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Mueller Expands Probe to Trump Business Transactions — Special counsel examines dealings of Kushner, Manafort, Trump — Trump has warned Mueller against going beyond Russia in probe — The U.S. special counsel investigating possible ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia …
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In Interview, Trump Expresses Anger at Sessions and Comey, and Warns Mueller — WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that he never would have appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions had he known Mr. Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation that has dogged …
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Excerpts From The Times's Interview With Trump — President Trump spoke on Wednesday with three New York Times reporters — Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman — in an exclusive interview in the Oval Office. Also in attendance was Hope Hicks, a White House spokeswoman.
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The President vs. Federal Law Enforcement: Trump Attacks Everyone — President Trump enters the White House (@POTUS) — President Trump yesterday issued a stunning vote of no-confidence in basically everyone currently in a leadership position in the Justice Department, the FBI …
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Hit & Run, Business Insider, IJR, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Raw Story and Daily Wire


Donald Trump: L'état, C'est Moi — In his bizarre New York Times interview, Donald Trump expresses his characteristic assortment of fever-dream assertions. The president believes Hillary Clinton “was totally opposed to any sanctions for Russia,” that a properly amortized health-insurance plan …
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Talking Points Memo, The Week, Business Insider, Salon, Washington Post, IJR and Vox

Trump goes off-script and fumes about Sessions and Russia probe
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The Atlantic, The Hill, Media Matters for America, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Conservative News Today, Washington Post, IJR, New York Magazine, The Week, Hullabaloo, CNBC, Business Insider and NPR

The Note: Trump's bombshell interview drops on his 6-month mark
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Politico, Business Insider, vice and Washington Post

Sessions: No plans to resign after Trump criticism
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New York Times, Axios, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Feeds, Raw Story, Washington Post, IJR and Conservative News Today


Inspiring Little Fear in Senators, Trump Struggles to Sell Health Bill — WASHINGTON — President Trump thought he could sell balky Republican senators like Ron Johnson of Wisconsin on the Senate health care bill through pleasantries, cajoling and, ultimately, some Oval Office muscle.
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Daily Kos, Mediaite, Raw Story, Politicus USA, The Week, Politico and twitchy.com
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Republicans lament an agenda in ‘quicksand’ — Sen. David Perdue persuaded Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week to scrap two weeks of August recess to advance President Donald Trump's agenda. But since then, the GOP's Obamacare repeal effort has almost entirely collapsed …


A clear guide to what the hell is going on with the Senate health care bill
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Politico

Source: Senate leaders to offer $200 billion to win over moderates
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HuffPost, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg and The Nation

Fact Check: Trump's Confusing Remarks To Senate Republicans On Health Care
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Washington Post, WGBH News, Common Dreams and Politico

As repeal and replace falters, more say GOP should abandon repeal plan
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RedState, The First Street Journal, Pirate's Cove, Infowars, The Week and Talking Points Memo

Which is politically worse for Republicans — failing to pass this health bill or actually passing it?
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Townhall.com, Refinery29 and ABC News


Team Trump Used Obamacare Money to Run PR Effort Against It … The Trump administration has spent taxpayer money meant to encourage enrollment in the Affordable Care Act on a public relations campaign aimed at methodically strangling it. — The effort, which involves a multi-pronged social media push …
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Talking Points Memo, Axios, Shakesville, New York Magazine and Mediaite
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How Democrats Won the Healthcare War
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Bloomberg.com and Washington Free Beacon


H.R. 1628, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017: An Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute — CBO and JCT estimate that enacting this legislation would reduce federal deficits by $420 billion over the coming decade and increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law.
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Business Insider, CNBC, The Nevada Independent and The Daily Caller


Russian official says talks on joint cyber group with US ongoing — A Russian official says that the United States and Moscow are negotiating to set up a joint cybersecurity working group. — Andrey Krutskikh, a top adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin on information security …
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Politico, RedState and Washington Post
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IQ costs Oregon parents their kids, but is that fair? (Column) — Gallery: Redmond couple fights for custody of their children — The nursery in Amy Fabbrini and Eric Ziegler's home is filled with unread children's books and unworn baby clothes. A Winnie the Pooh blanket lies untouched inside …


AlphaBay, the Largest Online ‘Dark Market,’ Shut Down — ‘Dark Net’ Site Was Major Source of Fentanyl and Heroin, Linked to Overdose Deaths, and Used By Hundreds of Thousands of People to Buy and Sell Illegal Goods and Services Anonymously over the Internet
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Talking Points Memo, Motherboard, New York Times, The Daily Caller and Engadget
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Massive blow to criminal Dark Web activities after globally coordinated operation
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Mashable, Motherboard and The Verge, more at Techmeme »


Column Bill Nye on the terrifying ascendancy of American ‘dingbatitude’ — From the Emmy-winning “science guy on” the PBS children's television program to the lab-coat crusader who “saves the world” on Netflix, Bill Nye is a longtime science-is-entertaining educator, a onetime mechanical engineer and a perpetual science lover.
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TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire and Washington Free Beacon
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Bill Nye: Older people need to ‘die’ out before climate science can advance
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NPR, MichelleMalkin.com, The Daily Caller, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and twitchy.com


CBO: 22 million would lose coverage under Senate ObamaCare replacement — About 22 million people would lose health insurance coverage over the next decade under the most recent revision of the Senate's ObamaCare replacement bill, according to a new Congressional Budget Office analysis.
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Political Wire
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President Trump's first six months: The fact-check tally
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Political Wire

The Democratic Party's Billion-Dollar Mistake — The Democratic Party is at risk of repeating the billion-dollar blunder that helped create its devastating losses of 2016. With its obsessive focus on wooing voters who supported Donald Trump, it is neglecting the cornerstone of its coalition …
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One in eight people who voted for Trump having second thoughts - Reuters/Ipsos poll — 6 MIN READ — NEW YORK (Reuters) - About one in eight people who voted for President Donald Trump said they are not sure they would do so again after witnessing Trump's tumultuous first six months in office …
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The Daily Caller, Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo and Instapundit


Big German Bank, Key to Trump's Finances, Faces New Scrutiny — During the presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump pointed to his relationship with Deutsche Bank to counter reports that big banks were skeptical of doing business with him. — After a string of bankruptcies in his casino …
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Raw Story and Balloon Juice

The ‘Game of Thrones’ Creators' Next Show Sounds Stupid as Hell … The takes are already rolling in on Confederate, a forthcoming HBO series from the showrunners of Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss — but all you really need to know is that this show sounds stupid as hell.
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HBO ANNOUNCES CONFEDERATE, A NEW DRAMA SERIES CREATED BY DAVID BENIOFF AND D.B. WEISS
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vice, New York Times, Fusion and Refinery29


Manafort Was in Debt to Pro-Russia Interests, Cyprus Records Show — Financial records filed last year in the secretive tax haven of Cyprus, where Paul J. Manafort kept bank accounts during his years working in Ukraine and investing with a Russian oligarch, indicate that he had been in debt …
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The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, CNBC, The Week, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire