Donald Trump's Final Days  —  The best outcome would be for him to resign to spare the U.S. another impeachment fight.  —  By The Editorial Board  —  The lodestar of these columns is the U.S. Constitution.  The document is the durable foundation protecting liberty, and this week it showed its virtue again.

Extremists made little secret of ambitions to ‘occupy’ Capital in weeks before attack  —  A digital flyer made public on Instagram and Facebook in December made little secret of the ambitions of some of the people planning to visit Washington on Jan. 6: “Operation Occupy the Capitol.”

Loss of USCP Officer Brian D. Sicknick  —  At approximately 9:30 p.m. this evening (January 7, 2021), United States Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick passed away due to injuries sustained while on-duty.  —  Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 …

Pro-Trump rioters smeared poop in U.S. Capitol hallways during belligerent attack  —  They took a dump on the seat of American democracy — literally.  —  Some of the unhinged pro-Trump rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday defecated inside the historic building and “tracked” …

Dominion sues pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, seeking more than $1.3 billion  —  Dominion Voting Systems on Friday filed a defamation lawsuit against lawyer Sidney Powell, demanding more than $1.3 billion in damages for havoc it says Powell has caused by spreading “wild” and “demonstrably false” …

Farah: Election Results “Almost Perfectly Aligned” With Team Trump's Internal Polling  —  And Alyssa Farah would know.  Farah worked in Donald Trump's White House, following a few years of working in and around other MAGA figures, or at least she did until a month ago or so.

Major Josh Hawley donor calls for him to be censured by the U.S. Senate  —  A Joplin businessman who helped bankroll Sen. Josh Hawley's first campaign denounced him on Thursday as a “political opportunist” who used “irresponsible, inflammatory, and dangerous tactics” to incite the rioting that took over the U.S. Capitol Building.

Tarnished by Trump: National security officials struggle to find new jobs  —  They have been snubbed by potential employers, told they would be a “liability” and in one instance were even compared to the “Hitler Youth.”  —  This is the job market many experienced national security officials …

Pentagon put significant restrictions on D.C. Guard ahead of pro-Trump protests  —  The Pentagon placed significant restrictions on the D.C. Guard ahead of pro-Trump protests this week, putting the District's military force in a back-seat role ahead of events that resulted in an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Texas woman flew on private jet to Washington, DC to ‘storm the Capitol’  —  A real estate broker from Frisco, Texas, flew on a private jet to Washington, DC, along with friends to “storm the Capitol” on Wednesday.  —  Jenna Ryan, who is also a radio host, flew from US Trinity Aviation in Denton …

‘What else could I do?’  NJ Rep. Kim helps clean up Capitol  —  Water bottles, clothing, Trump flags, even a U.S. flag littered the ground inside the U.S. Capitol after a mob backing President Donald Trump ransacked the building.  —  New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim walked amid the mess shortly …

Exclusive: Biden will release nearly all available vaccine doses in break from Trump administration policy of holding back stock for second dose  —  Vaccination rate will take 3 years to reach herd immunity  —  (CNN)President-elect Joe Biden will aim to release nearly every available dose …

American Democracy Survived Ted Cruz's Demagoguery—This Time  —  Texas's junior senator shares responsibility for inciting the mob that breached the U.S. Capitol.  That's brought him scorn from much of the country—but might win him fresh support from Trump Republicans.  —  NOTES

Senator Ben Sasse On Impeachment and Transition, the GOP in Minority  —  Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) joined me this morning:  —  Audio:  —  01-08hhs-sasse  —  Transcript:  —  HH: I'm joined now by Senator Sasse.  Good morning, Senator.  —  BS: Good morning, Hugh.

Alabama man 1 of 5 who died in wake of Washington, D.C. chaos  —  Kevin Greeson of Athens, Ala. (photo supplied by the Greeson family)  —  CloseMore share options:  —  A 55-year-old Athens man was one of the people who died on Wednesday while chaos broke out at the Capitol building.

Why 300 Doses of Vaccine Sat Unused in Freezers for 2 Weeks  —  Small numbers of doses have even been thrown out as New York City's mass vaccination campaign gets off to a dispiriting start.  —  Dr. Peter Meacher expected to receive just a small supply of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine …

What We Found in Robert Caro's Yellowed Files  —  The author of “The Power Broker” and a multivolume biography of L.B.J. is giving awed archivists — and New York — access to more than 50 years of research.  —  A seasoned curator entered the spare Upper West Side office of her subject …

Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”  —  Reddit has banned the subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump,” a spokesperson confirmed to Axios.  —  Why it matters: While not an official group or page hosted by the president, it's one of the company's largest political communities dedicated to support for President Trump.