House Republicans quietly investigate perceived corruption at DOJ, FBI  —  A group of House Republicans has gathered secretly for weeks in the Capitol in an effort to build a case that senior leaders of the Justice Department and FBI improperly — and perhaps criminally …

Wells Fargo, Fifth Third Bancorp unveil minimum wage hikes after tax bill passage  — Fifth Third and AT&T are paying employees special bonuses after getting tax cuts under the Republican tax plan.  — Wells Fargo said Wednesday that it would boost minimum wages for employees to $15 an hour …

Wall Street Journal Killed Editorial on Trump's Mob Ties  —  In a short period of time, five staffers have departed The Wall Street Journal editorial page.  The general cause of their departures, willing and otherwise, is known: the Journal editorial line has increasingly conformed …

Trump Plans Tax Signing on Jan. 3 Due to Technical Issue  —  President Donald Trump plans to sign the tax bill on Jan. 3 to ensure automatic spending cuts to Medicare and other programs don't take effect, according to a House Republican aide familiar with the plans.

President Commutes Sentence of Iowa Meatpacking Executive  —  President Trump on Wednesday commuted the prison sentence of Sholom Rubashkin, whose Iowa meatpacking plant was the target of a huge immigration raid in 2008, and whose 27-year prison sentence angered many Orthodox Jews.

Court tosses out one-vote victory in recount that had briefly ended a Republican majority in Virginia  —  A three- judge panel declined to certify the recount of a key House race today, saying that a questionable ballot should be counted in favor of the Republican and tying a race that Democrats …

You Cannot Be Too Cynical About the Republican Tax Bill  —  The rush to enact the tax bill was designed to mask — as a break for the middle class — what is in fact a $1.4 trillion package of benefits for key donors and lobbyists, the richest members of Congress, President Trump, his family and other families like his.

Memphis removing Confederate statues from Downtown parks  —  Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal  —  The city of Memphis sold two public parks containing Confederate monuments to a nonprofit Wednesday in a massive, months-in-the-planning operation to take the statues down overnight.

Facebook Job Ads Raise Concerns About Age Discrimination  —  This article was written through collaboration between The New York Times and ProPublica, the independent, nonprofit investigative journalism organization.  —  A few weeks ago, Verizon placed an ad on Facebook to recruit applicants …

Prosecutors ask FBI agents for info on Uranium One deal  —  On the orders of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Justice Department prosecutors have begun asking FBI agents to explain the evidence they found in a now dormant criminal investigation into a controversial uranium deal that critics …

White House Counsel Knew in January Flynn Probably Violated the Law  —  Don McGahn was looking at whether the national security advisor violated federal laws just days after Trump moved into the White House.  —  The White House turned over records this fall to special counsel Robert Mueller revealing …

Trump praises ‘Fox & Friends’ for being named ‘most influential’ because he watches it  —  on Thursday praised “Fox & Friends” after a media website named it the “most influential” because he watches it.  —  “Was @foxandfriends just named the most influential show in news?”  Trump tweeted.

Puerto Rico governor vows midterm revenge for tax bill  —  Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló says he plans to mobilize 5.3 million Puerto Ricans living on the mainland to shake up the midterm elections in states ranging from Florida to California.  —  Rosselló …

Forget what they say — House Democrats are readying for impeachment  —  To fill their top spot on the House Judiciary Committee, Democrats had a choice between experts in two critical policy arenas: a constitutional law ace with firsthand experience battling President Trump, and an architect of sweeping immigration legislation.

Glenn Thrush, Suspended Times Reporter, to Resume Work but Won't Cover White House  —  The New York Times said on Wednesday that Glenn Thrush, one of the paper's most prominent political reporters, would remain suspended until late January and then be removed from the team covering the White House …

Ridiculous video emerges of wealthy Koch heir — and the internet is dying of laughter  —  The billionaire heir of conservative industrialist Bill Koch stands to benefit mightily from the newly passed Republican tax overhaul.  —  Wyatt Ingraham Koch is president and CEO of the Wyatt Ingraham clothing brand …

The Real Coup Plot Is Trump's  —  When Donald Trump's campaign was accused of spreading “fake news,” he quickly appropriated the term for himself.  The true purveyors of fake news, he claimed, were television networks like CNN and newspapers like this one.  —  Now, as Mr. Trump and his allies seem …

Democracy dies in dimness  —  There's fake news and there's non-news.  Between the two, they account for way too much of what the mainstream media reports.  —  Here's an example of non-news.  The Washington Post tells us that “Tom Hanks would vote no to attending a screening of ‘The Post’ at the White House.”

Trump threatens to cut aid to U.N. members over Jerusalem vote  —  U.S. President Donald Trump holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington  —  WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that vote …

The Great American Tax Heist  —  With their tax bill, Donald Trump and the Republicans are raiding the Treasury in plain sight, throwing crumbs to the masses as the millionaires and billionaires make off with the cake.  —  America should be aghast not only at the looting but also at the brazenness of its execution.

I spoke my mind on guns.  Then my Senate confirmation was put on hold.  —  Dean L. Winslow, a retired Air Force colonel and flight surgeon, is a professor of medicine at Stanford University.  —  Last week, I withdrew my name from consideration to be assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

Dec. 21 will be the worst day of 2017, astrologers say … The winter solstice — also known as Yule, Midwinter, the Shortest Day of the Year and the Longest Night — occurs at 11:28 a.m. ET Thursday.  —  But this short, little day with the great many names also may be the worst day of the year, according to astrologers.