Justice Dept. won't charge Andrew McCabe, the former FBI official who authorized the investigation of President Trump  —  The Justice Department will not bring charges against former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe for lying to investigators about a media disclosure, according to people familiar …

Bernie Sanders leaps to first among Texas Democrats in latest UT/TT Poll  —  Sanders now leads the Democratic presidential candidates among Texas voters, but Donald Trump maintains a slight lead over each of the top Democrats in the race, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

New front-runner?  Mike Bloomberg edges out Joe Biden in new Florida survey  —  A shocking St. Pete Polls survey late last month has Mike Bloomberg surging to second in the Florida presidential primary.  The newest version from the same outfit, released Friday, shows Bloomberg …

Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned trip to the White House after Trump slammed the phone down on him in a moment of ‘apoplectic’ fury  — UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned trip to meet Donald Trump next month after a furious row between the two men.

US's Pelosi urges countries to steer clear of Huawei for 5G  —  MUNICH (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appealed Friday to an audience in Germany for countries to steer clear of Chinese tech giant Huawei as they build their next-generation cellular networks, adding her voice to pressure from the Trump administration.

Democrats are wasting time fighting over policies the Senate will never pass  —  It was a sight to behold: a former vice president, two senators and a former mayor on a stage in New Hampshire a week ago, arguing over the impossible.  Would Sen. Bernie Sanders deliver Medicare-for-all immediately, as he promised to do?

She pushed Trump to exit the Paris climate agreement and roll back environmental rules.  And she's returning to EPA as chief of staff.  —  One of EPA's first Trump appointees, Mandy Gunasekara has run a ‘pro-Trump nonprofit’ since leaving the agency a year ago.

An Unrestrained Trump May End Up Trapping Himself  —  The Senate pushes back on war powers and a Fed nominee, while a White House purge might undercut the president's clout.  —  I'm not sure what the conventional wisdom is about the current health of Donald Trump's presidency …

U.S. Readied Sanctions on Russian Oligarch's Associates—Then Mysteriously Backed Off  —  “Somebody overruled [Treasury], essentially,” one sanctions expert said.  “That's the most likely scenario.”  —  Something strange happened in mid-December involving Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch.

How Many People Might One Person With Coronavirus Infect?  —  Researchers in U.K. offer clues as to how contagious Covid-19 virus could be  —  When an infection erupts the way coronavirus has exploded in Wuhan, China, and elsewhere in the world, public-health experts try to gauge the potential …

A President So Unhinged That Even Bill Barr Says He's Out of Control  —  Welcome to the post-acquittal Trump Presidency.  —  President Trump is not moving on.  He is not getting over it.  In the eight days since his acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate, Trump has shown all too clearly …

We Checked the Iowa Caucus Math.  Here's Where It Didn't Add Up.  —  Caucus volunteers tally the final round votes.  Then they divide the county delegates among the viable candidates based on their vote shares.  —  They must round down or up to the nearest whole number to award the delegates.

The Benefits of Being Joe Biden's Brother  —  Jim Biden has been at his brother's side at nearly every critical junction in Joe's life.  He's also repeatedly tapped into Joe's political network for help with his finances, and used Joe's fame to promote his business ventures. … Jim Biden was in a bind.

Facebook reverses on paid political messages that aren't ads  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook decided Friday to allow a type of paid political message that had sidestepped many of the social network's rules governing political ads, in a reversal that highlights difficulties tech companies …

Civic Religion and the Secular Jew  —  IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE Bernie Sanders's inauguration.  Not because it's difficult to believe that Sanders could win the presidency—that seems more plausible than ever.  But in the sense that it's hard to envision what the ceremony would look like.

General John Kelly, Trump Stooge, Is No Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, Patriot  —  Vindman saw something, and said something.  Kelly saw plenty, and kept it to himself for more than two years.  —  BEAST INSIDE  —  John Kelly's half-assed, just-the-tip critique of Donald Trump …

Culinary Union officials face profanity-laced attacks after scorecard says Sanders would ‘end’ their health care  —  Geoconda Arguello-Kline, left, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union announced that the culinary will not endorse a Democratic presidential candidate in the primary.

U.S. population will decline faster without steady immigration, Census report says  —  Limiting immigration over the next four decades would do little to stop the racial diversification of the United States — but it could push the country into a population decline, according to a new report by the U.S. Census Bureau.

MIT: Hackers could alter ballots in widely used voting app  —  CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — An internet voting app that has been used in pilots in West Virginia, Denver, Oregon and Utah has vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to change a person's vote without detection …

Media Will Never Understand The Country So Long As They Keep Hating Trump Voters  —  The mainstream media will spend a lot of effort this year reporting on Trump voters, but very little effort trying to understand or empathize with them.  —  I've spent much of the past two weeks in Iowa …