Jan. 6 texts missing for Trump Homeland Security's Wolf and Cuccinelli  —  DHS watchdog was alerted in February to unavailable records of top officials, but did nothing to alert or investigate  —  Text messages for former President Donald Trump's acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf …

POLITICO Playbook: White House to GOP: Why you trippin'?  —  With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  MANCHIN GIVETH AND MANCHIN... — Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) may have just resurrected Biden's domestic agenda, but he told CHRIS CUOMO in an interview that aired Thursday …

Horrifying footage appears to show Russian captors castrating a Ukrainian prisoner of war  —  A horrific video posted online on Thursday appears to show a Ukrainian prisoner of war being castrated by his Russian captors.  —  While Yahoo News cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video …

Sarah Godlewski suspends U.S. Senate bid, endorses Mandela Barnes  —  Wisconsin Treasurer and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sarah Godlewski is suspending her campaign and endorsing Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, the two campaigns confirmed Friday.  —  Godlewski's decision to drop out of the race …

Phillips: Democrats need ‘new generation’ of leadership, not Biden in 2024  —  In an interview on the Chad Hartman radio show on WCCO-AM, Phillips, who represents Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District, said he wants to see “a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats who step up.”

Improvement or Illusion?  —  Over the last couple of weeks, there's been a shift in opinion among many political professionals about Democrats' chances in the midterm campaign.  They point in particular to improvement for Democrats in the generic ballot poll question (which party …

First on CNN: Jared Kushner details West Wing ‘war’ with ‘toxic’ Steve Bannon in new book  —  (CNN)Jared Kushner details his clashes with Steve Bannon in his new book, describing a “toxic” West Wing presence who accused him of “undermining the President's agenda” and threatened to break him “in half” if Kushner turned on him.

McCarthy says he does not recall Jan. 6 Cassidy Hutchinson call on Trump going to Capitol  —  House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that he did not remember talking to former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson on Jan. 6, 2021, about the prospect of former President Trump …

Trump plasters presidential seal across golf club during Saudi-backed LIV tournament despite complaints  —  Earlier this month, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to criminally investigate Mr Trump's Bedminster golf club over its use of the seal

Pro-Trump influencer upset after documents detailing ‘substantial’ cooperation with FBI are released  —  WASHINGTON — A pro-Trump social media influencer who was convicted of disorderly and disruptive conduct on Capitol grounds for his actions on Jan. 6 is upset over the release of court filings …

Inside one far-right sheriff's crusade to prove Trump's bogus voter-fraud claims  —  In rural Michigan, county Sheriff Dar Leaf has teamed with a Trump-camp lawyer to chase the former president's outlandish rigged-election theories.  A member of a radical group of “constitutional sheriffs,” he's now under investigation himself.

Paul Manafort admits indirectly advising Trump in 2020 but keeping it secret in wait for pardon  —  In new book, obtained by Guardian, 2016 campaign manager convicted of tax fraud says he was ‘very careful’ to hide advice  —  Paul Manafort indirectly advised Donald Trump's 2020 campaign …

Fear of Rampant Crime Is Derailing New York City's Recovery … Incidents of violent crime remain at historic lows in New York City.  But people's views on guns and crime are often more influenced by what they see and hear, rather than by hard numbers.  While homicide is the most high-profile type …

Justices worry about the future of the Supreme Court — and point fingers as to who's to blame  —  Limping away from one of the most significant terms in decades, justices are sending out flares expressing concern not only for the future of the Supreme Court but the country as a whole …

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stayed at fundraiser for hours after Uvalde shooting, records show  —  Finance, flight-tracking documents show the governor stayed in Huntsville longer than he implied.  —  AUSTIN — After the Uvalde school shooting, Gov. Greg Abbott spent nearly three hours in Huntsville …

Americans dismayed at end of Roe are less certain they will vote, poll finds  —  A Washington Post-Schar School poll finds 65 percent of Americans view the Supreme Court's abortion ruling as a major loss of women's rights, while 35 percent say it is not  —  Nearly two-thirds of Americans …

Russian National Charged with Conspiring to Have U.S. Citizens Act as Illegal Agents of the Russian Government  —  An indictment was unsealed today in Tampa, Florida, charging a Russian national, working on behalf of the Russian government and in conjunction with the Russian Federal Security Service …

Vladimir Putin is in thrall to a distinctive brand of Russian fascism  —  That is why his country is such a threat to Ukraine, the West and his own people  —  What matters most in Moscow these days is what is missing.  Nobody speaks openly of the war in Ukraine.  The word is banned and talk is dangerous.

Inflation Reduction Act: Preliminary Estimates of Budgetary and Macroeconomic Effects … Key Points  — PWBM estimates that the Inflation Reduction Act, as written, would reduce cumulative deficits by $248 billion over the budget window.  — The Act would very slightly increase inflation until 2024 …

Biden administration to fill border wall gaps near Yuma, Arizona  —  PHOENIX — The Biden administration on Thursday authorized completion of the Trump-funded U.S.-Mexico border wall in an open area of southern Arizona near Yuma, where four wide gaps make it among the busiest corridors for illegal crossings.

The Lessons of Last Year's Larry Summers Hatefest … Larry Summers opposed the American Jobs Plan on the grounds that it would risk overheating the economy, stoking inflation, and potentially forcing the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, triggering a recession.

On Economics And Democracy  —  High unemployment is extremely dangerous.  —  Earlier this week, I spoke at a gathering in Washington organized by Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Adam Jentleson on what they are calling “Inclusive Populism” — an economic agenda that defends the rights of all working people, whatever they may look like.

The GOP went to war against Google over spam — and may win  —  As fundraising slows, the GOP is blaming Gmail's spam filter.  The tech giant rejects claims of bias but is moving to placate Republicans, anyway.  —  The occasion was lunch.  The setting was an ornate room off the Senate chamber.

In Michigan Governor Race, Legal Missteps Hurt GOP Bid to Unseat Gretchen Whitmer  —  Ahead of Aug. 2 primary, establishment Republicans look to boost political newcomer Tudor Dixon as unusual GOP race comes to a close  —  Midterms 2022: Where Republicans and Democrats Stand on the Issues

Wait, is Biden a better president than people thought?  Many progressives have spent the Biden years in a mood of rising despair and even rage about the prospects for achieving the kind of fundamental change they believe the country and world urgently need.  They wish Joe Manchin was a different kind of senator.

Is Pro-Life Now Hate Speech?  —  Below is my column in The Hill on a shift in the rhetoric in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.  From politicians to pundits, pro-life positions are being treated as virtual hate speech.  The demonization of those with pro-life views is meant …

At least 16 people are dead after Kentucky's catastrophic flooding, and the death toll is expected to rise  —  Flood threat persists in Kentucky while sweltering temperatures target the Northwest  —  (CNN)At least 16 people are dead following catastrophic flooding in Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said Friday.