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 …

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 …

Trump Administration Aims to Strip More Foreign-Born Americans of Citizenship  —  An official with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it would prioritize “those who've unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship.”  —  The Trump administration plans to ramp up efforts to strip …

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 …

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

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

Hegseth overhauling chaplain corps, targeting ‘new age’ concepts  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday he is overhauling the military's chaplain corps, which provide religious and spiritual support to members of the armed forces and their families, saying he intended to target “new age” concepts.

Trump Told by Alan Dershowitz Constitutionality of Third Term Is Unclear  —  Trump's former lawyer presented him with his forthcoming book that concludes the Constitution is ambiguous on the question  —  President Trump on Tuesday received and discussed a draft copy of a book by lawyer Alan Dershowitz …

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 …

Americans weary of Trump's executive authority, military action in Venezuela, Quinnipiac poll finds … But the president is continuing to hold open the possibility of more action against Venezuela. … On Tuesday, he ordered a blockade on the country, targeting sanctioned oil tankers …

Trump admin broke spending deal agreement to halt mass layoffs, judge says … “The government did what it was ordered not to do,” she later added.  —  Illston said she would issue another order — at least the third in the case — that will again ban the administration from initiating …

‘You see this news?’:  What Charlie Kirk's alleged killer told friends after the attack  —  A patchwork of social interactions and a trail of online posts provide a view into Tyler Robinson's life and his beliefs, a Post examination found.  —  Fifty-five minutes before he allegedly shot …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

Trump's Attempt to Deport Chinese Dissident Guan Heng is Part of an Awful Pattern  —  The Trump Administration's effort to deport Chinese dissident Guan Heng has rightly drawn widespread outrage and condemnation.  Guan is a hero for his exposure of the Chinese government's oppression …

What Is an American?  —  There are two competing visions now emerging on the American right, and they are incompatible.  One vision of American identity is based on lineage, blood and soil: Inherited attributes matter most.  The purest form of an American is a so-called heritage American …

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

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.