Virginia Giuffre's Family Was Shocked That Trump Described Her as ‘Stolen’  —  The siblings of one of Jeffrey Epstein's most prominent accusers wonder what the president knows.  —  When Donald Trump told reporters yesterday that Jeffrey Epstein “stole” a young woman named Virginia Roberts Giuffre …

A New Cycle of Texas Gerrymandering: Your Questions Answered  —  A redistricting expert answers questions from Bolts readers about the effort to redraw Texas' congressional map, and its effects on communities of color and political representation.  —  The Texas legislature began meeting …

Trump's war on Big Law leads firms to retreat from ‘pro bono’ work for underdogs  —  Interviews with over 60 lawyers and 30 nonprofits show legal aid groups now have fewer resources to defend the vulnerable.  —  When the Texas Civil Rights Project needed lawyers to help dozens …

Trump escalates trade war with Canada following Palestine stance  —  U.S. President Donald Trump intensified his trade war with Canada a day ahead of his August 1 deadline for a tariff agreement, saying it would be “very hard” to make a deal with Canada after it gave its support to Palestinian statehood.

Alan Dershowitz Takes on His Greatest Challenge Yet: A Farmers' Market  —  It was an unusually warm day on Martha's Vineyard on Wednesday, and Alan Dershowitz just wanted to enjoy some hot dumplings.  —  As he tells it, Dershowitz, the 86-year-old attorney for some of America's …

WHAT WE'RE SEEING  —  Agents break car windows even when sobbing children or pregnant women are inside.  —  “She is pregnant!” a man yelled as his wife, a U.S. citizen, filmed from inside their Chevy.  “Is pregnant!  Is pregnant!”  —  Officers smashed through three windows …

The Fact Checker rose in an era of false claims.  Falsehoods are now winning.  —  Longtime Fact Checker Glenn Kessler takes stock as he departs The Washington Post.  —  Just now  —  When 400 fact-checkers from around the world gathered in Rio de Janeiro in June for an annual conference, the mood was tense.

Declassified intel ties Soros to Clinton's Russiagate plan for FBI to ‘put more oil into the fire’  —  A declassified annex from John Durham's report sheds new light on the Clinton Plan to falsely tie Trump to Putin, with the expectation that the FBI would join in too.  — Article  — Dig Deeper

Legal Watchdog Files Bar Complaints Against Justice Dept. Lawyers  —  The move represented a rare attempt to seek accountability for rank-and-file lawyers who have represented the Trump administration in court.  —  A legal watchdog group accused three career Justice Department lawyers …

Donald Trump's unprecedented attack on Brazil's judiciary  —  He has placed sanctions on the judge leading the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro, his ideological ally  —  “Let this be a warning to those who would trample on the fundamental rights of their countrymen,” Marco Rubio …

Dems grapple with Trump resistance dilemma  —  IN TODAY'S EDITION:  — Dems' big decisions ahead on spending, noms  — Schumer's new Epstein push  — Flood previews policy battles for Main Street Caucus  —  Senate Democrats have a chance to show their voters …

The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people not to work  —  Early resignation offers and other programs have reduced the workforce, but critics say the moves are also wasting money.  —  Just now  —  The government is paying more than 154,000 federal employees not to work …

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.

What Are Trump's Options If His Tariffs Are Ruled Unlawful?  —  In rolling out the most aggressive tariff regime in the US in nearly a century, President Donald Trump has leaned heavily on emergency powers that had never been used before to impose import taxes.

How Scientific Empires End  —  And what it means for America  —  Roald sagdeev has already watched one scientific empire rot from the inside.  When Sagdeev began his career, in 1955, science in the Soviet Union was nearing its apex.  At the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow …

Traffic Apocalypse  —  Google's AI Overviews are killing click-throughs to news sites.  —  Worldwide search traffic has fallen by 15 percent in the past year, estimates Similarweb, a digital intelligence platform.  The culprit: AI search.  Now that AI-generated summaries are being integrated …

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.

Kamala Harris will release ‘107 Days,’ a behind-the-scenes look at her historic presidential run  —  Former Vice President Kamala Harris will have a memoir out in September on her historic presidential run.  The book is called “107 Days,” the length of her abbreviated campaign, and will be published by Simon & Schuster on Sept. 23.

Why Trump Broke With Bibi Over the Gaza Famine  —  The president wants the war to end and thinks Benjamin Netanyahu is standing in his way.  —  A few weeks ago, President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu each gave the other something of great symbolic value.

The Media Can't Handle the Absence of Truth  —  And their diffidence empowers pathological liars  —  We have guests for the next couple of days, and it would be rude to spend the whole time chained to the computer.  So this post and maybe the next will be short and somewhat meta.

The latest effort to toss Alina Habba draws on an unusual source: Aileen Cannon … “As Judge Cannon explained in Trump, when executive officials deliberately engineer an appointment in violation of statutory and constitutional mandates, the only effective remedy is dismissal or, at the very least …

The rise of ‘Zohran Derangement Syndrome’  —  MIRROR IMAGE — The mere mention of his name generates intense hostility.  Every one of his online posts, no matter how anodyne, sends his enemies into a blind rage.  Nearly every action or public appearance seems to underscore his depravity and unfitness for office.

Trump Explodes at Putin Ally Who Likened Him to ‘Sleepy Joe’  —  FIGHTING TALK  —  “Tell [Dmitry] Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he's still President, to watch his words,” Trump blasted.  —  President Donald Trump exploded at former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev …

Virginia councilman set on fire in personal attack at his office: Police  —  The suspect is in custody.  —  J. Lee Volger is shown in this undated file photo.  —  danville-va.gov  —  A Virginia councilman was set on fire in an apparent personal attack on Wednesday, authorities said.

Treasury Secretary Says Trump Accounts Could Pave Way to Privatizing Social Security  —  Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's comments about the safety net program ventured onto the so-called third rail of American politics.  —  Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday …

Half of Americans think Trump economy getting worse, Times poll says  —  The president has good news on growth but his approval rating falls as voters say the country is out of control and he is obscuring the truth on Jeffrey Epstein  —  At a glance  —  Times-YouGov survey …

‘Not a Damned Penny.’ Texas Flood Survivors Look for Help … From the early days of the tragedy, officials in Kerr County have faced questions about the weak local government response and lack of alarm systems along the river.Desiree Rios for The New York Times

Key Inflation Measure Rose in June, Adding to Pressure on Fed  —  The price index was the latest indication that President Trump's tariffs are beginning to show up in consumer prices.  —  The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation picked up last month, the latest sign …

Donald Trump slams India and Russia as ‘dead economies’ after tariff stand-off  —  US president's threat of 25% levy against New Delhi stands as deadline nears  —  John Reed in New Delhi and Chris Kay in Bengaluru  —  Donald Trump has described India as a “dead economy” and said the US does …

Europe's summer of humiliation  —  America knew the EU was weak.  The rest of the world knows it now  —  The writer is co-CEO of the Brussels-based Itinera Institute and author of 'Superpower Europe: The European Union's silent revolution'  —  Europe entered the summer with the prospect …