JPMorgan CEO helped whip votes  —  JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon made calls to lawmakers on Thursday urging them to support the “cromnibus” spending bill, House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) told reporters.  —  Dimon's involvement came amidst progressives enraged …

Michel du Cille, Post photojournalist who won Pulitzer three times, dies at 58 … Michel du Cille, a Washington Post photojournalist who was a three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his dramatic images of human struggle and triumph, and who recently chronicled the plight of Ebola patients …

Torture Is Who We Are  —  A country, like a person, is what it does.  —  Torture, declared President Obama this week, in response to the newly released Senate report on CIA interrogation, is “contrary to who we are.”  Maine Senator Angus King added that, “This is not America.  This is not who we are.”

Veteran Fox News correspondent Dominic Di-Natale dead at 43  —  Dominic Di-Natale, a globetrotting journalist whose work at Fox News Channel and other news organizations took him to Usama bin Laden's compound, demonstrations in Egypt's Tahrir Square and, more recently, to the scene of racially charged riots in Ferguson, Mo., has died.

ISIS issues guidelines for sex slavery  —  Shares -  —  Members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have kidnapped thousands of women and girls in their raids on non-Sunni Muslim towns and villages across northern Syria and western Iraq.  —  Many of the captives are believed to be sold …

Ed Rendell trash-talks ‘pathetic’ Chris Christie's Cowboys loyalty  —  (CNN) — Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said Gov. Chris Christie's unapologetic love for the Dallas Cowboys is “pathetic,” adding that it's rooted in a “basic inferiority complex.”  —  “If you are a Jerseyite …

Rand Paul And Apple Have The Same Strategy  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Apple both seem to understand the marketplace.  —  Apple is betting bipartisan concern about intrusive government snooping will help sell phones, and Paul is creating a pretty impressive presidential campaign based on the same play.

New Questions Raised About Rolling Stone's UVA Rape Story … The college students described as friends of the alleged rape victim Jackie in an explosive Rolling Stone article revealed their identities to ABC News today, and said that some of the magazine's story is false.

Tortured tantrums: Feinstein's fake fury  —  Angus King raises an excellent point about torture.  It's just not the point he probably intended.  —  This week on CNN, Maine's Independent senator was asked about the Senate Democrats' release of a scathing report saying the CIA interrogation program …

Charles Krauthammer: A travesty of a report  —  The report by Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding CIA interrogation essentially accuses the agency under George W. Bush of war criminality.  Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein appears to offer some extenuation when she reminds us …

Leaked Emails Reveal Maureen Dowd Promised To Show Sony Exec's Husband Column Before Publication  —  The end result: kudos at the studio and an email to Dowd after it published saying, “you're amazing.”  —  New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd speaks during a taping of Meet the Press at the NBC studios.

Backers: Romney more open to 2016 run  —  He has sounded unimpressed with the emerging GOP field, associates say.  —  For most of the past year, Mitt Romney supporters have publicly said he should consider running again.  And for most of the past year, Romney has seemed uninterested.  —  Until recently.

Dogs in Heaven?  Pope Leaves Pearly Gate Open  —  Pope Francis has given hope to gays, unmarried couples and advocates of the Big Bang theory.  Now, he has endeared himself to dog lovers, animal-rights activists and vegans.  —  Trying to console a distraught little boy whose dog had died …

Tea party fumes over campaign finance plan  —  Activists see high dollar limits as a power grab by GOP establishment.  —  Tea party activists are attacking a campaign finance rider in the $1.1 trillion spending bill that they view as a sneaky power grab by establishment Republicans designed to undermine outside conservative groups.

Families to pose with Santa, firearms at local gun range  —  SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. —  Families will be able to snap a photo with Santa Claus and a firearm of their choice at a Sandy Springs gun range Saturday.  —  Sandy Springs Gun Club and Range will host the event where families can pose …

Women flood ranks of GOP  —  Republicans believe they had a breakthrough year with female candidates, electing several with unimpeachable resumes to Congress in 2014.  —  The GOP will send Capitol Hill its youngest-ever woman, 30-year-old Rep.-elect Elise Stefanik (N.Y.); …

Inside the collapse of the year's biggest tax deal  —  It was a rough few weeks for Sen. Ron Wyden (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)  —  Sen. Ron Wyden has so many knives in his back, it's a wonder he's still walking around upright.  But as his tenure as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee draws …