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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 …
Discussion:
The Hill, National Review, Mock Paper Scissors, New York Times, Business Insider and Raw Story
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Trump's actions described as ‘a betrayal of historic proportions’ in trial brief filed by House impeachment managers — House Democrats made their case to convict former president Donald Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in a sweeping impeachment brief filed with the Senate Tuesday …


Lindsey Graham Warns Democrats Against Calling Witnesses In Trump Impeachment Trial — “You open up Pandora's box if you call one witness,” cautioned the Trump ally, who claimed a lengthy trial of the former president would be “bad for the country.” — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Althouse, TheBlaze, IJR, Daily Kos, Fox News, Breitbart and Washington Examiner


Impeachment Managers File Trial Brief, Explain Senate's Obligation to Hear Case against Donald Trump — Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Impeachment Managers filed their Trial Memorandum of the United States House of Representatives in the Impeachment Trial of President Donald J. Trump.
Discussion:
WRBL-TV, Washington Times and Washington Post


The Republican Argument Against Impeaching Trump Is Dangerous — By Republicans' logic, a president is free to commit insurrection so long as it's at the end of his term. — Mr. Bauer teaches constitutional law (the presidency) and political reform at New York University Law School.


Conservative groups go MIA on Trump's impeachment — A constellation of conservative groups that rallied behind former President Donald Trump during his first impeachment is sitting this one out, confident that the outcome is preordained. — The groups have gone quiet on social media …
Discussion:
CNN, ABC News, The Carpentariat, New York Times, Townhall and The Guardian


Dare Trump to Testify
Discussion:
Dave Dubya's Freedom Rants, Mercury News, Raw Story and Political Wire

Dems: Trump aimed ‘loaded cannon’ of supporters at Capitol
Discussion:
Axios, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Daily Caller, POLITICUSUSA and New York Post

Are Democrats really worried about a Trump trial? Here's an answer.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Vox and NBC Boston


Bonus episode: Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency — Last month, Axios published “Off the rails,” a series taking you inside the end of Donald Trump's presidency, from his election loss to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection that triggered his second impeachment — and a Senate trial set to begin next week.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Raw Story, The Week and Mediaite


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.”
Discussion:
Washington Post, Breitbart, The American Independent, Florida Politics, Conservative News Today, New York Times, Axios, IJR, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Intellectualist, Wall Street Journal, The Gateway Pundit, The Right Scoop, New York Post, The RFAngle, The Sun, POLITICUSUSA, NPR, TheBlaze, Business Insider and National Review
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Punishing vile lawmakers is not cancel culture — It has gotten adults fired for Halloween costumes, cost people charity partnerships over old tweets, and bullied universities into withdrawing admissions offers from teenagers over years-old videos. — But punishing a vile politician …
Discussion:
Salon, Michigan Advance and Washington Post

Rep. Liz Cheney's vote to impeach Trump prompts a voter rebellion in her home state
Discussion:
Florida Politics, The American Independent, Crooks and Liars, The Federalist and Politico


Democrats are moving ahead without Republicans on Covid relief
Discussion:
CBS News, Bloomberg, The Bulwark, New York Times, Fox News, Just Security, Talking Points Memo, Politico, IJR, The Week, Business Insider, The Dispatch, Marijuana Moment, HotAir and FiveThirtyEight

First on CNN: Liz Cheney gets boost from McConnell amid divisive intraparty battle over Trump's impeachment
Discussion:
The Hill, Casper Star-Tribune, Townhall, New York Times, National Review, Washington Post, Conservative News Today, Raw Story, Twitchy, UPI, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Breitbart, TheBlaze, HuffPost, The Guardian, Patterico's Pontifications, The Daily Caller, POLITICUSUSA, USA Today, The Week, Political Wire and Politico

Column: Where QAnon goes, so goes the Republican Party
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, New York Times and Slate

POLITICO Playbook: Cheney and Greene face their reckonings
Discussion:
Fox News, CNN, NBC News and Florida Politics


