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 …

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.

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 …

Federal judge blocks further implementation of Texas' voter ID law  —  Updated at 7:15 p.m. with more from the ruling and reaction.  —  A federal judge in Corpus Christi blocked further implementation of Texas' controversial voter identification law, after finding for a second …

Rabbis Protest Trump's Comments by Boycotting Conference Call  —  For years, the presidential conference calls were a nonpartisan holiday tradition: President Barack Obama would speak by phone with hundreds of rabbis in advance of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, in what participants described …

Georgia governor expects lawmakers to plunge into Civil War debate next year  —  Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said he's leaving it up to lawmakers next year to decide how to handle the growing debate about the more than 100 Civil War monuments scattered across the state.

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.

Fashion brands turn their backs on Steve Mnuchin's wife  —  MORE FROM: … Luxury fashion labels are distancing themselves from Louise Linton, wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, after she posted a picture of herself stepping off a government plane in designer clothes and then went …

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.

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.

ST. LOUIS  • Police and a witness gave differing versions of how protesters were injured when a driver pulled into a group that had blocked an intersection on Wednesday night.  —  The witness, Keith Rose, said the driver had his middle fingers raised before he accelerated through the group …

How Trump could ease the burden he's putting on the Secret Service  —  WASHINGTON - “I alone can fix it,” Donald Trump famously declared as he accepted the presidential nomination last summer.  When it comes to the serious budget crisis now facing the president's Secret Service, that might actually be true.

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 …

Kushner Cos.  Switches to Crisis Manager for Media Relations  —  Finsbury's Eric Wachter replaces Risa Heller Communications  —  Kushner under federal scrutiny for firm's investment efforts  —  Kushner Cos., the family real estate business of Jared Kushner, has switched public relations firms …

Updated: Crews Cover Charlottesville's Confederate Statues  —  Statues of Confederate generals in downtown Charlottesville are now hidden under dark tarps.  —  Crews with the Charlottesville Department of Parks & Recreation began concealing the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee …

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 …

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 …

'I don't know how it got this bad': Trump supporters and protesters meet in Phoenix  —  PHOENIX — Just before 4 p.m. on Tuesday, at an intersection near the convention center where President Trump was scheduled to hold a campaign rally, two vendors hawked products with competing messages.

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 …

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 …

‘White supremacists by default’: How ordinary people made Charlottesville possible  —  ‘White advocate’ made same arguments as Trump  —  (CNN)Blame President Trump for his tepid moral response.  Call the neo-Nazis and white nationalists thugs.  Fill your Facebook and Twitter accounts with moral outrage.