The Special Counsel Mistake  —  Rosenstein bends to political pressure, and here we go again.

Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House  —  WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn told President Trump's transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign …

Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians: sources  —  Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race …

House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays’ Trump  —  KIEV, Ukraine — A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation …

Neil Gorsuch will be the enduring symbol of a disastrous presidency.  —  Several hours after the New York Times reported on Tuesday that President Donald Trump had attempted to quash the FBI's investigation into Michael Flynn, conservative pundit Erick Erickson tweeted that …

Roger Ailes, who built Fox News into a powerhouse, dies at 77  —  Roger Ailes dead at 77  —  Roger Ailes, who transformed cable news and then American politics by building Fox News into a ratings powerhouse, died Thursday.  He was 77.  —  The death was announced by his family and reported on Fox News Channel.

Pat Buchanan: It Isn't Watergate Yet, But How Long Can This Sustain?  —  Pat Buchanan says the nonstop uproar following Trump's firing of former FBI director James Comey is not comparable to Watergate, but he does wonder if the Trump presidency can function with this level of drama.

Democratic leaders seek to stifle impeachment talk  —  House Democrats are buzzing about the possibility of President Donald Trump being impeached.  But party leaders aren't going there — at least not yet.  —  Top Democrats in the House and Senate know their liberal base is clamoring for a harder line …

Israeli Source Seen as Key to Countering Islamic State Threat  —  The classified information that President Donald Trump shared with Russian officials last week came from an Israeli source described by multiple U.S. officials as the most valuable source of information on external plotting by Islamic State.

Race between Democrats running for Virginia governor is neck-and-neck  —  RICHMOND — Virginia Democrats Tom Perriello and Ralph Northam are battling in a very close contest for the party's gubernatorial primary, with divisions reemerging from last year's Democratic presidential race …

‘The Flight 93 Election’ Crashes Again  —  In case you've had the pleasure of forgetting, “The Flight 93 Election” was the title of a portentous essay, published last September under a Roman pseudonym in The Claremont Review of Books, that declared the stakes for the United States in 2016 thus: “Charge the cockpit or you die.”

Chris Cornell, Soundgarden frontman, dies aged 52  —  Representative for singer, who helped take the grunge sound of the 1990s into the mainstream, said his death was sudden and unexpected  —  Chris Cornell, lead singer of American hard rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, has died aged 52.

Trump isn't a toddler — he's a product of America's culture of impunity for the rich  —  “When you're a star, they let you do it.”  —  Ross Douthat's column arguing for the superiority of “25th Amendment remedies” to impeachment for Donald Trump's various misdeeds is impressive in its ability …

Kellyanne Conway cancels Fox appearance after special prosecutor announcement  —  Kellyanne Conway cancelled an appearance on Fox News' “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Wednesday night after it was announced that a special prosecutor would be appointed to head up the investigation into President Trump's ties to Russia.