Oath Keeper claims she was VIP security at Trump rally before riot and says she met with Secret Service agents  —  (CNN)A leader in an alleged Oath Keepers conspiracy in the US Capitol insurrection claims she was given a VIP pass to the pro-Trump rally on January 6, had met with Secret Service agents …

“Mark Changed The Rules”: How Facebook Went Easy On Alex Jones And Other Right-Wing Figures  —  In April 2019, Facebook was preparing to ban one of the internet's most notorious spreaders of misinformation and hate, Infowars founder Alex Jones.  Then CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally intervened.

Exclusive: Defeated and impeached, Trump still commands the loyalty of the GOP's voters  —  If there's a civil war in the Republican Party, the voters who backed Donald Trump in November's election are ready to choose sides.  —  Behind Trump.  —  An exclusive Suffolk University/USA TODAY …

Scoop: Cruz's Cancún trip included college roommate  —  In explaining his disastrous Cancún trip, Sen. Ted Cruz failed to mention his college roommate also was along for the visit.  — Axios has learned Cruz (R-Texas) invited David Panton, his longtime friend and former roommate …

Tough Sanctions, Then a Mysterious Last-Minute Turnabout  —  The Treasury Department slapped sanctions on the Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler in 2017 for corruption in Africa.  In Donald Trump's final days in office, they were rolled back with no explanation.

How Investigative Journalism Flourished in Hostile Russia  —  A new wave of news outlets has used conventional, and unconventional, methods to pierce the veil of Putin's power.  —  The Russian language has introduced a few words that in recent years have been widely used and misused in English: disinformation, kompromat, Novichok.

A Ripple Effect of Loss: U.S. Covid Deaths Approach 500,000  —  CHICAGO — A nation numbed by misery and loss is confronting a number that still has the power to shock: 500,000.  —  Roughly one year since the first known death by the coronavirus in the United States, an unfathomable toll is nearing …

Iran keeps hopes for nuclear deal alive  —  Tehran buys time by allowing continued oversight of its nuclear sites by UN's watchdog.  —  VIENNA — Iran signaled it was open to overtures from Washington to revive the landmark nuclear agreement torpedoed by the Trump administration …

Oregon GOP ousts chair, taps state Sen. Dallas Heard as new leader  —  A conservative state senator from Myrtle Creek is the new chair of the Oregon Republican Party, following an event Saturday in which Republicans overhauled their top party leadership.According to multiple Republican sources …

AOC raises nearly $5 million in Texas relief efforts  —  (CNN)Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had amassed $4.7 million in her fundraising efforts to help Texans hard hit by last week's winter storm as of Sunday evening, her press secretary Ivet Contreras confirmed to CNN.

The Lost Hours: How Confusion and Inaction at the Capitol Delayed a Troop Deployment  —  As violence grew out of control on Jan. 6, the head of the Capitol Police made an urgent request for the National Guard.  It took nearly two hours to be approved.  —  WASHINGTON — At 1:09 p.m. on Jan. 6 …

S.F. school board president: Renamings are on hold, reopening is our priority  —  As a credentialed teacher serving as a volunteer school board member, I make every effort to respond to every email.  Every single day I am talking to parents on the phone, answering their questions about distance learning …

WHO Said What About Wuhan?  —  International investigators ignore the lab-leak theory but investigate frozen fish.  —  Chinese policy makers have been floating an implausible theory: The novel coronavirus didn't originate in China but was imported from Europe.

QAnon's corrosive impact on the U.S.  —  Tens of millions of Americans believe QAnon's core — and false — theory that an evil cabal of Satan-worshipping elites commits atrocities against children and controls much of the world.  Where does this movement stand and who has it impacted?

Yale Law Students Said a Top Journal Was Racist.  Admissions Data Suggest Otherwise.  —  The Yale Law Journal on Friday released admissions data in the face of a week-long pressure campaign in which activists alleged that blacks are underrepresented on the masthead.

Millions of Texans still without safe drinking water after winter storm  —  Millions of Texans remained without safe drinking water Sunday as state officials sought to ramp up bottled water distribution and calm residents who've seen spiking electricity bills in the aftermath of a severe winter storm that left the state battered.

Blue-Collar Jobs Boom as Covid-19 Boosts Housing, E-Commerce Demand  —  Residential construction, package delivery and warehousing jobs exceed pre-pandemic levels, and some companies can't find enough workers  —  America's blue-collar workforce is filled with signs of a strengthening job market.

How Trump offered Kim a ride on Air Force One  —  President Trump's meetings with Kim Jong-un were among the most eye-catching moments of his presidency.  —  In the third and final episode of a new BBC series Trump Takes On the World, directed by Tim Stirzaker, we discover new details …

Pro-Trump Miami doctor charged with hate crime for attacking Hispanic man  —  Angered when he asked her to socially distance at a Publix, she followed him out, called him racial slurs, keyed his vehicle and punched him, police said.  —  HIALEAH — A Mount Sinai Medical Center anesthesiologist …

Biden seems set to pick fight over Rahm Emanuel  —  Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel appears poised to take on a high-profile ambassadorship for President Biden, a step likely to trigger contention with progressives who've balked at him taking a Cabinet role.

The GOP is rapidly becoming the blue-collar party.  Here's what that means for future.  —  WASHINGTON — The exit of Donald Trump has brought a more normal rhythm to back to politics in Washington, but outside the Beltway deeper forces are reshaping partisan landscape.

Biden's big summertime verdict  —  President Biden is promising COVID-19 vaccines will be available to all Americans by the end of July — and a Quinnipiac poll finds three-quarters of Americans expect him to pull it off.  If he fails, the coronavirus could start to haunt the new president just like it did his predecessor.

Federal judges call for increased security after threats jump 400% and one judge's son is killed  —  Judge Esther Salas was in her New Jersey home when a gunman targeting Salas opened fire on her family, killing her son and wounding her husband.  Now she's fighting for better protection of judges.

Why Texas Republicans Fear the Green New Deal  —  Small government is no match for a crisis born of the state's twin addictions to market fixes and fossil fuels.  —  Ms. Klein is a senior correspondent at The Intercept and the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair at Rutgers University.

Investigative Update: United Airlines Flight 328 Boeing 777 Engine Incident  —  The National Transportation Safety Board issued an investigative update Sunday for its ongoing investigation of Saturday's engine event on a Boeing 777-200.  —  United flight 328 experienced a right engine failure shortly …