Criminal Referral: The House January 6^th Committee holds its final public session today in which it is expected to approve its final report and vote on a criminal referral for former President Donald Trump and some of his top cronies.

  The committee is considering advising the Justice Department to prosecute Trump on charges of insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

  The referral is not binding for the Justice Department, which is already investigating.

Not Normal: Jury selection starts today in Washington in the seditious conspiracy trial of five members of the Proud Boys militia for their part in the January 6^th insurrection.

  This comes less than a month after Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia, was convicted of the same charge. 

  The government has taken on the job of trying to prove that  the defendants plotted in advance of January 6th to use force to interfere with the transfer  of presidential power. The prosecution will rely heavily on thousands of the group’s internal text messages seized by the government as well as insider testimony from cooperating witnesses. 

  A prime example of the messaging is one from a leader of the Proud Boys saying, “I want to see thousands of normies burn that city to ash today.” The so-called “normies” were what they thought were “normal” people who refused to believe Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

Deee – fense: With China flexing its muscles and Russia still trying to take Ukraine, Congress this week is expected  to give final approval to an $858 billion military budget,  $45 billion more than what President Biden requested.

  Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, said the war in Ukraine exposed shortfalls in the US military industrial base required to be “able to support Ukraine and to be able to deal with contingencies elsewhere in the world.”

Big Cat Down: California wildlife authorities have put down the celebrity mountain lion P-22 that ranged for years through Griffith Park, the giant patch of wildland in the middle of Los Angeles.

  P-22 was captured last week after killing a domestic dog. Wildlife biologists said the lion had multiple chronic illnesses, showed injures from having been hit by a car, and was 25 percent underweight. They said he was “compassionately euthanized.” 

  “This really hurts, and I know that,” said Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “It’s been an incredibly difficult several days. And for myself, I’ve felt the entire weight of the city of Los Angeles.”

On the Pitch: Argentina won the World Cup 4-2 after a penalty kick shootout in what was being called the greatest ever World Cup final even while the game was being played. It was the first World Cup win for the great Lionel Messi after 17 years at the top of world soccer.

  The streets of Buenos Aires were packed with celebrants.

  Messi opened the scoring on a penalty kick in the first half and Angel Di María next scored on a beautifully set up cross pass. France didn’t even get off a shot until well into the second half, but then became explosive. 

  France’s Kylian Mbappé  scored on a penalty kick 79 minutes into the game. Two minutes later he shocked the stadium scoring again to tie it up at two each.

  Mbappé scored a third time in overtime and Messi scored his second to tie it up at 3. The shootout ended France’s quest to win consecutive World Cups. 

  On Saturday, Croatia beat Morocco 2-1 to take third place in the tournament.

Sporting News: Down by 33 points on Saturday, the Minnesota Vikings engineered the biggest comeback in the history of the NFL, beating the Indianapolis Colts, 39-36 in overtime. Greg Joseph kicked a 40-yard field goal to put it over the top for the Vikings.

 The previous record was set by the Buffalo Bills in 1993, overcoming a 32-point deficit to beat the Houston Oilers, also in overtime.

  In Buffalo Saturday, the Bills’ 32-29 win over the Miami Dolphins was paused for a while after Buffalo fans threw snowballs onto the field.

The Obit Page: Artist Philip Pearlstein, who in a way re-invented and revolutionized the painting of nude human figures, has died at age 98. 

  In the 1960s Pearlstein turned from painting landscapes to coolly colored nudes posed in everyday domestic surroundings, lying on a bed, sitting in a chair, looking out a New York window.

  Pearlstein turned to the nude when the art world was pretty much done with it. Hilton Kramer of The NY Times wrote in a review that, “He has done what most of the ‘advanced’ critical opinion of the last two decades had declared impossible: He has created a major pictorial style based on an accurate and painstaking depiction of the figure.” 

The Spin Rack: Aaron Judge’s record-setting 62nd home run ball sold for $1.5 million at auction Saturday night. Cory Youmans, the fan who caught the ball in the left-field seats at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, had previously turned down a private offer of $3 million. — Cecily Strong made her last appearance on Saturday Night Live after 10 years with the show. Appearing as her character Cathy Anne, she said, “I’m a little emo tonight, because I’m here to say goodbye.” Asked why by anchor news anchor Michael Che, she said “turns out, prison.”

Below the Fold: Movie director Steven Spielberg told a British interviewer that he regrets the impact his 1975 movie “Jaws” had on the world shark population, which is down 71 percent since the early 1970.

   Asked by a BBC radio host how he would feel about sharks circling him on a desert island, Spielberg said, “That’s one of the things I still fear. Not to get eaten by a shark, but that sharks are somehow mad at me for the feeding frenzy of crazy sports fishermen that happened after 1975.”

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