‘We are Q’: A deranged conspiracy cult leaps from the Internet to the crowd at Trump's ‘MAGA’ tour  —  On Tuesday evening, the dark recesses of the Internet lit up with talk of politics.  —  “Tampa rally, live coverage,” wrote “Dan,” posting a link to President Trump's Tampa speech in a thread on 8chan …

Trump Calls on Sessions to ‘Stop the Rigged Witch Hunt Right Now’  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday to end the special counsel investigation, an extraordinary appeal to the nation's top law enforcement official to end an inquiry directly in to the president.

Exclusive: Mueller refers foreign agent inquiries to New York prosecutors  —  Trump assails Mueller ‘conflicts’ though evidence scant  —  (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller has referred a collection of cases to New York federal prosecutors concerning whether several high-profile American lobbyists …

Kobach promised cities help.  It cost them millions — and powered his political rise  —  Kris Kobach likes to tout his work for Valley Park, Mo. He has boasted on cable TV about crafting and defending the town's hardline anti-immigration ordinance.  He discussed his “victory” there at length on his old radio show.

Accused Russian Spy Maria Butina Told American CEO: Send Cash to Moscow … Maria Butina, the accused Russian operative, didn't just allegedly cultivate the NRA on behalf of the Kremlin.  The 29-year-old Russian national also braced one of America's best-known businessmen …

Promoting voter ID, Trump says ID needed to buy groceries  —  TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump wrongly claimed that shoppers need to show photo identification to buy groceries and accused Democrats of obstructing his agenda and his Supreme Court nominee during a raucous rally aimed …

Gap Narrows in CD12 Special  —  Motivated base and gains among independents boost Dem  —  West Long Branch, NJ - The race to fill the open seat in Ohio's 12th Congressional District has shifted from a Republican advantage last month to a toss-up now, according to the Monmouth University Poll.

Alex Jones, Pursued Over Infowars Falsehoods, Faces a Legal Crossroads  —  AUSTIN, Tex. — In the five years since Noah Pozner was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., death threats and online harassment have forced his parents, Veronique De La Rosa and Leonard Pozner, to relocate seven times.

Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal  —  Google is planning to launch a censored version of its search engine in China that will blacklist websites and search terms about human rights, democracy, religion, and peaceful protest, The Intercept can reveal.

Trump's approval ratings so far are unusually stable - and deeply partisan  —  Over the course of an eventful first 18 months in office, President Donald Trump's approval ratings have remained remarkably stable.  There has also been a wider gap between Republicans' and Democrats' views …

Poll: Senate race between Cruz, O'Rourke a dead heat  —  The Texas Senate race between Sen. Ted Cruz  —  (D-Texas) is neck and neck, according to a new poll released Wednesday.  —  The 2018 Texas Lyceum Poll showed Cruz leading O'Rourke by a hair — 41-39 percent among likely voters.

Horrible Health Insurance Now Legal Again, Thanks To Trump  —  Some Americans will buy “short-term” plans and save money — unless they get sick.  —  The Trump administration on Wednesday finalized yet another set of new health insurance rules as part of its ongoing effort to roll …

Poll: Biden leads Trump in early 2020 match-up  —  Former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by 7 percentage points in a head-to-head match-up, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.  —  A plurality of registered voters, 44 percent, said they'd choose Biden …

White House Weighs Another Reduction in Refugees Admitted to U.S.  —  The White House is considering a second sharp reduction in the number of refugees who can be resettled in the United States, picking up where President Trump left off in 2017 in scaling back a program intended to offer protection …

NKorea provided just 1 dog tag with 55 sets of war remains  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — When North Korea handed over 55 boxes of bones that it said are remains of American war dead, it provided a single military dog tag but no other information that could help U.S. forensics experts determine …

Republicans abuzz over Schmidt's divorce from GOP  —  The onetime McCain strategist won't comment on his talks with potential 2020 Democrat Howard Schultz.  —  Steve Schmidt's public break from the GOP and quiet departure from his corporate PR gig earlier this summer are fueling speculation …

Senate rejects effort to beef up states' election security spending  —  Senators on Wednesday rejected an a Democratic proposal to provide states with more election security funding ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.  —  Senators voted 50-47 against adding an amendment from Sen. Patrick Leahy

Hotline's Senate Power Rankings  —  A third Republican seat is now among the 10 most likely to flip.  —  With most primaries completed, a Supreme Court nomination on the table, and fewer than 100 days to go before the midterm elections, Republicans remain favored to hang on to or even grow their Senate majority.

Sarah Jeong Joins The Times's Editorial Board  —  Sarah Jeong is joining The New York Times editorial board.  Read more in this note from James Bennet, Katie Kingsbury and Jim Dao:  —  What would it be like if we all deleted Facebook?  What does the future of online privacy look like?

There's a ‘serial farter’ on the loose in the West Village  —  West Village residents are kicking up a stink over a “serial farter” who's polluting the neighborhood.  —  Earlier this year, a local blog posted, “It's happened thrice, so it can't be a coincidence: There's some guy who I believe …

The Stakes Are High for ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ — And That's the Point  —  The new film's creators turned down a “gigantic payday” at Netflix to ensure the first Asian-American-focused studio movie in 25 years would be seen in theaters and, if all goes well, reshape the Hollywood landscape …

“Fatigue is starting to set in,” Allen said.  —  Nearly 300,000 acres of state and local lands have burned in California since January, 70,000 acres more than at this time last year and close to triple the five-year average for the date.  Cal Fire has had to tap agencies in 12 other states …

Top House Republican: Man Killed His Wife ‘Because The Woman Was Unfair’  —  One of the House's most powerful Republicans had some interesting things to say on domestic violence during a recent event back in his district.  —  Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), the chairman of the influential House Rules Committee …

President Trump has made 4,229 false or misleading claims in 558 days  —  Because of summer vacation schedules, we had fallen a month behind in updating The Fact Checker's database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president.

Tommy Robinson, Anti-Muslim Activist, Is Freed on Bail in U.K.  —  LONDON — Tommy Robinson, the jailed British far-right activist backed by the former Trump aide Stephen K. Bannon but reviled by others who call him a violent purveyor of hate, was ordered to be freed on bail Wednesday …