Beto O'Rourke Drops 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 announced that he is dropping …

'It's like nothing we have come across before': UK intelligence officials shaken by Trump administration's requests for help with counter-impeachment inquiry  —  As impeachment inquiries heat up, president's people are busy pursuing a counter offensive aimed at discrediting Mueller's findings that Russia interfered in 2016 election

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 …

Warren Derides Biden as Running in ‘Wrong Presidential Primary’  — Senator hits back over criticism of $21 trillion health plan  — Warren-Biden rift comes as Democratic hopefuls descend on Iowa  —  Elizabeth Warren swatted back at Joe Biden's criticism of her $21 trillion Medicare …

Growing number of GOP senators consider acknowledging Trump's quid pro quo on Ukraine  —  A growing number of Senate Republicans are ready to acknowledge that President Trump used U.S. military aid as leverage to force Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his family …

'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 …

Memo: Polling Medicare for All  —  By Sean McElwee, co-founder of Data for Progress; John Ray, Senior Political Analyst, YouGov Blue  —  As the Democratic primary heats up, Democratic presidential candidates have begun sharing their plans to pay for Medicare for All.

The Whimpering Terrorist Only Trump Seems to Have Heard  —  President Trump offered a vivid account of the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “crying and screaming” in the final minutes before his death.  The only problem: No one else knows what he's talking about.

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 …

Sean Doolittle on declining White House invite: 'I don't want to hang out with somebody who talks like that'  —  Ever since Sean Doolittle was traded to the Washington Nationals in the summer of 2017, the reliever was often asked whether he would visit the White House after winning the World Series.

Kamala Harris closes campaign offices and fires staff in New Hampshire  —  (CNN)Sen. Kamala Harris is closing three of her four presidential campaign offices in New Hampshire and has fired all her field organizers in the state as she homes in on her struggling campaign in Iowa, an aide tells CNN.

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.

DHS official Wolf named acting head of Homeland Security  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has named Chad Wolf to be the next acting head of Homeland Security, the fifth person in the job for this administration.  —  While speaking to reporters Friday outside the White House en route …

Devin Nunes in Twitter lawsuit demands emails from Democratic strategist  —  Rep. Devin Nunes wants to compel a former Democratic National Committee employee and a Democrat-supporting law firm to turn over their communications with anonymous writers who criticize him on Twitter.

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 …

Federal prosecutors examining possible contacts between Giuliani and former Rep. Bob Livingston over Ukraine: Sources  —  A new name in the House impeachment inquiry, former Republican Rep. Bob Livingston, has surfaced in the ongoing investigation by federal prosecutors in New York into efforts …

'Why I'm Leaving New York,' by Donald Trump  —  When you have great and unmatched wisdom like me, it's not so hard to see the beginnings of things, and it is not hard to see the ends of things, either.  Pretty easy, actually!  Everything is easy for me because I have a great brain …

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.

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.

The New Republic's Newest Editor Moves Left  —  Chris Lehmann is The New Republic's fifth editor in five years.  A veteran of The Baffler, Lehmann is taking advantage of the resurgence of leftism to build a magazine that's part politics Twitter and part Old Gawker, with a staff to match.

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.