Top Items:


Showdown before the raid: FBI agents and prosecutors argued over Trump — An exclusive look at behind-the-scenes deliberations as both sides wrestled with a national security case that has potentially far-reaching political consequences — Months of disputes between Justice Department prosecutors …
Discussion:
The Independent, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, 19FortyFive, The Guardian, Mediaite, Hackwhackers and emptywheel


Schumer, Jeffries ask Murdoch to stop Fox hosts lying about 2020 election — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have sent a letter to Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch asking him to stop Fox News personalities from …
Discussion:
Washington Post, CBS News, Political Wire, Patterico's Pontifications and Sputnik News
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Schumer, Jeffries pressure Murdoch, Fox News over Trump's false election fraud claims — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are calling foul on Rupert Murdoch. — The top Democrats in Congress sent a letter to Murdoch, urging Fox News leadership …
Discussion:
ABC News, Deadline, Alternet.org, The Root, TVNewser, CBS News, Washington Times, HuffPost, Washington Post and Al Jazeera


Murdoch, exposed — It's not a secret that Fox News is a political operation seeking to bolster the prospects of Republicans. Jeanne Pirro, co-host of Fox News' The Five, regularly appears at Republican fundraisers. Mark Levin, who hosts a weekly Fox News program, appeared at a rally …
Discussion:
The Guardian, RADAR, Election Law Blog, Digby's Hullabaloo, CNN, Political Wire, Washington Post, Insider and Wall Street Journal

Fox Leaders Wanted to Break From Trump but Struggled to Make It Happen


Drugmaker Eli Lilly caps the cost of insulin at $35 a month, bringing relief for millions — Eli Lilly will cap the out-of-pocket cost of its insulin at $35 a month, the drugmaker said Wednesday. The move, experts say, could prompt other insulin makers in the U.S. to follow suit.
Discussion:
The Hill, CBS News, Plain Dealer, Orange County Register, Chicago Tribune, New York Times and Reuters
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Eli Lilly cuts insulin prices up to 70% amid pressure to slash costs
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Financial Times, Reuters, Semafor, Wall Street Journal and Just The News


Biden aides weigh economic aid for East Palestine after derailment — The administration wants to make Norfolk Southern pay for any costs but is exploring backup options — White House aides are weighing if or how they can provide economic relief for East Palestine, Ohio …
Discussion:
Political Wire, NBC News, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Examiner, Big League Politics, US EPA, BBC and WKBN-TV
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Vance pitches PPP for Ohio while other Republicans say to wait — Sen. J.D. Vance's (R-Ohio) call for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)-style plan to help workers and businesses affected by the East Palestine train derailment is being greeted skeptically by Senate Republicans …
Discussion:
WKBN-TV and Washington Examiner


Ohio senators ready rail safety bill after fiery crash
Discussion:
NBC News, HuffPost, The Hill, Plain Dealer, The Daily Caller, Senator Vance, Reuters, Congressman Ro Khanna, Axios, Indiana Capital Chronicle and New York Times


We Told You the Truth about Covid (and a Whole Lot More) — On the menu today: Day after day, week after week, unscrupulous actors in the world of politics pelt you with a hurricane of BS and try to get you to believe that two plus two equals five. A big part of the mission of National Review …
Discussion:
Public, The Daily Signal and Just The News
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China's CCP warns Elon Musk against sharing Wuhan lab leak report
Discussion:
Fortune, The Verge, Webb Chatham Report, The Gateway Pundit, Eschaton, Instapundit, The Western Journal, Alternet.org and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »

FBI director says COVID pandemic ‘most likely’ originated from Chinese lab
Discussion:
UPI, Financial Times, Daily Mail, Fox News, USA Today, BBC, Insider, JONATHAN TURLEY, New York Post, HuffPost, NBC News, Breitbart, GZERO, CNN, ABC News, Twitchy, NPR, Metro.co.uk, The Hill, The Dispatch, Raw Story, Power Line, HotAir, Wholistic, Axios, New York Post, Breitbart, FOX News Radio, IJR, RedState, Alaska Public Media, Sputnik News, Washington Examiner, Al Jazeera, Washington Times, National Review, The Daily Caller, Just The News, The Daily Beast, TASS, New York Daily News, Talking Points Memo and Associated Press

FBI Director Says Covid Pandemic Likely Caused by Chinese Lab Leak
Discussion:
NBC News, Los Angeles Times, Politico, Political Wire and Fox News


In an Epic Battle of Tanks, Russia Was Routed, Repeating Earlier Mistakes — A three-week fight in the town of Vuhledar in southern Ukraine produced what Ukrainian officials say was the biggest tank battle of the war so far, and a stinging setback for the Russians.
Discussion:
Morning Shots and StrategyPage
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What could Chinese artillery and ammunition mean for Putin's war in Ukraine?
Discussion:
The Daily Beast


Ron DeSantis is using a new breed of local right-wing media to make national news — These websites didn't exist five years ago. — The Florida Standard is a fledgling website, launching last July. It lists only five writers and editors on its site. But in January, it landed a blistering scoop …
Discussion:
The Nation and The Daily Caller


