We witnessed Mariupol's agony and fled a Russian hit list  —  MARIUPOL, Ukraine (AP) — The Russians were hunting us down.  They had a list of names, including ours, and they were closing in.  —  We had been documenting the siege of the Ukrainian city by Russian troops for more than two weeks …

Exclusive: Witness Claims Trump's Chief of Staff Was on Phone Call Planning Jan. 6 March on Capitol  —  Trump's team agreed it would encourage supporters to march, but try to “make it look like they went down there on their own,” Scott Johnston tells Rolling Stone

One Public Defender Supreme Court Justice Is Not Enough  —  The confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court could help re-shuffle the legal profession's prestige hierarchy, which treats prosecution as synonymous with the concept of “doing justice.”

Senator Hawley's Disingenuous Attack against Judge Jackson's Record on Child Pornography  —  He distorts her record on ‘sex offenders.’  —  would oppose Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson because of her judicial philosophy, for the reasons outlined by Ed Whelan last week.  I address that in a separate post.

Putin's lover Kabayeva faces expulsion from Switzerland  —  Russian President Vladimir Putin's mistress Alina Kabayeva faces expulsion from Switzerland, where she is likely hiding with her children.  Citizens of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus appealed to the Swiss Confederation with a petition under the slogan …

How could any American patriot back Putin?  —  Where does it come from, this Trumpy admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin?  —  Is it theatrical, driven by journalistic contrarianism?  Is it simply about wanting President Joe Biden to lose?  Or is there something deeper and more malign going on?

'People's Convoy' provoked and motivated by D.C. police roadblocks  —  The “People's Convoy” of truck drivers and supporters that has been honking its way around D.C.-area roads and highways, backing up traffic in protest of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic …

Super PAC signals Pennsylvania primary could get rough  —  A super PAC backing Pennsylvania Senate candidate Conor Lamb is warning prospective donors that he is trailing frontrunner John Fetterman by 30 percentage points in the Democratic primary — and that the public's perception …

It's Never a Good Time for the Hunter Biden Story  —  Gail Collins: Bret, here's one question I don't think I ever asked you before: What do you think of daylight saving time?  —  Bret Stephens: About the same way I feel about Volodymyr Zelensky.  The light of the West.

Teetering with Trump, Brooks calls for McConnell's ouster  —  Alabama Republican Mo Brooks is calling for Mitch McConnell to be ousted as Senate GOP leader, making him the party's third major Senate candidate to come out in favor of booting the Kentucky Republican.

The Takeover of America's Legal System  —  The kids didn't grow out of it. … In 2017, the super lawyer David Boies was at a corporate retreat at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne, Florida, hosted by his law firm, Boies, Schiller and Flexner.  Boies was a liberal legend …

Babylon Bee Twitter account locked due to anti-transgender tweet  —  Twitter locked out the owners of the Babylon Bee account over a tweet mocking U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine, who is a transgender woman.  —  The satirical website's CEO, Seth Dillon …

The Democratic Party's Biggest Problem Is Its Conservative Wing  —  Rep. Stephanie Murphy got everything she wanted, and it's a disaster, so she's retiring.  —  Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) speaks during the Blue Dog Coalition news conference on tax reform on October 4, 2017.

The One Trump Lawyer the Rest of Trump's Legal Team Loathes  —  Alina Habba has developed quite the reputation among Trump's team of lawyers.  —  Facing high-stakes investigations that could cripple his business empire or even mean jail time for him and close associates …

POLITICO Playbook: 4 things to watch when Jackson raises her right hand  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  Supreme Court confirmation hearings typically blot out everything else going on in Washington.  —  This time, not so much.  —  With war raging in Ukraine and President JOE BIDEN headed …

Gov. Greg Abbott brags about his border initiative.  The evidence doesn't back him up.  —  Arrests of U.S. citizens hundreds of miles from the border.  Claiming drug busts from across the state.  Changing statistics.  The data that Texas leaders use to boast about Operation Lone Star raise more questions than answers.

Disney Drives Conservatives Into Closet  —  You see the Daily Variety story the other day about how Pixar has restored a same-sex kiss to its upcoming film Lightyear after a gay employee group denounced its corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company, for not taking a tougher line against the so-called Florida “Don't Say Gay” bill.

How Texas' election law affected primaries in Tarrant County  —  Texas' new election law resulted in confusion and hundreds of votes uncounted as officials scrambled to prepare for the changes.  —  The March 1 Democratic and Republican primaries were the first Texas elections with a wide-reaching voting law in effect.

Read the Letter Biden's SCOTUS Pick Wrote Calling a Journalist ‘Irredeemably Evil’  —  While clerking for a federal judge, Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson denounced a Boston Herald columnist as “irredeemably evil” for criticizing unrestricted immigration.

EXCLUSIVE VP Harris's National Security Adviser McEldowney to depart  —  U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris's National Security Adviser Nancy McEldowney is stepping down from her role and will be succeeded by her deputy Philip Gordon, according to an internal staff memo seen by Reuters.