How an Affair Between a Reporter and a Security Aide Has Rattled Washington Media  —  The pearl bracelet arrived in May 2014, in the spring of Ali Watkins's senior year in college, a graduation gift from a man many years her senior.  It was the sort of bauble that might imply something …

Let the Trump team eat in peace  —  OVER THE WEEKEND there was a fair bit of argument over the decision by a small restaurant in Lexington, Va., not to serve dinner to President Trump's press secretary.  It wasn't the first time recently that strong political feelings have spilled into what used to be considered the private sphere.

Trump Calls for Depriving Immigrants Who Illegally Cross Border of Due Process Rights  —  President Trump asserted on Sunday that immigrants who crossed into the United States illegally should be sent back immediately without due process or an appearance before a judge, an escalation of his attacks on the judicial system.

Pruitt faces another probe for employee retaliation allegations  —  The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is reviewing claims that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt retaliated against a handful of employees who pushed back against his spending and management, according to three people familiar with the process.

Where Is Barack Obama?  —  Barack Obama was six months into his post-White House life when Donald Trump found a new way to grab his attention.  It was a Tuesday morning deep in the mid-Atlantic summer, and, feeling a world away from the Pennsylvania Avenue grind, the former president was reading the New York Times on his iPad.

Where I stand on the Trump agenda  —  I appreciate the argument made by those who believe we should stay silent, but I cannot subscribe to it.  —  One of the questions I am asked frequently on the campaign trail is whether as Senator I will support the Trump agenda.

Stormy Daniels to meet with prosecutors in Michael Cohen investigation  —  Stormy Daniels is scheduled Monday to be interviewed by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, preparing for a potential grand jury appearance about a $130,000 payment from President Trump's attorney Michael Cohen …

It's time we abolish ICE  —  We've all experienced a phone app that's not working properly, or a computer program that freezes the machine.  What do you do?  Lesson number one: shut it down.  —  It works for computers.  Maybe that's what we need to do with Immigration and Custom Enforcement …

Flake threatens Trump again on judicial nominees  —  Flake: the choice was embrace Trump, or retire  —  Washington (CNN)Sen. Jeff Flake warned that he and a “number of senators,” are prepared to block President Donald Trump's judicial nominees if there is no action in the Senate on tariffs and other key issues.

What did Peter Strzok do?  —  As former top FBI official Peter Strzok faces congressional requests to testify, it's worth examining who he is.  —  Strzok is the subject of what I see as one of the most damaging conclusions in the Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general report …

Overheard at the DSCC retreat on Martha's Vineyard  —  SEN. MARK WARNER (D-Va.) hosted a dinner Friday night for more than 100 guests at his house on Martha's Vineyard as part of the DSCC'S annual Majority Trust retreat.  OVERHEARD: Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee …

Poll: 66% Of Voters Oppose Trump DOJ's Move To Gut Patient Protections  —  Contributor I write about healthcare business and policy Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.  —  “> 66% of voters disapprove of the Trump Justice Department's move

The strategic blunder of ‘Trump-as-Hitler’  —  You knew it was coming.  Eighteen months into the Trump administration and the president's ostensibly serious critics have finally broken the glass on the “Trump-is-a-Nazi” line of attack.  —  To be certain, there were previous allusions to this from media …

The big picture: 2018's stormiest clouds for the GOP  —  A source close to Republican leadership emails about the biggest political clouds hovering over the rest of the year:  —  “Only thing that matters now is a) how bad they get crushed on ACA premium increases; b) the final Mueller verdict; and c) how crazy Trump gets with the CR.”

Separated immigrant children are all over the U.S. now, far from parents who don't know where they are  —  Their mothers are missing, their fathers far away.  They get pizza, maybe cold cuts.  They are exhausted; they cannot sleep.  There are other children around, but they had never seen …

A Leading Climate Agency May Lose Its Climate Focus  —  The Trump administration appears to be planning to shift the mission of one of the most important federal science agencies that works on climate change — away from climate change.  —  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration …

McCaskill stays on the trail despite a broken rib — courtesy of Joe Manchin  —  Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told constituents over the weekend that she'd suffered a cracked rib after a colleague saved her from choking at a Democratic caucus luncheon — an injury that took that colleague, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), by surprise.

Why We Are Leaving the G.O.P.  —  When the obituary for the Republican Party is written, the year 1980 will be cited as the beginning of the end.  Reaganism was in full flower, but the big tent was already folding.  Republican leaders endorsed a constitutional ban on abortion at the convention that summer …

Trump Leaves His Mark on a Presidential Keepsake  —  Under President Trump, once stately medallions have gotten glitzier, and at least one featured a Trump property.  Ethics watchdogs are worried.  —  WASHINGTON — Since Bill Clinton occupied the White House, the commemorative medallions known …

A Counterattack on Voting Rights  —  In the suburbs of Salt Lake City, there is a planned community called Suncrest that has turned out to be a good place to study voter turnout.  Suncrest feels like one community, full of modern, single-family houses.  But it straddles two different counties — Salt Lake and Utah.

The Nightclub King Whose Properties Were Harvey Weinstein's ‘Hunting Ground’ … For 20 years, movie producer Harvey Weinstein and restaurant magnate Giuseppe Cipriani have been the closest of friends, dining together every Wednesday night at The Sherry-Netherland Hotel near Central Park.