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5:05 PM ET, February 7, 2022

Top Items:

Bob Herman / Axios:

Chris Christie: Trump incited Jan. 6 riot to “intimidate Mike Pence” — Former President Trump incited the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 “to intimidate” former Vice President Mike Pence into overturning the 2020 election, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday.

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Daily Beast, Breitbart, HotAir, Raw Story and Mediaite

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

How Mike Pence just doomed his 2024 chances — (CNN)Mike Pence just crashed his political career into Donald Trump — and the former President's ongoing claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent and should have been overturned on January 6. — “President Trump is wrong,” Pence said in a speech to a conservative group in Florida.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and justoneminute.typepad.com

Marc Caputo / NBC News:

DeSantis refuses to take sides in Trump-Pence clash as 2024 speculation grows — MIAMI — Eyeing a possible White House bid, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declined on Monday to weigh in on one of the most divisive issues in the GOP: Could then-Vice President Mike Pence have “overturned” the 2020 presidential election?

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill and Raw Story

Farnoush Amiri / Associated Press:

What does Ivanka Trump know about Jan. 6? Congress is asking — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was in the Oval Office with his daughter Ivanka and Vice President Mike Pence's national security adviser on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, when he made yet another push to pressure Pence.

Discussion: Insider, Raw Story and Political Wire

Jamie Ross / The Daily Beast:
Trump ‘Confused’ That Staff Didn't Enjoy Him Rewinding Capitol Riot Highlights, Says Report

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

‘Precipitous decline’: J.D. Vance pollster issues warning on Ohio Senate race — Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance “needs a course correction ASAP” — and that's according to the well-funded super PAC supporting him. — A 98-page PowerPoint presentation produced by Tony Fabrizio …

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:

National Archives had to retrieve Trump White House records from Mar-a-Lago — The recovery of multiple boxes from Trump's Florida resort, including letters from Barack Obama and Kim Jong Un, underscores the previous administration's cavalier handling of presidential records

Oriana Gonzalez / Axios:
Trump took Kim Jong-un “love letters” to Mar-a-Lago

Discussion: Washington Post, Metro.co.uk and Alternet.org

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Why it matters that Trump literally tore up White House documents

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post and Raw Story

William Saletan / The Bulwark:

Lies Are the Building Blocks of Trumpian Authoritarianism — Deceit and the danger to democracy. — Americans like to think our country is immune to authoritarianism. We have a culture of freedom, a tradition of elected government, and a Bill of Rights. We're not like those European countries that fell into fascism.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic, Commentary Magazine, Salon, Alternet.org and North Stars and Cowboy Bars

Max Boot / Washington Post:
The GOP has become the Jan. 6 Party. It stands for insurrection and authoritarianism.

Discussion: emptywheel, Raw Story and National Memo

Washington Post: Heritage Foundation, former powerhouse of GOP policy, adjusts in face of new competition from Trump allies

Sarakshi Rai / The Hill:
Kinzinger says RNC deserves backlash for Jan. 6 resolution language

Discussion: MSNBC, Insider, Daily Kos, Mercury News, Tangle, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

New York Times:

Peter Thiel to Exit Meta's Board to Support Trump-Aligned Candidates — The tech billionaire, who has been on the board of the company formerly known as Facebook since 2005, is backing numerous politicians in the midterm elections. — Peter Thiel, one of the longest-serving board members of Meta …

Discussion: Facebook, The Hill, Insider and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

Salvador Rodriguez / Wall Street Journal:

Peter Thiel to Step Down From Facebook Parent Meta's Board — Investor to focus efforts on electing GOP candidates who support Trump's agenda in 2022 races — Peter Thiel, one of Facebook's earliest investors and its longest-serving outside board member, is planning to step down from his position …

Discussion: Bloomberg and New York Post

Alex Thompson / Politico:

Biden's top science adviser bullied and demeaned subordinates, according to White House investigation — President Joe Biden's top science adviser, Eric Lander, bullied and demeaned his subordinates and violated the White House's workplace policy, an internal White House investigation recently concluded …

Amy B Wang / Washington Post:

Two years into pandemic, politicians still getting tripped up over coronavirus restrictions — Two years into the pandemic, politicians are still getting tripped up over face masks, lockdowns and other restrictions intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus — sometimes rules that were put in place by the politicians themselves.

Discussion: The Hill, TheBlaze and New York Post

Sam Dorman / Fox News:
Pro-mask Democrats keep getting caught maskless

Discussion: pjmedia.com, RedState, The Daily Wire, CNN and Breitbart

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Jonah Goldberg Joins CNN as a Contributor After Leaving Fox News … Jonah Goldberg, one of the two conservative political analysts who resigned from Fox News Channel in colorful fashion over its coverage, is joining CNN as a contributor, the WarnerMedia network confirmed Monday.

