Must Reads: What David Fahrenthold would ask Trump

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Correction: The first version of this newsletter incorrectly said that Vince and Linda McMahon donated more money to the Trump Foundation than to their own charity. When David Fahrenthold started asking questions about the Trump Foundation in 2016, he thought that the story might take “a day or two” to report. He didn’t know that he would find evidence that then-candidate Donald Trump wasn’t as generous as he claimed to be.  He didn’t know that Trump would call him a “nasty guy,” or that his stories would prompt an investigation and lawsuit against the president and his children, or that he would win a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting. And Fahrenthold couldn’t have foreseen the announcement this week that the president would shut down his foundation. But Fahrenthold still has questions for Trump and his family. “Why did Vince McMahon and Linda McMahon give $5 million?” Fahrenthold wonders.  “For a long time, that was really the only money in the Trump Foundation. What the heck happened? What was that?” “And another thing,” Fahrenthold adds. “What did you do with the paintings?” — T.J. Ortenzi, General Assignment Editor Thanks for reading Must Reads. Please send me an email if you have any questions or feedback about the stories in this week's newsletter. Trump agrees to shut down his charity amid allegations that he used it for personal and political benefit The agreement with the New York attorney general comes amid an ongoing lawsuit against the charity and Trump and his three eldest children, who allegedly allowed “persistently illegal conduct” at the foundation. David A. Fahrenthold  •   Read more » An opioid epidemic nobody talks about A generation of African American heroin users is dying in the opioid epidemic nobody is talking about. The nation’s capital is ground zero. Peter Jamison  •   Read more » Boyhood at 11 and 12: When peers become paramount Three friends navigate a middle school ecosystem that prizes alpha males over quirky kids. Ellen McCarthy and Amy Joyce  •   Read more » Gene-edited farm animals are coming Cutting-edge lab techniques could improve animal breeding, but society may not be ready. Carolyn Y. Johnson  •   Read more » The jihadis that no one wants Hundreds of foreign ISIS fighters are in Kurdish prisons in Syria. What happens when the U.S. military withdraws? Liz Sly  •   Read more » Outlook •  Perspective A recession is coming. Trump is going to make the recovery worse. His exploding deficit, amateur Cabinet, attacks on the Fed and market-destabilizing tweets will impede the recovery. Catherine Rampell  •   Read more » Lives lost, organs wasted Each day in America, several dozen people waiting for organs die. Experts say it’s time to more aggressively pursue less-than-perfect donors: the old, the sick and the complicated. Kimberly Kindy, Lenny Bernstein and Dan Keating  •   Read more » The end of leaning in: How Sheryl Sandberg’s message of empowerment fully unraveled The Facebook executive’s long-cultivated image as a righteous feminist icon and relatable role model is in shambles. Caitlin Gibson  •   Read more » Analysis 452 children died on the job in the U.S. between 2003 and 2016 They weren't even teenagers: 73 children ages 12 and younger were killed at work between 2003 and 2016, according to the Government Accountability Office. Andrew Van Dam  •   Read more » Can you find the real Mrs. Claus in this illustration? Discover all 25 Mrs. Claus characters amongst the crowd at the North Pole Ski Resort. Illustration by Gus Morais  •   Read more »