As Jared Kushner's security clearance is delayed, White House hesitates to act on others with possible problems … White House Counsel Donald McGahn and other Trump administration officials have been so vexed by Jared Kushner's months-long inability to obtain a permanent security clearance …

American Spies Paid $100,000 to Russian Who Wanted to Sell Material on Trump  —  BERLIN — After months of secret negotiations, a shadowy Russian bilked American spies out of $100,000 last year, promising to deliver stolen National Security Agency cyberweapons in a deal that he insisted …

Trump Blocks Release of Memo Rebutting Republican Claims  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump blocked on Friday the release of a classified Democratic memo rebutting Republican claims that top federal law enforcement officials had abused their surveillance powers in spying on a former Trump campaign aide …

No. 3 Official at the Justice Department Is Stepping Down  —  WASHINGTON — Rachel L. Brand, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, plans to step down after nine months on the job as the country's top law enforcement agency has been under attack by President Trump, according to two people briefed on her decision.

The Smearing of Woody Allen  —  Soon after Rolling Stone published a sensational — and, as it turned out, false — account of a gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity, Richard Bradley, the editor of Worth magazine, suspected that something was amiss.

Pence upstaged by 2 Koreas' efforts to warm ties  —  Vice President Mike Pence's efforts to keep North Korea from stealing the show at the Winter Olympics proved to be short-lived, quickly drowned out by the images of the two Koreas marching and competing together, as the South appeared …

Bannon: ‘Anti-patriarchy movement’ will ‘undo ten thousand years of recorded history’  —  The ups and downs of the Bannon insurgency  —  Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, is quoted in a new edition of the book “Devil's Bargain” as sharply criticizing what he terms the …

‘House of Cards’ Star Reg E. Cathey Dead From Cancer at 59  —  ‘House of Cards’ Star — Reg E. Cathey Dead at 59  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  Reginald E. Cathey, who had huge roles in “House of Cards” and “The Wire,” has died ... TMZ has learned.  —  The beloved actor passed away at his home in New York, surrounded by friends and family.

How Joy Reid of MSNBC Became a Heroine of the Resistance  —  The daughter of immigrants, she spars fiercely with supporters of President Trump, both on the air and in the Twitter ether.  —  In early January, Joy-Ann Reid invited Pastor Mark Burns to be a guest on her MSNBC show …

One Honorable American's Love of Trump  —  Syracuse — Shannon Kennedy, son of Jack, retired military officer, ex-stockbroker, voted twice for Barack Obama ("so poised, a really got-it-together guy") before his conversion to Donald Trump.  Now he's a true believer, even if he thinks “Donald definitely needs to button it sometimes.”