Cohen believed Trump would pardon him, but then things changed  —  Washington (CNN)Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney for President Donald Trump who is now a key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, was under the impression Trump would offer him a pardon …

Acting AG Appears to Have Misled FTC Over Actions at Miami Firm  — FTC emails show Whitaker denied communicating with customers  — Officials also expressed surprise at AG's hiring of Whitaker  —  New documents released by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission suggest …

The Latest: AP retracts call in North Carolina Congress race  —  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on a North Carolina congressional race that remains in dispute more than three weeks after election day (all times local):  —  The Associated Press is retracting its call of a winner for U.S. House …

Dodging Friends, Chased by Legal Troubles, Trump Navigates G-20  —  BUENOS AIRES — He didn't sit down with two of his favorite strongmen.  He downgraded a meeting with one ally and postponed one with another.  He exchanged icy smiles with the prime minister of Canada …

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke must resign.  His multiple scandals show he's unfit to serve.  —  Ryan Zinke needs to resign immediately as Secretary of the Interior.  —  I take no pleasure in calling for this step, and I have resisted it even as questions have grown about Mr. Zinke's ethical and managerial failings.

Louisiana School Made Headlines for Sending Black Kids to Elite Colleges.  Here's the Reality.  —  T.M. Landry, a school in small-town Louisiana, has garnered national attention for vaulting its underprivileged black students to elite colleges.  But the school cut corners and doctored college applications.

Six White House officials reprimanded for violating the Hatch Act  —  Six White House officials violated a federal law that prohibits public employees from conducting political activity in their official roles when they used their official Twitter accounts to send or display political messages …

Mia Love pans Trump and the GOP for failure to make women and minorities feel welcome  —  Having lost her reelection bid, Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, is unloading on the Republican Party and its leader, chiding President Trump for making women and minorities feel unwelcome and warning …

KC Chiefs Running Back Kareem Hunt Brutalizes and Kicks Woman in Hotel Video  —  1:33 PM PT — Hunt has reportedly been sent home from the Chiefs' practice facility, according to ESPN's Dan Graziano.  —  He reports Hunt will likely be placed on the commissioner's exempt list …

Moulton Calls Ocasio-Cortez's Tweet Defending Nancy Pelosi ‘Offensive’  —  Moulton: Ocasio-Cortez's Criticism Was Offensive  —  Salem Democrat Seth Moulton could be considered one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party.  After doing four tours of duty in Iraq, Moulton splashed onto …

Large earthquake, aftershocks, strike Southcentral Alaska, damage reported around region  —  A large earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 struck Alaska near Anchorage early Friday morning, damaging roads and buildings, knocking out power and sending people fleeing from buildings and to safety beneath door jambs.

Trump defender Alan Dershowitz is deeply involved in the sordid Jeffrey Epstein scandal  —  Attorney Alan Dershowitz's name appears 19 times in an investigative report on the ways billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein manipulated the legal system to torment his accusers and escape serious punishment.

Dominatrix specializes in turning ‘white, right-wing men’ into socialists  —  A growing wave of sex-positive feminists are working to usher in what they describe as a “pleasure revolution” in which women's sexuality is embraced, rather than stigmatized, by both individuals and society at large.

McCaskill Blames Senate Defeat On Democratic ‘Failure’ With Rural America  —  Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is about to head home after losing her bid for re-election, and in defeat she's blaming her own Democratic Party for abandoning moderates.  —  McCaskill has represented Missouri in the Senate since 2007.

Why Is Tucker Carlson Mad About Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?  A Guide to the Content Cycle.  —  On Thursday night, Tucker Carlson, his brow furrowed in a perfect imitation of a human facial expression, devoted a segment to the beloved children's Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer …

Exclusive: Homeland Security chief issues unusual plea for help against ‘caravans’  —  Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has requested the deployment of civilian law enforcement officers from several other Cabinet departments to the U.S.-Mexico border as early as next week, according to an internal memo obtained by POLITICO.

Mueller could hit Manafort with retrial, new charges  —  Special counsel Robert Mueller's office is considering retrying former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on a slew of federal charges that resulted in a hung jury over the summer.  —  At a hearing in federal court Friday morning …

Scott suspends Broward's controversial election chief before she can quit early  —  MIAMI — Before she could retire early in January, Gov. Rick Scott decided Friday to suspend Brenda Snipes, Broward County's troubled election supervisor, from office following a series of voting …

Trump's Secret Service May Have Just Set A Spending Record For Presidential Golf Carts  —  The Secret Service has allocated more than $90,000 for golf cart rentals in South Florida this winter, ostensibly to protect president Donald Trump while he hits the links.

EXCLUSIVE: FBI Raids Home Of Whistleblower On Clinton Foundation, Lawyer Says  — The FBI raided the home of a whistleblower who was in possession of documents regarding the Clinton Foundation and Uranium One, according to the whistleblower's lawyer, Michael Socarras.

Judge rules against Trump administration in sanctuary cities case  —  A federal judge in New York ruled Friday that the Trump administration cannot withhold public safety grants to six states and the City of New York based on the fact that they're so-called sanctuary cities.