Welcome to The Intercept  —  We are very excited to welcome everyone to The Intercept, a publication of First Look Media (FLM).  The Intercept, which the three of us created, is the first of what will be numerous digital magazines published by FLM.  —  As soon as we resolved to build The Intercept …

N.F.L. Prospect Michael Sam Proudly Says What Teammates Knew: He's Gay  —  Coaches at the University of Missouri divided players into small groups at a preseason football practice last year for a team-building exercise.  One by one, players were asked to talk about themselves — where they grew up …

The Hillary Papers  —  On May 12, 1992, Stan Greenberg and Celinda Lake, top pollsters for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, issued a confidential memo.  The memo's subject was “Research on Hillary Clinton.”  —  Voters admired the strength of the Arkansas first couple, the pollsters wrote.

Chastened G.O.P. Tries to Foil Insurgents at Primary Level  —  WASHINGTON — Richard H. Black is a Republican state senator from the Northern Virginia suburbs who once sent plastic fetuses to his colleagues with a note attached: “Would you kill this child?”  He said a statue of Lincoln …

Reid again eyes Senate rulebook  —  Liberal groups are agitating for another round of filibuster reform after Senate Majority Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) controversial triggering of the nuclear option last year has done little to alleviate Senate gridlock.  —  A coalition of labor and liberal groups …

Economic Confidence Still Highest in D.C. in 2013  —  Confidence improved in most states; West Virginia still least confident  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Although scores on Gallup's Economic Confidence Index improved in most U.S. states in 2013, the index remained negative in all 50.

Why did Gov. Scott Walker lie about voting for Reagan?  —  As noted by James Rowen at The Political Environment, Gov. Scott Walker has once again demonstrated his tenuous relationship with the truth.  In an interview with a right-wing blog Gov. Walker noted how he voted for Ronald Reagan for president (emphasis added).

The shocking interrogation of Catherine Engelbrecht  —  During a House Oversight And Government Reform Committee hearing on IRS targeting Thursday, Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote, was harshly interrogated by Rep. Elijah Cummings.  —  Cummings offered the standard assurances …

Writing Off the Unemployed  —  Back in 1987 my Princeton colleague Alan Blinder published a very good book titled “Hard Heads, Soft Hearts.”  It was, as you might guess, a call for tough-minded but compassionate economic policy.  Unfortunately, what we actually got — especially …

Lawyers for Christie administration seeking documents, interview with Hoboken mayor  —  A team of attorneys retained by Governor Christie's office in the aftermath of the George Washington Bridge scandal is seeking documents and a private interview with the Hoboken mayor, whose explosive allegations have added to the governor's woes.

Did Petraeus Just Endorse Hillary Clinton?  —  Among Republicans, there is no more popular general than David Petraeus, the commander credited for salvaging the Iraq war and the architect of the counter-insurgency strategy pursued by President Bush.  Petraeus has always shied away from politics …