The Republican Court and the Era of Minority Rule  —  Democrats have won the national vote in six of the last seven presidential elections, which, with the retirement of Anthony Kennedy, will have resulted in the appointment of eight of its nine justices.  And yet four of those justices …

An Upset in the Making: Why Joe Crowley Never Saw Defeat Coming  —  It was less than three weeks until Primary Day and, on first blush, the poll that Representative Joseph Crowley had been shown by his team of advisers was encouraging: He led his upstart rival, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, by 36 percentage points.

Immigrant toddlers ordered to appear in court alone  —  As the White House faces court orders to reunite families separated at the border, immigrant children as young as three years old are being ordered into court for their own deportation proceedings, according to attorneys in Texas, California and Washington, D.C.

Manafort had $10 million loan from Russian oligarch: court filing  —  (Reuters) - A search warrant application unsealed on Wednesday revealed closer links than previously known between President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin.

HHS watchdog launches probe into conditions at child detention centers  —  The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) inspector general is launching a review of the conditions at the agency's shelters for unaccompanied migrant children.  —  The probe will only focus on safety and health concerns …

31% Think U.S. Civil War Likely Soon  —  Most voters fear that political violence is coming from opponents of the president's policies, just as they did in the second year of Barack Obama's presidency, and nearly one-in-three think a civil war is next.  —  Thirty-one percent (31%) …

Bill Shine Likely as Next White House Communications Director  —  WASHINGTON — Bill Shine, a former Fox News executive who was close to Roger E. Ailes, the network's ousted chairman, is expected to be offered the job of White House communications director, according to two people familiar with the decision.

New Fox chief cracks down on inflammatory statements  —  CEO Suzanne Scott summoned producers to a meeting to direct them to take more control over hosts and panelists.  —  Amid growing backlash against inflammatory statements by Fox News commentators, network CEO Suzanne Scott summoned top show producers …

Genealogists Turn to Cousins' DNA and Family Trees to Crack Five More Cold Cases  —  Police arrested a D.J. in Pennsylvania and a nurse in Washington State this week, the latest examples of the use of an open-source ancestry site since the break in the Golden State killer case.

The Great Facebook Crash  —  The social giant is retreating from the news business.  It's been a painful transition for publications that had come to depend on it—including Slate.  —  The first months of Donald Trump's presidency were a fraught and chaotic time in American politics.

Trump's IRS nominee didn't disclose properties in Trump-branded hotel  —  The revelation about the hotel seems certain to come up when Chuck Rettig testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.  —  President Donald Trump's pick to run the IRS, tax lawyer Chuck Rettig …

Ohio Man Charged with Federal Hate Crimes Related to August 2017 Rally in Charlottesville  —  James Alex Fields Jr. Indicted on 30 Counts Including Hate Crime Resulting in the Death of Heather Heyer  —  A federal grand jury sitting in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia …

Goodlatte: FBI Lawyers Instructed Strzok Not To Answer ‘Many, Many’ Questions In Deposition  —  FBI lawyers instructed Peter Strzok during a congressional deposition on Wednesday not to answer “many, many questions” about his involvement in the Hillary Clinton and Russia investigations …

‘Go back to Africa’: Business owner criticized over Facebook post  —  A Chesterfield business is under a cloud of criticism after a restaurant owner is accused of posting a racist message on her personal Facebook Page.  —  The comment on Judy Maxie's page told Congresswoman Maxine Waters …

North Carolina GOP ends nominee's support over racist posts  —  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Republican Party has withdrawn support from a legislative nominee after a website connected to him said God is a racist white supremacist and Jews are descended from Satan.

Private Messages Reveal the Cis Journalist Groupthink Behind Trans Media Narratives  —  Over the past few years, Jesse Singal has become a leading public intellectual and one of the most prominent journalists covering trans issues, including but not limited to adolescent transition.

Some rules of civility for the Trump era  —  “Now, it is well known,” Sir Walter Scott observed, “that a man may with more impunity be guilty of an actual breach either of real good breeding or of good morals, than appear ignorant of the most minute point of fashionable etiquette.”