‘A double standard going on’: Democrats accuse GOP and Manchin of bias on Biden nominations  —  Women's rights activists and allied Democrats are growing increasingly vocal about what they call the unfair targeting of women and people of color nominated by Joe Biden to top posts in his administration.

Slate Suspends Podcast Host After Debate Over Racial Slur  —  Mike Pesca of “The Gist” said he was suspended after defending, in a Slack discussion with colleagues, the use of the slur in some contexts.  —  The online publication Slate has suspended a well-known podcast host after he debated …

AG Ken Paxton and wife Sen. Angela Paxton went to Utah during Texas freeze  —  While millions of Texans languished in their homes last week without heat, many of them racking up astronomical electricity bills, the state official in charge of consumer protection left to take an out-of-state trip.

Featured CPAC speaker said Judaism is a “complete lie” and referred to Jewish people as “thieving fake Jews”  —  Leading Republican officials are set to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this week along with a virulently anti-Semitic speaker named Young Pharaoh.

Fauci Is Not Your God  —  His job is to relay information to the public, not threaten doom, or coax or trick us into doing things.  —  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief pandemic adviser to President Joe Biden, is a bureaucrat.  He's not our parent, or our personal physician, or a shaman, or our life coach.

Donald Trump Is Extremely Mad Prosecutors Will See His Tax Returns  —  Donald Trump's yearslong quest to prevent the public, Congress, or law-enforcement officials from seeing his tax statements came to a resounding end with a unanimous Supreme Court ruling.  He did not take the defeat in stride.

Oath Keeper now says she didn't meet with Secret Service around the January 6 rally  —  (CNN)Jessica Watkins, a leader in an alleged Oath Keepers conspiracy in the US Capitol insurrection, changed her story Monday about meeting with Secret Service agents in describing her actions on January 6.

Scoop: Allies worried Biden shaky on Putin's pipeline  —  Russia's adversaries in central and Eastern Europe are worried President Biden isn't willing to fight hard to stop the Russia-Germany gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 — one of Vladimir Putin's core priorities.

Vaccine access codes for Black, Latino communities improperly used in affluent L.A. areas  —  A California program intended to improve COVID-19 vaccine availability to people in hard-hit communities of color is being misused by outsiders who are grabbing appointments reserved for residents of underserved Black and Latino areas.

Missing Marine sparks White House questions  —  The absence of a Marine sentry outside the West Wing on Monday raised questions about whether President Biden was keeping the schedule publicly outlined by his aides.  —  Why it matters: A sure way to tell if the president is inside the Oval Office …

Trump taunts don't shake McConnell's hold on Senate GOP  —  Sen. Rick Scott challenged the certification of Donald Trump's reelection loss, bashed Trump's second impeachment trial and recently spoke with the former president about Senate races.  But don't take that as the Florida Republican siding with Trump over Mitch McConnell.

First migrant facility for children opens under Biden  —  CARRIZO SPRINGS, Tex. — Dozens of migrant teens boarded vans Monday for the trip down a dusty road to a former man camp for oil field workers here, the first migrant child facility opened under the Biden administration.

Cuomo's office terrorized me for doing my job as a journalist  —  It was 4:30 a.m., so I pulled the bathroom door shut in my one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment to answer the phone without waking my then-5-year-old.  On the line was Melissa DeRosa, Gov. Cuomo's then-communications director, now his second-in-command.

Trump reported making more than $1.6 billion while president … Donald Trump reported making more than $1.6 billion in outside revenue and income during his four years as President of the United States, according to a review of his financial disclosures by CREW.

Democrats Are Waltzing Toward an Easily Avoidable Political Disaster With Their COVID Bill  —  At the moment, Democrats in Washington appear to be in danger of sleepwalking their way toward a major policy and public relations debacle.  —  The problem?  With tax season underway …

Clarence Thomas Promotes Trump's Voter Fraud Lies in Alarming Dissent  —  Justice Clarence Thomas is not backing down from the fight to legitimize Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was rife with fraud.  On Monday morning, Thomas issued a startling opinion ranting against the alleged dangers …

Facebook Strikes Deal to Restore News Sharing in Australia  —  The agreement means users and publishers in Australia can once again share links to news articles, after Facebook had blocked the practice last week.  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook said on Monday that it had struck a deal …

What About Joe?  —  Why can't anti-Trump become work-with-Biden?  —  There's an interesting piece in Politico today which raises interesting questions.  Its headline: “Anti-Trumpers are done with the GOP.  Where do they go now?”  The subhed: “Scores of Republicans are bolting the party in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Artemi Panarin taking Rangers leave of absence after Russian hit piece  —  New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin is taking a leave of absence from the team in wake of a politically motivated article from Russia, in which his former Vityaz head coach alleges that the ex-forward …

New White House Team  —  Elisabeth Bumiller, assistant managing editor and Washington bureau chief, shares the reporters covering the Biden White House.  —  We're happy to announce our new White House team — seven formidable reporters who together have decades of deep experience in Washington …

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he's losing $65 million over election-fraud claims and it proves he's not pushing conspiracy theories for the money  — Dominion Voting Systems sued MyPillow and its CEO, Mike Lindell, seeking $1.3 billion in damages.  — The defamation lawsuit claims …

Aurora Police did not have basis to stop, frisk or restrain Elijah McClain, investigation finds  —  (CNN)The Aurora, Colorado, police officers involved in the fatal confrontation with Elijah McClain in August 2019 did not have a legal basis to stop him, frisk him or physically restrain him …

Biden Gets High Marks for COVID-19 Response  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Several weeks into his first term in office, 67% of Americans approve of President Joe Biden's handling of the coronavirus.  Although not as high as his rating on the pandemic, approval of Biden is at the majority level on his overall job …

FBI Seized Congressional Cellphone Records Related to Capitol Attack … Within hours of the storming of the Capitol on January 6, the FBI began securing thousands of phone and electronic records connected to people at the scene of the rioting — including some related to members of Congress, raising potentially thorny legal questions.

Lee Harvey Oswald ordered to kill JFK by Soviets, ex-CIA chief claims  —  Lee Harvey Oswald was a KGB associate who was personally instructed by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to assassinate President Kennedy.  Sometime shortly thereafter, the Soviets changed their minds, and Oswald was told to drop the plan.

DeSantis crushes Rubio, Scott in Florida GOP poll  —  In Florida's shadow Republican primary for president, Gov. Ron DeSantis is starting to dominate his once-better-known home state colleagues, Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott.  —  DeSantis's popularity among Republicans has been steadily rising …

North Dakota House advances bill barring government from mandating masks  —  The pushback on masks comes three months after the administration of Republican Gov. Doug Burgum imposed a statewide face covering mandate amid the nation's most severe COVID-19 outbreak.

Wife of “El Chapo” Arrested on International Drug Trafficking Charges  —  The wife of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, leader of a Mexican drug trafficking organization known as the Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested today in Virginia on charges related to her alleged involvement in international drug trafficking.

The Most Ambitious Effort Yet to Reform Policing May Be Happening In Ithaca, New York  —  Mayor Svante Myrick's new proposal would replace the city's existing police department with a “Department of Community Solutions and Public Safety” intended to reduce the involvement of armed officers in disputes.