Leaked Audio of Sen. Joe Manchin Call With Billionaire Donors Provides Rare Glimpse of Dealmaking on Filibuster and January 6 Commission … West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, in a private call on Monday with a group of major donors, provided a revealing look at his political approach to the most thorny issues confronting lawmakers.

Still a summit secret: What happened in Helsinki between Putin and Trump?  —  Democrats say they are no longer pursuing records of the private meeting.  —  Ahead of President Joe Biden's meeting Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, congressional Democrats said they are no longer seeking records …

Justice Dept. Ends Criminal Inquiry, Lawsuit on John Bolton's Book  —  President Donald J. Trump had pressured the department to use its legal powers to stop his former national security adviser from publishing embarrassing details about him.  —  The Justice Department has closed …

2 South Carolina executions halted until firing squad formed  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked the planned executions of two inmates by electrocution, saying they cannot be put to death until they truly have the choice of the firing squad option set …

Scardina v. Masterpiece Cakeshop  —  Description: The same attorney who filed an unsuccessful complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission in 2017 commenced a lawsuit in state court over the same custom cake request the attorney made at that time.  The request was for a custom-designed cake …

EXCLUSIVE: ‘No yellow!’  Hunter Biden used slur to refer to Asians in 2019 texts with his cousin Caroline who asked if he preferred ‘foreign or domestic’ women - as he's already been blasted as racist for using the n-word  — Hunter Biden referred to Asians with the offensive term 'yellow …

‘Pure insanity’: How Trump and his allies pressured the Justice Department to help overturn the election  —  New documents and emails reveal how far the president and his supporters were willing to go to try to keep Donald Trump in office in a frenzied three-week stretch that tested Justice Department leaders.

IT IS OBSCENE: A TRUE REFLECTION IN THREE PARTS  —  When you are a public figure, people will write and say false things about you.  It comes with the territory.  Many of those things you brush aside.  Many you ignore.  The people close to you advise you that silence is best.  And it often is.

Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, Forceful on Jan. 6, Privately Are in Turmoil  —  The far-right groups face a cash squeeze, internal discord, social-media cutoff and isolation from the financial system  —  The far-right group the Oath Keepers is splintering after board members accused the founder …

Why Remote Learning Is a Failure  —  Ms. Almagor teaches fourth grade at a public charter school in Washington, D.C.  —  Our prepandemic public school system was imperfect, surely, clumsy and test-crazed and plagued with inequities.  But it was also a little miraculous …

Victoria's Secret Swaps Angels for ‘What Women Want.’ Will They Buy It?  —  The embattled lingerie giant is attempting the most extreme brand turnaround in recent memory: an effort not just to redefine itself but also the very idea of what “sexy” is.  —  The Victoria's Secret Angels …

The Forever-Trump Movement Has Won  —  The 45th president lost an election and incited a failed insurrection, but his grip on the GOP is absolute.  What's next for a party at war with democracy — and the future?  —  The heretics left the champagne and orange juice untouched, but the conversation flowed freely all the same.

Rep. Rosendale Statement on Juneteenth Vote  —  Washington, D.C. — Rep. Rosendale issued the following statement opposing a bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday:  —  “Let's call an ace an ace.  This is an effort by the Left to create a day out of whole cloth to celebrate identity politics …

Aide says former Homeland Security head Tom Ridge had stroke  —  HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge suffered a stroke Wednesday at his home in suburban Washington, D.C., a longtime aide to the former Pennsylvania governor said.

Leading Manhattan DA Candidate Has Repeatedly Paid Virtually No Federal Income Taxes  —  Tali Farhadian Weinstein, who donated $8 million to her own campaign, and her hedge fund manager husband paid nothing (or almost nothing) to the IRS four times in six years.  —  The Secret IRS Files

CIA Names David Marlowe to Run Espionage Operations  —  Will oversee undercover officers who recruit foreign spies, from foreign government officials to members of terrorist networks  —  WASHINGTON—In his first major personnel move, CIA Director William Burns has tapped a 30-year agency veteran …

10 GOP senators back bipartisan infrastructure plan, boosting its chances of moving forward  — Ten Republican senators now support a bipartisan infrastructure framework, which would give a bill enough votes to pass the Senate if all Democrats get on board.

Congress votes overwhelmingly to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.  The day commemorates the end of slavery in Texas in 1865.  —  Congress on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday, elevating the day marking the end of slavery in Texas to a national commemoration …

New Yorker Union Reaches Deal With Condé Nast After Threatening to Strike  —  Condé Nast, the venerable magazine's parent company, agreed to a minimum salary of $60,000 by April 2023, the union said.  The deal also covers workers at the digital publications Ars Technica and Pitchfork.

How Democrats could win Alaska's Senate seat thanks to ranked-choice voting  —  Republicans need to keep all of their current Senate seats to have a shot at regaining control of the Senate in the 2022 midterms.  A conservative insurgency combined with a new ranked-choice voting system may put GOP control of Alaska in doubt.

Royal Caribbean delays cruise ship after 8 crew members test positive for Covid … Royal Caribbean International is delaying the inaugural sailing of its Odyssey of the Seas cruise ship after eight crew members tested positive for Covid-19, officials said Tuesday.

In A First, A Man At The D.C. Jail Just Won A Local Election  —  There's a new elected official in D.C. — and he lives inside the D.C. Jail.  —  Joel Caston won an unprecedented election on Tuesday for a seat on a Ward 7 Advisory Neighborhood Commission, besting four other candidates who are also incarcerated in the jail.

Tucker Carlson's wild, baseless theory blaming the FBI for organizing the Jan. 6 Capitol riot  —  It's been more than five months since President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and those seeking to deflect blame still can't figure out exactly how to do so.

Obama Presidential Center Delay to Set Modern Record  —  Activists have slowed construction of $700 million campus that could see late-summer groundbreaking  —  CHICAGO—Former President Barack Obama, once a community organizer, has gotten a taste of community organizing himself as preservationists …

Paul Gosar demands name of Capitol officer who killed rioter Ashli Babbitt, saying she was ‘executed’  —  In a hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) abruptly turned his questions for FBI Director Christopher A. Wray toward the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt …

Biden Spending Plans Remain Popular  —  But presidential job rating takes a dip  —  West Long Branch, NJ - Joe Biden's job rating has taken a dip as progress on his spending plans has stalled.  The latest Monmouth ("Mon-muth") University Poll finds a majority of the American public continues …

For years US Army hid, downplayed extent of firearms loss  —  The U.S. Army has hidden or downplayed the extent to which its firearms disappear, significantly understating losses and thefts even as some weapons are used in street crimes.  —  The Army's pattern of secrecy and suppression dates …