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.

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.

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.

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 …

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?

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.

Dershowitz says a quid pro quo in Trump's political interest is fine and not impeachable  —  Alan Dershowitz argued that a quid pro quo involving a president's political benefit was fine because all presidents believe their elections are in the public's interest.

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 …

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 …

Bernie Sanders is ‘insanely consistent.’ That's nothing to brag about.  —  One of the toughest questions I received during my book tour for “The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right” came from a high school student who asked how she could trust anything I said now that I had disavowed my previous beliefs.

EXCLUSIVE: The cyber attack the UN tried to keep under wraps … About this investigation: … GENEVA  —  The UN did not publicly disclose a major hacking attack into its IT systems in Europe - a decision that potentially put staff, other organisations, and individuals at risk, according to data protection advocates.

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.

Ben Smith on Leaving BuzzFeed News  —  On Tuesday, the New York Times announced that its new media columnist, a job most famously held by the late David Carr, will be Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News.  Smith, who was previously a political reporter for the New York Observer …

Trump shuns Democrats as he signs bipartisan USMCA  —  President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed his signature trade deal with Mexico and Canada into law, sealing a big bipartisan win for him during his heavily partisan impeachment trial.  —  But the celebration on Wednesday was far from bipartisan …