Exclusive: Proud Boys leader was ‘prolific’ informer for law enforcement  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, has a past as an informer for federal and local law enforcement, repeatedly working undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012 …

Duration  —  Details  — Throughout 2020, Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs) targeted individuals with opposing views engaged in First Amendment-protected, non-violent protest activity.  DVEs motivated by a range of issues, including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results …

Social Media Influencer Charged with Election Interference Stemming from Voter Disinformation Campaign  —  Defendant Unlawfully Used Social Media to Deprive Individuals of Their Right to Vote  —  A Florida man was arrested this morning on charges of conspiring with others in advance …

San Francisco Board of Education Votes to Rename 44 Schools  —  The San Francisco School Board voted to rename 44 public schools Tuesday, a debate and decision that's being followed across the country.  —  Those 44 schools' namesakes are thought, by many, to have dishonorable legacies.

AP Exclusive: GOP to stay neutral should Trump run again  —  NEW YORK (AP) — The head of the Republican National Committee on Wednesday declined to encourage former President Donald Trump to run for the White House in 2024, saying the GOP would stay “neutral” in its next presidential primary.

A top MAGA gathering finds life complicated after Trump  —  One of the premier MAGA gatherings in the nation is struggling to recreate the magic this year.  —  For decades, the Conservative Political Action Conference has been a staple of Republican politics.

Militiaman Who Plotted to Kidnap Gretchen Whitmer Pleads Guilty, Turns on His Pals  —  Ty Garbin, 25, has agreed to co-operate with agencies investigating the wild plot to overthrow the Michigan government and execute the governor for treason.  —  One of the Michigan militiamen accused …

The GameStop Fiasco Proves We're in a ‘Meme Stock’ Bubble  —  What the new dynamic between Redditors and Wall Street reveals about the stock market in 2021  —  Money Talks is a column that explores what happens when business, the economy, and culture collide.

Bob Casey says he's open to killing the filibuster and advancing Biden's agenda without GOP support  —  As Democrats push to quickly pass a sweeping coronavirus relief plan, Sen. Bob Casey said he's open to moving ahead without Republican support — including by ending the filibuster …

Biden Freezes U.S. Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE  —  The administration is reviewing weapons transactions approved by former President Trump  —  The Biden administration has imposed a temporary freeze on U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as it reviews billions …

Vaccinated People Are Going to Hug Each Other  —  When Americans began receiving coronavirus vaccines last month, people started fantasizing about the first thing they'd do when the pandemic ends: go back to work, visit family, hug friends.  But the public discussion soon shifted.

Biden starts staffing a commission on Supreme Court reform  —  The Biden administration is moving forward with the creation of a bipartisan commission to study reforms to the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary.  —  The commission will be housed under the purview of the White House Counsel's office …

Anti-Trump Republican Adam Kinzinger accepts his fate, whatever it is  —  One thing to understand about Adam Kinzinger is that he knows how this will end.  —  “The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead,” the Republican congressman from Illinois says.

I Left My Career in Prestige Media Because of the Shitty Men in Charge and They Are Still In Charge and Still Fucking Up  —  I had the plum job.  The top of the masthead of one of the most prestigious and respected publications with more than a 150-year-old history.

Our National Guard's Capitol mission is complete - it's time to send home the troops  —  The lesson of the Capitol riot is not that we should quarter a standing army at the Capitol just in case  —  Sen. Cotton: 'I don't think' it's necessary to keep troops at Capitol

The Occupation Of Washington Is Pure Panic Porn — And You Are The Target  —  Just this week, we learned that thousands of Guardsmen could remain in Washington DC ‘indefinitely.’ Certainly through President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.  —  WASHINGTON, DC — The National Guard have been in D.C. for three weeks now.

Bankrupt Blockbuster Remnant Joins Reddit-Inspired Retail Rally  —  The latest nostalgia stock to jump on the Reddit rally is BB Liquidating Inc., the final remnant of bankrupt video-rental company Blockbuster.  —  The penny stock surged 774% Tuesday to just under 5 cents a share …

Democrats introduce bill to make Washington, D.C., the 51st state  —  WASHINGTON — House and Senate Democrats introduced legislation Wednesday that would make Washington, D.C., the 51st state.  —  The measure was reintroduced in the House by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton …

How Anthony Fauci Survived Donald Trump  —  You couldn't have blamed Anthony Fauci if at any point over the past year he'd told Donald Trump he'd had enough, thank you, and quit.  Everyone has a breaking point.  There was the time the former president called him “a disaster” on a call with Trump-campaign staff.

Bill seeks two copies of photo ID to vote absentee in Georgia  —  Georgia voters would be required to make copies of their photo ID and mail them to election officials twice before being allowed to cast an absentee ballot, according to a bill introduced Wednesday.

Millions earmarked for public health emergencies were used to pay for unrelated projects, says inspector general  —  Staff referred to agency as the ‘bank of BARDA’ and said research and development funds were regularly tapped for unrelated projects, from salaries to the removal of office furniture, the report finds

Second police officer died by suicide following Capitol attack  —  A second police officer who responded to the violent insurrection that rocked the Capitol Building on Jan. 6 has died by suicide, according to testimony obtained by POLITICO.  —  Acting Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee …

Biden promised to get tough on Putin.  Start now by saving Alexei Navalny  —  Putin is an aggressive cancer requiring decisive intervention.  After years of bashing Trump's devotion to him, it's time for Biden and Democrats to deliver.  —  Despite the vicious winter cold and the even more vicious police …

Public Wants GOP to Work With Biden  —  The pandemic and domestic terrorism among top issue priorities  —  West Long Branch, NJ - President Joe Biden begins his term with the backing of a majority of Americans.  The Monmouth ("Mon-muth") University Poll finds, though …

President Biden's First White House Sign Language Interpreter Has Ties to the Far Right  —  President Joe Biden's White House communications staff have emphasized the importance of truth, transparency and trust in the opening days of his presidency as they resume regular press briefings …

‘Crazy and evil’: Bill Gates surprised by pandemic conspiracies  —  LONDON (Reuters) - Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates says he has been taken aback by the volume of “crazy” and “evil” conspiracy theories about him spreading on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic …

Senate GOP braces for more retirements after Portman stunner  —  Republicans need to flip just one seat next year to win back the Senate majority.  But retirements are already complicating their path back to power.  —  Two of the three toughest GOP defensive states on the 2022 Senate map …

The GOP's answer to its post-Trump blues: More Trump  —  For a moment, it looked like Donald Trump might be losing his iron grip on the GOP.  In the wake of the deadly Capitol riot, 10 House Republicans joined Democrats in their vote to impeach him.  Several other Republicans openly suggested at least censuring the president.

GOP-led Senate rejects 13 Whitmer appointees to ‘send a signal’ to her  —  The state Senate rejected 13 of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's appointees Wednesday to “send a signal that [Republicans are] displeased with [the] governor's actions and refusal to listen [or] work with [the] Legislature,” …

FACT SHEET: President Biden Takes Executive Actions to Tackle the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, Create Jobs, and Restore Scientific Integrity Across Federal Government … Biden-Harris Administration Commits on Climate Change - Creating Jobs, Building Infrastructure, and Delivering Environmental Justice

POLITICO Playbook: McConnell retreats as Trump dominates the GOP civil war  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  There are two big arguments dominating American politics right now.  Democrats are currently in disarray trying to figure out the future.  The questions they have are about how bold …