Trump Meets With LaPierre to Discuss How N.R.A. Could Support Political Defense  —  President Trump met on Friday with Wayne LaPierre, the chief executive of the National Rifle Association, to discuss how the N.R.A. could provide financial support for the president's defense as he faces political headwinds …

Giuliani cancels paid appearance next week at Kremlin-backed conference  —  Rudolph W. Giuliani, whose actions as President Trump's personal lawyer have helped set in motion an impeachment inquiry, abruptly canceled his scheduled paid appearance at a Kremlin-backed conference in Armenia next week.

Kurt Volker, Trump's Envoy for Ukraine, Resigns  —  WASHINGTON — Kurt D. Volker, the State Department's special envoy for Ukraine, who got caught in the middle of the pressure campaign by President Trump and his lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, to find damaging information about Democrats, resigned his post on Friday.

Democrats are taking a big impeachment risk.  It's not what you think.  —  House Democrats appear to be coalescing behind a strategy of narrowly focusing their impeachment inquiry on the latest explosive revelations involving President Trump's corrupt pressure on the Ukrainian president to interfere in a U.S. election on his behalf.

Amodei on Trump impeachment inquiry: 'Let's put it through the process and see what happens'  —  Mark Amodei, R-Nev., talks during an editorial board meeting with The Nevada Independent on Monday, Aug. 6, 2018.  (Jeff Scheid/The Nevada Independent)  —  Rep. Mark Amodei supports the House's inquiry …

NRA Was ‘Foreign Asset’ To Russia Ahead of 2016, New Senate Report Reveals  —  The National Rifle Association acted as a “foreign asset” for Russia in the period leading up to the 2016 election, according to a new investigation unveiled Friday by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon.

Joseph Wilson, Who Challenged Iraq War Narrative, Dies at 69  —  He contradicted a statement in President George W. Bush's State of the Union address.  A week later, his wife at the time, Valerie Plame, was outed as a C.I.A. agent.  —  Joseph C. Wilson, the long-serving American diplomat whose clash …

Now One Of Trump's Court Picks Is Tied Up In This Ukraine Scandal  —  Senate Democrats are asking judicial nominee Steven Menashi, a White House legal aide, what he's known about the bombshell whistleblower complaint.  —  WASHINGTON ― Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee …

Seven important and awful signs for Trump  —  The whistleblower complaint is so damning President Trump and his minions tried to conceal it from Congress and the public.  It is so damning that a long list of Senate Republicans claimed not to have read it or refused comment.

The Inscrutable Mike Pence  —  PIETY AND POWER  —  Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House  —  After losing his first campaign for Congress, a penitent Mike Pence swore off the dark side of politics.  In a confessional essay in 1991, he wrote that “negative campaigning is wrong” and set out rules for himself for the future.

Chris Wallace Clashes With Fox News Colleague Over Trump Defenders' ‘Deeply Misleading’ Spin on Ukraine  —  The ‘Fox News Sunday’ host clashed with colleague Sandra Smith after she echoed White House talking points on the whistleblower complaint.  —  The first question Fox News host Sandra Smith asked …

Trump Killed the Seriousness of Impeachment  —  Impeachment proceedings used to be news of unquestionable gravity.  The week showed it's just more fodder for the ideological and culture wars.  —  John F. Harris is founding editor of POLITICO and author of “The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House.”

We're Getting Ripped Off  —  In 2019, the average price of health insurance rose above $20,000 for families that obtain their coverage through work.  That's according to the latest survey of employer benefits from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which found that premiums increased by 5 percent for the second year in a row.

Intel Community Secretly Gutted Requirement Of First-Hand Whistleblower Knowledge  —  Federal records show that the intelligence community secretly revised the formal whistleblower complaint form in August 2019 to eliminate the requirement of direct, first-hand knowledge of wrongdoing.

Impeach him, anyway  —  Protesters demanding the impeachment of Donald Trump in New York on June 7, 2018.  Erik McGregor/LightRocket/Getty Images  —  The case for impeachment, even if it can't oust Trump.  —  In Federalist 65, Alexander Hamilton considers the problem of impeachment.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo blames angry ‘leftists’ for impeachment of Trump and predicts ‘quote unquote inquiry’ will cause gridlock  —  Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized “leftist” Democrats for pushing Congress into launching an impeachment inquiry of President Trump and predicted the probe would lead to government gridlock.

Revenge of the Intelligence Nerds  —  On his first day in office, in January 2017, Donald Trump paid a visit to the CIA.  He stood before its Memorial Wall, which then had 117 stars commemorating those who lost their lives in the line of duty.  “I want to just let you know, I am so behind you …