Once an albatross around Trump's neck, Jan. 6 is now taboo in the GOP primary  —  OXON HILL, Md. — Like most politicians considering a White House run, Ron DeSantis published a new book this past week, designed to frame him as an unapologetic truth teller, eager to tackle the hard issues of the day.

New emails show Dr. Anthony Fauci commissioned scientific paper in Feb. 2020 to disprove Wuhan lab leak theory  —  New emails uncovered by House Republicans probing the COVID-19 pandemic reveal the deceptive nature of Dr. Anthony Fauci.  —  They show he “prompted” or commissioned …

Twitter can't protect you from trolls any more, insiders say  —  Twitter insiders have told the BBC that the company is no longer able to protect users from trolling, state-co-ordinated disinformation and child sexual exploitation, following lay-offs and changes under owner Elon Musk.

Russia's Wagner Troops Exhaust Ukrainian Forces in Bakhmut  —  Deadly fight against the penal battalions threatens Kyiv's ability to mount spring offensive  —  CHASIV YAR, Ukraine—Shielded by a small hill from Russian positions a half-mile away, a Ukrainian soldier spotted via drone feed …

In Calif. speech that draws protests, DeSantis stokes fight over pandemic  —  The Florida governor's speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library served as an audition before conservatives for a Republican many expect to run for president in 2024  —  SIMI VALLEY, Calif. …

When the anti-woke crusaders come for a teacher  —  Scott Kercher, a beloved history teacher in New Jersey, dared to tackle some of the tough issues of our times, hosting frank conversations about racism and gender identity when he came to the 85% white school district of Sparta in Republican Sussex County.

Russia's population nightmare is going to get even worse  —  War in Ukraine has aggravated a crisis that long predates the conflict  —  A demographic tragedy is unfolding in Russia.  Over the past three years the country has lost around 2m more people than it would ordinarily have done, as a result of war, disease and exodus.

The debt-limit time machine: What the last 10 big fights tell us about this one  —  As Congress prepares for another debt-limit standoff, a look into the past — at the 10 such deadlines lawmakers have confronted over the last 13 years — offers three shared truths.

The New Anarchy  —  America faces a type of extremist violence it does not know how to stop. … I. ON THE BRINK  —  in the weeks before Labor Day 2020, Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, began warning people that he believed someone would soon be killed by extremists in his city.

DeSantis declares war on the free press  —  Also: Bizarre moments from Trump's CPAC speech.  —  Aaron Rupar and Lisa Needham  —  Remember when Donald Trump used to talk about his desire to “open up” libel laws so it'd be easier to sue journalists for coverage he didn't like?

Trump's words at CPAC are exactly what Fascists say when laying the groundwork for violence  —  AG Garland should take a lesson from Argentina  —  “Never again,” were the final two words of Argentinian prosecutor Julio Strassera's closing argument in the 1985 criminal trial of the former leaders …

How is Fox News Different From All Other Media?  —  All news outlets have their biases.  This is something different.  —  I teach and study politics for a living; it is the nature of my field to assume that most political organizations do not act in an idealistic, honorable manner.

The Programs You'd Have to Cut to Balance the Budget  —  Several conservative lawmakers say House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has promised a House vote on a balanced federal budget.  That's a harder task than it sounds, given the size of the federal deficit.  —  More recently, Mr. McCarthy …

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort settles case with Justice Department for $3.15M  —  Paul Manafort, former chairman of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, agreed to pay $3.15 million to settle a civil case filed by the Justice Department last year for his allegedly …

How Walgreens supports the anti-abortion movement  —  Walgreens, one of the nation's largest pharmacy chains, announced that it will not dispense abortion pills in at least 10 states where abortion remains legal.  The decision came in response to a letter from 20 state attorneys general …

U.S. pressures airlines to commit to ending family seating fees  —  Three U.S. airlines agreed to commit in writing to eliminating family seating fees if adjacent seats are available during booking, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) said on Monday.

Asian Americans, Shifting Right  —  The new politics of class in America.  —  The Chinatown area of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, was long a Democratic stronghold.  The party's candidates would often receive more than 70 percent of the vote there.  Last year, however, the neighborhood underwent a political transformation.

Conservatives on campus  —  There's been a lot of grumpy commentary about this recent NYT op-ed by Adam S. Hoffman, a Princeton senior claiming that conservatives are being driven off campus.  Its basic claims: … There is actual serious social science research that Amy Binder and her colleagues have done on this exact question.

They thought loved ones were calling for help.  It was an AI scam.  —  Scammers are using artificial intelligence to sound more like family members in distress.  People are falling for it and losing thousands of dollars.  —  The man calling Ruth Card sounded just like her grandson Brandon.

Kari Lake wins CPAC vice president poll, topping DeSantis, Haley  —  Former Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake won a straw poll for the Republican vice presidential pick during the Conservative Action Political Conference (CPAC) this weekend.  —  Among a field of 28 candidates …

Group Seeks Disbarment of a Trump-Aligned Lawyer for a Key Jan. 6 Witness  —  Prominent lawyers filed a scathing ethics complaint against Stefan Passantino, who represented Cassidy Hutchinson in the early stages of the House committee's investigation.  —  WASHINGTON — In appearing …

Digital foot soldiers: Pro-Trump bots swarm DeSantis, Haley  —  Over the past 11 months, someone created thousands of fake, automated Twitter accounts — perhaps hundreds of thousands of them — to offer a stream of praise for Donald Trump.  Besides posting adoring words about the former president …

Election deniers take aim at group that helps states maintain voter rolls  —  Defenders say attacks on the system are fed by misinformation and will only make it easier to commit voter fraud  —  At a time of hyperpolarization over voting and elections, Democrats and Republicans had largely managed …

In Hawara We Saw Our True Face  —  A week ago some 400 settlers entered the West Bank village of Hawara, set fire to homes with their occupants inside, shot at reporters and apparently shot to death a 37-year-old Palestinian.  David Ben-Gurion once said that when we have a Jewish thief …

DHS has a program gathering domestic intelligence — and virtually no one knows about it  —  For years, the Department of Homeland Security has run a virtually unknown program gathering domestic intelligence, one of many revelations in a wide-ranging tranche of internal documents reviewed by POLITICO.