Is the ‘smoking gun’ in Trump's Jan. 6 attempted coup hiding in plain sight?  —  While America was preoccupied last week with getting home from the holidays or lining up around the block for COVID-19 testing, there was a bombshell development in the investigation to learn just how far Donald Trump …

New York A.G. Seeks to Question Trump Children in Fraud Inquiry  —  The attorney general, Letitia James, has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump as part of a civil investigation.  —  The New York State attorney general's office, which last month subpoenaed Donald J. Trump as part …

Schumer: Senate to vote on filibuster change on voting bill  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Days before the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the Senate will vote on filibuster rules changes to advance stalled voting legislation that Democrats say is needed to protect democracy.

How the E.U. Allowed Hungary to Become an Illiberal Model  —  After years of complacency and wishful thinking, Brussels is finally trying to rein in the country's pugnacious leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orban.  —  BRUSSELS — After long indulging him, leaders in the European Union …

Ashli Babbitt a martyr?  Her past tells a more complex story  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The first time Celeste Norris laid eyes on Ashli Babbitt, the future insurrectionist had just rammed her vehicle three times with an SUV and was pounding on the window, challenging her to a fight.

Facebook ‘permanently’ locks account of conservative children's book publisher  —  Heroes of Liberty publishes books about Amy Coney Barrett, Ronald Reagan and Thomas Sowell  —  Facebook has “permanently disabled” the ads account of a conservative children's book publisher …

If American democracy is going to survive, the media must make this crucial shift  —  Journalists stepped it up in 2021, but now we need a concerted effort  —  In the year since the Jan. 6 insurrection, mainstream journalists have done a lot of things right.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Takes Multiple Actions to Expand Use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine  —  For Immediate Release:  —  Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to:

U.S. Catches Kremlin Insider Who May Have Secrets of 2016 Hack  —  IT executive Vladislav Klyushin's journey into U.S. custody is a blow to the Kremlin, say people familiar with a Russian intelligence assessment of what he may have to offer  —  In the days before Christmas …

What It Means to Be a Republican in 2022  —  Inside the GOP, it's a war of all against all.  —  (SHUTTERSTOCK)  —  What does it mean to be a Republican in the year 2022?  Being hated.  Yes, by the left—but more importantly, also by members of your own party.  —  Here in the bad, red place, hardly anyone gets along.

Five Rudys from the Abyss  —  If Giuliani-like sycophants had replaced just five officials, Trump's coup would have succeeded.  —  There are two reasonable ways to look at the 2020 presidential election.  —  The first is that despite a ferocious effort by Team Trump to steal a presidential election, the center held.

Bridgewater CEO McCormick Stepping Down to Consider Senate Run  —  Nir Bar Dea and Mark Bertolini named co-CEOs  —  Bridgewater Associates named two new co-chief executives to head the world's largest hedge-fund firm on Monday, after CEO David McCormick told staff he would be stepping …

Long-Secret Jeffrey Epstein Settlement at Issue in Lawsuit Against Prince Andrew Made Public for First Time  —  A once-confidential 2009 settlement agreement signed by Jeffrey Epstein that has figured prominently in the lawsuit against Prince Andrew became public on Monday …

Jamie Raskin, Democracy's Defender … Most every night, just after he slips into bed, Jamie Raskin picks up a volume of the collected works of Shakespeare, thumbs through it, and reads a few pages before sleep takes him.  He is not, he admits, a big reader of fiction; doesn't have the time.

The Corporate Insurrection: How companies have broken promises and funded seditionists … On January 6, an armed and violent mob stormed the Capitol.  It was the first time the building had been breached since the War of 1812.  At the end of the day, the death toll stood at five.

Patton Oswalt Responds to Backlash After Posting NYE Photo With Dave Chappelle  —  Patton Oswalt took to Instagram Sunday to discuss the response to a series of photos he posted of himself and Dave Chappelle.  —  Oswalt posted the photos after Chappelle texted his old friend to come perform at his Seattle show on New Year's Eve.

The White Vote and Educational Polarization  —  Over the last 30 years, the American electorate has undergone a major realignment, driven primarily by polarization along educational lines.  Degree-holding suburban voters, previously a solidly Republican group, have drifted to the left …

How many Omicron hospitalizations are “incidental”?  —  Here's another example of something that's meaningfully different about Omicron relative to previous variants which COVID deniers insist is similar.  Those who were saying “it's just the flu” of the original Wuhan strain in spring 2020 …

Since Jan. 6, the pro-Trump Internet has descended into infighting over money and followers  —  Far-right influencers and QAnon devotees are battling over online audiences in the power vacuum created by Trump's departure from office  —  The far-right firebrands and conspiracy theorists …

Operating Status  —  CURRENT STATUS  —  Washington, DC Area  —  FEDERAL OFFICES in the Washington, DC area are CLOSED.  Emergency employees and telework employees continue to work.  —  Non-emergency employees generally will be granted weather and safety leave for the number of hours they were scheduled to work.