The Week reports: President Trump is expected to approve the release of a controversial Republican memo on Friday against the firm advice of the FBI. Despite rumors that the bureau’s director, Christopher Wray, might step down as a result, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway did not appear concerned on Friday during an appearance on Fox & Friends. “The president has …

The Washington Post reports: Four years after the United States pledged to help the world fight infectious-disease epidemics such as Ebola, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is dramatically downsizing its epidemic prevention activities in 39 out of 49 countries because money is running out, U.S. government officials said. The CDC programs, part of a global health security initiative, …

The New York Daily News reports: Jesse Watters defended President Trump on Thursday night, claiming the most lurid details in the Steele dossier don’t make “any sense.” Because….who wants to sleep in a urine-soaked bed? On Thursday, Fox News host Sean Hannity raised the “golden shower” allegations detailed in the unverified Steele dossier, which claimed President Trump was compromised during …

The Washington Post reports: The president did not actually see the memo — written by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Nunes’s staff — until Wednesday afternoon, following the committee’s Monday vote to initiate its release, officials said. White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly marched the document into the Oval Office so that he and Trump …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump accused the FBI and the Justice Department of politicizing its investigations on Friday, just as the White House is expected to approve the release of a secret Republican memo alleging FBI bias against him in its Russia probe. The comment echoes Sean Hannity’s own word choice late Thursday night. While calling for the release …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: The state of Florida routinely violates the constitutional rights of its citizens by permanently revoking the right to vote for anyone convicted of a felony, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said Florida’s system unfairly relies on the personal support of the governor for citizens to regain “this fundamental right.” In …

Politico reports: Three attorneys representing Rick Gates told a federal court Thursday they are immediately withdrawing as counsel for the former Donald Trump campaign aide, who is fighting special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of him on money laundering and other charges. Lawyers Shanlon Wu, Walter Mack and Annemarie McAvoy said in a two-page motion that they would explain the reasons …

The Arizona Republic reports: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe Arpaio has given several interviews to a publication that traffics in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and on Wednesday declined an opportunity to distance himself from the extremist material. Arpaio, the controversial former Maricopa County sheriff, said he was unfamiliar with other stories on the “American Free Press” website, such as an interview …

Phoenix’s Fox affiliate reports: The Arizona House of Representatives has voted to expel Rep. Don Shooter of Yuma, after a report ordered by legislative leaders of his own party showed he engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment toward women. Shooter is believed to be the first state lawmaker in the U.S. to be voted out of his seat since …

Mass Live reports: Former Massachusetts Gov. W. Mitt Romney will reveal whether he will run for the U.S. Senate seat in two weeks. Romney tweeted on Thursday afternoon that he was “Looking forward to making an announcement on February 15th about the Utah Senate race.” Those close to the 70-year-old former presidential candidate have said he is interested in running …

“I met Chuck just briefly before allowing him to snag a ticket that was at our office, but some of the claims against Mr. Johnson are not accurate. He’s not a holocaust denier, he’s not a white supremacist, those are unfortunate characterizations of him but I did not know he was as perhaps infamous and controversial as he was when …

“Orrin — I love listening to him speak. He said once that I am the single greatest president in his lifetime — now he’s a young man, so it’s not that much. And he actually once said I’m the greatest president in the history of our country, and I said, ‘Does that include Lincoln and Washington?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: Back in 2013, the Texas megachurch run by televangelist Kenneth Copeland, a member of President Trump’s faith advisory council who recently became the proud owner of a Jesus-provided private plane, was at the center of a measles outbreak that was attributed to the church’s belief that congregants can forego vaccines because Jesus will …

CNN reports: Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN. Wray has made clear he is frustrated that President Donald Trump picked him to lead the FBI after he fired FBI Director …

The New York Daily News reports: Coachella co-owner Philip Anschutz has once again come under scrutiny for bankrolling right-wing, anti-LGBTQ organizations at odds with the progressively minded music festival. A new tax filing shows The Anschutz Foundation donated at least $325,000 between Dec. 2015 and Nov. 2016 to organizations with an explicit anti-LGBTQ mission, which was first reported by Pitchfork. …

Talking Points Memo reports: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday called on House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to remove Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) as chair of the House Intelligence Committee over his decision to edit the committee’s controversial memo before sending it to the White House for review. “The decision of Chairman Nunes and House Republicans to release …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration has stripped enforcement powers away from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau office that specializes in pursuing cases against financial firms for breaking discrimination laws, according to two people familiar with the matter and emails reviewed by The Washington Post. The move comes about two months after President Trump installed his budget chief Mick Mulvaney …

CBS News reports: President Donald Trump will speak Thursday at GOP policy retreat in West Virginia where Republicans will begin to plan out their strategy for the new year. It’s the same retreat many GOP members of Congress were traveling to Wednesday when their train struck a garbage truck in Crozet, Virginia. A man in the truck was killed. He’s …

The BBC reports: The Canadian Senate has passed a bill that changes the text of the English-language version of the national anthem to make it gender-neutral. It now awaits royal assent by the governor general to become law. The move is set to change the words “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command” in the anthem, …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump is expected to approve the release of a controversial congressional memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI, after the White House agreed to some redactions at the bureau’s request, according to senior administration officials. The redactions were the result of a review of the memo’s classified contents by White House and intelligence community officials, …