ANDREW C. MCCARTHY — When you look at it hard, two conclusions are impossible to escape: First, at the height of the 2016 campaign, Obama intelligence officials anxiously adopted Christopher Steele's allegations of traitorous conduct by then-candidate Donald Trump rather than first subject his "dossier" to rigorous investigation -- even though Steele himself admits that his "raw," "unverified" reports might not be true.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Senators confirmed President Trump's 20th federal judge Tuesday, approving William L. Campbell Jr. to a seat on a federal court in Tennessee by a 97-0 vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said the Senate will have three more district court nominees on its agenda this week as well, but he complained it will consume the chamber's entire floor time as they overcome Democrats' procedural hurdles.... (more)

NEWSMAX — More than 163,000 people have signed a grassroots petition insisting The New York Times apologize for and rewrite its obituary of Thomas S. Monson, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Prophet who died last week.... (more)

ART MOORE — A third Muslim imam in the United States has been recorded citing an Islamic text that prophesies the killing of Jews by Muslims.... (more)

ALAN KEYES — In a Politico article published last month, Jason Schwartz asserts: "Authoritarian rulers across the globe are adopting President Donald Trump's favorite phrase to limit free speech, with prominent leaders or state media in at least 15 countries using his "fake news" line to denounce their critics, according to a Politico review."... (more)

JOAN SWIRSKY — When my husband Steve was almost 13, his grandfather died. Just a few months before, the old man he loved and respected had tutored him for his Bar Mitzvah. To this day, Steve remembers the burial ceremony vividly. When the rabbi had finished the prayers at the outdoor burial site and his grandfather's son and daughters and grandchildren were wiping the tears from their eyes, Steve told me that "my grandmother let out a blood-curdling scream and jumped into the grave -- literally -- right on top of the wooden coffin! And I remember three or four men had to reach in and jump in after her to lift her out."... (more)

USA TODAY — LAS VEGAS -- Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, his two sons and a militia member will not face a retrial on charges that they led an armed rebellion against federal agents in 2014. A federal judge Monday said the federal prosecutors' conduct was "outrageous" and "violated due process rights" of the defendants.... (more)

BYRON YORK — There's been a lot of confusion about the decision by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley and crime subcommittee chairman Lindsey Graham to refer Christopher Steele, author of the Trump dossier, to the Justice Department for a possible criminal investigation.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — The Supreme Court announced Monday it would not hear cases challenging a Mississippi law that allows religious organizations to refuse to hire persons or provide services in situations that run afoul of their sincerely held religious beliefs. Gay-rights groups had challenged Mississippi's 2016 law, HB 1523, which was aimed at affirming rights of those who believe marriage is between a man and a woman, an individual's gender is determined at birth and sexual relations are reserved for married couples.... (more)

ART MOORE — The failure to repeal and replace Obamacare is regarded as perhaps the biggest legislative failure of President Trump's first year in office. Yet, Trump managed to eliminate the linchpin of Obama's signature law, the individual mandate, through the tax-reform bill passed in December.... (more)

GREG COROMBOS — The Trump administration is advancing plans to open up the vast majority of the Outer Continental Shelf to energy exploration and development, a move that a leading national security voice in Congress says will be another major boost to the economy and protect American interests by ending any dependence on rogue states that sit on a lot of oil.... (more)

TIMES OF ISRAEL — Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been arrested by authorities for allegedly inciting unrest against the government, the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported Saturday, citing "reliable sources in Tehran."... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Meteorologist Joe Bastardi had a decidedly unscientific term for the effort to link Thursday's frigid winter storm to human-caused climate change: "witchcraft." "This is flat out insanity and deception now," Mr. Bastardi said Thursday in a tweet. "To tell the public that events that have occurred countless times before with no climate change attribution, is now just that, is not science, [it's] witchcraft."... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Two top House Republicans have introduced a resolution supporting the Iranian people and condemning the regime in Tehran after a week of street protests that have resulted in more than 20 deaths across the country. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy and House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce said Friday the House will vote Tuesday on the measure, which comes as the Trump White House is trying to increase international pressure on Tehran over its handling of the demonstrations.... (more)

BOB UNRUH — Wisconsin lawmakers, left aghast at a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed the government to limit a family's use of their private land, have adopted a new law that effectively overturns the court decision.... (more)

ANDREW C. MCCARTHY — The Justice Department is reviving investigations involving Hillary Clinton's emails and the degree to which the State Department during Mrs. Clinton's tenure as secretary was put in the service of the Clinton Foundation. Good. Indeed, it is long overdue.... (more)

REVIEW JOURNAL — Mandalay Bay hotel staff had more than 10 interactions with Stephen Paddock in the days leading up to his Oct. 1 massacre of 58 people on the Strip, including two on the day of the shooting, MGM Resorts International said Friday.... (more)

WASHINGTON EXAMINER — President Trump's team is engaged in a serious but discrete internal discussion about whether to renew the key sanctions waived under the terms of the Iran nuclear agreement, administration allies said following a meeting this week at the White House.... (more)

NEWSMAX — Voters believe President Donald Trump has moved to the right since taking office, according to the website FiveThirtyEight. Before entering the Oval Office, Trump took a combination of liberal and conservative positions, FiveThirtyEight said. It noted he was steadfastly against illegally immigration, but supported infrastructure spending. He was against gun control but supported LGBT rights.... (more)

ALICIA POWE — The Justice Department finally has decided to cooperate with the House Intelligence Committee, agreeing to provide records that could reveal whether the salacious Trump-Russia "dossier" was used to justify FBI surveillance of Trump campaign officials.... (more)

NEWSMAX — A research firm that compiled a dossier of sometimes salacious information about U.S. President Donald Trump's contacts with Russians failed to block a congressional bid to see its banking records. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington agreed on Thursday that information sought by the House Intelligence Committee is pertinent to its probe of Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. The judge rejected Fusion GPS's argument that disclosure of the data could reveal secrets about the firm's clients and devastate its business.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Former FBI Director James Comey's decision to leak memos of his interactions with President Trump could come back to haunt him in a challenge to his New York bar membership. Ty Clevenger, a lawyer who filed a grievance against Mr. Comey, said in a letter Friday to the New York lawyers' disciplinary committee that if the fired director ended up leaking classified information it should bolster the case against him.... (more)

BOB UNRUH — After several years of various courts forcing Christian pregnancy centers and counseling groups to promote abortion -- even though it violates their faith -- it appears the tide is turning.... (more)

BOB UNRUH — An expert on military readiness is warning that the Department of Justice's decision not to go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court in the dispute over transgenders in the ranks "allowed judges to run the military," which violated the U.S. Constitution.... (more)

WORLDNETDAILY — After issuing an executive order late Wednesday closing his commission to investigate voter fraud, President Donald Trump now stresses the need for more voter identification and has tasked the Department of Homeland Security with ensuring the integrity of elections.... (more)