Prosecutors Examining Ukrainians Who Flocked to Trump Inaugural  —  WASHINGTON — Hours after he was sworn in as America's 45th president, Donald J. Trump and his wife, Melania, swayed together to a rendition of the Frank Sinatra classic “My Way,” as hundreds of their wealthiest …

Trump could take billions from disaster areas to fund wall  —  Under the proposal, Trump could dip into money set aside to fund civil works projects all over the country including storm-damaged areas of Puerto Rico.  —  President Donald Trump has been briefed on a plan that would use …

I worked in the Justice Department.  I hope its lawyers won't give Trump an alibi.  —  Erica Newland is a counsel for the nonprofit group Protect Democracy and a former attorney adviser in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.  —  President Trump said Thursday that he will …

U.S. Begins Syria Withdrawal, Amid Uncertainty Over Strategy  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — The United States has started withdrawing its troops from Syria, an American military spokesman said on Friday, further muddling the Trump administration's plans for disengagement from one of the Middle East's most complex battlefields.

Progressives Fought for Key Committee Spots, but Centrist New Dems Came Out on Top  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez failed in her long-shot bid for a seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, according to an announcement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday evening.

‘Never been more depressed’: Trump kills Graham effort to end shutdown  —  President Donald Trump has rejected a plan proposed by a bloc of Senate Republicans who had hoped to break an impasse over the government shutdown, leaving Congress and the White House with little obvious way out of the extended battle over Trump's border wall.

“I Felt Dirty”: Former Employees Of The Veteran Crowdfunding Trump's Wall Say He Pushed Fake News To Get Rich  —  “He never wanted the truth.  It was all just for clicks, and the more inflammatory, the better,” a former employee said.  “I felt dirty writing the stuff.”

Tarrant County GOP's vice-chairman survives recall vote over his religion  —  County party officials overwhelmingly rejected attempts to remove Shahid Shafi because he's Muslim.  The 139-49 vote came after the state's top Republican officials denounced the failed move to oust the trauma surgeon.

Steve King under fire after embrace of white supremacy  —  Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) faces a potential censure motion from congressional Democrats and splintering support among Republicans after using racist language in a New York Times interview, questioning when the terms “white nationalist …

Pompeo's Cairo speech panned as ‘tone-deaf,’ ‘hyper-partisan,’ ‘offensive’  —  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to students at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 10, 2019.  —  WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's stridently partisan speech in Cairo today chiding …

Farm Country Stood by Trump.  But the Shutdown Is Pushing It to Breaking Point.  —  DENVER, Colo. — In Georgia, a pecan farmer lost out on his chance to buy his first orchard.  The local Farm Service Agency office that would have processed his loan application was shut down.

EXCLUSIVE: ‘I killed JonBenét Ramsey!’  Convicted pedophile Gary Oliva has confessed to the murder of six-year-old pageant princess in prison letters to his friend - claiming it was ‘an accident’  — Gary Oliva, 54, has long been a suspect in the murder of JonBenét Ramsey …

Michael Cohen Agrees to Testify to Congress About Work for Trump  —  WASHINGTON — Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's former personal lawyer who implicated him in a scheme to pay hush money to two women claiming to have had affairs with him, has agreed to testify before the House Oversight …

Newsom promises unemployment insurance to California's federal workers  —  SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed Thursday that thousands of federal workers in California who are furloughed in the partial government shutdown will be made “quickly eligible” for unemployment insurance …

Harry Reid: Renewed But Ready to Rumble?  —  Harry Reid retired a little more than two years ago after serving decades in elected office, lastly as a U.S. senator who helped President Barack Obama get the Affordable Care Act through Congress.  —  He's been out of the limelight since, undergoing cancer treatment.

‘The secretary barely testified’: Pelosi rebukes Mnuchin after Russia sanctions meeting  —  The Treasury secretary said he was ‘somewhat shocked’ by the remarks following a briefing about lifting sanctions on three Russian companies.  —  House Democrats excoriated Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin …

Democrats will object to Senate adjourning amid shutdown  —  Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) plans to object to the Senate adjourning for the week Thursday afternoon amidst a 20-day government shutdown, according to Senate sources.  —  Kaine and his fellow Senate Democrats want to ratchet up pressure …

The Great Issue of Our Time...  ...is whether, as a people, we are too dumb to sustain a democracy.  This question arises often; for me, most recently, upon seeing this Daily Mail headline: “Twitter user stuns the internet with math that proves one 18-inch pizza has more in it than TWO 12-inch helpings.”

Early Withdrawal Will Lead to More Terrorism  —  A recent lull in attacks is welcome, but it seems to have made American leaders complacent.  —  America has a new counterterrorism policy: retrenchment.  Declaring victory over ISIS, the Trump administration seeks to bring home the modest number …

Fusion GPS-Linked Group Worked With Tech Company Tied To Russian ‘False Flag’ Operation  — A non-profit group linked to Fusion GPS has ties to a cybersecurity firm recently implicated in a self-described “false flag” operation in the Alabama Senate race.  — The Democracy Integrity Project …