Rudy Giuliani butt-dials NBC reporter, heard discussing need for cash and trashing Bidens  —  “The problem is we need some money,” Giuliani says to unidentified man during accidental call to NBC News writer.  —  Late in the evening on Oct. 16, Rudy Giuliani made a phone call to this reporter.

Trump frustrated as White House effort to defy impeachment inquiry fails to halt witness testimony, advisers say  —  After weeks of dismissing the impeachment inquiry as a hollow partisan attack, President Trump and his closest advisers now recognize the snowballing probe poses a serious threat …

Impeachment Inquiry Is Legal, Judge Rules, Giving Democrats a Victory  —  The finding came in an order directing the Justice Department to hand over secret grand jury evidence from the Mueller investigation to House impeachment investigators.  —  Breaking News Update: The House is legally engaged …

Trump Organization Exploring Sale of Marquee Washington Hotel  —  Move is motivated partly by ethical criticisms concerning profiting on the property  —  The Trump Organization is exploring a sale of the rights to the company's opulent Washington, D.C., hotel, a move it says is motivated partly …

Sidney Powell Drops Bombshell Showing How The FBI Trapped Michael Flynn  —  ‘Mr. Flynn will ask this Court to dismiss the entire prosecution based on the outrageous and un-American conduct of law enforcement officials and the subsequent failure of the prosecution to disclose this evidence.’

Microsoft snags hotly contested $10 billion defense contract, beating out Amazon  — IBM and Oracle are among the companies that also sought the contract but ended up getting ruled out.  —  Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at the Digital-Life-Design conference in Munich, Germany, on January 16, 2017.

Kamala Harris skipping South Carolina forum over Trump award  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris is pulling out of a South Carolina criminal justice forum over organizers' handling of President Donald Trump's appearance.  —  The California senator's campaign …

Mike Pompeo, either quit and run for U.S. Senate in Kansas or focus on your day job  —  BY THE KANSAS CITY STAR EDITORIAL BOARD  —  If Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, then he should quit his rather important day job and do that.

Cummings pallbearer skips McConnell handshake at memorial  —  A pallbearer at Rep. Elijah Cummings's (D-Md.) memorial on Thursday shook hands with all top congressional leaders except Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).  —  Video captured the pallbearer, who has been identified …

We represent the whistleblower.  Their identity is no longer relevant.  —  The public now knows more about the call with Ukraine than what was in the complaint.  —  Our client's whistleblower complaint about President Trump's efforts to solicit interference from Ukraine in the 2020 U.S. election …

Trump and Barr's big counterattack: Actually, they're still covering up the Russia conspiracy  —  Trump couldn't extort Ukraine into backing his vapid conspiracy theories.  Now he's got Barr doing the dirty work  —  During his otherwise subdued testimony before Congress this summer …

Biden throws his campaign a lifeline  —  By reversing course and dropping his opposition to super PACs, Joe Biden has all but admitted he's getting swamped in fundraising.  —  But it was a strategic retreat that could end up paying big dividends for his cash-starved campaign.

As Impeachment Heats Up, a Trump Family Anniversary Party for Jared and Ivanka at Camp David  —  It's no Bedminster—Trump called it “very rustic”—but presidents have often retreated there when trouble looms.  Afterward, Jared is off to Israel and MBS's “Davos in the Desert.”

Could This Straight Shooter Bring Trump One Step Closer to Impeachment?  —  “He's been at this a long time and he's not about to give that all up to protect anyone,” one State Department official told The Daily Beast.  —  There's a new character about to take the stage in the impeachment drama.

Giuliani Is Drawing Attention to Hunter Biden's Work in Romania.  But There's a Problem.  —  Hunter Biden worked to help a Romanian executive facing corruption charges.  But so did the former New York mayor — and a former F.B.I. director.  —  WASHINGTON — Rudolph W. Giuliani …

DNC raises thresholds for December debate  —  The halfway mark of the Democratic debate calendar is coming up, and the sixth debate will likely feature the smallest stage yet.  —  New thresholds announced by the Democratic National Committee for the sixth debate — which will be hosted …

Trump should be very worried about Senate Republicans  —  Think of Senate Republicans' current antics protesting “secret” House hearings on impeachment — in which Republicans sit on the relevant committees — as not simply spurious (recall that Benghazi depositions were held by the House in private) …

George Washington's Advisors Agreed: Impeachment Did Away with Executive Privilege  —  President George Washington's decision to withhold diplomatic papers from the House of Representatives with respect to the Jay Treaty has become an important precedent in current debates over executive privilege.

Trumps ‘frustrated’ at inability to pursue ‘foreign investment’ deals, says Trump Org executive  —  Donald Trump's most senior executive in the UK has said the Trump family is feeling frustrated at being unable to pursue “foreign investments” and overseas business opportunities …

Google CEO, in leaked video, says company is ‘genuinely struggling’ with employee trust  —  At company's weekly town hall with employees, executives assail leaks and defend hiring DHS official  —  Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged the tech giant is struggling with how to deal …

Introducing Facebook News  —  Testing a dedicated place for news in the US  —  Journalism plays a critical role in our democracy.  When news is deeply-reported and well-sourced it gives people information they can rely on.  When it's not, we lose an essential tool for making good decisions.