Trump says Dems ‘disparaged’ COVID-19 vaccine while he was president: ‘Now they wonder why’ some are hesitant  —  Trump criticizes Biden's new COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employers  —  Joe Biden's Massive Vaccine Mandates  —  EXCLUSIVE: Former President Donald Trump blamed Democrats …

POLITICO Playbook: Grisham dishes on Melania  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  THE WEEK AHEAD: JOE BIDEN campaigns with GAVIN NEWSOM in Long Beach, Calif., tonight before voters there decide Tuesday whether Newsom should be recalled (polls show him up by double digits) ... Secretary …

Facebook Says Its Rules Apply to All.  Company Documents Reveal a Secret Elite That's Exempt.  —  A program known as XCheck has given millions of celebrities, politicians and other high-profile users special treatment, a privilege many abuse  —  Mark Zuckerberg has publicly said Facebook Inc. allows …

USCP Officers Arrest California Man with Bayonet & Machete  —  This morning the United States Capitol Police arrested a California man who had multiple knives in his truck near the Democratic National Committee headquarters.  —  “This is good police work plain and simple,” said Chief Tom Manger.

Afghan American woman's escape highlights secretive CIA role in Kabul rescues  —  Five days after Afghanistan's fall, Shaqaiq Birashk, holed up in her Kabul apartment, was contacted by a stranger offering to have her picked up and escorted to the airport for evacuation.

It made me sick to watch a once-male special forces combat veteran beat up a woman on TV - it's time to stop this trans sport insanity before women start being killed  —  It was the moment ideology met cold, hard reality.  —  Alana McLaughlin, 38, the second transgender MMA fighter to compete in the sport …

Most People Don't Need a Covid Vaccine Booster, New Review Says  —  None of the data on coronavirus vaccines so far provides credible evidence in support of boosters for the general population, according to a review published on Monday by an international group of scientists …

Lauren Boebert Says Government Should Be Run by ‘Righteous Men and Women of God’  —  Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado spoke Saturday at a conference held by the Truth & Liberty Coalition, a religious-right political organization founded by right-wing pastor Andrew Wommack.

Trump's White House chief of staff is target of Capitol attack records request  —  House select committee investigating 6 January wants telecom and social media companies to preserve records on Mark Meadows  —  The House select committee investigating the 6 January attack on the Capitol …

Former US Sen. Al Franken talks political downfall, return to comedy before Northampton show  —  The past few years have been unsettling for many — and Al Franken is no exception.  —  After a successful career in comedy, including a lengthy stint on NBC's “Saturday Night Live,” …

Why Our Monsters Talk to Michael Wolff  —  In his new book, the author of “Fire and Fury” continues his specialty: teasing out stories from men in power.  —  It's early 2019, a few months before Jeffrey Epstein will be arrested on sex charges, and he is sitting in the vast study …

The Legacy of America's Post-9/11 Turn to Torture  —  Twenty years after the attacks, the United States is still grappling with the consequences of brutal interrogations carried out in the name of national security.  —  NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania — Mohamedou Ould Slahi is almost clinical …

GOP ‘Moderate’ Blasted Capitol Riots — and Cozied Up to a Jan. 6 Bus Trip Organizer  —  Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick called Jan. 6th a “coup attempt,” but that didn't stop him from attending a fundraiser at the home of a man who helped bus hundreds of people to Washington for a “Million MAGA March”

California couple die of covid, leaving five kids behind.  Their newborn is 3 weeks old.  —  Davy Macias, 37, was intubated and dying of complications from covid-19 when doctors helped her give birth to her daughter.  She would never see her baby.  —  Her husband, Daniel Macias, 39 …

Washington Post expands 202 newsletter franchise  —  The Washington Post is relaunching its 202 newsletter suite with a new email around climate, new authors and an expanded product suite.  —  Why it matters: The redesigned products are meant to be more digestible and personality-driven …

SEC Charges Three Media Companies with Illegal Offerings of Stock and Digital Assets  —  Companies to Pay More Than $539 Million in Settlement for Distribution to Investors  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged New York City-based GTV Media Group Inc. and Saraca Media Group Inc. …

Biden's coronavirus mandate isn't as ‘divisive’ as its opponents claim  —  The Republican Party is suddenly united in its approach to the coronavirus pandemic.  And all it took was for President Biden to announce that the federal government would mandate vaccination or weekly testing for employees of large companies.

Lab-grown woolly mammoths could walk the Earth in six years if geneticist's new start-up succeeds  — Tech entrepreneur Ben Lamm is helping to fund a project by Harvard geneticist George Church to revive the woolly mammoth.  — The project, called Colossal, aims to create a calf in as little as six years, Church told CNBC.

Trump Politicizes Soldier Deaths.  Gold Star Families Call It ‘Disgusting.’  —  Former President Donald Trump has taken to calling out President Joe Biden for soldier deaths in Afghanistan.  Gold Star families aren't so pleased.  —  “Gross.”  “Disgusting.”  “Without honor.”

Homeland Security chief of staff abruptly resigns  —  The shake-up comes at a critical and difficult time for the agency.  —  Jennifer Higgins, the current associate director of Refugee, Asylum and International Operations at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, will step …

Scoop: Biden to tap privacy hawk for FTC post  —  President Biden will nominate Georgetown University law professor Alvaro Bedoya to be a Democratic commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, people familiar with the matter told Axios.  —  Why it matters: Bedoya, founding director …

The consequences of extreme partisan animosity  —  In the U.S., where divisiveness has reached new extremes, the consequences of polarization include declining trust in fellow citizens and major institutions; erosion of democratic norms like respect for elections; loss of faith in the existence …

Forget About Biden's ‘Cruel Summer’—He's Doing Big Things  —  He's ended America's longest war, got vaccines distributed at no cost nationwide and halved the child poverty rate.  So why all the stories about 'Biden's Cruel Summer'? … We are both old enough to remember a time when you picked …

Sen. Alex Padilla on voting rights and filibuster reform  —  Senate Democrats are nearing a compromise on new voting rights legislation.  Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) joined NBC's Mehdi Hasan to break down where negotiations stand.  He also discussed filibuster reform and the future of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill.