Russia Inquiry Review Is Said to Criticize F.B.I. but Rebuff Claims of Biased Acts  —  A watchdog report will portray the pursuit of a wiretap of an ex-Trump adviser as sloppy, but it also debunks some accusations by Trump allies of F.B.I. wrongdoing.  —  WASHINGTON — A highly anticipated report …

Trump's Defenders Have No Defense  —  Witnesses were uneven, but even his closest allies don't try to deny he did what he's accused of doing.  —  Look, the case has been made.  Almost everything in the impeachment hearings this week fleshed out and backed up the charge that President Trump muscled Ukraine for political gain.

Charges of Ukrainian Meddling?  A Russian Operation, U.S. Intelligence Says  —  Moscow has run a yearslong operation to blame Ukraine for its own 2016 election interference.  Republicans have used similar talking points to defend President Trump in impeachment proceedings.

Biden: Lindsey Graham will ‘regret his whole life’ doing Trump's bidding on Ukraine  —  Watch “CNN Tonight” at 10 p.m. ET to see Don Lemon's full interview with former Vice President Joe Biden.  —  Abbeville, South Carolina (CNN)Joe Biden said he is “embarrassed” for South Carolina …

‘A lot of things are the matter with me’: The best lines from Trump's Fox interview  —  President Donald Trump called in to “Fox & Friends” on Friday for a nearly hour-long interview that he agreed after was a form of “stress relief.”  —  As House Democrats close in on an impeachment vote …

Trump's GOP defenders cannot be shamed.  It's time to try this instead.  —  If there is one widely shared conclusion about the impeachment hearings that have just concluded, it's that President Trump's GOP defenders were never “gettable.”  —  This idea has been repeated countless times in recent days …

Trump Attacks Impeachment Inquiry and Accuses a Witness of Lying  —  Mr. Trump said a career diplomat made up a conversation between him and his ambassador to the European Union, dismissing a critical detail in the Democrats' impeachment inquiry.  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump unleashed …

Read This  —  I read through this a number of times before deciding to publish it.  But I strongly, strongly recommend it to you.  The author of the email is a former federal prosecutor.  When I first read it I confess I found it all a bit loopy or improbable.

South Bend black leader endorses Biden, rebukes Buttigieg  —  The longest-serving African American man on the South Bend, Ind., Common Council is endorsing Joe Biden for president, a rejection of Pete Buttigieg that highlights the South Bend mayor's struggles with black voters.

Defecting Chinese spy offers information trove to Australian government  —  A Chinese spy has risked his life to defect to Australia and is now offering a trove of unprecedented inside intelligence on how China conducts its interference operations abroad.  —  Wang “William” Liqiang …

Trump Said U.S. Is ‘Getting Raped’ by NATO, Has Pushed to Exit Alliance According to White House Insider  —  President Donald Trump's criticisms of NATO have been one of the most concerning elements of his presidency to date for career diplomats and Pentagon officials.

‘1984’ arrives 35 years late: Republicans like Devin Nunes are intent on making 2 plus 2 equal whatever the hell they want it to  —  “It was a bright cold day,” begins George Orwell's “1984,” “and the clocks were striking 13.”  —  That came to mind as the impeachment drama reached its 11th hour …

Keep in mind these points about a historic week  —  An exhausting and historic week of impeachment hearings came to an end Thursday when House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) gaveled the proceedings to a close.  Take time to watch the whole thing:

Bloomberg makes ‘massive’ ad buy  —  In the latest sign Michael Bloomberg is prepared to spend freely on a prospective presidential bid, the billionaire has begun booking a huge quantity of TV ad time in media markets across the country — including the one that's home to President Donald Trump's winter White House, Mar-a-Lago.

Trump Pushes Debunked Ukraine Theory In Long, Rambling Call To ‘Fox & Friends’  —  The nearly hourlong phone call on the president's favorite morning show devolved into a soliloquy.  —  President Donald Trump on Friday pushed a false right-wing conspiracy theory roundly debunked by U.S. officials …

The Jungle Prince of Delhi  —  For 40 years, journalists chronicled the eccentric royal family of Oudh, deposed aristocrats who lived in a ruined palace in the Indian capital.  It was a tragic, astonishing story.  But was it true?  —  NEW DELHI — On a spring afternoon in 2016 …

Impeachment is about to get a Robert Mueller reprise  —  Right now, impeachment is all about Ukraine.  But after Thanksgiving, prepare for a Robert Mueller reprise.  —  Now that House Democrats have wrapped up public hearings on President Donald Trump's pressure campaign to get Ukraine …

AG Barr: Epstein's death was a ‘perfect storm of screw-ups’  —  1 of 6  —  ABOARD A US GOVERNMENT AIRCRAFT (AP) — Attorney General William Barr says Jeffrey Epstein's death was the result of a “perfect storm of screw-ups.”  —  Barr's comments in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press come days …

Nation's Biggest Charity Is Funding Influential White Nationalist Group  —  A charitable nonprofit linked to Fidelity Investments has donated at least $100,000 to the New Century Foundation, the organization behind white nationalist publication American Renaissance, since mid-2015.  —  EDITED BY

In squalid Mexico tent city, asylum seekers are growing so desperate they're sending their children over the border alone  —  MATAMOROS, Mexico — In the middle of the largest refugee camp on the U.S. border — close enough to Texas that migrants can see an American flag hovering across the Rio Grande …

Jim Jordan was imposed on us for egregiously partisan reasons.  Now he's afflicting the nation.  —  CLEVELAND — Of all the regions in all the states in all the country, Jim Jordan got dragged into ours.  There was no good reason to punish Greater Cleveland by making the person who's …

Former CIA officer sentenced to 19 years for conspiring with Chinese spies  —  Jerry Chun Shing Lee is the third former U.S. intelligence officer to be convicted in less than a year of conspiring with the Chinese to give them national defense information.  —  A former CIA case officer …