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 …

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.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett argues Supreme Court isn't ‘a bunch of partisan hacks’  —  LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In the wake of a controversial decision on abortion rights, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told a crowd of more than 100 here that she doesn't believe the highest court in the land is politically driven.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Biden taps privacy advocate Alvaro Bedoya for FTC  —  Alvaro Bedoya would be the third Democrat on the panel, if confirmed.  —  The Federal Trade Commission building.  President Joe Biden will nominate privacy advocate Alvaro Bedoya for a seat on the Federal Trade Commission …

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 …

Homeland Security chief of staff abruptly resigns  —  Karen Olick, chief of staff to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, announced on Monday that she will be leaving for a new, undisclosed opportunity.  —  Jennifer Higgins, the current associate director of Refugee …

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.

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 …

Trump is showing just how divisive a new White House run would be  —  (CNN)Only Donald Trump knows whether he will mount a run for the White House in 2024.  But it's already clear what such a campaign would look like.  It would be built on a lie that he was cheated out of office …

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,” …

USA-POLICING/MINNEAPOLIS  —  After the brutal killing of a Black man went viral and triggered national protests, Minneapolis police underwent an abrupt shift: Officers began making fewer traffic stops, drug and gun checks, Reuters found.  With the city engulfed in violence, citizens ask: Where are the police?

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”

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 …

The F.E.C. dismisses claims that Twitter illegally blocked a Hunter Biden article.  —  The Federal Election Commission has dismissed Republican accusations that Twitter violated election laws in October by blocking people from posting links to an unsubstantiated New York Post article …

Chairman Neal Announces Additional Days of Markup of the Build Back Better Act  —  SPRINGFIELD, MA—Today, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) announced that the Committee will continue consideration of legislative proposals under the budget reconciliation instructions on Tuesday …

The Man Behind Critical Race Theory  —  As an attorney, Derrick Bell worked on many civil-rights cases, but his doubts about their impact launched a groundbreaking school of thought. … The town of Harmony, Mississippi, which owes its origins to a small number of formerly enslaved Black people …

Right-wing media are already crying foul on the California recall  —  RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ERIC KLEEFELD & KELLIE LEVINE  —  With California's gubernatorial recall election happening on Tuesday, the state's voters have been flooded with conspiracy theories aimed at undermining their faith in its outcome.

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.

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. …