Trump claimed women were gagged with tape.  Then Border Patrol tried to find some evidence.  —  An internal email, sent 2 weeks after Trump started making the claim, asked agents for “any information” about what Trump was describing.  —  It's become a staple of President Donald Trump's riffs …

No Escape for Roger Stone: Mueller's Case Is a Slam Dunk and He's Too Slimy to Get Flipped  —  Prosecutor who helped convict Dick Cheney aide Scooter Libby for lying and obstruction says the case against Trump's old pal is virtually perfect.  —  The long-anticipated indictment …

‘Wrong track’: Public sours on nation's direction after shutdown  —  Sixty-three percent of Americans say the nation is on the wrong track, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.  —  WASHINGTON — After the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history …

Trump advisers lied over and over again, Mueller says.  The question is, why?  —  They lied to the public for months before Donald Trump was elected — and then repeatedly after he took office.  —  They lied to Congress as lawmakers sought to investigate Russia's attack on American democracy in 2016.

Mulvaney says Trump didn't lose shutdown battle  —  The oft-repeated saying in politics is that no one wins when the federal government shuts down.  On Sunday, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney did his best to try to make sure President Donald Trump wasn't branded the loser this time.

A Better Guide than Elite Opinion Is Public Revulsion at It  —  Some expert in Bayesian probability ought to come up with an algorithm that would enable us to determine which of the multifarious daily outrages are going to catch on and, as the internet has taught us to say, “go viral.”

Run, Howard, run!  —  Nick Troiano is executive director of Unite America and a former independent congressional candidate from Denver.  Charles Wheelan is founder and co-chair of Unite America and a senior lecturer in public policy at Dartmouth College.  —  In reportedly exploring …

I was a secret Trump supporter: Model feared politics would kill her career  —  Elizabeth Pipko, a 23-year-old model who has appeared in Maxim, has kept a secret from her industry colleagues out of fear it could derail her career: She was a Donald Trump supporter and worked full-time on his 2016 presidential campaign.

Ex-GOP senator to Trump: Don't let ‘whack-a-doodles’ run things  —  Former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.) called on President Trump to push back on the far-right flank of his base that urged him to recently shut down the government to fund a border wall.  —  “Don't let right-wing whack …

No, Out-of-Work Lefty Journalists, “Learn to Code” Is Not a Secret Alt-Right Phrase  —  On Thursday and Friday the cause of Truth received a huge boost as two loci of lies and disinformation, BuzzFeed and Huffington Post, were hit with the first of what will be a rolling series of layoffs.

Jared Kushner, a Confident Negotiator, Finds Immigration Deal to Be Elusive  —  WASHINGTON — Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, was confident in his ability as a good-faith negotiator who could find a compromise to end the government shutdown.  —  His pitch to Democratic lawmakers was simple …

The State of the Union is a tasteless, classless spectacle.  It must go.  —  Mitch Daniels, a Post contributing columnist, is president of Purdue University and a former governor of Indiana.  —  One needn't be a hidebound traditionalist to appreciate the value of our national civic ceremonies …

Sure, I dated Kamala Harris.  So what?  —  I've been peppered with calls from the national media about my “relationship” with Kamala Harris, particularly since it became obvious that she was going to run for president.  Most of them, I have not returned.  —  Yes, we dated.  It was more than 20 years ago.

Concern around NFL that 4 officials in NFC Championship Game live in Southern California  —  In the latest twist to the simmering controversy from last Sunday's NFC Championship Game, there is some concern in league circles about the NFL's judgment in allowing four game officials who live …

Americans support investigating Trump, but many are skeptical that inquiries will be fair, new poll finds  —  The American people have mixed feelings about investigating President Trump, with clear majorities wanting newly empowered Democrats to dig into his personal finances and foreign ties …