Exclusive: Mueller refers foreign agent inquiries to New York prosecutors  —  Trump assails Mueller ‘conflicts’ though evidence scant  —  (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller has referred a collection of cases to New York federal prosecutors concerning whether several high-profile American lobbyists …

Accused Russian Spy Maria Butina Told American CEO: Send Cash to Moscow … Maria Butina, the accused Russian operative, didn't just allegedly cultivate the NRA on behalf of the Kremlin.  The 29-year-old Russian national also braced one of America's best-known businessmen …

‘We are Q’: A deranged conspiracy cult leaps from the Internet to the crowd at Trump's ‘MAGA’ tour  —  On Tuesday evening, the dark recesses of the Internet lit up with talk of politics.  —  “Tampa rally, live coverage,” wrote “Dan,” posting a link to President Trump's Tampa speech in a thread on 8chan …

Alex Jones, Pursued Over Infowars Falsehoods, Faces a Legal Crossroads  —  AUSTIN, Tex. — In the five years since Noah Pozner was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., death threats and online harassment have forced his parents, Veronique De La Rosa and Leonard Pozner, to relocate seven times.

Promoting voter ID, Trump says ID needed to buy groceries  —  TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump wrongly claimed that shoppers need to show photo identification to buy groceries and accused Democrats of obstructing his agenda and his Supreme Court nominee during a raucous rally aimed …

Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal  —  Google is planning to launch a censored version of its search engine in China that will blacklist websites and search terms about human rights, democracy, religion, and peaceful protest, The Intercept can reveal.

Mich. Supreme Court: Redistricting plan goes on Nov. ballot  —  Lansing — A proposal to create an independent redistricting commission will appear on the November ballot, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled late Tuesday in a closely watched case.  —  The 4-3 decision is rife with political implications …

This Is So Much Bigger Than Paul Manafort  —  On the eve of the Paul Manafort trial, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin casually announced that the Trump administration was considering a fresh $100 billion tax cut for the wealthy.  The two events—the trial and the tax cut—should be considered plot points in the very same narrative.

White House Weighs Another Reduction in Refugees Admitted to U.S.  —  The White House is considering a second sharp reduction in the number of refugees who can be resettled in the United States, picking up where President Trump left off in 2017 in scaling back a program intended to offer protection …

NKorea provided just 1 dog tag with 55 sets of war remains  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — When North Korea handed over 55 boxes of bones that it said are remains of American war dead, it provided a single military dog tag but no other information that could help U.S. forensics experts determine …

Republicans abuzz over Schmidt's divorce from GOP  —  The onetime McCain strategist won't comment on his talks with potential 2020 Democrat Howard Schultz.  —  Steve Schmidt's public break from the GOP and quiet departure from his corporate PR gig earlier this summer are fueling speculation …

Kobach promised cities help.  It cost them millions — and powered his political rise  —  Kris Kobach likes to tout his work for Valley Park, Mo. He has boasted on cable TV about crafting and defending the town's hardline anti-immigration ordinance.  He discussed his “victory” there at length on his old radio show.

It's past time to learn from failures, adapt our laws to the internet age: Mark Warner  —  National conversation about privacy, data and social media is long overdue.  I've released 20 proposals on how to balance technology regulation and innovation.  —  CONNECT

Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change  —  Photographs and Videos by George Steinmetz  —  Editor's Note  —  This narrative by Nathaniel Rich is a work of history, addressing the 10-year period from 1979 to 1989: the decisive decade when humankind first came …

President Trump has made 4,229 false or misleading claims in 558 days  —  Because of summer vacation schedules, we had fallen a month behind in updating The Fact Checker's database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president.

‘Everyone talked with Woodward’: Trump White House braces for new book  —  Unlike previous administrations, this White House had no process for making officials available to the legendary reporter.  —  Bob Woodward, the legendary Washington Post journalist, was sitting on the couch …

US says driving would be riskier if fuel standards tougher  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration says people would drive more and be exposed to increased risk if their cars get better gas mileage, an argument intended to justify freezing Obama-era toughening of fuel standards.

The Justice Department Finds ‘No Responsive Records’ to Support a Trump Speech  —  President Donald Trump delivering an address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on February 28, 2017 (Source: Wikimedia/Office of the Speaker)  —  “According to data provided by the Department of Justice …

Some Republicans approve of Russia's help in elections  —  American intelligence officials say Russia is still trying to interfere with U.S. elections, as the November midterms approach.  And Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has said he prefers Donald Trump in the White House.

City has to pay $65K to white cop who says he was taunted for saying he was part black  —  (CNN)A white police officer in Michigan who says he was taunted by fellow officers when he told them that he was part black will receive a $65,000 settlement, his attorney said.

Illinois lawmaker accused of releasing nude photos of ex-girlfriend  —  CHICAGO — A former girlfriend of Illinois state Rep. Nick Sauer has filed an official complaint accusing the first-term Republican of creating a fake Instagram account and populating it with nude photos of her to lure men into “graphic” discussions.

BBC, Fox News, PBS ranked as TV's most trusted news brands  —  The BBC, Fox News and PBS are the most-trusted TV news brands in the U.S., according to an analysis released Tuesday.  —  Research Intelligencer by Brand Keys surveyed 4,012 viewers who rated broadcast and cable brands that they watch …

Time Flies: U.S. Adults Now Spend Nearly Half a Day Interacting with Media  —  The world has never been more connected, and U.S. audiences have never had as many options to access content as they do these days.  In short, consumers in the U.S. seem like they can't get enough content …

San Juan: The Venezuelan city where nothing works anymore  —  Venezuela's economic crisis has left residents in San Juan with a chronic water shortage  —  San Juan de los Morros (Venezuela) (AFP) - Power blackouts are daily fare, running water comes only once a month, cash machines are empty and waiting for a bus can take hours.

A closer look at the Trump-EU natural gas plan  —  A new post at UPenn's Kleinman Center for Energy Policy breaks down the deal between the White House and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that's aimed at bolstering U.S. liquefied natural gas exports to Europe.

Why We're Sharing 3 Million Russian Troll Tweets  —  When historians try to appraise Russia's interference in the 2016 election, which historical artifacts will they use?  Then-candidate Donald Trump's speech imploring Russia to find Hillary Clinton's emails, perhaps.

U.S. Workers Get Biggest Pay Increase in Nearly a Decade  —  Employment cost index, which measures wages and benefits, grew 2.8% in the 12 months to last month  —  WASHINGTON—U.S. workers received their biggest pay increases in nearly a decade over the 12 months through June …

Facebook's new foreign influence report excluded most divisive rhetoric  —  Facebook released only some of the pages and content publicly, declining to release the depth some pages went to stoke racial tension.  —  On Tuesday morning, the political and tech worlds were startled to learn …