I called this the minute the crash happened: Paul Ryan was onboard the train carrying lawmakers, a whole bunch of lawmakers, to a high-level GOP retreat. A truck kamikaze rammed it, a cement truck, a big truck, a dump truck kamikaze rammed it. And Paul Ryan was on board. There’s one dead. A bunch of people injured. But what’s the …

The Miami Herald reports: Miami Gardens Congresswoman Frederica Wilson criticized Donald Trump’s handling of congressionally ordered Russia sanctions Tuesday night during a boycott of his state of the union speech, suggesting the president has taken it easy on Russia because “they have something on him.” “The House and Senate voted on all kinds of sanctions against Russia. Now, the president …

“Americans are their own fact-checkers. The stock market is something they know about because they’re part of the investor class. And so, people know, they have their own facts and figures, in terms of meaning which facts and figures are important to them. I just have the faith in people to see through that.” – Propaganda Minister Kellyanne Conway, responding …

The Hill reports: President Trump’s reelection campaign announced that it ended 2017 with $22.1 million in the bank, touting the “grassroots support” that boosted fundraising in his first year in office. Trump’s campaign said it raised $6.9 million in the fourth fundraising quarter of 2017, which includes fundraising from October to the end of December. Of that total, about $2.1 …

CNN reports: Emails obtained by CNN show the FBI agent at the center of a Capitol Hill storm played a key role in a controversial FBI decision that upended Hillary Clinton’s campaign just days before the 2016 election: the letter to Congress by then-FBI Director James Comey announcing the bureau was investigating newly discovered Clinton emails. The new revelation about …

British television host Piers Morgan has written a lengthy Daily Mail column in which he lists more than a dozen tweets posted last night by anti-Trump celebrities. He then comes to this conclusion: On and on it went, with these stars and many more assuming America agreed with them. But it turned out the vast majority of Americans DIDN’T agree …

Talking Points Memo reports: In a rare public statement, the FBI on Wednesday expressed “grave concerns” about the accuracy of a congressional Republican memo that purports to show anti-Trump prejudice among senior FBI and Justice Department officials. It’s extremely unlikely that the highly critical comment would be sent out without the approval of top Trump appointees at the FBI and …

Philadelphia’s ABC affiliate reports: Rep. Bob Brady of Philadelphia, a plainspoken former carpenter and cheerleader for the city, will not seek another term in Congress, giving up the seat he’s held for two decades, his office said Wednesday.Brady revealed the news to reporters and Democratic Party ward leaders in Philadelphia, his hometown and the city where he has been the …

Variety reports: Viewership of President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address is down slightly in the Nielsen ratings compared to his first televised address to Congress last February as well as President Barack Obama’s first such address. On broadcast, Tuesday’s coverage of the speech drew 7.1 million viewers on NBC, 7 million on CBS, 5.4 million on ABC, …

Twitter lit up last night when the infamous “Rage Furby” troll was spotted in the SOTU gallery and now we know how he got there. The Daily Beast reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a conservative Republican firebrand, was the lawmaker responsible for inviting the controversial internet troll Chuck Johnson to Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. Johnson’s presence in …

Mediaite reports: If Fox News acts like the state-run-media of the Trump administration, as some media critics have suggested, then the Daily Caller is its younger, more embarrassing state-media sibling. And the website finally got some of that White House attention they’ve been craving by publishing an article fawning over the number of claps the president received during his State …

“Look how brilliant God is. The Lord controls life and death. It’s possible that if Antonin Scalia had lived, the urgency to support this president and his nominations might not have been so strong. You might have had Hillary Clinton in the White House and you might have had maybe three appointments made during the next four years, during the …

NJ.com reports: In a shocking turnaround, the U.S. Justice Department has dropped its case against Sen. Robert Menendez. In a court hearing in Newark today, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the corruption indictment against the New Jersey Democrat. Last week, a federal judge had acquitted Menendez and his co-defendant, Salomon Melgen, of seven of the 18 counts against them after …

It’s a stampede for the exits. The Hill reports: Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced Wednesday that he will not run for reelection. “There is a time to come and a time to go. This is the right time, for me, to leave politics and return to the justice system,” he said in a statement …

Politico reports: An Amtrak train transporting members of Congress and staff to a Republican retreat in West Virginia struck a truck near Charlottesville, Virginia Wednesday morning, according to multiple sources. No serious injuries were reported on the train. The status of the driver of the truck could not be determined, but the person was not believed to be injured either. …

Bloomberg reports: FBI Director Christopher Wray told the White House he opposes release of a classified Republican memo alleging bias at the FBI and Justice Department because it contains inaccurate information and paints a false narrative, according to a person familiar with the matter. The memo on actions early in the probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign is …

The New York Times reports: Kevin Spacey is out. Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear are in. The sixth and final season of “House of Cards” will introduce new characters as it tries to move past a sexual misconduct scandal that put the Netflix series in peril and forced out its biggest star. Mr. Spacey, who played the central character, Frank …

Fallout from the Fitbit story: Secretary of Defense James Mattis is actively considering banning US military and civilian personnel from bringing their personal cell phones into the Pentagon, the world’s largest office building, according to three US defense officials familiar with an ongoing review of the issue. The officials told CNN that while the issue is under review and a …

The Hill reports: Late-night host Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday channeled his impersonation of President Trump in a skit showing preparations for the State of the Union. In the sketch for NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” the late-night host speaks to individuals impersonating White House counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway and former President Barack Obama. “I can’t believe …

CNBC is reporting that CDC head Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald resigned this morning. Yesterday multiple outlets reported that she purchased stock in a global Big Tobacco company after Trump appointed her to the post. After assuming the CDC leadership July 7, Fitzgerald bought tens of thousands of dollars in new stock holdings in at least a dozen companies later that month as …