Mar-a-Lago search appears focused on whether Trump, aides withheld items  —  The FBI sought a warrant after Archives officials pressed Trump's circle to return what they believed was government property, according to people familiar with the discussions  —  In the months before the FBI's dramatic move …

Simmering threat of violence comes to fore with search of Trump property  —  Calls from right for militant action in response to FBI raid span mainstream and extremist circles  —  For months, right-wing agitators with millions of followers have peddled the idea that a moment was coming soon …

Trump ally Rep. Scott Perry says the FBI seized his cell phone one day after Mar-a-Lago raid  —  The confiscation of Perry's phone comes one day after the FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate  —  Bret Baier on Trump raid: There is a lot we don't know  —  EXCLUSIVE - Republican …

This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute a Teenager for Abortion  —  Motherboard has obtained court documents that show Facebook gave police a teenager's private chats about her abortion.  Cops then used those chats to seize her phone and computer.

Trump tax returns must be given to Congress, federal appeals court says in new ruling  — Tax returns of former President Donald Trump and related entities must be turned over to the House Ways and Means Committee, a federal appeals court panel said in a ruling.

The Rivalry That Defines America  —  How the U.S. dealt with Russia in Afghanistan is informing how Russia is dealing with the U.S. in Ukraine.  —  About the author: Elliot Ackerman is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and the author of The Fifth Act: America's End in Afghanistan.

Republican Herrera Beutler falls in primary after voting to impeach Trump  —  GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler has lost her bid for reelection in a primary in Washington state, the latest blow for the group of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump early last year.

Trump Allies Are Attacking Biden For a Plan to Hire 87,000 New IRS Agents That Doesn't Exist  —  Since news broke on Monday that the FBI searched former President Donald Trump's South Florida home, Republican members of Congress and right-wing media figures have launched a new line of attack …

Why does the IRS need $80 billion?  Just look at its cafeteria.  —  This is the cafeteria at the Internal Revenue Service offices in Austin.  —  Yes, the cafeteria.  —  It's part of what the IRS calls the “Pipeline”: a 1970s-era assembly line used to process tax returns at several locations around the country.

I Finally Got To Date My Crush Years After Middle School.  Then The Unthinkable Happened.  —  “A woman introduced herself as a longtime friend of Jeremy's ... 'I'm so sorry if I am the first one to share the news,' she wrote.  ‘He would want you to know...’”  —  Everyone remembers their first big crush.

Grand jury declines to indict woman in Emmett Till killing  —  A grand jury in Mississippi has declined to indict the white woman whose accusation set off the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till nearly 70 years ago, despite revelations about an unserved arrest warrant and an unpublished memoir by the woman, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Election Denier Kim Crockett Wins Minnesota GOP Secretary Of State Primary  —  Crockett, who called the 2020 election “rigged” and “illegitimate,” will turn Minnesota into yet another battleground over the future of American democracy.  —  Kim Crockett won Minnesota's Republican secretary …

Trump ally Doug Mastriano's January 6 committee appearance ends without a single question answered, source says  —  Trump ally Doug Mastriano's virtual appearance Tuesday before the House January 6 committee only lasted about 15 minutes and “he didn't answer a single question,” according to a source familiar with the matter.

Neera Tanden takes the wheel  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With help from Allie Bice.  —  Inside the White House, NEERA TANDEN has taken a far more assertive role in determining what papers …

Pizzagate promoter tapped for Kremlin-backed propaganda campaign  —  Russia's state-backed media apparatus is financing four new TV programs produced by a U.S. conspiracy theorist and aimed in large part at undercutting America's image and interests in the developing world, records show.

CREW urges USPS Board of Governors to fire Louis DeJoy  —  Louis DeJoy poses a serious threat to the United States Postal Service (USPS)—time and time again, the Postmaster General has failed to uphold his ethical obligations and protect our democratic system of free and fair elections.

The DOJ Crosses the Rubicon  —  “DEFUND THE FBI”  —  I had planned to devote this newsletter to Our Very Stupid Politics, but after the events of last night, I had to call an audible, and so will instead devote today's Morning Shots to our Extremely Stupid Politics.  —  Happy Tuesday.

DA Jenkins Pocketed Six Figures as Consultant for Nonprofit Linked to Boudin Recall Backers  —  Brooke Jenkins didn't just quit her job as a local prosecutor to volunteer for the recall against her former boss Chesa Boudin.  —  Newly filed ethics records show she also raked in more than $100,000 …