Top Items:
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's Epstein Fiasco Worsens as Dems Suddenly Find Big New Weapon — Desperate times may call for desperate measures, but they also call for creative ones. Faced with a criminal president and a GOP congressional majority that's wholly devoted to shutting down any and all transparency …
Discussion:
Axios, Deseret News, Washington Times, ABC News and CNBC
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David Weigel / Semafor:
Democrats struggle against Trump-waged redistricting battle
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, The Bulwark, Punchbowl News, The Hill and Washington Examiner
Gary Fineout / Politico:
DeSantis says a census redo could be in works amid state redistricting wars
DeSantis says a census redo could be in works amid state redistricting wars
Discussion:
RedState and Florida Politics
Punchbowl News:
A Texas-sized gamble: Details on the new map
A Texas-sized gamble: Details on the new map
Discussion:
CNN, The Hill, RedState, Democracy Docket, Sabato's Crystal Ball, The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Examiner, Votebeat and NBC News
Owen Dahlkamp / The Texas Tribune:
Newsom will move to redraw California map if Texas redistricts, teeing up national fight
Newsom will move to redraw California map if Texas redistricts, teeing up national fight
Discussion:
CBS News, Washington Examiner, Politico, NewsMax.com, Raw Story, Election Law Blog, Blaze Media and Associated Press
The Texas Tribune:
Texas House Republicans unveil new congressional map that looks to pick up five GOP seats
Texas House Republicans unveil new congressional map that looks to pick up five GOP seats
Discussion:
Politico, The Hill, Dallas Morning News, Lone Star Left, NBC News, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, New York Sun, The Daily Signal, Strength In Numbers, New Jersey Online, Roll Call, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Atlantic, Bangor Daily News, Axios, New Republic, NewsMax.com, Deseret News, Washington Examiner, Raw Story and Pluribus News
Ari Berman / Mother Jones:
Trump's Texas Gerrymander Is Supercharging a New War on Democracy
Trump's Texas Gerrymander Is Supercharging a New War on Democracy
Discussion:
NPR, The American Spectator, Fox News, Democrats and Daily Kos
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Senate Confirms Conspiracy Theorist To Lead National Counterterrorism Center — You can't make it up, folks. Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to confirm Joe Kent, a conspiracy theorist with alarming ties to white nationalists and far-right groups, to lead the National Counterterrorism Center.
Discussion:
Washington Post, MSNBC, Raw Story and Blue Virginia
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Maeve Reston / Washington Post:
Kamala Harris will not run for California governor, opening door for 2028 run — Harris has not ruled out another run for the White House, according to confidantes, while exploring the formation of a new group. — LOS ANGELES — Kamala Harris will not run for governor of California next year …
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Natasha Korecki / NBC News:
Kamala Harris decides not to run for governor of California
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Hill, The Daily Caller, NOTUS, MSNBC, Advocate, UPI, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Pluribus News, The 19th, Townhall, One America News Network, Breitbart, Deadline, TheGrio, The National Pulse, Wall Street Journal, Blaze Media, Daily Caller News Foundation, Reuters, New York Times, Scripps News, MeidasTouch News, Axios, Mediaite, GB News, Washington Examiner, Newsweek, CBS News, Fox News, Ace of Spades HQ and The Parnas Perspective
Melanie Mason / Politico:
Kamala Harris won't run for California governor
Kamala Harris won't run for California governor
Discussion:
ABC News, So What, IJR, New York Magazine and NOTUS
Michael Gold / New York Times:
House Democrats Sue ICE for Barring Them From Detention Facilities — The 12 Democrats accused the Trump administration of violating the law when it turned them away from immigrant detention sites and imposed a new policy limiting congressional access. — A dozen House Democrats who were barred …
Discussion:
New Republic, Breitbart, Fox News and Denver Westword
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Jacob Knutson / Democracy Docket:
House Dems Sue ICE For Blocking Oversight on Immigration Facilities
House Dems Sue ICE For Blocking Oversight on Immigration Facilities
Discussion:
Congressman Joe Neguse, Reuters, Fox News, Associated Press, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Axios, CBS News, Roll Call, JURISTnews, Deseret News, Los Angeles Times, Salon and NOTUS
Eric Bazail-Eimil / Politico:
US sanctions Brazilian judge for prosecuting Trump ally Bolsonaro … “De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions — including against former President Jair Bolsonaro,” Bessent said in the statement.
