What's next — giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to David Duke?  —  So that the right-wing, faux-outrage crowd does not have a meltdown, let me be clear: I am sorry to hear talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh has cancer.  Any decent person should hope he has a full recovery.

How Mitt Romney Decided Trump Is Guilty  —  Mitt Romney didn't want to go through with it.  —  “This has been the most difficult decision I have ever had to make in my life,” he told me yesterday afternoon in his Senate office.  Roughly 24 hours later, Romney would deliver a speech announcing …

Biden concedes Iowa was ‘a gut punch’  —  SOMERSWORTH, N.H. — Joe Biden is no longer denying his surprisingly weak performance in Iowa.  —  “I'm not going to sugarcoat it.  We took a gut punch in Iowa,” Biden said Wednesday, before cracking a joke about Iowa's botched caucuses.

TV Ratings: State of the Union Falls in Early Broadcast Numbers  —  Preliminary figures show the annual address down by double digits versus 2019.  —  The State of the Union address drew a considerably smaller audience on the broadcast networks than it did a year ago, at least in the preliminary ratings from Tuesday.

Beyond the Partisan Fight, a Wealth of Evidence About Trump and Ukraine  —  Regardless of the Senate's verdict, the impeachment inquiry, President Trump's own words and other revelations yield a narrative establishing his involvement in the pressure campaign.

Senator Doug Jones Statement on Impeachment Decision  —  “As this chapter of history draws to a close, one thing is clear: our country deserves better than this.  We must find a way to come together, to set aside partisan differences, and to focus on what we have in common as Americans.”

I believe the president, and in the president  —  George T. Conway III is a lawyer in New York and an adviser to the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC.  —  I believe the president, and in the president.  —  I believe the Senate is right to acquit the president.

Pentagon officials stunned by White House decision to block Ukraine aid, new emails show  —  Washington (CNN)Days before the July 2019 call between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, US officials were still working to expedite the delivery of Javelin anti-tank missiles to the country …

She Shunned Islam And Was Embraced By Trump World.  They Took Her Money, Then Turned On Her.  —  Rabia Kazan, a Turkish national who used to be a Trump fanatic, made a big donation to the president's campaign.  But she's not a US citizen.  —  A former rising star in MAGA world recently renounced …

This Is No Way to Beat Trump  —  Watching the Iowa caucus this year was a new experience for me.  Before the ascendancy of Donald Trump, I was an establishment conservative, one of those liberal New England Republicans whose tribe is now only of blessed memory.

Why I'm Voting to Acquit President Trump  —  Impeachment will end in the Senate.  It's time to take up consensus issues.  —  Mr. Portman is a Republican senator from Ohio.  —  On Wednesday I will join a majority of my Senate colleagues in opposing the impeachment of President Trump brought by the House of Representatives.

FBI chief: No one asked me to open probes on improper basis  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Chris Wray avoided a direct answer Wednesday when asked if President Donald Trump had asked him for investigations into political opponents, saying only that no one had requested probes based on anything other than …

Bloomberg Used Box to Boost Height as NYC Mayor, Documents Show  —  The Bloomberg campaign was quick to shoot down President Donald Trump's claim that the Democratic presidential candidate plans to use a box to boost his height at Friday's Democratic debate.

Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot: ‘Irishman’ “Was Boring,” Tarantino “Amazing,” “I Want an American Director to Win”  —  by Anonymous, as told to Scott Feinberg  —  As voting ends, a female member of the Academy's actors branch, granted anonymity to speak freely, shares which films earn her precious vote (and — gulp — why).

Board fires two leaders of the 2020 DNC Host Committee  —  The two leaders of Milwaukee's host committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention are out.  —  Late Tuesday, the board for the Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee terminated President Liz Gilbert and her chief of staff, Adam Alonso.