White House Was Warned of Aide's Background Months Earlier Than Acknowledged  —  WASHINGTON — Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, contradicted on Tuesday the White House timeline about the domestic abuse scandal involving Rob Porter, the president's former staff secretary.

Louise Linton Is Super-Duper Sorry  —  Louise Linton has accomplished the near-impossible task of locating an ordinary meeting place in the most moneyed stretch of the Upper East Side, where she and her husband, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, own an apartment.

PORTRAIT PERVERSION: Obama Portrait Features ‘SECRET SPERM,’ Artist Joked About ‘Killing Whitey’  —  The widening scandal surrounding former President Barack Obama's official portrait continued to swirl on Tuesday, with shocking allegations the artist included ‘secret sperm cells’ within …

Trump still unconvinced Russia meddled in 2016 election  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump still isn't buying that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.  —  Even as his intelligence chiefs unanimously told a Senate panel Tuesday that Russia meddled in 2016 and is planning to do so again in 2018 …

Internal Dem polling shows Trump's standing on the rise  —  A leading Democratic group — Priorities USA — is warning party leaders they could squander a strong political climate in 2018 if they don't start to emphasize pocketbook issues over loose and unfocused critiques of Donald Trump.

BuzzFeed Is Suing the D.N.C. Over Issues Involving the Russia Dossier  —  BuzzFeed believes that evidence of the alleged D.N.C. break-in by Russian hackers might help the online publisher in a libel suit.  But the D.N.C. says releasing information might make it vulnerable to more hacking.

To really understand Israeli politics and the Netanyahu cases - subscribe to Haaretz  —  The two cases are the so-called Case 1000 - in which Netanyahu is suspected of accepting lavish gifts from wealthy benefactors in return for advancing their interests - and Case 2000 …

U.S. Strikes Killed Scores of Russian Fighters in Syria, Sources Say  —  More than 200 contract soldiers are said to have been killed  —  The casualties dwarf official Russian army death toll in Syria  —  U.S. forces killed scores of Russian contract soldiers in Syria last week …

In The Wake Of Rob Porter Allegations, Mormon Women Say Church Leaders Encouraged Them To Stay With Their Abusers  —  Nearly two dozen women told BuzzFeed News they went to Mormon church leaders after suffering abuse at home and were counseled to remain in their relationships.

Jared Kushner credit line debts increased in 2017  —  Jared Kushner, a White House aide and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, appears to have drawn more money out of three separate lines of credit in the months after he joined the White House last year, a newly released document shows.

Corker Reconsiders Retirement, but He Must Win Over Trump to Do It  —  WASHINGTON — Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee has been reconsidering his decision to retire this year, but Mr. Corker's hopes for retaining his seat are running into a potentially insurmountable object: President Trump.

Chicago police commander shot to death at Thompson Center in Loop  —  A high-ranking Chicago police officer died after he was shot Tuesday afternoon while assisting a tactical team responding to a robbery at the Thompson Center, sources said.  —  The officer, identified as a commander …

Pennsylvania Pastor Caught in Parked Car with Bound Naked Man  —  “I have nothing to hide,” says Pastor George Gregory of Waterfront Christian Community Church, “I did nothing wrong.”  But according to the police report, Pastor George Gregory of Munhall, PA, was sitting fully clothed …

Silencing and “Free” Speech  —  Today, February 13th, 2018, the Brown Republicans and the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs are hosting an event entitled, “The Millennial Conservative: A Conversation with Guy Benson” on Brown's campus.  Benson, a conservative journalist …

White powdery substance under investigation at former President Obama's DC office  —  WASHINGTON - The Secret Service is investigating after reports that a white powdery substance had been found at former President Barack Obama's D.C. office.  —  The incident was reported Tuesday around 12:30 p.m …

Democrat Margaret Good Flips Seat in Florida, The 36th Democratic Flip Since Trump's Inauguration … Democrat Margaret Good won a special election for state representative in Florida's 72nd district on Tuesday night, earning the Democratic party its 36th legislative flip since Trump's inauguration.

The End of the Two-Party System  —  In the first half of the 1990s, I worked in Europe for The Wall Street Journal.  I covered nothing but good news: the reunification of Germany, the liberation of Central Europe, the fall of the Soviet Union, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the Oslo peace process in the Middle East.

Second U.S. judge blocks Trump administration from ending DACA program  —  (Reuters) - A second U.S. judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump's decision to end a program that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children from deportation.

Governor Tom Wolf Rejects Partisan Gerrymandered Map  —  Analyses, Non-Partisan Experts Say GOP Submission is Partisan, Gerrymandered  —  Harrisburg, PA - Governor Tom Wolf today told the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that he will not accept the proposed map Republican legislative leaders submitted because it …

What If You Could Get Your Own Immigrant?  —  The raw emotions generated by immigration policy—provoked by heartrending stories of families torn apart by deportation, or citizens murdered by illegal immigrants—have scrambled political allegiances and confused public debate.

Salon Wants to Hijack Your Browser to Mine Cryptocurrency … If you want to read Salon and you don't want to deal with ads, you'll have to agree to get into the cryptocurrency business.  —  On Sunday night, the famously liberal site began testing a new formula: If non-subscribers using ad-blocking software …

Trump proposes eliminating federal funding for PBS, NPR  —  's newly proposed budget includes a proposal to end federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), part of a package that includes $300 billion in new spending overall.  —  CPB provides federal funding for PBS and National Public Radio stations.