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Hunting Leaks, Trump Officials Focused on Democrats in Congress — The Justice Department seized records from Apple for metadata of House Intelligence Committee members, their aides and family members. — WASHINGTON — As the Justice Department investigated who was behind leaks …
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Three big takeaways from the explosive new Trump-DOJ revelations — On Thursday night, the New York Times reported that the Justice Department took the highly unusual step in 2017 and 2018 of subpoenaing the account data of two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee …
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Associated Press, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Eschaton, Forbes, Mediaite and Breitbart

Trump Justice Dept. secretly subpoenaed records of two Democrats on House Intelligence Committee — The Justice Department in 2018 secretly subpoenaed Apple for the data of two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, as well as the data of their current and former staffers and family members …
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CNN, NBC News, New York Times, Raw Story, Al Jazeera, Hackwhackers, CBS News, NBC10 Philadelphia and The Intellectualist

‘William Barr was truly out of control’: Legal experts stunned by Trump's DOJ spying on Democrats — Legal experts blasted the Trump-era Department of Justice after a bombshell report on the department spying on Democrats in Congress. — “As the Justice Department investigated …
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Wall Street Journal, The Hill and Associated Press

Biden administration keeps long-sought Trump hotel documents under wraps
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Vanity Fair, Alternet.org, CounterPunch, Mother Jones, Daily Kos and Townhall

Trump-inspired death threats are terrorizing election workers — Election officials and their families are living with threats of hanging, firing squads, torture and bomb blasts, interviews and documents reveal. The campaign of fear, sparked by Trump's voter-fraud falsehoods, threatens the U.S. electoral system.
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HotAir, Morning Shots and Raw Story

Oregon legislators expel Rep. Mike Nearman, who helped armed protesters enter Capitol — The Oregon House voted 59-1 Thursday to expel Rep. Mike Nearman, the first time it has ejected a sitting representative. — Lawmakers removed Nearman because he let far-right demonstrators …
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VICE, CNN, BizPac Review, The Hill, Alternet.org, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Associated Press and Mock Paper Scissors
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OPB's First Look newsletter
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Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner, Law & Crime, The Daily Caller, Joe.My.God., Insider and The American Independent
Connor Radnovich / Statesman Journal:
Oregon House expels Rep. Mike Nearman for role in state capitol riot
Oregon House expels Rep. Mike Nearman for role in state capitol riot
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Bill Post and Hackwhackers
Mike Baker / New York Times:
Oregon House Ejects Mike Nearman for Aiding State Capitol Breach
Oregon House Ejects Mike Nearman for Aiding State Capitol Breach
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HotAir, Oregonian, Forbes, Associated Press and Daily Kos

Revealed: rightwing firm posed as leftist group on Facebook to divide Democrats — FEC investigation failed to uncover link to Rally Forge, a firm with close ties to Turning Point USA — digital marketing firm closely linked to the pro-Trump youth group Turning Point USA was responsible …
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Insider, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

FDA Takes Steps to Increase Availability of COVID-19 Vaccine — For Immediate Release: — Following careful review and deliberation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking important steps that will allow a critically needed supply of the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 Vaccine to be made available.
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CBS News, KVIA-TV, Content Lab U.S. and CBS Baltimore
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The F.D.A. tells Johnson & Johnson to throw out about 60 million doses made at troubled plant.
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Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, CNN and Just The News
David Hogberg / Washington Examiner:
CDC panel to hold emergency meeting on heart inflammation cases linked to COVID-19 vaccine
CDC panel to hold emergency meeting on heart inflammation cases linked to COVID-19 vaccine
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Politico, UPI and NOQ Report

G7: UK and US have an ‘indestructible relationship’, PM says — The alliance between the US and the UK should be known as the “indestructible relationship”, Boris Johnson has told the BBC after meeting US President Joe Biden for the first time. — He said he had “terrific” talks with Mr Biden …
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The Daily Beast, BBC, Breitbart, Telegraph, NBC News, The Guardian, Politico and Fox News
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For Biden, Trump Is an Easy Act to Follow in Europe
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The American Spectator, Raw Story, AMAC, The Gateway Pundit, USA Today, Mediaite, News Corpse, POLITICUSUSA, The US Sun, Forbes and Insider
Molly McKew / Great Power:
Biden in the UK — “A commitment by the American people” to the world, Jill's jacket …
Biden in the UK — “A commitment by the American people” to the world, Jill's jacket …
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Atlantic Council, Washington Examiner and Al Jazeera

Nevada schools reckon with race, triggering polarization — RENO, Nev. (AP) — One year after protests over racial injustices and police violence swept the country, clashes over how to teach students about racism and its role in U.S. history are raging in school districts across Nevada and elsewhere …

Racism didn't exist in the military before Biden, US Senator says with straight face — ‘Growing mistrust between the races and sexes where none existed just six months ago’ — A White senator from the South told America's first Black defense secretary on Thursday that President Joe Biden's …
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Joe.My.God.

