Politics

Just when you thought the 'Russians-did-it' meme was fading, WaPo reporters manage to find DoJ officials who say then-Senator Jeff Sessions spoke twice last year with Russia’s ambassador to the United States - encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts with Moscow during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general.

//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/5350986c-fed4-11e6-9b78-824ccab94435

In his speech to a joint session of Congress last night, Trump once again took direct aim at the violence in Chicago, saying "In Chicago, more than 4,000 people were shot last year alone –- and the murder rate so far this year has been even higher ... This is not acceptable in our society."

An internal White House strategy review on North Korean options includes the possibility of both military force and regime change to counter the country’s nuclear-weapons threat, the WSJ reports, a prospect that has some U.S. allies in the region on edge. The review comes amid recent events have strained regional stability including last month's launch by North Korea of a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, and the assassination of the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Malaysia.

Barack Obama, after making the very difficult decision to proceed with Penguin Random House to publish his and Michelle's White House memoirs in a deal rumored to net him about $60 million, is, at least according to old pal Eric Holder, ready to take his place at the helm of the democrats' Trump opposition efforts.  Of course, this breaks with the tradition upheld by most former Presidents who have chosen to not publicly criticize their successors...but the rules don't really apply to Obama now do they?

Russian and Syrian jets nearly hit U.S. forces in northern Syria on Tuesday when they attacked positions held by Syrian Democratic Forces, a US ally in the ongoing effort to expel the Islamic State from Syria, the top U.S. commander in Iraq and Syria said Wednesday.