Progressive PAC kick-starts search for challengers to Manchin, Sinema — A trio of progressives who helped launch Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's 2018 upset campaign are now setting their sights on Senate Democrats. — The co-founders of No Excuses PAC — Saikat Chakrabarti, Corbin Trent and Zack Exley …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, National Review and HotAir
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AOC explains why Republicans can't just tell her to forget about the insurrection and move on
Discussion:
Forbes

Rep. Burgess Owens rips AOC for invoking ‘white supremacist’ label to make point about health care
Discussion:
Politico, Townhall and Crooks and Liars


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 …
Discussion:
CBS News, Mediaite, NPR, Deadline, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, The Guardian, Forbes, Business Insider, The Sun, Gothamist, The Week, WRBL-TV and IJR


Are acronyms a symptom of ‘white supremacy culture?’ SFUSD makes another disputable decision — SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — First the San Francisco School Board decided to rename 44 schools because they are named after people with ties to racism or slavery. Now the Arts Department has taken …
Discussion:
Reason, HotAir, San Francisco Chronicle and New York Post
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The Five-Second Cancellation of Abraham Lincoln
Discussion:
The Week and Washington Post


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 …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Examiner, The Week and FiveThirtyEight
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Poor handling of virus cost Trump his reelection, campaign autopsy finds
Discussion:
NPR, Business Insider, Raw Story, The Moderate Voice and Mediaite


Amazon Unveils Outdoorsy New HQ2, Renewing Its Commitment to Offices — Centerpiece of design is a 350-foot building dubbed the Helix, which features two spiraling outdoor walkways — Amazon. com Inc.'s plans for its new northern Virginia headquarters feature an outdoor theme …
Discussion:
AppleInsider and The Verge, more at Techmeme »


2 FBI agents dead, others injured in Florida shooting while serving warrant: source — FBI was reportedly attempting to serve a warrant in a child pornography case — Fox News Flash top headlines for February 2 — Two FBI agents were killed Tuesday morning while trying to serve …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, CBS Miami and Raw Story


Grand Central's Grand Hyatt Replacement: A First Look at the 1,600-Foot Tower — Previous Next — RXR Realty and TF Cornerstone are planning to replace the Grand Hyatt Hotel by Grand Central Terminal with a dramatic 1,600-foot office-and-hotel tower known as 175 Park Avenue.


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 …


Hawley rakes in grassroots cash after Capitol attack — January was Sen. Josh Hawley's best fundraising month—by far—since his 2018 election, with a flood of small-dollar donations more than eclipsing the corporate cash he lost after leading an effort to block certification of President Biden's Electoral College win.
Discussion:
Josh Hawley


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 …
Discussion:
CNN, HotAir, The RFAngle, Business Insider, The Sun, The Gateway Pundit and New York Post
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Yahoo News/YouGov poll: More than two-thirds of Americans side with Biden on COVID relief — and most support the rest of his agenda — When asked about the 20 policies that define President Biden's agenda, more Americans support than oppose all 20 of them, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.
Discussion:
Politico


Capitol Rioter Asks Court to Let Her Vacation in Mexico — THE AUDACITY — One of the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 is asking a federal court to let her leave the country so she can make the most of a Mexican vacation she booked prior to the insurrection.
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The GOP's biggest response to Trump's baseless voter fraud push could still be coming — The Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol came as lawmakers were set to debate whether to accept the 2020 electoral college results in key states. After it happened, though, most lawmakers instead focused on the unrest.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, The Federalist and HuffPost
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The Brazil Variant Is Exposing the World's Vulnerability — Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. — Even in a year of horrendous suffering, what is unfolding in Brazil stands out.
Discussion:
CNN and CBS Baltimore


Biden is the most radical left-wing president in US history, period — Joe Biden is off to the most left-wing start of any Democratic president in recent memory. — Just two weeks later, the dulcet tones of Biden's inaugural address already seem an artifact of a bygone era.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast


The Master of (Self-inflicted) Disaster — Mike Nichols's films about escaping catastrophe can guide us in the post-Trump era. — The Trump administration was a disaster of our own making. Through decades of laissez-faire policies and a long history of intolerance …


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 …
Discussion:
PoPville