Initial Comments on James Comey's Written Testimony  —  James Comey's seven-page written statement, released by the Senate Intelligence Committee this afternoon in connection with Comey's impending testimony tomorrow, draws no conclusions, makes no allegations, and indeed, expresses no opinions.

Gianforte pays $50,000 to press group to settle assault of Guardian reporter  —  Congressman-elect issues lengthy apology to Ben Jacobs over ‘unprofessional, unacceptable, and unlawful’ actions … Greg Gianforte, the Montana Republican who assaulted a Guardian journalist on the eve …

Feds drop bombshell: Up to 100 girls may have had their genitals cut in Michigan  —  A federal prosecutor dropped a bombshell in court Wednesday, telling a federal judge that the government estimates that as many as 100 girls may have had their genitals cut at the hands of a local doctor and her cohorts.

Jury awards $6.7M to inmate raped by guard in Milwaukee County Jail, shackled during childbirth  —  A federal jury Wednesday awarded $6.7 million to a woman who was raped repeatedly by a guard when she was being held in the Milwaukee County Jail four years ago.

Strong approval of Trump is fading across a number of demographics  —  FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver noticed something interesting in approval-rating polling for President Trump.  While support for Trump has remained consistently high among Republicans and Trump's base of non-college-educated white voters …

Melania Trump set to make her D.C. move next week  —  President Donald Trump's White House residence — where an increasingly isolated figure under siege conducts his late-night phone klatches and early morning tweetstorms — is about to get a little less lonely.

Trump's pick for FBI director was alerted early to detainee abuse  —  President Donald Trump's choice for FBI director was notified months before the public knew about the death of a detainee at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2004, and was at the very least on the fringes of discussions …

Trump nominates new slate of federal judges  —  President Trump announced a new round of 11 judicial nominations Wednesday, including three nominees for high-profile federal appeals courts.  —  One of the nominees, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison H. Eid, is being tapped by the president …

For second straight day, no vote of confidence for Sessions  —  Like Sean Spicer on Tuesday, Sarah Sanders declined Wednesday to say President Trump has confidence in Jeff Sessions.  It's stunning that for two consecutive days, the top White House press people can't say whether the President has confidence in his Attorney General.

Trump is making America more hostile and mentally ill: New England Journal of Medicine study  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  A new review paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that a growing body of empirical evidence shows how presidential elections …

A fan of former Breitbart senior editor Milo Yiannopoulos is suing UC Berkeley for $23 million, claiming routine abuse against conservative students on campus.  —  The fan of Milo, whose book Dangerous reached #1 on Amazon's best sellers list within a day of being made available to pre-order this week …

Mozambique police warn bald men after ritual attack  —  Bald men in Mozambique could be targets of ritual attacks, police have warned, after the recent killing of five men for their body parts.  —  Two suspects have been arrested in the central district of Milange, where the killings occurred.

A top Uber executive, who obtained the medical records of a customer who was a rape victim, is fired  —  Sources say Eric Alexander carried around for a year confidential information about a woman who was assaulted during a ride in India in 2014.  —  A top Uber executive obtained medical records …