Groundbreaking Night for Women and Diversity, While a Trump Critic Falls  —  HARTLAND, Wis. — Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor and onetime presidential candidate, was soundly defeated Tuesday in his bid to reclaim the Republican nomination for governor, a remarkable upset …

‘People are terrified’: Trump staffers live in fear of Omarosa's next tape  —  Trump aides are suffering from the same type of psychological warfare that gripped Clinton's campaign during the WikiLeaks dumps.  —  A daily trickle of revealing internal conversations between staffers.

House: Three More GOP Seats Join the Toss Up Column  —  For Republicans, the 2018 House playing field is a lot like a game of Whack-a-Mole: everywhere they turn, new problems keep popping up in surprising places.  In January, we rated 20 GOP-held seats as Toss Ups or worse, including three leaning towards Democrats.

Let's Hope There Is No Tape of Trump Using the N-Word  —  But if there is ...  I hope there isn't a tape of Donald Trump using the N-word in a manner that's clearly meant to be offensive, bigoted, and derogatory.  —  We've now reached the stage where the existence of such a tape is not proven, but is more than theoretically possible.

Can Keith Ellison Turn Lawman?  —  Few races for state attorney general receive or merit national attention.  In yesterday's Democratic-Farmer-Labor party primary, however, 5th District Rep. Keith Ellison defeated the endorsed DFL candidate and other contenders to run as the party's candidate for the job.

Frozen Out by Obama, Hungary's Far-Right Leader Finds a Friend in Trump  —  BUDAPEST — Across rural Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban dominates the media landscape.  His allies control the major regional newspapers, which provide supportive coverage of Mr. Orban's anti-immigrant agenda …

Did I Join a Movement That Naturally Attracts Extremists and Kooks? … This week's news about Omarosa secretly taping chief of staff John Kelly and President Donald Trump is yet another reminder of something about Trumpworld: Politics has always attracted eccentric opportunists, but people in this administration are especially weird.

'The guy's not right': Morning Joe raises new questions about Trump's mental health  —  MSNBC's Joe Scarborough has been surprised by President Donald Trump's inability to enlarge his support, saying he had believed his former friend's pathological need to be liked would outweigh his other negative personality traits.

Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman says cancer has returned to his lungs, ‘shaken my soul’  —  Coleman said his prognosis is not “overly optimistic,” but he will fight on.  —  TEXT SIZE  —  The throat and neck cancer that former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman began battling almost three years ago …

Poised to Make History, Jahana Hayes Wins the 5th District Democratic Primary  —  Jahana Hayes wins the Democratic primary for 5th district defeating Mary Glassman Tuesday night.  (John Woike / Hartford Courant)  —  Jahana Hayes, the daughter of a drug addict who grew up in public housing …

‘We pay for it, we should have access to it,’ but police close Nunes office during rally  —  Clovis police were called and the building housing Congressman Devin Nunes' office was locked during a rally for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security on Tuesday.  —  For more than a year …

Earnell Lucas defeats Richard Schmidt in Milwaukee County sheriff's race  —  Earnell Lucas, a Major League Baseball security official, won Tuesday's Democratic primary election for Milwaukee County sheriff and he becomes a sure bet to be hired by voters in November to a four-year term in the office.

'You're on your own,' &c.  —  In the past several days, I have noted three things in the media that bear on the struggle over conservatism.  Well, maybe more than three, but I would like to comment on three.  This will not be a very fun Impromptus, maybe — but, on the plus side, it'll be brief.

Hostility unabated: Colorado seeks to punish cake artist Jack Phillips again  —  ADF attorneys file suit against state officials  —  DENVER - Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that Colorado cannot treat cake artist Jack Phillips differently than others, state officials have continued …

Public Radio Networks to Merge in Big Bet on Podcasts  —  PRI and PRX are joining forces in hopes of becoming a podcasting juggernaut  —  Public-radio companies PRX and PRI are merging in a bid to capitalize on the surging popularity of podcasts and other digital formats as listeners …

Exclusive: Pentagon spokeswoman under investigation for misusing staff, retaliating against complaints  —  Washington (CNN)One of Defense Secretary James Mattis' most senior civilian advisers is being investigated by the Defense Department Office of Inspector General for allegedly retaliating …

Senate Intel Wants To Follow The Money In The Russia Probe.  But Treasury Isn't Making That Easy.  —  In its investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 election, the Senate Intelligence Committee has spent more than a year trying to follow the money.

Twitter Suspends Alex Jones for Seven Days Over Tweet  —  WASHINGTON — Twitter on Tuesday suspended the account of the far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for a week after he tweeted a link to a video calling for supporters to get their “battle rifles” ready against media and others …

Palestinian-American Congressional Candidate Called Out Over Pledge to Cut Military Aid to ‘Discriminatory’ Israel  —  Michigan's Rashida Tlaib, poised to become one of America's first Muslim congresswoman told an interviewer that ‘US aid should be leveraged’ and support to Israel 'doesn't fit the values of our country'

Why Trump will pardon Paul Manafort  —  Today saw a major development in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, as the defense decided not to call any witnesses.  So not only won't Manafort be testifying, neither will anyone else on his behalf.

When a Young Trump Went to Russia  —  On a frigid December day in 2017, Oleg Kalugin opens the door of his house in Rockville, Maryland, an upper-middle-class suburb of Washington, D.C., to meet me.  Nothing in particular distinguishes his split-level suburban home from those of the other professionals …