Outside the Beltway

The publisher of the National Enquirer admits that it made payments to a Playboy model for the purpose of protecting Donald Trump’s campaign for President.

The President’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison for his role in assisting the President in various scandals and cover-ups.

Senator Mitch McConnell and others are blocking a criminal justice reform bill currently pending in the Senate.

The verdict of last month’s elections was clear, but Republicans still don’t seem to get it.

This month’s budget fight is likely the last chance the President will have to get any funding for his border wall.

This time, the rumors about John Kelly leaving appear to be true.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the U.S, Attorney for the Southern District of New York have filed sentencing memos that directly implicate the President in a series of felonies.

Jobs Growth in November was healthy but fell short of expectations.

There’s yet another rumor that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly could be on the way out.

Trump has reportedly told aides that he doesn’t really care about reports of an approaching crisis of the budget deficit and national debt because he’ll be out of office before it becomes a problem.

Honoring the 41st President cast a poor light on the 45th.

Citing substantial cooperation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller is recommending no jail time for former Trump associate Michael Flynn.

Michael Avenatti, the California lawyer best known for representing Stormy Daniels in her claims against the President, is dropping a bid for the Democratic nomination that never seemed like a serious effort.

Notwithstanding the temptation to do something, both the United States and NATO need to resist the temptation to get involved in the latest conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The 2020 campaign is already heating up, and California Senator Kamala Harris could be one of the first serious candidates for President to throw her hat in the ring.

Despite aggressive vaccination efforts, measles cases surged worldwide last year. You can “thank” that anti-vaccination movement.

Presidents Trump and Xi have agree to a “90 day cease fire” on new tariffs. This means that Trump will not raise tariffs on Chinese imports that were scheduled to take effect on January 1st of next year. The tariffs will go into effect if the two countries cannot reach an agreement within that 90 day time frame.

Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen plead guilty to lying to Congress about Trump’s business dealings with Russia, and has agreed to cooperate with Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is reportedly considering a bid for the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 2020.

In the end, the race between Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy was not even close.

President Trump’s job approval numbers continue to be worse than those of any President since the end of World War Two.

A brewing fight over funding for the President’s border wall could throw a monkey wrench into plans to pass a budget by next Friday.

Even as its leader continues to deny the reality of Global Climate Change, the Trump Administration has released an utterly devastating report on the impact of such change over the course of the coming decades.

Preliminary figures indicate that voter turnout in the 2018 midterms was higher than it has been for any midterm election in fifty-two years.

Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has made several mistakes since Election Day, but she’s likely to win tomorrow’s runoff election.

The morning show co-hosts tied the knot at a secret ceremony at the National Archives.

The current economic recovery is nearly ten years old. It isn’t going to last forever, though, and that could pose a problem for the GOP in 2020.

It isn’t about foreign policy, it is about self-serving manipulation of the public.

President Trump’s latest attack on the Federal Judiciary prompted a rare rebuke from the Chief Justice of the United States.

The evidence that the GOP lost the midterms because of public repudiation of President Trump is overwhelming. The GOP will either accept this and learn from it, or they will not.

Sherrod Brown pulled off the only statewide Democratic victory in Ohio on November 6th. Because of that, he’s being looked at as a potential 2020 candidate for President.

In what has to qualify as one of the most horrifying displays of moral depravity on the international stage, the Trump Administration is saying it doesn’t really care if the Saudi Crown Prince is a murderer or not.

Once again, Republicans in California find themselves looking up and seeing a lot of desolation. They need to find a way to bounce back.

Despite a court ruling that says otherwise, the Trump White House appears prepared to once again revoke the press pass of CNN reporter Jim Acosta.

Is Donald Trump thinking about dumping Mike Pence in 2020? Probably not, but that’s not going to stop the speculation.

Now that the election is over, President Trump and his sycophants in the right-wing media seem to have completely forgotten about the “invading” “caravan” of Central American asylum seekers.

Election Day 2018 saw Republican representation in the New Jersey Congressional Delegation nearly entirely decimated.

Senator Jeff Flake is threatening to vote against President Trump’s judicial nominees unless he gets a floor vote on a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Donald Trump is engaging in another round of baseless and bizarre conspiracy theories about alleged voter fraud.

It would be a rather quixotic effort, but Jeff Flake isn’t ruling out challenging the President for the Republican nomination in 2020.

President Trump recently blamed former President Obama for “losing” Crimea. It was never ours to lose.

CNN fires back in the Administration’s ongoing war with the news media.

Starbucks Founder Howard Schultz is apparently considering running for President.

Democrats have flipped the Senate seat currently held by Republican Jeff Flake.

Over the weekend, it was confirmed that the man once referred to as Vladimir Putin’s favorite Congressman was defeated in last week’s midterms.

Claiming it was because of the weather President Trump chose to skip a visit to a cemetery at the site of one of the bloodiest battles involving Americans in World War One.

Michelle Obama can’t forgive Donald Trump for his role in spreading the racist birther conspiracy. I can’t say I blame her.

New reports indicate that Donald Trump was closely involved in the efforts to buy the silence of a Playboy model and a former adult film star.

The Senate race in Arizona has been close since Election Night, but Democratic nominee Kyrsten Sinema has pulled ahead.

My latest for The National Interest.