Governor Abbott: I'll build a southern border wall in Texas — Texas Governor Greg Abbott hosted a Border Security Summit in Del Rio on Thursday. During the summit, he made a major announcement - Texas will build a southern border wall. Abbott also stated his intention for local law enforcement …
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Washington Examiner, RedState, The Big Bend Sentinel, National Review and MSN
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Joe Jervis / Joe.My.God.:
Texas Gov: I'm Going To Build My Own Border Wall
Texas Gov: I'm Going To Build My Own Border Wall
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NBC News, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth and The Hill

After her arrest, she found her explicit photos sent to a strange number. A state trooper answered the line. — Minnesota State Trooper Albert Kuehne sat in his cruiser in March 2020 and scrolled through a phone belonging to a 25-year-old woman he'd just detained on suspicion of drunken driving.
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The Daily Caller

Dianne Feinstein Is an Embarrassment — The senior California senator's defense of the filibuster is shameful—but she's not alone, and she's got more company than just Manchin and Sinema. — She's said it before. Now she's said it again. — Senator Dianne Feinstein …
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The Daily Beast, RedState and Jill Filipovic

Democracy Is Already Dying in the States — While Senator Joe Manchin is demanding that both parties agree on any further federal voting-rights legislation, a new study quantifies how completely Republicans have excluded Democrats from the passage of the restrictive voting laws proliferating in red states.
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Raw Story, The Intellectualist and Fox News

Trumpists Are America's Jacobites — “He loved authority and business. He had a high sense of his own personal dignity,” one commentator observed. “He was not altogether destitute of a sentiment which bore some affinity to patriotism ... His second wish was to be feared and respected abroad.

BuzzFeed News Has Won Its First Pulitzer Prize — BuzzFeed News won a Pulitzer Prize on Friday for a series of innovative articles that used satellite images, 3D architectural models, and daring in-person interviews to expose China's vast infrastructure for detaining hundreds of thousands of Muslims in its Xinjiang region.

“I'm not finished”: Harris' border-czar tour flop continues — Something tells me this won't assuage fears from Democrats that Kamala Harris is out of her depth in dealing with the border crisis. The Biden administration can't ask for a friendlier venue than Univision for its immigration policies …
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Washington Examiner, Townhall, New York Post and The Federalist

Julian Casablancas Wants a Better New York — The singer led the city's rock revival. As a supporter of the mayoral candidate Maya Wiley, he's thinking much bigger. — For nearly two decades, Julian Casablancas, the lead singer of the Strokes and the Voidz, has been synonymous with New York City …

My grandparents were stolen from their families as children. We must learn about this history. — Deb Haaland, the U.S. interior secretary, is the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary. — As I read stories about an unmarked grave in Canada where the remains …
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Indian Country Today

The world is horrified by the dysfunction of American democracy — It's official: America is no longer a “shining city upon a hill.” — Data released Thursday from Pew Research shows that our allies are beyond delighted that the Trump presidency has ended. Confidence in U.S. leadership has soared.
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UPI, Foreign Policy and NBC News

Why We Can't Move On From Jan. 6 — If you weren't appalled by what happened that day, you have given up on American democracy. — I started the new year with a bang, at a gathering in the Washington home of a European diplomat. I was interested in how Europe was processing America's political scene …
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Associated Press

What Does “From the River to the Sea” Really Mean? — IN RECENT WEEKS, as Palestinians rose up in their homeland, in the wider Middle East, and around the world, you probably heard the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” In cities across the globe …

Astroturfing, Dr. Evil, and N.Y.C.'s Elite Schools — Last week, The New York Post published an exclusive article, by investigative reporter Dana Kennedy, about 3 groups of anonymous concerned parents who “plan to troll elite NYC schools with anti-woke billboards.”

Ilhan Omar was attacked for saying war crimes allegations should be investigated … Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., asked a question of the secretary of state this week about international law and justice. Since then, she has been the subject of bad faith scorn from her fellow Democrats and threatened with pariah status by Republicans.
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pjmedia.com, The Daily Caller, Jacobin, Breitbart, Common Dreams, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, Al Jazeera, TheGrio, The Guardian, New York Times, Fox News, Washington Post, Insider, The US Sun and The Floridian

Exclusive: Chip Roy seeks to ban China from purchasing US land — Texas congressman Chip Roy is introducing legislation Friday to ban members of the Chinese Communist party from purchasing American land, The Spectator has learned. — The bill, 'called the 'Securing America's Land …
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The Hill, The Daily Caller and Joe.My.God.

The Geophysicist Who Stormed the Capitol — KITTREDGE, Colo.— The text message showed up on John Bergman's phone in late January. Sent to him by a former work colleague, it came with the question “Have you seen this??” and linked to an article and video from a news channel. Bergman pressed play.
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Raw Story

‘Traitors Need To Be Executed’: ‘Stop The Steal’ Organizer Indicted In Jan. 6 Conspiracy Case — Alan Hostetter, a police chief turned yogi, was indicted along with Three Percenter extremists in a conspiracy to attack the Capitol. — Alan Hostetter was “in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas” when he hit the record button.
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Law & Crime, NewsNation Now, Mercury News, emptywheel, Insider and CBS News