Discussion:
New York Times, Los Angeles Times, GB News, The Gateway Pundit, UPI, Fox News, CBS News, Washington Examiner, NewsMax.com, Raw Story, Al Jazeera, Axios and Reuters
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Associated Press:
Bessent says new Trump child savings accounts are ‘back door for privatizing Social Security’ — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the Trump administration was committed to protecting Social Security hours after he said in an interview that a new children's savings program …
Discussion:
San Diego Union-Tribune and Raw Story
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Michael Stratford / Politico:
Bessent hails new ‘Trump accounts’ as ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security’
Bessent hails new ‘Trump accounts’ as ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security’
Discussion:
Breitbart, Democrats, New York Times, Raw Story, USA Today, NewsMax.com, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg and New Republic
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
Congressional stock trading ban gets Senate panel's OK … “We have an opportunity here today to do something that the public has wanted us to do for decades, and that is to ban members of Congress from profiting on information that, frankly, only members of Congress have,” Hawley said.
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Department of Homeland Security:
DHS Launches ‘Defend the Homeland’ Nationwide to Recruit Patriots to Join ICE Law Enforcement and Remove Worst of the Worst from U.S. — WASHINGTON - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today launched a new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) campaign to recruit brave …
Discussion:
Politico, Associated Press and Breitbart
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Daniel Orton / Newsweek:
Zohran Mamdani Scores 17-Point Lead with Jewish Voters in NYC Mayoral Race — New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani commands a 17-point lead among Jewish voters in the upcoming New York City mayoral race, according to newly released polling. — The survey from Zenith Research …
Discussion:
Jewish Telegraphic Agency and The Midwesterner
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Greg Otto / CyberScoop:
Army Secretary forces West Point to rescind appointment given to Easterly — The United States Military Academy abruptly ended the appointment of Jen Easterly to a high-profile academic position in West Point's Department of Social Sciences, according to a memorandum issued Wednesday by the Secretary of the Army.
Juliana Vandermark / The Richmonder:
This Tuckahoe home won a $1.26 billion contract for an ICE detention center. The owner isn't talking. — On July 18, the Acquisition Logistics Company received a contract worth a reported $1.26 billion from the federal government for the construction and operation of an immigrant detention center …
Minho Kim / New York Times:
Judge Excoriates Trump Officials for Violations of Laws on Voice of America — The judge had ruled that the administration must restore news programming at Voice of America and has brought back only a fraction of the coverage it provided. — A federal judge said Wednesday that it was likely …
Discussion:
Associated Press
NBC News:
Family of Epstein abuse survivor urges Trump not to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell: ‘A monster who deserves to rot in prison’ — The family of Virginia Giuffre said any leniency extended to Maxwell would go down as “one of the highest travesties of justice” in history.
Discussion:
Associated Press, ABC News and Fox News
Fox News:
Patel found thousands of sensitive Trump-Russia probe docs inside ‘burn bags’ in secret room at FBI — EXCLUSIVE: FBI Director Kash Patel found a trove of sensitive documents related to the origins of the Trump-Russia probe buried in multiple “burn bags” in a secret room inside the bureau, sources told Fox News Digital.
Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica:
Substack's “Nazi problem” won't go away after push notification apology … After Substack shocked an unknown number of users by sending a push notification on Monday to check out a Nazi blog featuring a swastika icon, the company quickly apologized for the “error,” tech columnist Taylor Lorenz reported.
Discussion:
User Mag and Gizmodo, more at Mediagazer »
Tim Renaud / The Hill:
Report says radioactive wasp nest was found near South Carolina nuclear facility — AIKEN, S.C. (WCBD) - A radioactive wasp nest was recently found in South Carolina, according to a report from the Department of Energy. — The report says Radiological Control Operations …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Post and Courier, Metro.co.uk, IJR and The Gateway Pundit
US Food and Drug Administration:
High Noon Announces Recall of its Vodka Seltzer Beach Pack (12 Pack) Due to Inclusion of CELSIUS® ASTRO VIBE ™ Energy Drink Cans that were Inadvertently Filled with Vodka Seltzer — When a company announces a recall, market withdrawal, or safety alert, the FDA posts the company's announcement as a public service.
