10 things you need to know today: January 12, 2019

FBI reportedly probed whether Trump worked for Russia after Comey firing, government shutdown becomes longest in U.S. history, and more

President Trump
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

1. FBI reportedly probed whether Trump worked for Russia after Comey firing

After President Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey, the FBI opened an investigation into whether Trump was secretly acting in Russian interests against the United States, The New York Times reported Friday evening. The probe was specifically prompted by Trump's repeated linkage of the firing to the investigation into Russian election meddling, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller later took over the FBI inquiry. Trump responded angrily to the report on Twitter Saturday, describing it as a story of his own persecution. In subsequent tweets, he defended the Comey firing and claimed Comey and Mueller are "best friend[s]."

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.