White House has issued formal threat to Bolton to keep him from publishing book  —  Washington (CNN)The White House has issued a formal threat to former national security adviser John Bolton to keep him from publishing his book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Dem Caucuses Could Be a Five-Way Contest  —  Nearly half remain open to switching support on caucus night  —  West Long Branch, NJ - Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, and Elizabeth Warren continue to jostle for the top spot in the fifth and final Monmouth University Poll of likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers.

BREAKING: Gardner says he doesn't want to hear from more impeachment witnesses  —  U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner said Wednesday that he thinks the Senate has heard from enough witnesses in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, taking off the table a potential Republican vote to subpoena national security adviser John Bolton.

Super PAC Attacks Sanders in an Ad.  Sanders Raises $1.3 Million in a Day.  —  As Bernie Sanders shows strength in the early-voting states, his opponents face a challenge: Attacking him can help fuel his campaign.  —  DES MOINES — A Democratic super PAC wanted to undermine Senator Bernie …

Trump allies are handing out cash to black voters  —  Allies of Donald Trump have begun holding events in black communities where organizers lavish praise on the president as they hand out tens of thousands of dollars to lucky attendees.  —  The first giveaway took place last month in Cleveland …

Trump's lawyers gave thousands to Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz before the impeachment trial began  —  President Trump's legal team made numerous campaign contributions to Republican senators overseeing the impeachment trial.  —  Former independent counsels Ken Starr and Robert Ray …

Elizabeth Warren proposes criminal penalties for spreading disinformation online  — Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday released a plan to fight disinformation to hold tech companies accountable for their actions in light of the 2016 election.

A Muted Arab Response to Trump's Mideast Peace Plan  —  The U.S. is banking on Arab leaders to help make its plan for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict work.  It is not clear how realistic that is.  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — In unveiling his plan Tuesday for solving the conflict between Israel …

Pompeo Called Me a ‘Liar.’ That's Not What Bothers Me.  —  Journalists are supposed to ask tough questions, then share the answers — or lack thereof — with the world.  —  Ms. Kelly is a co-host of NPR's “All Things Considered.”  —  Ask journalists why they do the job they do, and you'll hear a range of answers.

Anti-human-trafficking groups refuse to attend Ivanka Trump's White House summit  —  On Friday, President Trump is expected to attend a White House summit organized by his daughter Ivanka on human trafficking, an issue he frequently invokes as a top priority.

Dutch Trump superfan who claimed he surveilled Ambassador Yovanovitch told people he was DEA  —  Interviews with a half-dozen people who know Anthony de Caluwe and documents obtained by NBC News show that the Trump superfan has a shadowy past.  —  WASHINGTON — The Dutch man who claimed …

Say hello to invisible Brexit  —  BRUSSELS — Britain is leaving the European Union this weekend with a whimper.  —  It took one referendum, two national elections, three prime ministers and four years of continentwide political anguish for the United Kingdom to achieve Brexit …

Lessons for Life: The Obituaries of Republicans Who Opposed Nixon's Impeachment  —  “Obituaries reflect what the present thinks of the past,” wrote journalism professor Kathleen McElroy.  —  What will the future think of President Donald Trump and two historic votes senators must take on his impeachment?

Democrats are already bracing for a ‘hostile’ Trump transition  —  Democrats are bracing for the possibility that if President Donald Trump loses the 2020 election, he and his aides will bungle a smooth handover of power — and maybe even try to outright sabotage the transition.

One year inside Trump's monumental Facebook campaign  —  A Guardian investigation of 218,100 ads reveals how the campaign's sophisticated social media machine targets conservative voters  —  As the Democratic candidates for president spent 2019 battling each other in early voting states …