DNC penalizes Sanders campaign for improper access of Clinton voter data  —  Officials with the Democratic National Committee have accused the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders of improperly accessing confidential voter information gathered by the rival campaign of Hillary Clinton, according to several party officials.

Marco Rubio explains why he skipped vote, swipes at Rand Paul  —  Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, on Friday defended his decision to skip a major vote in the Senate that afternoon to fund the government through September, and he took a swipe at a GOP rival who called on him to resign from Congress.

Hagel: The White House Tried to ‘Destroy’ Me  —  In an exclusive interview, Chuck Hagel said the Obama administration micromanaged the Pentagon, stabbed him in the back on the way out — and still has no strategy for fixing Syria.  —  Jet-lagged from a long overseas trip …

Donald Trump left Joe Scarborough stunned after being asked about Vladimir Putin killing journalists  —  During a Friday-morning interview with Donald Trump, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was baffled by the Republican front-runner's embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The New York Times Just Memory-Holed This Devastating Obama Admission  —  A story published by the New York Times late Thursday night caused some major media waves.  The story, which was written by reporters Peter Baker and Gardiner Harris, included a remarkable admission by Obama …

Progressive PR Firm Closes Down Over Sexual Harassment And Assault Allegations  —  The group represented some of the biggest progressive organizations.  —  WASHINGTON — FitzGibbon Media, a prominent progressive public relations firm, abruptly shut down on Thursday amid allegations …

Systemic Change Needed After Faulty Times Article  —  Mistakes are bound to happen in the news business, but some are worse than others.  —  What I'll lay out here was a bad one.  It involved a failure of sufficient skepticism at every level of the reporting and editing process …

FDA proposes tanning bed age restrictions and other important safety measures … For Immediate Release  —  Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced important proposed steps to protect public health by preventing the use of sunlamp products (also commonly known as indoor tanning beds) …

Draw this  —  When the world geography class at Riverheads High School in Staunton rolled around to the subject of major world religions, homework on Islam asked students to copy religious calligraphy.  —  It read:  —  “Here is the shahada, the Islamic statement of faith, written in Arabic.

How old-fashioned logrolling produced Congress' massive budget deal  —  During John Boehner's speakership, when a vote on a massive spending bill was around the corner, he'd often be holed up in his office, trying to figure out how to persuade Republicans to avoid a government shutdown.

Missouri trooper charged in death of Brandon Ellingson, who drowned in handcuffs  —  Highway Patrol Trooper Anthony Piercy was charged Friday with involuntary manslaughter  —  Criminal charge follows 18 months of investigations, including two special prosecutors

New York pizza parlor owner admits to recruiting for ISIS  —  The owner of a Rochester, N.Y., pizza parlor pleaded guilty on Thursday to trying to recruit people to join Islamic extremists in the Middle East.  —  The man, 31-year-old Mufid Elfgeeh, used the Internet to find potential supporters …

The Republicans in Congress Are Surrendering to Obama  —  It's Christmastime in Washington, D.C., and that can mean only one thing: Congress is once again playing Santa Claus.  The names at the top of its list are the Washington Cartel: The big businesses and lobbyists who get in bed …