Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has no time for Michael Bloomberg's excuses.During his Wednesday night Democratic debate debut, the former New York City mayor and billionaire businessman was repeatedly confronted for his dismal track record when it comes to the treatment of women. Warren kicked off that confrontation early in the night, and didn't let up when Bloomberg failed to explain the nondisclosure agreements he still maintains with women who've worked for him in the past."I hope you heard what his defense was. 'I've been nice to some women.'" Warren fired back after Bloomberg's non-answer, to a pronounced eyeroll from Bloomberg. She then called on Bloomberg to release women from their NDAS. Bloomberg wouldn't say just how many NDAs there were, and then said those women "accuse me of doing anything; maybe they didn't like the joke I told." Warren used that flippant response to dig in further.> Sen. Warren presses Bloomberg to address his history of treatment of women, and Bloomberg discusses non-disclosure agreements.> > Warren presses Bloomberg to say number of women.> > Bloomberg declines to release the women from agreements. pic.twitter.com/YoPGnQI0vJ> > — NBC News (@NBCNews) February 20, 2020Former Vice President Joe Biden backed up Warren's point, though he's been accused of some inappropriate contact with women himself.More stories from theweek.com Mike Bloomberg is not the lesser of two evils Susan Rice shamed John Bolton for sitting on his impeachment testimony. Bolton said it wouldn't have mattered. The Democrats gave Mike Bloomberg what he deserved

President Trump on Wednesday elevated Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona ahead of her tough Senate race and took a victory lap by praising the GOP "warriors" who stood by him amid the impeachment process.

One by one, he called Republican members of the Arizona congressional delegation and Gov. Doug Ducey ...

President Donald Trump’s announcement that he had selected a loyalist and political ally as his administration’s next intelligence chief quickly raised eyebrows Wednesday on Capitol Hill among Democrats already concerned about the state of Team Trump’s attitude toward the intelligence community.On Wednesday night, Trump tweeted that Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany with a long history in the orbit of Trumpworld, would be named as the next acting Director of National Intelligence. The term of the current acting director, Joseph Maguire, was slated to expire on March 12. The president’s appointment of another acting official to serve as the chief overseer of 17 U.S. intelligence agencies allows him to effectively bypass the Senate confirmation process—which a full-time nominee would be subjected to—in order to install his preferred person for the post. Grenell has already been confirmed by the Senate for his ambassadorship. “Rick has represented our Country exceedingly well,” tweeted Trump, “and I look forward to working with him.”One former intelligence official told The Daily Beast that career officials in ODNI were “blindsided” by the announcement. Two other senior Trump officials said the news of Grenell’s appointment moved its way through the halls of the White House over the last few days.Grenell, who has been the top U.S. diplomat in Berlin since 2018, was a longtime spokesman for the George W. Bush administration at the United Nations, a foreign policy spokesman for Mitt Romney’s presidential run, and then later a pro-Trump political commentator and operative. He is close with several senior members in the Trump administration, including National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien. Friday Night Massacre’s Just the Beginning for Acquitted TrumpGrenell does not have any direct experience in the intelligence field—a fact that triggered alarm bells for some. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was blunt in his reaction to the appointment: “The President has selected an individual without any intelligence experience to serve as the leader of the nation’s intelligence community in an acting capacity. This is the second acting director the President has named to the role since the resignation of Dan Coats, apparently in an effort to sidestep the Senate’s constitutional authority to advise and consent on such critical national security positions, and flouting the clear intent of Congress when it established the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2004,” he said in a statement. “The intelligence community deserves stability and an experienced individual to lead them in a time of massive national and global security challenges,” he said. “And at a time when the integrity and independence of the Department of Justice has been called into grave question, now more than ever our country needs a Senate-confirmed intelligence director who will provide the best intelligence and analysis, regardless of whether or not it’s expedient for the President who has appointed him.”“Having someone who is a political appointee with little or any background in intelligence come there on an acting basis is really the wrong move,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), “and I hope that the president will appoint a real professional."The move is sure to be popular among Trump’s backers both on and off Capitol Hill, who have increasingly endorsed the president’s mistrust and antipathy toward the intelligence community. It was a CIA official who sparked impeachment proceedings by filing the whistleblower complaint that first described Trump’s fateful call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—a process that Maguire, the current acting DNI, testified before Congress about in September 2019.Grenell would be the official most staunchly loyal to Trump to hold the position atop the  intelligence community: Maguire is a career official, and his predecessor, former Sen. Dan Coats, found himself at odds with Trump on fundamental questions, like the role of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Incidentally, Grenell first got a very public vote of confidence in Trumpworld in the midst of an episode that was at the heart of impeachment proceedings against Trump: the smear campaign against then U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch that ended with her ouster last year. Donald Trump Jr., referring to Yovanovitch, tweeted in March 2019: “We need more @RichardGrenell’s and less of these jokers as ambassadors.” During his time as ambassador in Berlin, Grenell worked with European officials on the rise of the 5G network and the threats posed by China’s system. He was also an outspoken advocate for the administration’s so-called maximum pressure campaign on Iran.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg started Wednesday's Democratic debate in Nevada with a direct hit on two candidates at once.If the party doesn't "wake up" before Super Tuesday, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will likely be the only candidates left in the race, Buttigieg said. "Most Americans don't see where they fit" between those two candidates, seeing as "one wants to burn this party down" and the other "wants to buy this party out ... Let's put forward somebody who's actually a Democrat," Buttigieg said to a roaring crowd, pointing out how Sanders isn't actually a Democrat and Bloomberg just became one a little over a year ago. Sanders countered by pointing out that Buttigieg has a few dozen billionaires supporting his campaign.> WATCH: Buttigieg on Sanders and Bloomberg: "Let's put forth someone who is actually a Democrat." - @NBCNewsNOW DemDebate pic.twitter.com/rrRZEP7Pbi> > — NBC News (@NBCNews) February 20, 2020Buttigieg later piled on to questions about people who claim to be Sanders' supporters attacking a culinary union that questioned his health care proposals. Sanders disavowed anyone who is attacking union leaders and suggested disinformation campaigns like what happened in 2016 could be at play. Buttigieg fired back with a signature one-liner, saying leadership "is about how you inspire people to act."More stories from theweek.com Mike Bloomberg is not the lesser of two evils Susan Rice shamed John Bolton for sitting on his impeachment testimony. Bolton said it wouldn't have mattered. The Democrats gave Mike Bloomberg what he deserved

