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 …

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 …

Facebook takedowns show new Russian activity targeted Biden, praised Trump  —  The company disabled a network of accounts that posed at times as locals in swing states to post on divisive political issues and the upcoming presidential election.  —  Facebook on Monday said it removed a network …

Justin Trudeau survives challenge to gain second term  —  MONTREAL — Justin Trudeau will serve another term as Canada's prime minister after Liberals won a plurality of seats in Parliament.  But the incumbent emerged from Monday's election weakened as his party lost seats and Trudeau will lead a minority government.

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.

Astros Staffer's Outburst at Female Reporters Illustrates MLB's Forgive-and-Forget Attitude Toward Domestic Violence  —  After the Astros clinched the AL pennant, a staffer looked at female reporters and shouted “Thank God we got Osuna!  I'm so f—  glad we got Osuna!

Tulsi Gabbard Is Being Used by the Russians, and to a Former US Double Agent, the Evidence Is Clear |  Opinion  —  , NEWSWEEK COLUMNIST, FORMER FBI DOUBLE AGENT AND THE AUTHOR OF “HOW TO CATCH A RUSSIAN SPY”  —  Much has been made of Hillary Clinton's implication that Tulsi Gabbard is someone Russia has “their eye on.”

It's Official: the Press Failed Hillary Clinton and America in 2016  —  New State Department report implicitly indicts media behavior.  —  There's only one thing in my mind that captures the absurdity and exhaustion of our present moment more than the dustup last weekend between Hillary Clinton and Tulsi Gabbard.

Fact check: Trump made at least 20 false claims in angry Cabinet monologue  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump delivered a blistering and rambling monologue to the journalists he allowed into his Cabinet meeting for more than 70 minutes on Monday.  His press secretary, Stephanie Grisham …

Salt-of-the-earth GOP senator humiliates a ‘smug, rich liberal elitist’  —  Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri just attacked your humble blogger as a “smug, rich liberal elitist” who is part of a movement that has “utter, open contempt for the people of the heartland.”

Manhattan D.A., Trump lawyers strike deal to speed fight over Trump tax returns to Supreme Court  —  Eight years of financial records are being sought in a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization about hush money payments made to two women.  —  The Manhattan District Attorney …

Teen Models Remember Trump Would “Find a Reason” to Come Backstage When They Were Changing  —  In exclusive excerpts from the explosive new book  —  , “Nobody has more respect for women than me!”  Although his sordid history with women has been well-documented (to date,

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 …

House rejects GOP measure censuring Schiff  —  Democrats in the House turned aside a GOP-led privileged resolution to censure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Monday in a straight party-line 218-185 vote.  —  Republicans and President Trump have increasingly targeted Schiff …

The Unraveling of Mick Mulvaney  —  The White House chief of staff, still “acting” after all these months, should never have been cast in the role of spin doctor.  —  Ms. Cottle is a member of the editorial board.  —  There he goes again.  —  This weekend, Mick Mulvaney …

Dozens of new websites appear to be Michigan local news outlets, but with political bent  —  2019 Lansing city council candidates share what they believe to be the biggest concern for the city of Lansing and its residents  —  LANSING — Dozens of websites branded as local news outlets …

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 …

Scoop: Adam Neumann will determine WeWork's fate  —  Japanese investment firm SoftBank will pay former WeWork CEO and current non-executive chairman Adam Neumann around $200 million to leave the board of directors, give up his voting shares and support SoftBank's takeover, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

Mark Zuckerberg is the new political villain for the Democratic Party  —  Charles Koch.  Sheldon Adelson.  Mark Zuckerberg?  —  Everyone running for president, it seems, has their own reason for pushing Mark Zuckerberg away.  —  To Elizabeth Warren, he is a threat to democracy.

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.

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.