Trump deflects blame for Jan. 6 silence, says he wanted to march to Capitol … PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former president Donald Trump voiced regret Wednesday over not marching to the U.S. Capitol the day his supporters stormed the building, and he defended his long silence during the attack …

German Intelligence Intercepts Radio Traffic Discussing the Murder of Civilians in Bucha  —  DER SPIEGEL has learned that German intelligence intercepted radio traffic from the Russian military regarding the murder of civilians in Bucha.  It appears that such atrocities were part of the plan.

McConnell won't commit to hearings for Biden SCOTUS picks if GOP retakes Senate  —  Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that he won't commit to hearings for a potential Supreme Court nominee if he's the Senate Majority Leader leading up to the 2024 election.

LEAKED MEMO: The New York Times has issued a Twitter ‘reset,’ urging reporters to 'meaningfully reduce how much time you're spending on the platform'  — NYT Executive Editor Dean Baquet said in a memo that Twitter is now “purely optional” for staffers.  — Baquet said that the newsroom …

Whitmer sues over abortion law as governors prepare for state policy free-for-all  —  Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging her state's 1931 law banning abortion — the latest move in a flurry of state activity preparing for the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade in a few months.

American Airlines Restarts Philadelphia Regional Routes With Landline Buses  —  American Airlines is the latest carrier to contract Landline for connecting “flights” operated with buses.  The move comes as U.S. airlines face the concurrent challenges from a pilot shortage primarily hitting regional operators …

Exclusive: Leaked Messages Reveal the Origins of the Most Vile Hunter Biden Smear  —  Late in the 2020 presidential campaign, trailing in the polls, Donald Trump and his allies worked to make a campaign issue out of a trove of files on a laptop that his opponent's son, Hunter Biden, had apparently abandoned at a Delaware repair shop.

DOJ plans to investigate boxes of records taken to Trump's Mar-a-Lago  —  The Justice Department has begun taking steps to investigate former president Donald Trump's removal of presidential records to Mar-a-Lago — some of which were labeled “top secret,” people familiar with the matter said.

How much is Mehmet Oz worth?  A lot, a new Pa. Senate campaign report shows.  —  As he runs for U.S. Senate, Mehmet Oz has derided big tech as a “cartel” and boasted about taking on the Silicon Valley giants.But he's also deeply invested in them.Oz's personal financial disclosure report …

UN suspends Russia from Human Rights Council  —  US Amb. to UN: We have the votes to remove Russia from Human Rights Council  —  (CNN)The United Nations General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council.  —  The voting result was 93 in favor, 24 against and 58 abstentions.

Trump's Judge-Shopping Flop  —  Cynicism, mendacity, and incompetence rolled into one.  —  (CORBIS / GETTY)  —  Donald Trump has what might charitably be called a poor relationship with judges.  It's not clear that he even understands what they do.  Recall Trump's claim that …

Why So Many COVID Predictions Were Wrong  —  As many prominent policy makers reckon uncomfortably with persistent inflation after months of forecasting that the phenomenon would be transitory, I've started making a list of other pandemic predictions about the economy that never materialized.

Koch Network Smeared as Pro-Russia for Suggesting Sanctions Might Not Work  —  Stand Together is a charitable organization founded by Charles Koch that gives money to libertarian groups and causes.  It works to advance classically liberal ideas on a variety of issues: school choice …

The Democrats' Nevada Problem  —  Combining the Democrats' Hispanic Voter and Working Class Voter Problems  —  What do you get when you combine the Democrats' Hispanic voter problem with the Democrats' working class voter problem?  Something like the Democrats' Nevada problem.

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.

Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for police action against Jimmy Kimmel  —  The outspoken congresswoman alleged that Kimmel's joke was tantamount to a “threat of violence.”  —  “ABC, this threat of violence against me by @jimmykimmel has been filed with the @CapitolPolice,” she posted to Twitter.

A Texas teacher faces losing her job after fighting for gay pride symbols in school  —  The school year at MacArthur High in Irving, Texas, began last fall with the administration scraping off rainbow stickers that had been posted on campus, prompting hundreds of students to walk out in protest.

NBC News journalists vexed by MSNBC's move to hire White House press secretary Jen Psaki  —  New York (CNN Business)NBC News journalists are troubled by and have expressed dismay to network executives about MSNBC's intention to hire White House press secretary Jen Psaki when she exits …