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WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee will investigate allegations of collusion between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, the top Democrat on the panel said on Wednesday.

"We have reached a written agreement, the minority and the majority in the House intelligence committee, that we will investigate allegations of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign," Democratic Representative Adam Schiff said on MSNBC.

U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that Russia tried to help Trump win the White House by discrediting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her party through cyber attacks. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation in December.

Trump has denied any of his associates had contacts with Moscow before last year's election and dismissed the controversy as a "scam" perpetrated by a hostile news media.

Moscow has denied the accusations.

Representative Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said on Monday U.S. intelligence officials had not yet presented the panel with evidence of contacts between Trump campaign staff and Russian intelligence.

Nunes was a member of Trump's presidential transition team.

The committee, which has been probing contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia, said in a statement that Nunes and Schiff had agreed on a classified six-page document laying out the scope of their investigation.

It said one question they would seek to answer was whether the Russian actions included "links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns or any other U.S. Persons." The statement did not refer specifically to the Trump campaign.

Earlier on Wednesday, Nunes told Fox News that the committee would receive a briefing from intelligence officials on Thursday.

Trump fired his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, last month for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

(Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Eric Beech and Leslie Adler)

WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to confirm retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in President Donald Trump's Cabinet.

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's nominee to run the department overseeing the U.S. government's health programs for the elderly and disabled won the backing of a Senate committee on Thursday, paving the way for a full vote in the Senate.

WASHINGTON A bipartisan pair of lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee are planning to introduce a bill that aims to entice private corporations to give their employees larger equity stakes in their companies and promote longer-term investing.

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House panel to probe possible Russia-Trump campaign collusion: Democrat - Reuters

ROXBURY Although the GOP kept control of the states 32nd Senatorial District in Tuesdays special election, Democrats came closer to winning the heavily Republican district than ever before, losing by 10 points rather than 20 or more.

GOP State Rep. Eric Berthel, of Watertown, received 10,147 votes, while Democratic challenger Greg Cava got 8,321 votes.

Cava, of Roxbury, first ran for the seat in November, when he lost to Republican Robert Kane, an incumbent seeking his fifth term by nearly 16,000 votes out of 50,000 cast, or by 32 percent of the vote. In January, Kane stepped down to become a state auditor, prompting the special election.

Petitioning candidate Dan Lynch, an unaffiliated voter from Middlebury who ran on a $1,000 budget, finished a distant third in the district, which covers 10 towns between Bethlehem and Oxford, including Southbury, Washington, Roxbury and Bridgewater.

Cava said he was glad to receive a higher percentage of the vote than many previous Democratic candidates. He won Washington, Roxbury, Southbury and Seymour and was close in a few other towns.

People decided its time to stop leaving their democracy to chance and to take matters into their own hands, he said. I think thats really a great thing for our democracy.

National Democrats are touting Cavas showing as a sign of the publics discontent with President Donald Trump. Newly elected Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez had this to say:

Democrats also came within approximately 1,800 votes of flipping the most Republican Senate district in the entire state, showing that even Republicans running in GOP strongholds arent safe from the shadow of Trump, Perez said. Republican politicians across the country should be shaking in their boots at the thought of defending Trumps disastrous presidency at the ballot box.

Berthel could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but in an interview following his victory Tuesday he said Cavas appeal to voters dissatisfied with Trump backfired. He said the districts voters were more interested in state issues.

Other possible factors in Cavas closing the gap include it was a special election, which tend to draw far fewer voters than presidential elections. The combined vote for Cava and Berthel was about 1,000 greater than Cava received in November.

The presence of a third-party candidate was another factor, as was Cavas run against a five-term incumbent in November, as opposed to a one-term state representative seeking to move to the Senate.

The 32nd District race received national attention in other ways. Cava had volunteers helping from across the state and country. He even had a phone bank set up in Los Angeles for a month. A production crew from Vice Video followed Cava throughout the campaign, filming a documentary that is set to air online.

People are concerned, Cava said. People are more electrified about politics now since November.

Even with the national attention, Cava said, most of his conversations while campaigning focused on state issues, including the economy, the budget and womens issues.

