Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will go into voluntary quarantine after a member of his security detail tested positive for COVID-19, Politico reports.

The agent was in close contact and according to a Department spokesperson, was with Buttigieg as early as this morning, prior to his positive result being confirmed.

Buttigieg had a routine coronavirus PCR test this morning and that test has come back negative.  He reports no symptoms.

NBC News: “Despite being actively shunned by his industry after video of him shouting a racial slur was published, country music singer Morgan Wallen has seen a spike in album sales and streams. The video, published last Tuesday by TMZ, has spurred a flurry of consequences for the singer: He was pulled from airplay by several major radio groups, suspended by his label, reportedly dropped by his booking agency and denied eligibility for a major awards competition. Yet Wallen saw a 1,220 percent increase in digital album sales and a 327 percent increase in song sales between Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Rolling Stone. However, the artist saw a 79 percent drop in radio play compared with the previous two days, Rolling Stone reported. The drop came after radio chains – including Cumulus, iHeartMedia and SiriusXM – announced that they were pulling his songs.”

A newly-elected vice-chair of the Michigan Republican Party is seeking volunteers among their ranks to visit the addresses voters listed on their registrations to photograph the locations to “provide proof” of voter fraud, The Detroit News reports.

At Saturday’s State Party convention, Marian Sheridan of Oakland County was elected grassroots vice chair, one of six vice chairs in the organization.  Two days later, she emailed GOP delegates asking for assistance on an “election integrity” project.

Sheridan claimed without evidence that “thousands of voters in Wayne County who were not registered at legal addresses.”  Wayne County is the home of Detroit, and roughly 10% of the overall votes in the state came from the heavily-Democratic county. 

Paul Manafort will not face a trial in New York State for the crimes he was convicted of on a federal level because the state’s double jeopardy law prohibits it, a judge ruled, reports the New York Times.  Manafort received a pardon from Trump in December 2020, just as Trump was leaving office.

However, the ruling may not apply to others who received pardons from Trump due to the fact that the state passed a law after Manafort’s August 2018 conviction that allowed the state to bring charges specific to crimes in the state.  The law was passed in October 2019, applying to any defendants in federal trials after its signature by Governor Andrew Cuomo; it cannot be retroactively applied to cases before then.

The new law allowing state prosecutions would allow the state attorney general to charge anyone who was pardoned by Trump to be charged in New York State court if they were charged by the state after October 2019 regardless of the disposition of their federal case.

The Georgia Secretary of State announced Monday that his office will open an investigation into whether or not Donald Trump attempted to criminally interfere in the state’s November 2020 election, Reuters reports.

The investigation will look into whether Trump’s actions, including a January 2nd call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and subsequent veiled threats constituted illegal interference.  The final decision to indict will be up to the state’s attorney general.

“The Secretary of State’s office investigates complaints it receives,” said Walter Jones, a spokesman for Secretary of State’s office, describing the investigation as “fact finding and administrative.  Any further legal efforts will be left to the attorney general.”

Alaska Public Media: “It’s been three weeks since a fire destroyed Tuluksak’s only source of drinking water. Since then, the village has been living on donations of bottled water from activists, a gold mining company, and even an Indigenous rapper from the pop-rap group the Black Eyed Peas. Noticeably absent have been a response or supplies from state government. Gov. Dunleavy has yet to declare a state-level disaster to address Tuluksak’s water crisis. In doing so, he holds back up to $1 million in disaster relief funding for the village. State legislators who represent Tuluksak said that say they’re working on the issue. Sen. Lyman Hoffman said he’s is looking at options to pay for the long-term response to the crisis. Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky said that the House can’t do much right now since they’re currently unorganized, and that the governor should declare a state disaster.”

“‘The circumstances in the village of Tuluksak, and its water crisis, is most influenced by the administration, and the executive branch’s ability to move the disaster request forward within its own process,” Zulkosky said. Zulkosky told KYUK she’s contacted Dunleavy’s office multiple times in recent weeks, asking him to declare a disaster and send in the National Guard. When asked if the governor’s office had replied, Zulkosky said, ‘I have not heard a response from the governor’s office on my inquiries related to National Guard support, whether they’ve pursued unspent CARES [Act] funding that have been provided to the state, or anything related to that issue and Tuluksak.’ KYUK also contacted the governor’s office, which put us in touch with the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Spokesperson Jeremy Zidek said the division can provide relief to Tuluksak without a disaster declaration, but it has not sent supplies. Alaskans and activists across the state are wondering what’s stopping the state from sending drinking water if it’s already in their capacity to do so.”

