U.S. Military Moves Into Place for Possible Strikes in Iran  —  President Trump has given no indication that he has made a decision about how to proceed, as diplomatic talks continue.  —  The rapid buildup of U.S. forces in the Middle East has progressed to the point that President Trump …

The FCC (probably) didn't censor Stephen Colbert  —  For the 12 of us who woke up Tuesday morning wondering what we had missed on Monday's late-night shows, CBS greeted us with a concerning development.  —  Overnight, Stephen Colbert had laid into his network, dedicating time at the top …

Exclusive: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere  —  The U.S. State Department is developing an online portal that will enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned by their governments including alleged hate speech and terrorist propaganda …

Conservative Georgia town pushes back against ICE detention center: ‘We are Americans after all’  —  Social Circle, a mostly Maga town, builds strange bedfellow coalition against plans to convert warehouse  —  On a recent morning Eric Taylor, city manager for a small Georgia town …

Tucker Carlson ‘DETAINED’ in Israel: Journalist ‘dragged into interrogation room’ as explosive interview sparks diplomatic firestorm  —  Conservative podcasting titan Tucker Carlson says he and his staff were detained in Israel on Wednesday following an interview with Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump's current ambassador to the country.

Billionaire Les Wexner tells lawmakers that he was ‘conned’ by Jeffrey Epstein and did ‘nothing wrong’  —  The 88-year-old former Victoria's Secret CEO denied he was Epstein's “co-conspirator,” and said he “was duped by a world-class con man.”  —  Listen to this article with a free account

Memo to Kathy Hochul and Gavin Newsom: Why taxing the rich makes enormous sense  —  Yesterday, New York City's new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, proposed raising property taxes in the city by nearly 10 percent — if he can't persuade New York Governor Kathy Hochul to raise income taxes on the wealthy.

Theres's Credible Evidence of Trump's Sex Crimes  —  The evidence, once brought together, tells a compelling, disturbing story.  —  In her sworn testimony before Congress, Attorney General Pam Bondi made a sweeping claim.  Asked by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) whether Donald Trump had ever attended …

Trump's economic adviser says authors of tariff study should be “disciplined”  —  White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the authors of a New York Fed study that found that Americans pay for tariffs should be disciplined, in an interview with CNBC Wednesday morning.

High IQ men tend to be less conservative than their average peers, study finds  —  The stereotype of the eccentric genius with radical political views is a common trope in fiction.  A new study challenges this assumption by suggesting that highly intelligent adults may hold political views …

The political effects of X's feed algorithm  — Germain Gauthier orcid.org/0009-0000-4262-7483 1 na1, - Roland Hodler orcid.org/0000-0001-8402-8243 2 na1, - Philine Widmer 3 na1 & - - Ekaterina Zhuravskaya orcid.org/0000-0002-3496-2086 3,4 na1 Show authors  —  Abstract

A Case Against 6 Democrats Lacked Urgency.  Then Came a Swift Bid for an Indictment.  —  Prosecutors have been repeatedly caught between the president's insistence that they undertake weak or baseless cases and the necessity of having to go to court.  —  In mid-January, federal prosecutors contacted …

ICE drawdown?  Indications point to steady enforcement activity outside the Twin Cities  —  {"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"parag raph", “content”:[{"text":"It's been almost a week since the federal government announced that officials planned to “draw down” the number of federal agents in Minnesota." …

Trump has prepared speech on extraterrestrial life, Lara Trump says  —  President Trump is holding onto a speech detailing extraterrestrial life and spaceships, according to his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who said the president is waiting for the right time to deliver it.

Major European allies decline to join first meeting of Trump's Board of Peace  —  Dozens of world leaders head to Washington for what White House says will largely be a fundraiser on Thursday  —  Dozens of world leaders and national delegations will meet in Washington DC on Thursday …

White House directing DHS to hunt for voter fraud by naturalized citizens: Sources  —  The Department of Homeland Security's chief investigations arm this week launched a broader nationwide campaign to investigate and prosecute naturalized citizens who may have improperly voted in past elections …

Jeffries puts rare public pressure on fellow Democrats … - Jeffries is trying to persuade as many Democrat-controlled states as possible to redraw their legislative maps to counteract the GOP's mid-decade redistricting in Texas, Missouri and elsewhere.

Journalists Arrested in Cameroon While Reporting on Trump's Secretive Deportation Program  —  An Associated Press reporter was beaten and held with three other journalists and a lawyer, two detainees said, while at a center for migrants secretively deported from the United States.

Hegseth invited Christian nationalist Doug Wilson to preach at Pentagon  —  The self-described “paleo-Confederate” has argued that wives should submit to their husbands, women should be denied the vote and Christian slaveowners were on “firm scriptural ground.”

The Epstein Regime  —  Meeting the Moment with Anat Shenker-Osorio  —  Despite more technical difficulties than usual this week (skip the first 5 minutes of the recording here), Anat and I covered some good ground, including:  — It's great to see the growing use of “the Epstein class” as a term (thanks Anand Giridharadas).

U.S. Is Withdrawing All Forces From Syria, Officials Say  —  Trump administration is looking to strengthen diplomatic relations with Syria's new leaders  —  WASHINGTON—The U.S. is in the process of withdrawing all of its roughly 1,000 troops from Syria, American officials said …

The Accomplice Who Was Going to Testify Against Jeffrey Epstein—Then Went Dark  —  French model scout Jean-Luc Brunel was negotiating to provide prosecutors with evidence against the sex offender in 2016—three years before he was finally arrested—but ultimately backed out

US judge throws out immigration board's ruling endorsing Trump mass detention policy  —  A federal judge on Thursday threw out an administrative board's decision that endorsed the Trump administration's policy of placing thousands of people arrested during its immigration crackdown …

John Cornyn warns of a GOP ‘massacre’ in Texas if Ken Paxton beats him in their Senate primary  —  Cornyn is locked in a hotly contested primary race against state Attorney General Ken Paxton and GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt.  — ADD NBC NEWS TO GOOGLE  —  Listen to this article with a free account

GOP Lawmaker Reportedly Had Affair With Aide Who Died By Self-Immolation  —  Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) accused his primary opponent of using the story to smear his aide's memory.  —  WASHINGTON — A Republican lawmaker's apparent affair with an aide who later died by suicide has roiled a close primary election in Texas.