We've All Just Made Fools of Ourselves — Again  —  The awful corruption of scandal politics.  —  “You have a president who, in my opinion, beyond a shadow of a doubt, sought to, however ham-handedly, collude with the Russian government, a foreign power, to undermine and influence our elections.”

‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett charges dropped; actor says he has been ‘truthful and consistent since day one’  —  ‘I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one.’  —  In a stunning move, prosecutors in Chicago dropped all charges against “Empire” …

Trump Tried to Undo North Korea Penalty, Contrary to U.S. Account  — President tweeted that he withdrew North Korea sanctions  — U.S. officials talked Trump out of move, devised cover story  —  President Donald Trump last week intended to reverse sanctions imposed …

Trump administration now says entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down  —  (CNN)The Trump administration on Monday said the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down, in a dramatic reversal.  —  In a filing with a federal appeals court, the Justice Department said it agreed …

After Mueller Report, News Media Leaders Defend Their Work  —  There have been tipping points and bombshells, walls closing in and turning points.  And there have been so, so many declarations of “The beginning of the end!” that the comedian John Oliver had a recurring “We got him!” …

Mike Pence talked Dan Coats out of quitting the Trump administration  —  Whenever Trump is souring on Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, whom he calls “Mister Rogers,” Pence encourages him to stick with Coats.  —  WASHINGTON — The country's intelligence chief was on the verge …

GOP congressman quotes Hitler's ‘Mein Kampf’ to slam Trump's adversaries as liars  —  Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) took to the House floor on Monday to portray President Trump's detractors as Nazis, but ended up slurring them using an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory drawn verbatim from Adolf Hitler's writings.

Obama cautions freshman House Democrats about the price tag of liberal policies  —  Former president Barack Obama gently warned a group of freshman House Democrats Monday evening about the costs associated with some liberal ideas popular in their ranks, encouraging members to look at price tags, according to people in the room.

Stephen Moore edges closer to Fed seat as key GOP lawmakers express support  —  A number of key Senate Republicans are expressing openness to confirming conservative economist Stephen Moore to the Federal Reserve's board of governors, a positive sign for the White House as aides gauge support for the controversial pick.

Commentator Andrew Sullivan Jeered at Hollywood Inclusion Event  —  Attendees at the morning panel included actresses Amy Landecker, Michaela Watkins and Sophia Bush, plus showrunners Sarah Gertrude Shapiro and Jenji Kohan.  —  At an event billed as 'A Day of Unreasonable Conversation …

Kamala Harris' teacher pay price tag: $315B  —  Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris proposed Tuesday spending a staggering $315 billion over 10 years to boost teacher pay, a move that would have an immediate pocketbook impact on a large and influential group of voters who are in high demand.

Why NASA's historic all-female spacewalk isn't happening  —  NASA has aborted its mission for its first all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station because there are not enough spacesuits of the best size to fit both female astronauts, the agency said.

Pentagon Takes $1 Billion From Military Personnel Account To Build Border Fence  —  The Department of Defense is shifting $1 billion from a military personnel account to build a 57-mile fence at the southern U.S. border, saying the funds were freed up after some service branches fell short of their recruiting goals.

Testing Novel Power, Trump Administration Detains Palestinian After Sentence Ends  —  WASHINGTON — Swept up by authorities after the Sept. 11 attacks, Adham Hassoun, a Palestinian computer programmer who lived in Florida, served 15 years in prison for sending support to Islamist militants abroad.

Mueller Madness: The media pundits who got it most wrong  —  Special counsel Robert Mueller has definitively put to rest the collusion theory of President Trump's election.  That's not a little embarrassing for the many journalists, talking heads, celebrities and instant-experts who spent …

The Green New Deal sets us up for failure.  We need a better approach.  —  John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, is former governor of Colorado and is running for the Democratic presidential nomination.  —  Climate change is a defining challenge of our time, and yet we have a president who is taking us in the wrong direction.

Inside Kamala Harris's Small-Dollar Fund-Raising Operation  —  At first glance, there was nothing notable about the day Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio received his greatest number of online contributions in the past six years.  It was just another Monday in the doldrums of August 2018.