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.

Pelosi has edge over Trump on budget negotiations, CBS News poll shows  —  Seven in 10 Americans don't think the issue of a border wall is worth a government shutdown, which they say is now having a negative impact on the country.  But partisans don't want their own side to budge …

Gay valedictorian banned from speaking at Covington graduation ‘not surprised’ by D.C. controversy  —  A gay student who was barred by the Covington diocese from speaking at his 2018 graduation, is “not surprised” by the Covington Catholic High School video.

Federal Employees Going Through ‘a Little Bit of Pain’ but Border Wall Is ‘Bigger Than’ Them Says Lara Trump  —  The 800,000 furloughed federal employees and 400,000 working without pay due to the government shutdown over $5 billion dollars in funding for a wall on the U.S. southern border are going through …

A “go big” idea to end the shutdown  —  A new immigration idea has been circulating over the past 24 hours at senior levels inside the White House and on Capitol Hill: Give a path to green cards to the 700,000 current DACA recipients, three sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios.

Pete Buttigieg joins the Democratic race for the 2020 presidential nomination  —  South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has signaled for months that he would try to leap from local to presidential politics, announced Wednesday that he will join the burgeoning cast of Democratic candidates in the 2020 race.

Week 5: Shutdown votes set up political test for Senate  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate leaders agreed to hold votes this week on dueling proposals to reopen shuttered federal agencies, forcing a political reckoning for senators grappling with the longest shutdown in U.S. history …

Medicare For All Looks Good In New Poll, But There's A Big Asterisk  —  Some of the most popular counter-arguments make voters skittish.  —  Americans are pretty keen on the idea of creating a new government-run insurance program, or at least expanding an existing one …

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 …

‘Nobody Is Going to Believe You’  —  Over the past two decades, Bryan Singer's films—The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, Superman Returns, four of the X-Men movies—have earned more than $3 billion at the box office, putting him in the top tier of Hollywood directors.

‘Unacceptable’: Coast Guard's top officer criticizes lack of payment in government shutdown  —  The Coast Guard's top admiral said Tuesday that members of the armed forces should not be expected to shoulder the burden of the partial government shutdown, citing the “anxiety and stress” …

‘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.

For two years, Trump has been undermining American democracy.  Here's a damage report.  —  Can U.S. democracy survive when between 35 and 45 percent of the population cheers a president who behaves like an autocrat?  —  When Donald Trump took office two years ago, I and many others began sounding …

The Wheels of Justice Are Grinding to a Halt  —  FBI agents have lost irreplaceable sources.  Joint Terrorism Task Force officers can't get into the bureau's computer systems.  Federal investigations are being stymied by a lack of resources.  The partial government shutdown, now in its 33rd day …

The Trump-Era Overcorrection  —  It was like a scene out of left-wing protest literature: a group of white, parochial-school boys in “Make America Great Again” gear taunting an American Indian protester, jeering and laughing, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after attending the anti-abortion March for Life.

Who is the prototypical rich person?  —  I recommend this op-ed by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.  Not because I agree with its recommendation of super high tax rates on the rich, but because it makes clear the perspectives and motives of the Left.  —  In the standard economic approach …

WH Bashes Media: 'Never Seen People So Happy To Destroy A Kid's Life'  —  During an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Tuesday evening White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders doubled down on the White House's support for the Covington Catholic student by slamming the media for its coverage of the incident.

Love a candidate but don't think she can win?  You've been infected with Pundititis.  —  The night Elizabeth Warren won reelection, Krista Magnuson started showing symptoms.  —  Magnuson, a 41-year-old political junkie, had come to Warren's victory party in downtown Boston that November evening to celebrate the swelling blue wave.

New York law is an open invitation to home invaders … There is a reason homeowners can rarely afford to dispense mercy on an overnight invader: Criminal intruders tend to be the dangerous type.  What homeowners don't expect are law enforcers and prosecutors going after them for ­defending themselves and their loved ones.

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 …

U.S. Uninsured Rate Rises to Four-Year High  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. adult uninsured rate stood at 13.7% in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to Americans' reports of their own health insurance coverage, its highest level since the first quarter of 2014.

Rep. Jeffries defends characterization of Trump as ‘grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue’  —  Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday defended his characterization of President Trump as the “grand wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” saying the president had exhibited racially insensitive behavior for decades.

Fed to Probe Deutsche Bank Over Suspicious Danske Cash  — Billions flowed from an Estonian outpost through New York  —  The Federal Reserve is examining how Deutsche Bank AG handled billions of dollars in suspicious transactions from Denmark's leading lender, according to people familiar …

Magazine publisher Condé Nast said it would put all its titles behind paywalls by the end of the year, a move that underscores how critical it has become for major publishers to generate revenue beyond advertising.  —  Condé Nast, which publishes magazines including Vogue …