Biden's Medicare advantage  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With help from Allie Bice.  —  Republicans really wish President JOE BIDEN would stop claiming they're trying to cut Medicare and Social Security.

New York Times Writers Call Out the Paper's Anti-Trans Onslaught  —  “This is not quite business as usual anymore,” one of the organizers of an open letter to the NYT told Hell Gate.  —  On Wednesday morning, a group of almost 200 journalists and writers released an open letter addressed …

Donald Trump Changes Tune on Mail-in Voting, Ballot Collection  —  After years of attacks on early voting, Trump follows other Republicans in suggesting party should embrace tactic  —  After years of assailing early voting, Donald Trump is having a change of heart.

First on CNN: FBI searched University of Delaware for Biden documents, source says  —  The FBI has conducted two searches at the University of Delaware in connection with the investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN.

First on CNN: DOJ officially decides not to charge Matt Gaetz in sex-trafficking probe  —  The Justice Department has informed lawyers for at least one witness that it will not bring charges against Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz after a years-long federal sex-trafficking investigation.

Judge to Trump: Too late to offer DNA to rebut rape claim  —  Former President Donald Trump missed his chance to use his DNA to try to prove he didn't rape a longtime magazine advice columnist, a federal judge said Wednesday, clearing away a potential roadblock to an April trial.

Two Democrats want McConnell's 2011 debt-ceiling fix proposal to be adopted  —  Two Democratic senators called on Congress to adopt a proposal that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made in 2011 to address a standoff over raising the debt ceiling, which would grant the president …

Buffalo grocery store mass shooter apologizes for racist attack as he receives sentence of life in prison  —  The 19-year-old White man who killed 10 people in a racist mass shooting at a grocery store in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo last May cried and said he regretted his actions …

D.C. police lieutenant delivered pre-Jan. 6 tips from Tarrio to Capitol Police, Proud Boy's lawyer says  —  In the weeks before Jan. 6, 2021, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio shared information about his group's planned activities with a D.C. police lieutenant, who then passed it along …

Warren Calls Out Buttigieg and Schumer in Speech Urging Washington Get Tougher on Monopolies  —  Elizabeth Warren has a message for some of her fellow Democrats: Stop protecting corporate monopolies.  —  In a sweeping policy speech on Wednesday laying out a grand vision for renewing …

The Sleeper Charge Related to January 6  —  How do you get Capone?  —  We learned this week that following the 2020 presidential election the Trump campaign hired an outside research firm to attempt to bolster its claims of election fraud.  The firm, Berkeley Research Group …

Alex Murdaugh Spent $50K A WEEK on Drugs, Defense Lawyer Claims  —  WHAT A TRIP  —  Alex Murdaugh was spending $50,000 a week on drugs he bought from his distant cousin—and future co-defendant—during his yearslong drug problem, his defense attorney claimed in court Wednesday.

Jon Stewart Shreds JD Vance And Tucker Carlson for ‘Baloney’ Reaction to Ohio Train Disaster: ‘They Play Act This Concern For Working People’  —  Jon Stewart blasted both Tucker Carlson and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance's reaction to the Ohio train derailment— arguing that although both were outraged …

AMERICAN VIEWS 2022: Part 2, TRUST MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY  —  OVERVIEW  —  Democracy in America relies on an independent press to inform citizens with accurate information.  Yet today, two forces pose significant challenges to this function: the growing struggle of news organizations …

Gavin Newsom says Kimberly Guilfoyle ‘fell prey’ to the culture at Fox News and was a ‘different person’ when they were married  — California Gov. Gavin Newsom told CNN his ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle “fell prey” to Fox News.  — Guilfoyle was a “different person” when they were together, Newsom said.

The Kremlin's Grand Delusions … Despite a series of blunders, miscalculations, and battlefield reversals that would have surely seen him thrown out of office in most normal countries, President Vladimir Putin is still at the pinnacle of power in Russia.  He continues to define the contours of his country's war against Ukraine.

Broward high schools remove book reported by parents' group and labeled by DeSantis administration as pornographic  —  Broward school libraries will remove a sexually explicit teen graphic novel that Gov. Ron DeSantis administration categorized as “pornography.”  —  The book, “Let's Talk About It.

Top Republicans plot Santos' ouster as embattled freshman weighs reelection  —  Embattled Rep. George Santos is contemplating a nightmare scenario for House Republicans: Trying to stick it out in Congress, even if he is indicted on criminal charges.  —  After previously signaling to Republicans …

Ohio Train Derailment: In East Palestine, Anxiety and Distrust Run Deep  —  Nearly two weeks after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, confusing messages from government officials have frayed locals' trust.  —  EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — All around …

The Wisconsin GOP's High Court Crackup  —  They've picked a helluva time for a food fight  —  The election that the media has dubbed “the most important election nobody's ever heard of,” is just weeks away, and has already drawn international attention.  —  The “Stakes are monstrous,” declared Britain's Guardian.

George Santos was interviewed by police in 2017 international credit card fraud probe  —  In the early evening on April 17, 2017, a Chase Bank security officer in Seattle watched through an ATM's camera as a man approached and removed a card-skimming device.

A Notorious Syria Conspiracy Theory Is Definitively Debunked  —  The latest report from the global chemical weapons watchdog shows not only that Assad used gas in Douma but that no alternative explanation is viable  —  Brian Whitaker is a contributing editor at New Lines magazine

Giuliani associate regrets buying into ‘deep state’ conspiracy — and thinks Trump committed crimes bribing Ukraine  —  Lev Parnas, one of the associates of Rudy Giuliani's working on the Ukraine conspiracy has been released from prison on home confinement and he's speaking out about his experience working to help Donald Trump.

Chris Miller, the MAGA SecDef, Explains His Anger  —  In a memoir he recounts his military career and his eventful short tenure as Trump's last Pentagon chief—including his bitterness about Jan. 6th.  —  Soldier Secretary: Warnings from the Battlefield & the Pentagon about America's Most Dangerous Enemies

How Deadly Was China's Covid Wave?  —  Two months after China ended “zero Covid,” rough estimates suggest that between 1 and 1.5 million people died — far more than the official count.  —  China's official count  —  83,150 deaths  —  Model based on Shanghai outbreak  —  1.6 million deaths

World Bank President, Dogged by Climate Questions, Will Step Down Early  —  David Malpass, under fire for months by critics who accused him of climate denialism, said he would resign in June, a year before his term ends.  —  Gelles questioned the World Bank president about his views …