FISA warrant application supports Nunes memo  —  The weekend release of a highly-redacted version of the FBI's application for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to wiretap onetime Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page has renewed the argument over the Nunes memo …

GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick: ‘The President Was Manipulated By Vladimir Putin’  —  A GOP Congressman and former FBI agent says he thinks President Trump was manipulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Brian Fitzpatrick told NPR's Michel Martin on All Things Considered that he drew …

Donald Trump's Approval Rating Inches Higher, Buoyed by Republican Support  —  In the latest WSJ/NBC News poll, the president's job approval rose to 45% but remains among the lowest of any modern president at this point his first term  —  WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump's approval rating …

Exclusive: Accused Russian agent Butina met with U.S. Treasury, Fed officials  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Accused Russian agent Maria Butina had wider high-level contacts in Washington than previously known, taking part in 2015 meetings between a visiting Russian official and two senior officials …

Birthright Citizenship: A Response to My Critics  —  expected the reaction to a recent op-ed I published calling for the end of birthright citizenship to be cantankerous.  I even expected it to be hysterical—from the Left.  I did not expect self-described “conservatives” …

Tesla Asks Suppliers for Cash Back to Help Turn a Profit  —  Electric-car company, in memo, requests supplier returns meaningful portion of money spent since 2016  —  Tesla Inc. TSLA -2.08% has asked some suppliers to refund a portion of what the electric-car company has spent previously …

Sanders' wing of the party terrifies moderate Dems.  Here's how they plan to stop it.  —  Party members and fundraisers gathered for an invitation-only event to figure out how to counteract the rising progressive movement.  —  Ocasio-Cortez joins Sanders to rally for Kansas Democrat, progressive values

Scoop: World leaders turning Trump tricks against him  —  World leaders are learning to play President Trump using his own set of predictable negotiating tricks.  The most vivid example of this: French President Emmanuel Macron bragging to Trump that he was jamming him by stealing “The Art of the Deal” techniques, Axios has learned.

US commander in Middle East hesitant to cooperate with Russians in Syria on refugees  —  The commander of U.S. military forces in the Middle East has expressed reservations about America possibly working with Russia in Syria to help Syrian refugees return to their war-torn nation …

Leader of the Persistence … It was unremittingly hot at the farm in Natick, Massachusetts, where 1,500 people had gathered on the Sunday after the Fourth of July.  Remarkably, this crowd had assembled under a blistering sun not for a free concert, or outdoor theater, or even a protest, exactly.

Defending Donald Trump, First Baptist's Robert Jeffress compares him to ‘known womanizer’ Ronald Reagan  —  Rev. Robert Jeffress went on Fox News Friday night to defend President Donald Trump amid the news that the president's longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, recorded him discussing payment of a Playboy model.

Judgment days  —  In a small Alabama town, an evangelical congregation reckons with God, President Trump and the meaning of morality  —  Clay Crum opened his Bible to Exodus Chapter 20 and read verse 14 one more time.  —  “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” it said.  —  He prayed about what he was going to do.

THE TRUMP GOP-RUSSIA ALLIANCE IS A NATURAL ALLIANCE  —  Many Republicans must be asking themselves how their party came to be led by a pawn of the Russian government.  Russians must be similarly surprised that Vladimir Putin has found an ally in an American political party …

Southern Nationalist Group Creates Russian Language Website Page To Foster Relationship Between the ‘Two Natural Allies’  —  The League of The South, an organization described by analysts as a neo-confederate hate group, has launched a Russian language page on their website to explore shared ideas on “Southern nationalism.”

John Kelly Signed Off on a ‘Purge’ of Scott Pruitt Loyalists From EPA … The Trump White House has moved quickly to force out a trio of staffers loyal to former, scandal-plagued Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

Gowdy: Trump advisers should consider quitting over Russia  —  The South Carolina Republican chastised Trump for inviting Putin to Washington this fall.  —  House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy chastised Donald Trump for inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington …

Why we need local journalism: Look around at how vulnerable we are right now  —  No one lives in America, exactly.  We all live somewhere in America, like the nearly 9 million of us in New York City.  —  The thing I love about local news is that it doesn't scale.

“Nanette” and why a new wave of comedians don't want to be funny  —  In Hannah Gadsby's highly acclaimed comedy special Nanette, she announces that she's quitting comedy.  Jokes are too simplistic, she says: they convert her trauma into humor and obscure the ugly truth of her story.