Google is offering a free set of tools to help election-site hosts, human rights advocates, and other groups fend off cyber-attacks. “The arrival of the toolkit, known as ‘Protect Your Election,’ comes as France prepares to go to the polls next month, and a week after hackers took down one of the Netherlands’ leading election information sites during that country's vote last week,” Fortune reports, citing Google, which itself cites local media.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself for any investigation into the 2016 presidential election. At a press conference yesterday, Sessions reversed claims he made under oath during his confirmation hearings in the Senate. He told Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) that he had no communication with any Russian officials.It has been revealed that he met with the Russian ambassador to Washington, D.C. twice.

Mike Pence was hugely critical of Hillary Clinton for using a private email account for government business. Turns out -- he did the exact same thing. As Governor of Indiana, Pence routinely used a private email account to conduct public business, discussing sensitive matters and homeland security issues. In one email, Pence’s top state homeland security adviser relayed an update from the FBI regarding the arrests of several men on federal terror-related charges. Pence's account was also hacked last summer.

Former Democratic Governor of Kentucky Steve Beshear was the Democrat chosen to respond to President Trump’s address to Congress. He focused heavily on health care and the disastrous consequences of repealing the Affordable Care Act. Beshear suggested that Republicans "seem determined to rip affordable health insurance away from millions of Americans who need it."

Former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, who wrote the controversial dossier on Trump and his ties to Russia, was going to be paid by the FBI a few weeks before the election to continue his work. Basically, what this means is that the FBI and other security agencies believed Steele to be credible, and lends more weight to his Trump-Russia dossier.

President Trump is expected to put out a budget proposal by mid-March. From what we have heard, he is planning to eviscerate the State Department and USAID budgets by 37%. At the same time, the President wants to increase defense spending by 10%. Chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee Lindsey Graham said of the proposed cuts: “That is definitely dead on arrival.”