Vote count discrepancies found in Kansas GOP primary  —  Washington (CNN)The close GOP primary race between Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Gov. Jeff Colyer took a turn on Thursday, with discrepancies discovered between unofficial results from the county and the state levels.

Michael Avenatti in Iowa: 'I'm exploring a run for the presidency of the United States'  —  Michael Avenatti, 2020?  Stormy Daniels' lawyer says he could be the latest unlikely candidate to throw his hat into the ring.  Nathan Rousseau Smith has more.  Buzz60  —  CONNECT  —  Michael Avenatti has arrived in Iowa.

Judge halts mother-daughter deportation, threatens to hold Sessions in contempt  —  This is a developing story.  It will be updated.  —  A federal judge in Washington halted an apparent deportation in progress Thursday and threatened to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt …

White anxiety finds a home at Fox News  —  Critics accuse Fox News host of racism  —  It wasn't so much a dog whistle as it was an airhorn.  Or perhaps a primal scream.  But whatever it was, Laura Ingraham's forceful denunciation of “massive demographic changes” served as another raw example …

The handwritten notes exposing what Fusion GPS told DOJ about Trump  —  A memory stick quietly exchanged in a coffee shop.  —  An admission of a “Hail Mary” leak.  —  An unmistakable effort to push the Russia investigation closer to Donald Trump  —  's inner circle with uncorroborated tales.

Melania Trump's Parents Become U.S. Citizens as Lawyer Acknowledges ‘Chain Migration’  —  Melania Trump's parents were briskly sworn in as citizens of the United States in New York on Thursday.  —  Viktor and Amalija Knavs, formerly of Slovenia, wore suits and sunglasses as they entered 26 Federal Plaza …

U.S. Officials Scrambled Behind the Scenes to Shield NATO Deal From Trump  —  John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, pushed NATO ambassadors to finish a critical policy document before the alliance's summit meeting last month so the president could not reject it.  —  August 9, 2018

Manafort trial Day 8: A heated exchange, judge admits fault, Airbnb enters the spotlight  —  The federal judge overseeing the Paul Manafort trial took another shot at special counsel Robert Mueller's team Thursday afternoon, even after conceding earlier in the day that a criticism he leveled at prosecutors on Wednesday was erroneous.

James Bond Producers Are Reportedly Leaning Toward Idris Elba as the Next 007  —  Dreams maybe do come true.  —  There are a lot of actors who  —  could  —  play 007 once Daniel Craig retires from the role he despises: Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender (even though he's Irish), Tom Hiddleston …

How Bad are Things for the GOP?  A Democratic House Candidate got 30,000 Write-In Votes in Michigan  —  In April, Michigan officials who oversee elections kicked Democrat Matt Morgan off the congressional ballot, leaving the Republican incumbent, Rep. Jack Bergman, to run unopposed in the general election.

NY Times Writer Apologizes for ‘Inappropriate’ Tweet About New Colleague Sarah Jeong  —  “I just deleted my earlier tweet about this column,” says Elizabeth Williamson after sparking outrage  —  New York Times features writer Elizabeth Williamson apologized for and deleted a tweet on Thursday …

Twitter says Infowars hasn't ‘violated our rules.’ It looks like that's not the case  —  Why Facebook,YouTube and Apple are removing InfoWars content  —  Twitter's vice president for trust and safety, Del Harvey, told employees in an email on Wednesday that if far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones …

Sarah Jeong and the Question of “Context”  —  Two years ago, the ESPN host Bomani Jones appeared on the network's “Mike & Mike” morning show wearing a T-shirt that seemed, at first glance, to bear the logo of Cleveland's baseball team, but, in place of the trademark cursive “Indians,” …

After Being Destroyed, Trump's Walk of Fame Star Multiplies  —  A crew laminated vinyl stars and placed them on blank squares in Hollywood.  —  Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — destroyed on several occasions by detractors who sometimes wield a pick-ax …

Pelosi is the star of GOP attack ads, worrying Democrats upbeat about midterms  —  While Democrats grow optimistic about their chances of taking control of the House in November, they are increasingly anxious that the presence of their longtime and polarizing leader, Nancy Pelosi …

“It Was All True”: Minnesota Attorney General's Former Deputy Speaks Out About Participation in Political Work  —  On Monday, The Intercept reported that Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson relied on her official government staff for political work, sourced largely to unnamed employees.

Poll: 52% want Russia probe ended, one-third Democrats agree  —  A majority of Americans have fallen into “Russia fatigue,” and want the probe into Moscow's influence in the 2016 ended, according to a new survey provided to Secrets.  —  The latest Zogby Analytics online survey found …

Time for Mueller to bring out the big guns  —  Harry Litman teaches constitutional law at the University of California at San Diego and practices law at the firm Constantine Cannon.  He was U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 1998 to 2001.

Mazie Hirono Is Pressing Trump's Nominees On Sexual Harassment.  Brett Kavanaugh Is Next.  —  “It's a legitimate area of inquiry,” said the Democratic senator with a key role in the Supreme Court confirmation process.  —  WASHINGTON For the past seven months, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) …

At DEF CON '18, kids as young as 5 challenged to hack election results websites, voting machines  —  At DEF CON, one of the world's largest hacking conferences, hackers clad in black hoodies made headlines last year when they exposed an array of structural vulnerabilities in voting technology …

Snyder snubs Schuette in governor race  —  Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder refuses to say whether he'll endorse in the governor's race or if he even likes GOP nominee Bill Schuette

Tax-dodging Trump flunky won't fly the US flag on her $40 million yacht  —  Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is dodging more than $2 million worth of taxes by registering her yacht in the Cayman Islands rather than the United States.  —  Trump often roars about the need to respect the flag …

‘Hitler was right’: KC area winner of Missouri House primary leaves trail of bigotry  —  On his Monday morning radio show, Steve West promotes fanatical conspiracies about “Jewish cabals” that are “harvesting baby parts” through Planned Parenthood, that torture and molest children and that run the Republican Party.

Tennessee executes killer with controversial drug that Justice Sotomayor said could inflict ‘torturous pain’  —  Tennessee executed Billy Ray Irick on Thursday night, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a final request to stay his execution.  Convicted of the 1985 rape and murder of 7-year-old Paula Dyer …

Has Anything Changed in Post-#MeToo Hollywood?  —  The silence surrounding Leslie Moonves shows that even now, entertainment executives aren't ready to give up their perks without a fight.  —  Ms. Scovell is a TV writer and director.  —  In Hollywood, it's never lonely at the top.