First on CNN: US intelligence indicates Russia preparing operation to justify invasion of Ukraine  —  Washington (CNN)The US has information that indicates Russia has prepositioned a group of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in eastern Ukraine, a US official told CNN on Friday …

Redistricting: Ohio Supreme Court strikes down congressional map, forcing another round of drawing  —  Jessie Balmert Laura A. BischoffThe Columbus Dispatch  —  The Ohio Supreme Court struck down the state's congressional district map, saying Republicans violated the Ohio Constitution by drawing districts that favored GOP candidates.

Joe Biden was set up to fail  —  The Democratic president is a flawed politician in an impossible job  —  Have any voters demanded more of their leaders than modern Americans?  The thought occurred to your columnist while listening to a group of eight Georgians, Ohioans and Pennsylvanians …

The Conservative Justices Have Drunk the Anti-vax Kool-Aid  —  If you read the legal language in the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to act in an emergency capacity when workers face “grave danger from exposure to substances …

In days after January 6, McCarthy said Trump admitted bearing some responsibility for Capitol attack  —  (CNN)House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said publicly and privately in the days following the deadly riots at the US Capitol that President Donald Trump admitted personally bearing …

Northam pardons Sen. Joe Morrissey for his interaction with 17-year-old  —  Gov. Ralph Northam has pardoned Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, for a misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor related to his relationship with a 17-year-old assistant who later became his wife.

Possible Netanyahu plea deal could force him out of politics  —  Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has for several weeks been negotiating a plea agreement with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, according to Israeli media reports.  —  Why it matters: One key sticking point is whether the deal …

Sedition Charges Demolish a Right-Wing Talking Point  —  Steve Bannon and other Trump defenders had bizarrely contended that Jan. 6th was no big deal because there were no indictments for sedition.  —  Steve Bannon thought he had a really great point on his podcast last Wednesday …

What Joe Manchin told Steve Clemons at dinner  —  Steve Clemons is a D.C. institution — an operator who connects some of the biggest power players in the capital.  He also happens to be the confidant of the most powerful senator in Washington, Democrat Joe Manchin.

Hey, Virginia lawmakers, the Lincoln-Douglas debates did not involve Frederick Douglass  —  Of all the paragraphs in a bill to ban “divisive concepts” from being taught in Virginia public schools, Section B3 may have seemed the most innocuous.  After all, it was in the part of the proposal …

With Biden's signature legislation stalled, Democrats stare into political void  —  Democrats are quietly preparing for life after Build Back Better.  —  With little progress on Joe Biden's signature legislation, elected officials and operatives from across the president's party are busy plotting …

Covid Live Updates: U.S. Site for Free Tests to Go Live Jan. 19, but Shipping Will Take Time  —  The Treasury Department threatened to withhold relief funds from Arizona, which is using some of the money to undercut mask requirements in schools.  Hospitals are filling up in two dozen U.S. states.

A Democrat won a US House seat this week with 79 percent of the vote.  Her GOP opponent has not conceded.  —  An election in South Florida this week may serve as a marker for where the Republican Party stands in 2022, and how much American democracy has already changed since Donald Trump lost reelection.

Why didn't the FBI see the Capitol siege coming?  —  A year later, the bureau still won't come clean on why it ignored piles of evidence and outside warnings about political violence before the attack on January 6, 2021.  —  In the lead-up to the Capitol siege, the FBI received at least …

Judge Pryor cleared of allegations involving hiring of controversial clerk  —  Bill Pryor, chief judge of the federal appeals court in Atlanta, has been cleared of allegations of wrongdoing in that he hired a law clerk accused of sending racist and xenophobic texts.

Doctors call out Spotify over Joe Rogan spreading ‘false and societally harmful’ covid-19 claims  —  A coalition of hundreds of doctors and public health experts have called out Spotify for allowing Joe Rogan to spread “false and societally harmful assertions” about the coronavirus and vaccination …

Google Misled Publishers and Advertisers, Unredacted Lawsuit Alleges  —  Details show Google employees fretting its ad tech auctions were ‘untruthful’ and based in ‘insider information’  —  Google misled publishers and advertisers for years about the pricing and processes of its ad auctions …

Judge Determines Martin Shkreli Deserves to Be Banned for Life from Participating in Pharmaceutical Industry ‘in Any Capacity’  —  A federal judge issued a scathing order against so-called “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli “banning him for life from participating in the pharmaceutical industry in any capacity.”

Prince Andrew's titles were ridiculous.  But it matters that he no longer has them.  —  The British prince was ‘Chief Commodore of the Fleet Air Arm.’ He'll face sexual-abuse allegations as a ‘private citizen.’  —  On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace released a statement that the Andrew formerly known …