John Kelly Finally Lets Loose on Trump  —  MORRISTOWN, N.J.—Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the former National Security Council aide and impeachment witness President Donald Trump fired Friday, was just doing his job, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told students and guests …

Trump takes on Judge Amy Berman Jackson ahead of Roger Stone's sentencing  —  First he went after the prosecutors who recommended a multiyear sentence for his friend Roger Stone.  Then President Trump turned his Twitter ire to the “witch hunt disgrace” of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation …

McClatchy files bankruptcy to shed costs of print legacy and speed shift to digital  —  McClatchy Co. filed for bankruptcy Thursday, a move that will end family control of America's second largest local news company and hand it to creditors who have expressed support for independent journalism.

Hope Hicks to Return to the White House After a Nearly Two-Year Absence  —  President Trump's former communications director will return as an aide to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser.  —  Hope Hicks, a close aide to President Trump who resigned nearly two years ago …

Houston mayor backs Bloomberg and will help launch “Mike for Black America”  —  Mike Bloomberg picked up the endorsement Thursday of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who leads the fourth largest city in the nation.  The announcement follows his endorsement this week by three members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Jeff Bezos Buys David Geffen's Los Angeles Mansion for a Record $165 Million  —  The Amazon CEO also bought a plot of land from the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for $90 million  —  Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has purchased the Warner Estate from media mogul David Geffen for $165 million …

Biden on phone call: 'I'll be damned if we're gonna lose this nomination'  —  Former Vice President Joe Biden — after his pair of devastating losses — tried to reassure supporters on an evening call Wednesday that “things haven't changed” and that there's been “no dropoff in our endorsers.”

Some Democrats fear fallout from Sanders atop the ticket  —  DENVER (AP) — The resurgence of Sen. Bernie Sanders in the presidential nominating process is triggering alarm in the Democratic Party, with many warning that a ticket headed by the self-declared socialist could be devastating …

Sanders Joins Trump in Telling the Media to Go to Hell  —  Where are those medical records you promised to show us, asked NBC News' Chuck Todd last weekend on “Meet the Press.”  Sen. Bernie Sanders sounded polite enough, as he exhaled a puffy cloud of obfuscation.

Michael Bloomberg's Campaign Suddenly Drops Memes Everywhere  —  A campaign of sponsored content for the candidate flourished suddenly on Instagram.  A new outfit, called Meme 2020, is behind it.  —  Mike Bloomberg has contracted some of the biggest meme-makers on the internet …

Playing on Kansas City Radio: Russian Propaganda  —  Radio Sputnik, a propaganda arm of the Russian government, began broadcasting on three Kansas City-area radio stations during prime drive time.  —  When commuters spin the radio dial as they drive through Kansas City, Mo., these days …

End the GOP  —  There are two figures in the Republican Party who best represent the state of the GOP in the Trump era.  The first, of course, is Donald Trump.  The second is Roy Moore.  By the time Moore defeated Jeff Sessions's replacement, Luther Strange, in the Republican primary …

Bully Wannabes  —  Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative (cough) Union, which hosts the annual CPAC conference, tweeted that he was disinviting Mitt Romney from the confab this year because he “could not guarantee his physical safety” after the senator voted to convict Donald Trump in the impeachment trial.

The Bloomberg Campaign Is a Waterfall of Cash  —  The billionaire has deployed his corporation in service of his presidential bid, producing slick events and recruiting staff members with unusually high pay and other perks.  —  MIAMI — In a warehouse covered in murals in the Design District here …

Manchin voted to oust Trump.  He could endorse his reelection.  —  The West Virginia Democrat is already looking to reconcile with the president.  —  President Donald Trump has lately attacked Sen. Joe Manchin as a “Munchkin”; Manchin, in turn, has criticized Trump for not mounting …

Trump says 'I won't be changing my mind' on his view that brain injuries suffered by US troops in Iran's attack are not very serious  — A total of 109 US service members have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries since the Iranian missile attack on US forces in Iraq in early January.

Woman punches man in Broadway bar over MAGA-style birthday hat  —  NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - A man's surprise birthday gift led to a surprise attack at a Broadway bar.  —  Daniel Sprague was at The Stage bar on Broadway sporting a gift his wife gave him for his 50th birthday bash—a hat that says “Make 50 Great Again.”

The establishment's dangerous habit of crying wolf  —  Exaggerating the short-term threat from populism inures people to the threat it poses  —  Brexiters dubbed it “Project Fear”.  President Donald Trump's supporters call it Trump derangement syndrome and Bernie Sanders fans think of it as corporate scaremongering.

Our 2020 Nevada caucus endorsement: Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden  —  For all the talk of Democrats being divided along moderate-progressive ideological lines and for all the debate among party candidates on fractious issues like health care and immigration, poll after poll shows that the majority …

Reuters/Ipsos Core Political Survey: Presidential Approval Tracker (02/12/2020) from Ipsos Public Affairs  —  This week's Reuters/Ipsos Core Political survey finds that after President Trump's acquittal, his approval rating among the general population remains unchanged (41%).

‘There need to be mass protests’: Authoritarianism experts say time is running out for Americans to stop Trump  — Americans are running out of time to stop President Donald Trump's authoritarian slide, experts warned.  — “There need to be mass protests,” a Yale philosophy professor and expert on fascism told Insider.

The facts about Facebook's fact-checking program  —  Facebook loves to talk about its third-party fact-checking program as proof that it's committed to fighting disinformation.  CEO Mark Zuckerberg talks about it.  Vice President Nick Clegg talks about it.