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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

Biden set to accept fewest refugees of any modern president, including Trump, report says  —  Since his days on the campaign trail, President Biden has tried to cast himself as diametrically opposed to former president Donald Trump when it comes to welcoming refugees into the United States.

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.

Virginia governor calls for investigation into police pepper-spraying of Black Army officer  —  Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Sunday he is directing Virginia State Police to investigate a traffic stop during which two police officers held an Army second lieutenant at gunpoint in the southeast part of the state.

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 …

Joe Manchin beats his chest for D.C. elites while struggling W. Va. waits for help |  Will Bunch  —  Jeanne Peters moved to Wood County, W. Va., from Atlanta more than two decades ago seeking to launch an e-commerce business while breathing in some of what has kept families in the isolated Mountain State …