Nicole Lafond
Where Things Stand: America’s Rivals See A Weapon In Vaccine Hesitancy 
Russian intelligence, it appears, are attempting to sow distrust in the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine in order to bolster the sale of its own supply.
According to a new Wall Street Journal report, the State Department’s Global Engagement Center has identified at least four publications that have been used as Russian intel fronts in the past that are publishing articles questioning the safety of the Pfizer vaccine and other Western vaccine companies. Read More
Where Things Stand: Top FL Dem Urges FBI To Probe DeSantis Vaccine Favoritism
A small update on the pattern that Matt Shuham highlighted yesterday involving the COVID-19 vaccine, GOP donors and Florida’s Republican governor: The state’s highest ranking elected Democrat is calling on the FBI to investigate the matter.
Where Things Stand: Pompeo Winks At 2024
This is one of the most concerning installments yet in the much-too-early-but-inevitable political musings about 2024.
During an appearance on Fox News’ Sean Hannity last night, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a pretty firm “maybe” to the prospects of running for president in 2024 — a prospect that his former boss has already called dibs on in the strongest possible terms.
Where Things Stand: Let’s Check In On Steve
Steve Bannon was, of course, among the 100-plus people Trump pardoned during his last months and days and minutes in office. But there’s been speculation since the pardon was issued about how much weight it would actually hold — Bannon had only been charged, but not convicted, of allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from a border wall crowd-funding campaign for personal use.
Where Things Stand: Fox News–GOP Megamerger Continues At CPAC
Long gone are the excuses of yesteryear that a Fox News personality’s seemingly partisan appearance was merely a journalist performing his or her journalistic duties.
Where Things Stand: The Problem With Just Asking Questions
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) chose to use his time during a Senate hearing on the Capitol riot last week to read a Federalist column that made unsubstantiated claims about antifa being involved in the insurrection — giving a national megaphone to conspiracy theories about the deadly attack that have been floated by Republicans since Jan. 6.
But now he claims he’s just asking questions ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Where Things Stand: Hit-And-Run AG Was Reading A Right-Wing Website While Driving, Investigators Say
We’ve been following closely this week as new details have emerged about a hit-and-run by South Dakota’s attorney general. A Republican politician, who was charged with a mere misdemeanor after being involved in the fatal accident, is now facing a bipartisan impeachment push as it starts to look as if his “I thought I hit a deer” story might be Swiss cheese.
Where Things Stand: The Value Of Playing The Antifa Card
The antifa card has been dealt repeatedly this week. And it’s only picking up more steam among the GOP as a vague but ready excuse for all manner of things.
Tucked into a recent Politico report on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to push back on the House’s bid to conduct a bipartisan review of the Jan. 6 insurrection was a clue as to the staying power the actually-it-was-antifa lie will have.
Where Things Stand: Gory New Details About South Dakota AG Hit-And-Run
We’ve been following the story of South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s fatal hit-and-run incident for some time now. And new video footage of interviews between the state AG and investigators raises questions about what truly happened on that September night — and the extent to which Ravnsborg might have known that he hit a human being, not a deer.
Like, for instance, the fact that the victim’s reading glasses were allegedly found inside the vehicle that Ravnsborg was driving when he hit him.
Where Things Stand: Garland Looks To DOJ’s Origins To Confront Today’s Right-Wing Extremism Crisis
Merrick Garland is finally getting his day in court.
While the most eye roll-inducing moments thus far involve Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) daring to harp on the importance of an apolitical Department of Justice, Garland’s opening statement gave us a pretty clear sign of what to expect out of a Garland-run DOJ.