Live Updates: Civilians Flee as Battered Russian Forces Bear Down on Eastern Ukraine  —  Civilians are leaving eastern Ukraine amid warnings of escalating fighting there.  The Justice Department charges a Russian oligarch with violating U.S. sanctions, and the Pentagon trains Ukrainian soldiers …

US: 2 posed as agents, gave gifts to Secret Service officers  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged two men they say were posing as federal agents, giving free apartments and other gifts to U.S. Secret Service agents, including one who worked on the first lady's security detail.

Liberal media critic Eric Boehlert dies in bicycle collision  —  Eric Boehlert, a liberal critic who offered blistering takedowns and analysis of mainstream and conservative media, died Monday in a bicycle collision in his New Jersey hometown.  He was 57.  —  “Through his journalism …

Paul Gosar to attend white nationalist social gathering on Hitler's birthday  —  Prescott Republican Congressman Paul Gosar is set to be a “special guest” with the white nationalist American Populist Union at an event that will be on a date popular among white nationalists and Neo-Nazis: Hitler's birthday.

Dissatisfied With Their Party, Wealthy Republican Donors Form Secret Coalitions  —  Eager to offset a Democratic advantage among so-called dark money groups, wealthy pro-Trump conservatives like Peter Thiel are involved in efforts to wield greater influence outside the traditional party machinery.

Judge issues first outright acquittal of Jan. 6 riot defendant  —  A judge has issued the first outright acquittal of a defendant charged in the Capitol riot.  —  Following a two-day bench trial in U.S. District Court in Washington, New Mexico engineer Matthew Martin was acquitted Wednesday …

After Gridiron Dinner, a covid outbreak among Washington A-list guests … It was supposed to be an evening of lighthearted political satire and bipartisan fellowship among an elite cadre of politicians, journalists and public officials, just as it has been for much of the past 137 years.

Elon Musk delayed filing a form and made $156 million … Elon Musk was 11 days late in publicly declaring he had amassed a large stake in Twitter.  That omission may have earned him $156 million, according to a half-dozen legal and securities experts.  —  That's because of a 50-year-old law …

House votes to hold ex-Trump aides Navarro, Scavino in contempt of Congress  —  The House voted Wednesday to hold two former aides to President Donald Trump in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas related to the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

Republicans thought defining a ‘woman’ is easy.  Then they tried. … Before we get to the fact that I spent my lunch hour emailing with an editor of the Oxford English Dictionary to find out whether “tallywhacker” was an officially recognized euphemism for “penis,” a brief recap of how we got here:

California math wars get ugly: Accusations of racism and harassment ignite battle between Stanford and Cal profs  —  Two professors at rival Bay Area colleges — UC Berkeley and Stanford— landed in a social media feud this week, trading accusations of racism and harassment.

As vile as it gets: J.D. Vance goes full ‘great replacement theory’  —  J.D. Vance wants you to know that only one invasion should overwhelmingly preoccupy your attention right now.  It's not the invasion of Ukraine, where war crimes are mounting and we're seeing horrifying imagery of murdered civilians littering the streets.

Judge rejects Trump's demand he step back from suit against Hillary Clinton  —  A federal judge — nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 1996 — on Wednesday emphatically rejected Donald Trump's demand that he recuse from Trump's sprawling lawsuit against Hillary Clinton …

EXCLUSIVE: Whistleblower who handed Hunter's abandoned laptop to congressmen and DailyMail.com reveals he has 450 gigabytes of DELETED material including 80,000 images and videos - and has fled to Switzerland fearing retaliation from White House  — Whistleblower Jack Maxey gave DailyMail.com …

Florida's Scott exposes fissures with DeSantis  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott on Wednesday showed an unwillingness to embrace the harsh rhetoric of Gov. Ron DeSantis over Disney's rejection of Florida's “Parental Rights in Education” bill, dubbed the “Don't Say Gay” bill by opponents.

At least five shooters involved in Sacramento massacre, gang ties likely, police say  —  Sacramento police said Wednesday that it appears at least five shooters fired guns during Sunday's massacre in downtown, which killed six people and injured 12.  —  Officials are still trying to determine …

Patrisse Cullors blasts ‘despicable’ coverage of BLM's $6 million mansion  —  Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors railed against a “despicable” report from a liberal magazine that exposed her charity had purchased a $6 million Los Angeles mansion with donor cash.

Officials Captured And Euthanized The Capitol Hill Fox, Then Found Her Kits  —  There's a tragic twist to the story of the Capitol Hill fox accused of biting and nipping multiple people earlier this week — the adult female was euthanized after her capture on Tuesday afternoon.

Dystopia: Drone warns desperate locked-down Shanghai residents to “control your soul's desire for freedom”  —  Imagine how jealous Fauci was when he was told about this.  —  The stress of being under what's now an indefinite lockdown has led people in Shanghai to seek whatever meager relief is available, sometimes in familiar ways.

Bannon Loses Bid to Claim Lawyer Said He Could Ignore Jan. 6 Subpoena  —  A federal judge rejected political strategist Steve Bannon's plan to argue he was justified in refusing to comply with a subpoena from lawmakers investigating U.S. Capitol riot because he was acting on the advice of his lawyer.

Why the WHO took two years to say COVID is airborne … - Dyani Lewis  — Dyani Lewis  —  Dyani Lewis is freelance reporter in Melbourne, Australia.  —  You can also search for this author in  —  PubMed Google Scholar  —  As 2021 drew to a close, the highly contagious Omicron variant …