Feds investigating alleged scheme to illegally finance Collins' reelection bid  —  The FBI is investigating what it describes as a massive scheme to illegally finance Sen. Susan Collins' 2020 reelection bid, Axios has learned.  —  What's happening: A recently unsealed search warrant application shows …

A GOP congressman compared Capitol rioters to tourists.  Photos show him barricading a door.  —  Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.) last week downplayed the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, comparing the mob's breaching of the building to a “normal tourist visit.”  —  But photos from that day show …

Scoop: Biden to waive sanctions on company in charge of Nord Stream 2  —  The Biden administration will waive sanctions on the corporate entity and CEO overseeing the construction of Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline into Germany, according to two sources briefed on the decision.

Biden floors electric Ford truck in test drive as he pushes infrastructure plan  —  Biden went pedal to the metal while modeling green energy with a test drive.  —  Biden endorses cease-fire in Middle East amid mounting pressure  —  The administration has been focusing on quiet diplomatic efforts behind the scenes.

Arizona auditors now say voter data is intact, after sparking GOP feud  —  ‘Exasperated’: GOP Arizona election official reacts to Trump's election lie  —  (CNN)Auditors hired by the Arizona state Senate backtracked Tuesday from claims that a key database had been deleted …

Source: U.S. helped avert Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, hopes rise conflict could end soon  —  The Biden administration is increasingly hopeful that the deadly conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants is in its final stages, and U.S. officials are confident their mostly behind …

Tlaib confronts Biden on Israel, saying U.S. support is enabling Netanyahu to commit crimes against Palestinians.  —  Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, confronted President Biden on Tuesday over his support for Israel amid its bombing campaign against Hamas in Gaza …

Obama on UFO videos: 'We don't know exactly what they are' … Former President Barack Obama on Monday offered a blunt assessment of the videos of unidentified aerial phenomenon that have continued to gain attention in the United States.  —  “What is true, and I'm actually being serious here …

Overturn Roe  —  The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear Mississippi's appeal in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization to decide the fate of the state's Gestational Age Act.  That law, passed in 2018 and held in limbo ever since by the courts, bans abortions after 15 weeks except …

Giuliani, who urged Trump supporters to have ‘trial by combat,’ says he wasn't literally calling for insurrection  —  GOP lawmaker rips colleagues' ‘bogus’ insurrection claims  —  (CNN)Lawyers for Rudy Giuliani — who exhorted Trump supporters in Washington on the day of the Capitol riot to …

Charles Grodin, Star of ‘Beethoven’ and ‘Heartbreak Kid,’ Dies at 86  —  A familiar face who was especially adept at deadpan comedy, he also appeared on Broadway in “Same Time, Next Year,” wrote books and had his own talk show.  —  Charles Grodin, the versatile actor familiar from “Same Time …

Ohio sees boost in shots after it announces $1 million vaccination lottery … CINCINNATI — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's $5 million lottery to encourage vaccinations appears to be an early win.  —  State health officials said Monday that more than 25,400 Covid-19 vaccine shots were administered Friday …

America's Satanic Panic Returns — This Time Through QAnon  —  The first time sociologist Mary de Young heard about QAnon, she thought: “Here we go again.”  —  De Young spent her career studying moral panics — specifically, what became known as the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s …

For some Navy pilots, UFO sightings were an ordinary event: ‘Every day for at least a couple years’  —  When the Navy pilot first spotted the strange object hovering in restricted airspace off the Atlantic Coast, he was stunned — no exhaust plume, no visible engine and all the makings of something secret …

Val Demings to run for Senate against Rubio  —  ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida Rep. Val Demings is planning to run for the U.S. Senate, rather than governor, providing Democrats with a big-name candidate to take on Republican Sen. Marco Rubio next year.  —  For months, Demings mulled …

Capitol Rioters' ‘Trump Defense’ Comes Up Again And Again.  Will It Make A Difference?  —  A few weeks after his arrest for allegedly storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, the man known as the “QAnon Shaman,” Jacob Chansley, floated an idea that dozens of others have tried — that Trump himself deserved some of the blame for his actions.

Nevada GOP candidate for governor who hadn't been vaccinated tests positive for coronavirus  —  (CNN)Hours after launching his campaign for governor, a Nevada Republican who had not yet received the coronavirus vaccine said he had just tested positive for the virus.

The Taboo on the COVID Lab-Leak Theory Lifts  —  On the menu today: Out of nowhere, it's seemingly hip and cool to point out the long-obvious fact that SARS-CoV-2 could well be the result of a lab accident in Wuhan.  And Politico drives me to do the unthinkable: call for people to get off Kamala Harris's back.

Rick Scott continues to plead with Donald Trump to stay out of Senate primaries  —  Will a scorned ex-President play in Senate primaries?  Scott hopes not.  —  U.S. Sen. Rick Scott continues to express hope that former President Donald Trump won't engage against Senate incumbents in 2022.