New Allegations of Cover-Up by Cuomo Over Nursing Home Virus Toll  —  In a leaked conversation, the governor's top aide admitted that data was withheld on nursing homes, where more than 10,000 New Yorkers have died during the pandemic.  —  ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his top aides …

Even with acquittal, GOP sees trial ending Trump's shot at future office  —  Senate Republicans, including those who do not plan to vote to convict former President Trump, say this week's impeachment trial has effectively ended any chance of him becoming the GOP presidential nominee in 2024.

Nikki Haley's Choice  —  The 2024 hopeful can't decide who she wants to be—the leader of the post-Trump GOP or a “friend” to the president who tried to sabotage democracy.

POLITICO Playbook: Could McConnell surprise us all?  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  BREAKING OVERNIGHT — LINCOLN PROJECT MELTDOWN: Late Thursday night, the Lincoln Project published what appeared to be the private Twitter messages of its recently departed co-founder JENNIFER HORN …

“I Will Destroy You”: Biden Aide Threatened a Politico Reporter Pursuing a Story on His Relationship  —  Deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo lashed out at journalist Tara Palmeri, spurring conversations between Politico's brass and the White House—and raising questions about behavior tolerated in the Biden administration.

The most influential Democrat you never hear from  —  Kyrsten Sinema doesn't often make big policy pronouncements.  But when she does, Democrats had better listen.  —  Take the $15 hourly minimum wage that Democratic leaders want to add to a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

Firing Actors for Being Conservative Is Another Hollywood Blacklist  —  In the 1950s, Hollywood studios — under pressure from the right — promised they would not “knowingly employ a communist.”  This blacklist eventually became notorious, especially in Hollywood, which came to lionize its victims in several films.

Two officers who helped fight the Capitol mob died by suicide.  Many more are hurting.  —  Engulfed in the crush of rioters storming the Capitol, D.C. police officer Jeffrey Smith sent his wife a text that spoke to the futility and fears of his mission.  —  “London has fallen,” …

Read the column the New York Times didn't want you to read  —  Last weekend, New York Times columnist Bret Stephens wrote a piece criticizing the rationale behind the forced ouster of Times reporter Donald J. McNeil, but it was never published.  Stephens told colleagues the column was killed by publisher A.G. Sulzberger.

Mounting evidence suggests Trump knew of danger to Pence when he attacked him as lacking ‘courage’ amid Capitol siege  —  Mounting evidence emerging as former president Donald Trump's impeachment trial unfolds in the Senate this week indicates Trump may have been personally informed …

Melania Trump disengaged from her husband's second impeachment trial and bitter over Jill Biden's publicity  —  (CNN)While former President Donald Trump watches his second impeachment trial unfold, Melania Trump spends most of her time post-White House relaxing at the spa and staying out of the fray.

Will Senate Republicans allow their louts to rule the party?  —  The first of this century's national traumas is denoted by two numbers: 9/11.  One purpose of, and a sufficient justification for, the second impeachment of the 45th president was to inscribe this century's second trauma in the nation's memory as: 1/6.

Nation's oldest juvenile lifer, Joe Ligon, leaves Pa. prison after 68 years  —  Leaving the State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Montgomery County on Thursday morning, his white hair peeking out below a prison-issue hat, Joe Ligon was accompanied by a dozen large file boxes.

Lawsuit: Texas AG Ken Paxton swapped political favors for home remodel, job for alleged ‘mistress’  —  The new allegations offer up the most detailed theory to date about why Paxton helped Austin real estate developer Nate Paul even as his top aides balked at his behavior.

Trump Was Sicker Than Acknowledged With Covid-19  —  When hospitalized with the coronavirus in October, his blood oxygen levels had plunged and officials feared he was on the verge of being placed on a ventilator.  —  WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump was sicker with Covid-19 in October …

This is how Biden eked out his 2020 victory  —  In a divided country, elections are won on the margin.  —  The American electorate hasn't always been this partisan.  When Nixon won the presidency in 1972, about 30% of his votes came from Democrats; Reagan got near a quarter of his votes from the same source in 1980.

North Carolina man charged with threatening to kill President Biden  —  (CNN)A North Carolina man has been charged with making threats to kill President Joe Biden, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed in court Thursday.  —  David Kyle Reeves, 27, of Gastonia, North Carolina …

We Asked 175 Pediatric Disease Experts if It Was Safe Enough to Open School  —  In many places, the debates over reopening are fraught.  But in a survey, experts broadly agreed that elementary schools didn't need vaccines to open safely.  —  Many of the common preconditions to opening schools …

N.J. early voting bill clears Senate panel  —  Legislature doesn't have much time to pass bill before clock runs out on 2021 election  —  A bill to establish early voting in New Jersey was approved by the Senate State Government Committee, but the legislature will need to move quickly …

The Chamber embraces Biden.  And Republicans are livid.  —  Washington's most powerful trade group is having a political identity crisis.  —  Over the past month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has taken a series of steps that have enraged its traditional Republican allies.

Take whatever COVID vaccine you can get.  All of them stop death and hospitalization.  —  Waiting for a more effective vaccine is actually the worst thing you can do to lower your risk of getting severely ill and dying of COVID-19.  —  Almost every day, we get the same questions from family …

Stacey Abrams and Lauren Groh-Wargo: How to Turn Your Red State Blue  —  It may take 10 years.  Do it anyway.  —  Ms. Abrams was the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia in 2018.  Ms. Groh-Wargo was her campaign manager.  They opened Fair Fight Action in late 2018.  — Feb. 11, 2021