Pelosi unloads on Trump in private meeting after SOTU standoff  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped into President Donald Trump in a private meeting with Democrats Wednesday, just hours after the two jousted in a silent sparring match during his State of the Union address.

Beyond the Partisan Fight, a Wealth of Evidence About Trump and Ukraine  —  Regardless of the Senate's verdict, the impeachment inquiry, President Trump's own words and other revelations yield a narrative establishing his involvement in the pressure campaign.

Biden concedes Iowa was ‘a gut punch’  —  SOMERSWORTH, N.H. — Joe Biden is no longer denying his surprisingly weak performance in Iowa.  —  “I'm not going to sugarcoat it.  We took a gut punch in Iowa,” Biden said Wednesday, before cracking a joke about Iowa's botched caucuses.

Senator Doug Jones Statement on Impeachment Decision  —  “As this chapter of history draws to a close, one thing is clear: our country deserves better than this.  We must find a way to come together, to set aside partisan differences, and to focus on what we have in common as Americans.”

TV Ratings: State of the Union Falls in Early Broadcast Numbers  —  Preliminary figures show the annual address down by double digits versus 2019.  —  The State of the Union address drew a considerably smaller audience on the broadcast networks than it did a year ago, at least in the preliminary ratings from Tuesday.

He complained about Democrats' tech ‘morass’ — then built the Iowa app  —  Shadow CEO Gerard Niemira had high hopes for improving Democrats' tech tools.  —  The CEO of the tech startup at the center of the Iowa caucus debacle complained last year that critical parts of the Democrats' election technology …

She Shunned Islam And Was Embraced By Trump World.  They Took Her Money, Then Turned On Her.  —  Rabia Kazan, a Turkish national who used to be a Trump fanatic, made a big donation to the president's campaign.  But she's not a US citizen.  —  A former rising star in MAGA world recently renounced …

All the things I believe about President Trump  —  George T. Conway III is a lawyer in New York and an adviser to the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC.  —  I believe the president, and in the president.  —  I believe the Senate is right to acquit the president.

Record economic optimism under Trump, better than Reagan, Clinton, Obama  —  Economic optimism has reached a 44-year high and economic gloom a record low under President Trump in the latest survey that shows people in the United States are cheering their best personal economy in decades.

Pentagon officials stunned by White House decision to block Ukraine aid, new emails show  —  Washington (CNN)Days before the July 2019 call between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, US officials were still working to expedite the delivery of Javelin anti-tank missiles to the country …

How much of Trump's rising approval numbers can be attributed to differential nonresponse?  —  Josh Marshall writes: … Marshall goes through several natural explanations (economic prosperity, trade agreements, acceptance of Trump's behavior), and then continues: … That's right.

Bloomberg Used Box to Boost Height as NYC Mayor, Documents Show  —  The Bloomberg campaign was quick to shoot down President Donald Trump's claim that the Democratic presidential candidate plans to use a box to boost his height at Friday's Democratic debate.

Kill the tradition: NH and Iowa should not vote first  —  A hundred years ago, New Hampshire blazed a trail as the first among 20 states to hold a 1920 presidential primary election.  It is a tradition that has endured for the century since, and will repeat on Feb. 11 — a fact owed not just to custom …

Fact-checking President Trump's 2020 State of the Union address  —  President Trump's State of the Union speech once again was chock-full of stretched facts and dubious figures.  Many of these claims have been fact-checked repeatedly, yet the president persists in using them.

Board fires two leaders of the 2020 DNC Host Committee  —  The two leaders of Milwaukee's host committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention are out.  —  Late Tuesday, the board for the Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee terminated President Liz Gilbert and her chief of staff, Adam Alonso.

New Silicon Valley extreme: The 2:30 a.m. tech bus from Salida  —  In search of affordable housing, tech employees move all the way into the Central Valley.  Private tech shuttles follow.  —  It's 2:30 a.m. in the Central California farm town of Salida, and the only sound is the tech bus pulling …