Exclusive: Russian Ex-Spy Pressured Manafort Over Debts to an Oligarch  —  When the U.S. government put out its latest sanctions list on Dec. 19, the man named at the top did not seem especially important.  Described in the document as a former Russian intelligence officer …

New Jersey AG has obtained evidence of possible crimes at Trump's golf club — and Mueller, FBI are involved in probe  —  New Jersey prosecutors have collected evidence that supervisors at President Trump's Garden State golf club may have committed federal immigration crimes …

Trump issues executive order freezing federal workers' pay in 2019  —  Federal workers brace for long shutdown  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday freezing federal workers' pay for 2019, following through on a proposal he announced earlier in the year.

Trump's focus on pleasing his most ardent supporters raises questions about reelection strategy  —  President Trump's headstrong refusal to reopen the federal government without new border wall funding has set him on a risky and defiant path for 2019, relying on brazen brinkmanship to shore …

A Federalist Remembrance Of Bre Payton, Our Colleague And Friend  —  Bre Payton lived life as if she was always ready to leave it.  And she did, too early for all of the rest of us, at the age of 26.  —  I hired Bre Payton right out of college.  She was green.  She was unknown.  She had never done TV.

Is the Michael Cohen ‘Prague’ Story True?  —  The reporters behind it are either the new Woodward and Bernstein—or the new Judith Miller.  —  Three weeks after 9/11, Vice President Dick Cheney was already trying to tie the horror to Iraq.  He floated a bogus story that earlier in 2001 …

Will Trump show up for New Year's Eve party?  —  President Donald Trump has canceled plans to spend the New Year's holiday at Mar-a-Lago.  A source who had planned to attend the Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve party said Friday Palm Beach was abuzz with members and guests talking about their own plans …

New Life for Old Classics, as Their Copyrights Run Out  —  Nearly a century ago, the publisher Alfred A. Knopf released a slim book of spiritual fables by an obscure Lebanese-American poet and painter named Kahlil Gibran.  —  Knopf had modest expectations, and printed around 1,500 copies.

‘You Control Nothing’: House Republicans Brace for Life in the Minority  —  About two-thirds of Republicans returning to the House for the 116th Congress this week have never experienced the exquisite pain of being on the outs in an institution where the party in charge is totally in charge.

Trump pulled out of a massive trade deal.  Now 11 countries are going ahead without the US  —  New York (CNN)A major 11-country agreement goes into effect Sunday, reshaping trade rules among economic powerhouses like Japan, Canada, Mexico and Australia — but the United States won't be a part of it.

Congresswoman-Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Top 7 Political Gaffes of 2018  —  Congresswoman-Elect and Socialist darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the gift that keeps on giving.  No, seriously.  She says some of the most ridiculous things imaginable.  —  These are her top seven craziest political gaffes of 2018:

As long as Matthew Whitaker is in place, the Russia investigation is in danger  —  FOR MORE than a month, Americans did not know whether acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker had received the advice of Justice Department ethics experts on whether he should recuse himself from the Russia investigation.

McConnell at center of shutdown impasse but uncharacteristically disengaged  —  The federal government has been partially shut down for a week, and hundreds of thousands of workers are furloughed, but there's no sign of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the veteran dealmaker who's brokered …

California organizers cancel Women's March due to ‘overwhelmingly white’ participants  —  A crowd fills Independence Avenue looking towards the U.S. Capitol and the stage, lower right, during the Women's March on Washington, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington.  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS  —  AA

2-year-old Yemeni boy whose mom sued US to see him has died  —  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The 2-year-old son of a Yemeni woman who sued the Trump administration to let her into the country to be with the ailing boy has died, the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced.

Doctor exposed to Ebola brought to United States  —  A U.S. physician who was exposed to Ebola while treating patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo arrived in the United States today and was taken to a secure area at the Nebraska Medical Center.  —  The physician, who isn't exhibiting symptoms …

U.S. and China Fleshing Out Trade Deal  —  Trump administration wants to increase U.S. exports and ease Chinese regulations; president claims ‘big progress’ in talks  —  WASHINGTON—Chinese and U.S. negotiators are starting to flesh out a deal that could defuse trade tensions by boosting U.S. exports …

Trump personally intervened to pay Coast Guard in shutdown  —  Concerned about U.S. Coast Guard forces losing a paycheck in the partial government shutdown, President Trump personally urged his team to find a solution that would allow the administration to make this week's $75 million payroll, according to officials.