POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Trump sends legal notice to GOP to stop using his name  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  HAPPENING NOW ON THE SENATE FLOOR: The Senate is working its way through final GOP amendments to President JOE BIDEN's pandemic relief bill after pulling an all-nighter debating changes to the document.

F.B.I. Finds Contact Between Proud Boys Member and Trump Associate Before Riot  —  A leader of the far-right group separately said he had been in touch with Roger Stone, but an official said it was not the same contact investigators found through electronic communications records.

Pride, and publication, go before a fall: Twin Cuomo scandals are his own doing  —  “I'm beginning to wonder if the whole cover-up was mostly about that damn book,” Bill Hammond tweeted just after the Times and Journal broke the news about how Gov. Cuomo's political team had successfully browbeaten …

How Never Trumpers Are Becoming Pro-Democracy Republicans  —  One of the most predictable developments of the post-Trump era was that the small band of anti-Trump conservative intellectuals and Republican officials would quickly melt away.  They had been repulsed by Donald Trump's combination …

Biden administration rushes to accommodate border surge, with few signs of plans to contain it  —  As the Biden administration races to find shelter for a fast-growing migration surge along the Mexico border, they are handling the influx primarily as a capacity challenge.

Republicans Are Gaslighting The Country About The Capitol Riot  —  GOP lawmakers are desperately trying to deflect blame away from Donald Trump and themselves.  —  Sure, the attack on the Capitol was bad, but did you hear about the attack on the White House last year?

Sinema Slammed For Exaggerated Thumbs-Down On $15 Minimum Wage  —  Hand gestures are commonplace in the Senate, but Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is getting flack for the way she voted against a $15 minimum wage.  —  Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) faced criticism Friday afternoon for the way in which she chose …

Vindication for Ron DeSantis  —  The media vilified him for rejecting harsh lockdowns.  But Florida's Covid-19 numbers are better than California's or New York's, and its economy thrives.  —  In the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo imposed strict lockdown policies …

Pope, top Iraq Shiite cleric hold historic, symbolic meeting  —  PLAINS OF UR, Iraq (AP) — Pope Francis and Iraq's top Shiite cleric delivered a powerful message of peaceful coexistence Saturday, urging Muslims in the war-weary Arab nation to embrace Iraq's long-beleaguered Christian minority during …

Newsmax Loses More Than Half Its Audience Since Post-Election Ratings Surge  —  Following its post-election ratings surge, right-wing network Newsmax has seen its ratings drop, losing more than half of its total day audience, according to data from Nielsen.  —  In December, Newsmax …

Fox News host Tucker Carlson calls QAnon followers ‘gentle’ patriots  —  Carlson says conspiracy theory believers - many of whom took part in Capitol attack - are ‘gentle people waving American flags’  —  Followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory are “gentle people waving American flags” …

Ten years ago, 241 Texas power plants couldn't take the cold.  Dozens of them failed again this year.  —  The Washington Post compared last month's power failures to the last big freeze.  In both cases, some of the same companies failed to prepare.  —  The corporate and municipal owners …

Kevin McCarthy's Dr. Seuss Stunt Leaves People Very, Very Puzzled  —  “So what's the point?  Forgive me if I am confused.”  —  It was storytime with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Friday when he released a five-minute video of himself reading a Dr. Seuss book.

China-Linked Hack Hits Tens of Thousands of U.S. Microsoft Customers  —  Attack comes as many companies are racing to install a software fix  —  A cyberattack on Microsoft Corp.'s Exchange email software is believed to have infected tens of thousands of businesses, government offices …

Vaccine hesitancy drops, but with partisan divide  —  69% of the public intends to get a COVID vaccine or already has, up significantly from 60% in November, according to a report out Friday from the Pew Research Center.  —  Yes, but: The issue has become even more partisan …

If you're upset about Hunter Biden, Elaine Chao should send you into fits of rage  —  It was only a few months ago that word got out that the Justice Department was investigating Hunter Biden's finances, including his ties to Chinese business interests.  Republicans leapt all over it.