“Disagreements over legal strategy weren’t the only reason Donald Trump’s defense team collapsed just days before his second impeachment trial,” Axios reports.

“The notoriously stingy former president and his lead lawyer, Butch Bowers, wrangled over compensation during a series of tense phone calls.”

“Former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party leveraged false claims of voter fraud and promises to overturn the election to raise more than a quarter-billion dollars in November and December as hundreds of thousands of trusting supporters listened and opened their wallets,” the New York Times reports.

“But the Trump campaign spent only a tiny fraction of its haul on lawyers and other legal bills related to those claims. Instead, Mr. Trump and the G.O.P. stored away much of the money — $175 million or so — even as they continued to issue breathless, aggressive and often misleading appeals for cash that promised it would help with recounts, the rooting out of election fraud and even the Republican candidates’ chances in the two Senate runoff races in Georgia.”

The Scottish Parliament will hold a vote this week into whether the government should pursue an “unexplained wealth order” to investigate the source of financing for Donald Trump’s Scottish resorts, The Scotsman reports.

A must-read: The New York Times reconstructs Donal Trump’s 77 days trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

New York Times: “Mr. Trump’s strongest fund-raising came in the immediate aftermath of the election… The donations were made public over the weekend in a Federal Election Commission filing by WinRed.”

“The new records show that his fund-raising fell sharply in December compared with November, with an especially notably dip after Dec. 14, the day the Electoral College formally cast its ballots to make Mr. Biden the nation’s 46th president.”

A New York Supreme Court judge ruled Friday that a former Trump Organization law firm was obliged to hand over documents to state investigators, Bloomberg reports.

In a newly discovered video from a December 19 “Stop the Steal” rally in Arizona, organizer Ali Alexander bragged about being “on the phone” with “people from the White House” and appeared to encourage physical violence against members of Congress and other politicians who he claimed helped “steal” the election, Media Matters reports.

At that same rally, Alexander appeared to advocate for physical attacks against members of Congress who he said helped “steal” the election, calling it a “moral obligation” to do so. 

Former Defense Secretary James Mattis said the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol was “fomented” by former President Donald Trump, and exemplified the “internal threats” faced by the U.S. that should be viewed “with every bit as much gravity as the external problems, and perhaps more so,” Yahoo News reports.

Michael Kruse: “What will Trump’s post-presidency look like — and what will it do to America? There is no real precedent in the annals of the nation — and thus no real playbook for how to manage the kind of civic disruption it is likely to cause. But from history, and from people who’ve known him, it’s possible to stitch together a more-than-educated guess at what the country’s in for — a portrait of the nation’s first real anti-presidency.”

Politico: “The only person charged in the Justice Department’s investigation into the origins of the probe of former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and its ties to Russia was spared prison time for altering an email used to support a surveillance application. Former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, 38, received the sentence of 12 months probation.”

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows is joining the Conservative Partnership Institute, a group run by former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint that operates as a “networking hub” for conservatives, Axios reports.

“Meadows, who is still in frequent contact with former President Trump and has been advising him ahead of his impeachment trial, will now operate behind the scenes to help create more members like Jim Jordan, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley — conservative firebrands with strong networks and staffs.”

“Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is the latest official to take advantage of the revolving door between Fox News and the Trump administration,” according to her termination financial disclosure report.

Donald Trump announced Monday the official opening of the “Office of the Former President” in Palm Beach County, Florida, which is tasked with overseeing the 45th president’s official activities in his post-presidency life, CBS News reports.

“Former President Donald Trump, determined to remain a force in G.O.P. politics, is gaining new opportunities with a crucial Senate seat unexpectedly coming open in Ohio, an ally announcing for governor of Arkansas and rising pressure on Republicans in Congress who did not stand with him during this month’s impeachment vote,” the New York Times reports.

“The surprise announcement on Monday by Senator Rob Portman of Ohio that he would not seek a third term sparked a political land rush, with top strategists in the state receiving a flood of phone calls from potential candidates testing their viability. One consultant said he had received calls from five would-be candidates by midday.”

“That opening, along with another statewide contest next year in which Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to face at least one Trump-aligned primary challenger, are likely to make Ohio a central battleground for control of the Republican Party, and an inviting one for Mr. Trump, who held on to Ohio in the election while losing three other northern battleground states.”