Yahoo News reports: The FBI is investigating what it describes as a massive scheme to illegally finance Sen. Susan Collins’ 2020 re-election bid. A recently unsealed search warrant application shows the FBI believes a Hawaii defense contractor illegally funneled $150,000 to a pro-Collins super PAC and reimbursed donations to Collins’ campaign. There’s no indication that Collins or her team were …

The Kansas City Star reports: The St. Louis lawyer who brandished a firearm at Black Lives Matter protesters last year has officially entered the 2022 race for Missouri’s open Senate seat. Mark McCloskey tweeted he will have “a huge announcement” on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show Tuesday evening, but his Senate campaign website went live hours before the appearance. …

Axios reports: The State Department will now grant U.S. citizenship to children born abroad through in vitro fertilization, surrogacy and other assisted reproductive technologies, the agency said Tuesday. The Trump administration had denied citizenship to children born abroad to same-sex parents in several cases. The State Department under Trump defended a long-standing policy that categorized children born abroad via surrogate …

The Hill reports: Rep. Virginia Foxx (N.C.) is the fourth House GOP lawmaker to be issued a $5,000 fine for failing to complete a security screening before entering the House chamber, according to a notice published by the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday. According to the Capitol Police report documenting the incident last Thursday, Foxx set off a metal detector …

Law & Crime reports: The Federal Trade Commission accused disgraced pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli on Tuesday of having destroyed evidence relevant to a lawsuit that could lead to his lifetime ban from the industry. Regulators claim that the convicted fraudster invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked about a phone he used to conduct business from prison. “It …

NBC News reports: The House on Tuesday passed a Senate bill with a 364 to 62 vote to address the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the Covid-19 pandemic. The legislation, which the Senate passed in a 94-1 vote last month, directs the Department of Justice to expedite the review of Covid-related hate crimes that were reported to law enforcement …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that public schools can no longer require masks on their campuses starting June 5. The decision was part of a new executive order that bans governmental entities in Texas — like cities and counties — from mandating masks in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Starting Friday, any government entity that …

Florida Politics reports: U.S. Sen. Rick Scott continues to express hope that former President Donald Trump won’t engage against Senate incumbents in 2022. Scott made the comments Tuesday on Fox News Radio’s “Brian Kilmeade Show.” “What I’ve suggested to him is to let the citizens of that state pick their primary winner,” Scott said. “And then help those that win …

Talking Points Memo reports: Albert Watkins, the “Q Shaman” Jacob Chansley’s attorney, said his client had Asperger’s syndrome and indicated that Chansley’s mental state — and the impact of Trump’s “propaganda” efforts — would play a role in his case. “A lot of these defendants — and I’m going to use this colloquial term, perhaps disrespectfully — but they’re all …

ABC News reports: A New York man who faces charges in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol was caught after someone overheard him discussing the event at the dentist, according to federal court documents. Daniel Warmus, of Buffalo, is charged with intent to disrupt the orderly conduct of government business and violent entry. According to a statement of …

Just in from Monmouth Polling: Just 10 percent of people from New Jersey would like to see former Gov. Chris Christie (R) run for the presidency again in 2024, a Monmouth University Poll found. Christie, who launched an unsuccessful campaign to be the Republican nominee in the 2016 election, received little support from his home state for another presidential run …

“When you’ve got the greatest prosecutor in the history of the Southern District. When you’ve got the greatest mayor – not just in the history of New York – but in the history of America, you’re foolish if you don’t use him as an asset.” – Andrew Giuliani, saying that his father will work on his campaign for governor. The …

The Washington Post reports: After Rep. Devin Nunes failed last summer to force Twitter to unmask several accounts dedicated to ruthlessly mocking the California Republican, the Justice Department took aim at one of the congressman’s anonymous critics. Court filings unsealed this week revealed that in the last months of the Trump presidency, the Justice Department used a grand jury subpoena …

Entertainment Tonight reports: Charles Grodin, who famously starred in The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run, and Beethoven, died on Tuesday from bone marrow cancer, EW has confirmed. He was 86. Although Grodin was mostly known for his work on the big screen, throughout his long career he also appeared on television, dazzled on Broadway, authored multiple books, and was a political …

Mediaite reports: Murkowski told CNN’s Manu Raju Tuesday, “If you’re really making this a very broad brush approach, it might be difficult to really get value from a specific type of commission. But again, I think this is something where you need to look closely to the details and how it’s configured.” “Do you think former President Trump should talk …

The Hill reports: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday slammed Republicans after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that he would not support legislation to create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Addressing reporters Tuesday morning, Pelosi lamented the “cowardice” of those Republicans like McCarthy who oppose bipartisan legislation to form the independent …

“You can never be woke enough. That’s the problem. It keeps going. And if you get to the point where you capitulate, where you agree to all these demands, it will eventually get to, ‘Straight white men are not allowed to talk.’ “Because it’s your privilege to express yourself where other people of color have been silenced throughout history. I’m …

The Dallas Observer reports: Although we’re not exactly sure where, the QAnon-affiliated For God & Country Patriot Roundup is supposedly still on in Dallas over Memorial Day weekend. The lineup of speakers includes retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the ex-national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, and Sidney Powell, formerly a lawyer for both Flynn and Trump. With …

Politico reports: It’s not just Ukraine. Justice Department investigators have asked questions about Rudy Giuliani’s work connected to Romania, according to two people familiar with the probe into former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. Last month, FBI agents raided Giuliani’s New York City apartment and office to seize phones and computers as part of an investigation of whether Giuliani violated …

Fox News reports: Former Vice President Mike Pence slammed the Biden administration for attempting to create a “false equivalency” between Israel and Hamas, saying he and former President Donald Trump “set the table for lasting peace and an end to the decades-old conflict in the region,” but that President Biden has offered “weakness and ambivalence” as violence continues. Pence, in …