Phone logs in impeachment report renew concern about security of Trump communications  —  President Trump has routinely communicated with his personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and other individuals speaking on cellphones vulnerable to monitoring by Russian and other foreign intelligence services …

Bloomberg Says 2020 Rivals Criticizing His Fortune Could Have Made Their Own  —  In his first TV interview since he entered the presidential race, Mr. Bloomberg said other Democrats “had a chance to go out and make a lot of money” themselves, and then use it to fund their campaigns.

Rudy Not Even Waiting for Impeachment to End to Resume Ukraine Shakedown  —  The official House Republican impeachment report is dedicated to nitpicking the vast evidence of misconduct against President Trump, and wedging a handful of available facts into an alternative frame.

Letter to Congress from Legal Scholars  —  We, the undersigned legal scholars, have concluded that President Trump engaged in impeachable conduct.  —  We do not reach this conclusion lightly.  The Founders did not make impeachment available for disagreements over policy, even profound ones …

The Problematic Pete Wars  —  Last week a problematic photo of Pete Buttigieg “surfaced” on Twitter dot com.  —  Problematic photos and videos about Mayor Pete seem to be “surfacing” to political reporters all the time these days, framed as if they were Milkshake Cicadas randomly emerging …

Jobs growth soars in November as payrolls surge by 266,000  —  By Jeff Cox@JEFF.COX.7528@JEFFCOXCNBCCOM  — Nonfarm payrolls surged by 266,000 in November, better than the 187,000 expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.  — The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5% from 3.6% …

Mike Bloomberg says he's “not trying to take” Joe Biden's job in 2020 race  —  Mike Bloomberg says he's not just another billionaire running for president.  In an exclusive interview with “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King, Bloomberg spoke about President Trump, the other Democratic …

Ukrainian Fugitive Who Claimed to Have Dirt on Biden Firm Is Arrested  —  Oleksandr Onyshchenko publicly claimed to have inside information about Hunter Biden just as the impeachment proceedings got underway.  —  A former Ukrainian member of parliament who has claimed to have dirt …

Accused of Killing a Gambino Mob Boss, He's Presenting a Novel Defense  —  Anthony Comello is obsessed with conspiracy theories.  His paranoia is being a litigated in a Staten Island court.  —  Four days after pulling off the most high-profile mob killing in decades, Anthony Comello sat …

Issa says Trump clemency for Hunter could save imprisonment costs  —  DeMaio, another candidate for the congressman's seat, calls a pardon ‘the wrong message to the American people’  —  On the day Rep. Duncan Hunter pleaded guilty to misuse of campaign funds in federal court …

Uranium-contaminated site collapses into Detroit River  —  A Detroit property contaminated with uranium and other dangerous chemicals partially collapsed into the Detroit River on Nov. 26, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has confirmed.

British GQ Quietly Scrubbed China's President And Thailand's King From Its “Worst Dressed” List  —  The magazine's parent company confirmed to BuzzFeed News they'd been removed over concerns of causing “unintended offence”.  —  When British GQ published its prestigious annual list of best-dressed men …

(and That's a Very Good Thing)  —  As House Democrats invited Ivy League shrews to publicly grind their Trump-hating axe during Wednesday's disastrous impeachment charade, President Trump returned home after confronting our allies again about their lagging financial support of NATO.

Southaven Republican challenges 14-vote loss to Democrat, asks House to overturn election  —  State Rep. Ashley Henley, a Southaven Republican, is asking the GOP-led Mississippi House to overturn the results of the election she narrowly lost to Democrat Hester Jackson-McCray.

Eyeing populist challenge from the left, Trump seeks plan to tackle student debt  —  President Trump is demanding aides present a plan to tackle student debt and the rising cost of a college education, worried that he has no response to expansive plans from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats …

Joe Biden says Trump is ‘ripping the soul out of this country’ and 'we're likely to inherit a recession'  — Joe Biden sat down with CNBC's John Harwood on Thursday to discuss a range of topics, including trade, health care, taxes and President Trump's standing among world leaders.

The New China Scare  —  Why America Shouldn't Panic About Its Latest Challenger  —  In February 1947, U.S. President Harry Truman huddled with his most senior foreign policy advisers, George Marshall and Dean Acheson, and a handful of congressional leaders.

I Was Once a Socialist.  Then I Saw How It Worked.  —  Two cheers for capitalism, now and forever.  —  I was a socialist in college.  I read magazines like The Nation and old issues of The New Masses.  I dreamed of being the next Clifford Odets, a lefty playwright who was always trying to raise proletarian class consciousness.

The Republicans' Star Impeachment Scholar Is a Shameless Hack  —  Jonathan Turley's testimony was so inconsistent, it contradicted his own previous statements on impeachment.  —  The House Judiciary Committee held something like a national teach-in on impeachment yesterday.

WV employees suspended after photo emerges of correctional officers' Nazi salute  —  Local journalism makes a difference  —  Your support makes that possible — subscribe today for 99¢  —  Your support makes that possible — subscribe today for 99¢

Another California GOP lawmaker is leaving the Republican Party.  Here's why  —  California's Republican Party is getting even smaller.  —  The super-minority in the Legislature has lost another state lawmaker, as former Assembly Republican leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley has decided …