Exclusive: Top Trump aide's email draws new scrutiny in Russia inquiry  —  Washington (CNN)Congressional investigators have unearthed an email from a top Trump aide that referenced a previously unreported effort to arrange a meeting last year between Trump campaign officials …

Why Ben Carson's appearance in Phoenix was likely a violation of federal law  —  Right before Ben Carson took the stage at President Trump's rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, the announcer introduced him.  —  “The secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development …

Wall Street Journal Editor Admonishes Reporters Over Trump Coverage  —  Gerard Baker, the editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, has faced unease and frustration in his newsroom over his stewardship of the newspaper's coverage of President Trump, which some journalists there say has lacked toughness and verve.

Trump clashed with multiple GOP senators over Russia  —  President Donald Trump privately vented his frustration over Russia-related matters with at least two other Republican senators this month, according to people familiar with the conversations — in addition to the president's public admonishments …

White House Sets Rules for Military Transgender Ban  —  Guidelines expected to direct Pentagon to stop admitting transgender people, gives Mattis power to remove those serving  —  Following President Donald Trump's announcement to ban open transgender service in the military …

Donald Trump's 57 most outrageous quotes from his Arizona speech  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump went to Arizona on Tuesday night and delivered what has now become a trademark speech: Full of invective, victimhood and fact-free retellings of recent historical events.

Ryan warns Trump not to shut down government over border security funding  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  (CNN)Speaker Paul Ryan Wednesday rejected a threat by President Donald Trump to shut down the government to force Congress to approve funding for a border wall with Mexico.

White House has paperwork ready for Joe Arpaio pardon  —  (CNN) The White House has prepared the paperwork for President Trump to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio when he makes the final decision to do so, CNN has learned.  —  An administration official said the White House …

State Department Science Envoy Quits With Not-So-Secret Message For Trump: ‘IMPEACH’  —  The acrostic was included in a letter of resignation.  —  WASHINGTON A science envoy for the Department of State sent a resignation letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday with a not-so-subtle secret message: “IMPEACH.”

Trump Holds Steady After Charlottesville; Supporters Think Whites, Christians Face Discrimination  —  PPP's newest national poll finds that Donald Trump's approval rating is pretty steady in the wake of the Charlottesville attack, probably because his supporters think that whites and Christians …

Rescued piglets served up as sausages to firefighters  —  A litter of piglets whose bacon was saved from a barn fire has been served up as dinner to the firefighters who rescued them.  —  The 18 piglets and two sows survived the fire in Wiltshire in February, which saw 60 tonnes of hay catch fire.

7 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2018  —  Next year's midterm elections will provide Republicans with a major opportunity to build their majority in the Senate — if they can overcome President Trump's dismal approval ratings and internal party rancor.  —  The 2018 Senate map heavily …

The Guardian: We expect Rep. Gianforte ‘to be a man of his word’  —  Civility prevailed at the June 12 sentencing hearing for Greg Gianforte.  Just weeks earlier, Gianforte, heading toward a successful bid for Montana's sole congressional seat, body-slammed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs instead …

Whole Foods shareholders vote in approval of Amazon deal  — Now, completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.  —  Whole Foods shareholders have at last voted to advance Amazon's acquisition of the grocery chain, moving the proposal one step closer to reality.

The Insidious Libertarian-to-Alt-Right Pipeline … Libertarianism has an alt-right problem.  Many prominent leaders of the alt-right have, at some point, identified as libertarian.  I am curious as to... why?  —  Milo Yiannopoulos has billed himself (and has been billed by others) as libertarian.

August 23, 2017: U.S. Department of Treasury - Mnuchin  —  CREW requests:  — copies of all records concerning authorization for and the costs of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's use of a government plane to travel to Lexington, Kentucky on Monday, August 21, accompanied by his wife Louise Linton.

ISIS Uses American Boy to Threaten Trump in New Video … ISIS for the first time apparently used an American child in a propaganda video, a boy living in the so-called Islamic State.  —  “My message to Trump, the puppet of the Jews: Allah promised us victory, promised you defeat,” …

Federal judge tosses new Texas voter ID law; state plans to appeal  —  A federal judge has tossed out a new law softening Texas' strict voter identification requirements.  Texas' attorney general says he will appeal the ruling.  —  Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.

CNN's Big Secret  —  BREAKING: Host reveals that journalists don't like Trump.  —  Now it can be told.  A CNN host named Brian Stelter confided to his audience this week about conversations occurring off-camera and off the record across the media landscape.  According to Mr. Stelter:

I was detained for protesting Trump.  Here's what the Secret Service asked me.  —  Like many events that end up with a person in handcuffs, my story begins in a bar.  I was in Atlanta earlier this month for Netroots Nation, the annual meeting of progressive organizers and writers …

Off The Wall  —  Chuck Atkins says...  “One of the tenants of white nationalism is that college educated people are academic elitests.  Comment?  No?  I'm not surprised.  You never take a political stand because you don't want to alienate anybody.  Its bad for business.  I get it.

Violence at Common rally detailed at arraignments  —  As many as 2,000 “hostile” protesters surrounded police, some throwing bottles filled with urine and punching and spitting at cops as they tried to escort participants from Saturday's “Free Speech Rally” out of Boston Common, according to police reports filed in court yesterday.