Live updates: Jan. 6 report recommends Congress ban Trump from running again  —  Congress should consider barring former president Donald Trump and others from holding office again, according to the recommendations section of the committee's report.  —  The 14th Amendment allows barring people …

Surprise: George Santos might sort of be telling the truth about something  —  Congressman-elect George Santos, R-NY, who is accused of faking just about every single aspect of his biography, said on Twitter he had a “story to tell” and would clear things up “next week.”

Deep secrecy, high risk: How Zelensky's improbable D.C. visit came together  —  Plans were kept within a tiny group as the Ukrainian president prepared to leave his war-ravaged country for the whirlwind trip.  —  When a U.S. military aircraft landed on the tarmac in Rzeszow, Poland …

EXCLUSIVE: TikTok Spied On Forbes Journalists  —  ByteDance confirmed it used TikTok to monitor journalists' physical location using their IP addresses, as first reported by Forbes in October.  —  An internal investigation by ByteDance, the parent company of video-sharing platform TikTok …

Kathy Hochul Pushes New York's Highest Court to the Right  —  Fresh off her narrow re-election win in November, Governor Kathy Hochul had an opportunity this month to steer New York's highest court toward either ideological direction.  —  She chose to push it to the right on Thursday …

Sam Bankman-Fried Released on $250 Million Bond With Restrictions  —  The disgraced cryptocurrency executive appeared in court in Manhattan after his extradition from the Bahamas.  He will live with his parents in California.  —  Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former cryptocurrency executive …

Past cases with classified papers show legal risk for Trump, experts say  —  While prosecuting a former president would be difficult, it's not unusual to charge people who knowingly take top-secret documents  —  In Kansas City, a former FBI analyst pleaded guilty in October to taking home …

North Korea Sending Arms to Russian Mercenary Group Fighting in Ukraine, U.S. Says  —  Pyongyang steps in as Russian President Putin acknowledges that weaponry is dwindling  —  WASHINGTON—North Korea has sent a large arms delivery to the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary force whose influence …

Dying for your high: The untold exploitation and misery in America's weed industry  —  Sareth Sin, 67, died upright, seated in a plastic chair, on Christmas Day.  He was asphyxiated by fumes from the generator he ran to chase the desert chill out of a cannabis greenhouse on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County.

Biden's Surprise Challenger & Scalise's Speaker Weapon  —  News and notes around town as Washington prepares to enjoy the brief calm before the new Congress storm. … Since then, I learned that Marianne Williamson, the spiritual activist and 2020 candidate, has been actively making significant moves toward challenging Biden.

‘Get Rid of the Video!’:  Putin Crony Freaks Out in Live TV Flop Over Zelensky Clip  —  An on-air mishap over a video depicting Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington did not go over well with Moscow's top mouthpiece.  —  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky captured the world's attention with a historic trip to Washington this week.

DeSantis appoints judge who denied abortion to girl over school grades  —  Jared Smith, who issued controversial ruling in January, named to new court of appeal by Florida governor  —  Florida's rightwing Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has appointed a judge who was previously ousted …

Senate passes $1.7 trillion government funding bill that overhauls U.S. election law  —  The bill now goes to the House before it can head to Biden's desk for his signature.  The legislation must be enacted by Saturday to avoid a government shutdown.  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate voted …

Venezuela opposition vote to remove Guaido's interim government  —  Venezuela's political opposition to the ruling Socialists voted on Thursday by a wide margin to remove the interim government led by Juan Guaido, as they seek a united front ahead of presidential elections tentatively scheduled for 2024.

Jan. 6 participant arrested after hours-long standoff with the FBI  —  A man who carried what appeared to be a hammer at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 got into a standoff Thursday with the FBI for hours before he was arrested by special agents for his role in the riot, law enforcement officials told NBC News.