Ralph Northam yearbook page shows men in blackface and KKK robe  —  A photo from Gov. Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook shows two men, one in blackface and one in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood, on the same page as the governor.  —  The photo, which The Virginian-Pilot obtained a copy …

Polling on Howard Schultz for President  —  Change ResearchBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing  —  There's been much speculation about the impact of Howard Schultz running for president as an independent.  —  Change Research conducted a poll from January 31-February 1 of 1,338 likely 2020 general election voters …

McConnell privately cautions Trump about emergency declaration on border wall  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cautioned President Trump privately this week about the consequences of declaring a national emergency to build his border wall, telling him the move could trigger political blowback …

‘Astonishing development’: Hawley AG office may have violated Mo. open records laws  —  Not long after Josh Hawley announced in 2017 that he was exploring a U.S. Senate run, Democrats requested records of any emails between his attorney general's office and the consultants running his campaign.

Author of controversial Nunes memo joining National Security Council  —  (CNN)A congressional aide who was key in crafting the controversial Republican House Intelligence Committee memo that accused FBI and Justice Department officials of abusing their surveillance authority is set to join …

Elizabeth Warren Apologizes to Cherokee Nation for DNA Test  —  Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who is running for her party's presidential nomination, has apologized to the Cherokee Nation for her decision to take a DNA test to prove her Native American ancestry …

Cory Booker had a confusing answer about health care in his first 2020 press conference  —  Booker's opening comments stirred up questions about his progressive bona fides.  —  Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) was ready to take a victory lap during a press conference with reporters outside of his home in Newark …

How Republicans Erased Trumpism  —  G.O.P. congressional leaders used tactics to minimize the president's influence and maximize their own control over public policy.  —  Mr. Glassman is a senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown.  —  Donald Trump has a Congress problem.

Russian escort says she gave Trump info to Russian tycoon  —  MOSCOW (AP) — A Belarusian model who claims to have information on the ties between Russia and Donald Trump's election campaign says she has turned it over to Russian billionaire businessman Oleg Deripaska.

The Real Story Behind the Viral ‘Poo Flip’  —  There are viral things that anyone — everyone — can love.  Grumpy Cat, the Dress, “Damn, Daniel!”  — the sort of stuff that, at the very least, you can bring up at the dinner table.  Then there's the other stuff — memes couched in so many layers …

Roger Stone judge weighs gag order  —  A federal judge said Friday she's considering slapping a gag order on Roger Stone, the longtime Donald Trump associate who has been on a media blitz since being charged a week ago with lying to Congress and obstructing lawmakers' Russia investigation.

No Heat for Days at a Jail in Brooklyn Where Hundreds of Inmates Are Sick and ‘Frantic’  —  More than a thousand inmates have been stuck in freezing cells at a federal jail on the Brooklyn waterfront that has had limited power and heat for at least this week, according to federal public defenders …

John Bolton is a serial arms control killer  —  Joseph Cirincione is a nuclear weapons policy expert and president of the Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation.  —  John Bolton relishes in targeting nuclear arms treaties.  He is very good at it.

Spotify is in talks to buy Gimlet for more than $200 million.  That's a big deal for the podcasting world.  —  Spotify wants to break out of the music streaming business.  Gimlet, the company behind shows like Crimetown and Reply All, can help.  —  Spotify, which has been trying to branch …

Undocumented Workers Lose Their Jobs at Yet Another Trump Property  —  President Trump's family business has employed undocumented workers more broadly than it was previously believed, with multiple workers losing their jobs last month at a Trump golf club in southern New Jersey.

Washington Examiner fires reporters in apparent pivot toward more Trump-friendly coverage  — The Washington Examiner, a conservative Beltway publication, fired at least two reporters on Friday despite adding new hires.  — The firings are part of an effort to take the Examiner …

Fake News About Abortion in Virginia  —  No, Democrats aren't trying to legalize infanticide.  —  Under current law in Virginia, third-trimester abortions are permitted when a woman's physician and two other doctors certify that continuing a pregnancy would result in a mother's death, or …

This Is How Much Fact-Checking Is Worth to Facebook  —  More than nothing, but not much more.  —  Snopes has pulled out of its fact-checking partnership with Facebook.  The storied myth-debunking site was one of dozens of groups the social network enlisted to help combat misinformation after the 2016 election.

McClatchy Follows Buzzfeed, Vice, and Others in Cutting Staff … This morning, Craig Forman, CEO of McClatchy Company, emailed all staff saying about 10 percent of the newspaper chain's staff would be offered voluntary buyouts.  All of the details were not immediately available …

Zinke told police a Post reporter caused a fracas at his house.  Here's what really happened.  —  A newly released police report by U.S. Park Police, a division of Interior, fingers a mysterious reporter driving a Mercedes Benz SUV.  —  Before his rocky tenure as Secretary of the Interior came …

Trump plays with fire when he insults his intelligence officers  —  Michael Morell, a Post contributing columnist, was deputy director and twice acting director of the CIA from 2010-2013.  —  President Trump's critique of his intelligence chiefs in the aftermath of this week's annual Worldwide …

Supreme Court puts off decision on restrictive Louisiana abortion law  —  The Supreme Court on Friday night put off a decision about whether a restrictive Louisiana law that could close some of the state's abortion clinics can go into effect on Monday.  —  The court said the law …

E Pluribus Unum?  —  IDENTITY POLITICS STRENGTHENS DEMOCRACY  —  Recent political upheavals have reinvigorated a long-running debate about the role of identity in American politics—and especially American elections.  Electoral politics have long been a lagging indicator of social change.

Democrats Announce Hearing On Trump's Tax Returns  —  Democrats will hold the hearing instead of just trying to obtain the documents.  —  The secrecy of President Donald Trump's tax returns will be the subject of a hearing next week, Democrats in the House of Representatives announced Thursday.