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 …

Sarah Sanders: Corruption in Trump's inauguration has ‘nothing to do with the White House’  —  White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday said that any corrupt activities surrounding President Donald Trump's inauguration had “nothing to do with the Trump White House.”

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.

Cory Booker schooled by Kavanaugh replacement pick after question on ‘LGBTQ law clerks’  —  Something about judicial confirmation hearings seems to trip up Sen. Cory Booker — who got corrected by a high-profile nominee on Tuesday during a heated exchange about diversity on her staff.

Firms Recruited by Paul Manafort Are Investigated Over Foreign Payments  —  WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors in recent weeks have been interviewing witnesses about the flow of foreign money to three powerful law and lobbying firms that Paul Manafort recruited seven years ago to help improve …

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 …

Pope Francis confirms priests' abuse of nuns included “sexual slavery”  —  Nuns have suffered and are still suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests and bishops, and even being held as sexual slaves, Pope Francis confirmed on Tuesday.  The abuse was so severe in one case …

Customs And Border Protection Apologized After An Agent Questioned A BuzzFeed News Reporter About Trump Coverage  —  A top official of the Customs and Border Protection apologized Tuesday to a BuzzFeed News reporter who was aggressively questioned by an agent about articles regarding President Donald Trump …

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 …

‘I trusted you!’  Trump voters seethe after realizing they're getting screwed by the GOP's tax plan  —  Multiple supporters of President Donald Trump over the past couple of weeks have taken to Twitter to air their grievances about the president's signature tax cut plan.

Can Stacey Abrams break the curse when she delivers the Democratic response to Trump's State of the Union?  —  Stacey Abrams will deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address.  Here's what you should know about her.  —  CONNECT

Fox Guest Warns: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Trying to ‘Assimilate Us’ to ‘Latin American Values’  —  “Instead of us assimilating them, they are assimilating us,” Peter Morici said of Ocasio-Cortez and her likeminded colleagues.  —  A week after former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw faced intense backlash …

Top Progressive Firm Tells Dems to Leave Starbucks Alone  —  SKDKnickerbocker lists Starbucks as a client.  And they want to separate the company from the presidential ambitions of its former CEO.  —  One of the top Democratic firms in the country is privately urging top officials in the party …

Why Democrats Can't Talk Honestly About Abortion  —  The truth is unconscionable in a modern world.  —  Democrats will protect American children from the evils of trans fats and gay conversion therapy, but not from doctors who will kill them through negligent homicide in the first few hours of their lives.

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.

Cory Booker confirms he has a girlfriend  —  Sen. Cory Booker says he's boo'd up.  —  The New Jersey Democrat and 2020 White House hopeful is confirming that he has a girlfriend.  —  Booker was asked about his noted bachelordom by co-host Charlamagne tha God during a Tuesday interview …

Klobuchar heads to Iowa as she nears 2020 decision  —  Sen. Amy Klobuchar is heading to Iowa this month, another sign the Minnesota Democrat is closing in on a 2020 launch.  —  Klobuchar is to headline the Feb. 21 Ankeny Area Democrats Winter Banquet and Fundraiser in the first caucus state …

MAGA all-stars visit border to plot private wall project  —  It could have been an outtake from a hard-right reboot of “Ocean's 11” for the Trump era: a gathering of some of President Donald Trump's most notorious and outspoken supporters, who descended last week on the Mexican border town of McAllen, Texas.

Runner kills mountain lion that attacked him on Colorado trail  —  “In the event of a lion attack, you need to do anything in your power to fight back, just as this gentleman did,” a state wildlife official said.  —  A trail runner fought off and killed a mountain lion in self-defense …

GOP Leadership Instructs Lawmakers to Play Up Gruesome Murders and Rapes by Immigrants  —  House Republican lawmakers are being encouraged by their party's leadership to play up gruesome murders, rapes, and other crimes committed by undocumented immigrants in the United States.

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.

PayPal Bans Anti-Muslim Fanatic Laura Loomer  —  They're not the first platform to say they've had enough.  —  PayPal banned far-right figure Laura Loomer on Tuesday, making her the latest right-wing figure to be banished from the online payment and funding platform.

Black America Knows White Avengers Like Liam Neeson All Too Well  —  Okay, it was 40 years ago.  But to black people, that hardly matters.  We've seen way too much of this to think those days are over.  —  When actor Liam Neeson admitted during a recent interview while promoting a new movie …

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.

Lakers pull out of Anthony Davis trade talks amid ‘outrageous’ requests by Pelicans … The Lakers have “pulled out” of any more conversations in trying to acquire New Orleans All-Star Anthony Davis because of the Pelican's “outrageous” trade requests, according to a person with knowledge …