Exclusive: Email shows effort to give Trump campaign WikiLeaks documents  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  Washington (CNN)Candidate Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and others in the Trump Organization received an email in September 2016 offering a decryption key and website address …

The G.O.P. Is Rotting  —  A lot of good, honorable Republicans used to believe there was a safe middle ground.  You didn't have to tie yourself hip to hip with Donald Trump, but you didn't have to go all the way to the other extreme and commit political suicide like the dissident Jeff Flake, either.

Arizona's Trent Franks to Resign Jan. 31  —  Updated 7:24 pm |  Arizona Republican Trent Franks said Thursday he is resigning from Congress effective Jan. 31 amid an Ethics Committee investigation into discussions he had with two female staffers about surrogacy.

Al Franken's Resignation and the Selective Force of #MeToo  —  On what he called the worst day of his political life, Senator Al Franken articulated two points that are central to understanding what has become known as the #MeToo moment.  In an eleven-minute speech, in which Franken announced …

Congressional Democrats Left Out of White House Hanukkah Party  —  WASHINGTON — The latkes were fried and the kosher lamb chops were prepared on Thursday, just as in past years, for the first White House Hanukkah party of the Trump era.  But there was one prominent break with tradition …

Dossier author was in contact with Obama Justice Department  —  It's been ten months since Washington learned that former British spy Christopher Steele, author of the so-called “Trump dossier,” took the Hillary Clinton-funded opposition research document to the FBI, which considered sponsoring …

Stark Partisan Divisions Over Russia Probe, Including Its Importance to the Nation  —  Trump's style, Twitter use top ‘disappointments’ among supporters  —  A majority of Americans say they think senior members of Donald Trump's administration definitely or probably had improper contacts …

George Papadopoulos' fiancee: He's a patriot, not a Trump campaign coffee boy  —  The Italian fiancee of George Papadopoulos offered the first public defense of the embattled former Trump campaign adviser, who in October was revealed as the first campaign adviser to plead guilty and cooperate with the special counsel's Russia probe.

Fox's pro-Trump hosts are working overtime to discredit Robert Mueller  —  This is why Trump loves ‘Fox & Friends’  —  What's President Trump hearing when he watches Fox News?  —  He's hearing that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is “illegitimate and corrupt.”

Zinke booked government helicopters to attend D.C. events  —  Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spent more than $14,000 on government helicopters this summer to take himself and staff to and from official events near Washington, D.C., in order to accommodate his attendance at a swearing-in ceremony …

Collins' Obamacare deal faces moment of truth  —  House conservatives thumb their nose at the Maine moderate's bid to slow the demise of the health law.  —  Sen. Susan Collins is barreling toward yet another health care showdown with her own party.  But this time, she might not have the leverage to get what she wants.

Roy Moore accuser Beverly Young Nelson: 'I pray that he's changed'  —  One of the women accusing Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual misconduct, Beverly Young Nelson, told ABC News it “sickens” her to think what might happen if Moore is elected to the U.S. Senate.

Private War: Erik Prince Has His Eye On Afghanistan's Rare Metals  —  BuzzFeed News is publishing the slide presentation by the founder of Blackwater to privatize the Afghan war and mine Afghanistan's valuable minerals.  He pitched the proposal to the Trump administration.

Twitter Users Like Long Tweets More Than Short Ones  —  The early verdict is in: People are retweeting and liking longer tweets almost twice as much as shorter ones.  —  Given the deluge of complaints about Twitter's 280-character limit when it debuted this fall, you'd think people would be ignoring the new, lengthier tweets.

Inside a secret 2014 list of hundreds of L.A. deputies with histories of misconduct  —  It was a critical piece of evidence: an inmate's shirt, bloodied from a jailhouse brawl.  —  When it went missing, Deputy Jose Ovalle had an idea.  —  He picked out a similar shirt …

The Bitcoin Whales: 1,000 People Who Own 40 Percent of the Market  —  A few massive investors can rock it with a shrug.  —  On Nov. 12, someone moved almost 25,000 bitcoins, worth about $159 million at the time, to an online exchange.  The news soon rippled through online forums …

Trump's richest friends are asking for changes to the GOP tax plan, and he's listening … Some of President Trump's wealthiest New York friends have launched a last-minute campaign to pressure him for changes to the GOP tax bill, telling the president personally that the current plan would drive up their taxes and hurt his home state.

Black Mothers Keep Dying After Giving Birth.  Shalon Irving's Story Explains Why  —  On a melancholy Saturday this past February, Shalon Irving's “village” — the friends and family she had assembled to support her as a single mother — gathered at a funeral home in a prosperous black neighborhood in southwest Atlanta to say goodbye.

Ex-Mesa Officer Philip Brailsford found not guilty of murder in shooting of unarmed man  —  Former Mesa police Officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford is on trial for second-degree murder in the shooting of Texas man Daniel Shaver in January 2016.  Here's an overview of the case.  Wochit  —  CONNECT

Another strong jobs report  —  U.S. economy continues its strong performance  —  The American economy continues its strong performance.  —  Employers added 228,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate remained at a 17-year low of 4.1%, the government reported Friday.

Brexit: ‘Breakthrough’ deal paves way for future trade talks  —  PM Theresa May has struck a last minute deal with the EU in a bid to move Brexit talks on to the next phase.  —  There will be no “hard border” with Ireland and EU citizens in the UK, and UK citizens in the EU, will see their rights protected.

Democrats look to 2020 with proposals to change superdelegate and primary system  —  A Democratic Party working group will meet in Washington, D.C. today and tomorrow to finalize a formal list of recommended reforms for the party.  —  By then end of this weekend the group called the …