Discussion: Townhall, Mediaite, driftglass, Twitchy and IJR, more at Mediagazer »

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
Jonah Goldberg joins CNN

Discussion: TVNewser, Deadline and lewrockwell.com

CNN:

US intel indicates Russian officers have had doubts about full scale Ukraine invasion — (CNN)Intercepted communications obtained by the US have revealed that some Russian officials have worried that a large-scale invasion of Ukraine would be costlier and more difficult than Russian President Vladimir Putin …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Insider, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, National Review, Metro.co.uk, New York Times, UPI, The Bismarck Cables, Clayton Cramer, Aearnur's Newsletter, CBS News, The Russia-Iran File, The Dispatch and New York Times

Peter Beinart / The Beinart Notebook: Biden's CIA Director Doesn't Believe Biden's Story about Ukraine

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:

IRS to End Use of Facial Recognition for Identity Verification — The tax collection agency will transition away from using a service from the authentication service ID.me amid bipartisan backlash. — WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service plans to stop using facial recognition software …

Discussion: Washington Post, Bloomberg, CBS News, GovExec.com, KVIA-TV, Washington Times, Engadget, CBS San Francisco, Associated Press and Political Wire, more at Techmeme »

Internal Revenue Service:
IRS announces transition away from use of third-party verification involving facial recognition

Discussion: Insider, The United States …, Washington Examiner, The Register, Gizmodo, SC Media, The Verge, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and WAVY-TV

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:

Garcetti former chief spox to prosecutors: Charge Biden ambassador pick with perjury — Old and busted: Eric Garcetti holding his breath. New hotness: The White House holding theirs. The former spokesperson of the current mayor of Los Angeles and future US ambassador to India …

Discussion: KTLA

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:
Mayor Garcetti's former top spokeswoman wants him charged with perjury

Discussion: Daniel Guss and Political Wire

Mark S. Wrighton / Office of the President:

Message Regarding Posters Displayed on Campus — Dear Members of the George Washington University Community, — Last week, the university learned of posters on campus depicting images that alarmed some members of our community, and we began to receive a number of concerns through official …

Discussion: The Federalist and lewrockwell.com

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:

If Spotify's Staff Can't Cope with Running a Content Library, They Should Find Another Job — Spotify's CEO made a statement over the weekend: … I want to reiterate that nobody is actually “impacted” by Joe Rogan's podcast. Nobody is actually “drained” or “frustrated” or “unheard.”

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Wire, Media Matters for America, RedState and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Spotify CEO says company won't be “silencing” Joe Rogan

Dylan Byers / Puck:

Kilar Comes Back for More... After a series of off-the-rails newsroom conversations last week to address Jeff Zucker's ouster, the likely outgoing WarnerMedia C.E.O. returned to the barrel today via an emotional virtual meeting with select high-level staff.

Discussion: The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

Tracey Tully / New York Times:

N.J. Governor to End School Mask Mandate in Move to ‘Normalcy’ — For the first time since the start of the pandemic, New Jersey districts will be permitted to allow students and teachers to stop wearing masks. — Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey, a Democrat who has imposed …

Steve Contorno / CNN:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signals support for 'Don't Say Gay' bill — (CNN)Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared Monday to voice support for a controversial state bill that would ban certain discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom.

Discussion: Political Wire and Florida Politics

Noah Smith / Noahpinion:

The NYT article on MMT is really bad — The fringe ideology's star is falling, and puff pieces will not resuscitate it — The New York Times just came out with a big glowing writeup of MMT, entitled “Time for a Victory Lap*”. This article aroused the anger of just about every macroeconomist on Twitter …

Discussion: Althouse and New York Times

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Why Americans Are Slow to Get Booster Shots — Why are Americans slow to get booster shots? — The United States has a vaccination problem. And it is not just about the relatively large share of Americans who have refused to get a shot. The U.S. also trails many other countries …

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The plan to ‘Trump-proof’ 2024 gets a big boost — from Donald Trump — As frustrating as Sen. Joe Manchin III has been in the past year or so, the West Virginia Democrat may have found the sweet spot on a very big question: How to get 10 GOP senators to support a plan to safeguard our elections …

Discussion: Daily Kos, CNN, Raw Story, Alternet.org and New York Times

Department of Homeland Security:

Summary of Terrorism Threat to the U.S. Homeland — The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information …

Discussion: CNN, CBS News and UPI

Rick Rouan / USA Today:

New book details how Palin felt uncomfortable after 2010 meeting with Fox News CEO Ailes … Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was so unsettled after a 2010 meeting with then-Fox News executive Roger Ailes that she told staff members she would not meet with him alone again, according to a new book from a New York Times journalist.

Discussion: The Guardian

Laura Nahmias / Bloomberg:

Andrew Cuomo Says He's Been ‘Vindicated,’ Won't Rule Out Run — Five months after he resigned over a swirl of sexual harassment allegations, New York's former Governor Andrew Cuomo isn't ruling out another run for public office. He insists it's too soon to talk about it.