Sparse crowd gathers near Capitol to protest treatment of those jailed in Jan. 6 riot  —  WASHINGTON — A small, peaceful crowd gathered Saturday in Washington to protest what the organizers say is the unfair treatment of people charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

For one Capitol reporter, Jan. 6 was the final straw — but he had watched a crisis brew for years  —  Andrew Taylor began his journalism career in the late 1980s, clipping newspaper articles for the politics reporters at Congressional Quarterly.  —  This spring, more than 30 years later …

In red California, anger over recall blowout.  ‘The Democratic Party is the New York Yankees’  —  On election day, Denise Pickens had a surprising feeling: Hope.  —  Surely, she figured, Gov. Gavin Newsom would be booted out of office.  Or at least get a good scare.

Donald Trump wrote to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to ‘decertify’ the 2020 election  — Donald Trump wrote to Georgia Secretary of State asking him to “decertify” the results of the election.  — In the letter, Trump repeated unproven claims of widespread election fraud.

Senate Republicans say they will vote to allow a debt default, leaving Democrats scrambling for plan to avert economic crisis  —  Early last year, one of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's longest rivals offered a lesson about why the Kentucky Republican is unfazed by his critics whenever he digs in on a political strategy.

They Shunned Covid Vaccines but Embraced Antibody Treatment  —  Championed by doctors and conservative radio hosts alike, monoclonal antibodies for Covid are in high demand — even from those who don't want a vaccine.  —  Lanson Jones did not think that the coronavirus would come for him.

“Furious.”  France withdraws their American ambassadors  —  The fallout from the sudden announcement this week of a secret deal between the United States and Great Britain to help Australia acquire nuclear submarines is not calming down yet.  If anything, it's escalating.

Tequila Bottles Found On New Boeing Air Force One Jet  —  Company has faced problems of factory debris found in commercial, military aircraft in recent years  —  Two empty liquor bottles were found this month on one of Boeing Co. 's new Air Force One planes under development in San Antonio, people familiar with the matter said.

The Scientist and the A.I.-Assisted, Remote-Control Killing Machine  —  Israeli agents had wanted to kill Iran's top nuclear scientist for years.  Then they came up with a way to do it with no operatives present.  —  Iran's top nuclear scientist woke up an hour before dawn, as he did most days …

CIA warned children were possibly present seconds before US missile killed 10  —  (CNN)Just after the US military launched a Hellfire missile to stop a white Toyota Corolla it believed to be an imminent threat to US troops leading the evacuation at the Kabul airport, the CIA issued an urgent warning …

I respected Mark Milley ⁠— but he has damaged our democracy  —  Commenting on the recent events by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not easy for me.  For much of his career, Mark Milley served with distinction and honor.  I worked hand-in-hand with him during my four years …

Clinton lawyer's indictment reveals ‘bag of tricks’  —  The 26-page indictment of former cybersecurity attorney and Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann by special counsel John Durham is as detailed as it is damning on the alleged effort to push a false Russia collusion claim before the 2016 presidential campaign.

Elizabeth Holmes, A.O.C., and the Art of Owning It  —  What ever happened to the good old-fashioned art of Owning It?  —  Our culture is awash in people who get called out for their behavior and then retreat behind some victim-y excuse.  If you're going to go for it, go for it.

W.Va. Gov. frustrated over vaccination rate: ‘We just are going to keep lining the body bags up’  —  West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) expressed frustration with his state's vaccination rate, warning constituents that people are either going to get inoculated against COVID-19, or “we're going to keep lining the body bags.”

POLITICO Playbook: What the Pentagon knew about that drone attack  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  SCOOP: EX-MEMBERS TELL BIDEN “FINISH THE JOB” — In a letter obtained by Playbook this morning, 21 former House Democrats who lost their seats in 2010 amid GOP attacks over their support …