Donald Trump Goes Full Fredo  —  “I can handle things.  I'm smart!  Not like everybody says, like dumb.  I'm smart and I want respect!”  —  This morning's presidential Twitter outburst recalls those words of Fredo Corleone's in one of the most famous scenes from The Godfather series.

SEC Looks Into Kushner Cos.  Over Use of EB-5 Program for Immigrant Investors  —  Probe is being conducted in collaboration with Brooklyn U.S. attorney's office, which issued similar subpoena  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the real-estate company run by the family …

Mueller calls back at least one participant in key meeting with Russians at Trump Tower  —  Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin.  (Yury Martyanov/AFP/Getty Images, Alex Wong/Getty Images)  —  Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has recalled for questioning …

What the Trump dossier criminal referral means  —  There's been a lot of confusion about the decision by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley and crime subcommittee chairman Lindsey Graham to refer Christopher Steele, author of the Trump dossier, to the Justice Department for possible criminal investigation.

The U.S. Wanted to Discuss Iran.  Russia Brought Up Black Lives Matter.  —  UNITED NATIONS — Efforts by the Trump administration to marshal a muscular international response to Iran's crackdown on anti-government protesters appeared to backfire on Friday, as members of the United Nations …

A Major Democratic Donor Is Reconsidering Support For Senators Who Pushed For Al Franken's Resignation  —  Clinton with Buell in 2007.  —  One of the Democratic Party's biggest donors says she is reconsidering her support for the women in the U.S. Senate who called for Al Franken's resignation …

Roy Moore accuser's Gadsden home burns; arson investigation underway  —  Roy Moore accuser Tina Johnson lost her home Wednesday in a fire that is now under investigation by the Etowah County Arson Task Force.  —  Tina Johnson, who first came to public notice for accusing Senate candidate Roy Moore …

Appeal denied: ICE to move forward with deportation of paraplegic boy's caregiver … Yancarlos Mendez, a dual citizen of Spain and the Dominican Republic living illegally in the United States, was stopped for driving without a license, his second such offense.  Sam Greene/The Enquirer

First phase of Trump border wall gets $18 billion price tag, in new request to lawmakers  —  The Trump administration has told lawmakers that it wants $18 billion over the next decade for the initial phase of a Mexico border wall, laying out for the first time a detailed financial blueprint …

Finding the Way Forward on Iran  —  Last May an article in this newspaper asked, “Is Iran a democracy or a dictatorship?”  After more than a week of protests in as many as 80 Iranian cities, it's safe to say we have the answer.  Again.  —  So much was apparent from the speed with which the demonstrations …

HEAR IT: Eliot Spitzer chides blackmailer in alleged profanity-filled recording (WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE)  —  A woman who says she carried on a longtime affair with disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer told police she has the pervy pol on tape berating and threatening her, and the NYPD is investigating her allegation.

Mandalay Bay staff interacted with Las Vegas shooter more than 10 times in days before Oct. 1  —  Mandalay Bay resort and casino.  Joel Angel Juarez Las Vegas Review-Journal @jajuarezphoto  —  Two windows are blown out from Mandalay Bay the morning after a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017.

ACLU to storm 2018 midterms  —  The group is aiming to become the NRA of the left, starting with plans to spend tens of millions in the election.  —  The American Civil Liberties Union, rarely an active player in national campaigns, is jumping into the 2018 midterms with plans to spend upward …

McConnell dances on Bannon's grave  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies rang in the new year with a week-long celebration of Steve Bannon's self-immolation.  —  But the festivities may prove to be short-lived.  —  The Republican leader still has a slate …

The Increasing Unfitness of Donald Trump  —  The West Wing has come to resemble the dankest realms of Twitter, in which everyone is racked with paranoia and everyone despises everyone else.  —  What made the Emperor Nero tick, Suetonius writes in “Lives of the Caesars,” was …

U.S. Trade Deficit Balloons to Widest in Almost Six Years  —  The U.S. trade deficit in November reached the highest level in almost six years as an increase in imports exceeded a gain in shipments overseas, Commerce Department data showed Friday.  —  Highlights of Trade Balance (November)

‘Romantic encounter’ set off Australia's role in triggering Donald Trump investigation  —  It was a chance romantic encounter by George Papadopoulos that set in train the events that led to the Australian government tipping off Washington about what it knew of Russian hacking efforts to swing the US presidential election.

CDC to hold briefing on how public can prepare for nuclear war  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has scheduled a briefing for later this month to outline how the public can prepare for nuclear war.  —  “While a nuclear detonation is unlikely, it would have devastating results …

Restoring the Rule of Law to the Protection of Classified Information  —  In the Clinton-email case, her intent, regardless of her motive, was clearly criminal.  —  The Justice Department is reviving investigations involving Hillary Clinton's emails and the degree to which the State Department during …

NPR Host Robert Siegel Signs Off  —  The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the median number of years that American workers have been working for their current employer is a little over four.  —  I say that to acknowledge how unusual it is that I have been working at National Public Radio for a little over 40 years — 41, to be precise.

Without fanfare, oil companies just received a tax break on New Year's Day … Congressional Republicans allowed a tax on oil companies that generated hundreds of millions of dollars annually for federal oil-spill response efforts to expire this week — a move that amounts to another corporate break …

If the poor must work to earn every dollar, shouldn't the rich?  —  The argument over which poor people deserve aid has begun anew thanks to incipient Republican efforts to harshen work requirements attached to welfare programs.  For conservatives and thus-inclined Democrats …