State Department Freed Ukraine Money Before Trump Says He Did  — Department lawyers found the White House lacked authority  — Chain of events undercuts Trump's account of freeing the funds  —  President Donald Trump says he lifted his freeze on aid to Ukraine on Sept. 11 …

Republicans attempt to move impeachment inquiry away from Trump  —  House Republicans on Saturday pressed ahead with their efforts to move the impeachment inquiry away from President Trump, calling on Democrats to add witnesses to the probe including former vice president Joe Biden's son …

Chesa Boudin, reformer public defender, wins election as San Francisco's new DA  —  Chesa Boudin won the race to become the city's next district attorney Saturday on a campaign promising to confront mass incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal justice system …

How the State Dept.'s Dissenters Incited a Revolt, Then a Rallying Cry  —  Shock, anger and sadness are giving way to pride among career diplomats that they are defending American ideals and holding the Trump administration accountable.  —  WASHINGTON — State Department Foreign Service …

Cindy McCain: John would be ‘disgusted’  —  Cindy McCain: John would be disgusted by this  —  Washington (CNN)Cindy McCain said that her husband, the late Sen. John McCain, would be “terribly upset” about several recent events and she lamented the unwillingness of Republicans in Congress to speak out.

Child Abusers Run Rampant as Tech Companies Look the Other Way … How PhotoDNA Works  —  The uploaded image — in this instance a photograph of Dr. Farid — is turned into a square and colors are removed, making the process faster and consistent across images.

Plane crashes after unloading 350 gallons of pink water in gender reveal stunt  —  A recent plane crash in Texas was caused by a gender reveal stunt that went completely off the rails, authorities said Friday.  —  The pilot of the plane was flying at a low altitude on Sept. 7 in the town of Turkey …

Man accused of grabbing woman ‘by the crotch’ on plane that made early landing for his arrest  —  The man seated next to her started by touching the woman's arm not long after takeoff, a criminal complaint says.  She pushed him away.  —  Then the woman's fellow passenger …

Richest 1% of Americans Close to Surpassing Wealth of Middle Class  — Historic low interest rates boosting riches of top households  — Poorest have 35.7% of liabilities and just 6.1% of assets  —  Explore what's moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast.

Jeff Bezos asked Mike Bloomberg months ago if he'd consider running for president  —  Billionaires make calls just like us.  —  Sometime after Amazon pulled the plug on plans for a New York City headquarters in February of this year, the city's former mayor Mike Bloomberg received a call from a top company executive.

In Virginia, Republicans confront a fearful electoral future  —  RICHMOND — As Virginia election returns rolled in Tuesday night, Republican campaign manager Daniella Propati quickly realized two things: Her candidate for the House of Delegates, GayDonna Vandergriff, would lose, and calling their opponent a “socialist” hadn't worked.

Manafort's former son-in-law gets 9 years for array of scams  —  Paul Manafort's former son-in-law was sentenced to more than nine years in prison Friday for a wide-ranging series of fraud schemes the court said bilked victims out of more than $6 million.  —  As U.S. District Judge Andre …

Virginia Democrats elect first female speaker of the House  —  Washington (CNN)For the first time in Virginia's 400-year legislative history, a woman will become speaker of the House.  —  Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, the current Democratic House leader, won a competitive race for the top spot …

Exclusive: Three Democratic senators use another FOIA request to get Trump-Ukraine info  —  Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris, Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse requested documents and communications from the Justice Department on Nov. 8 related to President Trump's reported call …

Robert De Niro says impeachment inquiry of Trump must proceed  —  Actor Robert De Niro lights up the screen in the blockbuster movie, ‘Joker,’ and also stars in the new movie, ‘The Irishman,’ films that portray criminals during a troubling time in American politics.

The Ukraine Depositions Have Destroyed Trump's “Corruption” Defense  —  Republicans say the president wanted to clean up Ukraine.  Witness testimony shows he didn't.  —  According to Republican senators, President Donald Trump had a very good reason to press Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and other Democrats.

The Whistleblower Complaint Has Largely Been Corroborated.  Here's How.  —  When the House impeachment inquiry began more than a month ago, much of the focus was on a complaint from a whistleblower that drew attention to a July 25 phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President …