How the Russia Inquiry Began: A Campaign Aide, Drinks and Talk of Political Dirt  —  WASHINGTON — During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia's top diplomat …

Police kill a man at his home while responding to a fake call  —  (CNN)A prank call to police led to a man's death at a home in Wichita, Kansas — and a man in California has been arrested in connection with the crime.  —  It's another example of swatting, or a prank in which people falsely …

VP Mike Pence gets message from Aspen neighbors: Make America Gay Again  —  For Vice President Mike Pence, the message was unmistakable and the banner that carried it unmissable.  —  “Make America Gay Again,” the rainbow banner reads.  —  Neighbors of the home near Aspen where Pence and his wife …

Iran Confronts 3rd Day of Protests, With Calls for Khamenei to Quit  —  Iran's leaders were confronted by unauthorized protests in major cities for the third straight day on Saturday, with crowds aiming their anger at the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and some demanding that he step down.

Republican Attacks on Mueller and F.B.I. Open New Rift in G.O.P.  —  WASHINGTON — A growing campaign by President Trump's most ardent supporters to discredit the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, and the law enforcement agencies assisting his investigation is opening new fissures …

Trump Justice Department Pushes for Citizenship Question on Census, Alarming Experts  —  “This is a recipe for sabotaging the census,” said one.  The administration's stated reason for the controversial move: protecting civil rights.  —  The Justice Department is pushing for a question …

Donald Trump Is a Consequential President.  Just Not in the Ways You Think.  —  On January 20, 2017, as President Donald Trump began his inaugural address, a cold rain began to fall.  —  A few hours later, Trump claimed the rain had not begun to fall.  —  “The crowd was unbelievable today …

The 7 most important polling trends of 2017  —  Washington (CNN)2017 is almost in the books — and so are another 12 months of public opinion polling.  —  The calendar year that President Donald Trump spent settling into the White House has been marked by consistently low ratings from a majority of the American public.

Erica Garner Never Stopped Fighting  —  In July 2014, when Erica Garner was 23 years old, her father was killed by police officers on Staten Island.  In a video taken by an onlooker, white NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo places Eric in a chokehold, pressing his face to the ground while he is handcuffed …

Facebook Says it is Deleting Accounts at the Direction of the U.S. and Israeli Governments  —  In September of last year, we noted that Facebook representatives were meeting with the Israeli Government to determine which Facebook accounts of Palestinians should be deleted on the ground that they constitute “incitement.”

Schenectady men charged in Troy killings  —  Blood-covered knife was found at scene  —  TROY — Two Schenectady men were arraigned on several murder charges Saturday morning following the brutal slayings of two women and two children.  —  Justin C. Mann and James W. White are each charged …

Roseanne Barr threatens to retire in huff over Twitter feuding with liberals  —  Roseanne Barr, who is scheduled to return to TV in late March, announced on Twitter Friday that she's fed up and retiring.  Maybe.  —  " i won't be censored or silence chided or corrected and continue to work.

How the Trump era is changing the federal bureaucracy … Nearly a year into his takeover of Washington, President Trump has made a significant down payment on his campaign pledge to shrink the federal bureaucracy, a shift long sought by conservatives that could eventually bring the workforce down to levels not seen in decades.

Judge Says Pennsylvania Election Districts Give Republicans an Edge, but Are Not Illegal  —  A Pennsylvania judge said Friday the state's Congressional districts were drawn to give Republicans an advantage, but they did not violate the state Constitution, ruling in a high-profile gerrymandering case …

Trump is right about the FBI  —  Trump lashes out at top leaders of his own FBI  —  Paul Callan is a CNN legal analyst, a former New York homicide prosecutor and current counsel at the New York law firm of Edelman & Edelman PC, focusing on wrongful conviction and civil rights cases.

Democrats think 2018 will be a good year, but are they realistic about their own problems?  —  Thanks mostly to President Trump, Democrats believe they are poised for good things in 2018: the possibility of taking control of the House and gains elsewhere in the midterm elections.

Gov. Brownback, it's time to resign and let Kansas move on  —  By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board  —  Governor Brownback, it's time to walk away.  —  As a convert to Catholicism — someone who wasn't just born into the faith, but chose it — maybe think of it this way …