Michael Cohen Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison  —  U.S. Attorney's Office Also Announces Non-Prosecution Agreement with American Media, Inc., Related to Its Payment of $150,000 to a Woman to Influence 2016 Presidential Election  —  Robert Khuzami, Attorney for the United States, Acting Under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C.

Everybody's Wrong: Donald Trump Won the Chuck-n-Nancy Meeting, and Here's Why  —  All that in-front-of-the-cameras civility is fake anyway.  Trump dispensed with it.  It was refreshing, and his people will love it, shutdown or no shutdown.  —  Matt Lewis

Incoming New York attorney general plans wide-ranging investigations of Trump and family  —  Just-elected Letitia James, who takes office next month, tells NBC she will probe real estate deals, Trump Tower meeting, emoluments, Trump Foundation and more.  —  New York Attorney Gen.-elect Letitia James …

Tennessee U.S. Rep.-elect Mark Green, a doctor, falsely claims vaccines cause autism, denies CDC evidence  —  A soon-to-be congressman from Tennessee told constituents Tuesday he believed vaccines may be causing autism, denying data from the Centers for Disease Control and other institutions disproving such a theory.

Giuliani's Work for Trump Is Slowing, so He's Courting Business Abroad  —  WASHINGTON — The special counsel's investigation was grinding relentlessly onward, with President Trump's former national security adviser pleading for leniency in his case and his former fixer about to be sentenced for his crimes.

Photo shows Mark Harris and man at center of election fraud investigation together  —  CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A new photo obtained by Channel 9 is adding to the complex and ever-evolving story of the 9th Congressional District election fraud investigation.  —  The State Board of Elections …

APNewsBreak: Julian Castro moves toward 2020 White House run  —  SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Former Obama housing chief Julian Castro says he's taking a step toward a possible White House campaign in 2020 by forming a presidential exploratory committee.  The Texas Democrat tells The Associated Press that he will announce a decision Jan. 12.

Exclusive: Trump says standing by Saudi crown prince despite pleas from Senate  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he stood by Saudi Arabia's crown prince despite a CIA assessment that he ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and pleas …

Trump-Friendly AMI Admits to Playmate Hush Payment to Influence 2016 Election  —  Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that National Enquirer publisher American Media Inc. (AMI) has entered into a non-prosecution agreement related to the hush-money payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

It's ridiculous that it's unconstitutional for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president  —  Immigrants, young people, and everyone else should be allowed to run.  —  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the biggest star in the Democratic Party, and she has been ever since she unseated …

Why It Doesn't Matter Whether It'd Be Constitutional to Indict Trump  —  I have an Op-Ed in the New York Times today with a headline you've seen 1001 times before: “Would Indicting Trump Be Constitutional?”  —  My answer to that question is yes, it would be-even while he's in office.

Washington must wake up to the abuse of software that kills  —  Dictators are using spyware to persecute dissidents and journalists at an alarming rate, while the foreign firms that sell these tools assure the public that everything is just fine.  It's time Washington policymakers …

Customs And Border Protection Paid A Firm $13.6 Million To Hire Recruits.  It Hired 2  —  A scathing report by the Office of the Inspector General revealed that a consulting company hired by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to fill thousands of new jobs to satisfy President Trump's mandate …

Trump to Steer More Money to ‘Opportunity Zones’  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump will direct federal agencies on Wednesday to steer spending toward certain distressed communities across the country — part of his administration's push to turn a tax break included in last year's $1.5 trillion tax package …

It finally sinks in that some people aren't white … Is it really true that evangelical voters, or women voters, or rural voters or southern voters have a certain outlook?  Or would it be more accurate to say that the trends we're reporting in a political piece are true for white members of these groups?

Sen. Barbara Bollier Changes Party Affiliation To Democrat, Says Republican Party ‘morally Not Going Where My Compass Resides’  —  Mission Hills Sen. Barbara Bollier This Morning Officially Changed Her Party Affiliation From Republican To Democrat.  —  Citing “Frustrations That Have Been Ongoing …

Macron Just Doesn't Get It  —  He and others on the left are being swept along by world-historical forces they do not fully understand.  —  The sorry truth is that both progressives and neoliberals still don't get it, and that seems true in France most of all.

Christian Bale Recalls Meeting Donald Trump: ‘He Thought I Was Bruce Wayne’  —  With Christian Bale's latest film, “Vice,” a political dramedy, it's inevitable ties will be drawn between the film and the current political administration and its chief, President Donald Trump.

Departing U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman reflects on Donald Trump and eyes the Aurora mayor's office  —  After 11-point loss, suburban Denver congressman hasn't decided on his next move.  But he has ideas.  —  Mike Coffman was seemingly invincible — until he wasn't.

Saudi Arabia Declares War on America's Muslim Congresswomen  —  Gulf Arab monarchies are using racism, bigotry, and fake news to denounce Washington's newest history-making politicians.  —  Ever since the midterm election, conservative media in the United States have targeted with special zeal Ilhan Omar …

Lieu: ‘I Would Love to Be Able to Regulate the Content of Speech’ but First Amendment Stops Me  —  Rep. Ted Lieu (D., Calif.) said he would “love to be able to regulate the content of speech” during an interview Wednesday, noting he was prevented from doing that by the First Amendment.

Workers are ghosting their employers like bad dates  —  Silent exits are on the rise.  —  Economists report that workers are starting to act like millennials on Tinder: They're ditching jobs with nary a text.  —  “A number of contacts said that they had been 'ghosted …

Tom Steyer Is Posting Job Listings On LinkedIn For A Potential 2020 Campaign  —  Tom Steyer posted a job listing on LinkedIn last week for several high-ranking positions on his potential 2020 presidential campaign, a spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday afternoon.

Trump Moves to Deport Vietnam War Refugees  —  The Trump administration is resuming its efforts to deport certain protected Vietnamese immigrants who have lived in the United States for decades—many of them having fled the country during the Vietnam war.  —  This is the latest move …

The Tyranny of the Elf on the Shelf: Where to Put Him Tonight?  —  A beloved Christmas tradition puts pressure on parents to keep coming up with creative scenarios; some adults wish he'd go back to Santa for good.  ‘This thing has snowballed.’

Introducing The Cook Political Report's 2020 House Ratings  —  The 116th Congress hasn't even been sworn in yet, and there's still no resolution in sight to one North Carolina race tainted by election fraud.  But already, the 2020 battle for the House is shaping up to be highly competitive.

Trump owns shutdown  —  With help from Ted Hesson, Ian Kullgren and Timothy Noah  —  Editor's Note: This edition of Morning Shift is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Employment & Immigration subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. To learn …

‘Hi-tech robot’ at Russia forum turns out to be man in suit  —  State television praised the ‘modern’ tech despite photos revealing actor in costume  —  Play Video  —  A “hi-tech robot” shown on Russian state television has turned out to be a man in a suit.