People Tied to Project Veritas Scrutinized in Theft of Diary From Biden's Daughter  —  The F.B.I. carried out search warrants in New York as part of a Justice Department investigation into how pages from Ashley Biden's journal came to be published by a right wing website.

Pfizer's Novel COVID-19 Oral Antiviral Treatment Candidate Reduced Risk of Hospitalization or Death by 89% in Interim Analysis of Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR Study  — PAXLOVID™ (PF-07321332; ritonavir) was found to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% compared to placebo in non-hospitalized high-risk adults with COVID-19

Was the FBI Manipulated by the Democratic Party?  —  The latest indictment in the investigation of the bureau's Russia probe shows why the story is still relevant.  —  John Durham, the U.S. attorney appointed in 2019 by then Attorney General William Barr to investigate the origins …

Virginia Gov.-elect Youngkin's underaged son tried to vote in Tuesday's election, elections officials said  —  The 17-year-old son of Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) tried to cast a ballot in Tuesday's gubernatorial election twice despite being too young to vote, Fairfax County officials said in a statement released Friday.

Retiring GOP lawmaker warns Trump will try to steal the next election  —  Programming note: A new CNN documentary, “Trumping Democracy: An American Coup,” reported by Jake Tapper about former President Donald Trump's attempts to subvert the 2020 election, premieres at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, November 5.

The U.S. economy added 531,000 jobs in October.  —  Hiring rose sharply last month.  —  Cumulative change in jobs since before the pandemic  —5 mil.  —  April  —  June  —  Sept.  —  April  —4.2 million jobs since Feb. 2020 +18.2 million since April 2020  —  +531,000  —  in October

No million-dollar checks: Democratic governors may sit out Florida  —  TALLAHASSEE — The Democratic Governors Association has no plans to give significant financial help to Florida Democrats as they seek to unseat Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022, a major setback that will make it harder for challengers to take on the popular Republican.

A dangerous myth about those big Democratic losses is threatening Biden's agenda  —  Did Democrats take a big drubbing on Tuesday because they are trying to accomplish too much on behalf of our country?  —  To some centrist Democrats and opinionmakers, the answer is yes.

Letter: Former Trump DOJ official declines to answer Jan. 6 questions  —  A top Trump Justice Department official who aided the former president's quest to overturn the 2020 election met Friday with congressional investigators probing the Jan. 6 Capitol attack — accompanied by a lawyer …

The Surprising Strategy Behind Youngkin's Stunner  —  Sometimes you want to hear from the strategists rather than the candidate.  —  With all due respect to Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin — who, for a first-timer from the world of high finance, proved to be remarkably disciplined on the stump …

Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, Know What Happened to Pols Who Did What They're Doing  —  It's a core principle of economics that people do what they are incentivized to do.  That may be why Senators Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., haven't hesitated to oppose popular progressive policies …

Moderates not ready to back budget bill without CBO score  —  House Democratic leaders were struggling Friday morning to muster the final few votes needed to pass their sweeping $2 trillion budget reconciliation package over cost concerns from moderates.  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi huddled …

A Very Exciting Introduction  —  TGIF.  A weekly report from Nellie Bowles.  —  Hello and welcome to the Common Sense weekly news roundup.  I'm Nellie Bowles.  Until a couple weeks ago, I was a reporter at the New York Times.  Funky local paper.  —  During my four years at the Times …

Democratic Aide Irritated with Biden: I'm Almost Ready to Chant 'Let's Go, Brandon'  —  To the extent President Biden commented about the seemingly endless negotiations over the spending bills on Capitol Hill, he has offered generic, optimistic assessments: “I believe that Joe [Manchin] will be there.”

Sinema's raking in cash from MLMs.  They want to kill her party's labor bill.  —  They've been derided as spruced up pyramid schemes: Companies that incentivize their own customers to become salespeople for products.  Now, these so-called multilevel marketing businesses are flexing their political muscle.

Is Facebook Bad for You?  360 Million Users Say Yes, Company Documents Show  —  The app hurts sleep, work, relationships or parenting for about 12.5% of users, who reported they felt Facebook was more of a problem than other social media  —  Facebook researchers have found that 1 in 8 …

California Tries to Close the Gap in Math, but Sets Off a Backlash  —  Proposed guidelines in the state would de-emphasize calculus, reject the idea that some children are naturally gifted and build a connection to social justice.  Critics say math shouldn't be political.

When the Unstoppable Activists Met Their Match  —  Six months ago, the Sunrise Movement was feeling bullish.  The four-year-old youth climate organization had catapulted a massive legislative blueprint, the Green New Deal, to the forefront of Democratic politics.

Deposition video shows Trump allies under oath discussing debunked election fraud claims  —  Washington (CNN)Allies of former President Donald Trump testified under oath that they had done little to verify debunked claims of fraud in the 2020 election before spreading them on the national stage …

Fed's Powell and Brainard Met With Biden at White House  —  President Biden is expected to decide soon on who will lead Federal Reserve  —  WASHINGTON—President Biden held separate meetings with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Fed governor Lael Brainard at the White House on Thursday …

China says it will hold supporters of Taiwan's independence criminally responsible for life  —  China will make people who support Taiwan independence criminally liable for life, a spokeswoman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office said on Friday.  —  This is the first time that China has spelt …

Travis McMichael's Confederate License Plate Deemed Fair Game in Arbery Trial  —  DENIED  —  As legal teams prepared for opening arguments in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial on Friday, the judge dealt an early blow to the defense, ruling that prosecutors can discuss a vanity Confederate license plate …

Jayapal: It's worth passing spending plan even if Democrats lose House  —  Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said on Friday that it's worth Democrats passing the party's sweeping social spending and climate change package even if they lose the House in next year's midterm elections.

Puck Presents: The Powers That Be … Join Puck writers Peter Hamby, Matt Belloni, Julia Ioffe, and Dylan Byers for an expert discussion about these topics and more:  —  A new conspiracy theory surrounding the Alec Baldwin shooting  —  Should Marvel be worried about the Eternals buzz?