Why I Stood Up to Disney — On Monday, I signed the law ending the Walt Disney Co.'s self-governing status over 43 square miles in central Florida, an area almost as big as Miami. Disney no longer has its own government. It has to live under the same laws as Universal Studios …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Washington Examiner, Deadline, The Daily Caller and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »


Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blames election loss on racism, gender — Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed racism and her gender for her landslide defeat in her re-election bid, as Chicagoans wary of the rising crime of her watch celebrated her fall from “political rock star to rock bottom.”
Discussion:
HotAir, NBC Chicago, National Review, Twitchy, PinkNews, Chicago Tribune, IJR, New York Times, Associated Press and Fox News
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2023 Chicago Election: How Lori Lightfoot wound up a one-term mayor
Discussion:
Politico, CBS News, Fox News, Sputnik News, UPI, National Review, HuffPost and WTOP News

Lori Lightfoot becomes the first Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose re-election
Discussion:
Fox News, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, PinkNews, Financial Times, Bloomberg, National Review, One America News Network, ABC7, Washington Examiner, Chicago Sun-Times, ABC News, Associated Press, Just The News, CBS News, USA Today, The Hill, New York Daily News, NBC Chicago, New York Times, Forbes and Politico


Trump ties GOP in knots over Medicare and Social Security — Donald Trump is driving a wedge through the GOP over one of American politics' thorniest issues: the future of Medicare and Social Security. — The former president's attacks on potential GOP primary opponents …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Raw Story, CBS News, The Bulwark, Political Wire, Just The News and National Review
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Senate group wades into tough talks on Social Security
Discussion:
CNBC, Washington Examiner and Semafor


Girls high school basketball team forfeits tournament rather than play against transgender player — A Vermont girls high school basketball team forfeited an out of state tournament after refusing to play against a team that had a transgender player. — Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) …


Trump's February bump — Four new polls show former President Trump has received a boost in Republican support — with one survey showing him hitting 50% support in a crowded GOP field. … - His visit to the derailment site in East Palestine, Ohio — ahead of President Biden …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Guardian, The Post Millennial, Outside the Beltway, Washington Examiner and Emerson Polling
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New York Will Pay Millions to Protesters Violently Corralled by Police — The police boxed in racial justice demonstrators in 2020, an anti-protest practice known as “kettling,” then hit them with batons and pepper spray. Hundreds will receive $21,500 each.
Discussion:
Al Jazeera and Bloomberg


Dark money and special deals: How Leonard Leo and his friends benefited from his judicial activism — A network of political non-profits formed by judicial activist Leonard Leo moved at least $43 million to a new firm he is leading, raising questions about how his conservative legal movement is funded.
Discussion:
Alternet.org


Biden's Translator — Kate Bedingfield explains the press to the president (and keeps the White House from leaking). — Kate Bedingfield, the White House communications director, first tried to leave in July. She had started working for Joe Biden in 2015 and was looking forward to spending …
Discussion:
jihadwatch.org
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The story behind Gaetz citing Chinese propaganda at a hearing — In 2021, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) decried what he labeled “a fusion of the interest of the Chinese Communist Party and much of the apparatus of the United States government.” — At a hearing Tuesday, Gaetz cited …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, HuffPost, Washington Times, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, CNN and Insider
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Matt Gaetz Called Out for Citing Chinese Propaganda in Hearing
Discussion:
Washington Press, PoliticusUSA, Raw Story and Political Wire


Trump's enablers must face consequences, too — There's no doubt that Donald Trump was the instigator of the 2020 insurrection. But the former president's schemes never would have gotten far (or even off the ground) without the participation of right-wing media executives, lawyers and pliant state officials.
Discussion:
Alternet.org


Starbucks Faces New Front in Its Labor Disputes: White-Collar Workers — Dozens of white-collar Starbucks Corp. employees and managers have signed an open letter protesting the company's return-to-office mandate and its alleged union-busting, opening a new front in the battle …
Discussion:
New York Post and The Sun


My Liberal Campus Is Pushing Freethinkers to the Right — In the not-so-distant past, the Typical College Republican idolized Ronald Reagan, fretted about the national debt and read Edmund Burke. Political sophistication, to that person, implied belief in the status quo.
Discussion:
Twitchy


The NFL deserves every bit of its raging Daniel Snyder headache — Dan Snyder is being unreasonable, is he? Making irrational, insulting and perhaps even extortive demands? Stifle for a moment your heavy, knowing sigh over the predictability of Snyder's conduct and the fact that he hasn't sold the Washington Commanders yet.
Discussion:
New York Post, NBC4 Washington and FOX News Radio


EPA to award $250 million in IRA funds to reduce climate pollution — The Biden Administration will make $250 million in grants available to develop strategies to cut climate pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday. — The funds are the first in $5 billion …


McCarthy, GOP pump brakes on release of Jan. 6 footage to Tucker Carlson — House Republicans are pumping the brakes on the release of Jan. 6 surveillance footage they've offered to Fox News host Tucker Carlson and going on offense against Democrats who have spent the past week slamming the move.