Four Louisiana State Troopers face charges regarding their alleged “use of force” encounters as part of an investigation that was spurred by the mysterious death of a Black motorist who state police alleged died in a car accident after a chase, but a medical examine found stun gun punctures on his back, The Advocate reports.

Not all the officers awaiting charges were involved in the death of Ronald Greene, but all the troopers were part of State Police Troop F in Monroe, Louisiana.  Other officers have been charged in connection with other incidents.

State police have obstructed the release of body cam footage in the death of Greene in May 2019, who police claim died in a car accident when he vehicle hit a tree after a chase.  However, the Associated Press obtained body cam footage and an audio tape in which troopers used slurs and expletives as they hogtied Greene after dragging him out of the vehicle.  Greene is heard saying “I’m sorry” repeatedly. 

Appearing on Steve Bannon’s show from his basement, MyPillow pitchman and martial law enthusiast Mike Lindell challenged Dominion Voting Systems to sue him for false statements he made about the company rigging the November 2020 presidential election.

“You’re prepared to risk total humiliation and the probably the destruction of your entire business and your reputation,” Bannon queried.  “You’re prepared to bet it all, right?”

https://youtu.be/XzqmfDuQhf0

Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (Q-CO5) said in a conversation with Republican Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs that border protection is lax because “Democrats have three branches of government.”

https://youtu.be/RnpXtcPIfNg

Trying to make a comparison between the southern border, which she claims lacks adequate security, versus the security around the Capitol after the January 6th coup attempt by domestic terrorists loyal to Donald Trump, Boebert said, “It’s really interesting.  Being here and seeing how unsecure the border is, but then coming back to Washington, DC and seeing how secure the Capitol is.”

Michael T. van der Veen, a lawyer who was not previously known to be representing Donald Trump until Monday’s filing relating to Trump’s impeachment trial, sued the then-president in August for interfering with the operation of the US Postal Service.

Another of Trump’s lawyer, Bruce Castor, also sued Trump over the summer in another lawsuit alleging the same thing:  that Trump was attempting to obstruct the delivery of mail to influence the November election.

In a lawsuit filed in August, van der Veen stated that his client’s Constitutional rights were being violated by attempts by Trump to impede people’s ability to vote via mail-in ballots.

On Monday, House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney sent a letter to the new CEO of Parler requesting the far-right social media platform provide information relating to its finances and any information on a proposed ownership state for Donald Trump.

The letter specifically sites Parler’s use of Russian resources to get back up and running after it was deplatformed by US-based hosting companies and its continued fostering of users who promote extremists, secessionist and violent posts.

Maloney also includes a request for any information the company has on a proposal, reported this weekend by BuzzFeed that Donald Trump sought ownership in the company in exchange for joining it while he was President of the United States.

The Independent: “A Conservative council candidate who sent a message to a Jewish Labour MP about the ‘Aryan race’ will no longer be standing for the party. Sharon Thomason, who was to contest a seat on Warrington borough council, tweeted ‘Keep the Aryan race going…’ at Charlotte Nichols on 29 February last year. In another post from the summer Ms Thomason had suggested building a statue of Enoch Powell, whose gave the infamous ‘rivers of blood’ speech in 1968.”

“Local council leader Russ Bowden criticised the comments as ‘disgusting and inexcusable conduct’, while Ms Nichols herself said they were ‘a feel for the calibre of candidates [the Conservatives are] selecting locally’. The Conservative party said it had taken action ‘swiftly and immediately’ to remove the candidate. Ms Thomason had made the comments in response to a tweet by Ms Nichols noting that Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds were expecting a baby.”

Apparently, this is why she has a problem discerning reality from Fake News.  The Babylon Bee bills itself literally as “Fake News You Can Trust.”

