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.

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 …

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.

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 …

Resign, Mr. Cuomo  —  First Gov. Andrew Cuomo hid the truth about deaths of nursing home residents from the public.  Then his administration lied about why.  Then, pretending to come clean, it lied about why it lied.  —  Enough.  Mr. Cuomo has squandered the public's trust at a time when it's needed more than ever.

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.

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 …

NYT Columnist David Brooks Resigns From Nonprofit After More Evidence Of Conflicts Emerges  —  David Brooks has resigned from his position at the Aspen Institute following reporting by BuzzFeed News about conflicts of interest between the star New York Times columnist and funders of a program he led for the think tank.

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?

“I still like Dr. Seuss”: Kevin McCarthy releases video of himself reading “Green Eggs and Ham”  —  House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has seemingly weighed in on Dr. Seuss Enterprises' decision to stop publishing six Dr. Seuss books because they contain racist and insensitive imagery.

De Blasio is serious about ‘longshot’ run against Gov. Cuomo, insiders say  —  Mayor Bill de Blasio has been talking to his inner circle and union allies about running for governor, and sources say he is growing increasingly confident he can win.  —  “I fell out of my chair laughing …

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 …

Statues and Fields  —  Thoughts on our national fight over how we remember,  —  and what we forget  —  Much of the past year I have spent in a converted barn around the bend from a muddy field where momentous things happened a long time ago.  That forgotten field between St. Michaels …

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 …

Andy Levin on Amazon: ‘This Is the Biggest Union Election in This Century’  —  The Michigan congressman met with workers in Alabama who are organizing an Amazon warehouse.  —  Michael Foster of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union holds a sign outside the Bessemer, Alabama, Amazon facility, February 9, 2021.

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” …