White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump's ballroom  —  The president had claimed construction of the $250 million ballroom wouldn't ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure.  —  Just now  —  Demolition crews have begun tearing down part of the White House …

Trump nominee says MLK Jr. holiday belongs in ‘hell’ and that he has ‘Nazi streak,’ according to texts … Paul Ingrassia, President Donald Trump's embattled nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, told a group of fellow Republicans in a text chain the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be …

“Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here.”  —  My Signal exchange with the interim U.S. attorney about the Letitia James grand jury.  —  annabower.bsky.social  —  Meet The Authors … It was 1:20 p.m. on the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 11.  I was lounging in my pajamas, idly scrolling through Netflix …

Ecuador says it has no evidence that survivor of US strike in Caribbean committed any crime … AP requested comment from the Attorney General's Office, but did not immediately receive a response.  —  The man was repatriated by the United States over the weekend following a U.S. military attack …

Some Republican Senators Entertain Nuking the Filibuster to End the Shutdown  —  “Obviously I'll look at any plan that anyone puts out in order to reopen the government,” Sen. Susan Collins told NOTUS, even as Republican leadership is firmly opposed to changing the filibuster rules.  — Copy

Putin's mesmeric sway on Trump  —  Russia bets it can gain in US negotiations what it cannot win on the battlefield  —  If there were a Nobel Prize for patience, Volodymyr Zelenskyy would run away with it.  The Ukrainian leader's February encounter with the just-inaugurated Donald Trump went …

ICE's ‘Athletically Allergic’ Recruits  —  President Donald Trump's plan to double the size of the ICE workforce has met a foe more powerful than any activist group.  It is decimating new recruits at the agency's training academy in Georgia.  It is the ICE personal-fitness test.

Pardoned Capitol rioter charged with threatening to kill Hakeem Jeffries at NYC event this week  —  A pardoned Capitol rioter was arrested last weekend for allegedly threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.  —  Court documents obtained by CBS News said Christopher Moynihan …

White House Scrambles to Preserve Gaza Deal Amid Concerns About Netanyahu  —  The Trump administration strategy is to try to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel from resuming an all-out assault against Hamas, U.S. officials said.  —  The White House scrambled to hold together …

How Trump Is Using Fake Imagery to Attack Enemies and Rouse Supporters  —  The era of A.I. propaganda is here — and President Trump is an enthusiastic participant.  —  After nationwide protests this weekend against Mr. Trump's administration, the president posted an A.I.-generated video …

All but 2 Universities Decline a Trump Offer of Preferential Funding  —  One of the two, Vanderbilt University, signaled it had reservations.  —  Seven of the nine universities that the White House initially approached about a plan to steer more federal money toward schools aligned …

Maine's Platner says the worst is behind him … Platner responded to questions about some of the controversial comments he made prior to running for office, including 2013 posts in which he downplayed the problem of sexual assault in the military.  —  “I didn't know what I was talking about,” he said.

Exclusive: Wide-ranging group of US officials pursues Trump's fight against ‘Deep State’  — Source says focus on retribution for J6 and Trump prosecutions, Russia probe  — Documents show nearly 40 people involved from across government  — ODNI says group was formed to implement Trump's order on weaponization

Massive Amazon cloud outage has been resolved after disrupting internet use worldwide  —  Add AP News to Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.  Share  —  Amazon says a massive outage of its cloud computing service has been resolved as of Monday evening …

Married Congressman had alleged affair with aide... before she set herself on fire: Bombshell revelation as police block release of 911 call and other evidence  —  Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales allegedly had an affair with a senior aide who later died after dousing herself with gasoline …

A rickety dictatorship  —  Public Notice is supported by paid subscribers.  Become one ⬇️  —  ✊ Subscribe to PN ✊  —  Donald Trump is vying to become a dictator just as the cracks in his rickety regime, and the grave deterioration of his own mind, are showing.

Comey Moves To Dismiss  —  You have choices about where you get your news and analysis.  I'm grateful you've chosen to read Civil Discourse.  If you value clear, independent insight into the law and our democracy, I hope you'll consider a paid subscription.  Your support makes the newsletter possible.

U.S. Banks Are Hunting for Collateral to Back $20 Billion Argentina Bailout  —  Banks are looking for assets or guarantees from the U.S. that would back a private-sector loan to support Argentine President Javier Milei  —  A group of banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America …

US appeals court lets Trump send troops to Portland  —  A divided U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday that Donald Trump can send National Guard troops into Portland, Oregon, despite objections by the leaders of the city and state, giving the Republican president an important legal victory …

Donald Trump Has Lost Touch With Reality  —  And it's getting worse.  When will we acknowledge the obvious?  —  The other day I learned a new term: “AI sycophancy,” also sometimes called “chatbot sycophancy.”  —  I already knew about the phenomenon, having read stories …

Treat Big Tech like Big Tobacco  —  The problem with TikTok and Facebook isn't their size  —  The problem with Big Tobacco was not that it could charge excess prices because of its market power.  The problem with Big Tobacco was that cigarettes were too cheap.

US army taps private equity groups to help fund $150bn revamp  —  Apollo, KKR, Carlyle and Cerberus among investors that held talks with federal government  —  The US army has asked private equity groups including Apollo, Carlyle, KKR and Cerberus to pitch “meaty” strategic projects to help …

Russia sanctions bill on hold for now, Thune says  —  Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated Monday that legislation slapping new sanctions on Russia and its trading partners is on hold until after an upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Scoop: Schumer cancels Southeast Asia trip amid shutdown … - People familiar with the matter told Axios the CODEL was cancelled due to the logistics of a trip potentially in the middle of a shutdown, when many workers involved in planning are furloughed.