A generation ago, Republicans sought to protect President Richard Nixon by urging the Senate Watergate committee to look at supposed wrongdoing by Democrats in previous elections. The committee chairman, Sam Ervin, a Democrat, said that would be “as foolish as the man who went bear hunting and stopped to chase rabbits.”
Today, amid a growing criminal inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, congressional Republicans are again chasing rabbits. We know because we’re their favorite quarry.
Fusion GPS: The Republicans' Fake Investigations
Fact check: Here are the biggest whoppers of 2017
We first dubbed President Donald Trump, then just a candidate, as “King of Whoppers” in our annual roundup of notable false claims for 2015.
He dominated our list that year – and again in 2016 – but there was still plenty of room for others. This year? The takeover is complete.
In his first year as president, Trump used his bully pulpit and Twitter account to fuel conspiracy theories, level unsubstantiated accusations and issue easily debunked boasts about his accomplishments.
Federal judge green-lights desegregation housing rule after Carson tries to block it
![Ben Carson tried to block rule that bebefits poor](https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ap_17262696006464.jpg?resize=1280%2C720px&ssl=1)
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) needs to implement an Obama-era rule on January 1, 2018 that enables low-income people to afford housing in high-opportunity areas with better schools, a federal judge ordered Saturday.
Under the leadership of Secretary Ben Carson, HUD announced in August it was delaying the rule for two years, saying the agency needed to further evaluate it. Several civil rights organizations — including the Legal Defense Fund — immediately filed a lawsuit against the agency’s decision. Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell ruled against HUD Saturday evening, saying it did not provide “notice and comment or particularized evidentiary findings” to substantiate delaying the rule.
World’s Wealthiest Billionaires Got Nearly $1 Trillion Richer In 2017: Bloomberg
The rich aren’t just getting richer — they’re getting much, much richer.
Citing its Billionaires Index, Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the world’s 500 wealthiest people became almost $1 trillion richer ― that’s $1,000,000,000,000 ― in 2017, thanks largely to booming stock markets. For comparison, that’s over four times as much wealth as they gained last year.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person, saw the biggest gain in wealth in 2017. He added $34.2 billion to his net worth, which now totals $100 billion.
Global warming's humidity could put lives in danger
![Humidity from global warming is dangerous](http://media.healthday.com/Images/icimages/heatwave730.jpg?resize=800:600)
Those areas include the southeastern United States, the Amazon, western and central Africa, southern areas of the Mideast and Arabian peninsula, northern India and eastern China, the study authors said.
FBI Agents Association reports $140K in donations amid Trump criticism
![Assoc. receives large donations after attacks on Mueller](http://thehill.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumb_small_article/public/article_images/fbi111116getty.jpg?itok=77lhjgnV)
An organization representing current and former FBI agents on Tuesday said it received more than $140,000 in donations to the group's two charities, amid ongoing criticism directed at the agency by President Trump.
The FBI Agents Association tweeted on Tuesday that the charitable donations will go toward improving the lives of the children of deceased FBI agents.
"This month, more than 2,000 donors contributed over $140,000 to our two charitable funds. This money will send the children of deceased Agents to college and help FBI families in need," the association tweeted.
Trump at Mar-a-Lago: ‘You all got a lot richer."
Days before heading home for the holidays, Trump told White House reporters that the tax bill would be "one of the great Christmas gifts to middle-income people." However, Mar-a-lago's exclusive dinner guests would have paid a $200,000 initiation fee and $14,000 in annual dues to Trump's golf club and resort.
NY Times: Trump Said Haitians Have AIDS, Nigerians Live In Huts
In a fit of anger during a June cabinet meeting in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump said Haitians entering the U.S. "all have AIDS" and that Nigerians would never "go back to their huts" once they saw America, according to The New York Times, which reported the comments in a bombshell article it published Saturday.
The White House denied the former reality TV star made the controversial remarks. “General Kelly, General McMaster, Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Nielsen and all other senior staff actually in the meeting deny these outrageous claims,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told The New York Times. "It's both sad and telling The New York Times would print the lies of their anonymous ‘sources’ anyway."
Ex-NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless, first to fly untethered in space, dies
![Ex-NASA astronaaut Bruce McCandless, dies at 71](https://cdnph.upi.com/svc/sv/upi/3371513988438/2017/1/b150d6f9a317c94fd46e93f45b0b4283/Ex-NASA-astronaut-Bruce-McCandless-first-to-fly-untethered-in-space-dies.jpg)
McCandless, who died Thursday, became the first astronaut to fly in space without being harnessed to a space vessel on Feb. 7, 1984, while on a mission aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Other astronauts on the mission used a 70mm camera to capture the moment in a now-iconic photograph, NASA said in a release.
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