POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Why GOP moderates are blocking for McCarthy  —  Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  On Friday, after a group of seven House conservatives issued a public letter outlining the demands that GOP Leader KEVIN McCARTHY would need …

Sam Bankman-Fried's Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition  —  The grim conditions FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is encountering in the Bahamas prison where he's currently being held could change his attitude on extradition to face fraud charges in the US.

Musk bans Twitter account tracking his jet, threatens to sue creator  —  Twitter suspended, restored and then suspended again the 20-year-old college student's account that for years had shared publicly available data on Musk's private flights  —  Jack Sweeney, a sophomore at the University …

Lowest Opinion Of Trump Among Voters In Seven Years, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Biden Approval Rating Climbs  — mail_outline  —  As former President Donald Trump seeks to return to the Oval Office, 31 percent of registered voters have a favorable opinion of him …

Kanye West's Love of Hitler Allegedly Goes Back 20 Years  —  The rapper spoke of his admiration for Hitler during the making of ‘The College Dropout,’ and even tried to use propaganda strategies inspired by the Nazis to boost his own fame, sources tell Rolling Stone

White House to restart free Covid home test program  —  The Biden administration plans to reopen a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service to mail free at-home Covid-19 tests to households that request them, four people familiar with the matter told POLITICO.

Leonard Leo's Latest Supreme Court Play  —  This story was reported in partnership between The Lever and ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  —  Flush with money after receiving the largest-known political advocacy donation in U.S. history …

Again and again: The school shootings since Sandy Hook  —  NBC News has tracked active shooter school shootings since 2013.  —  It seemed unthinkable then.  It's all too common now.  —  “Never again” became the mantra a decade ago after a troubled young man with a high-powered Bushmaster rifle unleashed …

Biden gives Iranian thugs a pass  —  Unsatisfied with beating and molesting them on the streets, Iran has started executing its young citizens over their desperate human rights protests.  —  Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was only the latest to be hanged this week for what the theocrats declared was his “enmity against God.”

Chuck Schumer predicts Democrats will hold the Senate majority again in 2024  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, beaming with confidence after having proved his doubters wrong and expanded his majority in the midterm elections, vowed without hesitation that the Democratic Party will keep control again in two years.

Pete's campaign in waiting  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With help from Lauren Egan and Allie Bice.  —  Two years into the Biden administration, infrastructure for another potential PETE BUTTIGIEG bid for office lies in waiting.

Thiel's Red Scare  —  Despite concern that a demoralized and “blackpilled” Peter Thiel might retreat from G.O.P. fundraising after his midterm setback in Arizona, the conservative billionaire has a few thoughts for the Republican Party.  On Tuesday evening, Thiel delivered a searing indictment …

Senate Passes Bill Banning TikTok From Government Devices  —  Social-media app has come under scrutiny over China-based parent ByteDance  —  WASHINGTON—The Senate passed by unanimous consent a bill that would ban federal employees from downloading or using the social-media app TikTok on government devices …

Man who allegedly threatened to kill Arizona election official facing federal charges  —  An Ohio man who allegedly threatened to kill an Arizona state election official during the 2022 midterm election season is now facing federal charges, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

‘Nightmare’ Warehouse Fire Erases Evidence in Many Unsolved Cases  —  Lawyers say evidence in cold cases and bids for exoneration disappeared or was ruined when a Police Department storage facility in Brooklyn went up in flames.  —  When a massive Police Department warehouse burned Tuesday …

Trump Hoarded Most Of The $147 Million In Small-Donor Money He Raised For Himself  —  The much-touted super PAC he created spent only $15 million on GOP candidates in key Senate races, and nothing at all on Herschel Walker's runoff.  —  WASHINGTON ― Just weeks after touting a new super PAC …

Trump Aims to Regroup After Rocky First Month of 2024 Campaign  —  Ex-president plans to focus on smaller, policy-focused events in next few months  —  Kari Lake, Other Trump-Backed Election Skeptics Lose Key Midterm Races  —  Created with sketchtool.

U.S. planning to give Ukraine smart-bomb kits  —  Joint Direct Attack Munition kits incorporate global positioning devices for precision and can be bolted onto a variety of weapons and aircraft  —  The Biden administration is planning to send Ukraine advanced electronic equipment …

I Think I Found Kyrsten Sinema's Side Hustle  —  Last week, she ditched the Democrats.  Perhaps this is her real passion?  —  It is 11 a.m. on a Tuesday, and I am exchanging Facebook messages with Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema about a lightly used pair of Badgley Mischka heels.

Bahamian authorities were tipped off by top Bankman-Fried associate  —  FTX executive told securities regulator crypto exchange was likely funnelling cash to Alameda trading firm  —  One of Sam Bankman-Fried's close associates told Bahamian regulators in the days before FTX collapsed …

COVID origins ‘may have been tied’ to China's bioweapons program: GOP report  —  House Republicans state that the virus ‘spilled over’ to the human population  —  Jim Jordan, James Comer launch probe into COVID origins  —  FIRST ON FOX: Republican members of the House intelligence committee …

People's Republic of China Citizen Arrested for Stalking  —  For Immediate Release  —  U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts  —  Defendant allegedly stalked an individual promoting democracy in China  —  BOSTON - A Berklee College of Music student, who is citizen …

DOJ and SEC charge social media influencers in alleged $100 million stock pump and dump scheme  — Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission charged seven social media influencers with using Twitter and Discord to commit securities fraud that netted them more than $100 million in illicit gains.

Company in Probe of Dem Senator Bob Menendez Tied to His Crooked Donors  —  Two confessed criminals who have backed Robert Menendez's campaign are entangled with the company at the middle of a federal investigation into the Democrat Senator. … The shadowy globe-spanning company at the heart …

DeSantis builds his conservative resume as Trump flounders  —  In the last two days, Ron DeSantis sought a grand jury to investigate Covid-19 vaccines, questioned a new federal law protecting same-sex marriages and won a legislative victory that will hit the pocket books of lawyers.

Jill Biden makes a tidal shift from her thoughts on another run at the White House  —  First lady Jill Biden, despite being so worn out from a recent circuit of White House events that she lost her voice, is now seriously looking ahead to her husband running for reelection in 2024.

New Hampshire and New Jersey men accused of smuggling military equipment to Russia  —  New Hampshire man accused of sending weapons to Russia  —  A New Hampshire and New Jersey man have been arrested and charged for their alleged roles in smuggling military equipment to Russia, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Tuesday.