Gee, I wonder why? https://t.co/Pg13Z6EnYL

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) February 8, 2021

Page 17 of the Trump defense team’s trial memorandum reads: “The real truth is that the people who criminally breached the Capitol did so of their own accord and for their own reasons, and they are being criminally prosecuted. While never willing to allow a ‘good crisis’ to go to waste, the Democratic leadership is incapable of understanding that not everything can always be blamed on their political adversaries, no matter how very badly they may wish to exploit any moment of uncertainty on the part of the American people. Even a cursory investigation would have disproved the House’s theory of incitement; however, Speaker Pelosi did not grant the President any of his Constitutionally mandated due process rights. the President’s speech at the Ellipse. ‘The Capitol is 1.6 miles away from Ellipse Park which is near the White House. This is approximately a 30-33 minute walk'” – That last bit they say this as if cell phones capable of streaming the speech to be viewed remotely by those present at the Capitol did not exist.

The real kicker however is how the first sentence of that section links to a footnote with the URL of The Gateway Pundit article “Exclusive: ‘Boogaloo Boi’ Leader Who Aligns with Black Lives Matter Boasted About Organizing Armed Insurrection On US Capitol” from January 17th which is pretty astonishing that anyone who calls himself a real lawyer would read that complete bullshit site.

Reality TeeVee personality and wife of a former member of the Congress Rachel Campos-Duffy said on Fox News Monday this morning that the Obamas are responsible for schools not reopening, because they apparently can order them open with a tweet.

“Joe Biden has been useless on this,” Campos-Duffy averred, even though the President, who has been in office just nineteen days has laid out a plan to provide funding for the reopening of school after they’re properly cleaned and sanitized.  Biden’s team has also increased the number of available vaccine doses and put in place plans to assist states with the distribution of doses, something the previous administration failed to do.

https://youtu.be/OsD1hqU0uFQ

But the real twist in the statement by Campos-Duffy, the mother of nine whose husband, Sean Duffy, left Congress because the family could not afford to live in New York with the combined salaries of a Congressman and a TeeVee personality, came when she blamed former President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama for the continuing school closures in Chicago.

Reuters: “A former business partner of Lev Parnas, a onetime associate of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was sentenced on Monday to one year and a day in prison for duping investors in a start-up insurer and lying to the Federal Election Commission. David Correia, 45, had pleaded guilty in October to wire fraud conspiracy over his role in Fraud Guarantee, a Florida-based company created ostensibly to protect consumers from being defrauded.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki slapped down a question from Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy during today’s press briefing for selectively cherrypicking a part of a quote from union leader Richard Trumka.

Apparently trying to make the ridiculous assertion that workers in the fossil fuel industry who may lose their jobs because of President Biden shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline and other fossil fuel projects, Doocy claimed that the workers would immediately be able to jump into other “green” jobs, an assertion not made by the Biden Administration.

https://youtu.be/4SMAOdH07Co

Psaki urged Doocy to present his “data of the thousands and thousands of people who won’t be getting a green job.  Maybe next time you’re here, you can present that.”

“GOP Sen. Richard Shelby, who is 86: ‘Today I announce that I will not seek a seventh term in the United State Senate in 2022. For everything, there is a season'” reports CNN’s Manu Raju.

Sarah Huckabee-Sanders’ top rival for the 2022 Republican nomination for the Arkansas governor has dropped out of the race, paving the way for the one-time White House Press Secretary to take the nomination, The Week reports.

Although she’s never held elected office, Sarah Huckabee-Sanders’ is favored because of her high profile name.  She’s the daughter of former governor and radio host Mike Huckabee, and she is a devoted Trump follower.

Huckabee-Sanders will have to keep one eye on potential new Republican challengers as well as her other eye on her Democratic opponent, given that Arkansas is not a gimme for the GOP. 

Monmouth: “A majority of the American public (52%) expresses a great deal of concern that the country would suffer lasting damage if people who hold core political principles different from their own were able to enact their policies. This opinion has hovered between 50% and 56% since January 2016. Another 36% have some concern about potential damage to the country if this happened. Only 1 in 10 have either not much (8%) or no (2%) concern. Majorities of Republicans (62%) and Democrats (54%) have a great deal of concern about the country suffering lasting damage if those with opposing political views were able to set policy, while 45% of independents feel the same.”