Bernie Sanders leads the Iowa Poll for the first time, just weeks before the Iowa caucuses  —  U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders leads the Democratic field three weeks ahead of Caucus Day in Iowa — narrowly overtaking his closest competitors, who remain locked in a tight contest just behind him.

Trump's Rationale for Killing Soleimani Is Falling Apart  —  Why did the United States kill Iranian general Qasem Soleimani?  President Trump, in remarks to the nation the morning after the attack, gave a clear rationale.  Soleimani “was planning new attacks on American targets, but we stopped him.”

Iran says it ‘unintentionally’ shot down Ukrainian jetliner  —  A woman mourns outside the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton, Alberta, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, during a vigil for those killed after a Ukrainian passenger jet crashed, killing at least 63 Canadians, just minutes after taking off from Iran's capital.

You Won't Believe What Trump Said About His Middle Name  —  Special correspondent Gabriel Sherman dishes on the White House's Iran scramble, Don Jr.'s electoral ambitions, and—most importantly—the latest evidence of the president's mental decay.  —  In the midst of the Golden Globes …

John Bolton impeachment testimony will be blocked, Donald Trump says  —  John Bolton will be blocked from testifying at Donald Trump's impeachment trial, the president has indicated, despite the former national security adviser insisting he would do so if he received a subpoena.

Trump angered by House ally's push to limit his authority on Iran  —  Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican and staunch Trump ally, pushed other Republicans to vote in favor of limiting the president's authority in the military confrontation with Iran, drawing ire from the president …

The blue-state exodus gains momentum  —  Nine years ago I published a piece that asserted, “Voters around the country are concluding it's better to be red than dead” — applying almost the exact opposite meaning to an old phrase referring to communism.  New Census Bureau figures appear to confirm my prediction — mostly.

U.S. Warns Iraq It Risks Losing Access to Key Bank Account If Troops Told to Leave  —  Loss of access to New York Fed account, where international oil sale revenue is kept, could creating cash crunch in Iraq's financial system  —  The Trump administration warned Iraq this week …

Trump Allies Explore Buyout of Conservative News Channel One America News Network  —  Hicks Equity Partners, a family investment firm tied to Republican National Committee co-chair Thomas Hicks Jr., is pitching GOP donors on possible deal  —  Allies of President Trump are pursuing an effort …

Stephanie Grisham: Trump's Press Secretary Who Doesn't Meet the Press  —  A presidency in crisis, a nation on the brink of war — and a White House press secretary who was largely out of sight.  —  It's not every day that the White House press secretary is offered $200,000 to appear on camera …

Wisconsin dairy farmers suffer massive blow thanks to Trump's trade war  —  Wisconsin lost 818 dairies in 2019 as farmers across the country suffer from Donald Trump's trade war with China.  —  The state of Wisconsin, famous for its cheese, lost 10% of its dairy farms in 2019, Dairy Herd Management reported on Thursday.

F.B.I. Apologizes to Court for Botching Surveillance of Trump Adviser, and Pledges Fixes  —  In a rare public filing, the bureau said it would extend wiretap changes to other tools for collecting data on suspected spies and terrorists.  —  WASHINGTON — A chastened F.B.I. told a secretive court …

Michelle and Barack Obama advising ‘friends’ Harry and Meghan on life outside Royal Family  —  MICHELLE and Barack Obama have been advising Prince Harry and Megan Markle on their new life outside the Royal Family, insiders have claimed  —  The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are friends …

George Conway and Neal Katyal: How Pelosi should play her impeachment cards  —  George T. Conway III is a lawyer in New York and an adviser to the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC.  Neal Katyal, a law professor at Georgetown University, is the author of “Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump” …

Fan of Trump and Farage raises far-right ‘Q’ flag at his Cornish castle  —  Hotelier uses Tintagel pile to back American QAnon deep state conspiracy theory  —  A key supporter of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump has provoked ridicule after using his landmark Cornish castle to fly the flag …

We Found Major Trump Tax Inconsistencies.  New York's Mayor Wants a Criminal Investigation.  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday …

Oprah Winfrey exits Russell Simmons #MeToo documentary, and the filmmakers respond  —  Oprah Winfrey is disassociating herself with a new documentary about Russell Simmons and the #MeToo movement.  —  In December, Winfrey announced that she would serve as executive producer on a still-untitled film …

In Blow to Beijing, Taiwan Re-elects Tsai Ing-wen as President  —  The victory was a remarkable comeback for Ms. Tsai and suggested that Beijing's pressure campaign had backfired.  —  TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan's voters delivered a stinging rebuke of China's rising authoritarianism on Saturday …

Curtain falls on Chinese film festival as censorship intensifies  —  One of China's longest-running independent film festivals has decided to shut down against the backdrop of mounting government censorship, saying it was no longer possible to run a “purely independent” festival in the country.

Mike Lee signs on to Bernie Sanders' bill to prevent funding for military intervention in Iran  —  Sources: Trump furious over House War Powers vote  —  (CNN)Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has agreed to co-sponsor Sen. Bernie Sanders' legislation that would freeze funding for any military action …

How a High Schooler Scooped Everyone on the Iowa Poll  —  Three times now, Arjav Rawal has tweeted the results before their official release, beating even CNN, a poll sponsor.  —  For more than 24 hours, the political world eagerly awaited the release of the latest Iowa Poll.