Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy  —  Exclusive: Trump ally met WikiLeaks founder months before emails hacked by Russia were published  —  Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London …

Trump slams Fed chair, questions climate change and threatens to cancel Putin meeting in wide-ranging interview with The Post  —  President Trump placed responsibility for recent stock market declines and this week's General Motors plant closures and layoffs on the Federal Reserve during an interview Tuesday …

White House prevents Gina Haspel from briefing Senate on Khashoggi murder  —  Mike Pompeo and James Mattis are due to give a briefing on US relations with Saudi Arabia to Senate on Wednesday  —  The White House is preventing the CIA director, Gina Haspel, or any other intelligence official …

‘Fox & Friends’ Fed Interview Script to Trump's EPA Chief, Emails Show  —  The president's favorite cable-news show shared its interview scripts and its oh-so-hard-hitting questions in advance with an embattled Trump official.  —  Former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt …

The Khashoggi killing had roots in a cutthroat Saudi family feud  —  Behind the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi lies a power struggle within the Saudi royal family that helped feed the paranoia and recklessness of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.  Eventually, this rage in the royal court led …

The NRA Just Reported Losing $55 Million in Income  —  The gun-rights group has its biggest champion in the White House.  But its financial situation has worsened in the age of Trump  —  The nation's leading gun-rights organization saw its income drop by $55 million last year …

A Shadow Over Europe  —  Anti-Semitic stereotypes are alive and well in Europe, while the memory of the Holocaust is starting to fade, a sweeping new survey by CNN reveals.  More than a quarter of Europeans polled believe Jews have too much influence in business and finance.

A Business With No End … Part I: Zooming Out  —  Recently, one of my students at Stanford told me a strange story.  His parents, who live in Palo Alto, Calif., had been receiving mysterious packages at their house.  The packages were all different shapes and sizes but each was addressed to …

‘I Always Respect Subpoenas’: Comey Says His Legal Team Is Looking At His Options  —  Former FBI Director James Comey said he won't ignore the House Judiciary Committee's subpoena compelling him to testify behind closed doors about his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails …

Tear gas used once a month at border under Obama  —  DHS data shows deployments dating back years  —  The same tear-gas agent that the Trump administration is taking heat for deploying against a border mob this weekend is actually used fairly frequently — including more than once a month during …

Trump says he's considering a Plan B if Congress rejects his demand for $5 billion in border wall funding  —  President Trump said he is considering a backup plan if Congress rejects his demand for $5 billion in funding for his border wall, potentially including the continued use of troops …

Facebook asks Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith for contribution refund, as Mississippi Republican faces nail biter of an election runoff against Mike Espy  — Facebook has asked Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi for a refund of its $2,500 campaign contribution.

Christine Blasey Ford says some good came out of her ‘terrifying’ testimony against Kavanaugh  —  Months after publicly accusing Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her three decades ago, Christine Blasey Ford said that speaking out was “terrifying,” but she knew it was her “civic duty.”

Trump's rage-tweets and spin over General Motors layoffs ring hollow  —  When White House counselor Kellyanne Conway tried Tuesday to respond to the news that General Motors will eliminate thousands of jobs, her usual talent for effortlessly shameless spinning seemed to have deserted her.

The Latest: US nixed FBI checks for teen migrant camp staff  —  TORNILLO, Texas (AP) — The Latest on a desert detention camp for migrant children (all times local):  —  A new government watchdog memo says the Trump administration waived rigorous background checks for all staff working …

Russia probe: House Democrats aim to unmask Trump Jr.'s blocked call  —  WASHINGTON - A blocked number in Donald Trump Jr.'s phone records may be among the first targets for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee in January as they investigate possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Maybe They're Just Bad People  —  Not all Trump support is ideological.  —  Seven years ago, a former aide to Ralph Reed — who also worked, briefly, for Paul Manafort — published a tawdry, shallow memoir that is also one of the more revealing political books I've ever read.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Hiring, Looking for ‘Passionate, Creative Thinkers’  —  New York Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is looking for some 13 staffers to fill her office.  —  Her team is seeking passionate, talented and creative thinkers to fight for “social …

‘Siberian unicorn’ walked Earth with humans  —  A giant rhino that may have been the origin of the unicorn myth survived until at least 39,000 years ago - much longer than previously thought.  —  Known as the Siberian unicorn, the animal had a long horn on its nose, and roamed the grasslands of Eurasia.

An Insult to Missouri  —  Politicians try to undermine a constitutional amendment passed in a landslide this month.  —  The voters of Missouri this month overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment with the aim of making their state government work in less partisan, less corrupt ways.

Active Shooter Reported At Walter Reed Military Medical Center  —  BETHESDA, Md. (WJZ) — Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger said that there is an active shooter reported at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.  —  “I am currently at Walter Reed Medical in Bethesda where we've been told there is an active shooter.

You Can Sleep With the Latest Sex Robots at This Brothel—But Only if They Say ‘Yes’  —  Here's something you rarely hear in the discussion of robots designed for the sole purpose of having sexual relations with humans: Is the sex consensual?  —  That's because it's one of the last question anyone thinks about.

The Trial Over Trump's Census Citizenship Question Did Not Go Well for the Administration  —  The longer the trial went on, the more it undercut the administration's stated rationale for adding the question.  —  The deeper the Trump administration got into a three-week trial challenging …

Your Dog May Not Be a Genius, After All  —  New study finds that canines are not exceptional in the animal world  —  If you are convinced your dog is a genius, you may be disappointed in the conclusions of a study just published in the journal Learning and Behavior.The study finds that dogs …

Jim Jordan, Mark Meadows vying to defend Trump on key committees  —  An intense behind-the-scenes power struggle over who will become Donald Trump's top congressional defender is coming to a head as two Freedom Caucus leaders and their allies pressure senior Republicans to give them two top committee posts.

Meet New York City's highest-earning official.  He's a debt collector for predatory lenders.  —  In the 1960s, New York's loan sharks would send thugs with nicknames like “Jimmy Dimps” to beat up borrowers who fell behind on their payments.  —  Now predatory lenders have a quieter way of collecting debts …