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) skipped the pleasantries during Wednesday night's Democratic debate in Nevada.Just three minutes into the debate, after former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has no chance of beating President Trump in November due to his Medicare-for-all policy, Warren quickly interjected and brought up allegations that Bloomberg has a long history of making sexist comments. "I'd like to talk about who we're running against -- a billionaire who calls women 'fat broads' and 'horse-faced lesbians,'" she said. "And no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump, I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg."Warren was just warming up. "Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies like redlining and stop and frisk," she continued. While Warren said she will support the eventual Democratic nominee, she warned the party will take a "huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another. This country has worked for the rich for a long time, and left everyone else in the dirt. It is time to have a president who is on the side of working families and be willing to go out and fight for them." > WATCH: Sen. Warren kicks off the DemDebate by launching a direct criticism of Mike Bloomberg's previous comments about women. pic.twitter.com/SROJoQXU9Z> > -- MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 20, 2020More stories from theweek.com Mike Bloomberg is not the lesser of two evils Susan Rice shamed John Bolton for sitting on his impeachment testimony. Bolton said it wouldn't have mattered. The Democrats gave Mike Bloomberg what he deserved

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - A western New York man was charged Wednesday with threatening to kill U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Adam Schiff because he was angered over the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Salvatore Lippa, 57, of the Rochester suburb of Greece ...

In our news wrap Wednesday, John Rood, a top Pentagon official, is the latest to be purged since President Trump's impeachment trial over the delay in sending military aid to Ukraine. Rood said he is leaving at the president's request. Also, the U.S. Justice Department is denying reports that Attorney General William Barr might quit over frustration with Trump's tweeting.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Some West Virginians have a message for Sen. Joe Manchin regarding his vote to impeach the president: Thanks.

The Democrat was met with a warm reception at a town hall in his home state Wednesday, defying a narrative that locals in the deep red state ...