Beto O'Rourke Is Dropping Out of the Presidential Race  —  The former Texas congressman, who energized Democrats in a Senate race last year, began his White House run to great fanfare, but failed to build significant support.  —  Former Representative Beto O'Rourke of Texas is dropping …

Warren Leads Tight Iowa Race as Biden Fades, Poll Finds  —  Ms. Warren garnered 22 percent in a New York Times/Siena College poll, to 19 percent for Bernie Sanders.  Pete Buttigieg has surged, while Mr. Biden's travails have put the race in flux.  —  Which of these Democrats would be your first choice in the Iowa caucuses?

Testimony: White House lawyer told Vindman not to discuss Ukraine call  —  The senior White House lawyer who placed a record of President Donald Trump's July 25 call with Ukraine's president in a top-secret system also instructed at least one official who heard the call not to tell anyone about it …

Exclusive: U.S. opens national security investigation into TikTok - sources  —  NEW YORK/BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co's $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly …

'I'm the best-paid interpreter in the world': Indicted Giuliani associate Lev Parnas touted windfall from Ukrainian oligarch  —  New York (CNN)Earlier this year, Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, received a sudden windfall of money from a prominent Ukrainian oligarch …

Progressive Latino pollster: 98% of Latinos do not identify with “Latinx” label  —  One of the greatest challenges facing marketing departments and political campaigns today is the inability to discern signals from noise.  As a professional market researcher, I see this on a daily basis.

Trump refuses to defend Mick Mulvaney, heightening indications chief of staff on the way out  —  President Trump declined to defend embattled acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, an indication he is considering a change.  —  Asked during an Oval Office interview with the Washington Examiner …

The GOP defense of Trump is getting more corrupt.  Here's what's next.  —  President Trump, who possesses supreme confidence in his mesmerizing charisma and powers of persuasion, is considering a plan to recite the text of his corrupt call with the Ukrainian president on live national television.

Impeach Trump.  Then Move On.  —  Stop distracting from the core issue, elite negligence and national decline.  —  Is it possible that more than 20 Republican senators will vote to convict Donald Trump of articles of impeachment?  When you hang around Washington you get the sense that it could happen.

Kamala Harris shutters offices throughout New Hampshire  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. — Sen. Kamala Harris' campaign has almost completely shuttered its New Hampshire campaign, with no visible activity at any of her offices in the state.  —  The campaign confirmed it is largely abandoning New Hampshire …

How Deadspin Imploded  —  The last meeting for many of Deadspin's journalists took place on Wednesday in a conference room adorned with fake black cobwebs, a large spider and bloody handprints beside the words: “HELP US.”  —  The plea, it seemed, went unanswered.

Revealed: Trump wanted to build a megachurch  —  Of all the projects real estate mogul Donald Trump wanted to build, here's one that nobody saw.  —  According to his long-time personal pastor, Paula White-Cain, Trump, in 2006 was taking steps to build a glass cathedral.

Johnson and Cummings under fire as police hand criminal evidence on Vote Leave to prosecution agency  —  Exclusive: After 16-month investigation, Met Police refer Vote Leave to the CPS for possible criminal charges.  But will the timing of the election mean further delay?

Pelosi Expects Public Impeachment Hearings to Begin This Month  — House speaker discusses inquiry with Bloomberg News after vote  — Investigation becomes a battleground in the 2020 election  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she expects the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry …

K Street's newest star built business on dubious claims of Trump ties  —  Since President Trump took office, the lobbyist Michael Esposito has been wildly successful, turning a family business that once focused on municipal transportation issues into one of the fastest-growing lobbying firms in Washington.

Apple Podcasts Preview  —  The impeachment of Donald Trump is one of the biggest political stories of our lifetimes.  It's a test of whether accountability, election integrity, and the rules of our democracy can withstand the corrupt acts of powerful people.  It's also a story that's unfolding at such a break-neck pace, it's absurd.

In His Dealings with Ukraine, Did Donald Trump Commit a Crime?  —  It's long been clear that Presidents can be impeached for “high crimes and misdemeanors” that are not actual violations of federal criminal law.  In an oft-cited passage from Federalist No. 65, Alexander Hamilton wrote …