Howard Schultz Doesn't Understand American History  —  The most effective third-party presidential candidates were polarizers, not centrists.  —  Howard Schultz, the former chief executive of Starbucks, cannot win the presidency as an independent candidate.  But is there someone who could?

GOP poised to rebuke Trump  —  Frustrated Republicans say it's time for the Senate to reclaim more power over foreign policy and are planning to move a measure Thursday that would be a stunning rebuke to a president of their own party.  —  GOP lawmakers are deeply concerned …

Feds Seized ‘Several Years’ of Roger Stone's Communications  —  FBI agents seized several years worth of Roger Stone's communications following his arrest last week, prosecutors told a federal judge on Thursday.  In a motion to ask for more time to bring Stone's case to trial …

Virginia lawmaker says she wouldn't have co-sponsored controversial abortion bill if she had read it closely  —  A Virginia lawmaker sent an email to her constituents Wednesday night apologizing for attaching her name to a controversial abortion bill without reading it closely enough.

Why We Are Quitting RedState  —  For more than a decade, RedState was a solid voice in the world of online conservative commentary.  Unfortunately, the allure of Trumpism has left the once great site a shell of its former self.  —  In 2015, before the Republican tide shifted …

Bezos' Investigators Question the Brother of His Mistress, Lauren Sanchez, in National Enquirer Leak Probe  —  Michael Sanchez is an outspoken Trump supporter with ties to Roger Stone and Carter Page.  —  Jeff Bezos' top personal security consultant has questioned his mistress' brother …

‘Whistleblower’ in White House security clearance office gets suspended  —  Tricia Newbold was suspended less than a week after NBC reported Jared Kushner's top secret security clearance was approved over staff objections.  —  WASHINGTON — A White House security specialist …

Trump Considering Herman Cain for Federal Reserve Board, Sources Say  — President interviewed former Godfather's CEO on Wednesday  — Cain's presidential run ended in sexual misconduct scandal  —  Herman Cain, the former pizza company executive who ran for the Republican presidential nomination …

Exclusive: Senate investigators told Trump Jr.'s mysterious calls weren't with his father  —  (CNN)Senate investigators have obtained new information showing Donald Trump Jr.'s mysterious phone calls ahead of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting were not with his father, three sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN.

White House preps emergency wall plan while Congress negotiates  —  Congress has until Feb. 15 to discuss a border security deal, but the White House is already finalizing its plan B — declaring a national emergency.  —  The White House is finalizing details of a potential national emergency declaration …

Progressive Dems: ‘Not Another Dollar’ More in DHS Funding  —  Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar just threw a wrench in the border wall debate.  —  Four freshman progressive House members are throwing a wrench into government funding negotiations …

Bernie Sanders to propose dramatic expansion in estate tax on richest Americans, including 77 percent rate on billionaires  —  Sanders's “For the 99.8% Act” would target the wealthiest 0.2 percent of estates.  —  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will unveil a plan Thursday to dramatically expand …

Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior From Iran  —  Today we removed multiple Pages, groups and accounts that engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram.  This activity was directed from Iran, in some cases repurposing Iranian state media content …

‘The man who attacked me works in your kitchen’: Victim of serial groper took justice into her own hands  —  Nearly six years ago, on an unseasonably warm April night in Washington, Lauren Clark was cooling down from a jog when she spotted a man in the distance.

APNewsBreak: ICE force-feeding detainees on hunger strike  —  Federal immigration officials are force-feeding six immigrants through plastic nasal tubes during a hunger strike that's gone on for a month inside a Texas detention facility, The Associated Press has learned.

The 15 Things You Need to Know About Chris Christie's Book  —  Chris Christie's tell-all, Let Me Finish, has now hit shelves, and it's absolutely the second most interesting book about Donald Trump released this week.  —  Is it worth you slogging through the entire 400 pages?  Hard pass.

Amy Klobuchar may be best equipped to send the president packing  —  Surely the silliest aspirant for the Democrats' 2020 presidential nomination is already known: “ Beto ,” a. k.a.  Robert Francis, O'Rourke is a skateboarding man-child whose fascination with himself caused him to live-stream …

Kyrsten Sinema Is Not Just a Funky Dresser.  She's a Fashion Revolutionary.  —  In July 2017, Democratic women in Congress organized a protest against the enforcement of an “appropriate attire” dress code that was being used to keep reporters in sleeveless outfits out of certain parts of the Capitol building.

State: All 366 on local list of potential noncitizen voters are citizens  —  By the time local elections officials downloaded a list of 366 registered voters the Texas Secretary of State's Office initially said may not be citizens, the office had called to tell them to disregard the list, Elections Administrator Kathy Van Wolfe said.

Trump Allies Think Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is Hiding or Dead.  It Started on QAnon.  —  She's kept a low profile while recovering from cancer surgery.  Right-wing sickos turned that against the liberal Supreme Court justice.  —  Top figures in the pro-Trump media are claiming Supreme Court …

Feds make largest fentanyl bust in U.S. history  —  Customs and Border Protection officers said Thursday they discovered 254 pounds of the drug hidden in a floor compartment of a truck trailer loaded with cucumbers.  —  Border agents make huge fentanyl bust at Arizona port of entry

Michael Bloomberg's Secret Plans to Take Down Trump  —  Michael Bloomberg has bigger plans for 2020 than running for president.  The billionaire and former New York City mayor has been openly dreaming of the White House for 25 years, and spent huge amounts of time and money four times …

The Six Forms of Media Bias  —  A media critic inveighs against the bias toward centrism, which inspires me to come up with my own list.  —  “Impartiality is still a value worth defending in mainstream news coverage,” writes Margaret Sullivan, the Washington Post media critic.

Apple blocks Google from running its internal iOS apps  —  Google joins Facebook in Apple's banning spree  —  Apple has now shut down Google's ability to distribute its internal iOS apps, following a similar shutdown that was issued to Facebook earlier this week.