Trump tested positive for Covid few days before Biden debate, chief of staff says in new book  —  Mark Meadows makes stunning admission in new memoir obtained by Guardian, saying a second test returned negative  —  Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19 three days before his first debate …

POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Conservatives plot government shutdown over vaccine mandate  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  FRIDAY'S SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN GETS REAL — Conservatives on both sides of the Capitol are privately plotting to force a government shutdown Friday in an effort to defund …

Marcus Lamb, head of Daystar, a large Christian network that discouraged vaccines, dies after getting covid-19  —  Marcus Lamb, founder of the large Christian network Daystar, died Tuesday after contracting the coronavirus.  Lamb's network during the pandemic has made the virus a huge focus …

Governor Charlie Baker telling allies he isn't running for reelection  —  Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, the Republican who maintained the enduring support of his blue state constituents through boom times, the Trump presidency, and in the face of mass death during the COVID-19 pandemic …

Dr. Oz Quacks the Code of Republican Politics  —  Having peddled snake oil for years, he's found his true calling in the GOP.  —  Sean Parnell, the Trump-anointed candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, dropped out of the race a week ago after a custody hearing that featured lurid details of his relationship with his ex-wife.

Why the Discredited Dossier Does Not Undercut the Russia Investigation  —  Donald J. Trump and his backers say revelations about the Steele dossier show the Russia investigation was a “hoax.”  That is not what the facts indicate.  —  WASHINGTON — Former President Donald J. Trump and his allies …

Why the CIA is so worried about Russia and Ukraine  —  The CIA discovered something scary in October: Russia was moving troops toward the Ukrainian border — and, unlike in previous border thrusts, was making secret plans about how to use them.  —  The agency also worried that the potential conflict zone …

We read all the amicus briefs in Dobbs so you don't have to  —  More than 140 amicus briefs were filed in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the potentially momentous abortion case concerning a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Clinton Foundation donations plummet 75%  —  Donations to the Clinton Foundation plummeted to $16 million last year, down nearly 75% from the organization's peak when former secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was running for president, records reviewed by Axios show.

COVID: First signs that vaccine protects against Omicron - health minister  —  So far, Israel has registered four cases infected with the new variant, while general morbidity remains low.  —  There are indications that individuals fully vaccinated against corona within six months …

Is Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer the new ‘Angel of Death’?  —  In August, Vanity Fair published an article labeling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis the “Angel of Death” because of increased COVID-19 infections.  The narrative was that DeSantis was an incompetent governor whose policies led to an “unnecessary” increase in deaths.

Trump's Iran Policy Has Become a Disaster for the U.S. and Israel  —  The judges have voted and the results are in: President Donald Trump's decision to tear up the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 — a decision urged on by his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and Israel's prime minister …

Racy Affair Saga Between Jeff Bezos and Enquirer Reaches Final Chapter  —  Probes by federal officials on phone-hack, extortion claims haven't led to public action  —  In 2019, Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos accused the National Enquirer of attempting to extort him with embarrassing texts and photos …

Dark-Money Group Paid Former Trump AG to Ask for Pardons—and He Never Registered as a Lobbyist  —  Former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker left the Trump administration and almost immediately started asking for presidential pardons—without registering as a lobbyist.

Stricter coronavirus testing being weighed for all travelers to U.S. … The Biden administration is preparing stricter testing requirements for all travelers entering the United States, including returning Americans, to curb the spread of the potentially dangerous omicron variant, according to three federal health officials.

Private payrolls post better-than-expected growth of 534,000 in November, ADP says  — Private payrolls increased by 534,000 for November, better than the Dow Jones estimate of 506,000, according to ADP.  — Leisure and hospitality saw a gain of 136,000, part of the 424,000 positions added in the services sector.

Kamala Stopped FBI From Monitoring Black Supremacists Like Waukesha Killer  —  The Waukesha killer's allies are sitting in the White House.  —  Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center specializing in investigative reporting on the Left and Islamic terrorism.

Curse of the Byline Doppelgängers  —  As The New York Times's Julian Barnes ("Not the British Author") and a pair of Alexandra Petris (Washington Post and New York Times) explain, it's not always easy sharing a name in journalism  —  After a British author named Julian Barnes published …