Playbook: Vance's stealth mission  —  With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco  —  Good morning.  It's Monday.  This is Adam Wren.  Get in touch.  —  In today's Playbook ...  — If you want to understand Trump's Washington, you need to understand Vance's place in it.

Trump fumes as Epstein scandal dominates headlines, overshadows agenda  —  The White House and Justice Department's response to the crisis has been driven by no clear strategy other than asking the country to forget it and move on, multiple people close to the situation told The Post.

Trump could pardon Ghislaine Maxwell.  Here's why he probably won't.  —  The president has shown he likes to pardon people who will get him good press — not bad press.  —  One of the biggest questions people were asking after Department of Justice officials met with Ghislaine Maxwell …

Judges Continue to Block Trump Policies Following Supreme Court Ruling  —  Even with new curbs on their powers, district judges have found ways to broadly halt some administration actions  —  WASHINGTON—When the Supreme Court issued a blockbuster decision in June limiting the authority …

Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97  —  A mathematician by training, he acquired a devoted following with songs that set sardonic lyrics to music that was often maddeningly cheerful.  —  Tom Lehrer, the Harvard-trained mathematician whose wickedly iconoclastic songs …

Senate Democrats urge U.S. to stop funding GHF, resume support for U.N. food distribution in Gaza as more starve  —  A group of Democratic senators led by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is urging the Trump administration to suspend American financial support …

Colorado lawmaker says Gabbard has become ‘weapon’ for Trump … “There have been four investigations including a bipartisan Senate investigation led under the first Trump administration in part by Marco Rubio that is very clear on these findings,” he said, referencing Trump's secretary of state.

What Happens When Doctors Can't Trust the Government?  —  The other day I was talking to one of my patients about her vaccinations, and I noticed that she hadn't had a Covid-19 vaccine since the early days of the pandemic.  “The virus has changed so much since then,” I told her, “so we recommend that you get the current vaccine—

Exclusive: Private Probe of Alleged Epstein—Mossad Links  —  Hedge funds connected to Epstein enlist a former federal agent to probe the late sex trafficker's mysterious wealth, who suspects Israel may have provided secret funds for spying ops.  —  ∙ Paid

Leno Calls for Late Night to Drop Partisan Politics: ‘Why Shoot for Just Half an Audience?’  —  PLAY NICE  —  Jay Leno thinks his former fellow late-night show hosts are alienating audiences with their barbs and jabs against the Trump administration.  “I love political humor, don't get me wrong …

Rough deal: Social media roasts Trump's golf game after clip appears to show alleged cheating in Scotland  —  Trump has long been accused of cheating at golf and mixing politics and business on the course  —  Social media users pounced on a clip that appears to show Donald Trump cheating …

Another whistleblower claims that top DOJ official suggested department could ignore court orders  —  Another whistleblower has made claims to the Justice Department's watchdog that Emil Bove — a top agency official who is now nominated for a judgeship — suggested others in the department …

We Won't Miss Government Media  —  At NPR and PBS, bias has long been the biggest problem.  Let 1,000 podcasts bloom.  —  I'm going to miss the sweet and soothing dulcet-toned voices, but not much else.  As part of the Trump administration's rescission bill, $1.1 billion in federal funding …