The Washington Blade reports: A bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to Virginia’s nondiscrimination law cleared its final legislative hurdle on Wednesday. Senate Bill 868, which state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) introduced, passed in the Virginia House of Delegates. State Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County) introduced a version of the Virginia Values Act in his chamber. Virginia …

The Fresno Bee reports: A nonpartisan watchdog group filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Devin Nunes Wednesday, calling for a congressional investigation into how the California Republican is paying for his lawsuits against media companies and critics. Nunes, R-Tulare, with Virginia attorney Steven Biss filed six lawsuits and sent two letters implying possible legal action in 2019. He has not …

Just in via press release: The Department of Justice today announced the creation of a section dedicated to investigating and litigating revocation of naturalization. The Denaturalization Section will join the existing sections within the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation—the District Court Section and the Appellate Section. This move underscores the Department’s commitment to bring justice to terrorists, war criminals, …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump’s campaign sued The New York Times for libel over a March 2019 opinion article, saying the newspaper published its allegedly false claims with the “intentional purpose” of damaging Trump’s chances for reelection this year. The campaign, which is seeking millions of dollars in damages, said The Times falsely reported “as fact a conspiracy with Russia” …

Jared Holt reports at Right Wing Watch: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Prager University, a nonprofit organization created by right-wing commentator Dennis Prager, had no legal ground to stand on in its lawsuit against Google and YouTube, which alleged the companies violated Prager University’s First Amendment rights by “censoring” its videos. The court’s ruling, first …

“Remember I asked somebody to look up who does Dr. Nancy Messonnier donate to? Well, let me tell you. Dr. Nancy Messonnier’s brother us Rod Rosenstein. Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the CDC, who’s urging everybody to not go to school and stay home and teleconference all your communications. “There’s a reason I asked this question. So you’ve got here the …

ABC News reports: U.S. Attorney General William Barr will be a featured speaker today at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Tennessee. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Jay Sekulow, one of the attorneys who defended President Donald Trump during his impeachment trial, are also on the schedule. Barr’s afternoon presentation is part of a forum that will explore how …

Politico reports: Joe Biden’s campaign is launching advertising in Super Tuesday states — but the small ad buy leaves the former vice president significantly outmatched by most of his Democratic rivals as 14 states prepare to vote on March 3. The buy, details of which were shared first with POLITICO, primarily targets Southern states voting next week with ads touting …

The Washington Post reports: Trump is highly concerned about the market and has encouraged aides not to give predictions that might cause further tremors. On Wednesday morning, he announced he would be holding a press conference at 6 p.m. about the coronavirus. In recent days, Trump has devoted the majority of his public statements to slamming Democrats or complaining about …

The Associated Press reports: Lawmakers from both parties told Pentagon leaders on Wednesday that the Defense Department is undermining its own efforts to get military money by diverting billions of dollars for the construction of President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and the committee’s top Republican warned Defense Secretary Mark Esper that …

The Hill reports: Former Vice President Joe Biden has an 18-point lead over his Democratic presidential primary opponents in South Carolina, according to a poll released Wednesday. Biden has 35 percent support in the Clemson University poll released just days ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina primary. Businessman Tom Steyer, who has focused much of his campaign on South Carolina, pulled …

Pew Research reports: Most Americans feel worn out by the amount of news there is these days – a feeling that has persisted for several years now. Around two-thirds of Americans feel worn out by the news, about the same share as in 2018. About two-thirds of Americans (66%) feel worn out by the amount of news there is, while …

Reuters reports: During Lent, Catholics are called on to give up something, like sweets. On Wednesday, Pope Francis added a modern twist to the list of things to quit during the season and beyond: insulting people on social media. The pope made his appeal to tone things down while speaking to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square …

The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration can withhold millions of dollars in law enforcement grants to force states to cooperate with U.S. immigration enforcement, a federal appeals court in New York ruled Wednesday in a decision that conflicted with three other federal appeals courts. The ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan overturned a lower …

Just in from the Department of Justice: A former leader of the white supremacist group Atomwaffen Division was arrested today on charges related to his alleged role in a conspiracy that conducted multiple swatting events that occurred here in the Eastern District of Virginia. John Cameron Denton, 26, of Montgomery, Texas, is allegedly a former leader of the Atomwaffen Division …

CBS News reports: The Senate’s top Democrat is calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, failed to inform the department about work he did for foreign entities before joining the Trump administration, possibly in violation of federal law. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter Tuesday to John Demers, assistant …

Via email from hate group leader Monica Cole: Alerting all parents! One Million Moms needs your help to make sure as many people as possible are aware of Disney pushing the LGBTQ agenda on families, particularly children, in the upcoming animated movie Onward, set to hit theaters Friday, March 6. The character of Officer Specter, voiced by openly gay Lena …

The Insider reports: The coronavirus has now reached every continent on earth except for Antarctica after Brazil confirmed its first case. On Tuesday, Brazil’s ministry of health confirmed that a man in São Paulo had tested positive for COVID-19, according to Reuters. The 61-year-old male returned to São Paulo from Lombardy, Italy, on February 21, the ministry said. He had …

ProPublica reports: Former Donald Trump campaign CEO and chief strategist Steve Bannon used a private jet apparently owned by a wealthy Chinese businessman to fly to events to promote Republican congressional candidates in 2018. The previously unreported flights could run afoul of a campaign finance law that bars foreign money from U.S. elections, according to campaign finance experts, though it …

NBC News reports: A top adviser said Bernie Sanders would reject an offer from Mike Bloomberg to spend heavily on his behalf in the general election if Sanders wins the Democratic presidential nomination. Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York who is running against Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, in the Democratic primary campaign, has said he would …