Ex-aide says she refused hush money, pens White House memoir calling Trump racist  —  Omarosa Manigault Newman was offered a $15,000-a-month contract from President Trump's campaign to stay silent after being fired from her job as a White House aide by Chief of Staff John F. Kelly last December …

GOP Operative Made “Suspicious” Cash Withdrawals During Pursuit Of Clinton Emails  —  In one of the most intriguing episodes of the 2016 presidential campaign, Republican activist Peter W. Smith launched an independent effort to obtain Hillary Clinton's emails to help defeat her and elect Donald Trump.

Witness in Mueller probe refuses to appear before grand jury  —  A witness in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation has refused to appear for scheduled grand jury testimony Friday, prompting a sealed hearing before a federal judge.  —  Andrew Miller, a former aide …

Twitter Suspends Proud Boys And Founder Gavin McInnes Accounts Ahead Of Unite The Right Rally  —  Twitter suspended several accounts associated with the Proud Boys, a right-wing group present at last year's Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, ahead of a similar rally in Washington, DC this weekend.

NPR interviewed the racist behind ‘Unite the Right 2’ and it was a disaster  —  Two days ahead of what is expected to be a small white supremacist rally in Washington, D.C., NPR gave rally organizer Jason Kessler a national platform to peddle junk “race science.”

The Manafort scramble: Raising millions for himself even as he ran Trump's campaign  —  Paul Manafort, a valued customer of the Trump Organization who had spent $3.7 million to buy Apartment 43G in Trump Tower, appeared to be just what Donald Trump wanted in March 2016: A consummate Washington insider …

Democrats all but acknowledge Kavanaugh is headed toward confirmation to Supreme Court  —  ORONO, Maine — Democrats have all but acknowledged that they are unable to stop the Senate from confirming Trump nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court this fall.

Sheriff Joe on Sacha Baron Cohen interview: ‘I made a bad mistake’  —  PHOENIX — Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio admits that he made a “bad mistake” by allowing himself to be interviewed by Sacha Baron Cohen as part of an undercover television show.

Iran test-fires ballistic missile for first time in 2018, officials say  —  EXCLUSIVE - For the first time in more than a year, Iran test-fired a ballistic missile in a brazen display of defiance months after President Trump pulled the United States out of a landmark nuclear deal and days …

Explain the Chinese spy, Sen. Feinstein  —  Imagine if it emerged that the Republican chairman of the House or Senate intelligence committee had a Russian spy working on their staff.  Think it would cause a political firestorm?  Well, this month we learned that Sen. Dianne Feinstein …

Kansas governor questions opponent's role in vote counting  —  TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer said Friday that he believes Secretary of State Kris Kobach has told counties as part of his job as the state's top elections official not to accept some legitimate ballots in their hotly contested Republican primary race.

Democratic National Committee Proposes Reversing Its Ban On Fossil Fuel Donations  —  The move comes just two months after the party adopted a resolution to prohibit oil, gas and coal company contributions.  —  The Democratic National Committee plans to vote on a resolution Friday afternoon …

Flat Earthers Call Trump's Space Force Idea ‘Impossible’ … President Donald Trump wants a Space Force to expand U.S. military power beyond the globe.  That's a problem for flat earthers who incorrectly believe the world is a flat disc floating through space.

‘Do you know who I am?’  Bill Murray, photographer get into dispute on Martha's Vineyard  —  Actor and comedian Bill Murray was involved in a dispute with a photographer at a Martha's Vineyard restaurant Wednesday night, according to a police report.  —  Peter Simon, 71, said he was on …

Newspaper calls for war of words against Trump media attacks  —  BOSTON (AP) — A Boston newspaper is proposing a coordinated editorial response from publications across the U.S. to President Donald Trump's frequent attacks on the news media.  —  “We are not the enemy of the people,” …

FROM THIS EPISODE  —  Does President Trump deserve the credit he took for dragging the Republican candidate in that Ohio House race over the finish line?  Tuesday was also not a good night for high-profile progressive candidates in Democratic primaries.  Is this the revenge of the Democratic establishment?

NEW: Daily Beast Working on Major NBC News Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Story  —  The Daily Beast is working on a major story about sexual harassment and misconduct at NBC News, sources tell Mediaite.  —  The story involves varying allegations against senior NBC News executives …

Trump Threatens Tariffs on Canadian-Made Cars  —  President also says Nafta deal with Mexico ‘is coming along nicely’  —  President Trump on Friday threatened tariffs on Canadian-made cars if U.S. officials can't strike a deal with the country on overhauling the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trump Administration Seeks to Withhold Millions in Aid to Palestinians  —  Kushner hopes cuts will pressure Palestinians to accept a U.S. peace plan.  —  The White House is seeking to withhold up to $200 million in relief aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank …

Mulvaney Looks to Weaken Oversight of Military Lending  —  The Trump administration is planning to suspend routine examinations of lenders for violations of the Military Lending Act, which was devised to protect military service members and their families from financial fraud …

Newly released video shows incredible Afghanistan heroics of Air Force sergeant, 36, killed in battle with Al Qaeda 16 years ago and he will finally receive a posthumous Medal of Honor  — A new video shows him taking on Al Qaeda fighters single-handedly after coming back from unconsciousness …

N.J.'s Bob Menendez is top foreign relations Democrat in Senate.  His campaign chief is a lobbyist for Qatar.  —  Michael Soliman is a longtime aide and confidant to Sen. Bob Menendez.  Now the New Jersey Democrat's campaign chairman, he naturally wants his boss to win reelection this year.

DOJ Official Bruce Ohr Will Appear Before Congress Later In August  —  The Department of Justice official whose wife worked for dossier firm Fusion GPS and maintained close contact with dossier author Christopher Steele will appear for an interview before members of two congressional committees later in August.

Once ‘No Longer a Nuclear Threat,’ North Korea Now in Standoff With U.S.  —  WASHINGTON — North Korea is insisting that the United States declare that the Korean War is over before providing a detailed, written disclosure of all its atomic weapons stockpiles, its nuclear production facilities …

Rubio Goes Nationalist  —  Meet the new Marco . . .  In June 2016, Marco Rubio changed his mind and announced that he would not be retiring from the Senate as he had planned.  A major reason he was seeking a second term, Rubio said, was to help the Senate exercise what …

Axios Gives Up on Getting You to Pronounce Its Name Axi-US  —  It's Axi-OS now.  As it should be.  —  Jim VandeHei's dream is dead.  No, not the one about starting a new media organization: His Arlington-based Axios is doing just fine, and even has a deal for a limited-run HBO series.