McConnell says Taylor Greene's embrace of conspiracy theories a ‘cancer’ to GOP, country  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday blasted Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's embrace of “loony lies and conspiracy theories” as a “cancer for the Republican Party.”

Dolly Parton turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice  —  Besides being East Tennessee's songbird, country superstar Dolly Parton has always had a philanthropic side and it turns out even presidents have noticed!  —  The queen of country, 75, told TODAY in an interview …

Trump pollster's campaign autopsy paints damning picture of defeat  —  Former President Donald Trump has blamed the election results on unfounded claims of fraud and malfeasance.  But at the top levels of his campaign, a detailed autopsy report that circulated among his political aides paints …

9 Top N.Y. Health Officials Have Quit as Cuomo Scorns Expertise  —  “When I say ‘experts’ in air quotes, it sounds like I'm saying I don't really trust the experts,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, referring to pandemic policies.  “Because I don't.”  —  The deputy commissioner for public health …

D.C. Claims Eminent Domain To Seize Infamous NoMa Wendy's Site  —  D.C. is using eminent domain to seize the Wendy's property in NoMa as part of a plan to transform the notorious “Dave Thomas Circle” intersection.  —  The District government filed an eminent domain case in D.C. Superior Court …

Dustin Diamond Dead at 44 After Battle with Stage 4 Lung Cancer  —  REMEMBERING DUSTIN DIAMOND  —  Dustin Diamond — best known for playing the lovable Samuel “Screech” Powers on the hit NBC sitcom, “Saved by the Bell” — has died ... TMZ has learned.  —  A rep for Dustin tells us he died Monday morning.

Trump Official's Last-Day Deal With ICE Union Ties Biden's Hands  —  A whistle-blower accused Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II of an abuse of power in making sweeping concessions to pro-Trump Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.  —  WASHINGTON — A whistle-blower complaint filed on Monday …

Democrats risk unintended Medicare cuts if they pass partisan Covid relief … WASHINGTON — Democrats considering a maneuver to forgo bipartisan support to pass Covid-19 relief are confronting an unintended consequence: doing so could automatically cut Medicare.

A Pennsylvania Mother's Path to Insurrection  —  How claims from Rudy Giuliani and Alex Jones spurred a parent of eight to become one of the Capitol riot's biggest mysteries and a fugitive from the F.B.I.  —  Before the pandemic, Rachel Powell, a forty-year-old resident of a small town …

Tim Ryan, a Top Democrat in Ohio, Is Said to Plan Senate Bid  —  Mr. Ryan, who mounted a long-shot campaign for president in 2019, plans to compete for the state's open Senate seat.  His campaign will test Democrats' strength in a state tilting to the right.

They stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of an election they didn't vote in  —  (CNN)They were there to “Stop the Steal” and to keep the President they revered in office, yet records show that some of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol did not vote in the very election they were protesting.

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's final financial disclosures … Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner disclosed receiving between $23,791,645 and $120,676,949 in combined outside income in their final financial disclosure reports.  The disclosures cover the entirety of 2020 through January 20, 2021.

White House Reporters: Biden Team Wanted Our Questions in Advance  —  “It pissed off enough reporters for people to flag it” for the White House Correspondents' Association, one of The Daily Beast's sources said. … If you're a reporter with a tough question for the White House press secretary …

Trump's Sleight of Hand: Shouting Fraud, Pocketing Donors' Cash for Future  —  With breathless, often misleading appeals, the former president promised small donors that he was using the money to fight the election results, but in fact stored much of it for future use.

Officer Who Shot Capitol Rioter Ashli Babbitt Shouldn't Be Charged, Investigators Advise  —  Ms. Babbitt died after being shot by Capitol Police officer on Jan. 6  —  WASHINGTON—Investigators have made a preliminary determination that the police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during …

Exclusive: Dozens of former Bush officials leave Republican Party, calling it ‘Trump cult’  —  (Reuters) - Dozens of Republicans in former President George W. Bush's administration are leaving the party, dismayed by a failure of many elected Republicans to disown Donald Trump after his false claims …

Scoop: Fees — not just strategy — blew up Trump's legal team  —  Disagreements over legal strategy weren't the only reason Donald Trump's defense team collapsed just days before his second impeachment trial, Axios has learned.  —  What we're hearing: The notoriously stingy former president …

Publix accountability  —  The riot at the Capitol on January 6 that left five people dead did not materialize out of thin air.  Rather, Trump supporters were instructed to come to Washington DC that day to attend a rally at the Ellipse, near the White House.

