Tech company running Arizona ballot audit backs out: ‘They were done’  —  Jen Fifield Andrew OxfordArizona Republic  —  The Pennsylvania-based IT company that was in charge of running the hand recount of Maricopa County ballots is no longer involved in the audit.

Leader McCarthy Condemns Comparisons to the Holocaust  —  Washington, D.C. - House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) released the following statement:

Bipartisan group of senators prepares new infrastructure plan as talks stall between White House and GOP  —  Romney and several others are trying to craft a deal that they hope can win support from lawmakers in both parties  —  A small bipartisan group of senators is privately sketching …

Justice Dept. releases part of internal memo on not charging Trump in Russia probe  —  The Justice Department late Monday night released part of a key internal document used in 2019 to justify not charging President Donald Trump with obstruction, but also signaled it would fight a judge's effort to make the entire document public.

The Crisis of Anti-Semitic Violence  —  Violence between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East is often accompanied by spikes in anti-Semitic activity in the United States, but what's happened over the last week or so has been different.  —  As Jonathan Greenblatt, the national director …

What Biden Didn't Realize About His Presidency  —  Joe Biden had been president for less than two weeks when he told me something he'd heard from a friend after the election.  Biden was like the dog that caught the car, the friend told him—after a lifetime of dreaming of becoming president, he'd finally done it.

Secretary of State Katie Hobbs stripped of roles by Appropriations Committee  —  PHOENIX — Political score-settling is not supposed to be part of the budgeting process, but you will have a hard time convincing Democratic members of the House Appropriations Committee of that.

Faulty redactions in court document show federal investigators seized more info in case against Rudy Giuliani than previously disclosed  —  New details emerge about investigation into Giuliani  —  (CNN)New York federal prosecutors investigating Rudy Giuliani have seized material from a wider array …

Timeline: How the Wuhan lab-leak theory suddenly became credible  —  The source of the coronavirus that has left more than 3 million people dead around the world remains a mystery.  But in recent months the idea that it emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) …

Kathryn Garcia leads field in new poll, 4 weeks ahead of Election Day  —  Former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia is leading the Democratic field of mayoral contenders, with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams hot on her trail, according to a new poll four weeks ahead of Election Day.

Trump responds to insurrection lawsuit by claiming immunity while he was President  —  ‘Storm the Capitol!’:  Rioters react to Trump speech  —  Washington (CNN)Donald Trump's attorney defended the ex-President's incendiary speech on January 6, saying he is protected under the First Amendment and had …

How Libs Can Stop Owning Themselves Online  —  The Right has mastered trolling as a political communications strategy and Dems have to stop falling for it  —  In the last few weeks, Senator Ted Cruz, no stranger to Twitter controversy, has  — Retweeted a Russian propaganda video while calling the U.S. military “emasculated.”

The End IS Near.  No, Seriously.  —  The tone of some recent writing about this pandemic has seemed — to me, anyway — strangely defeatist.  —  Friends keep asking me questions like: “Is what I'm hearing true?  We'll never reach herd immunity?”  —  The subtext is we'll never really be safe …

Democrats nervous and GOP hopeful that New Mexico election is 2022 bellwether  —  ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — New Mexico's 1st Congressional District special election will test whether warnings over a left-wing approach to policing and crime work without former President Donald Trump topping the ballot.

We Are Critics of Nikole Hannah-Jones.  Her Tenure Denial Is a Travesty.  —  Political intervention in hiring will badly damage higher ed.  —  Today's rampant political polarization has led to alarming interference in academic affairs, threatening basic principles of openness and faculty authority …

Axios-Ipsos poll: Re-emerging without trust  —  Americans are taking off their masks and re-engaging publicly at levels not seen since the start of the pandemic, with the most dramatic shifts in people over 50 and those who've been vaccinated, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Senate confirms Clarke as first Black woman to lead DOJ civil rights  —  The Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Kristen Clarke as the new head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in a tight 51-48 vote, with Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) the only Republican to cross party lines and vote for her.

U.S. wants to reopen Jerusalem consulate, Blinken tells Netanyahu  —  Secretary of State Tony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in their meeting on Tuesday that the Biden administration wants to reopen the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem as soon as possible, Israeli officials tell me.

One father's stand against critical race theory: We're indoctrinating our children  —  A month ago, I mailed a letter to all the parents of my daughter's New York City private school, Brearley, asking them to speak up against the school administration's illiberal and indoctrinating antiracism initiatives …

WWE's Cena apologises to China after Taiwan country reference  —  John Cena says on Taiwanese TV that it would be ‘the first country to watch the film’ American quickly backtracked on Weibo, saying he made ‘one mistake’ after doing ‘a lot of interviews’ John Cena backtracks comments …

Scoop: New York Times in talks to buy The Athletic  —  The New York Times is looking into a potential acquisition of The Athletic, three sources familiar with the matter tell Axios.  —  Driving the news: Sources say The Times approached The Athletic following a report about a potential deal between The Athletic and Axios in March.

Mysterious air base being built on volcanic island off Yemen  —  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A mysterious air base is being built on a volcanic island off Yemen that sits in one of the world's crucial maritime chokepoints for both energy shipments and commercial cargo.

Murkowski to back Jan. 6 commission bill  —  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Tuesday became the second Senate Republican to say she will support a House-passed bill to establish a bipartisan commission on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, which could come to the floor for a vote this week.