, and North, a Fox News regular, was reportedly brought in to help enlist Trump's support. The apparent pitch to Trump was creating an intelligence apparatus that will counter the "deep state" trying to undermine his presidency.

"John [Maguire] was certain that the deep state was going to kick the president out of office within a year," a person who discussed it with Maguire told The Intercept. Maguire also told at least two people that H.R. McMaster, Trump's national security adviser, had approved surveillance on Stephen Bannon, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump, The Intercept reports, and "used a burner phone to send information gathered through the surveillance to a facility in Cyprus owned by George Soros." The National Security Council, CIA, and Prince all denied the global spy network; NSC spokesman Michael Anton said "the White House does not and would not support such a proposal." Current and former intelligence officials say that's not true. You can read more at The Intercept. Peter Weber

Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.) became the year's first incumbent to lose his seat in a primary on Tuesday, conceding the race to Mark Harris, a former Baptist pastor in Charlotte. "I've called Mark Harris, I've conceded the race and I wish him the best," Pittenger told supporters at what was expected to be his victory party. Harris edged him out by about 2 percentage points, with a third-party candidate getting 5.3 percent of the vote. Harris will face Democrat Dan McCready, a well-financed Marine combat veteran, who beat Christian Cano in Tuesday's Democratic primary.

Pittenger's 9th congressional district is one of two in the state expected to be competitive in the fall. In the other, the 13th district, Kathy Manning won the Democratic primary and will face Rep. Ted Budd (R). Manning has out-fundraised Budd and had twice as much cash on hand as of mid-April, The Charlotte Observer reports. Peter Weber

In the latest feud where you don't want to take either side, Rudy Giuliani and Joe Scarborough are going at it, with accusations of alcoholism and stupidity being bandied about.

It started on Tuesday morning, when the Morning Joe host declared that President Trump's new lawyer was "falling asleep 5 minutes into meetings," "drinking too much," and "losing it." This is all false, Giuliani told Politico. "I'm a lot more aware and intelligent than Joe has ever been and a lot more accomplished," he added. "Joe hasn't been knighted by the Queen of England. He hasn't run a U.S. attorney's office, much less a city that he turned around or went through 9/11."

Since joining Trump's legal team, Giuliani has made quite the impression, with people wondering about his eyes bugging out and the spilling of previously unknown details — like Trump reimbursing lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment to a porn star — on live television. Giuliani said he's a social drinker who only imbibes at night "with cigars," and was "insulted" when Politico asked him if his behavior is linked to drinking. "It's extremely insulting," he said. "There's no proof of any kind that I take too much alcohol. It's ridiculous."

Friends say Giuliania's still as sharp as ever, but Sol Wisenberg, a former deputy counsel on Kenneth Star's prosecutorial team, has coined a new nickname, telling Politico: "They should change his name to Rusty Giuliani. He's rusty on the law, he's rusty on the facts." Catherine Garcia

Washington Republicans breathed a sigh of relief when West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won the Republican primary for November's U.S. Senate race, beating former coal executive and ex-convict Don Blankenship, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell immediately rubbed some ... salt? ... in the wounds. Blankenship had effectively based his campaign on opposition to "Cocaine Mitch" and his "Chinaperson" father-in-law, and McConnell's campaign team tweeted a photo of McConnell standing in a cloud of white powder, what looks like cocaine sprinkled over the photo, and the caption: "Thanks for playing, Don."

Blankenship could, of course, get his revenge with a write-in campaign — West Virginia's "sore loser" law means he can't run as a third-party candidate — but luckily for "Gloating McConnell," Blankenship seems to think that isn't a "viable" idea. Peter Weber

He got the most attention, but that didn't translate to a win for Don Blankenship; the former coal executive and ex-convict come in third in Tuesday's West Virginia Republican Senate primary race.

Several news outlets project that the state's attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, has won, with Rep. Evan Jenkins coming in second. Morrisey has 35 percent of the vote, compared to 29 percent for Jenkins and Blankenship's 20 percent. While conceding on Tuesday night, Blankenship said he "failed West Virginians" because he "didn't get it done," and warned that "the Republican Party needs to be careful about being hijacked."

Blankenship, who served a year in prison for his role in the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster that killed 29 miners in 2010, released ads calling Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) "Cocaine Mitch" and referred to relatives of McConnell's wife, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, as "Chinapeople." Catherine Garcia

Syrian state media is reporting that after President Trump announced on Tuesday he is withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear deal, Israel launched an airstrike against a target south of Damascus.

The SANA news agency says that two Israeli missiles were shot down and destroyed in the Kiswah area, and a commander supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Reuters Israel was targeting an army base. He also said that there were no casualties.

The Israeli military said it identified "irregular activity" by Iranian forces in Syria, and ordered that Golan Heights authorities prepare bomb shelters and mobilize some reservist forces, Reuters reports. Iran is backing Assad in the country's civil war, now in its seventh year. Catherine Garcia

Richard Cordray, the former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, defeated former Rep. Dennis Kucinich on Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination for governor of Ohio.

He will face the winner of the Republican primary, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, in November. The Associated Press called the race for Cordray with only two percent of precincts reporting, when he had 64 percent of the vote compared to Kucinich's 23 percent. Cordray is a former Ohio state attorney general, treasurer, and state legislator.

DeWine won the GOP nomination over Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, and previously faced off against Cordray in the 2010 attorney general race, with DeWine victorious. "There's no magic bullet for winning the state of Ohio," state Rep. David Leland (D), a supporter of Cordray, told Politico. "It's hard work. It's reaching people. It's connecting with people on issues that are important to them. That's a hard tough slog that either candidate is going to have to do if they're going to be successful." Catherine Garcia

AT&T announced on Tuesday that it hired a consulting firm started by Michael Cohen, President Trump's personal lawyer, in 2017 so it could gain "insights into understanding the new administration."

The company said Cohen's firm was one of several it "engaged in early 2017," and they did no "legal or lobbying work for us." AT&T did not reveal what information Cohen gave the company before their contract ended in December. AT&T made the announcement after Stormy Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, released a report saying AT&T made four payments of $50,000 from October 2017 to January 2018 to Essential Consultants, LLC, a company set up Cohen that he used to make a $130,000 payment to Daniels in exchange for her silence regarding an affair she said she had with Trump in 2006.

While campaigning, Trump blasted AT&T's takeover of Time Warner, and said if elected, he would oppose the deal, The Wall Street Journal reports. In November, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the merger, and a federal judge is expected to issue a ruling on June 12. Catherine Garcia