Good morning! Happy Wednesday and a sincere thank you to all of our readers. Let’s all go celebrate National Fettucine Alfredo Day.

 POLITICS 

⚖️ Citizen Trump is not immune

A federal court said yesterday that former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election. Trump’s legal team argued he couldn’t be because his actions were part of his job as president.

There are two cases here:

1. The criminal case, often called the “Jan. 6 case.” This is being brought by the federal government.

2. This case (non-criminal). Trump’s legal team said he couldn’t be prosecuted. That had to be argued in a separate court.

We’re talking about #2. That’s what was decided yesterday. Case #1 is currently postponed while the court system decides whether or not Trump can be criminally prosecuted.

• This (#2) was decided by a three-judge panel. Two were appointed by President Biden. One was appointed by President George H.W. Bush.

• The judges said that presidents cannot be “above the law.”

• They also wrote that, in this case, “former President Trump has become citizen Trump.”

The judges gave Trump until Feb. 12 to appeal this case to the Supreme Court. We’ll find out soon whether or not they’ll take the case. That will determine when (and if) the criminal case goes forward.

Response: The Trump campaign issued a statement disagreeing (obviously) with this decision. They say future presidents will now all have to worry about being prosecuted by their successors.

Other cases: Trump is juggling loads of court cases. One civil case was just decided. Another civil case is underway. Two state-level criminal cases are on the calendar. And another federal criminal trial starts in May. That one’s about mishandling classified documents. Since the alleged crime took place after he left the White House, it’s not affected by the prosecution question (case #2 above).

 CONGRESS 

🫠 It was all for naught

Immigration: For months now, the Senate has been working on a bill to overhaul immigration enforcement and fund foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. The senators working on this thing unveiled their big surprise on Sunday. By Tuesday, it was declared dead in the Senate for being either too restrictive or too permissive (depending on who you ask).

Foreign Aid: The House tried to pass the Israel aid chunk ($17.6 billion) as a standalone bill. That vote failed last night. Some Democrats don’t want it at all, while some Republicans want budget cuts elsewhere to pay for it. But President Biden said he’d veto it anyway. He wants the whole package.

Impeachment: The House also voted on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. That failed by two votes, 214-216. House Republicans say they'll try again when an absent member returns.

On the bright side: They did manage to rename a post office last week. The post office in Laredo, TX is now the "Lance Corporal David Lee Espinoza, Lance Corporal Juan Rodrigo Rodriguez & Sergeant Roberto Arizola Jr. Post Office Building." It's nice and all, but isn't that name like...way too long? These guys are war heroes. Were there not two extra post offices available? Congress isn't even good at naming buildings.

 2024 

👮 Nikki Haley wants protection

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley wants Secret Service protection. Her campaign says she’s been the target of multiple threats.

• Candidates get protection when they become the Democratic or Republican nominee.

• “Major” candidates can get protection before they win a party’s nomination.

• The Secretary of Homeland Security and congressional leadership decide who counts as "major." They use guidelines like polling data and verified threats.

The Secret Service began protecting presidents in 1902. They extended that service to presidential candidates (and their spouses) in 1968. That summer, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated while running for president.

The next Republican primary on the calendar is in Haley’s home state of South Carolina on Feb. 24.

 POLITICS 

🔵 President Biden sailed to an easy victory in Nevada’s Democratic presidential primary over Oprah’s former spiritual advisor, (seriously) Marianne Williamson. Rep. Dean Phillips wasn't on the ballot here. The next episode of “Biden embarrasses longshot challengers” is Feb. 27 in Michigan.

🔴 Also in Nevada, but on the Republican side, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was soundly defeated by…nobody. Nevada's weird “None of these candidates” ballot option defeated Haley 63% to 31%. That's embarrassing. Haley was the only major candidate on the ballot, since Trump will instead compete in Thursday’s Nevada caucus. So Trump supporters were encouraged to vote for “None of these candidates” as a stand-in for the former president. Looks like that strategy worked like a charm.

