Trump, Wrecker of Reputations  —  On Attorney General William Barr's testimony and the coming constitutional crisis.  —  In the first year of the Trump Presidency, White House advisers often promised reporters that this would be the week when they would unveil Trump's plans for a massive investment in American infrastructure.

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.’

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.

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.

Watergate had the Nixon tapes.  Mueller had Annie Donaldson's notes.  —  The notes, scribbled rapidly on a legal pad, captured the fear inside the White House when President Trump raged over the Russia investigation and decreed he was firing the FBI director who led it: “Is this the beginning of the end?”

William Barr's Justice Department Just Filed the Most Nakedly Political Brief in the Agency's History  —  On Wednesday afternoon, after Attorney General William Barr finished his truculent and mendacious testimony before the Senate, the Department of Justice filed perhaps the most embarrassing …

‘Anyone Ever Seen Cocaine?’  What We Found in the Archives of Bernie Sanders's Long-Lost TV Show.  —  Dozens of children scurry on the screen across Ethan Allen Park in Burlington, Vermont, bobbing for apples and running three-legged races.  It is a beaming July day, and they're at a summer camp …

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.

The 2019 governor's race that has Trump's team sweating  —  Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin is a presidential phone-buddy and White House regular who's become one of President Donald Trump's loudest surrogates.  —  He's also one of the most unpopular governors in the country, facing a treacherous reelection in November.

Trump Hails Steel Tariffs in Defiance of GOP Request to End Them  — Republican senators urged him not to impose new auto tariffs  — Grassley says USMCA can't get a vote if metals tariffs remain  —  Republican senators said they warned President Donald Trump Thursday against imposing tariffs …

On Twitter, news outlets amplify Trump's false statements: study  —  When a president speaks, what he says is, by journalistic norms, inherently newsworthy.  But when a president lies—on social media, at press conferences, and in speeches—news organizations have to reconsider old rules …

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 …

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?

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 …

Cohen's prison reality: ‘The Situation’ and Shabbat services  —  NEW YORK (AP) — “The Situation” and the Fyre Festival fraudster are already there.  President Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, is up next.  —  It's not reality TV.  It's a federal prison 70 miles …

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

Poynter ‘Blacklist’ of Conservative News Sites Was Created by SPLC Employee  —  List contains sites such as Free Beacon, Daily Caller, Breitbart  —  A journalism institute released a “blacklist” of media outlets they deemed as “unreliable” that was created by an employee …

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.

The White House wants Maduro gone.  But it may be helping him stay in power.  —  Sign up for the Today's WorldView newsletter.  —  In baseball parlance, you could say (and some already have) that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó may have struck out.