Trump pressed aides on Venezuela invasion, US official says  —  BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — As a meeting last August in the Oval Office to discuss sanctions on Venezuela was concluding, President Donald Trump turned to his top aides and asked an unsettling question: With a fast unraveling Venezuela …

Wiltshire pair ‘poisoned by nerve agent’  —  A man and woman found unconscious in Wiltshire were poisoned by Novichok - the same nerve agent that poisoned ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, police say.  —  The couple, believed to be Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess, are in a critical condition having …

I left the Republican Party.  Now I want Democrats to take over.  —  “Should I stay or should I go now?”  That question, posed by the eminent political philosophers known as The Clash, is one that confronts any Republican with a glimmer of conscience.  You used to belong to a conservative party with a white-nationalist fringe.

Woman Tries to Scale Lady Liberty After ‘Abolish ICE’ Banner Unfurled at Statue of Liberty  —  At least one person was trying to scale the Statue of Liberty after a banner reading ‘Abolish ICE’ was unfurled at its base Wednesday afternoon.  —  A woman was spotted scaling the statue …

Black Oregon legislator says campaigning in own district triggered 911 call  —  A black Oregon state representative says one of her constituents called police on her Tuesday while she was canvassing alone in a neighborhood she represents.  —  Rep. Janelle Bynum, a Democrat who is running …

How Trump Went From ‘Fire and Fury’ to Dismissing North Korean Nuclear Advances  —  WASHINGTON — When the North Koreans were shooting off missile tests and detonating new, more powerful atomic bombs last year, President Trump responded with threats of “fire and fury” and ordered the military …

The Martha's Vineyard crowd strikes back at Alan Dershowitz  —  For years, former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz and some of his high-profile pals have spent summer afternoons opining on the porch at the Chilmark General Store on Martha's Vineyard.  —  Not this summer, and maybe never again.

My country 'tis of thee...  sweet land of liberty...  to thee I sing...  And today, sing I do.  I also sing America the Beautiful.  And I recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  These are rituals that harken back to my childhood and which I have sought to pass on to my family, as they were passed on to me.

Stormy Daniels' lawyer: If Trump seeks reelection, ‘I will run’  —  Michael Avenatti, the attorney representing adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, said Wednesday he will run against President Donald Trump if he seeks reelection, but only if he thinks there isn't another candidate that could beat the president.

Some Contractors Housing Migrant Children Are Familiar to Trump's Inner Circle  —  Many of the nonprofits, corporations and religious groups watching over migrant children detained at the southwest border have been in this business for years — and they have a history of political connections …

I'm from the border.  The news is getting it wrong.  —  Victoria Ochoa is a Harry S. Truman scholar from the Rio Grande Valley and an incoming J.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  —  I am from la frontera, meaning “frontier” in Spanish but translated in English as “border.”

Steny Hoyer admitted to hospital, diagnosed with pneumonia  —  Washington (CNN)House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer was admitted to the hospital Tuesday and diagnosed with pneumococcal pneumonia, a spokeswoman said.  —  The 79-year-old Maryland Democrat is being treated with antibiotics and is currently resting …

The Fourth of July White House concert used to be a sea of stars.  For Trump, it's a drought.  —  He could barely contain himself.  Jimmy Fallon, then just a few months into his new gig as host of “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” stood on the South Lawn for the Obama administration's first Independence Day celebration in 2009.

Rauner calls on Nazi candidate to exit race  —  Governor dismisses Pritzker campaign ‘baloney’  —  ILLINOIS (WCIA) — Governor Bruce Rauner again condemned the Holocaust denier who managed to secure a spot on the November ballot as a Republican running for Congress during a stop in Champaign-Urbana on Tuesday.

What Politicos Are Reading This Summer  —  13 heavy-hitters tell us what they're taking to the beach.  —  Our Twitter-fried collective attention span notwithstanding, the summer reading list is the rare school-days holdover that many of us actively work to keep in our lives.

‘Our most fundamental values are under attack’: Democrats issue bleak July Fourth statement  —  Happy Fourth of July - or maybe not.  —  The Democratic National Committee's annual Fourth of July statement reflects its long-standing tensions with President Donald Trump.

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”  —  Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens:  —  He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have.  I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly …

Two Judges Exemplify the Choice Trump Faces in a Supreme Court Pick  —  WASHINGTON — One is a creature of Washington with two Yale degrees, a ticket-punching résumé that includes stints in the Justice Department, the Bush White House and a federal appeals court, where he has written some 300 opinions.