Trump Once Said the ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape Was Real.  Now He's Not Sure.  —  WASHINGTON — Shortly after his victory last year, Donald J. Trump began revisiting one of his deepest public humiliations: the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape of him making vulgar comments about women.

Exclusive: Accuser to Roy Moore, ‘Where does your immorality end?’  —  In an impassioned letter released exclusively today to AL.com, Leigh Corfman, who accused Roy Moore of undressing her when she was 14 and he was 32, demanded the Republican Senate candidate stop calling her a liar …

CNN to boycott White House Christmas party  —  Adding fuel to its growing feud with President Donald Trump, CNN told POLITICO it will be boycotting the White House Christmas party for the media this year.  —  “CNN will not be attending this year's White House Christmas party,” a CNN spokesperson said.

Conyers Scandal Highlights Divisions, Generational and Gender  —  WASHINGTON — Representative John Conyers Jr., who took his Michigan seat in the House in 1965, has served in Congress longer than his fellow Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, has been alive.

Federal judge rules that Trump's choice can remain at head of consumer watchdog bureau  —  A federal judge refused to block President Trump's choice of budget director Mick Mulvaney from serving as acting director of the prominent federal consumer watchdog agency on Tuesday …

North Korea's Longest Missile Test Yet  —  After more than two months without a missile launch, North Korea did a middle-of-the-night test (3:17 a.m. in Japan) today that appears to be its longest yet.  —  Reports are saying that the missile test was highly lofted and landed in the Sea of Japan some 960 km …

Mike Flynn's Promotion of Nuclear-Plant Project Went Deep Into the White House  —  Project backers drafted memos for President Trump and Flynn allies continued to push the plan after the Trump security adviser was ousted  —  Private-sector backers of a controversial Middle East nuclear plan worked …

Moore Opens Up 49-44 Lead in Alabama; Just 9% of Trump Voters Believe Allegations Against Moore  —  Alabama Republican Roy Moore has reopened a 49-44 lead over Democrat Doug Jones in the race for U.S. Senate.  In Change Research's third poll since the sexual misconduct allegations against Moore …

Senate committee advances GOP tax bill, moving closer to floor vote  —  The Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday approved the Republican tax bill, a crucial procedural step toward a vote by the full chamber later this week.  —  With the party-line 12-11 vote to advance the plan …

Rick Scott Consultant Denies He Used Ice Penis to Hump Mannequin … Joshua Cooper, a Tallahassee political consultant paid more than $500,000 by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to dig up dirt on Scott's enemies over the years, swears the photo above was simply a snapshot taken at an unfortunate angle.

Rep. Raul M. Grijalva quietly arranged a “severance package” in 2015 for one of his top staffers who threatened a lawsuit claiming the Arizona Democrat was frequently drunk and created a hostile workplace environment, revealing yet another way that lawmakers can use taxpayer dollars to hide their misbehavior on Capitol Hill.

Trump's FCC chairman accuses Twitter of silencing conservatives  —  Alt-Tech  —  The head of the Federal Communications Commission is going on the offensive against tech companies in an effort to make his case for repealing net neutrality rules.  —  FCC chairman Ajit Pai on Tuesday accused Twitter …

Mueller's Russia Probe May Now Include Flynn's DIA Tenure  —  BuzzFeed News requested documents relating to Michael Flynn from the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014.  The agency denied the request this month, citing ongoing “law enforcement investigative activities.”  —  Reporting From Washington, DC

Uzbekistan incident raises suspicions of Russian involvement in Cuba attacks  —  A newly revealed incident reported by a USAID officer who is based at the American embassy in Uzbekistan is raising suspicions Russia may have been involved and could have had a hand in bizarre attacks targeting U.S. diplomats …

A modest proposal: time to rethink the impact of US tax reform  —  You recently wrote an open letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin quantifying the economic impact of tax reform.  We are interested in and surprised by your analysis.  We share your commitment to the idea that well-designed tax reform …

The Limits of ‘Believe All Women’  —  Ever since Eve gave Adam that forbidden fruit, demonizing and disbelieving women has been the planet-wide policy.  You don't need to reach back to the Pleistocene to see the truth of that.  —  “You're just a child,” Roy Moore is accused of saying …

Tillerson fends off ‘redesign’ critics  —  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday dismissed mounting criticism of his plan to restructure the State Department, insisting “there is no hollowing out” of the agency but that it can be run more efficiently and with less funding.