Special counsel needs to investigate FBI, Justice Dept. — now

The Washington Post reported that a former top FBI official, Peter Strzok, who had been assigned to and then removed from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, had "exchanged politically charged texts disparaging [President Donald Trump and supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton" and that Strzok was "also a key player in the investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server." This is a blockbuster revelation, carrying the possibility of shattering public confidence in a number of long-held assumptions about the criminal-justice system generally and the FBI and the Justice Department specifically.

Letter: Kneeling students protected by Constitution

Regarding two letters on the Sunday, Nov. 12, Opinion page ["Silence deafening after students take a knee"] and ["Spotsy football players' behavior should be addressed"]: Letter writers should be aware that the Spotsylvania County Public Schools' student code of conduct does not address students standing for the pledge or the anthem for good reason. In West Virginia State Board of Education v.

Cuomo’s Puerto Rico audition

Count Gov. Cuomo among the Democratic leaders who are responding to the truculent mood sweeping the party's base by serving up tough, pointed critiques of the Republican leadership in Congress and the White House. "In my opinion, the federal government should be ashamed of itself," Cuomo thundered from a podium at Kennedy Airport, condemning the Trump administration's response to the devastation in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria.

Manafort ghost-wrote an op-ed defending himself with the help of a Russian colleague

Court documents filed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Monday reveal former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was ghost-writing an editorial alongside a Russian colleague that was meant to sway public opinion in his favor. Manafort, who was indicted by Mueller's team on conspiracy and money laundering charges on October 30 , had worked on the editorial as recently as November 30. The documents, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., indicate that Manafort was effectively attempting to try his own case in the press, something for which U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson had already admonished him, after Manafort's lawyers spoke to the media following his initial October 30 hearing.

The populist mask is slipping for Trump and the GOP

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan , President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are shown in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Sept. 5. Dec. 1, 2017, will be remembered as the day when the vast majority of Americans fully grasped the consequences of the 2016 elections.

Kathleen Parker: Big boxes and small towns

Even though an estimated 115 million Americans rushed to malls and big box stores for Black Friday sales, others were reporting that the annual spend-a-thon has lost its bang.Gone is the thrill of the stampede, the fist-fights over a big screen, the trample to grab the last Soggy Doggy. In a Washington Post story, one Alabama veteran of weeklong parking lot campouts lamented that his Best Buy store had closed owing to Americans' changing spending habits.