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It's official: Nikki Haley running for president. Formal announcement Feb. 15 — Cementing what has been in the works for months, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will formally announce she is running for president and will seek the Republican nomination for her party's 2024 ticket, The Post and Courier has learned.
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Haley plans to announce presidential run, as GOP race starts slowly — The former U.N. ambassador's move comes as other prospective candidates have slowed their planning — Nikki Haley, a former United Nations ambassador and governor of South Carolina, is planning to announce that she will run …
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Wide World of News

Arizona Republicans fear they may blow it again — Kyrsten Sinema's defection from Democrats should be a golden opportunity for the GOP. But two high-profile 2022 election losers in Arizona are eyeing Senate runs in 2024, sparking angst among Republicans that they will blow an increasingly winnable race.
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Raw Story, Newsweek, Political Wire, The Guardian and CNN

‘They come to me’: Jane Roberts' legal recruiting work involved officials whose agencies had cases before the Supreme Court — Jane Roberts, the wife of Chief Justice John Roberts, acknowledges having represented a wide variety of public officials — including senior Justice Department officials …
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Today's Edition Newsletter
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At the Supreme Court, Ethics Questions Over a Spouse's Business Ties — The chief justice's wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, has made millions in her career recruiting lawyers to prominent law firms, some of which have business before the court. Now, a letter sent to Congress claims that may present a conflict of interest.
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Erick Erickson's Show Notes, Slate, The Hill, ABC News, Forbes and Washington Examiner

Another SCOTUS scandal: Chief justice's spouse makes millions placing attorneys at top law firms that argue before the court — The highly controversial and highly unpopular U.S. Supreme Court isn't just facing a historic loss of confidence, it's now facing yet another ethics scandal …
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The Mahablog

2/1/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM — Happy Wednesday morning and welcome to February. — President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet one-on-one for the first time today. The White House has positioned this meeting as a relatively standard session, during which the leaders will discuss a range of topics.
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Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
In Debt Limit Fight, Republicans Won't Say What Spending Cuts They Want
In Debt Limit Fight, Republicans Won't Say What Spending Cuts They Want
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Washington Post, The Daily Beast, New Republic, The American Conservative, NPR, R Street, Truthout, Bloomberg, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Don's Newsletter, Raw Story, Roll Call, Jacobin and HuffPost
Joseph Zeballos-Roig / Semafor:
Republicans have a plan B if the U.S. breaches the debt ceiling. It'd still be a disaster.

Top Jan. 6 investigator says FBI, other agencies could have stopped Capitol mob had they acted on intel already collected — The House Jan. 6 committee concluded that the FBI and other federal security agencies could have prevented a violent mob from overrunning the Capitol had they acted …
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Just Security, Raw Story, Newsbusters, Insider and Roll Call
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Bias and Human Error Played Parts in F.B.I.'s Jan. 6 Failure, Documents Suggest — The F.B.I. appeared to be blinded by a lack of imagination, a narrow focus on “lone wolf” offenders and a misguided belief that the threat from the far left was as great as that from the far right, new congressional documents show.

House Votes to End Covid Precautions as G.O.P. Uses Pandemic in Political Attacks — Republicans in Congress are seeking to capitalize on discontent about the federal coronavirus response while the party's presidential contenders are vying to be the biggest foe of restrictions.
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Vox, Washington Post, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Majority Leader and New York Daily News
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‘Go on offense’: Inside Democrats' strategy to try to undercut GOP investigations and protect Biden — Congressional Democrats are betting that a coordinated offense is their best defense against the coming Republican investigative onslaught. — Democrats on Capitol Hill, at the White House …
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
The House GOP's sham hearings are fizzling before they even begin
The House GOP's sham hearings are fizzling before they even begin
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The Triad, Page Array and New Republic

DeSantis Takes On the Education Establishment, and Builds His Brand — A proposal by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to overhaul higher education would mandate courses in Western civilization, eliminate diversity programs and reduce the protections of tenure. — Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida …
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Jack Stripling / Washington Post:
DeSantis aims to cut college diversity efforts; New College ousts president
DeSantis aims to cut college diversity efforts; New College ousts president
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The Capitolist, Raw Story, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, The Independent Florida …, Just The News, CNN, Politico, New Republic, Orlando Sentinel, USA Today, HuffPost, Associated Press, NBC 6 South Florida, Florida's Voice, Chronicle of Higher Education, Florida Phoenix, The Daily Signal, WFLA-TV, Florida Politics, The Daily Caller, Twitchy and NBC News

