First results of 2020 New Hampshire Primary are in.  Amy Klobuchar, Donald Trump lead  —  Midnight voting took place in Dixville Notch, Hart's Location & Millsfield  —  HIDE TRANSCRIPT SHOW TRANSCRIPT  —  DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. —  The first votes in the 2020 New Hampshire primary …

Justice Dept. to reduce sentencing recommendation for Trump associate Roger Stone, official says, after president calls it ‘unfair’  —  The Justice Department plans to reduce its sentencing recommendation for longtime President Trump confidant Roger Stone, after top officials were apparently blindsided …

For decades, the CIA read the encrypted communications of allies and adversaries.  —  For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret.  —  The company, Crypto AG …

Bloomberg heard in 2015 audio clip defending ‘stop and frisk,’ throwing minority kids against wall: report  —  A newly surfaced recording from a 2015 speech by Michael Bloomberg, in which the former three-term mayor of New York City gives a full-throated defense of the controversial policing procedure known …

DOJ Nears Decision on Whether to Charge Blackwater Founder Erik Prince  —  Prince could face charges stemming from his testimony to Congress about Seychelles meeting with Putin adviser and potential arms-trafficking violations  —  The Justice Department is in the late stages of deciding whether …

Former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera will challenge Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in House Democratic primary  — Former longtime CNBC correspondent and anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera filed late Monday to run for Congress in New York's 14th District.  — The seat is currently held …

‘Fear and chaos’: Andrew Yang staffers are furious over sudden layoffs and a campaign near collapse  — Yang's staff said they were blindsided by the layoffs.  Many found out something was amiss when they suddenly lost their email accounts or heard about it from the rumor mill.

Exclusive: New Unredacted Emails Show How Deeply OMB Misled Congress on Ukraine  —  “Can we call you in 5, DoD is being extraordinarily difficult.”  —  It was almost 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 12, and Mark Paoletta, the general counsel at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) …

Socialism and Atheism Still U.S. Political Liabilities  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than nine in 10 Americans say they would vote for a presidential candidate nominated by their party who happened to be black, Catholic, Hispanic, Jewish or a woman.  Such willingness drops to eight in 10 …

Ruth Bader Ginsburg probably just dealt a fatal blow to the Equal Rights Amendment  —  A half-century-long fight for equality is likely at an end.  —  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the most important feminist lawyer in American history.  Long before she became a judge …

Most Expect Trump Will Be Reelected; Sanders Overtakes Biden Among Dem Voters  —  Enthusiasm up from 2016, but with a partisan gap  —  West Long Branch, NJ - As New Hampshire primary voters go to the polls, there already seems to be an impact from the Iowa caucus results on presidential preferences among Democrats nationwide.

VA Democrats Kill Pro-Union Bill After Learning CEOs Oppose It  —  Virginia isn't for workers.  Old Dominion is currently one of only three states to explicitly bar all public-sector employees from bargaining collectively.  It was also one of the first states to enact a “right to work” …

Here's What I Do Like About Bernie Sanders  —  I have devoted a lot of space to criticizing Bernie Sanders (and, especially, bad arguments made on his behalf).  I will probably continue to do so, in part because I have disagreements with his worldview, and mainly because I think the available evidence …

‘I would trust Alex with my life’: Trump's decision to boot Lt. Col. Vindman was ‘designed to humiliate,’ his former Army commander says  — President Donald Trump's early dismissal of US Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council staff on Friday came as a shock …

A Pedophile Writer Is on Trial.  So Are the French Elites.  —  For decades, Gabriel Matzneff wrote openly of his pedophilia, protected by powerful people in publishing, journalism, politics and business.  Now cast out, he attacks their “cowardice” in a rare interview.

Inside the Trump Bubble  —  A view from inside the silo.  —  In a moment of weakness and jet-lagged naivete I found myself musing that maybe, possibly, the new revelations about Donald Trump's fleecing of taxpayers by charging the Secret Service exorbitant rates might make a difference with some of Trump's base.

State Department excludes Taiwan from Religious Freedom Alliance  —  For the past two years, the Taiwanese government has worked hard to be a part of the State Department's efforts to promote religious freedom around the world.  But when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the inauguration …