WikiFree: Swedish prosecutors say they are dropping their rape investigation of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, theoretically leaving him free to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he has been holed up for five years to avoid arrest. He may have to stay, though. British authorities want him for skipping a court appearance and the US has been considering bringing charges against him for posting secrets on his website.

Denial Ain’t a River: On the eve of his first foreign trip, President Trump angrily denounced the investigation into his campaign’s possible collusion with Russia saying, “The entire thing has been a witch hunt.” Speaking at a podium in a joint appearance with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Trump said sharply, “And there is no collusion between, certainly, myself and my campaign — but I can always speak for myself — and the Russians. Zero.”

Asked whether he ever asked former FBI Director James Comey to close the Russia investigation, he cut off a reporter saying, “No, no, next question.”

Trump takes off today for an eight-day, five-country foreign tour that includes Saudi Arabia, Israel, and The Vatican in an effort to establish a profile with three of the world’s major religions. The Saudis, in particular, are looking to improve strained relations with the US.

The last stop is Sicily for a meeting with the G-7 country leaders. The administration says Trump will not decide until after he leaves Sicily whether to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Accord.

Nation: Joe Lieberman, former Democratic senator from Connecticut and vice-presidential nominee, is looking like President Trump’s top contender to take over the FBI.  The 75-year-old Lieberman has no law enforcement experience. — One young woman was killed yesterday and 22 injured when a car plowed into pedestrians in New York’s Times Square. The driver was a 26-year-old Navy veteran with a history of drunk driving. — Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz, chair of the House Oversight Committee, who previously announced he’s leaving the House, now says he’s departing June 30^th. — The death of Soundgarden front man Chris Cornell is now reported to be a suicide.

Gotta Have Art: A 1982 impressionist painting of a skull by artist Jean-Michel Basquiat sold yesterday for $110.5 million at Sotheby’s, becoming the sixth most pricey work ever sold at auction. That puts Basquiat, financially at least, in the league of Pablo Picasso. The Haitian-born artist died in 1988 at age 28.

The Obit Page: Roger Ailes, the man who built Fox News into a conservative political powerhouse before exiting last year in disgrace over sexual harassment, died yesterday at age 77.

Ailes founded Fox in the mid-90s, offering it as the “fair and balanced” alternative to what he painted as the left-wing network news operations. Under that false flag, Ailes created a voice for conservatism, reinforcing the beliefs of his right-wing viewers. He was a programming genius who fed the political divisions of America. His fatal flaw was populating his on-air staff with beautiful women, many of whom he propositioned for sex. Off the air, Fox because a culture of sexual harassment and payouts to cover it.

While Fox News memorialized Ailes, his death set off vitriol in the internet. One man tweeted yesterday that in honor of Ailes’ death, the miniskirts at Fox would be flown at half-mast.

Small Screen: No one ever cancels a hit show, but New York Magazine reports that the White House is considering doing away with Sean Spicer’s daily press briefings once the president returns from his foreign tour. Eric Levitz writes, “Sean Spicer’s Daily White House Press Briefings, a half-hour comedy about an anxious, anthropomorphic marshmallow who must defend the actions of an indefensible president on pain of being melted into s’mores, is on the brink of cancellation.”

Melissa McCarthy may end up doing more briefings than Spicer.