LEAK OF THE DAY. House Oversight Committee has documents related to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's security clearances: “The Trump administration's problems with leaks will now benefit Congress, making it harder for the White House to withhold information from Democratic investigators.”
OH, PLEASE. Trump accuses Democrats of being anti-Israel, anti-Jewish.
COREY FELDMAN. Now speaking out against Michael Jackson. “I can not in good consciousness defend anyone who's being accused of such horrendous things…”
INAUGURATION. Trump committee took foreign donations. ‘The campaign will claim, of course, that they did not “knowingly” receive these donations and therefore did nothing wrong.
2020. Beto O'Rourke fishing around for possible staffers and strategists in New Hampshire: ‘Key Democratic sources — who are not involved in any effort to draft O'Rourke — told WMUR that people close to O'Rourke have reached out to politically knowledgeable Granite Staters seeking advice on specifics concerning what a New Hampshire campaign would entail.
SHOCKER. Trump watched the Super Bowl with the owner of the spa where Patriots' owner Robert Kraft got busted: ‘Sometime during the party at Trump's West Palm Beach country club, the president turned in his chair to look over his right shoulder, smiling for a photo with two women at a table behind him. The woman who snapped the blurry Super Bowl selfie with the president was Li Yang, 45, a self-made entrepreneur from China who started a chain of Asian day spas in South Florida.'
MARSHMELLO. 26-year-old DJ/producer lands $60 million Vegas residency.
ANOTHER ANTI-GAY JUDGE. Senate confirms Ohio's state solicitor Eric Murphy to a seat on the Sixth Circuit: ‘Murphy did not argue the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case, but his name appears on the state's brief defending Ohio's ban on gay marriage. The Supreme Court ultimately disagreed with the state's arguments in the case and issued a 2015 decision that legalized gay marriage across the country.'
ARMIE HAMMER. On white privilege, and being a millennial.
HEALTH UPDATE OF THE DAY. Whoopi Goldberg. “I came very close to leaving the Earth.”
JUSSIE SMOLLETT CASE. Chicago Police launch internal investigation to find source of leaks: ‘No alleged leakers have so far been identified, Guglielmi said, and no CPD officers or staff have been disciplined for releasing information about the case.'
ON THE RAG. This week on the gay magazines…
MASHROU LEILA. The Lebanese band with out gay members is embarking on a European tour: ‘As they celebrate their 10th anniversary, the four-piece are already the Arab world's biggest indie group. They're also probably the most successful Arabic-language band internationally, with a European tour lined up and a new compilation featuring collaborations with Róisín Murphy and Hot Chip's Joe Goddard.'
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. Hozier “Dinner & Diatribes.
MACRO BUG OF THE DAY. Jewel caterpillar from the Amazon rainforest: “What looks like a tasty gummy sweet is actually a Translucent Jewel Caterpillar from the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador. This species is probably Minacraga argentata and belongs to a family of moths known as Dalceridae whose larvae are also called slug caterpillars. They are not poisonous as many other caterpillars, but the yellow glutinous cones will just break off if a predator wants to grab them. Also their stickiness may protect them from being eaten by hungry insects such as ants.”
NEW TUNE OF THE DAY. Sara Bareilles “No Such Thing”.
FRIDAY FLASH. Vitor Vieira.