Discussion:
CBS News, KFSM, Gizmodo, The Daily Caller, New Jersey Online, E! Online, Staten Island Advance, The Hill, One America News Network and Fox Business
Kate Santaliz / Axios:
Scoop: Massie blindsided Mike Johnson on Trump truce — At Rep. Thomas Massie's request, House Speaker Mike Johnson successfully appealed directly to President Trump for a truce, multiple sources told Axios. — But Massie broke the truce just days later, accusing top Republicans of covering up the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Russell Contreras / Axios:
Trump's DOJ rewrites inclusion rules for grant programs — The Trump administration is flipping language about inclusion and diversity on its head to the advantage of white Americans as a requirement to receive federal grants. … - The guidelines say that federal antidiscrimination laws apply …
Discussion:
US Department of Justice
Zaid Jilani / Washington Post:
I might lean left — but Marjorie Taylor Greene is winning my respect — The congresswoman, who represents my district, has shown genuine political courage lately. — Just now — I'm not a big fan of political labels. They invite people to put you in a box, and the only box I want to be in is one labeled “open-minded.”
Lexi Lonas Cochran / The Hill:
Brown University signs deal with Trump administration to restore funding — Brown University on Wednesday announced a deal with the Trump administration that ends three investigations into the institution and restores research funding that was withheld from it.
Ariana Baio / The Independent:
Musk's America Party can't get off the ground and was just to ‘blow off steam’ about Trump's bill … After his fallout with Trump and departure from the White House, Musk is transitioning back to focusing on his various companies and finding firmer footing in the political sphere.
Discussion:
Gizmodo
Mark Zuckerberg / Meta:
Personal Superintelligence — Over the last few months we have begun to see glimpses of our AI systems improving themselves. The improvement is slow for now, but undeniable. Developing superintelligence is now in sight. — It seems clear that in the coming years …
Discussion:
PCMag, Wired, UPI, Bloomberg, Deadline, The Register, TechCrunch, Variety, Associated Press, Adweek and Futurism, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
The Weirdest GDP Report Ever — The economy grew 3%, but mainly because imports collapsed. Alas, investment fell too. — If you think President Trump's tariff ructions don't affect the economy, take a gander at Wednesday's report for second quarter gross domestic product.
Robert Tait / The Guardian:
Ex-CIA agent hits back at Tulsi Gabbard after she accused Obama of ‘treasonous conspiracy’ against Trump — Susan Miller says US intelligence chief's allegations were based on misrepresentations of discoveries made by her team about Russian actions — A former CIA officer who helped lead …
Discussion:
The Federalist, New York Times, HotAir, Blaze Media, Racket News and Raw Story
Jack Silvers / The Daily Beast:
MAGA Champion Who Said Trump Would Fight Child Predators Is Arrested on Charges of Being a Child Predator — ISN'T IT IRONIC — Scott Soucek, the husband of a prominent Wisconsin GOP operative, has been accused of possessing child pornography. — A fervent Trump supporter …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Nadeen Ebrahim / CNN:
Arab states call on Hamas to disarm and relinquish power in unprecedented move — Arab and Muslim states including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have for the first time issued a joint call for Hamas to disarm and relinquish power in the Gaza Strip as part of efforts to end the war in the territory.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Algemeiner.com, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Deseret News, RedState, Breitbart and USA Today
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement — For release at 2:00 p.m. EDT — Although swings in net exports continue to affect the data, recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity moderated in the first half of the year. The unemployment rate remains low, and labor market conditions remain solid.
Lexi Lonas Cochran / The Hill:
Trump administration freezes more than $100M in federal funding for Duke — The Trump administration has frozen $108 million to Duke University just days after it launched an investigation into alleged race-based discrimination at the institution. — The frozen funds from the National Institutes …
Discussion:
CNN, RedState, The Guardian and NewsMax.com

