In Ukraine Phone Call, Alarmed Aides Saw Trouble  —  WASHINGTON — No one bothered to put special limits on the number of people allowed to sit in the “listening room” in the White House to monitor the phone call because it was expected to be routine.  By the time the call was over 30 minutes later …

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.

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.

Kremlin says it hopes U.S. would not release Trump-Putin calls, like it did with Ukraine  —  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “we would like to hope that it wouldn't come to that in our relations.”  —  MOSCOW — Russia has voiced hope that the U.S. administration …

First on CNN: White House says lawyers directed moving Ukraine transcript to highly secure system  —  Washington (CNN)The White House is acknowledging for the first time that officials did direct the Ukraine call transcript be filed in a separate classified system.

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.

Kamala Harris Calls For Formal Impeachment Inquiry Into Brett Kavanaugh  —  The presidential hopeful wrote that we must “get to work holding our leaders accountable” in the wake of a new sexual misconduct claim against the Supreme Court justice.  —  Presidential contender Sen. Kamala Harris …

October Democratic debate to take place on one night  —  (CNN)The CNN/New York Times Democratic presidential debate in October will occur on one night, the Democratic National Committee told campaigns Friday.  —  “To address several inquiries we have received we are writing to let you know that …

The Whistle-Blower Knows How to Write  —  His complaint offers lessons on how to make a point.  —  Ms. Rosenzweig is the director of the Writing Center at Harvard.  —  I can't tell you what's going to happen to his blockbuster complaint about the president's behavior …

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.

We hear you.  You're angry.  Here's what we are doing about it.  —  We took appropriate action because there is nothing more important in journalism than having readers' trust.  —  CONNECT  —  The Des Moines Register staff has heard from hundreds of people in the past few days upset …

More than 300 former officials call Trump's actions concerning Ukraine ‘profound national security concern’  —  More than 300 former U.S. national security and foreign policy officials have signed a statement warning that President Trump's actions regarding Ukraine are a “profound national security concern” …

Nancy Pelosi: An Extremely Stable Genius  —  When asked if it was possible that impeachment might backfire, the Speaker of the House insisted that politics has nothing to do with it.  “It doesn't matter,” she said.  “He has given us no choice.”  Before we begin to grapple with the gravity …

Trump's actions shouldn't dissuade media from pressing Joe Biden about Hunter's shady dealings  —  Whatever one may think of President Trump's actions on Ukraine, it should not preclude the media from pressing Joe Biden on the shady dealings that his son Hunter had while Biden was vice president.

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.”

Jeff Flake says ‘at least 35’ Republican senators would privately vote to impeach Trump  —  Former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake made a bold claim on Thursday when he said “at least 35” GOP senators would privately vote for President Trump's impeachment.  —  Appearing at the 2019 Texas Tribune Festival …