Biden names Arizona Republican Jeff Flake as his ambassador pick for Turkey  —  Ronald J. Hansen Yvonne Wingett SanchezArizona Republic  —  President Joe Biden intends to nominate former Sen. Jeff Flake as ambassador to Turkey, putting the Arizona Republican on the front lines diplomatically …

Trump unloads on Kavanaugh in new Michael Wolff book  —  Former President Donald Trump, in a book out Tuesday by Michael Wolff, says he is “very disappointed” in votes by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, his own hard-won nominee, and that he “hasn't had the courage you need to be a great justice.”

William Barr clashes with former Trump appointee from Pa. over handling of election-fraud claims  —  A war of words broke out Tuesday among former senior Justice Department officials over Pennsylvania politics and the aftermath of the 2020 election, fueled by former president Donald Trump's release …

Iranian Intelligence Officials Indicted on Kidnapping Conspiracy Charges  —  Iranian Intelligence Services Allegedly Plotted to Kidnap a U.S. Journalist and Human Rights Activist from New York City for Rendition to Iran  —  A New York federal court unsealed an indictment today charging four Iranian nationals …

Trump said whoever ‘leaked’ info on his White House bunker stay should be ‘executed,’ new book claims  —  Then-President Donald Trump told a number of his advisers in 2020 that whoever leaked information about his stay in the White House bunker during protests last June had committed treason …

The Atlantic thrived through Trump and the pandemic.  The future is harder.  —  Nicholas Thompson, the chief executive of The Atlantic, gave a presentation to employees last month in which he disclosed some uncomfortable truths about the state of the magazine.

There's a Word for What Trumpism Is Becoming  —  “I became worse.”  That's how double impeachment changed him, Donald Trump told a conservative audience in Dallas last weekend, without a trace of a smile.  This was not Trump the insult comic talking.  This was the deepest Trump self.

‘I Alone Can Fix It’ book excerpt: Inside Trump's Election Day and the birth of the ‘big lie’ … Finally, Election Day had arrived.  The morning of Nov. 3, 2020, President Trump was upbeat.  The mood in the West Wing was good.  Some aides talked giddily of a landslide.

What the Hell Happened to the Claremont Institute?  —  [A printable PDF of this article is available here.]  —  Just before 11 o'clock on the morning of January 6—an hour before President Donald Trump began riling up his “Save America” rally in front of the White House …

Texas House Republicans vote to track down absent Democrats and arrest them if necessary  —  The procedural move carries little apparent weight since the Democrats who fled the state to break quorum are beyond the jurisdiction of Texas law enforcement.  —  Copy link

For white evangelical Protestants, the degradation of democracy is not regrettable.  It's desirable  —  The point is rule by God's chosen.  —  3 hr ago  —  Members of the pundit corps seem to believe white evangelical Protestants (WEPs) have politicized their faith.

Biden applauds ‘courage’ of Texas Democrats who fled state to avoid voting on election bills  —  President Joe Biden supports Democratic state lawmakers who fled Texas to delay Republican bills the GOP claims will help secure elections, according to the White House.

Newsmax vouches for vaccines after host Rob Schmitt says shots are ‘against nature’  —  “From time to time, a guest or host may not be as supportive of these efforts,” the conservative network said.  “However, they do not reflect the position of Newsmax.”  —  Rob Schmitt, a primetime host …

Youngkin to skip marquee debate over moderator's donation to Clinton Bush Haiti Fund  —  RICHMOND — Republican Glenn Youngkin will skip what is typically the premier debate of the Virginia governor's race, saying he objects to the moderator, PBS NewsHour host Judy Woodruff …

Bill O'Reilly's Accuser Finally Breaks Her Silence  —  HER STORY … In an exclusive interview, Andrea Mackris reveals the full scope of Bill O'Reilly's alleged harassment of her—and why she doesn't care if telling all means blowing up her NDA. … New York litigator David Ratner shouted at his client …

Manchin draws red line in infrastructure talks  —  Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) warned on Tuesday that he wants both a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a separate Democratic-only bill to be fully paid for.  —  “I think everything should be paid for.  We've put enough free money out,” Manchin told reporters.

The obscure foundation funding “Critical Race Theory” hysteria  —  Critical Race Theory (CRT), once a little-known academic concept, is now at the center of the national political discussion.  CRT is discussed incessantly on Fox News.  It is featured in campaign advertisements.

‘A Real Disquiet’: FTC Staff Attorneys Are Job Hunting … Seeing a pile of resumes already, several leaders of law firm antitrust practices are predicting many more government attorneys heading for private practice in the coming months as a new-look Federal Trade Commission forms under the leadership of chairperson Lina Khan.

Raúl Castro reappears in emergency meeting prompted by massive protests in Cuba  —  Raúl Castro, the octogenarian leader who is still the ultimate authority in Cuba, came out of retirement to attend an emergency meeting of the Communist Party's Politburo to deal with the islandwide protests …

REvil, Hacking Group Behind Major Ransomware Attack, Disappears  —  Just days after President Biden called President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and demanded that he act to shut down ransomware groups that are attacking American targets, the biggest of them has gone off-line.  The mystery is who made that happen.

Feds: New Hampshire Firm Shipped WMD Tech to Russian Spies  —  Newly unsealed documents allege that a U.S. company “intentionally falsified shipping documents” to send scientific instruments to Moscow's domestic intelligence agency, the FSB. … The FBI and federal prosecutors are investigating …

Gun laws barring sales to people under 21 are unconstitutional, appeals court rules  —  Laws preventing firearms dealers from selling handguns to anyone under age 21 are unconstitutional and violate the Second Amendment, a federal appeals court said Tuesday in a ruling that could have implications …

New York's Plan to Move Homeless People From Hotels Is Blocked by Judge  —  The city was transferring homeless people to group shelters without adequate consideration for their health, a federal judge ruled.  —  In a boutique hotel near the Empire State Building that has served as a shelter …

'We're Not Teaching Sodomy In 6th Grade': GOP Nominee For N.J. Governor Wants To End LGBTQ Curriculum  —  The Republican nominee for governor in New Jersey, Jack Ciattarelli, is vowing to roll back school curricula that centers LGTBQ inclusivity, falsely claiming that “sexual orientation” …

Greenwald hammers media on Avenatti: ‘Utter bulls—t’ to claim they couldn't have known he was a crook  —  'If you can't recognize what Avenatti is, you can't see anything'  —  Journalist Glenn Greenwald blasted the media Tuesday for their coverage of disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti …

Taliban fighters execute 22 Afghan commandos as they try to surrender  —  Dawlat Abad, Afghanistan (CNN)Over clear but unsteady video, the words ring out: “Surrender, commandos, surrender.”  Several men emerge from a building; they are clearly unarmed.  —  Gunfire erupts.

Survey: A quarter of US Jews agree that Israel ‘is an apartheid state’  —  (JTA) — A survey of U.S. Jewish voters taken after the Israel-Gaza conflict finds that a sizable minority believe some of the harshest criticisms of Israel, including that it is committing genocide and apartheid.