GOP Congresswoman Blamed Wildfires on Secret Jewish Space Laser  —  Axios has a small squib about “The Mischief Makers,” a handful of idiosyncratic congressional backbenchers who make trouble for their respective party leadership.  The leading Democratic mischief-maker is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez …

Suck It, Wall Street  —  In a blowout comedy for the ages, finance pirates take it up the clacker  —  In the fall of 2008, America's wealthiest companies were in a pickle.  Short-selling hedge funds, smelling blood as the global economy cratered, loaded up with bets against finance stocks …

Arizona GOP lawmaker introduces bill to give Legislature power to toss out election results  —  The Republican chair of Arizona's state House Ways and Means Committee introduced a bill Wednesday that would give the Legislature authority to override the secretary of state's certification of its electoral votes.

Body Camera Footage Shows Capitol Rioters Trampling Over Woman  —  Video obtained by The Times provides a police officer's view of the deadly battle to defend a key entryway from the surging mob.  —  As 34-year-old Rosanne Boyland lay dying on the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6 after being crushed by a mob …

U.S. handling of American evacuees from Wuhan increased coronavirus risks, watchdog finds  —  The special counsel also criticized the HHS general counsel's office for its ‘attempts to shame the whistleblower.’  —  As the first American evacuees from Wuhan, China, touched down at a California military base …

‘Betrayed’: Republicans urge Biden to change course on stimulus  —  When a bipartisan Senate coalition helped clinch a coronavirus relief bill last year after months of gridlock, it was supposed to be a model for governing in the Biden era.  But now Democrats' surprise takeover of the Senate threatens to leave the group behind.

‘The perfect target’: Russia cultivated Trump as asset for 40 years - ex-KGB spy  —  The KGB ‘played the game as if they were immensely impressed by his personality’, Yuri Shvets, a key source for a new book, tells the Guardian  —  Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years …

The San Francisco School District's renaming debacle has been a historic travesty  —  SF's decision to rename 44 schools: Botched process.  Botched outcome.  Botched priorities.  —  These are complex times.  Even the question “How are you doing?” is complex.

‘Charming’ D.B. Cooper suspect Sheridan Peterson dies at 94, spent years dedicated to political causes  —  Sheridan Peterson, long considered a suspect in the D.B. Cooper skyjacking case, died Jan. 8 in California.  He was 94.  —  The California native served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II …

Man who wore horns at riot willing to speak at Trump's trial  —  PHOENIX (AP) — The lawyer for an Arizona man who took part in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns is offering to have his client testify at former President Donald Trump's upcoming impeachment trial.

Mattis: Trump ‘fomented’ Jan. 6 Capitol assault  —  Former Defense Secretary James Mattis said Thursday the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol was “fomented” by former President Donald Trump, and exemplified the “internal threats” faced by the U.S. that should be viewed “with every bit as much gravity …

'I'm just furious': Relations in Congress crack after attack  —  Some House lawmakers are privately refusing to work with each other.  Others are afraid to be in the same room.  Two members almost got into a fist fight on the floor.  And the speaker of the House is warning that “the enemy is within.”

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan won't run for U.S. Senate next year  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan on Thursday announced that he won't run for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by Republican Rob Portman's upcoming retirement, a decision that opens the field …

Noem refuses to say whether Biden victory was free and fair  —  PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem refused to acknowledge Thursday that Democrat Joe Biden defeated her close Republican ally Donald Trump in a free and fair election, instead using the opportunity to criticize Biden's actions since taking office.

The Decision That Will Define Democrats for a Decade  —  Will they get rid of the filibuster if it means passing their voting-rights and election-reform agenda?  —  No decision facing Democrats over the next two years will shape the long-term political competition between the parties …

Ella Emhoff Signs to IMG Models  —  The second daughter follows the inauguration poet Amanda Gorman to IMG.  —  Amanda Gorman is not the only breakout star to have emerged from the inauguration as the fashion world's latest influencer-in-waiting.  —  One week after the Miu Miu coat she wore …

So much for Joe Biden, moderate  —  President Biden wasted no time releasing a flurry of executive orders and legislative proposals.  Some of them may be helpful in addressing the economic challenges imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.  But others would almost certainly “cancel” …

The Biden Administration's Landmark Day in the Fight for the Climate  —  January 27th was the most remarkable day in the history of America's official response to the climate crisis, at least since that June afternoon in 1988, when nasa's James Hansen told a congressional committee that the planet had begun to heat.

'For Christ's sake, watch yourself': Biden warns family over business dealings  —  In the midst of his campaign for president, Joe Biden took his younger brother, Frank, aside to issue a warning.  —  “For Christ's sake, watch yourself,” Biden said of his brother's potential business dealings …

The Constitution does not authorize a general impeachment power  —  The Supreme Court is the highest tribunal in the United States for all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution.  But not all legal issues reach the court, and even if they do, it takes years for them to do so.

Oath Keepers Got Ammo Discount for Post-Election ‘Chaos’  —  KEEP THE FAITH … The store offering the sale was until very recently run by police officers, including a member of the far-right militia group.  —  In the days before the Nov. 3 election, the far-right paramilitary group …

Trump officials moved most Bureau of Land Management staffers out of D.C. More than 87 percent quit instead.  —  The decision to relocate BLM headquarters to Colorado and redistribute jobs in the West prompted 287 employees to retire or find other jobs  —  The Trump administration's decision …

Pentagon halts Trump appointments to advisory boards  —  The Pentagon has suspended the processing of a number of former President Donald Trump's last-minute appointees to defense advisory boards as the new administration looks to weed out loyalists to the former president.

Meet the 7 congresswomen who are steering Biden's immigration agenda in the House  —  In one of her first days in Congress nearly two decades ago, Rep. Linda Sánchez remembers being told by a friend on Capitol Hill that there are two types of lawmakers: a workhorse or a showhorse.