I don't know Kavanaugh the judge.  But Kavanaugh the carpool dad is one great guy.  —  Julie O'Brien lives in Chevy Chase.  —  Much has been written about Brett Kavanaugh as President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, but the discussion has focused on his record as a federal judge and in his legal career.

Mike Flynn Joins Global Consulting Firm  —  Former Trump adviser is awaiting sentencing for lying to federal investigators  —  Former national security adviser Mike Flynn has a new job: He has joined a global lobbying and investment advisory firm.  —  As he awaits sentencing for lying …

Brutal poll: Democrats' Senate dream slips away  —  To win the Senate, Democrats need to keep all 10 seats they're defending in states that President Trump won in 2016 — plus pick up two more seats.  —  Why it matters: That's not happening.  A new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll of key states shows Dems …

Trump Is Training His Base to Hate NATO and Like Putin  —  President Trump tweeted today that America's NATO allies have been “delinquent for many years in payments” and should “reimburse the U.S.” That is not how NATO works.  It is not a protection scheme where the allies pay the United States.

“Trump Is Too Chickenshit to Fire Kelly Himself”: With Bill Shine Producing His West Wing Reality Show, Trump Prepares to Dump His Chief of Staff  —  Now that Shine is in the saddle, it's Mooch 2.0: Kelly is being humiliated, Sarah Sanders has been deemed low energy, and the biggest winner of all is, naturally, Sean Hannity.

GOP Senators Tell Contradictory Stories About Moscow Trip … A top Republican senator shocked his colleagues when he suggested, after returning from a trip to Moscow with fellow GOP lawmakers, that U.S. sanctions targeting Russia were not working and the Kremlin's election interference was really no big deal.

In honor of Trump visit, Brits launch campaign to lift ‘American Idiot’ to top of the charts  —  President Trump loved seeing “American Idiot,” the Green Day Broadway musical, on its opening night in 2010, calling it “an amazing theatrical experience!” on Twitter.

Trump pardons Oregon ranchers at center of 40-day standoff  —  on Tuesday pardoned a pair of Oregon ranchers whose arson conviction became a focus for opponents of federal government land ownership.  —  Dwight Hammond, 76, and his son Steven Hammond, 49, were convicted in 2012 and sent to prison on arson charges.

Shopping struggles: These 11 retailers may not survive 2018  —  The retail apocalypse isn't over yet.  —  The retail apocalypse is entering its ninth year.  —  Many North American retailers were wiped out in the “retail apocalypse” which started in 2010.

GOP Nears Selection of Charlotte for 2020 Convention  —  David Bossie and Ronald Kaufman are said to be among the top choices for Republican convention chairman  —  WASHINGTON—Republican officials were finalizing details Tuesday on a deal to bring the party's 2020 convention to Charlotte …

Trump's Office of Refugee Resettlement Is Budgeting for a Surge in Child Separations  —  The Office of Refugee Resettlement is preparing for the possibility of another surge in family separations.  Internal documents obtained by Slate show that ORR has modeled a scenario …

Elon Musk Leaves Unused Mini-Sub in Thai Cave  —  THAM LUANG CAVE, THAILAND — As the world watched rescuers struggle to save 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped in a cave in northern Thailand, the tech billionaire Elon Musk dreamed up a “kid-size” submarine to help.  It turns out they didn't need it.

Business Insider Pulls Conservative Column About Scarlett Johansson Playing Trans Man … Business Insider removed a post about portrayals of trans individuals in Hollywood after staff complained internally about the column, saying the article did not meet the publication's standards.

What we buy can be used to predict our politics, race or education — sometimes with more than 90 percent accuracy  —  The cultural divide is real, and it's huge.  Americans live such different lives that what we buy, do or watch can be used to predict our politics, race, income …

The Fast and Furious Michael Avenatti  —  In representing the porn star Stormy Daniels, the lawyer thinks he can bring down a president — one cable-news hit at a time.  —  The attorney Michael Avenatti stands just under six feet tall, with blatant blue eyes and thinning hair he shaves down to stubble …

A Landmark Legal Shift Opens Pandora's Box for DIY Guns  —  Cody Wilson makes digital files that let anyone 3-D print untraceable guns.  The government tried to stop him.  He sued—and won.  —  FIVE YEARS AGO, 25-year-old radical libertarian Cody Wilson stood on a remote central Texas gun range …

Man, 92, beaten with brick on street, told to ‘go back’  —  “A 92-year-old senior citizen, what can he do to anybody?  There's no harm that he meant,” the grandson of Rodolfo Rodriguez asked.  —  A 92-year-old man who was thrown to the ground, stomped on by strangers on the Fourth of July …

Anatomy of a Trump rally: 76 percent of claims are false, misleading or lacking evidence  —  We're doing something new: analyzing every factual claim from President Trump's campaign rally in Montana on Thursday.  —  According to The Fact Checker's database, the president had made 3,251 false …

Giuliani works for foreign clients while serving as Trump's attorney  —  Rudolph W. Giuliani continues to work on behalf of foreign clients both personally and through his namesake security firm while serving as President Trump's personal attorney — an arrangement experts say raises conflict …

Judge orders Manafort to be moved to detention center in Alexandria, Va.  —  A federal judge on Tuesday ordered that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, currently jailed while awaiting trial, be moved to a detention center in Alexandria, Virginia.  —  Manafort had been held …

A Distinction Without A Difference  —  Driver told cops he only drank bourbon at stop signs, signals  —  An inebriated motorist assured Florida police that he was not drinking while driving, but only swigging from a bottle of Jim Beam bourbon when his vehicle paused at stop signs and traffic signals, according to a police report.

Judge boots Green Party from Montana ballot in boost to Tester  —  A Montana judge has ordered state elections officials to remove the Green Party from the November ballot, a boost to Sen. Jon Tester  —  (D) in his bid for reelection.  —  Helena District Court Judge James Reynolds invalidated …

Another former OSU wrestler says Jim Jordan knew about alleged abuse  —  (CNN)A fifth former OSU wrestler has told CNN that Jim Jordan knew about the actions of Dr. Richard Strauss, the former Ohio State University medical doctor who treated athletes, and called Jordan, who is now a US Congressman …

ICE Officers to Asylum Seekers: 'Don't You Know That We Hate You People?'  —  New court documents reveal the cruelty of Trump's family separations  —  The Trump child-separation horror is far from over.  According to the government's own numbers, released late last week …