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Hand count in audit affirms Biden beat Trump, as Maricopa County said in November — Jen Fifield Robert AnglenArizona Republic — A monthslong hand recount of Maricopa County's 2020 vote confirmed that President Joe Biden won and the election was not “stolen” from former President Donald Trump …
Discussion:
The Hill, Insider, CBS News, Talking Points Memo, Forbes, Arizona Capitol Times, The Daily Beast, Joe.My.God., Raw Story and The Texas Tribune
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Arizona Election Audit Confirms Biden's Win In Maricopa County, But Also Casts Doubts — A widely criticized, GOP-led review of the 2020 election in Maricopa County concluded that Joe Biden received more votes for president than Donald Trump. — According to a draft copy of the findings obtained by KJZZ …
Discussion:
NOQ Report, Politico, Washington Times, New York Times and Election Law Blog

Republican Review of Arizona Vote Fails to Show Stolen Election — The much criticized review showed much the same results as in November, with 99 more Biden votes and 261 fewer Trump ones. — PHOENIX — After months of delays and blistering criticism, a review of the 2020 election …

Draft report of GOP-backed ballot review in Arizona confirms Biden's win — A Republican-commissioned review of nearly 2.1 million ballots cast last year in Arizona confirmed the accuracy of the official results and President Biden's win in Maricopa County, according to a draft report prepared …
Discussion:
HotAir, CNN, Arizona Mirror, National Review, The Gateway Pundit, KION546 and Raw Story

We got the Senate audit report — And it says — no joke — that Biden won — The Arizona Senate is set to release its report on the Maricopa County 2020 election audit tomorrow, but we got our hands on a copy early. — Volume 1: Executive Summary and Recommendations — Volume 2: Methodology and Operations
Discussion:
Errata Security, Zero Day and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Texas secretary of state's office announces audit of 2020 election results after Trump calls for one — The Texas secretary of state's office announced late Thursday it would audit the results of the 2020 election in the state's four largest counties, hours after former president Donald Trump called …

First look at draft of election audit report ahead of Friday release — What will be the major takeaways of the audit report on the Maricopa County election set to be presented tomorrow? A draft copy obtained by ABC15 shows a glimpse at findings ahead of the release.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Neelam Bohra / The Texas Tribune:
Texas secretary of state's office auditing four counties' 2020 elections months after an official called the statewide process “smooth and secure”
Texas secretary of state's office auditing four counties' 2020 elections months after an official called the statewide process “smooth and secure”
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washington Examiner, The Hill and Washington Times
Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Texas, Spurred By Trump, Announces Election Audit in 4 Counties
Texas, Spurred By Trump, Announces Election Audit in 4 Counties
Discussion:
CBS News, Joe.My.God., UPI, Insider and Political Wire

SELECT COMMITTEE SUBPOENAS INDIVIDUALS TIED TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT IN THE DAYS SURROUNDING JANUARY 6TH — Washington—Chairman Bennie G. Thompson today announced that he has issued a round of subpoenas for documents and testimony to four individuals with close ties to the former President …
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Jan. 6 committee subpoenas 4 from Trump's inner circle — The select panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection is issuing subpoenas to four current and former top aides to President Donald Trump, including his most recent chief of staff Mark Meadows. — The committee issued its first subpoenas …

White House moving to release information on Trump to congressional investigators
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal
Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
The Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed top Trump advisers, ramping up its investigation.
The Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed top Trump advisers, ramping up its investigation.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., Raw Story, Bloomberg, The Guardian, NPR, Mediaite, Townhall and d1994

Our constitutional crisis is already here — “Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation.” — The United States is heading into its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War, with a reasonable chance over the next three to four years …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Raw Story, Washington Times, RedState and Vanity Fair

C.D.C. Chief Overrules Agency Panel and Recommends Pfizer-BioNTech Boosters for Workers at Risk — In a highly unusual decision, the C.D.C. director, Rochelle Walensky, reversed a move by agency advisers and endorsed additional doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for health care workers, teachers and other workers at risk.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Al Jazeera, Townhall, Forbes and Political Wire
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It's Too Early to Consign Joe Biden to the Ash Heap of History — But not too early for Democrats to start panicking. — Is Joe Biden's Presidency actually “dead,” “failed,” and all but “over,” as you have surely heard by now? The Republicans and their conservative allies in the commentariat …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Pew Research Center, Sacramento Bee, Bloomberg, KION546, Townhall and The Week
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The Competency Question — When Biden was running for president, his message was pretty straightforward …
Discussion:
Townhall, The Blue State Conservative and HotAir
Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
Fall Guys — Column: Now is the autumn of Democratic discontent
Fall Guys — Column: Now is the autumn of Democratic discontent
Discussion:
CNN, Slate, FOX News Radio, Political Wire and Florida Politics

