Sleeping with Elephants: Armed with messages Sean Hannity sent in the days surrounding the January 6^th insurrection, the House committee investigating the riot is seeking to question the Fox News  host. 

  Hannity acted as a participant in political discussions rather than a journalist covering them. OtherFox stars also got involved. 

  In a letter to Hannity, the committee says it received “dozens” of his text exchanges with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that indicate he had “advance knowledge regarding President Trump’s and his legal team’s planning for January 6th.” 

  The letter seeks Hannity’s communications with Trump, White House staff and his legal team between December 31st, 2020, and January 20th, 2021, when Joe Biden was inaugurated.

  On December 31st, according to the committee’s letter, Hannity wrote, “I do not see January 6 happening the way he (Trump) is being told.” On January 5th, Hannity wrote that he was “very worried about the next 48 hours.”

  The committee said it appeared that Hannity might have talked directly with Trump on January 5th and 10th, when Hannity wrote to Meadows and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan: “Guys, we have a clear path to land the plane in 9 days. He can’t mention the election again. Ever. I did not have a good call with him today. And worse, I’m not sure what is left to do or say, and I don’t like not knowing if it’s truly understood. Ideas?”

  On January 6^th Hannity’s fellow host Laura Ingraham messaged Meadows saying, “Mark, the President needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.” And Brian Kilmeade texted, “Please get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished.”

  In what appears to be a related development, Trump abruptly canceled the press conference he was going to hold tomorrow on the first anniversary of the insurrection. He said in a statement, “In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the January 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday.” 

Viral News: Statistical forecasters say the current surge of coronavirus cases led by the Omicron variant could reach its peak this month but it’s getting rougher out there until that happens.

  The Chiacgo schools cancelled classes altogether last night after the teachers’ union resisted returning to class. The school system said it was too late to go to online teaching.

  Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan yesterday declared a 30-day state of emergency that mobilizes the National Guard to assist state and local health officers at coronavirus testing and vaccination sites and orders the state Department of Health to bolster staffing at hospitals overwhelmed with Covid patients.

  Hogan predicted that Maryland will have up to 5,000 people hospitalized for Covid-19, as much as 150 percent more than the state’s peak last year.

  In California, the seven-day average of positive tests has reached a seven-day average of 20.4%, the highest during the pandemic so far, according to the California Department of Public Health. Los Angeles County alone reported 21,790 new cases yesterday. 

Live Free and Die:  A deputy district attorney who was a rising star in the Republican Party of California’s Orange County and has publicly opposed vaccine mandates died of Covid-19. 

  Kelly Ernby, who was expected to be a candidate for the state Assembly this year, was just 46. According to the Los Angeles Times, Ernby got sick shortly after speaking out against vaccine mandates at a rally organized by Turning Point USA a month ago. She told the crowd at Irvine City Hall, “There’s nothing that matters more than our freedoms right now.” 

  On the flip side of this, NBC talk hosts Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon have tested positive for the virus, but both are fully vaccinated and say they feel fine with mild symptoms.

Seize the Moment: Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is using her banishment from Twitter as an opportunity to raise money,  “ Help me put an end to the left’s socialist agenda” and “stand up to Biden and Fauci’s attempts to control our lives.”

  Suspended for spreading falsehoods about vaccines, Covid-19, and the 2020 election, Greene claims in an email blast to supporters that the real reason is “because I refuse to follow Dr. Fauci’s lies and Joe Biden’s mandates.”

  Greene asks supporters to donate anything from $35 to $1,000. Describing Donald Trump as “our greatest president” she says, “Sadly, for the radical left, I was duly elected to Congress as a strong Republican woman who is determined to impeach Joe Biden and put an end to his plan to force vaccines and socialism on Americans, and that’s what I intend to do.”

The Spin Rack: Investigators believe that the Colorado fire that burned more than 900 homes last week started with a burning shed on land owned by the male-dominated religious sect known as the Twelve Tribes. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said investigators “are going to be careful” before making any conclusions. — The District Attorney in Albany, NY announced that he will not pressgroping charges against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was accused by a former aide of becoming too familiar with his hands. Albany County District Attorney David Soares said that he was “deeply troubled” by the allegation but, “While we found the complainant in this case cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence, we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial.” — Authorities in Hainan, a tropical resort island off the coast of southern China, have ordered the company Evergrande to demolish 39 high rise buildings because the permits had been illegally obtained. — The Washington Football Team, which abandoned the name “Redskins” because it had become culturally unacceptable, announced they will have a new name on February 2^nd.

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