Modest Public Interest in Close of Zimmerman Trial  —  Wider Race Gap in Interest than for Rodney King, O.J. Simpson  —  OVERVIEW  —  The final days of the trial of George Zimmerman, which concluded July 13 with a verdict of not guilty, attracted relatively modest public interest overall.

Michele Bachmann aide Javier Sanchez arrested after Rayburn thefts  —  Capitol Police arrested an aide to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) after a series of thefts from the Rayburn House Office Building.  —  Javier Sanchez, 37, was arrested last Thursday, a Capitol Police spokesman said.

McCain Suggests Letting GOP Pick Nominees  —  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he and Republicans are trying to strike a deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to avoid his threat of triggering the “nuclear option” and would either allow up-or-down votes on seven contentious nominees or at least find …

Rand Paul, Ted Cruz join Kirsten Gillibrand push on military sexual assault  —  Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have joined an upstart effort to remove the chain of command from military sexual assault cases, POLITICO has learned.  —  The tea party favorites give the bill's lead sponsor …

Deadly clashes erupt in Cairo after U.S. diplomat's visit  —  CAIRO — Deadly clashes erupted on the streets of Cairo on Monday night not long after a visiting U.S. diplomat hailed what he called a “second chance” for Egyptian democracy after the ouster of the country's elected president this month.

Witness claims youths yelled ‘this is for Trayvon’ in beating  —  Police still investigating claim in beating of Hispanic man  —  Baltimore police say they are investigating a witness account that a group of black youths beat a Hispanic man near Patterson Park Sunday while saying, “This is for Trayvon.”

EXCLUSIVE: Feds admit improper scrutiny of candidate, donor tax records  —  Justice has declined to prosecute any of the cases  —  The Treasury Department has admitted for the first time that confidential tax records of several political candidates and campaign donors were improperly scrutinized …

Hispanics of All Ages Tilt Democratic  —  Younger Hispanics, though more independent, still lean to Democratic Party  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Hispanics of all ages in the U.S. today are more than twice as likely to identify with or lean to the Democratic Party rather than the Republican Party.

BREAKING NEWS: Nueces County sheriff confirms judge found dead at courthouse  —  CORPUS CHRISTI — State District Judge Tom Greenwell was found dead from a gunshot wound Monday night in his chambers, Nueces County Sheriff Jim Kaelin confirmed.  —  Corpus Christi police …

Graham says he expects a GOP primary test  —  “I'm a Ronald Reagan conservative,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters before speaking to a few hundred people at the Columbia Rotary Club on Monday.  “You get 80 percent of what you want, that's a good day.”

Petraeus's Pay for Part-Time CUNY Job, Criticized at $200,000, Drops to $1  —  It was supposed to be a feather in the cap for the City University of New York's ambitious honors college.  Or perhaps a careful first step back into public life for a leader sidelined by scandal.

In Second Term, Obama Is Seen as Using ‘Hidden Hand’ Approach  —  WASHINGTON — In the nearly two weeks since Egypt's military seized power, President Obama has promoted a better federal bureaucracy, given a medal to George Lucas of “Star Wars” fame and had former President George Bush to the White House for lunch.