Justice Dept. Inquiry Into Matt Gaetz Said to Be Focused on Cash Paid to Women  —  The congressman and a former official in Florida sent money to the women using cash apps, receipts showed.  —  WASHINGTON — A Justice Department investigation into Representative Matt Gaetz …

Scoop: Biden doesn't plan to revive SALT deduction, possibly losing key moderates  —  President Biden is unlikely to propose reinstating state and local tax deductions in his second tax-and-spending package despite pressure from several fellow Democrats, according to people with direct knowledge of the planning.

Can Vaccinated People Spread the Virus?  We Don't Know, Scientists Say.  —  Researchers pushed back after the C.D.C. director asserted that vaccinated people “do not carry the virus.”  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday walked back controversial comments made by its director …

Ossoff Breaks with Biden, Opposes Call to Move MLB All-Star Game from Georgia  —  President Biden said Wednesday in an ESPN interview that he would “strongly support” Major League Baseball's moving the All-Star Game out of Georgia to protest the state's new voting law, but Jon Ossoff …

A Man Found 15,000 Bees in His Car After Grocery Shopping  —  An off-duty firefighter in Las Cruces, N.M., whose hobby is beekeeping, safely removed the swarm from the man's car in an Albertsons supermarket parking lot.  —  He had just finished grocery shopping, but a New Mexico man got …

Biden Seeks to Use Infrastructure Plan to Address Racial Inequities  —  The president's $2 trillion proposal allocates money to help communities of color, like a New Orleans neighborhood devastated by a highway project a half-century ago.  —  WASHINGTON — America's most celebrated infrastructure initiative …

Vaccine Passports and the Categorical Impermissibility of Inconveniencing Republicans  —  On the GOP's principled incoherence about freedom of association  —  Conservatives have been freaking out about the mere possibility of vaccine passports, government-issued documents certifying the bearer's Covid jabs.

There's a New Cheesecake Factory in DC, and the White House Press Corps Is Psyched  —  “TODAY'S THE FREAKING DAY,” tweeted one reporter on opening day.  —  When you think of Washington “power restaurants,” Cheesecake Factory probably doesn't come to mind.  But what is a power spot if not simply …

New York attorney general probes finances of key Trump aide  —  The New York attorney general has gathered personal financial records of the Trump Organization's longtime chief financial officer and his family, according to a witness who provided some documents — another sign of legal pressure …

Analysis reveals nearly 200 died in Texas cold storm and blackouts, almost double the official count  —  The deaths of nearly 200 people are linked to February's cold snap and blackouts, a Houston Chronicle analysis reveals, making the natural disaster one of the worst in Texas this past century.

American Airlines Statement on Texas Voting Legislation  —  Earlier this morning, the Texas State Senate passed legislation with provisions that limit voting access.  To make American's stance clear: We are strongly opposed to this bill and others like it.  As a Texas-based business …

Army probes missing rifle from National Guard unit deployed to the Capitol  —  The Army has dispatched its in-house criminal investigative arm to probe the potential theft of a rifle from the D.C. National Guard while the unit was training in Virginia three weeks ago, an Army spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.

Oath Keepers founder, associates exchanged 19 calls from start of Jan. 6 riot through breach, prosecutors allege  —  Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, his deputy and three members who guarded Roger Stone exchanged nearly 20 phone calls over three hours on Jan. 6, coinciding with the first assault …

Embattled Cuomo Pushes Skyline-Altering Penn Station Real Estate Plan as Critics Mobilize  —  Even amid multiple scandals, a weakened Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to railroad through a city-changing land deal that would reshape Manhattan's skyline.  And the project's detractors, until very recently, were few and relatively muted.

EXCLUSIVE: Suspect In Three Vancouver Masonic Lodge Fires Shared Antisemitic, QAnon-Related Content On Facebook  —  Social media posts highlight a deep belief in flat earth, QAnon related conspiracy theories, and claims that Freemasonry is a form of Judaism.  —  The Canadian Anti-Hate Network

Meet “Big Dan” Rodimer, the Jersey Guy Who Wants to Be a Texas Cowboy (and Congressman)  —  The path to power takes many twists and turns.  If Dan “Big Dan” Rodimer wins the May 1 special election in the Sixth Congressional District south of Dallas, his hero's journey will have led him through …

Jim Clyburn ‘Insulted’ By Joe Manchin's Position On Voting Rights Bill  —  The high-ranking House Democrat warned that his party will “pay the biggest price it has ever paid at the polls” if the bill is not enacted into law.  —  Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the third-highest ranking member …

Thousands of South Florida Voters Changed Parties After Capitol Attack  —  Over 6,000 in Miami-Dade and Broward counties officially changed their political affiliations away from the Republican party.  Nearly 3,000 left the Democratic party.  —  Thousands of people in Miami-Dade …

Trump and his advisors are shrugging off DOJ's Capitol riot probe.  But they see danger in the Georgia and New York investigations.  — Trump and his advisors are dismissing the threat of legal exposure to him from the Capitol riot.  — More danger is seen in what they call the …

Cooking oil or crude?  Italian restaurant owner was mistaken target of U.S. sanctions  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of the final acts of the Trump administration was almost certainly one of the most confounding for Alessandro Bazzoni, a restaurant owner in Verona, Italy.

Dems pine to face Ron Johnson just one more time  —  Here's something you don't see every day: Democrats goading an incumbent Republican senator to run for reelection.  —  It's not only that Democrats see Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) as finally ripe for defeat after closely aligning himself …

Sidney Powell Gets $100,000 Bill From Wisconsin: Governor Demands Legal Fees Over Election Lawsuit  —  Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers asked a federal court Wednesday to force far-right attorney Sidney Powell and her client and co-counsel to be sanctioned and pay more than $100,000 in legal fees …

That Spotty Wi-Fi?  There's $100 Billion to Fix It.  —  WASHINGTON — Kimberly Vasquez, a high school senior in Baltimore, faced a tough problem when the pandemic began.  She had no fast internet service in her home, but all her classes were online.  —  Marigold Lewi, a sophomore at the same school …

Coca-Cola CEO wants Congress to act after Georgia's voting law  —  New York (CNN Business)Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey is escalating his criticism against recently passed voting laws in Georgia, saying he wants to be “crystal clear and state unambiguously that we are disappointed” in the legislation.

How Nancy Reagan helped end the Cold War  —  The second weekend of February 1983 found much of the Eastern Seaboard trapped under one of the biggest snowfalls of the century.  The nation's capital, notoriously ill-equipped for extreme weather, was paralyzed under a frozen blanket 17 inches deep.

Rahm Emanuel Headlines Event For Group Fighting $15 Minimum Wage  —  The former Chicago mayor has argued states should be able to opt out of a $15 minimum wage, and is now being rewarded by the National Restaurant Association.  —  9 hr ago  —  As disgraced former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel …

Foreign billionaire conspired to violate election law in straw donor scheme  —  A Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire agreed to pay the U.S. government $1.8 million to resolve allegations that he conspired to violate federal election laws in a “straw donor” scheme to route illegal foreign contributions …