Outside the Beltway

Once again, Rudy Giuliani is contradicting his client.

The government shutdown has now entered historic territory, and the Trump Administration is moving closer to a “national emergency” or other extra-legal means to get money for his wall.

Paul Manafort’s attorneys reveal in a pleading that their client provided insider campaign data to Russian intelligence sources, something that seems an awful lot like collusion.

As the shutdown continues, there’s little sign of progress on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Christmas is behind us, but don’t expect any progress when it comes to the government shutdown, which is in its fifth day.

The government entered its third shutdown of the year with little sign of an immediate resolution.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed major reforms in Federal sentencing and related laws. As the name of the bill implies, it’s a first step, but a good first step.

Trump has selected current Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to replace John Kelly as Chief of Staff, but that’s unlikely to change how the West Wing operates.

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

President Trump’s first choice to replace John Kelly as Chief of Staff turned the job down, leading one to wonder why anyone would want the job.

The evidence against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi continues to mount. Will the Trump Administration care?

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.

In news replete with irony, it’s being reported that Ivanka Trump used a private email account to communicate about government business.

The C.I.A. has apparently concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. What will the Trump Administration do about this?

Losing the midterms is not going over well with the President.

As the Saudis continue to dissemble and put forward an utterly implausible explanation for the death of Jamal Khashoggi, the Trump Administration shows no sign of having a spine.

It’s been a month since Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Turkey. The Saudis are continuing to lie about it, and the Trump White House is letting them get away with it.

The investigation of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is inching closer to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, but it seems unlikely to impact his hold on power.

The Saudis are now apparently getting ready to push out a fall guy for the death of Jamal Khashoggi, an explanation as absurd as all the others they have offered to date.

President Trump is choosing money and moral cowardice over human life in his response to the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.

Take one name out of contention as a potential replacement for Nikki Haley at the United Nations.

Not surprisingly, it appears that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salam, who effectively runs Saudi Arabia under his father’s rule, is behind the apparent plot against Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

The evidence that Saudi Arabia murdered Washington Post columnist and American Permanent resident Jamal Khashoggi appears to be incontrovertible.

Thanks to a last-minute agreement, the United States and Canada reached an agreement for a revised version of NAFTA. It’s a got a new name, but it’s basically NAFTA 2.0.

Another day, another plea agreement in the Mueller investigation. This one could prove to be problematic for the President.

With a new trial set to start in Washington at the end of the month, reports are circulating that President Trump’s former campaign manager is looking to cut a plea deal.

Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos received a very generous sentence in return for his guilty plea.

A new book by legendary Washington reporter Bob Woodward appears to contain explosive revelations about the President and the operation of the White House.

Washington said farewell to John McCain today in a service that both remembered his spirit and his heroism, and stands as a sharp rebuke to what politics has been reduced to in America today.

Omarosa Manigault Newman, who used to be a Trump favorite, is out with a book that makes sensationalistic claims about the Trump Administration. The real story, though, is what she has on tape and how she got it.

The noose around the Trump Administration just keeps getting tighter.

Former Trump lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen is reportedly ready to tell investigators that the President is lying about his knowledge regarding the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer.

Mariia Butina, a Russian “gun rights activist, is accused of being an unregistered agent of the Russian government and attempting to influence Republican Party policies regarding Russia in an operation that pre-dates the Trump Presidential campaign.

In a new interview, former Trump attorney and ‘fixer’ Michael Cohen gives the strongest signal yet that he’s ready to cooperate with investigators.

Both President Trump and Ivanka Trump are profiting handsomely from their time in the White House.

Based on a strict reading of the Constitution, a sitting President probably does have the power to pardon himself. That doesn’t mean he should be allowed to get away with it without consequence.

A long-overdue overhaul of the way the United States vets those who access classified information is underway.

An important message from Josh Marshall.

Russia wasn’t the only nation that sent people to meet with Trump Campaign officials at Trump Tower back in 2016 regarding assistance to the Trump Campaign.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has released a treasure trove of documents related to the June 2016 meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer, and they raise far more questions than they answer.

The Leader of the Free World is, sadly, enabling atrocities.

Celebrations and a deadly day in the Middle East.

The Trump White House has leaked more than any in recent memory. Some of the leakers have explained what motivates them.

The new Secretary of State is an improvement over the worst Secretary of State in history.

Robert Mueller has some questions for the President, and the wide range of topic areas should worry President Trump significantly.

The lawyer who met with President Trump’s oldest son and other top Trump campaign officials is now admitting that she is a Russian informant.

Not surprisingly, Mike Pompeo was confirmed as America’s 70th Secretary of State today. Now, the hard work begins.

The Democratic National Committee has filed a lawsuit alleging a wide-ranging conspiracy to influence the 2016 election. As a legal document, it appears to be little more than a political stunt.

Donald Trump may be getting ready to act as his own Chief of Staff. That would be a huge mistake.

Americans actings as agents for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been working hard to manipulate the President.