Top Trump Adviser Says Ted Cruz Could Lose Texas Senate Race  —  President Trump's budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, expressed confidence to Republican donors on Saturday that the party would overcome a Democratic “movement of hate” in November, but he acknowledged Republicans could lose races …

Lisa Murkowski's Biggest Reason To Oppose Brett Kavanaugh May Not Be Abortion Rights  —  Alaska Natives are urging the senator to vote no. She owes her re-election to them.  —  WASHINGTON For all the speculation about Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and whether she'll vote …

Prosecutors back off claim that accused Russian agent Maria Butina traded sex for access  —  U.S. prosecutors have acknowledged they misunderstood text messages they used to claim in court that a Russian woman traded sex for access and should be jailed pending trial on charges …

I Am an Idiot: Zina Bash's OK Sign Was Completely Innocent After All  —  There's no sugar-coating this.  I was wrong about this.  Badly, badly wrong.  Laughably wrong.  Zina Bash, the former clerk of Kavanaugh's who made the OK sign did it for an innocent reason.

Pentagon sends reinforcements to remote Syria base after Russia threatens attack … More than 100 U.S. Marines were sent as reinforcements to a remote coalition outpost in southern Syria on Friday after Russia threatened to attack militants in the area, the Pentagon said.

Trump Administration Discussed Coup Plans With Rebel Venezuelan Officers  —  The Trump administration held secret meetings with rebellious military officers from Venezuela over the last year to discuss their plans to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro, according to American officials …

Dallas officer who shot man in his own apartment was involved in 2017 shooting of a suspect  —  The officer who killed a man in his apartment Thursday after she apparently mistook it for her own home also shot a suspect during an arrest in 2017.  —  Officer Amber Guyger has not been officially named …

Forget the House.  It's the battle for the Senate that could provide the most drama on election night.  —  For months now, the focus of Campaign 2018, rightly, has been on control of the House.  All the metrics continue to point to a midterm election in which Democrats could seize control of that chamber.

Osaka claims U.S. Open title after Serena meltdown  —  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Naomi Osaka became Japan's first ever Grand Slam champion after she thumped a raging Serena Williams 6-2 6-4 in a controversial U.S. Open final on Saturday, with the American suffering a meltdown after being handed a game penalty.

House candidates in critical California district face off on Trump, taxes and the prospect of a Democratic Congress  — Nearly every cross-current of the 2018 campaign for Congress collides in California's 45th House district.  — In a year of surging political activism by women …

According to Donald Trump, a lot of people are crying around Donald Trump  —  WASHINGTON - Something remarkable happened, according to Donald Trump, when Donald Trump arrived at his campaign rally in Evansville, Indiana last week.  —  Nine “miners” greeted him backstage.

Manchin Counts on Health Care to Stave Off Republican Tide in West Virginia  —  MARMET, W.Va. — There were the beauty queens, ages 6 to 60, riding in style in the Labor Day Parade, including Teen Miss West Virginia Coal.  There was the man driving a pickup truck memorial to 29 workers killed …

NYT columnist Maureen Dowd explains why Donald Trump isn't as bad as Dick Cheney  —  Share via Email  —  Post on facebook wall  —  Post to Linkedin  —  Maureen Dowd, I have a confession.  I know the “scheduling conflict” you used at the last minute to push our lunch back one hour was a hair appointment at your hotel.

They Killed Their Abusive Husbands.  Their Acquittals Shocked Russia.  —  MOSCOW — When Yana Gurcheva and Galina Katorova were arrested for stabbing their husbands to death with kitchen knives after suffering years of domestic abuse, the murder cases stirred hardly a ripple in Russia's national news media.

Ex-Mistress Accuses Longtime RNC Leader Elliott Broidy Of Physical, Sexual Abuse, Complaint Shows  —  The former Playboy model also says in the complaint that the major Republican donor thought Donald Trump was “an idiot.”  —  Shera Bechard, a former Playboy Playmate who had a four-year affair …

plaidshirtguy at Trump rally is ... a Billings high schooler  —  Billings West High School senior Tyler Linfesty learned Thursday morning during first period that he had been selected for VIP treatment at President Donald J. Trump's rally at MetraPark.  —  Linfesty had applied for tickets to the rally earlier in the week.

Echoes of Watergate in Trump tumult  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House seethes with intrigue and backstabbing as aides hunt for the anonymous Deep (state) Throat among them.  A president feels besieged by tormentors — Bob Woodward is driving him crazy — so he tends his version of an enemies list …

Bannon Said He ‘Sucked Reince Priebus’ D*ck' to Get RNC Help, Woodward Book Claims  —  It's the latest revelation from Bob Woodward's bombshell book, “Fear,” about Donald Trump's campaign and administration.  —  Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon had so much disdain for former Republican …

How the Anonymous Op-Ed Came to Be  —  The New York Times's Opinion desk published an Op-Ed by an anonymous senior official in the Trump administration on Wednesday.  By Friday, nearly 23,000 readers had submitted questions to us about the vetting process and our thinking behind publishing the essay.

Tropical Storm Florence prompts North and South Carolina to declare states of emergency as it approaches East Coast  —  The governor of South Carolina has followed North Carolina in declaring a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Florence becomes a “better organized” weather system that's expected …