In Push for 2020 Election Security, Top Official Was Warned: Don't Tell Trump  —  WASHINGTON — In the months before Kirstjen Nielsen was forced to resign, she tried to focus the White House on one of her highest priorities as homeland security secretary: preparing for new and different Russian forms …

‘This is risky’: Trump's thirst for Mueller revenge could land him in trouble  —  Team Trump's bellicose tweets and public statements in the last few days could expose the president to fresh charges of witness intimidation and obstruction of justice.  —  Special counsel Robert Mueller may be done …

Trump complained about his follower count in White House meeting with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey  —  President Trump on Tuesday met privately with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, a huddle at the White House between one of the site's most prolific users and an executive who's faced criticism for the way Twitter has handled the president's tweets.

Student slated to attend Western Michigan University beheaded in Saudi Arabia  —  A Saudi Arabian man who was arrested as a teenager as he was getting ready to fly to America to begin his studies at Western Michigan University was beheaded by the government Tuesday, according to a report from an official press agency.

In a Crowded Field, Pete Buttigieg and Beto O'Rourke Stake Out Similar Turf  —  NASHUA, N.H. — The question was the same: Why should you be the Democratic nominee for president?  —  The answers helped illustrate why Beto O'Rourke is stalling and Pete Buttigieg is surging in the first months of the campaign.

A Giant Bird Killed Its Owner.  Now It Could Be Yours.  —  There will be colorful macaws, lithe lemurs and cackling Kookaburras for sale at an event billed by organizers as “the dispersal of the animal estate of Marvin Hajos.”  But the animal that is likely to get the most attention is the giant bird that killed Mr. Hajos this month.

Trump offers alternate argument for citizenship question on 2020 census  —  President Donald Trump wrote online Wednesday that “the American people deserve to know who is in this country,” breaking with the Justice Department in its defense of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' efforts to place …

William Barr decried ‘hatchet jobs’ on Ken Starr in 1998  —  (CNN)William Barr said in a 1998 interview that he was “disturbed” that Attorney General Janet Reno had not defended independent counsel Ken Starr from “spin control,” “hatchet jobs” and “ad hominem attacks.”

“Trump's Furious with Don”: Inside the President's Mar-a-Lago Meltdown  —  The president is raging against his former staff and wants to sue Don McGahn—but staff think he and his lawyers blew it.  “You didn't have to send me in there,” said one witness.  But Giuliani says: Nothing to see here!

Source: Feds Probe Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, First Lady For Property Tax Appeals On Gold Coast Mansion  —  Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, his wife and his brother-in-law are under federal criminal investigation for a dubious residential property tax appeal that dogged him during …

How the Intercept Is Fueling the Democratic Civil War  —  Captain Mark Kelly, the former astronaut, has a picture-perfect political résumé: the Space Shuttle commander and veteran of the U.S. Navy became a gun control advocate after his wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, was shot and suffered a severe brain injury.

Trump Cannot Appeal an Impeachment Judgment to SCOTUS  —  This is an excerpt from our book, To End A Presidency: The Power of Impeachment.  Here, we explain why the Framers expressly decided against allowing the Supreme Court to play a role in adjudicating impeachments.

Without evidence, Trump says border incident between U.S. and Mexican soldiers was ‘probably’ a diversion for drug smugglers  —  President Trump shared a theory without evidence on Wednesday that Mexican troops recently drew guns on U.S. soldiers at the border as a diversion for drug smugglers …

Officers at scene of Beto O'Rourke's 1998 DWI crash say they believe he tried to flee  —  Until now, O'Rourke, who denies trying to flee the wreck, was the only person present at the scene of the collision to speak out publicly about what happened that night.

Trump's IRS Audit Files Offer ‘Treasure Trove’—If Congress Ever Gets Them  —  Internal documents would let lawmakers understand how tax agency scrutinizes president  —  WASHINGTON—Democrats want six years of President Trump's tax returns, and those should be plenty interesting.

Trump camp descends on Pennsylvania as alarms grow over 2020  —  Senior Trump 2020 advisers are headed to Harrisburg on Wednesday to meet with Pennsylvania GOP officials amid mounting concerns about the president's prospects in the critical battleground state.

Lobbyist's crusade to change Title IX in Missouri stems from his son's expulsion  —  After his son was accused and subsequently expelled from Washington University in St. Louis last year through the school's Title IX process, a leading Jefferson City lobbyist launched a campaign to change the law for every campus in the state.

Census: Midterm turnout surge fueled by core Dem voters  —  The highest-turnout midterm election in more than a century was driven by a surge of voters who ordinarily sit out those contests, and who disproportionately favor Democratic candidates.  —  While turnout was up across the board …

Texas to Execute White Supremacist for 1998 Dragging Death of James Byrd Jr.  —  [For more coverage of race, sign up here to have our Race/Related newsletter delivered weekly to your inbox.]  —  On Wednesday evening around 6 p.m., Louvon Harris will be in Huntsville, Tex., about 70 miles north of Houston, for an appointment.

As Durst Murder Case Goes Forward, HBO's Film Will Also Be on Trial  —  To understand why Robert A. Durst, the peculiar real estate scion long suspected in several murders, is now charged with killing his close friend Susan Berman 19 years ago, look no further than the 2015 HBO documentary about his life.

Pipe bomb suspect Cesar Sayoc describes Trump rallies as ‘new found drug’  —  (CNN)The Florida man who pleaded guilty to mailing explosive devices said in a letter to a federal judge that attending a rally for President Donald Trump “became like a new found drug.”

Hawaii Takes Another Step Toward Statewide All-Mail Voting  —  A House-Senate conference committee approves the measure, and other election reform bills remain alive as well.  —  Hawaii is likely to move to elections conducted almost entirely by mail as soon as 2020 after a conference committee …

Democrats Weigh Fines for Trump Officials Who Spurn Subpoenas  — Judiciary Chairman Nadler suggests jail for ignoring demands  — Lawyers say House has power to fine or jail for noncompliance  —  The Trump administration is fighting House Democrats' investigative inquiries at every turn.

‘Fat Sex Therapist’ compares fitness trainers to Nazis, children's dieting to sexual assault  — A “Fat Sex Therapist” recently gave a talk at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, in which she compared personal trainers to Nazis.  —  “I truly believe that a child cannot consent to being on a diet …

Trump cheered Patriots to Super Bowl victory with founder of spa where Kraft was busted  —  Several dozen people, mostly speaking Chinese, gathered in a rented-out room on the ground floor of New York's Trump World Tower on Oct. 26, 2017, for a PowerPoint presentation.

Sturgeon: Brexit should trigger Scottish independence vote by 2021  —  Scotland should hold a referendum on independence before 2021 if the U.K. leaves the EU, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.  —  Announcing plans for legislation setting the rules of a second independence vote …

House asks judge to halt Trump border wall funding  —  The House of Representatives has asked a federal judge to block President Donald Trump's plan to build a border wall using Defense Department funds.  —  On Tuesday, House lawyers requested that U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden issue …

Twitter Is Not America  —  Twitter, as it turns out, is not a good model of the world.  —  Hard as that is for the Twitter-addicted to believe, it is true, and a new Pew Research study presents new evidence about the way that the platform leans.  —  In the United States …

Meet the Other Resistance: The Republican One  —  President Trump is overwhelmingly popular with his base, but a handful of dissident Republicans think they know how to defeat him in a primary contest.  Are they wrong?  —  William F. Weld is not likely to become our 46th president.