No Escape for Roger Stone: Mueller's Case Is a Slam Dunk and He's Too Slimy to Get Flipped  —  Prosecutor who helped convict Dick Cheney aide Scooter Libby for lying and obstruction says the case against Trump's old pal is virtually perfect.  —  The long-anticipated indictment …

Trump claimed women were gagged with tape.  Then Border Patrol tried to find some evidence.  —  An internal email, sent 2 weeks after Trump started making the claim, asked agents for “any information” about what Trump was describing.  —  It's become a staple of President Donald Trump's riffs …

Americans fault Trump for chaotic government shutdown, as more believe US is ‘on the wrong track’: NBC-WSJ poll  — An NBC-Wall Street Journal poll showed that by 63 percent to 28 percent , a margin greater than two to one, Americans believe the country is “off on the wrong track” rather than “headed in the right direction.”

Jared Kushner, a Confident Negotiator, Finds Immigration Deal to Be Elusive  —  WASHINGTON — Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, was confident in his ability as a good-faith negotiator who could find a compromise to end the government shutdown.  —  His pitch to Democratic lawmakers was simple …

Axelrod: Trump has boxed himself into a corner  —  Pelosi: Shutdown is a crisis that Trump alone created  —  David Axelrod interviews former Secretary of State John Kerry on “The Axe Files” on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on CNN.  Axelrod, a CNN commentator, was senior adviser to President Barack Obama …

Ex-GOP senator to Trump: Don't let ‘whack-a-doodles’ run things  —  Former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.) called on President Trump to push back on the far-right flank of his base that urged him to recently shut down the government to fund a border wall.  —  “Don't let right-wing whack …

A Better Guide than Elite Opinion Is Public Revulsion at It  —  Some expert in Bayesian probability ought to come up with an algorithm that would enable us to determine which of the multifarious daily outrages are going to catch on and, as the internet has taught us to say, “go viral.”

Mulvaney says Trump didn't lose shutdown battle  —  Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump's acting chief of staff, on Sunday defended Trump's decision to end the longest government shutdown in history without any money for a border wall with Mexico by saying that the president will be judged by how the process ends.

He argued that gay marriage was unconstitutional.  Now Trump wants him on the federal bench.  —  Jim Obergefell was the named plaintiff in the 2015 marriage equality case Obergefell v. Hodges.  —  In March 2013, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) broke with his Republican colleagues and penned …

Run, Howard, run!  —  Nick Troiano is executive director of Unite America and a former independent congressional candidate from Denver.  Charles Wheelan is founder and co-chair of Unite America and a senior lecturer in public policy at Dartmouth College.  —  In reportedly exploring …

20 Dead as Bombs Target Sunday Mass in Philippine Cathedral  —  Jolo, Philippines (AP) — Two bombs minutes apart tore through a Roman Catholic cathedral on a southern Philippine island where Muslim militants are active, killing at least 20 people and wounding 81 others during a Sunday Mass, officials said.

12 immigrant workers at Trump golf course fired, lawyer says  —  NEW YORK (AP) — A dozen immigrant workers at one of President Donald Trump's golf clubs in New York who are in the U.S. illegally were fired this month even though managers had known about their legal status for years, a lawyer for the workers said Saturday.

The State of the Union is a tasteless, classless spectacle.  It must go.  —  Mitch Daniels, a Post contributing columnist, is president of Purdue University and a former governor of Indiana.  —  One needn't be a hidebound traditionalist to appreciate the value of our national civic ceremonies …