Is the ‘smoking gun’ in Trump's Jan. 6 attempted coup hiding in plain sight?  —  While America was preoccupied last week with getting home from the holidays or lining up around the block for COVID-19 testing, there was a bombshell development in the investigation to learn just how far Donald Trump …

New York A.G. Seeks to Question Trump Children in Fraud Inquiry  —  The attorney general, Letitia James, has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump as part of a civil investigation.  —  The New York State attorney general's office, which last month subpoenaed Donald J. Trump as part …

Schumer: Senate to vote on filibuster change on voting bill  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Days before the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the Senate will vote on filibuster rules changes to advance stalled voting legislation that Democrats say is needed to protect democracy.

How the E.U. Allowed Hungary to Become an Illiberal Model  —  After years of complacency and wishful thinking, Brussels is finally trying to rein in the country's pugnacious leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orban.  —  BRUSSELS — After long indulging him, leaders in the European Union …

Ashli Babbitt a martyr?  Her past tells a more complex story  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The first time Celeste Norris laid eyes on Ashli Babbitt, the future insurrectionist had just rammed her vehicle three times with an SUV and was pounding on the window, challenging her to a fight.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Takes Multiple Actions to Expand Use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine  —  For Immediate Release:  —  Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to:

U.S. Catches Kremlin Insider Who May Have Secrets of 2016 Hack  —  IT executive Vladislav Klyushin's journey into U.S. custody is a blow to the Kremlin, say people familiar with a Russian intelligence assessment of what he may have to offer  —  In the days before Christmas …

If American democracy is going to survive, the media must make this crucial shift  —  Journalists stepped it up in 2021, but now we need a concerted effort  —  In the year since the Jan. 6 insurrection, mainstream journalists have done a lot of things right.

Five Rudys from the Abyss  —  If Giuliani-like sycophants had replaced just five officials, Trump's coup would have succeeded.  —  There are two reasonable ways to look at the 2020 presidential election.  —  The first is that despite a ferocious effort by Team Trump to steal a presidential election, the center held.

Facebook ‘permanently’ locks account of conservative children's book publisher  —  Heroes of Liberty publishes books about Amy Coney Barrett, Ronald Reagan and Thomas Sowell  —  Facebook has “permanently disabled” the ads account of a conservative children's book publisher …

The Corporate Insurrection: How companies have broken promises and funded seditionists … On January 6, an armed and violent mob stormed the Capitol.  It was the first time the building had been breached since the War of 1812.  At the end of the day, the death toll stood at five.

Since Jan. 6, the pro-Trump Internet has descended into infighting over money and followers  —  Far-right influencers and QAnon devotees are battling over online audiences in the power vacuum created by Trump's departure from office  —  The far-right firebrands and conspiracy theorists …

How many Omicron hospitalizations are “incidental”?  —  Here's another example of something that's meaningfully different about Omicron relative to previous variants which COVID deniers insist is similar.  Those who were saying “it's just the flu” of the original Wuhan strain in spring 2020 …

Did a Meteor Explode Over Pittsburgh?  —  A meteor likely either “exploded or vaporized” over the city on Saturday, a meteorologist said, setting off a strong vibration that one resident likened to a “shock wave.”  —  For Heather Lin Ishler, the first morning of 2022 in Dormont …

The U.S. Is Naive About Russia.  Ukraine Can't Afford to Be.  —  Putin is right about one thing: A free, prosperous, democratic neighbor is a threat to his autocratic regime.  —  About the author: Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at The Atlantic, a fellow at the SNF Agora Institute …

Operating Status  —  CURRENT STATUS  —  Washington, DC Area  —  FEDERAL OFFICES in the Washington, DC area are CLOSED.  Emergency employees and telework employees continue to work.  —  Non-emergency employees generally will be granted weather and safety leave for the number of hours they were scheduled to work.

Reporter's Notebook: Chad Pergram remembers Jan. 6 attack one year later  —  Fox News' congressional correspondent remembers the mob going through the Capitol  —  Pergram: Most significant breach of government institution since 1814  —  I remember when I walk through the Capitol Rotunda.

Happy ‘woke’ 2022, Democrats.  With democracy in the balance, time to reclaim your brand.  —  Too much is at stake for Democrats to blow the midterms.  Enough with the identity politics.  They need universal economic messages rooted in real life.  —  You may be a Democrat …

Election-Fraud Stars Vow to Stab Each Other—'With the Truth'  —  “I will stab you in the face with the truth,” inventor Jovan Pulitzer warned a rival.  —  Inventor Jovan Pulitzer is a pillar of the MAGA election-fraud movement.  His theories were integrated into the Arizona audit …

Jamie Raskin, Democracy's Defender … Most every night, just after he slips into bed, Jamie Raskin picks up a volume of the collected works of Shakespeare, thumbs through it, and reads a few pages before sleep takes him.  He is not, he admits, a big reader of fiction; doesn't have the time.

Morning Greatness: J6 Sensationalism Revs Up as Campaign '22 Season Begins  —  Good Monday morning. … - 11:10am: The President and The Vice President receive the President's Daily Brief  — 1:30pm: The President meets virtually with family and independent farmers and ranchers to discuss …