Iranian Operatives Planned to Kidnap a Brooklyn Author, Prosecutors Say  —  Masih Alinejad spoke critically of her native country's autocracy.  Now an Iranian intelligence official and three others have been indicted in New York.  —  An Iranian American journalist living in Brooklyn …

Ken Starr, Brett Kavanaugh, Jeffrey Epstein and Me  —  As a former professional partisan, I never thought I'd look back decades to my political beginnings and find the map that points to our current moment, when there is serious doubt whether the democracy we took for granted at the time will continue to exist.

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 …

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 …

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

Crime and Cuba backfire on Democrats  —  Two apparently unconnected issues that top the headline news endanger Democrats' election hopes.  I say “apparently” because although the events are taking place in different countries, both are tied indissolubly to the Left and to the party in power in Washington.

Tennessee vaccine official's story reveals an ugly truth about GOP and children's rights  —  State fires vaccine chief after she shares policy about vaccinating teens  —  Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the book “OK Boomer, Let's Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind.”

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.

Sacha Baron Cohen, Showtime win dismissal of Roy Moore defamation lawsuit  —  British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen on Tuesday won the dismissal of a $95 million defamation lawsuit by Roy Moore, a former U.S. Senate candidate from Alabama who claimed he was tricked into being portrayed falsely …

Senate Democrats, Republicans grapple with price tag for Biden's infrastructure agenda  —  A bipartisan coalition is meeting on public-works spending as Democrats strategize on a broader plan including expanding Medicare.  —  Two groups of senators labored Tuesday to try to assemble massive proposals …

DeSantis' anti-riot law didn't apply as Cuba protesters shut down a Miami-Dade road.  Hmmm . . .  Gov. DeSantis should have just laid it on the line when a reporter asked about the hundreds upon hundreds of Cuban-American demonstrators and their supporters who shut down a portion of the Palmetto Expressway in Miami-Dade County.

Former Banker Found Guilty of Bribery Tied to Paul Manafort Loans  —  Stephen Calk sought a Trump administration post as his bank approved $16 million for Manafort properties  —  A federal jury in Manhattan convicted a former bank executive on charges that he helped arrange $16 million …

New concern for Biden: Could Larry Summers be right about inflation?  —  There is a new fear circulating inside the West Wing of the White House: Maybe Larry Summers was right.  —  The former Treasury secretary has been warning since February that President Joe Biden's big-spending agenda …

New York takes conservative approach counting virus deaths  —  ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The federal government's count of the COVID-19 death toll in New York has 11,000 more victims than the tally publicized by the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which has stuck with a far more conservative approach to counting virus deaths.

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.

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 …

The good and the bad in Biden's blistering attack on GOP voter suppression  —  President Biden just delivered a slashing indictment of the GOP's ongoing assault on democracy in a speech in Philadelphia, and it contained good news and bad news.  —  The good news is that Biden went further …

Norwegian Cruise Lines sues state of Florida over vaccine passport ban  —  The CEO previously threatened to move its ships out of Florida over the ban.  —  Norwegian Cruise Lines is suing Florida after the state banned vaccine passports, saying it cannot safely resume sailings without ensuring …

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.

DOJ charges 5 members of same family for allegedly joining Capitol riot  —  Five members of the Munn family from Texas are facing charges.  —  Five members of the same Texas family were arrested Tuesday and charged for their alleged participation in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to newly-unsealed charging documents.

‘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.

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 …

Going back to school on Palestinian textbooks  —  It would be an understatement to say that the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Germany has written the book on how to analyze textbooks.  The Institute has actually published many books — ones that are meticulous, detailed, and dispassionate.

Customers Are Back at Restaurants and Bars, but Workers Have Moved On  —  Pandemic layoffs pushed many employees in hospitality to find jobs in new growth areas—with better pay, perks, career prospects  —  Like many servers and bartenders around the country, Ashley Roshitsh, 32 years old, used to love her job—until the pandemic.