🔴 Nothing sweetens a pile of cash like loads of free press. And a congressional candidate from North Carolina is getting both. Dr. Josh McConkey just won $757,000 in the lottery. He’s one of 14 Republican candidates in a very conservative district. Campaigns often cost millions of dollars, so McConkey says he plans to put the money to good use.

🔴 Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz is un-retiring. The Ukrainian immigrant changed her mind after saying a year ago that she wouldn’t run for a third term in 2024. Why the flip? She won’t say this, but it could be the pension. Congressional pensions don’t kick in until you serve five years. If she serves a third term, she’ll eventually (in 20ish years) get a $10,000 annual pension. It won’t be easy, though — ten other Republicans have already announced campaigns for the seat.

 TRIVIA 

Presidential candidates who win the Democratic and Republican nominations receive Secret Service protection. But some candidates get it earlier based on need. Which presidential candidate received Secret Service protection earlier than any other?

 WORLD 

🇺🇸 USA: The mother of a school shooter faces up to 60 years in prison. Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The jury found she neglected her son’s mental health and failed to secure a handgun she and her husband bought their son for his birthday. Days later, he used it to murder four classmates. She will be sentenced in April. Her husband’s trial begins next week.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom: King Charles III has cancer. Buckingham Palace didn't say what kind it is but did say it's unrelated to his recent prostate treatment. Charles is 75. Redheaded step royal child Prince Harry went home to the U.K. to visit his dad this week. But he pointedly did not swing by to see his brother (and future king) William.

🇰🇷 South Korea: A South Korean company will pay employees (men and women both) $75,000 each time they have a baby. South Korea's fertility rate is the lowest in the world. In her lifetime, a woman there will give birth to an average of just 0.78 babies. Maintaining a population (not to mention growing it) requires a fertility rate of 2.1 (America's is 1.64).

 BRIEFS 

• More than a million people are crammed into a tent city in southern Gaza as Israeli troops draw near

• Argentina will move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, joining the U.S. and just four others

• Multiple people are thrilled as X knockoff Bluesky ditches its waitlist and opens to everyone

• Activist shareholders are pushing Disney to spin off its theme parks into a separate company

• College basketball players at Dartmouth might vote to unionize

• DocuSign, which is somehow a multibillion-dollar company, is laying off 6% of its workforce

• TMI-giving Rep. Nancy Mace’s entire D.C. staff has turned over in just three months

• That was fast — last month’s Ukrainian-born Miss Japan lost her title after having an affair with a married man

• Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is in Russia to interview President Vladimir Putin

• Adam Neumann, the long-ousted founder of WeWork wants to buy back his old (now-bankrupt) company

 GLOSSARY 

Streisand effect — noun

When a celebrity or politician accidentally draws loads of attention to something by trying to suppress it.

The effect is named for Barbra Streisand’s 2003 attempt at getting a soil erosion pic taken down since it happened to include her Malibu beach house. Before? Nobody cared. After? Everyone knew where she lived.

Example: Taylor Swift is threatening to sue a college student who posts publicly available flight logs for celebrity private jet flights alongside their CO2 emissions.

 SNACKS 

🌋 AI: Three students just won the $700,000 Vesuvius Challenge. They used CT scans and AI to read 2,000-year-old scrolls that were burned to a crisp in the volcanic eruption at Pompeii.

💯 100: This is the sign you need to dump keto and start hammering sausage biscuits. A West Virginia man who’s eaten breakfast at McDonald’s every day for 36 years just turned 100.

🆔 Fakes: A site called OnlyFake generates realistic photos of fake IDs for $15 a pop. They’re just pics now, but college bar bouncers might need raises soon.

 ANSWER 

Then-Sen. Barack Obama received U.S. Secret Service protection in May 2007, over a year before officially winning the Democratic nomination.