John Roberts blocks mentions of alleged whistleblower's name  —  Chief Justice John Roberts has communicated to senators that he will not read aloud the alleged Ukraine whistleblower's name or otherwise publicly relay questions that might out the official, a move that's effectively blocked Sen. Rand Paul from asking a question.

Portion of US border wall in California falls over in high winds and lands on Mexican side  —  (CNN)Newly installed panels from the US border wall fell over in high winds Wednesday, landing on trees on the Mexican side of the border.  —  The area is part of an ongoing construction project to improve existing sections of the wall.

Document shows Bernie Sanders's team preparing dozens of potential executive orders  —  Rising in the polls ahead of the Iowa caucuses, the presidential candidate considers spelling out how he could go around Congress if elected president  —  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) …

Biden sees Bloomberg as threat — and boon to Sanders  —  Former Vice President Joe Biden's allies are growing anxious about former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, believing he will siphon off Biden's centrist support on Super Tuesday and pave the way for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to win the nomination.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says China's coronavirus ‘will help’ bring jobs back to U.S.  —  Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the Chinese coronavirus — which has killed 170 in China and infected more than 7,700 people — could “help” to bring jobs to the United States because companies …

Democrats Say They Are Stunned by Trump Lawyer's Stance on Foreign Information  —  Democrats reacted angrily to White House lawyer Patrick Philbin's argument on the Senate floor that it is not a campaign violation if a foreign power offers information about a person running for political office …

ALAN DERSHOWITZ FOR THE DEFENSE: L'ÉTAT, C'EST TRUMP  —  Donald Trump's lawyer says that the President can do just about anything he wants.  —  An hour into the Senate trial of Donald John Trump on Wednesday, the emeritus Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz came to the floor to answer …

What Will You Do When the Culture War Comes for You?  —  Newsrooms still aren't ready for the trolls.  —  Mr. Warzel is an Opinion writer at large.  —  The culture war will come for us all.  —  On Sunday, it came for a Washington Post reporter, Felicia Sonmez.

Katie Hopkins' Twitter account suspended  —  Move comes after Countdown host Rachel Riley and campaigners demand action from social network  —  Far-right commentator Katie Hopkins has been suspended from Twitter after calls for a “full review” by the social network.

How Trump's impeachment created two Democratic superstars  —  The House Democratic Caucus has long been dominated by a gaggle of also-rans: men and women who, while good enough for Congress, proved to be underwhelming on the larger stage of national politics.  —  That's changed.

I have just read 25 books and am here to perform your open-heart surgery  —  “What I would encourage people to do is try to divorce yourself from all of the history that's happened over the years and read this plan.”  —  “I've been getting criticized for the last couple of years by all the people …

Hillary Clinton refuses to be served Tulsi Gabbard's defamation lawsuit  —  Hillary Clinton has now twice snubbed a process server attempting to deliver the defamation lawsuit filed against her by Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, according to Gabbard's attorney.

The Iowa Caucuses Are In 4 Days.  Almost Anything Could Still Happen.  —  As much as we try to remind you all about how uncertain elections can be — pleas that sometimes fall on deaf ears — it's important to keep in mind in advance of the Iowa caucuses.  To begin with, primaries are much harder …

‘Election Meltdown Is A Real Possibility’ In 2020 Presidential Race, Author Warns  —  Toggle more options  —  What if a blackout were to happen in a major city in one of America's swing states on Election Day 2020?  Or if an error occurred while tabulating electronic ballots?

Hashi wipes his Facebook page  —  On Sunday Ilhan Omar's henchman — one Guhad Hashi — emitted a stream of terroristic threats against David Steinberg.  They were numerous, they were vulgar, they were public, and they were intended to silence David and others.  —  I wrote about the threats here.

Lyceum poll: Bernie is Trump's toughest rival in Texas  —  Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are running neck-and-neck among Texas Democrats, but it is the socialist U.S. senator from Vermont who poses the strongest challenge to President Donald Trump in the Lone Star state, according to a Texas Lyceum poll released Wednesday.

U.S. Economy Grew at 2.1% Rate in Fourth Quarter  —  WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy grew at its slowest pace since 2016 last year, after posting a 2.1% advance in the fourth quarter.  —  Gross domestic product-the value of all goods and services produced across the economy-rose at a seasonally …

21 Hours With Alan Dershowitz  —  Over the course of one week, Tom Chiarella watched Donald Trump's TV-loving lawyer prepare for his biggest argument to date.  He still can't make sense of it.  —  He sits with his back half-turned to the window of his eighth-floor apartment in Miami Beach …

Do We Even Need A FISA Court?  —  If you aren't already overdosed on irony, apparently an inexhaustible natural resource in Washington, where the “party of the people” seeks to oust arguably only the second populist president in American history, it's worth mulling the 1970s origins of the FISA Court.

Trump is being impeached over an extortion scheme, not a ‘policy dispute’  —  Trump was shaking down Zelensky while trying to keep the rest of the government in the dark.  That's not a ‘policy,’ that's a conspiracy.  —  President Donald Trump's lawyers in his Senate trial …

ABC News suspends correspondent over erroneous report on Kobe Bryant crash  —  ABC News has suspended the correspondent who speculated on-air that all four of Kobe Bryant's daughters were on board the helicopter that crashed and killed the NBA icon and eight others on Sunday.

Conservative group will launch ad broadside against Collins in Georgia  —  The conservative Club for Growth plans to air a massive ad campaign attacking Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), adding fuel to the intraparty battle that kicked off after the GOP congressman launched a Senate campaign this week.

Media's NeverTrump Voices Drown Out Republican Perspective  —  Over the weekend, Washington Post columnist Max Boot had a novel take on President Trump's impeachment.  According to Boot, what Trump said on the phone call with Ukraine's president was in some ways worse than Andrew Jackson's forced relocation …

WATCH LIVE: Gwen Ifill honored in Forever stamp dedication ceremony  —  A familiar PBS NewsHour face may soon grace your mailbox.  —  The late NewsHour co-anchor Gwen Ifill is being commemorated by the U.S. Postal Service with a Forever stamp this year.  USPS will celebrate the release …

Judge in Virginia Giuffre's defamation suit against Jeffrey Epstein's ‘madam’ Ghislaine Maxwell is asked to reconsider her decision to keep trove of case documents sealed  — NY Judge Loretta A. Preska was asked to reconsider her decision to keep under seal documents in Virginia Giuffre's defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell

Republicans' damaging new line of defense  —  JOHN BOLTON has not yet testified or spoken anywhere in public about the Ukraine affair, but his unpublished manuscript is exerting a gravitational pull on the Senate trial of President Trump.  The former national security adviser is reported …

Trump Impeachment Trial: Top Democrat Concedes ‘Probably No’ on Witnesses  —  During questioning, a lawyer for President Trump argued that any action to aid re-election could be considered in the nation's interest and therefore could not be impeachable.

Netanyahu traded Israel's independence for the ‘deal of the century’  —  The proposals laid out by President Trump yesterday seemingly cement “unshakeable, unbreakable” U.S. support for Israel by offering the Israeli government unconditional American support for immediate annexation of land in the West Bank …