Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria startles aides and allies  —  In April, President Trump repeated his campaign promise to end U.S. military involvement in Syria.  “I want to get out,” he said.  “I want to bring our troops back home.”  —  In September, senior administration aides …

Trump's Attorney General Pick Criticized an Aspect of Mueller Probe in Memo to Justice Department  —  William Barr said obstruction of justice inquiry by special counsel is ‘fatally misconceived’  —  WASHINGTON—William Barr, President Trump's choice for attorney general …

Secret Experiment in Alabama Senate Race Imitated Russian Tactics  —  As Russia's online election machinations came to light last year, a group of Democratic tech experts decided to try out similarly deceptive tactics in the fiercely contested Alabama Senate race, according to people familiar with the effort and a report on its results.

Der Spiegel journalist messed with the wrong small town  —  In February 2017, my husband and I attended a concert at our local theater, and were sipping some wine in the lobby before the show started.  Several people came up to us at separate times excitedly, and asked, “did you meet the German guy yet?!”

BREAKING: John McCain Associate Gave Dossier To BuzzFeed  —  A longtime associate of late Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain provided a copy of the infamous Steele dossier to BuzzFeed News, according to an explosive court filing released Wednesday.  —  David Kramer, a former State Department official …

GoFundMe campaign for border wall aims for a billion (at least)  —  President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to shut down the government over funding for his border wall.  But as the question of money for his campaign proposal once again roils Congress, one man thinks he may have found a solution: Crowd-funding.

The Real Story of the Flynn Hearing  —  'I've never presided over a treasonous offense and couldn't tell you what the elements are anyway.'  —  The dramatic Tuesday hearing for former national security adviser Mike Flynn didn't produce a sentence.  Instead, Judge Emmet Sullivan gave Mr. Flynn a delay to reconsider his options.

Trump Testimony From Decades Ago Indicates Knowledge of Campaign-Finance Laws  —  Legal experts say that could be critical if investigators pursue a case over hush-money payments to women in the 2016 campaign  —  Sworn statements by President Trump dating back several decades indicate …

Trump 2020 campaign used a shell company to pay ad buyers at the center of alleged illegal coordination scheme with NRA  —  The Trump campaign funneled money to ad buyers alleged to have facilitated illegal coordination between the campaign and the NRA by routing funds through a secretive LLC …

Mueller seeks Roger Stone's testimony to House intelligence panel, suggesting special counsel is near end of probe of Trump adviser  —  Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III asked the House Intelligence Committee on Friday for an official transcript of Trump adviser Roger Stone's testimony …

Tribune editorial: Chaffetz has made his choice  —  By The Salt Lake Tribune  —  Jason Chaffetz has made his choice.  —  The former Utah congressman has not just taken a break from a career as a media-savvy and slightly wonkish politician, someone who might reasonably have aspired …

Rudy Giuliani spotted chuckling about Mueller investigation  —  Turns out Rudy Giuliani isn't any more discreet about his biggest client's case at his local cigar club than he is on cable news.  —  Giuliani — who, for an active attorney, is surprisingly open about the Mueller investigation on TV …

Citing ‘rotten, stinking politics,’ Kasich vetoes gun bill  —  Jim Siegel The Columbus Dispatch @phrontpageRandy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch @RandyLudlow  —  Saying that signing a gun rights measure “would be detrimental to the safety of all of our citizens,” Gov. John Kasich vetoed …

Wilbur Ross said he divested a stock holding — but he didn't  —  Failure to dump BankUnited shares is the latest inaccurate statement by Trump's Commerce secretary.  —  U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross twice submitted sworn statements to ethics officials saying he had divested stock …

N. Korea says it won't denuclearize unless US removes threat  —  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday it will never unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons unless the United States removes its nuclear threat first, a statement that raises further doubts on whether leader Kim Jong Un …

House climate change panel unlikely to have subpoena power  —  The climate change committee that House Democrats are planning to establish in the next Congress is unlikely to have the subpoena power afforded to most other congressional panels.  —  Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the incoming majority leader …

Visionary Brain Genius Elon Musk Has Invented The World's Worst And Most Expensive Subway  —  If you are anything like me, many times you have been riding the subway and have had the thought, “What is wrong with this dang subway is that it is not exponentially more expensive and slower than this.”

A 5-Month-Old Girl Has Been Hospitalized With Pneumonia After Being Detained By Border Patrol  —  A five-month-old girl who traveled with the migrant caravan has been hospitalized with pneumonia after spending five days inside freezing cells operated by border authorities in California, her mother said.

Barack Obama dons a Santa hat and hands out gifts in surprise visit to D.C. children's hospital  —  Watch out, Santa: Former president Barack Obama is coming for your sleigh.  —  With a fluffy red cap and a bulging bag slung over his shoulder, Obama delivered presents (and more than a few gasps) …

The Fresno Bee and the War on Local News  —  Local newspapers like The Fresno Bee have long been an endangered institution in America, and that was before California Rep. Devin Nunes began waging a public campaign against his hometown paper.  Zach Baron spent time with the reporters fighting …

The World's Highest-Paid Comedians Of 2018  —  Once again, Jerry Seinfeld is the King of Comedy.  —  The Seinfeld creator earned $57.5 million in 12 months, before taxes and fees, claiming the top spot on our list of the world's highest-paid comedians.  He collected multimillion-dollar dividends …

US troops' withdrawal from Syria to create prospects for political solution, says diplomat  —  Moscow believes that the US decision arouses hopes of de-escalation in At-Tanf  —  /TASS/.  The US decision to pull its troops from Syria creates good prospects for a political solution in that Arab country …

I worked at CBS.  I didn't want to be sexually harassed.  I was fired  —  The narrative propagated by CBS, actor Michael Weatherly, and writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron is deceptive and in no way fits with how they treated me on the set of the television show “Bull” and retaliated …

And What Can You Say About Paul Ryan?  —  How much time do you have?  —  WASHINGTON Paul Ryan was furious.  —  He'd been caught in a trap lured into an auditorium by the promise of a speech about fiscal responsibility.  Instead, President Barack Obama was lecturing the crowd …

Stop the Stupid Tucker Carlson Boycott  —  By now you've heard that the boycott brigade has come for Tucker Carlson, demanding that the advertisers of his nightly Fox News Channel show dump him from their budgets for saying immigrants make the United States “poorer and dirtier.”

United States added to list of most dangerous countries for journalists for first time  —  At least 63 professional journalists were killed doing their jobs in 2018, a 15 percent increase over last year, Reporters Without Borders said.  —  PARIS — The murder of the Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi …