Inside the Lincoln Project's Secrets, Side Deals and Scandals  —  A civil war broke out in the group as it antagonized Donald Trump, with leaders splintering over financial arrangements and revelations of online harassment by a top official.  —  A few days before the presidential election …

POLITICO Playbook PM: How Blunt's retirement will reverberate in 2022  —  Sen. ROY BLUNT'S (R-Mo.) announcement this morning that he won't seek a third term next year marks yet another blow to the governing wing of the GOP.  —  Blunt joins four other Republican incumbents heading for the exits …

Georgia Senate votes to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting  —  Bill limiting absentee voting passes Senate by one vote  —  The Georgia Senate passed a bill Monday to roll back no-excuse absentee voting and require more voter ID, which would create new obstacles for voters …

RNC brushes back Trump on ‘cease-and-desist’ demand  —  The Republican National Committee is denying a cease-and-desist demand from Donald Trump's attorneys, who asked the party organization to stop using the former president's name and likeness in fundraising appeals.

The unbearable victim complex of Meghan Markle  —  The Oprah interview was an emotionally manipulative performance designed to consolidate Harry and Meghan's power.  —  Well that was explosive.  Even more than had been expected.  In their two-hour sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, Harry and Meghan drove a long knife into the monarchy.

John Roberts issues lone dissent in Supreme Court campus free speech case  —  Chief Justice John Roberts was the lone dissent in a Supreme Court campus free speech case, arguing that a former college student had no standing to protest the school restricting his religious freedoms.

The Best Bagels Are in California (Sorry, New York)  —  West Coast bakers are driving a great bagel boom, producing some of the most delicious versions around and finding ways to expand during the pandemic.  —  BERKELEY, Calif. — The bagels at Boichik Bagels have the look of Labrador puppies curled …

T21-0039 - Major Individual Income Tax Provisions in H.R.1319, The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 as Passed by the Senate, by Expanded Cash Income Percentile, 2021  —  Table shows the effect on the distribution of federal taxes, by expanded cash income percentile, relative to current law …

Roger Stone Associate With Oath Keepers Ties Arrested on Capitol Riot Charges  —  Law enforcement officials also identified another man Monday who is now facing charges in the Capitol riot case — 32-year-old Isaac Sturgeon  —  What to Know  — A New York man with ties to Roger Stone …

Manchin's next power play  —  Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), America's ultimate swing voter, told me on “Axios on HBO” that he'll insist Republicans have more of a voice on President Biden's next big package than they did on the COVID stimulus.  —  The big picture: Manchin said he'll push …

Meet the GOP voters who could decide whether the U.S. reaches herd immunity  —  Almost one-third of Republicans tell pollsters they 'definitely won't' get vaccinated.  —  Margaret, an 80-year-old retiree who lives outside Tulsa, has spent the past year living in fear of the coronavirus.

Pence to give speech in SC, his 1st since leaving office  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — In his first public address since the end of the Trump administration, former Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to South Carolina, set to speak to a conservative Christian nonprofit in the state that plays …

Biden administration giving temporary protected status to thousands of Venezuelans in U.S.  —  The White House on Monday announced a temporary protected status decree that could allow tens of thousands of Venezuelans who fled their homeland to remain in the United States with legal standing.

REPUBLISH  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  Everything looks the same on either side of the Texas-New Mexico border in the great oil patch of the Permian Basin.

The GOP scam is getting worse — for Republican voters.  A new study shows how.  —  When every Senate Republican voted against President Biden's $1.9 trillion rescue package over the weekend, it revived a question that analysts have asked about the modern GOP for decades …

Josh Hawley Is ‘Not Going Anywhere.’ How Did He Get Here?  —  The senator's objection to the election results surprised some supporters.  But interviews with dozens of people close to him show his growing comfort with doing what it takes to hold on to power.

Sen. Roy Blunt won't run for reelection in latest blow to GOP  —  Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri announced on Monday that he will not run for reelection in 2022, a surprise decision from the No. 4 GOP leader that comes amid a slew of retirements from top Senate Republicans.

NYC prosecutors' probe into Trump finances expands to include millions loaned for Chicago skyscraper  —  Five elected investigators are turning their attention to Trump  —  (CNN)The Manhattan district attorney's office subpoenaed documents from an investment company that loaned …

Iowa's Johnson County Democrats calls for replacing caucuses with a presidential primary  —  The largest Democratic caucus site in Iowa's Johnson County in 2020 held nearly 900 people, said local activist John Deeth — a far cry from the glorified image of Iowans debating presidential politics in a neighbor's living room.

Pepe Le Pew Won't Be Appearing In Warner Bros' ‘Space Jam’ Sequel  —  EXCLUSIVE: He starred in the first Warner Bros. Space Jam movie back in 1996, however, Pepe Le Pew will not be showing up at all in the upcoming theatrical sequel Space Jam: A New Legacy on July 16.

Biden administration backs nation's biggest wind farm off Martha's Vineyard  —  Once blocked by some waterfront landowners, offshore wind power now enjoys broad support  —  The Biden administration took a crucial step Monday toward approving the nation's first large-scale offshore wind farm …

Maggie Haberman on life after Trump and the one question she regrets not asking  —  Maggie Haberman had perhaps the hardest, and definitely the most scrutinized, job in journalism for the past four years.  She owned the Trump beat for The New York Times.  Haberman came to cover the White House …

Rep. Paul Gosar Tweets White Nationalist Group's Motto  —  After speaking at a white nationalist “America First” conference recently, the Arizona congressman appears to be doubling down on his support of the group.  —  Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) posted on Twitter the motto of a white nationalist group …