Trump's Lawyer Said There Were “No Plans” For Trump Tower Moscow.  Here They Are.  —  Trump's lawyer claims the Moscow tower was barely more than a notion.  “There were no drafts.  Nothing in the file.”  Documents obtained by BuzzFeed News tell a different story.

The Covington Scissor  —  Welcome to another controversy algorithmically designed to tear America apart.  —  In a short story published last October, “Sort by Controversial,” Scott Alexander imagines a Silicon Valley company that accidentally comes up with an algorithm to generate what it calls a “Scissor.”

Ocasio-Cortez and liberal freshmen join Oversight Committee  —  The House Oversight Committee is adding a group of progressive flamethrowers to its ranks.  —  Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) …

Trump's liaison to Congress eyeing exit  —  Shahira Knight, the president's legislative affairs director and a central figure in the White House's shutdown negotiations with Congress, is planning to leave the White House in the coming months, according to four sources familiar with her plans.

Senate Leaders Plan Competing Bills to End Shutdown  —  Senate Leaders Plan Competing Bills on Shutdown  — With dueling votes planned for Thursday, the Senate will finally move off the sidelines a month into the partial government shutdown.  — Both measures face long odds …

‘Knock them in the teeth.’ How Trump turns crises into leverage.  —  The 800,000 federal workers who are expected to miss their second paycheck in the coming days are the most extreme example yet of a negotiating tactic President Trump has used repeatedly since taking office.

Mueller wants to know about 2016 Trump campaign's ties to NRA  —  Washington (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has expressed interest in the Trump campaign's relationship with the National Rifle Association during the 2016 campaign.  —  “When I was interviewed by the special counsel's office …

Hundreds of IRS employees are skipping work.  That could delay tax refunds.  —  Hundreds of Internal Revenue Service employees have received permission to skip work during the partial government shutdown due to financial hardship, and union leaders said Tuesday they expected absences to surge …

Divorce filing: U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst says her husband physically attacked her  —  Years before her divorce, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst was assaulted by her husband after she confronted him about his alleged affair with their daughter's babysitter, she wrote in court filings.

Power struggle paralyzes ‘irrelevant’ White House press shop  —  Washington (CNN)White House press briefings, in steady decline even before the partial government shutdown, have now ground to a halt as a prolonged power struggle among President Donald Trump's aides leads to a muddled messaging strategy …

Corporate America Is Getting Ready to Monetize Climate Change  — Storms, floods, drought and heat waves worry largest companies  — Merck, Apple, Home Depot also see new revenue opportunities  —  Bank of America Corp. worries flooded homeowners will default on their mortgages.

Trump's phony ‘compromise’ has now been unmasked as a total sham  —  President Trump and his allies have spent days talking up the idea that his new proposal to reopen the government constitutes a “compromise.”  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has vowed to bring the proposal …

Campaign workers demand minimum wage, progressive culture from 2020 Dems  —  Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., left, accompanied by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017, to unveil their Medicare for All legislation to reform health care.

How Trump Offered NASA Unlimited Funding to Go to Mars in His First Term  —  Donald Trump nearly derailed a televised call to the International Space Station after he got distracted, first by a sudden fantasy of going to Mars before the end of his first term in the White House …

Baltimore-raised Pulitzer Prize winner Russell Baker dies at 93  —  Former Baltimore Sun foreign correspondent Russell Baker is pictured at his Virginia home in 2012.  (Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun)  —  Russell Baker, a Baltimore-raised, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist …

Mitch McConnell Got Everything He Wanted.  But at What Cost?  —  The president whom the Senate Republican leader helped elect has turned out to be the one thing he can't control.  —  At sunrise, there it was: a red-tailed hawk, its gyre widening over the United States Capitol building …

Supreme Court Revives Ban on Transgender Military Service  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday revived the Trump administration's policy of barring most transgender people from serving in the military.  In a brief, unsigned order, the justices lifted nationwide injunctions that had blocked the policy.

On Politics With Lisa Lerer: The Kamala Harris Factor  —  Hi.  Welcome to On Politics, your guide to the day in national politics.  I'm Lisa Lerer, your host.  —  When people talk about the emerging 2020 Democratic primary field, it can sound an awful lot like the opening lines of a children's book.

Judge denies Mark Harris request to certify his win despite election fraud investigation  —  The state's investigation into alleged election fraud by the Mark Harris campaign will continue, a judge ruled Tuesday morning.  —  Harris is the Republican candidate who appeared to narrowly win …

Mills rejects work requirements LePage sought for Medicaid beneficiaries  —  The Trump administration approved the requirements just days before LePage left office, but Gov. Janet Mills says that move would leave more Mainers uninsured.  —  The Mills administration has rejected new work requirements …