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 …

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 …

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) …

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 …

Ruth Bader Ginsburg probably just dealt a fatal blow to the Equal Rights Amendment  —  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks on stage during her induction into the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery.  Gilbert Carrasquillo/Getty Images

‘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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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” …

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 …

Republicans are bringing back a bill to protect “abortion survivors”  —  Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) on Capitol Hill on September 27, 2018, in Washington, DC.  Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images  —  The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act may be part of a larger strategy for 2020.