Statement by Mo Brooks  —  It's disappointing that, just like in 2017, President Trump lets Mitch McConnell manipulate him again.  Every single negative TV ad against our campaign has come from McConnell and his allies.  I wish President Trump wouldn't fall for McConnell's ploys, but, once again, he has.

Supreme Court Nominee Jackson's Support Tied for Highest  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Initial public support for judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation to the Supreme Court ties as the highest Gallup has measured for any recent nominee.  Fifty-eight percent of Americans say the Senate should vote …

Russia Central Banker Wanted Out Over Ukraine, But Putin Said No  —  Russia's highly regarded central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina sought to resign after Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, only to be told by the president to stay, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions.

Exclusive: Inside a rare US meeting with a Russian general in Moscow  —  (CNN)A rare face-to-face meeting between Russian and US military officials last week led to an “outburst” of emotion from a normally stoic Russian general, a “revealing moment” that the Americans present believe hinted …

Breaking: Supreme Court, in Bizarre Unsigned Opinion, Strikes Wisconsin Legislative Maps on Voting Rights Grounds, Signalling New Hostility to the Voting Rights Act  —  In a per curiam (unsigned) opinion on the shadow docket, over the dissent of Justices Kagan and Sotomayor …

Trump aide Manafort removed from plane for revoked passport  —  MIAMI (AP) — Former Trump adviser Paul Manafort was removed from a plane at Miami International Airport before it took off for Dubai because he carried a revoked passport, officials said Wednesday.

Madeleine Albright, first female US secretary of state, dies  —  Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright dies at 84  —  (CNN)Madeleine Albright, the first woman US secretary of state, who helped steer Western foreign policy in the aftermath of the Cold War, has died of cancer.  She was 84 years old.

NATO: Up to 40,000 Russian Troops Killed, Wounded, Taken Prisoner or Missing in Ukraine  —  NATO says that up to 40,000 Russian troops have been killed, wounded, taken prisoner or are missing in Ukraine, said a senior military official from the alliance.  —  The North Atlantic Treaty …

High court won't say whether Thomas remains hospitalized  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court declined to say Wednesday whether 73-year-old Justice Clarence Thomas remains in the hospital, though he had been expected to be released by Tuesday evening.  —  The court said Sunday that Thomas …

Howard Stern: GOP should be called the ‘wacko party’  —  Howard Stern said Wednesday that the country no longer has a two-party system because Republicans have become the “wacko party.”  —  “I miss the old Republican Party.  It used to be nice to have a two-party system.

Debra Meadows appears to have filed at least two false voter forms  —  “What we do know is a number of times as we have mail-in ballots, if there is not a chain of custody that goes from the voter to the ballot box, mischief can happen.”  — Then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows …

More than 100 House Republicans to cohost fundraiser for Cheney challenger  —  First House Republicans kicked Rep. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) out of party leadership.  Now they're trying to kick her out of Congress entirely.  —  More than 100 House Republicans have signed on to host a fundraiser …

The coming bloodbath of the Democrats  —  Joe Biden's woke, green agenda will cost him dearly at the ballot box.  —  The depression-era comedian Will Rogers once famously said he did not belong to an organised political party because he was a Democrat.  Yet today the traditional factiousness …

Pity the Zoomer Athlete  —  Why the Gen Z stars seem more easily broken  —  There are many great dialogue exchanges in Mad Men, but this is the one I keep coming back to.  In it, aging bon vivant Roger Sterling chastises the slightly younger depressive genius Don Draper over his lack of joy when drinking.

Putin has long fantasized about a world without Ukrainians.  Now we see what that means.  —  Timothy Snyder is the Levin Professor of History at Yale University and the author of a half-dozen books on Russia and Ukraine, including “The Road to Unfreedom” and “Bloodlands.”

Politico's New Administration Is Taking Office  —  Fifteen years after it broke onto the scene in an unmistakably disruptive manner, re-defining the stodgy news business with its metabolic frisky style and scoop-bazooka, Politico seems intent on entering its own Washington sinecure of sorts …

Idaho governor signs abortion ban modeled on Texas law  —  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho on Wednesday became the first state to enact a law modeled after a Texas statute banning abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and allowing it to be enforced through lawsuits to avoid constitutional court challenges.