New York GOP Rep. Chris Collins arrested over insider trading charges  —  Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., has been arrested on insider trading charges lodged by the Justice Department, law enforcement officials said Wednesday morning.  —  The indictment obtained from a federal grand jury …

5 Takeaways From Tuesday's Election Results  —  Republicans had a brush with trouble in Ohio, where a result had still not been declared in a special election to fill a House vacancy.  Elsewhere, an activist sweep on the left failed to materialize.  —  Suburbanites are more fired up than rural voters

'It's Fantastic!'  Trump Warms to Rosenstein  —  Nearly fired by the president, the No. 2 Justice official—the man in charge of the Mueller probe—builds a rapport  —  Before President Trump headed to meet Vladimir Putin last month, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein requested a meeting in the Oval Office.

Tuesday Night Is a Bad Sign for GOP Chances in the House  —  On its face, Tuesday night seemed uneventful, or even good news for the Republican Party.  Aside from a few primaries here and there, the main event was the House special election in Ohio's 12th Congressional District.

No law prevents Kris Kobach from overseeing the likely recount in his own race  —  No law requires Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to recuse himself from a recount in the governor's race, but legal and political experts say that he should to maintain trust in the election.

Trump surges to fore of Manafort trial  —  President Donald Trump says that the criminal trial of his former campaign aide, Paul Manafort, has nothing to do with him.  —  But jurors in a Virginia courtroom heard his name repeatedly on Tuesday.  —  Trump's name, his 2016 campaign …

The Shadow Rulers of the VA  —  Last February, shortly after Peter O'Rourke became chief of staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, he received an email from Bruce Moskowitz with his input on a new mental health initiative for the VA. “Received,” O'Rourke replied.

Kansas Dems choose Sharice Davids to challenge Rep. Kevin Yoder for seat in Congress  —  Sharice Davids could make history in November after Kansas Democrats selected the Johnson County attorney as their nominee for a race that could help decide control of the U.S. House.

Corey Stewart praised southern secession in 2017 campaign appearance  —  Senate candidate takes personal shot at Cuomo  —  (CNN)Corey Stewart, the Republican nominee for a US Senate seat for Virginia, praised in a speech last year Virginia's decision in 1861 to secede from the Union …

Sen. Rand Paul says he delivered letter from Trump to Putin  —  Paul's trip to Moscow during the Senate's recess this week also included a meeting with former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev.  —  WASHINGTON — Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday that he was “honored” …

Donald Trump Talks About a War on the Press.  Andrew Cuomo Is Waging One. … On July 19, Zack Fink, the Albany reporter for New York City's local cable news channel, NY1, asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo about the glaring lack of legitimate small donors to his reelection campaign.

Chief ‘extremely concerned’ after officer uses Taser on 11-year-old girl at Kroger  —  A Cincinnati police officer used a Taser to stun an 11-year-old girl suspected of stealing from a Kroger on Monday, according to police.  —  Police Chief Eliot Isaac has opened an investigation …

Trump's D.C. hotel, a clubhouse for his fans, may also be a 5-star conflict of interest  —  An NBC News analysis of FEC filings and social media shows GOP groups, foreign countries and federal agencies have spent big at the luxury hotel.  —  WASHINGTON — The Trump International Hotel …

Saudi Arabia Carries Out Rare Crucifixion for Murder, Theft  —  (Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia executed and crucified a Myanmar man in the holy city of Mecca on Wednesday in a rare form of punishment reserved for the most egregious crimes.  —  Elias Abulkalaam Jamaleddeen was accused of breaking …

We analyzed every QAnon post on Reddit.  Here's who QAnon supporters actually are.  —  The QAnon subreddit, analyzed with data.  —  Late on a recent Thursday night, a Reddit user posted a comment in a forum (or subreddit) devoted to the game Magic: The Gathering about how the company …

POLITICO Playbook: Republicans' dueling political pictures  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  GOOD MORNING from COLUMBUS, OHIO.  —  HOUSE REPUBLICANS, who appear to be the narrow winners of last night's special election here, face a conflicting political picture.  Here's the picture many of them want to see …

Ohio Squeaker Shows GOP Has A Lot To Learn About Winning  —  Republicans and Trump supporters needed some good political news, and they got it Tuesday night in the special election for Ohio's 12th Congressional District.  —  Republican Troy Balderson's narrow, one-point win doesn't mean a “red wave” is swelling.

Exclusive: Pompeo told North Korea to cut its nuclear arsenal by 60 to 70 percent  —  But North Korea has consistently rejected the secretary of state's proposal.  —  The Trump administration has presented North Korea with a formal timeline for starting the process of denuclearization — and Pyongyang has rejected it several times.

At War: War Without End  —  War Without End  —  The Pentagon's failed campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan left a generation of soldiers with little to fight for but one another.  —  By C. J. CHIVERS  —  Listen to ‘The Daily’: Paul Ryan's Exit  —  As speaker of the House, the Republican lawmaker should be at the peak of his powers.

ProPublica to Expand Local Reporting Network to Focus on State Governments  —  In an effort to help stanch the decline in aggressive statehouse coverage across the country, ProPublica today announced that it is expanding its Local Reporting Network with a focus on accountability journalism on state governments or state politics.

Kansas Primary Election Results  —  What to watch: The biggest race in Kansas is for governor, a job held by Jeff Colyer since Sam Brownback resigned to accept an ambassadorship.  Mr. Colyer is running against Secretary of State Kris W. Kobach, the face of President Trump's voter fraud panel, in the Republican primary.