Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset  —  Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset.  —  This doesn't mean he's a spy, but neither is it a flip accusation.  Russia attacked our country in 2016.  It is attacking us today.  Its attacks will intensify in 2020.  Yet each time we try to raise our defenses …

Mueller's team told Congress his acuity was not an issue.  Some lawmakers privately worry it was.  —  The whispers started in 2018, though where they originated remains unclear: Robert S. Mueller III, the taciturn Marine veteran leading an investigation of the president of the United States, might not be as sharp as he once was.

Trump Assails Congressional Critic, Calling His Majority-Black District a ‘Disgusting’ Rat-Infested ‘Mess’  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump lashed out at a leading African-American congressman on Saturday, calling him “a brutal bully” who represents a Baltimore-based district that has become a …

The Roots of Boeing's 737 Max Crisis: A Regulator Relaxes Its Oversight  —  SEATTLE — In the days after the first crash of Boeing's 737 Max, engineers at the Federal Aviation Administration came to a troubling realization: They didn't fully understand the automated system that helped send …

POLITICO Playbook: Why the GOP retirements are a gut punch for the party  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  WHILE WE WERE ALL watching ROBERT MUELLER and Democrats this week, here's what happened to House Republicans: Three popular and well-respected members of Congress decided they weren't going to run for reelection.

What Kamala Harris Believes  —  The Democratic candidate wants relevant policy, not “a beautiful sonnet.”  Is that enough for voters?  —  LOS ANGELES — At her strongest, Senator Kamala Harris is forceful and pragmatic.  She elates crowds in Iowa and South Carolina with her denunciations …

Review: Kevin Williamson's ‘The Smallest Minority’  —  The gloves are off  —  Kevin Williamson is having fun.  “You want to do this?  Okay, let's f—ing do this,” you can almost hear him muttering.  In the resultant extended, hilarious, quixotic rant, he takes the gloves off in the fight …

Anti-Gay Brutality in a Polish Town Blamed on Poisonous Propaganda  —  BIALYSTOK, Poland — The marchers at the first gay pride parade here in the conservative Polish city of Bialystok expected that they would be met with resistance.  —  But last week when Katarzyna Sztop-Rutkowska saw …

Judge signs protective order over materials feds to turn over to jailed financier Jeffrey Epstein  —  Federal prosecutors in New York overseeing the case against millionaire Jeffrey Epstein are preparing to hand over highly-sensitive investigative material to the financier's defense attorneys …

You're probably making incorrect assumptions about your opposing political party  —  “You know what they really want.”  —  As America slouches toward the 2020 presidential election, candidates and pundits will regularly tell you this about the other political side, followed by a list …

Supreme Court Lets Trump Proceed on Border Wall  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday gave President Trump a victory in his fight for a wall along the Mexican border by allowing the administration to begin using $2.5 billion in Pentagon money for the construction.

California's Newsom wrestles with Trump tax return bill  —  SACRAMENTO — Gavin Newsom has spent the first six months of his governorship positioning himself as the West Coast anti-Trump while taking pains to distinguish himself from his legendary predecessor, Jerry Brown.

Despite calls to start over, US health system covers 90%  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — America's much-maligned health care system is covering 9 out of 10 people, a fact that hasn't stopped the 2020 presidential candidates from refighting battles about how to provide coverage, from Bernie Sanders' call …

Trump's ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on Iran faces key test  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran is at a crossroads.  —  His administration is trying to decide whether to risk stoking international tensions even more by ending …

Robert Mueller Can't Recall  —  Even I, as someone who has been blue in the face shrieking that the Mueller inquiry would be an unutterable fiasco since the day it was announced, could not have imagined such a terrible shambles as the world watched, gape-mouthed (like the witness much of the time) …

Kuster, Pappas join growing call for formal US House inquiry into Trump impeachment  —  Kuster was first member of all-Democratic NH congressional delegation to take strong position; Pappas later joined about 100 House Democrats issuing call  —  HIDE TRANSCRIPT SHOW TRANSCRIPT  —  CONCORD, N.H. —