Outgoing Ethics Chief: U.S. Is ‘Close to a Laughingstock’  —  WASHINGTON — Actions by President Trump and his administration have created a historic ethics crisis, the departing head of the Office of Government Ethics said.  He called for major changes in federal law to expand the power …

An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean  —  In USC's lecture halls, labs and executive offices, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito was a towering figure.  The dean of the Keck School of Medicine was a renowned eye surgeon whose skill in the operating room …

Highlights: Spicer returns to White House podium for off-camera press briefing  —  White House press secretary Sean Spicer returned to the podium to brief reporters on Monday, but the briefing remained off camera and out of the public eye.  —  The White House has not held a televised briefing since June 29.

White House squeezes Jeff Flake  —  The White House has met with at least three actual or prospective primary challengers to Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake in recent weeks, a reflection of Donald Trump's strained relations with the senator and the latest sign of the president's willingness …

Monmouth University Polling Institute  —  Trump Rating Holds Steady Despite Campaign's 2016 Russia Meeting  —  4-in-10 support impeachment, higher than for Nixon at start of Watergate  —  West Long Branch, NJ - Donald Trump's approval rating has held fairly steady since …

Vice chair of Trump's voter fraud commission wants to change federal law to add new requirements for voting, email shows  —  The day after Donald Trump was elected president, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, now the vice-chair of Donald Trump's commission on voter fraud …

Note to Heller: Don't take away my health care or you die  —  A note taped to Sen. Dean Heller's Senate office was from someone asserting that he would lose his health care if the key senator voted for the repeal bill and that he would die if that happened and would take Heller with him, a law enforcement source said.

R. Kelly Is Holding Women Against Their Will In A “Cult,” Parents Told Police  —  As the R&B legend tours the country this summer, parents have told police that R. Kelly is running an abusive “cult” that's tearing families apart.  Three former members of Kelly's inner circle told BuzzFeed News similar stories.

If John McCain were uninsured, his surgery could have cost $76,000  —  That's more than the average annual American household income.  —  The fate of the GOP's health reform plan right now hinges on Sen. John McCain's recovery from a blood clot surgery.  It's also the perfect reminder …

What campaign wouldn't seek motherlode of Clinton emails?  —  The public learned on March 10, 2015 that Hillary Clinton had more than 60,000 emails on her private email system, and that she had turned over “about half” of them to the State Department and destroyed the rest, which she said were …

‘Modern Day Presidential’ really isn't working for Trump  —  (CNN)Just after 10 a.m. ET Monday, Donald Trump typed out his first tweet of the day: “Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don jr attended in order to get info on an opponent.  That's politics!”  —  A few things:

CREW to get Mar-a-Lago visitor records  —  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  —  Washington, D.C.—As part of ongoing litigation brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the National Security Archive (NSA) and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University …

How Trump Is Transforming Rural America  —  In Colorado, the President's tone has started rubbing off on residents.  —  When Karen Kulp was a child, she believed that the United States of America as she knew it was going to end on June 6, 1966.  Her parents were from the South …

Americans decided health care is for all.  The GOP wants to roll that back.  —  Their plan would once again make it a privilege for the wealthy.  —  As vice president, I met with Americans all across our country.  What they told me over and over is that the Affordable Care Act gave them peace of mind …

Six Months In, Trump Is Historically Unpopular  —  On Thursday, President Trump will officially have been in office for six months, and his term so far has included a few victories (the nomination and confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court), plenty of frustrations …

Trump's Air War Has Already Killed More Than 2,000 Civilians … Civilian casualties from the U.S.-led war against the so-called Islamic State are on pace to double under President Donald Trump, according to an Airwars investigation for The Daily Beast.  —  Airwars researchers estimate …

Trump's D.C. Hotel Sells Clothes Made in China, Vietnam, Peru During ‘Made In America’ Week … President Donald Trump has declared this week Made in America week, a celebration of United States-based manufacturing and domestic economic consumption.  —  At the newest jewel in the Trump business empire …

Trump is killing the Republican Party  —  I did not leave the Republican Party.  The Republican Party left its senses.  The political movement that once stood athwart history resisting bloated government and military adventurism has been reduced to an amalgam of talk-radio resentments.

The Top Jobs in Trump's Administration Are Mostly Vacant: Who's to Blame?  —  President Trump has filled far fewer top jobs in cabinet or cabinet-level agencies than President Barack Obama had at this point in his presidency.  —  The status of top jobs  —  25 weeks into each administration:

How the White House and Republicans underestimated Obamacare repeal  —  The longer Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare flounder, the clearer it becomes that President Donald Trump's team and many in Congress dramatically underestimated the challenge of rolling back former President Barack Obama's signature achievement.

La Raza Finally Loses ‘the Race’  —  The leftist Chicano outfit rebrands itself as UnidosUS.  —  La Raza has decided to rebrand.  The liberal political group announced last week that it would change its name from one suggestive of adversarial Chicano politics to something with broader appeal: UnidosUS.

Martin Landau, Oscar Winner for ‘Ed Wood,’ Dies at 89  —  His résumé includes ‘Mission: Impossible,’ ‘Tucker: The Man and His Dream’ and ‘North by Northwest.’ It does not, however, include ‘Star Trek.’  —  Martin Landau, the all-purpose actor who showcased his versatility …