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 …

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 …

First on CNN: Jessie Liu resigns from Treasury after pulled nomination  —  (CNN)The US attorney whose nomination for a top Treasury Department job was yanked because she ran the office that oversaw Roger Stone's prosecution has resigned, an administration official tells CNN.

The president's rhetoric has changed the way hundreds of children are harassed in American classrooms, The Post found  —  Left: Students at Royal Oak Middle School in Michigan chant “Build the wall!” the day after the 2016 election.  Students' faces blurred in provided video (Storyful).

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.

POLITICO Playbook: Inside the Bloomberg machine  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  G'morning from NASHVILLE.  —  IF A FEW CAMPAIGN CONSULTANTS were sitting at a bar and dreamed up how they'd run a nationwide presidential primary campaign with no constraints, no qualms and no care for tradition …

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 …

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.

Bernie Sanders' path to the nomination was blazed by Trump 4 years ago  —  The key lessons we learned from New Hampshire  —  Washington (CNN)It might sound strange, but Bernie Sanders right now has a lot in common with Donald Trump from 2016.  —  Like Trump, after coming in a close second …

Senate paves way to limit Trump's war powers after killing Cotton amendment  —  Senate Democrats on Thursday defeated a last-ditch effort to tank a measure restraining President Donald Trump's authority to go to war with Iran, all but ensuring that the War Powers resolution will pass.

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 …

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 …

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

Biden Needs Black Voters to Lift His Campaign.  But He Has Competition.  —  Joe Biden is looking ahead to South Carolina to resurrect his candidacy.  There are signs that it may be a bigger challenge after defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire.  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. — Even before the final results …

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 …

Top Black Democrats Have Urged Tom Perez To Restore Confidence In The DNC  —  Last week's disastrous Iowa caucus has reawakened a deep existing frustration among some leading black Democrats with their party chair, Tom Perez.  —  After months of planning by the Democratic National Committee …

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 …

‘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.

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 …

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.