Ambassador's cellphone call to Trump from Kyiv restaurant was a stunning breach of security, former officials say  —  A U.S. ambassador's cellphone call to President Trump from a restaurant in the capital of Ukraine last summer was a stunning breach of security, exposing the conversation …

Why Deval Patrick Is Making A Late Bid For The Democratic Nomination  —  It may seem strange that former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is entering the presidential race, as he will reportedly announce on Thursday.  It's really late.  The field still has 16 “major” candidates.

Scoop: Erdogan upends Oval meeting to play anti-Kurd film on iPad  —  An Oval Office meeting yesterday with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took a dark turn when Erdoğan pulled out his iPad and made the group watch a propaganda video that depicted Kurds as terrorists …

Elizabeth Warren buys CNBC commercial time to blast billionaires in a fiery new campaign ad  — Sen. Elizabeth Warren is firing back against a group of billionaires who have criticized her plans with a new TV ad set to air on CNBC later this week.  — The ad takes aim at longtime investor …

Exclusive: Trump DC hotel sales pitch boasts of millions to be made from foreign governments  —  The hotel's biggest selling point though, according to a copy of the brochure seen by CNN, is the one thing that the Trump family insists it didn't take advantage of: profiting off foreign governments.

Facebook fetes Kavanaugh  —  Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has kept a relatively low-profile since the Senate narrowly confirmed him last year amidst serious allegations of sexual assault.  That will change tonight when Kavanaugh is the keynote speaker at the annual convention …

Trump's Best Defense on Impeachment Undermines His Case for Re-Election  —  Insubordinate bureaucrats may save him from being removed from office, but they also show him to be a weak president.  —  The best defense of President Donald Trump on the first day of the House's public impeachment hearings came …

Axios' Swan Says Trump Team, White House Thinks They Won First Day of Impeachment Hearings: ‘They Feel Great Today’  —  President Donald Trump and his team “feel really great” about the first public impeachment hearing, according to Axios journalist Jonathan Swan.

Michael Bloomberg Has a History of Demeaning Comments About Women  —  As he prepares a presidential run, Mr. Bloomberg's crude remarks are likely to draw scrutiny.  His team issued a statement saying that some of them were “disrespectful and wrong.”  —  It was a cheeky birthday gift …

Jon Huntsman to launch his 2020 run for Utah governor  —  Former two-term Gov. Jon Huntsman will try for a third.  —  Huntsman, 59, is expected to make the announcement Thursday and answer media questions after an appearance at the Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service at Southern Utah University in Cedar City.

Trump proposed sending migrants to Guantánamo, claims book by anonymous author  —  Plan to designate migrants as ‘enemy combatants’ provoked astonishment and mortification, says author of A Warning  —  Donald Trump proposed designating all migrants entering the US without permission as …

Congress can seek eight years of Trump's tax records, appeals court rules  —  Congress can seek eight years of President Trump's tax records, according to a federal appeals court order Wednesday that moves the separation-of-powers conflict one step closer to the Supreme Court.

RNC plunges into Louisiana gov's race amid signs of trouble  —  The Republican National Committee is pouring another $1 million into the Louisiana governor's race ahead of Saturday's runoff — a move that comes amid mounting GOP concerns about losing a second major election in a conservative state in as many weeks.

Rush Limbaugh Mocks Bill Taylor, George Kent as ‘Self-Important Nerds’ Who ‘Believe in Their Own Superiority’  —  As the impeachment hearing was underway today, Rush Limbaugh said that both Bill Taylor and George Kent are “self-important nerds” who are only upset because the president wouldn't do foreign policy their way.

Republicans Propose Automatic Cuts to Critical Programs—and Democrats Help Them  —  A bipartisan budget proposal would set up a reflexive process to reduce spending above a projected threshold.  —  BILL CLARK/CQ ROLL CALL VIA AP IMAGES  —  The past couple weeks in Democratic politics …

U.S. envoy Sondland did not link Biden probe to aid: Ukraine minister  —  KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on Thursday that U.S. ambassador Gordon Sondland did not explicitly link military aid to Kiev with opening an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden …