Jack Smith tells Congress he could prove Trump engaged in a ‘criminal scheme’ to overturn 2020 election  —  Smith testified about his investigations into Trump during a closed-door hearing with members of the House Judiciary Committee.  —  WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Jack Smith told …

FBI's No. 2 quietly tells colleagues he's moving on  —  Speculation and anticipation have gripped the nation's premier law enforcement agency over the future of one of its top leaders, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.  —  Bongino has quietly told confidants he plans to formally leave …

Republicans defy Speaker Johnson to force House vote on extending ACA subsidies  —  Four centrist Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday and signed onto a Democratic-led petition that will force a House vole on extending for three years an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy …

His Vanity Fair photos of Trumpworld blew up online.  We called to talk.  —  Every line, spot, blemish and blood vessel was captured by Christopher Anderson's lens.  What was he thinking?  —  On Tuesday, Vanity Fair published a two-part story by Chris Whipple about the inner circle …

American Academy of Pediatrics loses HHS funding after criticizing RFK Jr.  —  HHS cuts key AAP grants, citing concerns about “identity-based language” and insufficient focus on agency priorities.  The organization said the cuts could harm child health.

The Man Who Rules the Country Presides Over Nothing  —  There is a presidency at work in Washington, but it is not clear that there is a president at work in the Oval Office.  —  Ask Donald Trump about the goings on of his administration, and there is a good chance he'll defer to a deputy rather than answer the question.

National Center for Atmospheric Research to Be Dismantled, Trump Administration Says  —  Russell Vought, the White House budget director, called the laboratory a source of “climate alarmism.”  —  The Trump administration said it will be dismantling the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado …

White House adds plaques below Biden and Obama portraits, calling them ‘the worst President in American history’ and ‘divisive’  —  Newest additions appear to be part of the administration's ongoing ‘troll’ campaign against former presidents and Trump's opponents

Judge lifts Trump administration limits on lawmaker visits to ICE jails … The Biden appointee noted that the seven-day notice requirement complicated lawmakers' ability to view real-time conditions at facilities immigrants have long complained are overcrowded, unsanitary and unsafe.

Senate passes defense bill that defies Trump and forces sharing of boat strike videos … Lawmakers are using the sprawling policy bill to demand the Pentagon hand over unedited videos of strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats near Latin America.  The bill restricts a quarter …

They prosecuted the Capitol rioters.  Now the rioters and the DOJ are after them.  —  After Trump's mass pardons of the U.S. Capitol rioters, some have gained influence inside the Justice Department, meeting with officials to push for prosecutions of the federal lawyers who once helped convict them, Reuters found.

Voters Give Democrats In Congress A Record Low Job Approval But Still Might Vote For Them In 2026, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Majority Think Trump's Use Of Presidential Power Goes Too Far  — mail_outline  —  Heading into a year with midterm elections …

Inside the Trump Administration's Man-Made Hunger Crisis  —  On July 18, a mild, overcast night in Nairobi, Kenya, a team of President Donald Trump's top foreign aid advisers ducked into a meeting room at the Tribe Hotel, their luxury accommodations in the city's diplomatic quarter, for a private dinner.

Harvard Secretly Investigates Students Over Larry Summers Video on Epstein  —  The students face discipline for recording Mr. Summers, the former Harvard president, discussing his ties to Jeffrey Epstein in a Harvard class.  —  Harvard officials have opened a secret disciplinary investigation …

Senator Reaches Damning Conclusions After Classified Briefing With Hegseth, Rubio  —  Sen. Chris Murphy trashed a meeting with the Cabinet duo about the Trump administration's boat bombings.  —  Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said a classified meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth …

An A+++++  Economy, My A++  —  Trump made big boasts but he isn't delivering  —  When Politico recently asked Donald Trump to grade the current U.S. economy, he replied “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.”  He made this boast at a time when actual economic data were still scarce …

Norman Podhoretz, 1930-2025  —  My father died tonight, December 16, a month shy of his 96th birthday.  Norman Podhoretz passed peacefully and without pain, with a new translation of The Odyssey on his desk that had been sent to him by his friend Roger Hertog.

A retired policeman was jailed over an anti-Trump meme.  Now he's suing.  —  Attorneys for 61-year-old Larry Bushart say a Tennessee sheriff violated the First Amendment: “In America, we do not jail people for political speech.” … A retired Tennessee policeman who spent more than a month …

Trump Dangles Cash Payments to Buoy Voters' Views of the Economy  —  With tariffs unpopular and prices still high, the White House has teased the promise of tariff rebates and large tax refunds next year.  —  Tariffs are unpopular, prices remain stubbornly high and Americans are souring on President Trump's handling of the economy.

Senators Press FBI Over Failure to Investigate Epstein's Lawyer and Accountant  —  The FBI never interviewed Darren Indyke or Richard Kahn about their work for Epstein; they deny knowing about Epstein's crimes  —  A group of Democratic senators is asking the Justice Department to explain …

Trump administration admits to targeting blue states for energy grant cuts  —  Justice Department lawyers argue in a court filing that it is constitutional for the administration to withhold funding based on partisan politics. … Government reporters Meryl Kornfield and Hannah Natanson …

Senators freeze Coast Guard admiral's promotion over swastika, noose policy  —  Adm. Kevin Lunday had condemned both symbols and directed they be prohibited, but a new workplace harassment policy downgrading them to “potentially divisive” was allowed to take effect.  —  Just now