Officials rejected Jared Kushner for top secret security clearance, but were overruled  —  Jared Kushner was rejected for a top secret clearance by 2 career security specialists, but their supervisor overruled them and approved him, say sources.  —  WASHINGTON — Jared Kushner's application …

Roger Stone indicted on charges brought by special counsel  —  (CNN)Roger Stone has been indicted by a grand jury on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, who alleges that the longtime Donald Trump associate sought stolen emails from WikiLeaks that could damage Trump's opponents …

Exclusive: White House preparing draft national emergency order, has identified $7 billion for wall  —  Washington (CNN)The White House is preparing a draft proclamation for President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency along the southern border and has identified more than $7 billion …

Wilbur Ross says furloughed workers should take out a loan.  His agency's own credit union is charging nearly 9 percent  —  The Department of Commerce federal credit union is charging furloughed employees almost 9 percent interest on emergency loans to cover their missing paychecks …

Why Trump Will Lose in 2020  —  The president is running hard on a strategy of riling up his base.  But by doing that, he riles up the Democratic base, too, and that one is bigger.  —  Dr. Bitecofer is a professor of political science at Christopher Newport University.

In Defense of the MAGA Hat  —  The primary offense of the Covington Catholic High School kids wasn't so much allegedly mobbing, mocking or getting in the face of a Native American drummer at the Lincoln Memorial.  —  It was wearing red Make American Great Again hats.

Florida Secretary of State Michael Ertel resigns after Halloween blackface photos emerge  —  Michael Ertel, the newly appointed Secretary of State of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has resigned after photos emerged of him posing as a Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface at a private Halloween party 14 years ago.

If Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were a conservative  —  If Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) were a conservative, all anyone would be talking about is how uninformed she is.  She would be facing trick questions from reporters designed to expose her lack of knowledge, and brutal sketches on …

Elizabeth Warren to propose new ‘wealth tax’ on very rich Americans, economist says  —  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will propose a new “wealth tax” on Americans with more than $50 million in assets, according to an economist advising her on the plan, as Democratic leaders vie …

Mark Warner's Enablers  —  The Virginia senator gets too much respect for his Trump-Russia conspiracy theories.  —  Hand it to Sen. Mark Warner.  Of the many Russia-collusion theorists, how many get to claim “bipartisan” credentials?  —  That's one question that accompanied Thursday's supposedly big news …

A Rival Who Can Flummox Trump: A Powerful Woman Named Nancy Pelosi  —  WASHINGTON — When President Trump is battling a man, he tends to belittle his foe with nicknames like “Cryin' Chuck” and “Low-energy Jeb.”  When he is in a fight with a woman, he is known to lob insults like “horseface” and “ugly” and “dog.”

A crisis of conservatism creates gridlock on both sides of the Atlantic  —  In the capital cities of the two great anglophone powers, public business has ground to a halt.  On one side of the Atlantic, federal workers are lining up to receive free food while the president holds the government to ransom.

School-Safety Panel Said to Pull Punches, Fearing ‘Racist’ Tag  —  For fear of being labeled racist, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stopped short of linking the Parkland, Fla., school massacre to lenient Obama-era discipline policies aimed at reducing suspensions and arrests of minority students …

Davos is a microcosm of the world — and the outlook is grim  —  The atmosphere at the 2019 World Economic Forum reflects the global picture perhaps more genuinely than in years past, and the painting is not very pretty.  The mood here is subdued, cautious and apprehensive.

Koch network tells donors it plans to stay out of 2020 race, once again declining to back Trump  —  The conservative Koch political network has told donors that it plans to once again stay out of the presidential race and will not work to help reelect President Trump in 2020 …

HARPER TO PUBLISH THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE BY CNN'S CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT JIM ACOSTA  —  Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers announced today that it will publish THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America by CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta on June 11, 2019.