Iowa Republican US Sen. Chuck Grassley will run for reelection in 2022 Senate race — After months of deliberation, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley announced early Friday morning he will run for reelection in 2022 — a decision Republicans believe will give them their best chance to hold onto the coveted Senate seat.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Washington Examiner, CNN, Joe.My.God. and Townhall
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Burgess Everett / Politico:
Grassley will seek reelection, boosting GOP's majority hopes
Grassley will seek reelection, boosting GOP's majority hopes
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill, Washington Times and UPI

Trump's election challenges distracted from covid response, White House adviser told colleagues — Emails obtained by House panel detail priorities as virus surged last year — White House officials prioritized former president Donald Trump's attempt to challenge the election …

White House whoppers — Joe Biden winning the presidency may turn out very badly for the Democratic Party because success obscures problems that need fixing. If we're winning, it's working, the thinking goes, so there can't be much wrong with what we're doing. — This is delusional.
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Chris Cuomo Sexually Harassed Me. I Hope He'll Use His Power to Make Change. — Ms. Ross is a veteran television journalist and former executive producer at ABC and CBS. — I was Chris Cuomo's boss at ABC News nearly two decades ago, and I am a regular viewer of CNN today …
Discussion:
Insider, The Daily Beast and New York Post, more at Mediagazer »

Ancient Footprints Suggest Humans Arrived In Americas During Ice Age — Human footprints found in New Mexico are about 23,000 years old, a study reported, suggesting that people may have arrived long before the Ice Age's glaciers melted. — Ancient human footprints preserved in the ground across …
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POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Fox to Rudy: You're banned — DRIVING THE DAY — BREAKING OVERNIGHT: The Arizona Republic scooped the results of the Maricopa County “audit” paid for by “Stop the Steal” and DONALD TRUMP allies: It found that Trump lost the key county by a wider margin than the official election results.
Discussion:
Insider, Ace of Spades HQ and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
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Black Democrats outraged with Biden over Haiti deportations, policy failures — President Biden's relationship with Black leaders and activists has rapidly deteriorated, as many have condemned his treatment of Haitian migrants and grown angry with his failure to overhaul policing and enact sweeping laws protecting voting rights.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and New York Magazine
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Amanda Batchelor / Associated Press:
Congresswoman ‘pissed’ about treatment of Haitians at Texas border, says some are being sheltered in Miami
Congresswoman ‘pissed’ about treatment of Haitians at Texas border, says some are being sheltered in Miami
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Breitbart, The Hill and Associated Press

The Jolt: Trump's 2022 prediction for Brian Kemp: 'The base isn't going to show up' — Senior Republicans can't seem to get Donald Trump to lay off Gov. Brian Kemp, as much as they wish he would. In an interview Thursday, the former president called Kemp “a disaster” and predicted …

Adam Kinzinger: Republicans Are ‘Frigging Crazy’ — In each edition of my newsletter, I'll bring readers inside The Atlantic, and discuss the issues that concern us the most. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to get future issues of Notes from the Editor in Chief.

CIA station chief in Vienna recalled amid criticisms of management and handling of ‘Havana Syndrome’ cases — The CIA has removed its top officer in Vienna following criticism of his management, including what some considered an insufficient response to a growing number of mysterious health incidents …

J.D. Vance Defends Texas Abortion Ban, Calls Rape ‘Inconvenient’ — J.D. Vance, who is trailing several GOP candidates in the Senate primary, told Spectrum News 1 that “in Texas they're trying to make it easier for babies to be born.” — In a local news interview published Wednesday …
Discussion:
Spectrum News 1 Ohio and The Hill

McConnell warms to Herschel Walker as primary war with Trump fizzles — Republicans are hand-wringing over former President Donald Trump's hand-picked candidate Herschel Walker entering a critical Senate race. Surprisingly, Mitch McConnell isn't one of them.
Discussion:
HuffPost

China Bans Crypto Transactions, Vows to Stop Illegal Mining — Crypto currencies can't be circulated, PBOC says in statement — Planning agency says crackdown important to meet carbon goals — China banned all crypto transactions and vowed to stop illegal crypto mining …
Discussion:
globalnews.ca, more at Techmeme »

El Farolito can't open taqueria in North Beach under chain ban, city says — But if the owners make “sufficient changes” on the concept, they could potentially still move ahead — El Farolito, the iconic San Francisco-born string of taquerias, cannot open a new location in North Beach under …