The Catastrophic Performance of Bill Barr  —  I was willing to give Bill Barr a chance.  Consider me burned.  —  When Barr was nominated, I wrote a cautious piece for this magazine declining to give him “a character reference” and acknowledging “legitimate reasons to be concerned about …

F.B.I. Sent Investigator Posing as Assistant to Meet With Trump Aide in 2016  —  WASHINGTON — The conversation at a London bar in September 2016 took a strange turn when the woman sitting across from George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser, asked a direct question: Was the Trump campaign working with Russia?

Mark Halperin Enlists Pals Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, and Michael Smerconish to Rehab His Career After Sexual Misconduct Scandal  —  The disgraced pundit has re-emerged from #MeToo hiding and has met with media friends for new punditry work—including a scrapped gig with the hosts of MSNBC's ‘Morning Joe.’

Facebook bans far-right leaders including Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos for being “dangerous”  —  The bans are a sign that the social network is more aggressively enforcing its hate speech policies under pressure from civil rights groups.  —  Facebook said on Thursday …

Grim-faced Obama with president-elect Trump as they depart of White House for the inauguration.  —  Obama was cordial to the president elect in their face-to-face meeting in the Oval Office, but in private Obama called Trump a conman straight out of Huckleberry Finn.

Stephen Moore Withdraws as Trump's Federal Reserve Board Pick After Anti-Women Remarks Unearthed  —  The former Trump campaign advisor's views on women and other subjects sparked criticism from lawmakers, including Republicans.  —  Stephen Moore withdrew himself from consideration to sit …

Bernie Sanders personally spearheaded campaign strategy to take on Joe Biden  —  Sanders: Dems must campaign on policy issues, not attacks  —  (CNN)The decision by Bernie Sanders' campaign to immediately engage with Joe Biden — in a series of public remarks, tweets and emails to supporters …

California Senate passes bill that would keep Trump off 2020 ballot unless he releases tax returns  —  The California state Senate on Thursday approved a bill to require candidates appearing on the presidential primary ballot — including President Trump — to release five years' worth of income tax returns.

Ukrainian embassy confirms DNC contractor solicited Trump dirt in 2016  —  The boomerang from the Democratic Party's failed attempt to connect Donald Trump to Russia's 2016 election meddling is picking up speed, and its flight path crosses right through Moscow's pesky neighbor, Ukraine.

Barr Unable to Give Honest Answer to Drive-Thru Window at Arby's  —  BETHESDA, Maryland (The Borowitz Report)—Attorney General William Barr on Thursday proved unable to give honest answers to a drive-thru window at a Bethesda, Maryland, Arby's restaurant.  —  Barr, who drove up to the window …

NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre Questioned on Travel Expenses  —  Lawyer for the gun-rights organization says vast majority of the money was spent on donor outreach, fundraising and other business

Authorities: Alleged Russian spy whale is refusing to leave and seeking Norwegians' devotion  —  BERLIN — An alleged Russian spy whale is refusing to leave a Norwegian port city, in what appears to be a high-profile defection after a week of global attention on the unnamed beluga.

Baltimore Mayor Pugh resigns after month on leave amid investigation into her business deals  —  Pictures of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh through the years  —  Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh resigned Thursday, apologizing for the harm she has caused to the city's image and the mayor's office amid …

She's Asian and female.  But she's not me.  —  I'm often mistaken for other Asian American journalists.  Sometimes it's funny.  Sometimes it's awkward.  It took me years to realize that it also stings. … We're both Korean American, 5-foot-8, and our last name is Lee.  That's about all we have in common.

Conservatives seize on Alabama state Dem's abortion comments  —  Republicans pounced Wednesday on remarks made by an Alabama state representative opposing a state bill that would criminalize abortion.  —  State Rep. John Rogers (D) said abortion “ought to be a woman's choice,” before adding …

Why Democrats' Most Liberal Wing Is Struggling To Gain Power  —  I argued in a piece published earlier this week that the “Super Progressive” bloc of the Democratic Party was largely losing its fights with the party's Progressive Old Guard wing.  Big ideas pushed by more liberal Democrats …

Surviving a stroke  —  CNN National Security Analyst Michael Hayden, a retired four-star US Air Force general, formerly headed the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.  His daughter-in-law, Jessica Powley Hayden, helped him to focus his thoughts and put them on paper.

Scientists discover cocaine in every shrimp tested from English rivers, study says  —  Scientists studying freshwater shrimp in British waterways have made an eye-opening discovery, according to a new study: All the shrimp they looked at tested positive for cocaine.