No thank you, Mr. Pecker  —  Something unusual happened to me yesterday.  Actually, for me it wasn't just unusual—it was a first.  I was made an offer I couldn't refuse.  Or at least that's what the top people at the National Enquirer thought.  I'm glad they thought that, because it emboldened them to put it all in writing.

Virginia Sen. Tommy Norment was an editor for VMI yearbook filled with racist photos and slurs  —  Blackface and Confederate flag images are seen from the 1968 edition of Bomb: Virginia Military Institute's yearbook.  —  Virginia Senator Thomas K. Norment arrives on the floor of the Senate chamber on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019.

Trump furious after Schiff hires former NSC aides to help oversee his administration  —  Washington (CNN)House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has hired officials with experience at the National Security Council to help with its oversight of President Donald Trump's administration, according to a committee aide.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Releases Green New Deal Outline  —  Whether it's a deadly cold snap or a hole in an Antarctic glacier or a terrifying new report, there seem to be constant reminders now of the dangers that climate change poses to humanity.  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez …

Whitaker's testimony uncertain after Democrats refuse to drop subpoena threat  —  House Democrats refused to rescind their subpoena threat against President Trump's acting attorney general, leaving it unclear whether the nation's top law enforcement official will appear at a much-anticipated hearing scheduled for Friday.

“I Am Disgusted”: Behind the Scenes of Trump's Increasingly Scrutinized $107 Million Inauguration  —  Stephanie Winston Wolkoff was the mastermind event producer behind Trump's inaugural celebration, which has since come under S.D.N.Y. investigation.  Now, taped conversations reveal Wolkoff's concerns …

Year Before Killing, Saudi Prince Told Aide He Would Use ‘a Bullet’ on Khashoggi  —  WASHINGTON — Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia told a top aide in a conversation in 2017 that he would use “a bullet” on Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist killed in October …

Manafort kept working in Ukraine after Mueller indictment, transcript shows  —  According to prosecutors, Paul Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik had a discussion that referred to a “backdoor.”  —  The newly released transcript of a sealed hearing held earlier this week reveals …

Former Fox News reporter expected to be named to lead counter-propaganda efforts at State  —  (CNN)A former Fox News reporter is expected to be appointed to lead the State Department agency in charge of efforts to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation, two officials told CNN.

BREAKING: U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall will not seek re-election  —  U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, who narrowly won the closest congressional race in the nation last fall, will not seek re-election next year, all but ensuring his rapidly-diversifying suburban House district will become one of the country's fiercest political battlegrounds in 2020.

Poll: Only 58 percent of Americans oppose blackface  —  The roiling blackface scandal in Virginia continues.  It not only includes Gov. Ralph Northam (D) but now Attorney General Mark Herring (D), who says that he dressed in blackface at a college party.  The scandal has put renewed focus …

Democratic focus groups may have identified a hidden vulnerability for Trump  —  This is the week that the broad outlines of President Trump's reelection strategy are coming into focus.  Trump will continue pushing forward with his reactionary xenophobic nationalist agenda on immigration …

Phoenix Police Refute Cindy McCain's Story of Human Trafficking at Airport  —  Phoenix police on Wednesday disputed Cindy McCain's account of human trafficking at an Arizona airport.  McCain had told local news station KTAR on Monday that she intervened at Sky Harbor International Airport …

A Florida politician allegedly made a habit of licking men's faces.  She's now resigned.  —  It was supposed to be a fun, lighthearted alternative to typical government meetings, and one befitting a laid-back beach town.  The city commission of Madeira Beach, Fla. — a coastal community …

Senate Intel Chairman: 'We Don't Have Anything That Would Suggest There Was Collusion'  —  After more than two years of investigation, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has not found evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, the committee's Republican chairman said in interview.

New York's Grand Hyatt Hotel to Be Torn Down  —  A development group will demolish the glass-sheathed hotel by Grand Central Terminal that was Donald Trump's first major Manhattan project, and replace it with a mixed-use tower.

A Swamp Divided: How Trump's Arrival Turned D.C. Nightlife Upside Down  —  “Trump doesn't need to build a wall; he's built one here.”  —  Washington is one of the only places in America where an election transforms the city's social life.  Plenty of people live here with no regard …

The vow of ‘never again’ is dying in Assad's prisons  —  During his State of the Union address, President Trump invoked the Holocaust, praising some of his invited guests: American soldiers who liberated Nazi concentration camps and victims of those camps.  Trump's comments force us to ask ourselves …

Blackface is a tool of white oppression.  There are many more towering over us.  —  James Comey is a former director of the FBI and a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.  —  White people designed blackface to keep black people down, to intimidate, mock and stereotype.

Trump's Popularity Slumps to Record Low in January  —  (Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo-Pool/Getty Images)  — A majority of voters in 12 states approved of Trump's job performance, while a majority disapproved in 27 states.  — Trump's best numbers came in Wyoming and West Virginia …

‘I was up all night’ going through plagiarism claims, Jill Abramson says  —  Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson responded Thursday to allegations that she plagiarized portions of her new book, “Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts,” …

Trump Is Walling Off the GOP  —  The most misleading line in Donald Trump's State of the Union address this week might have also been the most revealing about how he is reconfiguring the Republican Party and reshaping America's electoral alignment.  —  “Legal immigrants enrich our nation …