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

‘News Stars’ Will Fill Shepard Smith's Slot, Says Fox News President (EXCLUSIVE)  —  Shepard Smith has left the Fox News building, but his hour will remain staffed by employees from the network' news division.  —  Bret Baier, Chris Wallace, Brit Hume, Shannon Bream, Martha MacCallum …

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.

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 …

Public Servants Are Starting to Respond to Donald Trump's False Attacks  —  On Friday afternoon, James Baker, the former general counsel of the F.B.I., felt a tinge of optimism.  Almost two years ago, he was ousted from his position as the Bureau's top legal official, after President Trump fired the F.B.I.'s director, James Comey.

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.

Fort Worth police officer who fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson charged with murder  —  The booking came just hours after Aaron Dean resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department.  —  Texas woman shot and killed in own home by police officer  —  The Fort Worth, Texas …

‘Disruptive diplomat’ Gordon Sondland, a key figure in Trump impeachment furor, long coveted ambassadorship  —  Gordon Sondland was streaking over the West Coast in his Learjet in 2016 when the bad news came.  Jeb Bush's campaign was on the phone.  He was bowing out of the race for the White House.

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.

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” …

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 …

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 …

How Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump Have Profited Off Their Dad's Presidency  —  No one knows a “clear conflict of interest” when they see it better than the president's children.  —  As House Democrats continue their impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump's efforts to leverage foreign aid …

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) …

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.

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 …

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.