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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Trump takes aim at George W. Bush, saying he shouldn't ‘lecture’ about threat of domestic terrorism  —  Former president Donald Trump lashed out Monday at former president George W. Bush, saying his fellow Republican had “a failed and uninspiring presidency” and shouldn't be “lecturing” …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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?

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,” …

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 …

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.

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. …

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 …

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.

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 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 …

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 …

What the Never Trumpers Want Now  —  The former cultural core of the GOP is exiting the party.  The Democrats should keep those voters in their corner.  Here's how to do it.  —  About the author: David Frum is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy (2020).