Trump says Germany ‘is captive to Russia’ in fiery opening salvo against NATO  —  BRUSSELS — President Trump unleashed a blistering attack Wednesday on Germany and other NATO allies, wasting no time to take the offensive before a week of high-stakes diplomacy on both sides of the former Cold War divide.

Rosenstein Asks Prosecutors to Help With Kavanaugh Papers in Unusual Request  —  WASHINGTON — Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, has asked federal prosecutors to help review the government documents of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee …

Battling Fake Accounts, Twitter to Slash Millions of Followers  —  Twitter will begin removing tens of millions of suspicious accounts from users' followers on Thursday, signaling a major new effort to restore trust on the popular but embattled platform.  —  The reform takes aim at a pervasive form of social media fraud.

Border Protection says NYC mayor crossed border illegally  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his security detail violated both Mexican and U.S. immigration laws by crossing the border on foot during a visit near El Paso, Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection alleges …

Paul Manafort to be moved from jail where prosecutors say he has ‘VIP’ treatment  —  A federal judge in Alexandria has ordered Paul Manafort to be moved to the city jail, although Manafort has asked to stay in a Northern Neck facility where prosecutors say he is receiving special treatment.

Once partners, ‘Game Change’ authors feuding over their shattered franchise  —  Until their split last year, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann were the golden boys of American political journalism.  Their collaboration led to a best-selling book about the 2008 presidential campaign, “Game Change …

Papa John's founder reportedly used racial slur in conference call  —  A media agency working with Papa John's International Inc. decided to cut ties after the pizza maker's founder and chairman, John Schnatter, allegedly used a racial slur and graphic descriptions of violence against minorities …

Obama Tops Public's List of Best President in Their Lifetime, Followed by Clinton, Reagan  —  Reagan is top choice among Boomers, Silents  —  When asked which president has done the best job in their lifetimes, more Americans name Barack Obama than any other president.

Former Obama Officials Are Riding Out The Trump Years By Cashing In  —  The revolving door takes a spin.  —  The last 18 months have been difficult for former members of the Obama administration.  They've been replaced by a regime, which, in the words of former Domestic Policy Council …

Here Is the Column That Business Insider Spiked  —  Defending an actress for being hired to do a job is apparently beyond the pale these days. … Scarlett Johansson is the latest target of the social-justice warrior mob.  The actress is being chastised for, well, acting.

Poll: Voters oppose abolishing ICE  —  A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows that most voters oppose eliminating Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the homeland security agency some liberal Democrats have called for abolishing.  —  Only 1 in 4 voters in the poll, 25 percent …

What men are trying to say when they show off their Female Relationship Résumé  —  While covering a women's rights protest once, I asked a man in the crowd if he considered himself a feminist.  He spread his arms wide.  “My mom is awesome!” he declared.  —  And that is what brings us to Brett Kavanaugh.

Pence launches Midwest damage control mission  —  With anxiety rising over Trump's trade policies, the vice president is stumping for endangered incumbents and reassuring big GOP donors.  —  CHICAGO — Vice President Mike Pence begins a campaign swing through the Midwest on Wednesday designed …

Yup - we were duped.  Ya' got me, Sacha.  Feel better now?  —  I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick “humor” of the British “comedian” Sacha Baron Cohen, enabled and sponsored by CBS/Showtime.

The only good online fandom left is Dune  —  As corporations take control of nerd culture, science fiction's most esoteric epic remains gloriously untamed.  —  Escapism in the year 2018 is a strange thing.  If you want to refresh a brain beshitted by weeks and months of workaday corruption and brutality …

Can a liberal agenda that sells in the Bronx win over voters in Kansas?  —  PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. — Brent Welder walked into his campaign office to share the good news.  Ever since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's upset victory in a Democratic House primary in New York, he'd been deluged with calls.

Pompeo's North Korea meeting went ‘as badly as it could have gone’  —  Kim Jong Un snubbed Mike Pompeo, source says  —  (CNN)It began with great expectations, an eagerly-anticipated meeting with a reclusive leader, and a gift bag that included an Elton John CD.

Rick Scott and family made $550M in one transaction.  How ‘blind’ is his blind trust?  —  TALLAHASSEE  —  The reason Gov. Rick Scott's net income rose 55 percent in 2017 has to do with electric cars, China partnerships, a company turnaround, and a single transaction that resulted …

President Obama on Gerrymandering, Redistricting, & the 2018 Midterm Elections  —  Former President Barack Obama highlights the damaging effects of partisan and racial gerrymandering on our democracy and calls on Americans to get engaged in the 2018 mid-term elections as it is a critical year …

The elite world of Brett Kavanaugh  —  The Chevy Chase Lounge is a neighborhood joint where bartender Tim Higgins is accustomed to bantering with long-standing patrons, including a middle-aged guy named Brett who likes to pop in for a Budweiser and a burger after coaching his daughters' basketball games.