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 …

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 advisers lied over and over again, Mueller says.  The question is, why?  —  They lied to the public for months before Donald Trump was elected — and then repeatedly after he took office.  —  They lied to Congress as lawmakers sought to investigate Russia's attack on American democracy in 2016.

Mulvaney says Trump didn't lose shutdown battle  —  The oft-repeated saying in politics is that no one wins when the federal government shuts down.  On Sunday, acting White House chief of staff Mick Muvlaney did his best to try to make sure President Donald Trump wasn't branded the loser this time.

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.”

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 …

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.”

No, Out-of-Work Lefty Journalists, “Learn to Code” Is Not a Secret Alt-Right Phrase  —  On Thursday and Friday the cause of Truth received a huge boost as two loci of lies and disinformation, BuzzFeed and Huffington Post, were hit with the first of what will be a rolling series of layoffs.

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 …

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 …

Sure, I dated Kamala Harris.  So what?  —  I've been peppered with calls from the national media about my “relationship” with Kamala Harris, particularly since it became obvious that she was going to run for president.  Most of them, I have not returned.  —  Yes, we dated.  It was more than 20 years ago.

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 …

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.

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 …

Polish far-right trial raises spectre of ‘false flag’ tactics  —  German journalist with links to Russia allegedly organised arson attack in Ukraine to stoke tensions, court told  —  The plot allegedly involved three Polish extremists and a German journalist with ties to the far-right …

Presidential Message on International Holocaust Remembrance Day  —  On April 27, 1945, a young soldier of the 12th Armored Division of the United States Army wrote these astonishing words to his wife in the United States: “Although I may never talk about what I have witnessed today.