Scoop: “How about zero?”  Manchin, Sanders get heated behind closed doors  —  Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) squabbled behind closed doors Wednesday, with Manchin using a raised-fist goose egg to tell his colleague he can live without any of President Biden's social spending plan, Axios has learned.

Mastodon's Founder Says Trump's New Social Network Is Just Mastodon  —  ‘Truth Social’, which will launch officially later in the year, is seemingly using Mastodon's codebase without credit.  —  Joseph Cox  —  Former President Donald Trump's new social network ‘Truth Social’ is seemingly …

Kevin McCarthy or Liz Cheney?  Consultants Forced to Choose  —  The message, delivered by a lobbyist close to the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, has already led one Republican firm to cut ties.  —  WASHINGTON — A prominent Washington lobbyist close to Kevin McCarthy …

Liberal backlash against Sinema grows on Capitol Hill as potential Arizona challenger emerges  —  (CNN)Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is at the zenith of her influence in Washington, with the ability to dramatically reshape — or derail — President Joe Biden's domestic agenda simply by threatening to point her thumb down.

Justice Dept. Adds Two Top Prosecutors to Matt Gaetz Case  —  The move by the department is a sign of the complex and high-stakes nature of the sex trafficking investigation into Representative Gaetz, a close ally of Donald Trump.  —  The Justice Department has added two top prosecutors …

Prosecutors: Clark County man touted in Republican election fraud allegations voted his dead wife's ballot  —  A man who once described a ballot being cast in his dead wife's name as “sickening” and was cited by the Nevada Republican Party last November as evidence that massive voter fraud swayed …

This Is What Climate Change Will Look Like In D.C.  —  The Lincoln Memorial, on an island surrounded by churning Potomac waters; Nationals Park, a bathtub surrounded by mid-rise office buildings flooded by the Anacostia River; the Pentagon, accessible by boat, with State Route 110 and the George Washington Memorial Parkway underwater.

NIH Admits to Funding Gain-of-Function Research in Wuhan, Says EcoHealth Violated Reporting Requirements  —  A top NIH official admitted in a Wednesday letter that U.S. taxpayers funded gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan and revealed that EcoHealth Alliance …

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has paid his first voter fraud bounty.  It went to an unexpected recipient  —  Patrick, a Republican, promised to pay $25,000 to any tipster who came forward with evidence of real voter fraud.  He cut his first check this week.  —  AUSTIN — Nearly a year …

White House Knew About Letter That Compared Parents to Domestic Terrorists  —  The country's largest school board association collaborated with the Biden White House before sending a controversial letter calling on the FBI to investigate parents as potential domestic terrorists, according to previously unreported emails.

Gov. Greg Abbott's pick for top Texas election post worked with Trump to fight 2020 results  —  As secretary of state, Fort Worth attorney John Scott would oversee election administration in Texas.  —  Copy link  —  Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday appointed John Scott …

At informal ‘bitching’ dinners, Pete Buttigieg donors are chattering about prodding him to run against Kamala Harris in 2024 if Biden backs out  — Democrats publicly insist that Joe Biden will run again in 2024.  — But privately, some Democratic donors are preparing for a post-Biden campaign.

The Methods of Moral Panic Journalism  —  Scare stories on “left-wing illiberalism” display a familiar pattern.  —  During the 1990s, the media convinced Americans that frivolous lawsuits were out of control.  —  The canonical example was the 1994 “McDonald's hot coffee” case.

Capitol Rioters in Jail's ‘Patriot Wing’ Have Their Own Rituals and a Growing Fan Base  —  Experts worry that a lack of de-radicalization efforts in jail could mean inmates falling further into the narrative that led to the January 6 violence in the first place.  —  TO

DeSantis calls for special Florida legislative session to fight Biden's vaccine mandate  —  TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday called for a special legislative session to block the Biden administration's vaccine mandates, taking the most aggressive action yet in his ongoing fight with the White House over Covid restrictions.

CDC advisers endorse Moderna, J&J boosters plus mix-and-match strategy  —  A panel of independent vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously recommended Moderna and Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 boosters for some adults on Thursday, the penultimate step …

Photos inside Rikers Island expose hellish, deadly conditions  —  Dozens of men crammed together for days in temporary holding cells amid a pandemic.  Filthy floors sullied with rotten food, maggots, urine, feces and blood.  Plastic sheets for blankets, cardboard boxes for beds and bags that substituted for toilets.

CNN defends Joe Rogan treatment in fiery statement  —  Podcaster Joe Rogan's three-hour interview with CNN's Sanjay Gupta last week was an amicable affair, though it got a bit tense when the topic turned to the network's coverage of Rogan's recent bout with covid.  “It's a lie.

A Judge Said It Was “Offensive” That A Man Who Threatened Democrats And “Tech Execs” On Jan. 6 Claimed To Be A Victim Of Racism  —  WASHINGTON — A Texas man who posted on the social network Parler on Jan. 6 urging supporters of former president Donald Trump to “go hunting” for Democrats …

No Proof Anyone ‘Callously’ Took Video of Rape on SEPTA Train, DA Says  —  “That is simply not true.  It did not happen.  We have security video from SEPTA that shows that is not the true narrative,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said

How Many Users Does Facebook Have?  The Company Struggles to Figure It Out  —  Internal research finds that new users with multiple accounts are undercounted, ‘very prevalent’; some are unintentional  —  Facebook Inc. is struggling to detect and deal with users' creating multiple accounts …

Biden: Jan. 6 Capitol riot “was about white supremacy”  —  President Biden said Thursday that white supremacy motivated rioters who carried out the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.  —  Driving the news: “The violent, deadly insurrection on the Capitol nine months ago …

Biden's support is fading as concerns over the economy and Covid grow, CNBC survey finds  — Just 41% of the public approve of President Joe Biden's job performance, compared with 52% who disapprove, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey.  — Fifty percent now approve …

GOP Candidate for CA Sec. of State Claims She Inspired Witch's Murder  —  Rachel Hamm, a candidate for Secretary of State in California, has the backing of major figures in Trumpworld.  She also had a Satanist sacrifice a raven on her lawn.  —  In her bid to be California's Secretary of State …