Smugglers are sawing through new sections of Trump's border wall  —  SAN DIEGO — Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump's border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads …

The Mueller Report's Secret Memos  —  BuzzFeed News sued the US government for the right to see all the work that Mueller's team kept secret.  Today we are publishing the first installment.  —  The 448-page report issued by then-special counsel Robert Mueller last March …

Nancy Pelosi Is Worried 2020 Candidates Are on Wrong Track  — Speaker questions appeal of Medicare For All, Green New Deal  — Ideas could repel voters in swing Midwestern states, she says  —  Nancy Pelosi is issuing a pointed message to Democrats running for president in 2020 …

In Trump's Twitter Feed: Conspiracy-Mongers, Racists and Spies  —  In September, an obscure Twitter account promoting a fringe belief about an anti-Trump cabal within the government tweeted out a hashtag: #FakeWhistleblower.  —  It was typical for the anonymous account …

Children were told to ‘build the wall’ at White House Halloween party  —  WASHINGTON — A Halloween party on Oct. 25 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building featured candy, paper airplanes and — concerning for some attendees — a station where children were encouraged to help “Build the Wall” with their own personalized bricks.

'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

WaPo: WH Record Of Trump-Zelensky Call Put Words In Ukrainian Prez's Mouth, Official Testified  —  The White House's memorandum of the July 25 call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put words in the Ukrainian president's mouth that he never said, a White House official testified this week.

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.

Those People We Tried to Cancel?  They're All Hanging Out Together  —  Depriving people of a platform works — in unexpected ways.  —  Katie Herzog was a largely unknown freelance journalist living in Seattle.  Then she published an article in The Stranger about trans people who halt or reverse transitions.

Adam Neumann and the Art of Failing Up  —  WeWork's chief risk-taker found a kindred spirit with an open checkbook: SoftBank's Masayoshi Son.  Now he's walking away from the wreckage with more than $1 billion.  —  Adam Neumann stood on the 57th floor of the Woolworth Building …

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.

Experts on Trump's conduct: ‘Plainly an abuse of power, plainly impeachable’  —  Republicans may argue Trump's actions were not impeachable - but scholars say it's a solid example of a high crime  —  Was what he did really so bad?  And even if it was bad - was it truly impeachable?

Democrats Plan Political Siege on Trump's Sunshine State Move  —  Florida Democrats say they are “ready to send Donald Trump to his retirement home.”  —  BEAST INSIDE  —  With his move from New York to Florida, President Donald Trump will live in a state where the political climate is warmer and the taxes are low.

Baton attack during June protests in downtown Portland lands man in prison for nearly 6 years  —  June 29 2019 downtown Portland baton attack  —  A 24-year-old man who hit another man over the head with a baton in June during dueling downtown Portland demonstrations was sentenced Friday to nearly six years in prison.

Virginia Is On The Brink Of Cementing Its Democratic Status  —  Republicans risk losing their last footholds of power in the Old Dominion.  —  Democrats are poised to take control of both of Virginia's state legislative chambers on Tuesday, bringing the state under unified Democratic control for the first time in a quarter century.

California Governor Threatens State Takeover of PG&E  —  Gavin Newsom says state may intervene if shareholders, bondholders cannot quickly reach a deal to exit bankruptcy  —  California Gov. Gavin Newsom is threatening a state takeover of PG&E Corp. unless the company exits bankruptcy …

Why Beto O'Rourke's Campaign Failed  —  Beto O'Rourke has played games with the media before, but he got a last laugh of sorts — at least a wistful chuckle — by dropping out of the presidential race on Friday afternoon, sending political writers into a tizzy right before the weekend.

Rules of impeachment, then and now: ANALYSIS  —  Republicans say the impeachment process isn't fair.  Democrats say it's the fairest ever.  —  The cleanest answer to this question is that the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.  —  When it comes to these new impeachment rules …

George Soros: ‘Brexit hurts both sides - my money was used to educate the British public’  —  The philanthropist who has spent billions promoting democracy talks populism, Trump and powerful enemies  —  Around three decades ago, George Soros was introduced to a brash property magnate …

GOP worries banned political ads could upend Trump's 2020 campaign  —  Top Republicans are privately worried about a new threat to President Trump's campaign: the possibility of Facebook pulling a Twitter and banning political ads.  —  Why it matters: Facebook says it won't, but future regulatory pressure could change that.

Trump to Mississippi rally crowd: Impeachment is an affront to you  —  To President Donald Trump, the House's vote on impeachment wasn't just an affront to him, but to the millions of Americans who voted for him.  —  “Yesterday's vote by the radical Democrats is an attack on democracy itself …

The White House press briefing now takes place on Fox News  —  Since taking the job, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham has given zero press briefings, even in response to a historic vote on the impeachment process — but she appears regularly on some of the president's favorite TV shows