All the Latest on the Most Bizarre U.S. Senate Race in the Country…

As always, the KY Political Brief — and its wunderkind editor, Bradford Queen — has done a bang-up job of gathering all of the latest state and national reports on the most highly-watched (and sometimes, most crudely bizarre) U.S. Senate race in the country.

Here’s today’s scoop. To receive the KY Political Brief every weekday AM by email — for FREE — click here:

THE SCOOP : Source: Progress Kentucky Behind Mitch McConnell Campaign Recording – WFPL’s Phillip Bailey, Kenny Colston and Gabe Bullard – “A secret recording of a campaign strategy session between U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell and his advisors was taped by leaders of the Progress Kentucky super PAC, says a longtime local Democratic operative. Mother Jones Magazine released the tape this week. The meeting itself took place on Feb. 2. Jacob Conway, who is on the executive committee of the Jefferson County Democratic Party, says that day, Shawn Reilly and Curtis Morrison, who founded and volunteered for Progress Kentucky, respectively, bragged to him about how they recorded the meeting. … On Feb. 2, McConnell opened his campaign headquarters in the Watterson Office Park in Louisville and invited trusted GOP activists and select media outlets to an open house. The event lasted roughly two hours. Afterward, McConnell and several campaign advisors held a strategy session in an office meeting room. Morrison and Reilly did not attend the open house, but they told Conway they arrived later and were able to hear the meeting from the hallway.” [WFPL]

—Mitch McConnell Tape Fallout: FBI Digs In, How Progress Kentucky Helps the GOP, Was it Illegal? [WFPL]

—Progress Kentucky official resigns [POLITICO]

—The disastrous collapse of Kentucky’s least effective liberal group [BuzzFeed]

—Dave Weigel: Unwinding the moronic conspiracy to nail Mitch McConnell [Slate]

—Witness says political activists behind McConnell office bugging [WHAS-TV]

—Watchdog group files ethics complaint against McConnell – The Hill – “A government watchdog group on Thursday filed an ethics complaint against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) over the secretly taped strategy session that was leaked to the media this week. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate whether McConnell illegally used congressional staff time or resources for his reelection campaign.” [The Hill]

AL MAYO: “Progress Kentucky: Making McConnell the victim for over thirty days now” – KPB column – “Progress Kentucky has managed to make news twice during its short existence, and both times it involved Mitch McConnell. … This time they just did something even more stupid.” [KPB column]

SENATE DERBY : McConnell campaign poring over Grimes’ records – AP’s Roger Alford – The McConnell campaign has collected thousands of public records pertaining to Grimes’ first year in office, including travel invoices, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The materials even include reams of letters from people wanting to become Kentucky Colonels, an honorary designation bestowed on anyone who asks. McConnell, the Senate’s GOP leader, hasn’t yet drawn a major opponent in his bid for a sixth term in 2014. Still, he isn’t waiting for challengers to formally announce. He is doing opposition research on likely contenders as part of a process he was recently recorded describing as “Whac-A-Mole,” which he said means striking “when anybody sticks their head up.” … The McConnell campaign began the opposition research into Grimes last October, according to the documents reviewed by AP. His campaign filed a request with the state government under the Kentucky Open Records Act for a broad range of documents involving Grimes, including all email, texts, notes, documents, letters, even Post-it notes.” [AP]