Poll: Iowa caucuses are ‘up for grabs’ as Pete Buttigieg surges into top tier  —  It's a new three-way race in Iowa.  —  Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who was initially seen as a long-shot presidential contender, has surged within striking distance of former vice president Joe Biden …

Facebook: Russian trolls are back.  And they're here to meddle with 2020  —  New York (CNN Business)People linked to the Internet Research Agency, the Kremlin-backed troll group indicted by the United States for its alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election …

Putin and Hungary's Orban helped sour Trump on Ukraine  —  President Trump's effort to pressure Ukraine for information he could use against political rivals came as he was being urged to adopt a hostile view of that country by its regional adversaries, including Russian President Vladi­mir Putin …

White House Personnel Director Told Trump That Top Candidates for Acting DHS Secretary Aren't Eligible  —  The White House personnel director told President Trump that neither Ken Cuccinelli nor Mark Morgan, top candidates for acting Department of Homeland Security secretary, aren't qualified under federal vacancies law.

Pentagon draws up plans for quick Afghanistan withdrawal just in case Trump blindsides military  —  Officials cautioned, however, that the planning is a precaution and there is currently no White House directive to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.  —  WASHINGTON — The Pentagon …

Private Photos of Indicted Donor Depict Ties to Trump, Giuliani  —  Dating back to 2015, the private Instagram account of Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-American indicted for illegal campaign donations, appears to show VIP access to President Trump and a close relationship with Rudy Giuliani.

House Democrats zero in on ‘abuse of power’ in Trump impeachment inquiry  —  Pelosi is said to favor one sweeping charge related to Ukraine, but there's some debate about the need for additional charges.  —  WASHINGTON — House Democrats are zeroing in on a framework for their impeachment case …

Trump is ‘fully prepared’ to take military action against Turkey if needed, Mike Pompeo says  — “We prefer peace to war,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells CNBC's Wilfred Frost.  “But in the event that kinetic action or military action is needed, you should know that President Trump is fully prepared to undertake that action.”

Trump admin apparently over Khashoggi killing, will attend Saudi's ‘Davos in the Desert’  —  US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and presidential son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner plan to attend this year's “Davos in the Desert,” a Saudi Arabian economic conference the US …

Why Congress Might Impeach Trump and Actually Remove Him From Office  —  If you have seen the 1995 movie Casino, the fate of Joe Pesci's character gives a fairly good sense of how Donald Trump might eventually be impeached and removed from office.  If you haven't seen Casino, Pesci's character …

Supreme Court wipes out Michigan partisan gerrymander ruling  —  The court had already declared in June that such challenges involve an essentially political issue, beyond the authority of federal courts to resolve.  —  Supreme Court strikes down Michigan gerrymandering ruling

‘One Grotesque Irony After Another’: Inside the Rise and Fall of Gawker 2.0  —  Last year, Bryan Goldberg revealed big plans for his relaunch of Gawker, then postponed it indefinitely while laying off the whole staff.  Now, there's serious talk of reviving it yet again.  Here's what happened behind the scenes.

Ilhan Omar, 37, is not only dating, but living ‘on and off’ with her married campaign aide Tim Mynett, 38, in Washington DC, DailyMail.com can reveal  —  DailyMail.com has obtained photographic evidence that confirms Omar and Mynett have been hooking up whenever she is in DC for congressional work.

Residents of northeast Syria city pelt departing US troops  —  AKCAKALE, Turkey (AP) — Angry over the U.S. withdrawal, residents of a Kurdish-dominated Syrian city hurled potatoes at departing American military vehicles as they drove by on Monday.  Defense Secretary Mark Esper said U.S. troops …

Trump Conflicts of Interest Top 2,500, CREW Releases Live Tracker  —  If President Trump's leadership sometimes feels haphazard and temperamental, it's in contrast to one area where he seems to maintain a laser focus: Trying to use the presidency to enrich himself through the private businesses he still owns as president.

It's Not Just Ronan Farrow: NBC News Killed My Rape-Allegation Story Too  —  Sil Lai Abrams writes about how her story detailing rape allegations against Russell Simmons and A.J. Calloway was killed by NBC News—mirroring Ronan Farrow's Weinstein exposé.

Trump's Cabinet meetings have become about everything but the business of his Cabinet  —  The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter's insights  —  The Cabinet meeting was billed as a discussion of the administration's “successful rollback of the abuses and the high cost of the bloated regulatory state.”

Why Aren't More Democrats Endorsing Warren?  —  Sen. Elizabeth Warren has moved into the top tier of the Democratic primary field in national polls, joining former Vice President Joe Biden.  Further, she leads in Iowa and New Hampshire and raised more than anyone except Sen. Bernie Sanders from July through September.

Inside Trump's First Pentagon Briefing  —  Long before real planning for it began, and long before the first news stories about it, those of us in the top levels of the Pentagon heard President Donald Trump demand the military parade he would eventually get.

Want Trump removed?  New data shows Fox News is a huge obstacle.  —  As the impeachment inquiry marches forward, President Trump is closely watching the Republicans in Congress, particularly in the Senate, who constitute his last line of defense against removal.  —  In that regard, Trump has a very powerful ally: Fox News.

Ohio counties, four drug firms reach $260 million settlement in opioid epidemic case, averting trial  —  CLEVELAND — Two Ohio counties settled Monday with four drug companies on the eve of a landmark federal trial over responsibility for the opioid epidemic, in a $260 million deal that emerged …

Women At Ernst & Young Instructed On How To Dress, Act Nicely Around Men  —  At the height of the Me Too movement, the message of the training seminar was “fix the women.”  —  When women speak, they shouldn't be shrill.  Clothing must flatter, but short skirts are a no-no. After all, “sexuality scrambles the mind.”

CNN hired Sean Duffy, who immediately pushed conspiracy theories that CNN had already debunked  —  CNN's new hire, former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI), has used his first two appearances on the network to push a conspiracy theory that has already been widely debunked — including by CNN's own reporting.

What Our Poll Shows About Impeachment Views in 6 Swing States  —  With core supporters and opponents dug in, a crucial sliver of people support the inquiry but not necessarily removal.  —  Voters in the states likeliest to decide the 2020 presidential election support the impeachment inquiry …