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The legal path to investigate the leaders of the coup attempt is clear. The criminal code prohibits inciting an insurrection or “giving aid or comfort” to those who do, as well as conspiracy to forcibly “prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States.” The code also makes it a crime to corruptly impede any official proceeding or deprive citizens of their constitutional right to vote.
Based purely on what we know today from news reports and the steady stream of revelations coming from the House select committee investigating the attack, the attorney general has a powerful justification for a robust and forceful investigation into the former president and his inner circle.

Thompson Says Jan. 6 Committee Focused on Trump’s Hours of Silence During Attack, Weighing Criminal Referrals  (Tom Hamburger, Jacqueline Alemany, Josh Dawsey and Matt Zapotosky, Washington Post)
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is focusing intently on Donald Trump’s actions that day as it begins to discuss whether to recommend that the Justice Department open a criminal investigation into the former president.
Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) said in an interview that of particular interest is why it took so long for him to call on his supporters to stand down, an area of inquiry that includes obtaining several versions of a video Trump reportedly recorded before finally releasing a message 187 minutes after he told his supporters to march on the Capitol during the rally that preceded the attack.
“It appears that he tried to do a taping several times, but he wouldn’t say the right thing,” Thompson said, basing his statement on information the panel has gleaned from interviews with witnesses as well as media reports about that day.

Inside the Nonstop Pressure Campaign By Trump Allies to Get Election Officials to Revisit the 2020 Vote  (Amy Gardner, Emma Brown and Josh Dawsey, Washington Post)
Well-funded allies of the former president have gained audiences with top state officials to push for examinations of the vote, and local residents have bombarded election administrators with their own demands to investigate.

Covid Is Here for Good, Scientists Say. The Rest Remains Unpredictable.  (Evan Bush, NBC News)
Covid could take on a similar ebb and flow to the flu, but there is plenty left to figure out about just how severe and disruptive it will continue to be.

Covid-19 Marches Toward Endemic Status in U.S. as Omicron Spreads  (Brianna Abbott and Daniela Hernandez, Wall Street Journal)
With a new wave rising, people and institutions are making decisions that reflect changing attitudes toward the threat that Covid-19 represents

Record Number of Americans Sign Up for ACA Health Insurance  (KHN)
Nearly 14 million Americans have enrolled in Affordable Care Act marketplace health plans for next year — a record since the health law’s coverage expansion took effect in 2014. A boost in subsidies marketing and assistance in navigating the process increased the rolls of the insured.

The F.B.I. Deployed Surveillance Teams Inside Portland Protests  (Mike Baker, Sergio Olmos and Adam Goldman, New York Times)
Federal agents infiltrated Portland’s unruly racial justice protests, dressing to blend in and capturing clandestine video. The tactics raised internal concern.