The Intel: Russian President Vladimir Putin “ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election,” and demonstrated “a clear preference for President-elect Trump” over Hillary Clinton, according to a declassified version of an intelligence report on Russian …

The Intel: The Washington Post reports that US intelligence intercepts found Russian leaders celebrating Donald Trump’s election win over Hillary Clinton as a geopolitical victory for Moscow. The Post also reports that intelligence agencies identified “actors” who turned over hacked …

The Intel: President-elect Trump is thinking about limiting the power of the Director of National Intelligence and doing some reorganizing, particularly at the CIA, according to some reports. In the meantime, Trump is taking sides with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange …

It’s Political: After a Twitter whipping by President-elect Donald Trump and public outrage, House Republicans scurried yesterday to reverse their vote to gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. The headline on a NY Times editorial says, “House Fires at …

Heavy Weather: A violent storm system swept across Gulf Coast states yesterday bringing tornadoes and flooding. Four people died when a tree fell on a mobile home in Alabama. Some of the heaviest rains are expected tonight in Georgia. Nation: …

Murder Town: The city of Chicago finished 2016 with 762 murders, more than New York and Los Angeles combined. Another four thousand people were wounded by gunfire in bullet city. It’s an enormous increase from the 485 Chicago murders reported …

Overnight: A gunman opened fire inside an Istanbul nightclub full of New Year’s Eve celebrants, killing 39 of them. Sixty-nine more people were sent to the hospital, four of them in critical condition. The gunman entered the nightclub about an …

Happy New Year: Hundreds of thousands of revelers in New York’s Times Square tonight will have to pass through screening and be hemmed in by 65 sand trucks positioned as blast blockers. New York’s Finest is getting the backing of …

Mother and Daughter: Actress Debbie Reynolds died of a stroke yesterday at age 84, just one day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher. Reynolds had been at the home of her son, Todd Fisher, discussing funeral plans for …

Princess Leia: Actress Carrie Fisher, known for playing Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, died yesterday of the effects of a heart attack suffered on an airline flight from London to Los Angeles on Dec. 23rd. Playing the …