Trump pleaded the fifth more than 400 times in fraud deposition, video shows — Former president repeatedly invoked constitutional right against self-incrimination in New York footage from late last summer — Video released on Tuesday showed Donald Trump answering questions …
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CBS News, CNN, Washington Post, Insider, Fox News, New York Daily News, ABC News, abc7NY, Raw Story and Washington Examiner
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Video of Trump deposition in New York fraud probe shows former president taking the Fifth, repeating “same answer”
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Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Trump's Well-Worn Legal Playbook Starts to Look Frayed
Trump's Well-Worn Legal Playbook Starts to Look Frayed
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Raw Story

The historic support for George Santos's resignation — In resisting calls to push out embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has insisted that it's up to the voters. — Well, the voters have spoken, and they clearly want him out.
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HuffPost, One America News Network, Semafor, Courthouse News Service, The Hill, The Moderate Voice, New Republic, USA Today, UPI, New York Daily News, New York Post, Deadline, The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, The American Independent, Insider, LGBTQ Nation, Mediaite and Siena College Research …
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Promised green cards, catfishing, threats: How George Santos' ex-boyfriends say they were left feeling trapped, manipulated
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Politico, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, Political Wire, Insider and The Handbasket
Jesús A. Rodríguez / Politico:
16 Hours With George Santos: Dunkin' Donuts, 27,000 Steps and a Scolding
16 Hours With George Santos: Dunkin' Donuts, 27,000 Steps and a Scolding
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Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart and Associated Press

U.S. readies $2 bln-plus Ukraine aid package with longer-range weapons -sources — The United States is readying more than $2 billion worth of military aid for Ukraine that is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time as well as other munitions and weapons …
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Financial Times, Al Jazeera and The Gateway Pundit
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As Russian invasion nears one-year mark, partisans grow further apart on U.S. support for Ukraine
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Opinion Today, Breitbart, The Hill and The Pew Research Center

GOP report shows plan to ramp up focus on disproven election fraud claims — The report prepared by the Republican National Committee proposes expanding ‘election integrity’ activities in response to perceptions of a rigged process — A new internal report prepared by the Republican …
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Raw Story

Exclusive: John Fetterman Is Using This Assistive Technology in the Senate to Help With His Stroke Recovery — The 164-year-old Senate chamber was not designed for wires and screens. Senators aren't even allowed to use their phones when they're inside. But to help with freshman Senator …

Trump's Fund-Raising in First Weeks of '24 Race Is Relatively Weak — After announcing presidential runs, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush all raised more per day in their out-of-the-gates fund-raising periods. — Donald J. Trump's knack for generating millions of dollars simply …

McCarthy finds escape hatch on Omar vote — The House is preparing to vote on a resolution to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the Foreign Affairs Committee as soon as Wednesday after Republicans found a way to bring a key GOP holdout on board. … - Republicans had been dragging …
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HotAir, NBC News, Breitbart, Associated Press, The Hill, Bloomberg, RedState, ABC News, Washington Examiner, The Forward, Latest - Truthout and Raw Story

U.S. and India launch high-level defense and tech initiative — Geopolitical concerns about China and Russia form backdrop of partnership — The United States and India on Tuesday formally established a high-level initiative on defense and emerging technologies — what national security …
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Fox News and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

George Santos's Treasurer Has Resigned, Leaving a Trail of Questions — Nancy Marks's resignation puts further pressure on Mr. Santos, whose campaign finances have already attracted attention from law enforcement agencies. — The longtime campaign treasurer and trusted aide …
Discussion:
Raw Story, New York Post, The Hill, Politico and The Daily Beast
Steve Inskeep / NPR:
Morning news brief — President Biden meets with House Speaker McCarthy to discuss the debt ceiling, thousands are expected to attend Tyre Nichols' funeral in Memphis, the Fed is expected to raise interest rates again.