Secret Files Show How Trump Moscow Talks Unfolded While Trump Heaped Praise On Putin  —  As a candidate, Donald Trump had a lot of praise for Vladimir Putin — and no business, he kept insisting, in Russia.  These documents tell a different story.  —  When Michael Cohen …

Trump Inaugural Committee Ordered to Hand Over Documents to Federal Investigators  —  Trump Inaugural Committee Is Ordered to Give Documents to Investigators  — Federal prosecutors demanded documents about the committee's finances and activities, showing interest in whether it received illegal foreign donations.

The plan to keep Trump's taxes hidden  —  The new House Democratic majority is widely expected to test one of Donald Trump's ultimate red lines by demanding the president's personal tax returns — and the Trump administration has been gearing up for months to fight back hard.

Special Guests for President Trump's Second State of the Union Address  —  Here are the special guests who will join the President and First Lady at the U.S. Capitol when President Donald J. Trump delivers the second State of the Union Address of his presidency.

Trump Once Said Power Was About Instilling Fear.  In That Case, He Should Be Worried.  —  WASHINGTON — Richard M. Nixon once said, “People react to fear, not love; they don't teach that in Sunday school, but it's true.”  —  No president since has deployed fear quite like Donald J. Trump.

Lobbyist at Trump Tower Meeting Received Half A Million Dollars In Suspicious Payments  —  A Russian-born lobbyist who attended the controversial Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 received a series of suspicious payments totaling half a million dollars before and after the encounter.

Top Nancy Pelosi Aide Privately Tells Insurance Executives Not to Worry About Democrats Pushing “Medicare for All”  —  Less than a month after Democrats — many of them running on “Medicare for All” — won back control of the House of Representatives in November, the top health policy aide …

‘Green New Deal’ details emerge, as Ocasio-Cortez preps big reveal of WWII-level mobilization  —  More Democrats considering a presidential bid signal support for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's ‘Green New Deal’  —  New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday unveiled new details on the so-called …

Senators make a bipartisan push to limit Trump's trade powers  —  (CNN)As President Donald Trump prepares to once again make a bipartisan appeal in his State of the Union address Tuesday, members of Congress are linking arms on one of his favorite issues: trade.

Trump Called Nepal And Bhutan ‘Nipple’ And ‘Button’ In Intel Briefing: Time's John Walcott  —  The national security reporter says on CNN that the president is alarmingly out of touch in White House intelligence sessions.  —  President Donald Trump mispronounced Nepal and Bhutan as “Nipple” …

Cuomo: State facing $2.3 billion shortfall  —  ALBANY — New York state is facing an unexpected $2.3 billion shortfall — the most significant in eight years — due to a sharp drop in income tax collections for December and January, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo revealed on Monday.

Ex-Gov. Weld back in the GOP as he mulls Trump challenge  —  BOSTON (AP) — Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld has changed his party registration from Libertarian back to Republican as he mulls a possible primary challenge against President Donald Trump.  —  Weld served as a Republican governor from 1991 until 1997.

Former White House Staffer Cliff Sims on Trump's Emotional Life and the Fine Points of Leaking  —  When I met him on Thursday morning, Cliff Sims was just a few blocks away from the White House, the place he worked for the “500 extraordinary days” that provided most of the material for his memoir, Team of Vipers, released last week.

The Shrunken State of Donald Trump's Presidency  —  The Harvard political scientist Richard Neustadt famously remarked that the Oval Office “is no place for amateurs.”  This is because, as Neustadt pointed out in his book “Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents,” which was originally published in 1960 …

Socially Liberal, Fiscally Conservative Voters Preferred Trump In 2016  —  The conventional wisdom is that a socially liberal, fiscally conservative independent presidential candidate — like, say, Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO, who is considering just such a run …

Woman Alleging Sexual Assault By Virginia's Lt. Gov. Hires Washington Law Firm  —  A California woman who has accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assaulting her 15 years ago, has hired the same law firm that represented Christine Blasey Ford in her allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

‘They basically have nothing to do’: Trio of Republicans face life in exile  —  They're the outcasts of Capitol Hill, personae non gratae even in their own party.  —  Duncan Hunter, Chris Collins and Steve King have been excommunicated from the House GOP conference in the most public way possible …

Ruth Bader Ginsburg makes first public appearance since cancer surgery  —  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday night made her first public appearance since undergoing cancer surgery in December, attending a celebration of her life presented in song.  —  The 85-year-old justice attended a production of …

lost to an enemy  —  The US shipped weapons and secrets to the Saudis and Emiratis.  Now, some are in the hands of fighters linked to al Qaeda and Iran.  —  Hodeidah, Yemen (CNN) - Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have transferred American-made weapons to al Qaeda-linked fighters …

The Trump era could last 30 years  —  How long is this going to last?  Ever since the twin political upheavals of 2016 — Britain's vote for Brexit and America's election of Donald Trump — analysts have argued about whether this a temporary aberration, or the beginning of a new era.

How I Get It Done: Merchants of Truth author Jill Abramson  —  In her new book Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts, out February 5, Jill Abramson chronicles the upheaval that has rocked the media industry over the past decade, as told through the stories of four outlets …

Senate Dems block Sasse measure meant to respond to Virginia bill  —  Senate Democrats blocked abortion-related legislation on Monday night in the wake of a political firestorm sparked by a Virginia abortion-rights bill last week.  —  Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) tried to pass legislation …

Donald Trump is ignoring the law today.  And no one really cares.  —  President Donald Trump is ignoring the law today.  —  And no one really cares.  —  In a normal year, policy staff at the White House, Cabinet departments and on Capitol Hill — along with reporters and photographers …

For Trump, the State of the Union Is a Spectacle, and He Is Ready for It  —  WASHINGTON — He likes the instant gratification of Twitter tirades to prefab statements from his press office.  —  He prefers improvising at a political rally to earnest policy addresses.

First signs of border wall construction spotted at National Butterfly Center  —  MISSION — Heavy equipment has arrived at the National Butterfly Center, signaling the start of a border wall that will slice through the protected habitat.  —  Congress approved funding for this section …

All too often, California's default mental institutions are now jails and prisons  —  Jeffrey Jurgens stood in a cage in an orange jumpsuit, screaming that he was Jesus Christ.  From her seat in the Sacramento courtroom, his mother watched through tears.  —  Joanna Jurgens knew how important …