Outside the Beltway

Attorney General William Barr has opened a new investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation, a move that seems suspiciously political.

The replacement of Anthony Kennedy with Brett Kavanaugh is already having a significant impact.

The Saudis tortured an American citizen, but the Trump Administration doesn’t care.

American military intervention in Venezuela would make the situation in that country worse, not better.

And a reminder about how little the current POTUS understands.

The cases of Ralph Northam and Mark Herring raise a question of when, if ever, something we did in the past should follow us for the rest of our lives.

William Barr, who served as Attorney General under President George H.W. Bush, has been selected to replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.

National Security Adviser John Bolton offered an utterly absurd explanation for why he had not listened to the tape of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

The Saudi Foreign Minister expanded on his nation’s utterly implausible explanation for the death of Jamal Khashoggi

The Saudi Arabian Government is finally acknowledging that Jamal Khashoggi is dead. Their explanation for his death, though, is too absurd to be believed.

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.

The evidence linking the Saudi Crown Prince to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi seems irrefutable.

Saudi Arabia is reportedly developing an explanation for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi that defies credulity.

Part III is here (a lot sooner than Part II was).

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

A quick hit and run post to provide a proper definition.

Reports about tension between Defense Secretary James Mattis and President Trump are becoming louder, and it’s being suggested that Mattis could be out of office after the midterms.

After four days of hearings, the fate of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court seems assured.

The first day of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings was much ado about pretty much nothing, but then that can be used to describe a process whose outcome is pretty much foreordained.

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.

In his final words to his fellow Senators, and to his fellow Americans, Senator John McCain left a legacy, and a challenge.

Throughout the War On Terror, John McCain stood out as a strong moral voice against the use of torture against prisoners. For that he deserves the thanks of a grateful nation.

Senator John McCain has died at the age of 81,

Another incident involving what clearly seems to be the inappropriate use of force against an African-American man.

We may finally get a ruling applying the Excessive Fine Clause to the states and limiting the ability of police to confiscate property.

Donald Trump said he wishes people would ‘sit up and pay attention’ to him the way they do in North Korea when Kim Jong Un speaks.

President Trump continues to dismiss concerns about Kim Jong Un’s brutality, and to lavish praise on a man who has a considerable amount of blood on his hands.

Trump spent much of Tuesday praising a dictator who has murdered and imprisoned millions of people. Then he returned to attacking the democratically elected leader of one of our closest allies.

As expected, Gina Haspel was confirmed as C.I.A. Director yesterday despite her controversial record when it comes to torture.

At least one red state Democrat will be voting against Gina Haspel.

With a third Democrat crossing the aisle to support her, Gina Haspel now has the votes she needs to become the next C.I.A. Director.

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

The White House isn’t apologizing for an aide who made a joke about John McCain’s most likely terminal illness. That shouldn’t be surprising.

When it comes to the Trump White House, the fish rots from the head down.

Another data point demonstrating that a distinguished military career doesn’t preclude being an awful human being or a crackpot.

Gina Haspel faced some tough questions from Democrats regarding her role in the C.I.A.’s post-9/11 torture programs, but she’s likely to be confirmed anyway.

With the start of her confirmation hearings just days away, Gina Haspel’s nomination to be C.I.A. Director is by no means secure.

Despite facing headwinds in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mike Pompeo will probably be confirmed as the next Secretary of State. That’s unfortunate.

The network’s longtime “strategic analyst” is “ashamed” of his association because they’ve become a “propaganda machine.”

ProPublica has retracted an explosive but erroneous report about the nominee to be the next CIA Director.

The nominations of Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel could be in trouble in the Senate.

By all accounts, Gina Haspel is exceedingly well qualified to be the next C.I.A. Director, but she has a troubling past that the Senate will need to at least force her to answer questions about.

Rex Tillerson was an awful Secretary of State who simply had to go, It’s quite possible his successor will be an even greater disaster.

Nine years later, at least one member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee is admitting what seemed at the time a rather obvious fact.

Next up: Pompeo

The statute of limitations has expired. But he should never have been asked the question to begin with.

My former home state executes more people per capita than any other state in the union. It has not gotten much better at it.

Here’s one vote for ending this annoying practice.

The Bergdahl case comes to an end.

President Trump continues his war on one of the most important guardians of American democracy.