Top leaders in the Colorado Republican Party are doubling down on the baseless idea that voter fraud cost former President Trump the 2020 election.

Why it matters: The Colorado GOP is embracing the same debunked claims of a stolen election that helped propel a mob of Trump supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The Manhattan district attorney is now in possession of millions of pages of former President Trump's tax and financial records, CNN first reported, following a Supreme Court ruling that allowed prosecutors to enforce a subpoena after a lengthy legal battle.

Why it matters: Trump fought for years to keep his tax returns out of the public eye and away from prosecutors in New York, who are examining his business in a criminal investigation that was first sparked by hush-money payments made by Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen during the 2016 election.

President Trump didn't have to punish his critics in Congress — his allies back in the states instantly and eagerly did the dirty work.

Why it matters: Virtually every Republican who supported impeachment was censured back home, or threatened with a primary challenge.

Rep. Liz Cheney is staking her claim as a new thought leader for the GOP, seizing on her role as the Republicans' Trump critic-in-chief while the party navigates its post-MAGA future.

Why it matters: Cheney is offering the party a more traditional brand of conservatism and serving as the guinea pig for other Republicans eager to break with the former president but wary of the fallout. The emerging question is whether both party factions can win not just primaries but general elections.

Donald Trump Jr. was deposed on Feb. 11 as part of a lawsuit by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, who alleged last year that former President Trump's inaugural committee coordinated with the Trump Organization to "grossly overpay" for event space at its D.C. hotel.

Details: Racine alleges that in the course of his investigation, he uncovered a second instance in which the inaugural committee improperly spent funds — on a contract the Trump Organization signed with the Loews Madison Hotel for a block of rooms during the 2017 inauguration.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) publicly contradicted one another at a press conference Wednesday over whether former President Trump should speak at the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Why it matters: The divergence between the No. 1 and No. 3 House Republicans shows the stark divide in the leadership ranks of the Republican Party in a post-Trump era.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Tuesday that he believes former President Trump would win the Republican presidential nomination "in a landslide" if he decided to run again in 2024.

Why it matters: Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, has been one of the Republican Party's staunchest critics of Trump, voting to convict him in both of his impeachment trials. But even he acknowledged the vise-grip the former president has over the party's base.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) joined a group of conservatives last week at a training session for activists readying to combat the continued use of the voting technology that propelled Trumpworld's 2020 election-theft conspiracy theories.

Why it matters: Theories about uncounted or overcounted votes have become politically tricky and legally problematic for their most prominent backers. The activist training is part of an effort to put a more respectable and pragmatic face on the trend.

Judge Merrick Garland, President Biden's nominee for attorney general, decried the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy at his confirmation hearing Monday, calling it "shameful" and agreeing to cooperate with future investigations.

Why it matters: The policy — which "came at the expense" of weighing the impact on families, according to a Justice Department watchdog report — resulted in over 500 parents still separated from their children as of October 2020. Biden has launched a task force on reuniting families as part of a campaign pledge.

In his first post-presidential appearance, Donald Trump plans to send the message next weekend that he is Republicans' "presumptive 2024 nominee" with a vise grip on the party's base, top Trump allies tell Axios.

What to watch: A longtime adviser called Trump's speech a "show of force," and said the message will be: "I may not have Twitter or the Oval Office, but I'm still in charge." Payback is his chief obsession.