Exclusive: The true origins of the Seth Rich conspiracy theory.  A Yahoo News investigation.  —  WASHINGTON — In the summer of 2016, Russian intelligence agents secretly planted a fake report claiming that Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was gunned down by a squad …

McConnell likens himself to Obama: ‘We both are the descendants of slave owners’  —  The Senate majority leader, who opposes reparations, was asked about NBC News' report that two of his great-great-grandfathers owned at least 14 slaves.  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell …

Barr Won't Recuse Himself From New Case Against Jeffrey Epstein  —  Attorney General William Barr won't recuse himself from involvement in the new charges filed against Jeffrey Epstein by federal prosecutors in New York, according to a Justice Department official.

President Trump cannot block his critics on Twitter, federal appeals court rules  —  President Trump cannot block his critics from the Twitter feed he regularly uses to communicate with the public, a federal appeals court said Tuesday, in a case with implications for how elected officials nationwide interact …

Tom Steyer Will Run for President and Plans to Spend $100 Million on His Bid  —  Tom Steyer, the former hedge fund investor turned impeachment activist, announced on Tuesday that he would challenge President Trump in 2020, reversing a previous decision not to enter the race.

Trump dossier author Steele gets 16-hour DOJ grilling  —  The interview was contentious at first, according to two people familiar with the matter, but investigators ultimately found his testimony credible and even surprising.  —  Christopher Steele, the former British spy behind the infamous …

Michael Flynn Changes His Story, Putting Him on Collision Course With Judge  —  WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, backed off his planned testimony in a federal case against a former associate, according to court documents unsealed on Tuesday.

Ross Perot, self-made billionaire, patriot and philanthropist, dies at 89  —  Ross Perot, self-made billionaire, renowned patriot and two-time independent candidate for U.S. president, has died after a five-month battle with leukemia.  —  He was 89.  —  The pioneer of the computer services industry …

Billionaire insists he has legal parking spot on West Village street, infuriating neighbors who say he created a fake space for himself  —  A billionaire hedge fund honcho carved out a personal driveway in a West Village sidewalk — and didn't pay a dime for the brazen annexation of public space.

House Dems set to subpoena Kushner, Sessions and 10 other Mueller witnesses  —  The House Judiciary Committee will vote on Thursday to authorize subpoenas for 12 of former special counsel Robert Mueller's witnesses — including President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner …

Hola: Majority of Hispanic voters approve of citizenship question on U.S. census  —  Two-thirds of voters approve of a citizenship question on the 2020 census, and that includes a majority of Hispanic voters — despite claims by Democratic lawmakers that the inquiry would discourage participation in Latino communities.

Rapinoe 42, Trump 41  —  By popular demand PPP tested how a Megan Rapinoe v. Donald Trump 2020 match up would shake out, and we found that Rapinoe gets 42% to 41% for Trump.  —  Trump's 41% standing is familiar territory.  On PPP's last public national poll we tested 8 of the actual Democratic candidates …

'What's the point?'  Lawmakers fess up to not fully reading the Mueller report  —  Time for a Mueller report reality check: Only a small segment of America's most powerful have read it.  —  President Donald Trump can't give a straight answer about the subject.

Updating our rules against hateful conduct  —  We create our rules to keep people safe on Twitter, and they continuously evolve to reflect the realities of the world we operate within.  Our primary focus is on addressing the risks of offline harm, and research* shows that dehumanizing language increases that risk.

Ari Fleischer on Why Former Republican Critics of Trump Now Embrace Him  —  Two and a half years ago, Donald Trump assumed the Presidency, despite not receiving the support of a number of establishment Republicans who had expressed disgust with his personal behavior and alarm about the tone and content of his candidacy.

Republican Compared Anti-LGBTQ Proposal To Saving Jews From Holocaust  —  State Sen. Dan Bishop, who faces Democrat Dan McCready in a special election, used an Oskar Schindler analogy to characterize his advocacy against gay rights.  —  The Republican candidate for an open House seat …

A black principal, four white teens and the ‘senior prank’ that became a hate crime  —  The students swore they weren't racists.  Now a Maryland judge would decide their fate.  —  The principal saw a swastika first.  It was inky black, spray painted on a trash can just beside the entrance to the high school.

The Effects on Employment and Family Income of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage  —  The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not changed since 2009, though many states and localities have set their minimum wage above that level.  Increasing the federal minimum wage would have two principal effects on low-wage workers.

Senate Intel Eyes Social Media Manipulators Who Pitched Team Trump  —  They worked on plans to use fake social media accounts to win Trump the election.  No wonder the Senate's Russia probe is interested in them.  —  A few months into Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, his team reviewed a strange pitch.

Elizabeth Warren shuns conventional wisdom for a new kind of campaign  —  When Elizabeth Warren said earlier this year she was swearing off fundraisers, many Democratic strategists saw it as a sign of desperation from a flailing candidate.  —  But that gamble against conventional wisdom …

GOP-led Virginia Legislature abruptly adjourns gun session  —  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Less than two hours after beginning a special session called in response to a mass shooting, Virginia lawmakers abruptly adjourned Tuesday without taking any action and postponed any movement on gun control until after the November election.

The Air Really Was Cleaner Under Obama  —  Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of President Donald Trump's speech yesterday was that it happened at all.  —  It was billed as a celebration of Trump's environmental leadership.  Three senators and six Cabinet-level leaders …

Biden Tells Voter He'll “Go Further” Than Cutting Incarceration By 50%  —  Last month, he told a voter he wouldn't support a percentage target.  On Thursday, his campaign said he will “fight to further shrink the federal prison population.”  —  Over the weekend on a rope line in South Carolina …