Matt Gaetz's Wingman Paid Dozens of Young Women—and a 17-Year-Old  —  VEN-UH-OH … Venmo payment records reveal a vast network of young women received money from Rep. Matt Gaetz's associate, the accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg.  —  As new details emerge about Rep. Matt Gaetz's role …

Department of Justice Closes Investigation into the Death of Ashli Babbitt  —  WASHINGTON - The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice will not pursue criminal charges against the U.S. Capitol Police officer involved …

Officer arrested, charged with second-degree manslaughter in killing of Daunte Wright  —  The charge carries maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.  —  TEXT SIZE  —  MORE  —  Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly A. Potter was arrested late Wednesday morning at the offices …

House and Senate Democrats Plan Bill to Add Four Justices to Supreme Court … Congressional Democrats plan to unveil legislation expanding the size of the Supreme Court on Thursday, according to three congressional sources familiar with the closely held measure.

‘The Pentagon is not making these decisions’: How Biden's team overrode the brass on Afghanistan  —  The military spent more than a decade urging three different American presidents to stay in Afghanistan.  With President Joe Biden's decision this week to withdraw all U.S. forces by Sept. 11, they finally lost the battle.

Biden Receives High Marks On Pandemic, Low Score On Mexican Border Situation, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Infrastructure Plan Is More Popular If Corporate Taxes Fund It  —  As President Joe Biden approaches his 100th day in office, he receives a positive 48 - 42 percent job approval rating …

U.S. Poised to Impose Russia Sanctions Over Election, SolarWinds  — Moves coming as soon as Thursday, days after Biden-Putin call  — U.S. blames Russia for SolarWinds hack, election interference  —  The Biden administration is poised to take action against Russian individuals …

Western Warnings Tarnish Vaccines the World Badly Needs  —  Amid a deep residue of mistrust, American and European cautions on the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines risk igniting anti-vaccine fervor in the global south.  —  Safety worries about the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines …

The C.E.O.s Who Didn't Sign a Big Defense of Voting Rights  —  Hundreds of leaders and companies signed a letter opposing strict limits.  They did not.  —  A big show of corporate solidarity  —  Amazon, BlackRock, Google, Warren Buffett and hundreds of other companies and executives …

Shades of 2016: Republicans Stay Silent on Trump, Hoping He Fades Away  —  Just like when Donald J. Trump was a candidate in 2016, rival Republicans are trying to avoid becoming the target of his attacks or directly confronting him, while hoping someone else will.

Cruz challenges Biden DOJ pick's contention that she opposes defunding police  —  Kristen Clarke insisted she opposes defunding police, despite a 2020 op-ed with a headline calling for it  —  Cruz challenges Biden DOJ Kristen Clarke pick over her position on defunding police

The strange death of the Democrats  —  The party will decline because it has a demographic problem  —  The Democratic party is dying.  That may be hard to believe since Democrats control both houses of Congress and won the last presidential election with a record 81 million votes.

White House to name Erika Moritsugu to Asian American liaison position  —  The Biden administration is expected Thursday to announce Erika Moritsugu to a senior-level Asian American liaison position, according to sources familiar with the decision making.  —  The White House committed …

Andrew Yang's mayoral campaign is being run by a lobbying firm  —  Andrew Yang's two campaign managers, his press secretary, his policy director and multiple senior advisers don't actually work for his New York City mayoral campaign.  They're employed by Tusk Strategies …

Mitt Romney And Kyrsten Sinema Team Up On Bipartisan Proposal To Increase Minimum Wage  —  Senate Democrats have had little success finding agreement among themselves on how much to increase the federal minimum wage.  —  Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) …

Mike Gibbons used Russian and Ukrainian stock footage to illustrate the ‘American dream’ in his Senate announcement video  —  CLEVELAND, Ohio - Despite describing the United States as the “greatest country in the history of the world” in his announcement that he would run for U.S. Senate …

Welcome to the New Progressive Era  —  Washington in the first days of the Biden administration is a place for double takes: A president associated with the politics of austerity is spending money with focused gusto, a crisis isn't going to waste, and Senator Bernie Sanders is happy.

Bad news for journalists: The public doesn't share our values.  But there's hope.  —  Ask almost any group of journalists to name the core values of their profession, and they'll probably deliver a list like this:  —  Oversight.  We're the watchdogs keeping an eye on government officials and other powerful people and institutions.

Anti-Vax Activists Are Quietly Bending State Politics To Their Will  —  At least five states are considering bills based on language written by a fringe group.  Across the U.S., legislators are promoting bad science and COVID denial.  —  Anna Merlan  —  South Carolina State Representative Bill Chumley was feeling vindicated.

Tucker Carlson's toxic ‘replacement’ rhetoric gets picked up in the House  —  From the moment Fox News's Tucker Carlson explicitly advocated the idea that immigrants are “replacing” real Americans — a rhetorical construct popular among self-proclaimed white nationalists — the danger was obvious.

Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady will retire from Congress at the end of his term  —  The Montgomery County Republican has served in Congress for more than two decades.  —  Copy link  —  WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, announced Wednesday morning that this will be his last term serving in the U.S. House.

One in Five Still Shun Vaccine  —  Biden gets high marks for Covid response  —  West Long Branch, NJ - About 1 in 5 American adults remain unwilling to get the Covid vaccine, even as more people are getting the shot.  The Monmouth ("Mon-muth") University Poll also finds that President Joe Biden continues …

Mr. President, your misinformation on Georgia's voting law is dangerous  —  Gabriel Sterling is the chief operation officer and chief financial officer in the office of the Georgia Secretary of State.  —  “Someone is going to get hurt.”  I made that prediction four months ago regarding misinformation about the 2020 election.

Andrew Cuomo Impeachment Hotline Gets Over 100 Messages  —  Investigators sort through calls and emails as the governor faces harassment and other allegations  —  ALBANY, N.Y.—More than 100 messages have come through a hotline set up two weeks ago by investigators working on the impeachment probe …