Omarosa says Trump is a racist who uses N-word - and claims there's tape to prove it  —  Former Apprentice contestant and ex-White House adviser writes in new memoir that she witnessed ‘truly appalling things’  —  Donald Trump is a “racist” who has used the “N-word” repeatedly …

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 …

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.

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 …

The only way to save the GOP is to defeat it  —  University of Chicago researchers — who clearly have a lot of time on their hands — have found that the use of certain brands and products is a good predictor of your level of affluence.  This is an exercise in the obvious when it comes to a $1,000 iPhone.

Manafort trial Day 9: Witness suggests Trump role helped Manafort nab loans  —  The bank- and tax-fraud trial of former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort resumed Friday afternoon without any public explanation for an unusual delay in the proceedings, but quickly produced revealing …

‘I hate this county.  I prayed to God that he would curse it’: Footage shows DUI arrest of congressional candidate (with VIDEO)  —  Editor's note: Some of the language in this story may be offensive to some readers.  —  The Democratic congressional candidate who was found guilty this week …

In America, wage growth is getting wiped out entirely by inflation  —  U.S. workers' paychecks are worth less than they were a year ago, the labor department reported Friday, as modest wage gains have failed to keep pace with inflation.  —  Inflation rose 2.9 percent from July 2017 to July 2018 …

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.

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.

Eye of the Hurricane  —  Minnesota could be the decisive battleground in November, and the national media are beginning to notice.  The Associated Press reports: “Democrats' hopes to take House could stumble in Minnesota.” … I would say, formerly one of the nation's bluest states.

We Researched Hundreds Of Races.  Here's Who Democrats Are Nominating.  —  This story was produced in collaboration with ABC News and Ballotpedia.1 Research by Ballotpedia and Roey Hadar, Lee Harris, Adam Kelsey, Adia Robinson, Meena Venkataramanan and John Verhovek of ABC News.

Kavanaugh hearing for Supreme Court seat to be held in September  —  Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings will be held the first week of September, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) announced Friday.

The White Nationalists Are Winning  —  The year since the white-supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been difficult for the rogues gallery of Nazis and pseudo-Nazis who championed it.  —  Jason Kessler, one of the organizers, was practically run out of town …

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 …

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 …

Former congressional candidate charged with murder in Aiken  —  Jozsef Papp @JozsefPapp_  —  The Aiken County Sheriff's Office has made an arrest in connection to a murder at a residence on Old Powderhouse Road in Aiken.  —  Kellie Lynn Collins, 30, surrendered to authorities in McDuffie County …

Rod Rosenstein Defends Bad Forensic Science  —  U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended several questionable forms of forensic evidence Tuesday.  —  “Most of you work on the front lines of the criminal justice system, where forensic science has been under attack in recent years …

Fed-up locals are setting electric scooters on fire, smearing them with poop and burying them at sea  —  They've been crammed into toilets, tossed off balconies and set on fire.  They've even been adorned with dangling bags of dog droppings.  —  As cities from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills struggle …

NASA package that fell from sky with note mentioning Trump sparks alarm in New Jersey  —  SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A suspicious package that fell from the sky over New Jersey caused some alarm because it contained a note that mentioned President Donald Trump.

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.

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 …

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.”

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.

Go deeper: Laura Ingraham's demographics backlash  —  Fox News host Laura Ingraham defended her comments about the “massive demographic changes” in America on Thursday, saying her remarks “had nothing to do with race or ethnicity.”  —  Why it matters: Ingraham's show, along with other prime …

Cables Detail C.I.A. Waterboarding at Secret Prison Run by Gina Haspel  —  WASHINGTON — In late November 2002, C.I.A. interrogators at a secret prison in Thailand warned a Qaeda suspect that he had to “suffer the consequences of his deception.”  —  As interrogators splashed water on the chest of the man …

What would the intelligence community's ‘insurance policy’ against Trump look like?  —  Let's begin in the realm of the fanciful.  —  Assume, for the sake of argument, that powerful, connected people in the intelligence community and in politics worried that a wildcard Trump presidency …