Jan. 6 Organizers Used Anonymous ‘Burner Phones’ to Communicate with White House and Trump Family, Sources Say  —  A key planner of the Jan. 6 rally near the White House insisted the burner phones be purchased with cash, a source says  —  Some of the organizers who planned the rally …

Spencer, Kessler, Cantwell and other white supremacists found liable in deadly Unite the Right rally … Prominent white supremacists Richard Spencer, Jason Kessler and Christopher Cantwell and others engaged in a conspiracy in advance of the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, a jury has ruled.

Washington Post's Erik Wemple Scorches Brian Stelter and CNN Over Coverage of Steele Dossier: ‘Journalistic Abdication’  —  Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple took CNN to task on Tuesday for how it has handled coverage of the Steele dossier.  —  A number of mainstream news outlets …

White House to nominate new budget director months after Congress rejected Biden's initial pick  —  Biden will ask the Senate to confirm Shalanda Young for the important role.  She currently serves as the Office of Management and Budget's acting director.  —  The White House …

Republican National Committee dismisses call for Ronna McDaniel to resign as chairwoman over outreach to LGBTQ voters  —  The Republican National Committee is pushing back against a state party leader's call for Ronna McDaniel to resign as RNC chairwoman over her outreach to the LGBTQ community.

Biden Orders Release of U.S. Oil Reserves in Challenge to OPEC+  — Release planned with China, Japan, India, South Korea, U.K.  — Oil market response muted after smaller-than-expected move  —  The U.S. will release 50 million barrels of crude from its strategic reserves in concert with China …

Seven doctors contract Covid after attending Florida anti-vaccine summit  —  Doctors tested positive or developed symptoms ‘within days’ of conference at which alternative treatments were discussed  —  Seven anti-vaccine doctors fell sick after gathering earlier this month for a Florida …

The Biggest Victim in 2021 Redistricting So Far: Competition  —  Heading into Thanksgiving, new congressional maps have either passed or are awaiting signature in 20 states — almost half of the 44 states with two or more seats.  And although Republicans are poised for modest mapping gains, the most dramatic trend is anti-competitive.

He Attacked Cops At The Capitol Riot.  Then He Went To Air Force Basic Training.  —  Aiden Bilyard, who was known to online sleuths as #HarvardSweats, smashed out a window at the Capitol and attacked law enforcement.  —  The FBI has arrested a supporter of former President Donald Trump …

Fort Worth School District offers teachers a course on ‘critical race theory’  —  The course on CRT tells teachers that racism and White supremacy are ‘endemic’ to American society  —  Fort Worth, Texas parents concerned over race-based curriculum  —  The Fort Worth, Texas …

EXCLUSIVE: ‘The old white ppl...knock dem TF out!’  Waukesha suspect shared social media posts promoting violence towards white people and claiming black people were the ‘true Hebrews’  — Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, allegedly drove the red Ford SUV that plowed through crowds on Sunday and charged …

Peng Shuai and the High Stakes of Business in China  —  The Women's Tennis Association has taken an unusually bold—and costly—stance on behalf of the tennis star against the state that censored her.  —  When Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis star, posted on Chinese social media, on November 2nd …

Biden Includes Taiwan Among 110 Invitees to Democracy Summit  — Virtual summit is scheduled to take place from Dec. 9-10  — China may be angered by including Taiwan among the invitees  —  The Biden administration included Taiwan among the 110 invitees to its upcoming democracy summit …

Biden hits a new low in the NPR/Marist poll as inflation concerns rise  —  Americans' most pressing economic concern is inflation, and it's contributing to a decline in how they view President Biden, according to a new NPR/Marist poll.  —  Biden's approval is down to 42%, the lowest recorded in the survey since Biden took office.

US to require vaccines for all border crossers in January  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will require essential, nonresident travelers crossing U.S. land borders, such as truck drivers, government and emergency response officials, to be fully vaccinated beginning on Jan. 22, the administration planned to announce Tuesday.

Are the Courts Getting Ready to Crack Down on Reporters?  —  A ruling blocking The New York Times from covering a far-right activist group has ominous implications for the First Amendment.  —  In 1994, the CBS program 48 Hours prepared to air explosive video about unsanitary conditions …

Kevin Strickland is freed after judge agrees he's innocent  —  Kevin Strickland exonerated  —  Kevin Strickland spent 42 years in a Missouri prison for a crime that he, and prosecutors, says he didn't commit.  Prosecutors argued in a 25-page motion that Strickland's innocence is “clear and convincing.”

Despite vaccines, the U.S. has lost more lives to Covid this year than last.  —  This was supposed to be the year vaccines brought the pandemic under control.  Instead, more people in the United States have died from Covid-19 this year than died last year, before vaccines were available.

Frustrated with CIA, Trump administration turned to Pentagon for shadow war with Iran  —  In the final month of his presidency, Donald Trump signed off on key parts of an extensive secret Pentagon campaign to conduct sabotage, propaganda and other psychological and information operations in Iran …

In Venezuela's Flawed Vote, Maduro Shows One Way to Retain Power  —  European observers said the elections were neither free nor fair.  They showed how President Nicolás Maduro's government, however unpopular, can win by excluding and splitting opponents.

Venezuelan migrants are new border challenge for Biden administration  —  Record numbers of Venezuelan migrants have been crossing into the United States in recent months, posing a new border challenge for the Biden administration and raising concerns that more of the nearly 6 million people displaced …

Investigations apply more scrutiny to Cuomo's pandemic tenure  —  Former New York Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker spent a lot of time with then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Zucker was often seen coming and going to Cuomo's office on the second floor of the state Capitol …

Trump welcomes ‘nice young man’ Kyle Rittenhouse to Mar-a-Lago in wake of murder trial  —  Kyle Rittenhouse reportedly visited former president Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the wake of the Kenosha shooter's murder trial.  —  Trump revealed the visit during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Tuesday night.

Susan Rice needs those TPS reports  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With Allie Bice.  —  When people applied to join SUSAN RICE's staff at the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) this year …

Everyone's Moving to Texas.  Here's Why.  —  Farhad Manjoo is an Opinion Columnist.  Gus Wezerek and Yaryna Serkez are graphics editors for Opinion.  —  The traumas of the past few years have rearranged all of our lives.  Many Americans have new needs, new desires, new possibilities and new priorities.

With hundreds of nominees to confirm, the Senate doesn't deserve Thanksgiving break  —  While the rest of us have turkey with friends and family, the Senate should stay in Washington and do its job — specifically, the job of advice and consent prescribed in the Constitution.

Sean Parnell is out.  What's next for Republicans in Pa.'s 2022 Senate race?  —  Pennsylvania's Republican Senate race is hitting reset.Just three months after he looked like the GOP front-runner, Sean Parnell's rapid collapse — sealed Monday by a judge's decision against him in his bitter custody battle …

Boris Johnson's Peppa Pig speech forces him to answer the question: ‘Is everything okay?’  —  LONDON — “Is everything okay?” is probably not a question any world leader wants to be asked, especially in relation to their competence.  —  But that is the question politicians …