CNN insider says network ‘needs to step up and fire Brian Stelter’ for not exposing Jeff Zucker affair: report  —  The network employee said Stelter's 'been sitting on his moral high horse doing Jeff's biddling'  —  Zucker's actions an ‘embarrassment’ for CNN: Kurtz

Unmasking Of Rudy Giuliani On Fox's ‘The Masked Singer’ Prompts Judges Ken Jeong & Robin Thicke To Walk Off In Protest  —  EXCLUSIVE, SPOILER ALERT: Rudy Giuliani was last week unmasked as an exiting costumed contestant in the taping of the first episode of Fox's popular prime time show The Masked Singer.

Memos Show Roots of Trump's Focus on Jan. 6 and Alternate Electors  —  Just over two weeks after Election Day, lawyers working with the Trump campaign set out a rationale for creating alternate slates of electors as part of an effort to buy time to overturn the results.

L.A. Mayor Garcetti Says He Held His Breath For Maskless Photo With Magic Johnson  —  Los Angeles Mayor — and Biden Administration ambassadorial nominee — Eric Garcetti today defended his actions after maskless photos surfaced of him and Lakers great Magic Johnson, along …

U.S. Special Forces Raid Syrian Site in Search of Terrorist Leader  —  The operation was carried out in northwest Syria near the Turkish border  —  WASHINGTON—U.S. special operations forces carried out a combat operation to kill or capture a high-level terrorist in northwest Syria along the Turkish border …

Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony featured Chinese official who called genocide of Uyghur Muslims ‘lies’  —  Chinese state-run media outlets quickly exploited Nasdaq's invitation for Huang Ping to speak at bell ringing ceremony  —  A Chinese government official who claimed reports …

3 more women say Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy filmed them without asking during sex … In November 2021, three young women came forward about sexual encounters they had with Barstool Sports' founder, Dave Portnoy.  These women told Insider the experiences with Portnoy turned frightening …

National Butterfly Center on Texas border closing indefinitely after attacks from right-wing conspiracy theorists  —  The National Butterfly Center on the Texas border is closing “for the immediate future” after conspiracy-fueled attacks against the center on social media escalated in recent days.

Memo circulated among Trump allies advocated using NSA data in attempt to prove stolen election  —  The proposal to seize and analyze “NSA unprocessed raw signals data” raises legal and ethical concerns that set it apart from other attempts that have come to light.

He's Head of a Georgia Election Board—and Fixated on QAnon  —  Ben Johnson of Spalding County dabbles in election conspiracies even as he holds power over voting. … The Republican chair of a rural Georgia election board—which has the power to restrict or expand access to voting …

A ‘Master Class’ in Gerrymandering, This Time Led by N.Y. Democrats  —  The maps approved by Democrats in the New York State Legislature could lead their party to seize as many as three House seats from Republicans.  —  Democrats across the nation have spent years railing against partisan gerrymandering …

Woodside freezes SB 9 projects, citing an exemption for mountain lion habitats  —  New housing law allows up to four residential units per lot  —  Mountain lions and housing policy aren't often uttered in the same sentence, but that was the case last week in Woodside.

Trump considered blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters before he left office  —  In the final days of his presidency, Donald Trump seriously considered issuing a blanket pardon for all participants in the Jan. 6 riot, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Metaverse mortgages are being issued to buy virtual land — and one of the first ever was just signed for a property in Decentraland  — TerraZero Technologies facilitated one of the first ever “metaverse mortgages” for a client buying virtual property in Decentraland.

Peter Schweizer's ‘Red-Handed’ Hits #1 on New York Times Bestseller List  —  Peter Schweizer's blockbuster new book Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, one week after its release by HarperCollins.

Four Defendants Arrested In Connection With The Overdose Death Of Michael K. Williams  —  Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Keechant Sewell, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department ("NYPD"), announced that IRVIN CARTAGENA …

Donald Trump's Old ‘Grudge’ Helped Propel Ron DeSantis to GOP Stardom: Lev Parnas  —  Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas has said that former President Donald Trump's boosted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' political career because of a “grudge” against former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

Senate moves to confirm new D.C. judges amid vacancy crisis  —  The Senate on Wednesday confirmed three D.C. judicial nominees after the city's courts warned in December about the severity of its long-standing crisis of judicial vacancies.  —  The D.C. Superior Court and D.C. Court of Appeals …

Labor groups wary of potential Supreme Court pick backed by top House Democrat  —  Union leaders are increasingly wary of President Biden's potential selection of Judge J. Michelle Childs as a Supreme Court justice, citing her time working on behalf of employers against worker claims.

Virginia judge declines to act immediately on school boards' suit seeking to halt Youngkin's mask-optional order  —  An Arlington County Circuit Court judge is weighing how to act on a request from seven Virginia school boards to halt implementation of Gov. Glenn Youngkin's order making masks optional in schools.

Man who drew Union Station swastikas is twice-deported criminal  —  A man arrested last week for vandalizing Washington's Union Station with swastika symbols is a Mexican citizen with a 15-year criminal history who has been deported twice but still does not meet Biden administration standards for arrest or removal.

Israeli border police officers and Palestinians clash during a protest against the expansion of Israeli Jewish settlements near the West Bank town of SalfitCredit: AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed  —  A dead activist, a detained child, a demolished home.  What else is new?

Jan. 6 select committee subpoenas phone records of Arizona GOP chair  —  The Jan. 6 select committee has subpoenaed the phone records of Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward and her husband, Michael Ward, who both signed documents falsely claiming to be among their state's presidential electors in 2020.

The Atlantic: Forget President Biden, Climate Change is Causing Inflation  —  Guest essay by Eric Worrall  —  According to The Atlantic, Biden didn't cause inflation by dumping crazy amounts of money into the economy, the inflation occurred because climate change prevented the economy from responding the way it was supposed to.

Adams had limited engagement with Albany lawmakers, despite seeking help with agenda  —  Mayor Eric Adams has an ambitious agenda on public safety that requires assistance from Albany.  The mayor wants changes made to the controversial bail reform law to give judges more discretion.

The Plan Was Simple: Infiltrate MAGA World and Tell Everyone What She Saw.  Then She Was Found Out.  —  “Looks like my cover is fully blown, actually, fuck,” Amanda Moore told me over Twitter direct message.  It was a Saturday night in late October, and the mission that had probably saved her life was coming to an end.