Justice Dept. Inquiry Into Matt Gaetz Said to Be Focused on Cash Paid to Women  —  The congressman and a former official in Florida sent money to the women using cash apps, receipts showed.  —  WASHINGTON — A Justice Department investigation into Representative Matt Gaetz …

Scoop: Biden doesn't plan to revive SALT deduction, possibly losing key moderates  —  President Biden is unlikely to propose reinstating state and local tax deductions in his second tax-and-spending package despite pressure from several fellow Democrats, according to people with direct knowledge of the planning.

Liberals pressure corporations into Georgia boycotts — it's time to ignore the mobs  —  If you thought corporate welfare was bad, just wait until you see what corporate wokefare looks like.  —  It used to be that massive corporations would roll into a state, demand huge taxpayer-funded incentives …

Georgia election law prevents African American, Latinx, others from exercising the right to vote  —  the Republican Georgia governor signed SB202, which changes the state's election code to prevent a repeat of what occurred in November 2020 and January 2021, when the state voted Democratic …

Panic Rooms, Birth Certificates and the Birth of GOP Paranoia  —  In the 2010 midterm election, voters from all over the place gave President Obama what he himself called “a shellacking.”  And oh boy, was it ever.  You could be a total moron and get elected just by having an R next to your name …

Can Vaccinated People Spread the Virus?  We Don't Know, Scientists Say.  —  Researchers pushed back after the C.D.C. director asserted that vaccinated people “do not carry the virus.”  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday walked back controversial comments made by its director …

Exclusive: Fresh data reveal how Trump made inroads with Latinos  —  A new analysis of U.S. voters suggests — counterintuitively — that the coronavirus pandemic may have helped drive former President Donald Trump's surprising increase in support from Latinos last November.

Iran Nuclear Deal Participants to Meet in Vienna Next Week  —  President Biden has said he wants the U.S. to return to the deal that U.S. exited in 2018  —  Negotiations to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal will take place among all parties in Vienna next week, senior western diplomats said Friday …

No Federal Taxes for Dozens of Big, Profitable Companies  —  FedEx and Nike are among those found to have avoided U.S. tax liability for three straight years.  —  Just as the Biden administration is pushing to raise taxes on corporations, a new study finds that at least 55 of America's largest paid …

A Man Found 15,000 Bees in His Car After Grocery Shopping  —  An off-duty firefighter in Las Cruces, N.M., whose hobby is beekeeping, safely removed the swarm from the man's car in an Albertsons supermarket parking lot.  —  He had just finished grocery shopping, but a New Mexico man got …

Ossoff Breaks with Biden, Opposes Call to Move MLB All-Star Game from Georgia  —  President Biden said Wednesday in an ESPN interview that he would “strongly support” Major League Baseball's moving the All-Star Game out of Georgia to protest the state's new voting law, but Jon Ossoff …

Oath Keepers founder, associates exchanged 19 calls from start of Jan. 6 riot through breach, prosecutors allege  —  Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, his deputy and three members who guarded Roger Stone exchanged nearly 20 phone calls over three hours on Jan. 6, coinciding with the first assault …

Vaccine Passports and the Categorical Impermissibility of Inconveniencing Republicans  —  On the GOP's principled incoherence about freedom of association  —  Conservatives have been freaking out about the mere possibility of vaccine passports, government-issued documents certifying the bearer's Covid jabs.

What Georgia's Voting Law Really Does  —  The New York Times analyzed the state's new 98-page voting law and identified 16 key provisions that will limit ballot access, potentially confuse voters and give more power to Republican lawmakers.  —  Go page by page through Georgia's new voting law …

American Airlines Statement on Texas Voting Legislation  —  Earlier this morning, the Texas State Senate passed legislation with provisions that limit voting access.  To make American's stance clear: We are strongly opposed to this bill and others like it.  As a Texas-based business …

HHS isn't up to handling the border surge  —  Many mistakes and unfortunate circumstances have created the border crisis.  One of the mistakes, which Congress could fix easily, was the 2002 decision to give the Department of Health and Human Services authority over unaccompanied minors.

U.K. Vaccination Puts U.S. to Shame  —  American authorities rejected advice to delay the second dose.  Britain shows that approach's wisdom.  —  The U.S. will soon achieve herd immunity against the novel coronavirus, but the U.K. will get there sooner.  That's because medical leaders across …

Dems pine to face Ron Johnson just one more time  —  Here's something you don't see every day: Democrats goading an incumbent Republican senator to run for reelection.  —  It's not only that Democrats see Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) as finally ripe for defeat after closely aligning himself …

There's a New Cheesecake Factory in DC, and the White House Press Corps Is Psyched  —  “TODAY'S THE FREAKING DAY,” tweeted one reporter on opening day.  —  When you think of Washington “power restaurants,” Cheesecake Factory probably doesn't come to mind.  But what is a power spot if not simply …

New York attorney general probes finances of key Trump aide  —  The New York attorney general has gathered personal financial records of the Trump Organization's longtime chief financial officer and his family, according to a witness who provided some documents — another sign of legal pressure …

Analysis reveals nearly 200 died in Texas cold storm and blackouts, almost double the official count  —  The deaths of nearly 200 people are linked to February's cold snap and blackouts, a Houston Chronicle analysis reveals, making the natural disaster one of the worst in Texas this past century.

Biden Seeks to Use Infrastructure Plan to Address Racial Inequities  —  The president's $2 trillion proposal allocates money to help communities of color, like a New Orleans neighborhood devastated by a highway project a half-century ago.  —  WASHINGTON — America's most celebrated infrastructure initiative …

Embattled Cuomo Pushes Skyline-Altering Penn Station Real Estate Plan as Critics Mobilize  —  Even amid multiple scandals, a weakened Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to railroad through a city-changing land deal that would reshape Manhattan's skyline.  And the project's detractors, until very recently, were few and relatively muted.

Army probes missing rifle from National Guard unit deployed to the Capitol  —  The Army has dispatched its in-house criminal investigative arm to probe the potential theft of a rifle from the D.C. National Guard while the unit was training in Virginia three weeks ago, an Army spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.

EXCLUSIVE: Suspect In Three Vancouver Masonic Lodge Fires Shared Antisemitic, QAnon-Related Content On Facebook  —  Social media posts highlight a deep belief in flat earth, QAnon related conspiracy theories, and claims that Freemasonry is a form of Judaism.  —  The Canadian Anti-Hate Network