Playbook: What the GOP would prefer not to discuss  —  With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  WITH ENDORSERS LIKE THESE — Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS privately criticized DONALD TRUMP and said he wouldn't be Trump's running mate on a call first obtained by the N.Y. Post's Diana Glebova.

The centerpiece of Republicans' case for impeaching Democratic president Joe Biden is the allegation that he and his son Hunter each accepted a $5 million bribe from Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma when Biden Sr. was vice president.  But in the last week, that accusation has revealed quite …

‘Assholes come and go’: Trump isn't the future, Sununu says  —  “It won't be his party forever. ...  It just won't,” Sununu said.  —  The future of the Republican Party isn't Donald Trump, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday.  —  “It won't be his party forever.  Right?  It just won't.

Mike Lindell must pay man $5M in ‘Prove Mike Wrong’ challenge, judge says  —  In 2021, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell offered $5 million to anyone who could disprove his claim that he had data showing voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.  —  Now, he must pay a 64-year-old from Nevada that award …

Biden's dog bit Secret Service agents about 24 times, new records show  —  One biting incident involving Commander, the presidential dog, briefly shut down White House tours due to blood on the floor  —  President Biden's dog Commander bit Secret Service agents about 24 times …

Sirota's Signals: Yes, $13,000 Per Hour  —  How does the fine print of a government report expose the real reason billionaires hate the IRS?  What are regulators telling us about our credit card bills?  Why is dopamine ruining our society?  Where are lawmakers refusing to ban assault weapons, but looking into banning cold beer?

Fundraising is one bright spot for Mike Johnson  —  Good morning, Early Birds.  Today is the last day of early voting before South Carolina's Republican primary on Saturday.  Tips: earlytips@washpost.com.  Was this forwarded to you?  Sign up here.  Thanks for waking up with us.

Happy Delaware Laptop Day, for Those Who Celebrate  —  If I read the docket correctly, in a courtroom in Delaware today, Judge Robert Robinson will hear John Paul Mac Isaac's motion to dismiss and Hunter Biden's motion for summary judgement in the suit and countersuit over whether JPMI …

Exclusive: N.Y. Times reporters plan fall exposé on Trump's taxes … - “I remember watching Joe Biden's inauguration and seeing Donald Trump and his family leave Washington for Mar-a-Lago,” Craig says. … - “We have spent the last three years building upon our prior reporting.

From anti-anti-Putin to openly pro-Putin  —  Tucker Carlson finally takes the mask off. … Tucker Carlson's recent grand tour of Russia was easy to mock.  —  A far less pleasant version of Rick Steves, Carlson wandered around Moscow, gushing over the clean, efficient subways …

‘Absurdly woke’: Google's AI chatbot spits out ‘diverse’ images of Founding Fathers, popes, Vikings  —  Google's highly-touted AI chatbot Gemini was blasted as “woke” after its image generator spit out factually or historically inaccurate pictures — including a woman as pope, black Vikings …

Biden calls congressional Republicans “worse” than Strom Thurmond … I've served with real racists.  I've served with Strom Thurmond," Biden said at a fundraiser in San Francisco, according to a White House pool report.  — “But guess what? … - Biden said Thurmond did “terrible things …

Tax evasion by millionaires and billionaires tops $150 billion a year, says IRS chief  — The nation's millionaires and billionaires are evading more than $150 billion a year in taxes, according to the head of the Internal Revenue Service.  — The IRS, with billion of dollars in new funding …

Leaked files from Chinese firm show vast international hacking effort  —  A trove of leaked documents from a Chinese state-linked hacking group shows that Beijing's intelligence and military groups are carrying out large-scale, systematic cyber intrusions against foreign governments …