Trump Followed His Gut on Syria.  Calamity Came Fast.  —  All the warnings were there.  But President Trump's reliance on his instincts, and his relationships, led him to ignore the consequences of a move that has emboldened Russia, Iran and the Islamic State.

Federal Prosecutors Scrutinize Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine Business Dealings, Finances  —  Trump lawyer's bank records have been examined; witnesses are questioned about work for a Ukraine mayor, efforts to oust U.S. ambassador  —  Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are examining Rudy Giuliani's business dealings …

Mike Bloomberg keeps talking to allies about running for president as Joe Biden struggles against Elizabeth Warren  — Mike Bloomberg has indicated to associates in recent weeks that Joe Biden's recent struggles are making him rethink his decision to stay out of the 2020 Democratic primary …

Matt Gaetz Thinks His Audience Is as Big a Box of Rocks as He Is  —  Is Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Breathalyzer) the biggest schmuck currently gracing the halls of Congress?  —  Opinions vary.  But not by much.  —  On Monday morning, Fiona Hill,  —  the administration*'s former Russia expert

Inside Mark Zuckerberg's private meetings with conservative pundits  —  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been hosting informal talks and small, off-the-record dinners with conservative journalists, commentators and at least one Republican lawmaker in recent months to talk about issues like free speech and discuss partnerships.

Ronan Farrow: National Enquirer shredded secret Trump documents  —  American Media, Inc. and the National Enquirer shredded sensitive Donald Trump-related documents that had been held in a top-secret safe right before Trump was elected in 2016, according to fresh allegations made in a new book by journalist Ronan Farrow.

Former Trump Aide to Testify on Pressure to Oust Ambassador to Ukraine  —  WASHINGTON — Fiona Hill, President Trump's former top Russia and Europe adviser, headed to Capitol Hill on Monday morning where she is prepared to testify that she and other officials objected strenuously to the removal …

Now That Shep Smith Is Gone, Trump Zeroes In On Fox News' Chris Wallace  —  Wallace will “never be his father,” Trump complained, referring to the late TV journalist Mike Wallace.  —  Now that President Donald Trump doesn't have Shepard Smith to kick around at Fox News any longer, he's attacking “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace.

Beto O'Rourke's church taxation proposal would hand Trump reelection  —  Beto O'Rourke, innovative for interpreting a failed Senate campaign as a steppingstone to the presidency, is now famous for (1) his use of profanity on the campaign trail, (2) his pledge that “hell, yes” …

Arrested Giuliani associate was at Ron DeSantis' election night watch party  —  A Tampa Bay Times photograph and a video posted by a Reuters reporter shows Parnas smiling with DeSantis amid the chaos of the watch party.  —  Updated  —  At least one of the South Florida businessmen …

About That Trump Video  —  Over the weekend at a conference for supporters of President Trump, a video was shown of Trump shooting, stabbing, and murdering various of his political opponents (such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and others), journalists (such as Rachel Maddow) …

ABC News Broadcasts Fake Syria Bombing Video That's Actually From a Kentucky Military Show in 2017  —  ABC News aired a video on Sunday that host Tom Llamas said depicted a Turkish attack in northern Syria against Kurdish civilians.  Turkey is indeed pushing into Syria and slaughtering Kurds along the way …

The (Full) Case for Impeachment A menu of high crimes and misdemeanors.  —  The crimes for which impeachment is the prescribed punishment are notoriously undefined.  And that's for a reason: Presidential powers are vast, and it's impossible to design laws to cover every possible abuse of the office's authority.

CNN Failed to Disclose Warren Town Hall Questioner Was Maxed-Out Donor  —  Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's zinger at an LGBT town hall may have gone viral, but CNN failed to disclose that the questioner donated the federal maximum to her 2018 Massachusetts Senate campaign.

China Wants More Talks Before Signing Trump's ‘Phase One’ Deal  —  China wants further talks as soon as the end of October to hammer out the details of the “phase one” trade deal touted by Donald Trump before Xi Jinping agrees to sign it, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reports.

Ohio soybean farmer says he wouldn't vote for Trump again even if he could ‘walk across my pond’  — “I'm not going to vote for the president, and I'm on record for saying that,” Ohio soybean farmer and former Republican county chairperson Chris Gibbs tells CNBC.  — “I don't believe it until [the crops are] on the boat.

New Poll Finds Trump Underwater in Ohio, Trailing Generic Democrat  —  Columbus, OH - A new poll from Public Policy Polling and Innovation Ohio shows that Ohio is set to return to its traditional status as a battleground state in 2020.  —  A memo on the results and the cross tabs can be found on Innovation Ohio's website.

Student tracking, secret scores: How college admissions offices rank prospects before they apply  —  Before many schools even look at an application, they comb through prospective students' personal data, such as web-browsing habits and financial history  —  To learn more about prospective students …

Harold Bloom, Critic Who Championed Western Canon, Dies at 89  —  Called the most notorious literary critic in America, Professor Bloom argued for the superiority of giants like Shakespeare, Chaucer and Kafka.  —  Harold Bloom, the prodigious literary critic who championed and defended …

The Demolition of U.S. Diplomacy  —  Not Since Joe McCarthy Has the State Department Suffered Such a Devastating Blow  —  In my three and a half decades as a U.S. Foreign Service officer, proudly serving five presidents and ten secretaries of state from both parties, I've never seen an attack …

Why Trump abandoned his instinct to go public with his tax returns  —  New York (CNN)President Donald Trump's fight to keep his tax returns private is at odds with his own thinking in 2013 and 2014 that releasing them as part of a presidential bid would make him look like a smart businessman …