Matt Gaetz Says Storming Impeachment Hearings was Like ‘300’  —  Congressman Matt Gaetz sure is feeling himself after leading the blitz of House Republicans into private impeachment hearings — delaying them for hours — and he's glowing about scoring brownie points with POTUS.

Cornyn: Not a bad idea to get U.S. troops out of the way if Turkey planned to ‘ethnically cleanse the Kurds’  —  The Texas Republican isn't happy about the abrupt U.S. withdrawal but lauded Trump's move, even if it left Kurdish allies unprotected.  —  WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. John Cornyn lauded …

Rudy Giuliani is looking for a defense attorney, sources say  —  (CNN)Rudy Giuliani has been approaching defense attorneys for possible representation, according to three sources familiar with the matter.  —  The move by Giuliani, who is President Donald Trump's personal attorney …

Schiff's Secret Bombshells  —  If the testimony is so damning for Trump, why not make it public?  —  By The Editorial Board  —  Bombshell.  The walls are closing in.  Donald Trump's defense has collapsed.  The quid pro quo has been proven, the case for impeachment is obvious …

U.S. ambassador to E.U. ‘does not recall’ threatening Ukraine over funding, attorney says  —  House Democrats say testimony provided Tuesday by William B. Taylor Jr., the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, could prove devastating to President Trump, showing he had his E.U. ambassador attempt to extort Ukraine using taxpayer money.

Klobuchar qualifies for November debate  —  Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) became the ninth candidate to qualify for the fifth Democratic presidential primary debate in November.  —  Klobuchar qualified after getting 3 percent support in a national poll conducted by Quinnipaic University that was released Thursday morning.

Trump Education Official to Resign and Call for Mass Student-Loan Forgiveness  —  A. Wayne Johnson, appointed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, calls the student-loan system ‘fundamentally broken’  —  WASHINGTON—A senior student-loan official in the Trump administration said he would resign Thursday …

Italy Did Not Fuel U.S. Suspicion of Russian Meddling, Prime Minister Says  —  Casting holes in a Trump conspiracy theory, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte revealed details of two visits to Rome by Attorney General William P. Barr.  —  ROME — Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy …

Trump's War on the ‘Deep State’ Turns Against Him  —  The impeachment inquiry is in some ways the culmination of a battle between the president and the government institutions he distrusted and disparaged.  —  WASHINGTON — Nameless, faceless and voiceless, the C.I.A. officer who first triggered …

The Student Vote Is Surging.  So Are Efforts to Suppress It.  —  The share of college students casting ballots doubled from 2014 to 2018, a potential boon to Democrats.  But in Texas and elsewhere, Republicans are erecting roadblocks to the polls.  —  AUSTIN, Texas — At Austin Community College …

How America's far-left could help re-elect Donald Trump  —  If America's Democrats could adopt a rule on how not to lose elections, it should be to impose a gag on Hillary Clinton.  As it is, Mrs Clinton may already have tweaked the course of the 2020 presidential race.

Trump's ‘Mental Impairment Means He Cannot Think Strategically or in Abstract Terms,’ Claims Professor of Psychiatry  —  A psychiatry professor claimed President Donald Trump is so mentally impaired that he cannot think in abstract terms and can only view things in a one-dimensional way.

If Republicans don't stand by Trump, they risk losing their base forever  —  The Republican Party risks exile for longer than it has endured in the modern era if, in the absence of incontrovertible evidence of actual “high crimes and misdemeanors,” it deserts President Trump during the campaign to remove him from office.

Buttigieg jumps to second in Iowa State University/Civiqs poll  —  AMES, Iowa - Mayor Pete Buttigieg is building momentum in Iowa, according to the latest Iowa State University/Civiqs poll.  Of likely caucus-goers, 20% said Buttigieg is their top choice among the field of Democratic presidential candidates.

National Archives probes Wilbur Ross' use of private email  —  The National Archives and Records Administration has launched an investigation into Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' use of private email for official business, according to a letter made public this week.

MLB looking into longtime umpire Rob Drake's tweet  —  Longtime major league umpire Rob Drake tweeted that he planned to buy an assault rifle “because if you impeach MY PRESIDENT this way, YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER CIVAL WAR!!!  #MAGA2020”, according to a copy of the tweet obtained by ESPN.

The Brexit Knot  —  Britain now faces a great political and constitutional crisis  —  Being a classicist, Boris Johnson would be familiar with the Gordian knot.  But for anybody whose schoolroom memories need refreshing, the knot in question was put in place by Gordius, king of Phrygia.

Rep. Katie Hill under investigation after allegations of inappropriate relationship with congressional aide  —  Rep. Katie Hill (D-Santa Clarita) is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee after allegations that she engaged in an affair with a congressional aide were made public last week.

Trump's presidency is built on lies.  Does he actually believe them?  —  The president's efforts in Ukraine break Watergate's record for presidential stupidity.  What was the point?  —  A puffed-up Donald Trump on Wednesday peddled his latest Syrian retreat as if his ability …

UN expert: Iran continues to execute children, has 90 on death row  —  Javaid Rehman says 7 minors were put to death last year and 2 so far this year; killings come despite human rights law prohibiting death penalty for anyone under age 18  —  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran executed seven child offenders …

Marine Corps vet who served in Iraq deported to El Salvador  —  Jose Segovia-Benitez, a 38-year-old Marine Corps combat veteran who served in Iraq, was deported to El Salvador — a country where he hasn't lived since he was a toddler — on Wednesday.  —  Segovia-Benitez's attorney Roy Petty told …

How Another Trump Lawyer Became Involved in US Foreign Policy  —  Rudy Giuliani has drawn substantial scrutiny in recent months over his alleged efforts to run a shadow foreign policy for Donald Trump in Ukraine.  But the former New York City mayor isn't the only lawyer for Trump who has become involved in a US foreign policy matter.

Texts Reveal Concern About Katie Hill Drinking, Missing Flights  —  In the four-part Vice documentary, “She's Running,” which chronicled Rep. Katie Hill's 2018 campaign, Hill and her staffers are often shown grabbing a drink, and the campaign headquarters featured an impressive “liquor” closet.

Dropshipping journalism  —  No one working at Newsweek can tell me why it still exists  —  On March 20, Nancy Cooper, the editor in chief of Newsweek, sent an email to her editorial staff.  The subject was “What is a Newsweek story?”—an odd question at an eighty-six-year-old newsmagazine once considered …