Outgoing White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly defends his rocky tenure … In August 2017, shortly after John F. Kelly became White House chief of staff, he convened crucial meetings on Afghanistan at President Trump's golf club in Bedminster, N.J.  —  Top officials from the Pentagon and the CIA …

Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal: President Donald Trump immoral, doesn't tell the truth  —  The former top commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, retired four-star Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, criticized President Donald Trump's behavior and handling of the presidency …

Trump's tweets: Judges in government secrecy cases say they are ‘speculation’ and not ‘pure fact’  —  “Speculation.”  “Unofficial information.”  “Political statements rather than assertions of pure fact.”  —  Those are words federal judges have used to describe President Donald Trump's tweets …

Sen. Graham Floats Temporary DACA Permits Deal For Wall Funding  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) floated the idea of a compromise deal to end the government shutdown on Sunday, proposing an extension of work permits for “Dreamers” who entered the country illegally as children in exchange …

Here's how Paradise ignored warnings and became a deathtrap … The fate of Paradise was cast long before a windstorm last month fueled the deadliest fire in California history.  —  The ridge settlement was doomed by its proximity to a crack in the mighty wall of the Sierra Nevada, a deep canyon that bellowed gale-force winds.

Stephen Miller steps into spotlight amid chaos in ‘zombie’ White House press shop  —  WASHINGTON — In recent weeks, the White House has been shaken by an ongoing government shutdown, tumbling markets and the abrupt departure of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.  With

Jeffries: Trump's border wall request ‘a ransom note’  —  President Donald Trump's demand for billions of dollars to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border amounts to a “ransom note” for taxpayers being held “hostage” by the partial government shutdown, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Sunday.

Computer virus hits Tribune Publishing, Los Angeles Times  —  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A computer virus hit newspaper printing plants in Los Angeles and at Tribune Publishing newspapers across the country.  —  Tribune Publishing said a computer virus disrupted production of the Chicago Tribune …

A Holiday Mystery: Why Did John Roberts Intervene in the Mueller Probe?  —  We're about to find out why the chief justice of the Supreme Court decided to get involved in the special counsel's investigation.  —  A mysterious grand jury subpoena case has been working itself through the D.C. courts since August.

These two Democratic senators are waging a bigoted campaign against Catholics … Funny who is an “extremist” these days.  —  Senators Kamala Harris and Mazie Hirono (Democrats of California and Hawaii, respectively) are challenging the nomination of Brian Buescher to the US District Court …

Alice Walker's Terrible Anti-Semitic Poem Felt Personal — to Her and to Me  —  When I first read Alice Walker's The Color Purple, I leaned into every word, inhaling Celie's tragic and triumphant story.  In Celie, I felt the presence and pain of my female family members brought up in rural Alabama.

Videos: Migrant children dragged, pushed at Southwest Key shelter  —  Videos from a Southwest Key shelter for migrant children show staffers dragging and pushing children, incidents that occurred shortly before the federal government suspended the shelter's operations early this fall.

A year of unprecedented deception: Trump averaged 15 false claims a day in 2018  —  President Trump's year of lies, false statements and misleading claims started with a series of morning tweets.  —  Over a couple of hours Jan. 2, Trump made false claims about three of his favorite targets …

The Real Reason Why Some Bernie Sanders Fans Have It In For Beto O'Rourke  —  They worry that defections from Sanders' 2016 team will “whitewash” O'Rourke's policy record.  —  The progressive commentariat has been buzzing in recent weeks about the barrage of unflattering reporting …

Facebook apologizes for banning evangelist Franklin Graham for 24 hours  —  Facebook is apologizing to evangelist Franklin Graham for banning him from posting on the site for 24 hours last week, a Facebook spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer on Saturday.

Journalist group counts 94 slayings of media staff in 2018  —  BRUSSELS (AP) — An international trade association says on-the-job slayings of journalists and news media staff rose again in 2018 following an overall decline during the past half-dozen years.  —  The International Federation …