Giuliani Faces U.S. Probe on Campaign Finance, Lobbying Breaches  — Probe of lawyer presents a threat to Trump's presidency  — Giuliani has become a central figure in impeachment inquiry  —  Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, is being investigated …

Career White House budget official expected to break ranks, testify in impeachment inquiry  —  Mark Sandy would be the first Office of Management and Budget official to appear after a series of political appointees defied congressional subpoenas  —  A longtime career employee at the White House Office …

Besieged on all sides, Gordon Sondland clings to power  —  When confronted with the whiff of scandal, American diplomats are often advised to resign if they believe they can no longer be effective in the job.  —  But for Gordon Sondland, the embattled U.S. ambassador to the European Union, quitting is not in the cards.

Trump talks Russia probe audit with attorney general and White House counsel in Oval Office meeting  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump met with Attorney General William Barr and White House counsel Pat Cipollone in an Oval Office meeting Thursday afternoon in which the so-called Horowitz report came …

Trump hikes price tag for US forces in Korea almost 500% as Seoul questions alliance  —  Washington (CNN)Secretary of Defense Mark Esper landed in South Korea on Thursday to navigate renewed threats from an “enraged” North Korea and newly heightened strain in the alliance with Seoul that congressional aides …

The Conspiracy Theory So Far Out There Even Trump's Biggest Defenders Are Walking Away From It  —  When President Donald Trump brought up the word “Crowdstrike” on his now-infamous July 25 phone call with Ukraine's president, he caused some head-scratching in Kyiv.

How Google Interferes With Its Search Algorithms and Changes Your Results  —  The internet giant uses blacklists, algorithm tweaks and an army of contractors to shape what you see  —  Every minute, an estimated 3.8 million queries are typed into Google, prompting its algorithms to spit …

Zelensky planned to announce Trump's ‘quo’ on my show.  Here's what happened.  —  The phrase “quid pro quo” is usually translated as “something for something.”  In the case of President Trump's communications with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, it appears that the “quo” …

Bloomberg Will Spend $100 Million on Anti-Trump Online Ad Blitz  —  Ahead of a possible 2020 bid of his own, the billionaire and former mayor of New York City is dipping into his fortune to target President Trump with digital ads.  —  Michael R. Bloomberg still has not declared whether he is running for president in 2020.

Stephen Miller's Sinister Syllabus  —  Leaked emails from 2015 and 2016 show one of Trump's top advisers trying to teach Breitbart editors a thing or two about white nationalism.  —  Somewhat lost in the frenzy over impeachment this week was a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center on Stephen Miller …

Trump's Washington hotel has fallen behind competitors, with rooms running nearly half empty, marketing materials show  —  President Trump's Washington hotel has fallen well behind competing properties despite continuing to charge among the highest rates in the city, according …

Donald Trump Jr.'s book sales may have been boosted by bulk buys  —  Donald Trump Jr.'s new book hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list this week — “but with a big caveat,” book insiders noted.  —  The tome, “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants To Silence Us,” shot to the top of the Times' nonfiction list.

Court rules Trump EPA unlawfully ignored dangerous chemicals  —  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Trump administration unlawfully excluded millions of tons of some of the most dangerous materials in public use from a safety review, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

3 Indiana Judges Suspended After White Castle Brawl That Left 2 Of Them Wounded  —  Back in May, three Indiana judges got into a fight.  It was the crescendo of an incident brimming with colorful details: a gaggle of judges drinking the night before a judicial conference …

Pete Buttigieg Touted 3 Major Supporters of his Douglass Plan for Black America.  They Were Alarmed When They Saw It.  —  Pete Buttigieg has showed remarkable staying power in the Democratic presidential primary, with the most recent Monmouth University poll coming out of Iowa showing …

Elaina Plott Joining Politics  —  A gifted long-form writer and a high-metabolism reporter, Elaina Plott has covered the White House for The Atlantic.  Read more in this note from Patrick Healy.  —  I'm pleased to announce that Elaina Plott of The Atlantic is joining the Politics desk of The Times to cover the 2020 campaign.

Rabid Dog Must Be Beaten to Death: KCNA Commentary  —  Pyongyang, November 14 (KCNA) — A rabid dog in the U.S. has another fit of spasm, being greedy for power.  —  Baiden bereft of elementary appearance as a human being, much less a politician, again reeled off a string of rubbish …

The Brennan Dossier: All About a Prime Mover of Russiagate  —  In the waning days of the Obama administration, the U.S. intelligence community produced a report saying Russian President Vladimir Putin had tried to swing the 2016 election to Donald Trump.  —  The January 2017 report …

Asylum officers rebel against Trump policies they say are immoral and illegal  —  It only took Doug Stephens two days to decide: He wasn't going to implement President Trump's latest policy to restrict immigration, known as Remain in Mexico.  The asylum officer wouldn't interview …

Elizabeth Warren Vows to Expand Health Coverage in First 100 Days  —  Ms. Warren laid out a blueprint to pass major health legislation at the start of her presidency.  But she would wait as long as three years to seek passage of a full-scale “Medicare for all” plan.

Russia Lands Forces at Former U.S. Air Base in Northern Syria  —  Russia landed attack helicopters and troops at a sprawling air base in northern Syria vacated by U.S. forces, the Russian Defense Ministry's Zvezda TV channel said on Friday.  —  Armed Russian military police were shown …

Maryland congressman condemns “moral degeneration” of GOP behavior in impeachment inquiry  —  Congressman Jamie Raskin is condemning the “moral degeneration” of Republicans in his assessment of their conduct during the impeachment inquiry of President Trump.

The GOP Rolls Out Trump's “It Wasn't Me” Defense  —  The success or failure of the attempt to remove President Donald Trump from office may come down to degrees of separation.  —  Two weeks ago, I wrote that President Trump's defense would inevitably boil down to “It Wasn't Me.”