Embattled Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz is denied a meeting with Trump  —  (CNN)Rep. Matt Gaetz, who's facing a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations, was recently denied a meeting with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate as the ex-President and his allies continue to distance themselves from the Florida congressman.

More than a hundred corporate executives hold call to discuss halting donations and investments to fight controversial voting bills  —  More than 100 chief executives and corporate leaders gathered online Saturday to discuss taking new action to combat the controversial state voting bills …

Blackout Hits Iran Nuclear Site in What Appears to Be Israeli Sabotage  —  The power failure comes at a delicate time, with talks underway in Vienna to restore the 2015 nuclear deal.  —  The Natanz nuclear facility in Iran mysteriously lost power on Sunday in what Iranian officials called …

Why We're Freaking Out About Substack  —  A company that makes it easy to charge for newsletters has captivated an anxious industry because it embodies larger forces and contradictions.  —  Danny Lavery had just agreed to a two-year, $430,000 contract with the newsletter platform Substack …

‘Like the Tiger King Got Elected Tax Collector’: Inside the Case That Ensnared Matt Gaetz  —  Joel Greenberg, a onetime local official in Florida, is accused of an array of crimes, including bribery, stalking and corruption.  —  LAKE MARY, Fla. — Long before the F.B.I. began to scrutinize …

‘White Lives Matter’ rallies flop as hardly anyone shows up  —  In semi-private, encrypted chats, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists planned rallies in dozens of cities on Sunday to promote their racist movements and spread their ideologies to larger audiences.

POLITICO Playbook: GOP donors privately pan Trump's ‘horrible’ RNC speech  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  A slew of well-heeled Republican National Committee donors descended on Palm Beach this weekend, excited to be schmoozed, eager for access to DONALD TRUMP and other potential 2024 nominees …

Biden administration plans to name former senior NSA officials to White House cyber position and head of CISA  —  The Biden administration plans on Monday to name a former senior National Security Agency official as the first national cyber director and another former NSA official to head …

I Thought My Job Was To Report On Technology In India.  Instead, I Got A Front-Row Seat To The Decline Of My Democracy.  —  I love writing about tech.  But covering how a Hindu nationalist government is using it to destroy a secular democracy isn't what I signed up for.  —  Copy

Welcome to Galaxy Brain  —  Why I'm leaving (The) New York (Times).  —  Hello!  Hi!  I have a new job — you're looking at it.  Welcome to Galaxy Brain, my humble internet outpost.  I am terribly excited.  Before I arrived here, I spent a few great years as a writer at large for the New York Times Opinion section.

Scoop: Trump campaign boosted by unsuspecting state GOPs  —  Federal regulators are probing financial reporting discrepancies stemming from an effort to funnel $75 million through state Republican parties to the national GOP effort to reelect Donald Trump, Axios has learned.

Never Trump conservatives are complicit with Team Biden's moral outrages and norm-breaking  —  Remember Never Trump?  —  For four years, an influential clique of think tankers, Republican operatives and talking heads claimed that any conservative who supported Donald Trump was complicit with a uniquely malevolent presidency.

Biden pollster urges blunt tax talk  —  The top pollster for Joe Biden's presidential campaign is advising the White House to do something that often makes Democrats nervous: Talk loudly and proudly about raising taxes on the rich.  —  Why it matters: John Anzalone tells Axios his extensive polling …

China admits that it's COVID-19 vaccine isn't very effective: official  —  BEIJING — In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country's top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to give them a boost.

Vox Media to Buy Owner of Preet Bharara's Podcast  —  Bharara, a former Manhattan U.S. attorney, will join Vox Media as a host and creative director  —  Vox Media said it is acquiring Cafe Studios Inc., publisher of a popular podcast hosted by former Manhattan U.S. attorney Preet Bharara …

NY Times beclowns itself by normalizing court-packing ‘to balance the conservative majority’  —  “Breaking News: President Biden will create a panel to study expanding the Supreme Court in an effort to balance the conservative majority created by Donald Trump.”

Maskless Florida woman who coughed on Pier 1 customer gets 30 days in jail  —  A Florida woman who, without wearing a mask, purposefully coughed on another customer in a Pier 1 store last year has been sentenced to 30 days in jail.  —  Debra Hunter, 53, will serve time in Duval County jail …

Polls show majority of Republicans mistakenly think the 2020 election wasn't legitimate  —  (CNN)Poll of the week: A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that 55% of Republicans falsely believe Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election was the result of illegal voting or rigging.

Dr. Fauci: ‘We Very Well May Need to Get Booster Shots’ After A Year or So to Maintain Covid Immunity  —  Dr. Anthony Fauci told MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan that booster shots for the Covid-19 vaccine very well may be needed after about a year or so to maintain immunity against the virus.

Twitter Censors Criticism of BLM Founder Buying $1.4 Million Home In Predominantly White Neighborhood  —  We have been discussing the expanding censorship on Twitter and social media.  The latest example involves the story of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors, 37 …