House committee receives Donald Trump's federal tax returns from IRS  —  The House Ways and Means Committee now has six years of Donald Trump's federal tax returns, ending a yearslong pursuit by Democrats to dig into one of the former president's most closely guarded personal details.

Georgia GOP chairman singled out by judge for central role in fake elector plot  —  A state judge singled out Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer, one of the fake electors for Donald Trump, for the unique role he played in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the Peach State as part of a ruling on Wednesday.

U.S. gas prices plunge toward $3 a gallon as demand drops worldwide  —  The average price of gas is back to where it was before Russia invaded Ukraine.  It is putting real money back in Americans' wallets.  —  The cost of gasoline is falling so fast that it is beginning to put real money …

‘Look, I Screwed Up’: Sam Bankman-Fried Is Challenged on the Collapse of FTX  —  FTX, the crypto exchange Mr. Bankman-Fried founded, declared bankruptcy this month in a failure that wiped out billions of investor dollars.  He said his lawyers did not want him to talk, but he answered questions at the DealBook Summit.

Trump's dinner with antisemites provides test of GOP response to extremism  —  Republicans are showing increasing boldness in criticizing Trump over his meeting with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West who has issued anti-Jewish diatribes

EU and US turn up the heat on Elon Musk over Twitter  —  EU commissioner warns billionaire he must adhere to the rules as Janet Yellen indicates Washington could review purchase  —  Elon Musk is under renewed pressure from the US and EU over his ownership of Twitter, as regulators clamp …

House, Senate negotiators agree to add $45B to Biden's defense budget  —  An emerging compromise on annual defense policy legislation will endorse a $45 billion increase to President Joe Biden's defense spending plans, according to four people familiar with the negotiations.

Garland praises Oath Keepers verdict, won't say where Jan. 6 probe goes  —  Justice Dept. will weigh seditious conspiracy conviction in deciding whether to pursue other high-profile Trump allies, people familiar with the matter said  —  A day after a federal jury convicted two far-right extremists …

Happy holidays?  Florida school district walks back decision to nix Hanukkah presentation  —  Pasco County Schools says it has reversed its decision to deny a mother's request to give a Hanukkah presentation to her son's fifth grade class after reporters contacted the district for an explanation.

The Washington Post will end its Sunday magazine, eliminate positions  —  Executive editor Sally Buzbee said the magazine would end ‘in its current form’ after printing its final issue on Dec. 25.  —  The Washington Post will stop publishing its stand-alone print magazine …

Assembly prepared to vote against seating Brooklyn Republican over residency question  —  In an extremely rare move, the Democratic-led state Assembly is preparing to vote against seating the Republican winner of an Assembly race in Brooklyn, Lester Chang, because he may not have moved …

ICE accidentally released the identities of 6,252 immigrants who sought protection in the U.S.  —  Immigration and Customs Enforcement accidentally posted the names, birthdates, nationalities and locations of more than 6,000 immigrants who claimed to be fleeing torture and persecution to its website on Monday.

NPR to impose near-freeze on hiring but avoids layoffs as budget cuts loom  —  NPR will need to cut at least $10 million from the current fiscal year ending next September 30, the network's chief executive, John Lansing, announced Wednesday, due to a sharp drop in revenue from sponsors.

Netflix's Reed Hastings Admits He Was Wrong About Advertising, Says ‘Glass Onion’ Theatrical Release Was Promotional Tactic … Netflix co-CEO and chairman Reed Hastings conceded that he wished the streamer had introduced an ad-supported plan years ago.  —  Netflix's reluctance to adopt advertising was …

Rise in Iranian assassination, kidnapping plots alarms Western officials  —  In the summer of 2021, officers from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service showed up at the Vancouver home of Ramin Seyed Emami, an Iranian Canadian musician and performer who hosts a popular Persian-language podcast.

Musk's Neuralink Hopes to Implant Computer in Human Brain in Six Months  —  Elon Musk's Neuralink Corp. aims to start putting its coin-sized computing brain implant into human patients within six months, the company announced at an event at its Fremont, Calif. headquarters on Wednesday evening.

Why America's Railroads Refuse to Give Their Workers Paid Leave  —  For months, the world's largest economy has been teetering on the brink of collapse because America's latter-day robber barons can't comprehend that workers sometimes get sick.  —  Or so the behavior of major U.S. rail companies seems to suggest.

Hungary: Data Misused for Political Campaigns  —  Threatens Privacy, Democratic Elections  —  (Brussels) - The Hungarian government's misuse of personal data during the 2022 national elections campaign undermined privacy and further tilted an already uneven playing field in favor of the ruling party …

EXCLUSIVE: Biden's married, non-binary nuclear waste guru who stole woman's $2,325 bag from airport hosted SPANKING seminar at kink conference just weeks later - under ‘NuclearNerd’ nickname that's still in use on fetish hookup website  — Sam Brinton, a high ranking official in Biden's DoE …

DHS warns of domestic terror threats to LGBTQ, Jewish and migrant communities  —  In a terrorism advisory bulletin issued Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security raised concerns about potential threats to the LGBTQ, Jewish and migrant communities from violent extremists inside the United States.

Danny Masterson rape case declared a mistrial  —  A judge declared a mistrial in the Danny Masterson rape case Wednesday, as the jury could not reach a decision on whether the actor was innocent or guilty.  —  Masterson, 46, had been charged with three counts of forcible rape over incidents …

Fearful of U.S. Jewish Backlash, Netanyahu Tries to Minimize His Extremist Partners  —  The prime minister-designate's tone-deaf attempts to assuage American Jews about his new far-right government will only push liberals further away from him  —  WASHINGTON - Amid growing signs of unease within …

‘Breach of the Big Silence.’ Protests Stretch China's Censorship to Its Limits  —  Days later, videos of chants and confrontations are still visible on the Chinese internet.  It's a sign of how a groundswell outmatched the world's best internet control system.  —  In one video, a man sarcastically sings a patriotic song.

Epstein Estate Agrees to Pay More Than $105 Million to U.S. Virgin Islands  —  The estate of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein will repay tax benefits and half the proceeds from the sale of an island he owned.  —  Matthew Goldstein, who covers white-collar crimes, has been following the Jeffrey Epstein case since 2019.

The quiet maneuvering that delivered Jeffries the top House Dem spot  —  The strategy behind Hakeem Jeffries' yearslong ascent to House Democratic leader, as his top allies see it, focused on making the outcome feel inevitable.  And in the end, it did.  —  The New York Democrat culminated …

Judge scolds Justice Department for its slow investigations at hearing for Rep. Matt Gaetz's convicted associate  —  A federal judge scolded the Justice Department on Wednesday over what he characterized as slow-moving investigations during a hearing for one of GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz's former associates …

Rubio stokes 2024 chatter with planned book release  —  There's a possible new entrant in the 2024 GOP book primary: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).  —  Rubio, who finished third in the 2016 GOP primary race, is set to release a new book, titled “Decades of Decadence,” on June 13 with jockeying underway for the 2024 presidential primary.

Gun Death Rate Nears Three-Decade High, With Men at Most Risk  —  Homicides of Black males and suicides among white males push up firearm fatalities  —  The rate of gun deaths in the U.S. reached a 28-year high in 2021 after sharp increases in homicides of Black men and suicides among white men, an analysis of federal data showed.