It’s about to get much tougher for Donald Trump to doubt the intelligence on Russia’s hacking

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. on Jan. 5 told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia meddled in the U.S. election through hacking, propaganda and fake news. President-elect Donald Trump will get a long-awaited intelligence briefing on Russia's alleged hacking to influence the 2016 election on Friday.

Trump revealed the impotence of celebrities

Donald Trump Trump revealed the impotence of celebrities Washington Post to add more than 60 journalists in 2017 GOP rep Duffy considering Senate run in 2018: report MORE 's lack of star power at his inauguration on January 20th, here's a telling story from the campaign to look back on. The date was November 5, just three days before the election.

Will Trump drop populism like a bad habit?

President-elect Donald Trump waves to members of the media after a meeting with military leaders at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 21. Disdain for Beltway insiders and suspicion that the rich have the system rigged were at the heart of President-elect Donald Trump's campaign. He correctly perceived how badly Hillary Clinton's conflicts, courting of Wall Street and corruption would turn off voters.

Foreign Meddling in Our Vote? Remember How This Feels

As we prepare to enter a surreal new era of American politics, Greg Kafoury, one of the nation's most tenacious litigators and a longtime CounterPuncher, has stepped forward with a generous matching grant proposal for the last month of the year. Greg will match ALL donations of $25 and more up to a total of $5000.

The Anti-Trump Uprising: Forging a Path Forward in Uncertain Times

As we prepare to enter a surreal new era of American politics, Greg Kafoury, one of the nation's most tenacious litigators and a longtime CounterPuncher, has stepped forward with a generous matching grant proposal for the last month of the year. Greg will match ALL donations of $25 and more up to a total of $5000.

FBI and CIA give differing accounts to lawmakers on Russia’s motives in 2016 hacks

CIA briefers told senators in a closed-door briefing it was now "quite clear" that electing Trump was Russia's goal, according to officials. In a secure meeting room under the Capitol last week, lawmakers held in their hands a classified letter written by colleagues in the Senate summing up a secret, new CIA assessment of Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election.

Fake news story led gunman to popular DC pizzeria, police say

Edgar Maddison Welch, 28 of Salisbury, N.C., surrenders to police Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Washington. Welch, who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place, fired an assault rifle inside the restaurant on Sunday injuring no one, police and news reports said.

In a race to the finish, Obama administration presses ahead with ambitious rules

President Barack Obama talks with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016. As the future Trump administration begins to take shape, the Obama White House is engaged in a frenzied, final effort to put in place as many new rules and regulations as time allows.

Director Of The NSA Goes ROGUE, Travels To Meet Trump Amid Calls For His Ousting

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Michael Rogers testifies at the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington March 11, 2014. REUTERS/Gary Cameron A top U.S. intelligence official is being considered to take over for the very man who recommended his removal from office for administrative failures.

Confirmed: Trump Campaign Was In Regular Contact With Russians

When news broke Thursday that the Trump campaign had been in contact with Russia, it landed with a light tap instead of the earthquake it should have caused. It didn't, largely because the first article seemed to indicate that they had also been in contact with the Clinton campaign as a matter of course.

Jay Faison’s Expensive, Maddening Quest to Save the Planet

Faison speaks at a panel put on by the Washington Post called "Party Platform: Energy and Environment," at Butcher and the Brewer outside the Republican National Convention. When Jay Faison, one of the Republican Party's most generous patrons, flew to Cleveland for its national convention in July, things weren't looking good for anyone concerned about the health of the planet.

Talking presidential politics with ‘Dr. Bob’

The normally wonky annual meeting of the Southside Planning District Commission came with a twist this year - an election year twist, that is. Robert Holsworth, a former VCU professor and political analyst who has earned renown in the pundit ranks as "Dr. Bob," regaled local officials and planners with his observations on the 2016 presidential election as guest speaker at the event, held Thursday night in Chase City.

Networks air 20-minute Trump ‘commercial’ before statement

Donald Trump's renouncement of birtherism on Friday came with some media gamesmanship that compelled television news networks to air 20 minutes of endorsements by retired military men before the candidate briefly got to the point. "We all got Rick-rolled," said CNN's Jake Tapper, a reference to the Internet prank of replacing an expected link with a video of singer Rick Astley's 1987 hit, "Never Gonna Give You Up."

Donald Trump campaign hires Citizens United president

Donald Trump's new deputy campaign manager is the longtime president of Citizen United - the conservative non-profit infamously known for helping to scale back regulations on political spending and OKing unlimited buys for corporations. "A friend of mine for many years," Trump told the Washington Post .

First Read’s Morning Clips: On the Border

From Benjy Sarlin and Hallie Jackson : "Immigration experts across the political and ideological spectrum are eagerly awaiting any clarity they can get after parsing through a blizzard of inscrutable quotes from Trump and his campaign." More, from the Washington Post: "PeA a Nieto last Friday invited both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to visit Mexico, his office said in a statement provided to The Washington Post on Tuesday night.