Texas Democrats to flee state in effort to block GOP-backed voting restrictions  —  With Republican-backed voting bills moving rapidly through a special session of the state Legislature, Texas Democrats are planning to make a break for it — again.  —  At least 58 Democratic members …

Trump Organization CFO Removed as Officer of Subsidiaries, Records Show  —  The former president's company is discussing changes in its financial leadership after an indictment accused longtime Trump finance chief Allen Weisselberg of a 15-year tax-fraud, which he denies

Maria Bartiromo's top 10 fails  —  Former President Trump failed to secure a second term in office via lawsuits contesting the Nov. 3 election, a Capitol riot by his supporters or all this whacked-out chatter about “reinstatement.”  Yet that doesn't mean that he can't still act out one of the rituals of his years in office.

Lawyers retreat from pro-Trump election suit  —  The legal reckoning for attorneys who pushed former President Donald Trump's spurious claims of election fraud advanced on Monday, with a federal court in Detroit holding a hearing on whether to impose sanctions over a suit filed last year seeking …

Despite Outbreaks Among Unvaccinated, Fox News Hosts Smear Shots  —  Months after Rupert Murdoch got a Covid-19 dose, one of his network's stars, Tucker Carlson, called a Biden vaccination proposal “the greatest scandal in my lifetime.”  —  Back in December, before the queen of England …

The Republican Party's top lawyer called election fraud arguments by Trump's lawyers a ‘joke’ that could mislead millions  —  The Republican Party's top lawyer warned in November against continuing to push false claims that the presidential election was stolen, calling efforts …

Advisor To Major Pro-Trump Group Runs Racist Newsletter  —  This article was co-published with The Informant, which covers hate and extremism in the U.S. It was an email so racist it might make a ku klux klansman blush.  An advisor for the influential conservative youth organization Turning …

Newsmax host suggests vaccines are “against nature,” and some diseases are “supposed to wipe out a certain amount of people”  —  Rob Schmitt: “That's just kind of the way evolution goes.  Vaccines kind of stand in the way of that”

GOP House candidate who led disruption at Porter town hall holds extremist views  —  Republican Nick Taurus's social media feeds are full of anti-LGBTQ, white supremacist, and racist comments.  —  Nick Taurus, a Republican running for the seat in California's 45th Congressional District currently held …

Biden Fave ‘Unaware’ She Was Talking to Notorious Iran Group  —  Michèle Flournoy claims she didn't realize this weekend's conference where she was a featured speaker on regime change was put on by the once-terror-listed MEK.  —  An Obama-era Pentagon official who was at one point under consideration …

Doug Mataconis, RIP  —  Jazz Shaw drew my attention to a post on Doug's Facebook feed from last evening: … Alas, I have no further details and have not yet found any other confirmation of the news but have no reason to doubt that it's true.  —  Despite his long association with this blog …

Statement by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on Protests in Cuba  —  We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba's authoritarian regime.

Cuba's internet cutoff: A go-to tactic to suppress dissent  —  Cubans facing the country's worst economic crisis in decades took to the streets over the weekend.  In turn, authorities blocked social media sites in an apparent effort to stop the flow of information into, out of and within the beleaguered nation.

The Kids Are Alright Why now is the time to rethink COVID safety protocols for children —and everyone else.  —  The kids are safe.  They always have been.  —  It may sound strange, given a year of panic over school closures and reopenings, a year of masking toddlers and closing playgrounds …

Arizona election official: Unchecked Cyber Ninjas use alarming ‘audit’ rules to count votes  —  We follow sensible rules that inspire confidence in fairness and accuracy.  We should be skeptical of results from the Cyber Ninjas, who are unchecked.  —  In the months since Arizona Senate …

FDA adds new warning on Johnson & Johnson vaccine related to rare autoimmune disorder  —  The agency cites link to a small number of Guillain-Barré cases after vaccination but says the shot's benefits outweigh the risk  —  The Food and Drug Administration announced a new warning …

‘Potentially a death sentence’: White House goes off on vaccine fear mongers  —  The Biden administration is casting conservative opponents of its Covid-19 vaccine campaign as dangerous and extreme, adopting a more aggressive political posture in an attempt to maneuver through the public health conundrum.

Anthony Fauci And Deborah Birx Warned Top Officials About The “Dangers” Of Scott Atlas Last Summer, Emails Show  —  It only took a few days for Scott Atlas to alarm top US health officials after he became a White House COVID-19 adviser in mid-August of last year.

Most unvaccinated people have low incomes  —  More than half of unvaccinated Americans live in households that make less than $50,000 annually, according to the latest Census Bureau data.  —  Why it matters: Making it easier for the working poor to get the COVID-19 vaccine …

Critical race theory battles are driving frustrated, exhausted educators out of their jobs  —  When Rydell Harrison started a new job as a school superintendent in southwestern Connecticut last August, he was excited to join a community that seemed committed to diversity and equity.

Haiti's police claim American recruited mercenaries.  —  A Haitian-born doctor based in Florida has been arrested as a key suspect in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti, and the national police chief suggested at a news conference that he believed the suspect was plotting to become president.

The Technology 202: Sen. Warren calls for federal probe of mask sales on Amazon  —  The Democrat from Massachusetts accused the company of having deceptive search results and not providing customers enough information to ensure the masks it sells have received authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.