Special counsel is locked in at least 8 secret court battles in Trump investigations  —  Special counsel Jack Smith is locked in at least eight secret court battles that aim to unearth some of the most closely held details about Donald Trump's actions after the 2020 election and handling …

Senior Democrats' Private Take on Biden: He's Too Old  —  High-level Democrats are rallying to President Biden's reelection, not because they think it's in the best interest of the country to have an 82-year-old start a second term but because they fear the potential alternative …

Republicans worry as self-inflicted wounds pile up  —  Republican lawmakers are wary of their party's propensity for self-inflicted wounds and are hoping for more discipline heading into the next election cycle.  —  Leading Republicans think that the House GOP's raucous reception …

A Conversation With Bing's Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled  —  A very strange conversation with the chatbot built into Microsoft's search engine led to it declaring its love for me.  —  Last week, after testing the new, A.I.-powered Bing search engine from Microsoft, I wrote that …

FEC presses Santos to identify campaign treasurer  —  The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is demanding Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) to name a new treasurer for his campaign and several affiliated political committees, warning that a failure to do so will bar the groups from raising or spending any money.

Don Lemon Annoys Female Colleagues Again With ‘Completely Offensive’ Remarks  —  In what is becoming a habit, the CNN anchor drew the ire of his female colleagues over tone-deaf remarks related to gender—this time, about Nikki Haley being in her “prime.”  —  Don Lemon just can't help himself, it seems.

In Defense of J.K. Rowling  —  “Trans people need and deserve protection.”  —  “I believe the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others but are vulnerable.”  —  “I respect every trans person's right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them.”

As Russians inch forward near Bakhmut, Ukrainians dig fallback defenses  —  ORIKHOVO-VASYLIVKA, Ukraine — The closest Ukrainian artillery position to the raging battle for Bakhmut is tucked into a leafless tree line about 13,000 feet from the enemy.  The fighters here have been hanging on for weeks …

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down  —  One of the most prominent women in tech — and one of Google's earliest employees — is leaving the company.  —  YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who has led the world's largest video site for the last nine years, is stepping down from her role.

AZ Senate: Gallego Leads in All Head-To-Head Matchups  —  Sinema's Independent Status is the Real Wild Card  —  Toplines and crosstabs can be found here  —  PHOENIX (February 16th, 2023)- The 2024 Senate election is inching closer and the race for Arizona's Senate seat is wide open.

Alarmed by DeSantis, Black leaders protest and prepare for 2024  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Rev. Lowman Oliver marched for civil rights and racial equity across Florida in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, hoping to build a state he viewed as just and equal for Black Americans.

How a Fog of Questions Over a Spy Balloon and U.F.O.s Fed a Diplomatic Crisis  —  U.S. officials now suspect that the balloon was sent to spy on bases in Guam and Hawaii and that other downed objects were not surveillance machines.  Washington's evolving view reflects U.S. and Chinese difficulties in discerning each other's intentions.

Virginia governor blocks bill banning police from seeking menstrual histories  —  Glenn Youngkin essentially kills bill passed in Democratic-led state senate to ban search warrants for menstrual data on tracking apps  —  The Republican governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin …

Et Tu, Kayleigh?  Trump-Die Hard McEnany Calls for DeSantis to Jump in the 2024 Race Immediately: ‘Hottest Governor in Republican Politics’  —  This doesn't figure to sit well with former President Donald Trump.  —  Speaking Wednesday on Outnumbered, Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany …

Tesla Just Terminated Dozens in Response to New Union Campaign, Complaint Alleges  —  Tesla Inc. terminated dozens of employees Wednesday at its plant in Buffalo, New York, one day after Autopilot workers at the facility announced a union campaign, organizers said in a complaint.

George Santos barricaded in district office as local residents are refused meeting with embattled congressman  —  Residents were reportedly told by a staffer that the congressman would not speak to the ‘mob’ … The office of embattled Republican congressman George Santos was surrounded …

Kari Lake's lawyers hit with bar complaints  —  A legal group plans to file bar complaints Thursday against four lawyers representing Kari Lake in voter fraud litigation, NBC News has learned.  —  Lake, a Donald Trump acolyte who has refused to accept that she lost the governor's race in Arizona last year …

Trump Has Slight Lead Over DeSantis In GOP Primary, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Americans Mixed On Reasons Behind Classified Document Discoveries  — mail_outline  —  Given a list of 14 names of Republicans who either have said they are running for president in 2024 …

Steak Dinners, Sales Reps and Risky Procedures: Inside the Big Business of Clogged Arteries  —  Co-published with The Wichita Eagle … On June 14, 2017, just before noon, a doctor made an incision near a patient's groin.  Kari Kirk, a representative for the world's largest medical device company …

EXCLUSIVE: Doctors from St Louis transgender clinic told teachers to ‘affirm’ an entire group of fifth graders - despite fears they were being influenced by their friends  — The teacher contacted staff in October 2021 with concerns about a group  — They said multiple children came out as trans after a classmate did