Harris TV interview in West Virginia provokes flare-up with Manchin  —  The five-minute clip on a West Virginia news station was an effort by Vice President Harris to pitch the administration's pandemic relief package directly to voters — including constituents of Democrats who might be less likely to embrace the plan.

Ga. bills would end no-excuse absentee voting, automatic registration  —  Republican state senators introduced a package of bills Monday to ban automatic voter registration, ballot drop boxes and no-excuse absentee voting in Georgia.  —  The proposals amount to an overhaul of Georgia's election laws …

McConnell: Trump Tricked Me Into Backing His Coup  —  On November 9, a senior Republican explained what was then the Republican Party's consensus posture toward President Trump's refusal to accept the election results.  The quote, given anonymously to the Washington Post, became instantly notorious …

Rochester police officers handcuff and pepper-spray a 9-year-old girl after call of ‘family trouble’  —  (CNN)Police officers in Rochester, New York, handcuffed and pepper-sprayed a 9-year-old girl while responding to what a police official called a report of “family trouble” in an incident sharply criticized by city officials.

Anti-vaccine protest at Dodger Stadium was organized on Facebook, including promotion of banned ‘Plandemic’ video  —  The activity shows how the social media site remains a critical organizing tool of the anti-vaccine movement  —  The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free.

Schumer quietly nails down the left amid AOC primary chatter  —  Just a few weeks after a group of young climate activists, accompanied by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, orchestrated a highly publicized sit-in in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office in late 2018, their Sunrise Movement received an unexpected email from Chuck Schumer's staff.

The Brazil Variant Is Exposing the World's Vulnerability  —  Somehow the coronavirus is rampaging through a city that was supposedly immune. … Even in a year of horrendous suffering, what is unfolding in Brazil stands out.  In the rainforest city of Manaus, home to 2 million people …

Ex-colleague of Hunter Biden's lawyer gets top DOJ post  —  Hunter Biden hired a new attorney to assist with his federal criminal defense a month before his father became president.  On Inauguration Day, one of that lawyer's close colleagues was tapped to temporarily lead the Justice Department's criminal division.

Atlanta U.S. attorney, appointed by Trump amid post-election pressure campaign, resigns  —  The federal prosecutor tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Atlanta U.S. attorney's office during Trump's failed bid to overturn the election has resigned from that post, a spokesman confirmed Monday.

Canada Post Carriers Suspended for Refusing to Deliver Pro-Trump Epoch Times  —  The newspaper, which has sent promo copies across the country, has come under fire for pushing pro-Trump and COVID-19 conspiracy theories.  —  SZ  —  Free copies of the Epoch Times, an international newspaper infamous …

Robinhood Raises Another $2.4 Billion From Shareholders  —  The $3.4 billion raised since last Thursday is more than it has raised in its entire prior existence  —  Robinhood Markets Inc. raised another $2.4 billion from shareholders, days after investors agreed to pump $1 billion …

U.S. Hits Pandemic Milestone With More Vaccinated Than Cases  — 26.5 million people have gotten vaccine in U.S., data show  — About 1.34 million people a day being vaccinated on average  —  More Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine than have tested positive …

Republican State Legislatures Are Radicalizing Against Democracy  —  The Trump presidency is over.  But Trumpism is alive and well in state legislatures, which will serve as an incubator for GOP radicalism over the next four years.  —  Jim Brewster was cutting up with his colleagues …

An estimated 29 million people would lose out on stimulus payments under GOP proposal  —  Washington (CNN)The Republican counterproposal on coronavirus relief unveiled Monday would potentially leave out 29 million middle- and upper-income earners who would qualify for stimulus payments under President Joe Biden's plan.

Watchdogs Appointed by Trump Pose Dilemma for Biden  —  Removing inspectors general installed by the former president under a political cloud could have the consequence of further eroding good-government norms.  —  WASHINGTON — Even as the Biden administration has moved aggressively …

Biden administration eyes Rahm Emanuel for ambassadorship  —  WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is considering former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for a high-profile ambassadorship, potentially to China, three people with knowledge of the discussions said.  —  Becoming the U.S. ambassador …

It's Time: The COVID Tracking Project Will Soon Come to an End  —  After a year of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting COVID-19 data for the United States, we're ending our data compilation work in early March.  —  Every day for almost a year, hundreds of COVID Tracking Project contributors …