Outspoken Putin critic: Trump's press conference just like Soviet ones  —  Garry Kasparov, an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, likened President-elect Donald Trump  —  's press conference Wednesday to ones held by leaders in the Soviet Union.  —  “That reminded me of a Soviet press conference.

GOP rep: Sessions attacks part of ‘war on whites’  —  (R-Ala.) said accusations of racism against Sen. Jeff Sessions  —  ‘s attorney general nominee, stem from Democrats’ ongoing “war on whites.”  —  “It's really about political power and racial division and what I refer to, on occasion …

Tillerson has a shaky show before skeptical senators  —  Rex Tillerson had terse exchanges Wednesday with Republican Marco Rubio and other key senators during his confirmation hearing for the role of secretary of state, ducking questions on whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin is a “war criminal” or if the U.S. should sanction Moscow.

Peter Thiel, Trump's Tech Pal, Explains Himself  —  Let others tremble at the thought that Donald J. Trump may go too far.  Peter Thiel worries that Mr. Trump may not go far enough.  —  “Everyone says Trump is going to change everything way too much,” says the famed venture capitalist …

Christopher Steele, Ex-British Intelligence Officer, Said to Have Prepared Dossier on Trump  —  Former spy is director of London-based Orbis Intelligence Ltd.  —  A former British intelligence officer who is now a director of a private security-and-investigations firm has been identified …

The story of the Trump dossier: secret sources, an airport rendezvous, and John McCain  —  What began as opposition research during the Republican primary slowly grew from a covert investigation into an extraordinary but unverified global story … The extraordinary but unverified documents published …

A passage from the Koran that denies one of the central tenets of the Christian faith was sung aloud at a cathedral service in Scotland.  —  The passage from Surah 19, which specifically denies that Jesus was the Son of God and says He should not be worshipped, was sung during a Eucharist service …

Introducing: The Facebook Journalism Project  —  Facebook is a new kind of platform and we want to do our part to enable people to have meaningful conversations, to be informed and to be connected to each other.  We know that our community values sharing and discussing ideas and news …

The Deep State Goes to War with President-Elect, Using Unverified Claims, as Democrats Cheer  —  In January, 1961, Dwight Eisenhower delivered his farewell address after serving two terms as U.S. president; the five-star general chose to warn Americans of this specific threat to democracy …

The 2 most important words in Trump's press conference  —  “I won.”  —  Donald Trump explained very clearly at Wednesday morning's press conference why he won't release his tax returns, thus leaving the public entirely in the dark as to who may or may not be paying him off: “I won.”

Newt Gingrich: “Trump Is Deliberately Trying To Shrink And Isolate CNN”  —  SEAN HANNITY (HOST): I've never seen a press conference like that in my entire life and everything that I said back in 2008 — “journalism is dead” — Trump probably buried it today, at least people's faith and confidence.