2016 election

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort shared information with Russian intelligence during the last presidential campaign, a bipartisan Senate report on Russian 2016 election interference shows.

Monday's decision brought a sigh of relief from election experts, who worried that if Electoral College delegates were free to vote as they chose, the 2020 election would have turned into a free-for-all, with no rules to prevent corruption and manipulation, with delegates offered gifts and even cash for their votes, and blackmail also a possibility.

Under state laws, Electoral College delegates are pledged to cast their ballots for the candidate who carries the popular vote in their state. But in 2016, seven cast votes for other candidates.

Stone faced charges that he lied to congressional investigators and obstructed an official proceeding. He pleaded not guilty and said he had done nothing wrong.

The money will go to a group of charities. The New York judge said money raised at a 2016 veterans fundraiser "was used for Mr. Trump's political campaign and disbursed by Mr. Trump's campaign staff."

U.S. intelligence agencies reported Russian, Chinese and Iranian influence activities targeting last year’s midterms, and a senior FBI official last week singled out Beijing as a particular source of concern.

The report appeared as the 2020 presidential race gets underway in what promises to be a bitter and divisive battle and after the former special counsel said to expect continued Russian interference.

Bernie Sanders easily won the 2016 Washington caucus against Hillary Clinton, but the state's shift to a primary presents a challenge for his campaign: converting the passionate caucus support he enjoyed in the last election to broader turnout in 2020.

Special counsel Robert Mueller stepped down Wednesday after concluding Donald Trump didn't conspire with Russia's interference in the 2016 election — but also detailing what critics called a range of troubling conduct.

The state Senate voted along party lines to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would give the state's six electoral votes to the winner of the presidential popular vote.