1/ Trump approvingly quoted Putin to support his unfounded claim that his four criminal indictments are political payback. During a Saturday campaign stop in New Hampshire, Trump baselessly claimed that Biden is a “threat to democracy” and that “even Vladimir Putin […] says that Biden’s – and this is a quote – politically motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for Russia because it shows the rottenness of the American political system.” Trump added: “They’re all laughing at us.” Trump also called Jan. 6 defendants “hostages,” and praised authoritarian leaders Viktor Orban as “highly respected” and Kim Jong Un as “very nice.” Trump faces 91 criminal charges across four separate cases of falsifying business records in a hush money scheme, mishandling classified documents, and trying to overturn the 2020 election results. There is no evidence that Biden has meddled in the prosecutions of Trump, which are taking place in four different federal and state courts. (Washington Post / New York Times / USA Today / CNN)

2/ Biden condemned Trump for his repeated statements that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of America,” criticizing the rhetoric as “parroting Adolf Hitler.” During a Sunday speech in Nevada, Trump reiterated his baseless claim that migrants were “invading” the U.S. from prisons and “mental institutions” in other countries, while pledging to conduct the “largest deportation operation in American history” if elected to a second term. The term “blood poisoning” was used by Hitler in “Mein Kampf,” in which he criticized immigration and the mixing of races as an existential threat to the Aryan race. “Echoing the grotesque rhetoric of fascists and violent white supremacists and threatening to oppress those who disagree with the government are dangerous attacks on the dignity and rights of all Americans, on our democracy, and on public safety,” the White House said. “It’s the opposite of everything we stand for as Americans.” Trump’s remarks come as congressional Republicans have stalled a Ukraine-Israel aid package until Democrats agree to unrelated U.S.-Mexico border security reforms. (NBC News / CNN / Associated Press / Politico / Washington Post / The Hill / CNBC / Axios)

3/ A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference disappeared in the final days of Trump’s presidency. The disappearance of the raw intelligence, known as “Crossfire Hurricane,” was so concerning to officials that the Senate Intelligence Committee was briefed about it last year because it contained det...