Far-Right Smear Merchants Try to Slime Pete Buttigieg with Bogus Sex Assault Claim  —  The mayor was briefly accused of assaulting a young man.  A GOP source says right-wing operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman approached him to make similarly untrue accusations.

CNN Poll: Biden solidifies front-runner status with post-announcement bump  —  (CNN)Former Vice President Joe Biden's announcement of a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination earned him an 11-point polling bounce, leaving him head and shoulders above the rest of the Democratic candidates.

Trump Sues Deutsche Bank and Capital One to Block Compliance With Subpoenas  —  President Trump, his three eldest children and his private company filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against Deutsche Bank and Capital One, in a bid to prevent the banks from responding to congressional subpoenas.

Asylum Seekers Face New Restraints Under Latest Trump Orders  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday ordered new restrictions on asylum seekers at the Mexican border — including application fees and work permit restraints — and directed that cases in the already clogged immigration courts be settled within 180 days.

Graham calls Democrats ‘political hacks,’ says Trump should fight their subpoenas ‘like hell’  —  Conway: Trump might block McGahn testimony  —  (CNN)A defiant Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday that President Donald Trump should ignore congressional subpoenas demanding the administration turn …

Adam Schiff to make criminal referral for Erik Prince to Justice Department  —  House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told the Washington Post on Tuesday that his committee will make a criminal referral for informal Trump campaign adviser Erik Prince to the Justice Department.

What was Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale doing in Romania?  —  BRUSSELS — The day before special counsel Robert S. Mueller III submitted his report to the Justice Department last month, Washington was abuzz with what revelations it might contain about contacts between the 2016 Trump campaign and foreign officials.

Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams will not run for Senate in 2020  —  Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who garnered national attention after narrowly losing her bid for governor last year, announced Tuesday that she will not run for Senate, despite a fierce lobbying effort by party leaders.

Venezuela's Guaido takes to streets in military uprising  —  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó took to the streets with activist Leopoldo Lopez and a small contingent of heavily armed soldiers early Tuesday in a bold and risky call for the military …

Trump Pushes to Designate Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Group  —  WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is pushing to issue an order that would designate the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization, bringing the weight of American sanctions against a storied …

Oprah Talks Apple Plans, ‘60 Minutes’ Exit, ‘Leaving Neverland’ Backlash and Mayor Pete “Buttabeep, Buttaboop”  —  What's left for the media empress and icon of inspiration?  In a wide ranging interview, Winfrey explains her streaming strategy (including a possible interview series) …

Rod Rosenstein Embodies the Republican Surrender to Trump  —  The most bizarre passage in Rod Rosenstein's letter to President Trump resigning his post as deputy attorney general is praise for “the courtesy and humor you often display in our personal conversations.”

‘Bizarre, Dangerous, and Insulting’: Baby Nurses Fed Up With Trump's Bogus Abortion Rants  —  They say his talk of executing babies distorts the palliative care they provide gravely sick infants.  —  President Trump's latest rant about babies being executed after birth is riling up neonatal nurses …

What all of President Trump's ‘jokes’ have in common  —  The day the Mueller report was released, President Trump said he might stay in the Oval Office “at least for 10 or 14 years.”  Trump, fearing “bedlam” over this remark, said it was a “joke,” similar to the one he made last year …

America: Anything Is Possible … America is an idea.  An idea that's stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant.  It's a place where ordinary people do extraordinary things.

Everyone deserves to vote, even felons like Paul Manafort & Michael Cohen  —  Committing a serious crime shouldn't strip people of their basic right to be a citizen and active participant in our democracy.  —  CONNECT  —  I have been attacked in recent days by President Trump and others …

NRA has a huge mess on its hands  —  New York attorney general investigating the NRA  —  John Avlon is a CNN senior political analyst and anchor.  The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.  View more opinion articles on CNN.  —  (CNN)Think you had a busy weekend?

Feds investigating alleged armed disruption attempt at U.S.-Mexico border in December: Report  —  The Dec. 18 document from the FBI specifies an alleged plan for activists to purchase guns from a “Mexico-based cartel associate known as Cobra Commander,” or Ivan Riebeling.  —  5 AM

Poll: 30% Of Conservatives, 15% Of GOP Say They Won't Vote For Trump  —  Republican critics of the president say the numbers spell big trouble for his reelection bid.  —  WASHINGTON ― Nearly a third of self-described conservatives and 1 in 6 Republicans say they will not vote …

New York Times Drops Syndication Service That Supplied Anti-Semitic Cartoon  —  A ‘Times’ spokesperson told The Daily Beast exclusively about the paper's decision to stop using syndicated cartoons, including those from the syndicator of the offensive cartoon.  —  Lloyd Grove

How Cory Booker sees himself standing out from the crowded 2020 field  —  Democratic presidential candidate and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said Monday he would continue making criminal justice reform a centerpiece of his campaign, but, in an interview with PBS NewsHour anchor …