Exclusive: Top Trump aide's email draws new scrutiny in Russia inquiry  —  Washington (CNN)Congressional investigators have unearthed an email from a top Trump aide that referenced a previously unreported effort to arrange a meeting last year between Trump campaign officials …

Trump clashed with multiple GOP senators over Russia  —  President Donald Trump privately vented his frustration over Russia-related matters with at least two other Republican senators this month, according to people familiar with the conversations — in addition to the president's public admonishments …

Why Ben Carson's appearance in Phoenix was likely a violation of federal law  —  Right before Ben Carson took the stage at President Trump's rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, the announcer introduced him.  —  “The secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development …

White House Sets Rules for Military Transgender Ban  —  Guidelines expected to direct Pentagon to stop admitting transgender people, gives Mattis power to remove those serving  —  Following President Donald Trump's announcement to ban open transgender service in the military …

Wall Street Journal Editor Admonishes Reporters Over Trump Coverage  —  Gerard Baker, the editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, has faced unease and frustration in his newsroom over his stewardship of the newspaper's coverage of President Trump, which some journalists there say has lacked toughness and verve.

Donald Trump's 57 most outrageous quotes from his Arizona speech  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump went to Arizona on Tuesday night and delivered what has now become a trademark speech: Full of invective, victimhood and fact-free retellings of recent historical events.

Trump huddled Tuesday to plot primary against Sen. Jeff Flake  —  (CNN) President Donald Trump huddled privately with potential Republican primary challengers to Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake before taking the stage in Phoenix on Tuesday night.  —  The backstage meeting included former state GOP …

White House has paperwork ready for Joe Arpaio pardon  —  (CNN) The White House has prepared the paperwork for President Trump to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio when he makes the final decision to do so, CNN has learned.  —  An administration official said the White House …

August 23, 2017: U.S. Department of Treasury - Mnuchin  —  CREW requests:  — copies of all records concerning authorization for and the costs of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's use of a government plane to travel to Lexington, Kentucky on Monday, August 21, accompanied by his wife Louise Linton.

Federal judge tosses new Texas voter ID law; state plans to appeal  —  A federal judge has tossed out a new law softening Texas' strict voter identification requirements.  Texas' attorney general says he will appeal the ruling.  —  Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.

He wore Confederate dress to Charlottesville.  He got two middle fingers and possible expulsion from college.  —  The following is a retelling based on contemporary accounts of a confrontation in Charlottesville between two middle fingers and a Confederate flag.

Rescued piglets served up as sausages to firefighters  —  A litter of piglets whose bacon was saved from a barn fire has been served up as dinner to the firefighters who rescued them.  —  The 18 piglets and two sows survived the fire in Wiltshire in February, which saw 60 tonnes of hay catch fire.

The Guardian: We expect Rep. Gianforte ‘to be a man of his word’  —  Civility prevailed at the June 12 sentencing hearing for Greg Gianforte.  Just weeks earlier, Gianforte, heading toward a successful bid for Montana's sole congressional seat, body-slammed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs instead …

7 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2018  —  Next year's midterm elections will provide Republicans with a major opportunity to build their majority in the Senate — if they can overcome President Trump's dismal approval ratings and internal party rancor.  —  The 2018 Senate map heavily …

Trump Holds Steady After Charlottesville; Supporters Think Whites, Christians Face Discrimination  —  PPP's newest national poll finds that Donald Trump's approval rating is pretty steady in the wake of the Charlottesville attack, probably because his supporters think that whites and Christians …

Trump Takes Aim at the Press, With a Flamethrower  —  Every time you think President Trump's anti-press rhetoric can't get worse, he finds a way of surprising you and not surprising you all at the same time.  —  That he will attack journalists on a regular basis should be expected at this point, and it is.

Wall Street Banks Warn Downturn Is Coming  —  HSBC, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley say end of market boom is nigh  —  Breakdown in trading patterns is signal to get out soon  —  HSBC Holdings Plc, Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley see mounting evidence that global markets are in the last stage …

Analysis Again breaking ground, Trump takes the permanent campaign to new heights  —  President Trump gave supporters plenty to cheer about at a boisterous Phoenix rally on Tuesday.  (Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)  —  The permanent campaign has been a fixture of the modern presidency …

Clemson prof: ‘All Republicans are racist scum’  — A Clemson University professor is labeling all Donald Trump supporters and Republicans as “racist scum,” demanding that they “denounce your affiliation, or admit you're a racist.”  — Professor Bart Knijnenburg even directly advocated violence …

State Department Science Envoy Quits With Not-So-Secret Message For Trump: ‘IMPEACH’  —  The acrostic was included in a letter of resignation.  —  WASHINGTON A science envoy for the Department of State sent a resignation letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday with a not-so-subtle secret message: “IMPEACH.”

Energy Dept: Government should ease rules on power plants  —  The Energy Department said Wednesday the government should make it easier and cheaper to operate power plants, including coal and nuclear plants, to strengthen the nation's electric grid.  —  The department said in a new report …

CNN's Big Secret  —  BREAKING: Host reveals that journalists don't like Trump.  —  Now it can be told.  A CNN host named Brian Stelter confided to his audience this week about conversations occurring off-camera and off the record across the media landscape.  According to Mr. Stelter:

The Insidious Libertarian-to-Alt-Right Pipeline … Libertarianism has an alt-right problem.  Many prominent leaders of the alt-right have, at some point, identified as libertarian.  I am curious as to... why?  —  Milo Yiannopoulos has billed himself (and has been billed by others) as libertarian.

Off The Wall  —  Chuck Atkins says...  “One of the tenants of white nationalism is that college educated people are academic elitests.  Comment?  No?  I'm not surprised.  You never take a political stand because you don't want to alienate anybody.  Its bad for business.  I get it.