Cava believes the race gained attention because it was one of the first races following the presidential election and featured a Democrat running in a historically Republican district.

It was gratifying, but also humbling to be part of peoples aspirations and hope, he said.

kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345

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Democrat closes gap in Republican district - Danbury News Times

I was once a Democrat. In those days, I thought I was on the team of truth, justice, and the American way. It was fun to be a Democrat then. But...Bye, bye Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry. I woke up.

I'm no longer a Democrat (it's been many years now), and though ontherarest ofoccasions IworriedI'd made a mistake, Tuesday night watching the shell-shocked faces of the Democrats on the floor of Congress while Donald Trump delivered his magnificent speech, I knew I had made no error. I even wondered what was going on in my head in those isolatedmoments I doubted myself.

The Democratic Party members watching that speech looked like a partyof the living dead. They didn't know how to react. They didn't know if they were Americans. They didn't know who they were.

Every time Trump called for bipartisanship for the good of our country, they winced. They couldn't stand it and didn't know how to react because they are the least bipartisan people in the world and they scarcely know what cooperatingis. Working together is not in their natures. Yes, they talk about it endlessly but they never do it. (See: the history of the Soviet Union) Maybe it's not in their DNA. (I should check mine.)

When the speech was over -- after there was no longer a dry eye in the house from the introduction of the widow of the Navy SEAL -- they left the room faster than fans of the losing team after the Super Bowl, only in this case they left so stunned you had to wonder if they would ever win the game again or even compete.

The Democrats -- the silly ladies dressed in white and all the others -- betthe house that Trumpwould make a fool of himself and Donald cut the legs out from under them. And when you bet the house and lose, you go home bankrupt. And without a home to go to.

Hecut the Democrats' legs outinthe worst way, exposing them for theempty party they are with nothing going for thembut identity politics. Yet, it is becoming increasingly obvious that if anyone does anything for the inner cities, it will be Trump the builder, not the Democrats who had a chancefor fiftyor sixty years and did nothing. Bye, bye, identity politics. No wonder Maxine Waters is so apoplectic.

Yes, Trump delivered a speech for the ages. Tucker Carlson, who is solidifying his position asthe most perceptivepundit on television, again got it right, saying the president had "set the template" for future presidentialaddresses. He had. Bravo to him and to speechwriter Stephen Miller, who is rapidly becoming the most distinguished graduate ever of Santa Monica High, where he was supposedly persona non grata while he attended.

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Is February 28, 2017, 'The Night the Democratic Party Died'? - PJ Media

Updated March 2:

The Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC with ties to House Republican leadership, is launching a million-dollar ad campaign targeting Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff in the 6th Districts special election.

Ossoff is the leading Democrat in a crowded April jungle primary for a traditionally Republican seat that Democrats are making an effort to contest this year. His campaign says it hasraised nearly $2 million in the two months hes been in the race.

The fundsad mostly ignores politics and instead tries to paint Ossoff as too young and inexperienced for the job. The TV ad opens with footage of the Democratdescribing his national security experience, then cuts to footage of Ossoff during his Georgetown University days, dressedup as the Star Wars character Han Solo.

It is sad that the hope of the Democratic Party rests on a 30-year-old frat boy who has spent his adult life living outside of Georgias 6th district playing dress-up with his drinking buddies, Corry Bliss, executive director of the Congressional Leadership Fund, said in statement.

Bliss suggested thered be more to come.The truth is Jon Ossoff simply isnt being honest with Georgia voters and if you like Jon Ossoff playing Han Solo, just wait until you see what we release next, he said.

Ossoff, aformer Hill aide, is one of five Democrats in the race. He has attracted national attention from liberalgroups hoping to score a victory in what couldbe the first competitive congressional election of Donald Trumpspresidency.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price won re-election tothis suburban Atlanta seatby 23 points last fall. But Trump carried itby less than two points over Hillary Clinton asign, Democrats think, that this may be the kind of affluent, well-educateddistrict thats ripe for the picking. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is sending field staff to the district, and Ossoff has the backing of Georgia Reps. John Lewis and Hank Johnson.

Johnson criticized the ad and defended Ossoffs experience in statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday.

Jon spent five years working on national security issues for me, and he worked on such sensitive programs that he received a top secret security clearance from the Department of Defense, he said.Washington political operatives are coming into Georgia to spread false personal attacks its what the American people are sick and tired of.

The Congressional Leadership Fundspot is the groups first independent expenditure of the 2018 cycle. Debuting March 2, the ad will run on TV in theAtlanta media market and online through theApril 18 election.

Republicans are hoping they wont have to spend on this race after that. Since its unlikely that any of the 18 candidates will receive more than 50 percent of the votein the jungle primary, the top two vote-getters will advance to a June 20 runoff.

On Thursday, a progressive non-profit called Better Georgia responded to the CLF ad with their ownvideo. Using similar footage of Ossoff dressed as Han Solo, the narrator concludes the one-minute video by saying, "Sorry, Trump Republicans, but District 6 has a new hope."

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GOP Super PAC Attacks Georgia Democrat for Dressing Up as Han Solo - Roll Call

Sen. Joe Schiavoni, D-Boardman, announced Wednesday that he is running for governor.(Photo: Provided)

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Senate's top Democrat, Joe Schiavoni, became the first in his party officially to announce a bid for governor Wednesday.

The announcement from the Youngstown-area Democrat comes one day after a higher-profile Mahoning Valley Democrat, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, said he wouldn't run. Schiavoni likely will have company in the race; Democrats have a wide field of possible contenders.

Here's what Schiavoni brings to the governor's race and what he would have to overcome to win.

1. Schiavoniwho?

The 37-year-old lawmaker and attorney was first appointed to the Ohio Senate in 2008 and has led Democrats there since 2013. Currently, that means overseeing nine members, including himself, in a 33-member chamber. Democrats have little power in the Ohio Senate, so Schiavoni (pronounced shuh-VOHN'-ee) has little opportunity to improve his poor name recognition.

Schiavoni is well-known in the Youngstown area, where he was the chief opponent of Gov. John Kasich's plan to take control of failing area schools. He also championed speedier notification of residents when their water has high lead levels a problem in Sebring. While those causes gained him support close to home, they did little to garner statewide attention.

2. All about the Benjamins

While GOP hopefuls like Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted stash millions in their campaign accounts, Schiavoni has a measly$39,400 on hand.

That figure is low, in part, because he donated $180,000 last year to Senate Democrats and thousands more to the campaigns of Democrats up and down the 2016 ticket. And donors know that Democrats don't control the Ohio Senate, so they're less likely to give Schiavoni money.In contrast, Senate President Larry Obhof,a Republican, has$131,200 on hand.

A key for any Democratic candidate will be proving you can raise money, but Schiavoni's fundraising prowess, or lack thereof, is untested.

3. He's not the party's top pick

Many Democratic faithful would prefer someone else top the party's ticket, rather than Schiavoni, who has never run a statewide race. Take former Congresswoman Betty Sutton, of Summit County, who said she'll make a decision on the governor's race next week. Or former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who is directing the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"I am not a career politician, and I'm not going to be the anointed candidate. But I am a fighter, the fighter that Ohio needs," Schiavoni said in a statement Wednesday morning.

1. Do the hustle

Schiavoni has been hustling across Ohio to meet with Democrats from Cleveland to Columbus.

"I will work harder than anyone, visit every part of the stateand meet with every Ohioan I can until I win," he said. That should help with his name recognition and his fundraising.

2. Popular in Trump Country

President Donald Trump won parts of Ohio that Democrats considered safe for years. Trump nearly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Youngstown's Mahoning County and did beat her in all surrounding Ohio counties. As a candidate, Trump visited Youngstown multiple times to appeal to the white, working-class votersthere.

Democrats need to reclaim that area to win the governor's race in 2018, and Schiavoni knows those voters well. He won the Mahoning Valley district with56.7 percent of the vote in 2010 and ran uncontestedin 2014.

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And the first Democrat running for governor is... - Cincinnati.com