The judge imposed a limited gag order on Roger Stone last week.

During Trump's address this morning where he declared a National Emergency in order to get funding for the wall that Mexico didn't pay for, he also mentioned how excited he was about the idea of a death penalty for people who traffic drugs.

He talked about a meeting he had with China's President Xi Jinping, in which Xi attributed China's low drug crimes to the punishment of death. "That's frankly one of the things I'm most excited about in our trade deal," Trump said, referring to the death penalty given to drug dealers.

"If we want to get smart...you can end the drug problem, a lot faster than people think." Read the rest

The only national emergency in America is Trump.

Manafort now faces the rest of his life in prison. Will he finally be motivated to tell the whole truth about Trump?

“They can't hug [their own siblings] goodbye. If they do, they're told they will be written up and it could affect their immigration case."

'Bring back our #ChildhoodDiseases.' Ugh.

* MSNBC did not actually exonerate him.

The Washington Post tracked down workers from Santa Teresa de Cajon in Costa Rica, who say that they and their neighbors were part of a "pipeline" from Central America to Trump properties in New Jersey and elsewhere, where they worked doing construction, groundskeeping, and cleaning, with the full knowledge of their supervisors and Trump Organization managers (a claim verified by a police report detailing a warning from local officials to Trump Organization bosses about the number of undocumented workers on Trump's property). Read the rest

Prosecutors "are reviewing the National Enquirer's handling of their Jeff Bezos reporting to determine if the company may have violated a cooperation deal reached with prosecutors last year," per Evan Perez and Kara Scannell of CNN, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Read the rest

Well alrighty then.

Um. Wow.

Trump, yesterday: "When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose; it’s not a gaffe."

Trump, today: "Since the founding of our nation, many of our greatest strides – from gaining our independence to abolition of civil rights to extending the vote for women – have been led by people of faith." Read the rest

Colbert's honest translations of Orange Julius' endless stream of misdirection and outright lies are easier to watch than the original speech. Read the rest

“This was premeditated murder. People inside are genuinely scared."

The attorney for detained performing artist 21 Savage blasts ICE in a statement the day after his client was arrested: "This is a civil law violation, and the continued detention of Mr. Abraham-Joseph serves no other purpose than to unnecessarily punish him and try to intimidate him into giving up his right to fight to remain in the US." Read the rest

At the New York Times, Katie Rogers reports on the "mystery" of Trump's January tan. Spoiler: he uses creams or sprays, not tanning beds or other ultraviolet gadgets. Hence the revolting orangeness.

“There have been enough people that have asked me in his orbit,” though not on the president’s behalf, to see what Mr. Trump could do to achieve a more even skin tone, Dr. Alster said. “I have nothing against self-action tanning creams, but I think you need to be careful about how you apply it.” ... He has complained that his skin and hair appear too yellow or orange on the screen, according to one person familiar with his views.

As a result, events in the White House are now more dimly lit than in previous administrations. The president has also become a fan of natural light, like the setting of the White House Rose Garden, where Mr. Trump chose to announce the end of the government shutdown in 40-degree weather.

Photo: Reuters Read the rest

Foxconn says the factory plan is back on after Trump personally reached out.