Epstein Paid $350,000 to Possible Witnesses Against Him, Prosecutors Say  —  Federal prosecutors made the allegations in an effort to have bail denied for Mr. Epstein, the financier facing sex-trafficking charges.  —  Jeffrey Epstein, the financier facing sex-trafficking charges in New York …

A White House Correspondent Departs the Jaw-Dropping Trump Beat  —  WASHINGTON — Choosing a single day that epitomizes Donald J. Trump's presidency — amid the endless tangle of jaw-dropping, reality-bending, norm-shattering days — is a fool's errand.  But for a White House correspondent departing …

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Honors KKK Grand Wizard With Proclamation  —  The day of observation calls on Tennesseans to honor Nathan Bedford Forrest, a slave-owning war criminal and Klan grand wizard.  —  Despite public outcry, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) re-signed a proclamation Thursday declaring July 13 …

‘This is tough stuff’: At Texas detention facility, Pence sees hundreds of migrants crammed with no beds  —  MCALLEN, Tex. — When Vice President Pence visited a migrant detention center here Friday he saw nearly 400 men crammed behind caged fences with not enough room for them all to lie down on the concrete ground.

Rep. Greg Meeks lobs veiled primary threat against Ocasio-Cortez amid ‘intolerable’ feud with Democratic leadership  —  The gloves are coming off in the Capitol Hill brawl between Democratic moderates and progressives.  —  Queens Democratic boss and 11-term congressman Greg Meeks took …

Prosecutors unlikely to charge Trump Org executives, sources say  —  (CNN)A federal investigation into whether Trump Organization executives violated campaign-finance laws appears to be wrapping up without charges being filed, according to people familiar with the matter.

9th Circuit rules in favor of Trump admin in ‘sanctuary city’ case  —  The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled in favor of the Trump administration's efforts to prioritize federal dollars for local policing to towns and cities that complied with certain immigration policies.

Exclusive: Boehner Baited Ailes With Non-Public Info on Benghazi Probe in Attempt to Sway Fox News Bookings, New Book Reveals  —  In 2014, then-Speaker of the House John Boehner tried to bait Fox News Chief Roger Ailes into pulling certain conservative lawmakers off the Fox airwaves …

Trump Is Poised to Sign a Radical Agreement to Send Future Asylum Seekers to Guatemala  —  Early next week, according to a D.H.S. official, the Trump Administration is expected to announce a major immigration deal, known as a safe-third-country agreement, with Guatemala.

Protesters Remove U.S. Flag, Replace It With Mexican Flag Outside ICE Facility In Aurora  —  AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)- Hundreds of protesters gathered in Aurora on Friday evening to march to the ICE detention facility where illegal and undocumented immigrants are being housed.

Trump's new replacement Secretary of Labor just had his Russian ties exposed  —  President Trump has appointed a new Acting Secretary of Labor, Patrick Pizzella, to replace disgraced former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta.  But it turns out that Acting Secretary Pizzella could be the one man …

My Mayor Pete Problem  —  One of the worst things I ever did happened in 1992.  I was leaving the bar called The Bar (RIP) on Second Avenue and 4th Street to go to a party called Tattooed Love Child at another bar, Fez, located in the basement of Time Cafe (RIP x 2).

Acosta's Sweetheart Deal Likely to Foreclose Epstein's SDNY Prosecution  —  Double-jeopardy rules almost certainly prohibit settling a federal case and then prosecuting it again in federal court.  —  Alex Acosta did a bad job on the Jeffrey Epstein case.  This column was nearly finished …

AP Exclusive: New election systems use vulnerable software  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Pennsylvania's message was clear: The state was taking a big step to keep its elections from being hacked in 2020.  Last April, its top election official told counties they had to update their systems.

Letters in Amy McGrath campaign launch video were postmarked the same day  —  Kentucky Senate candidate Amy McGrath's three-minute campaign launch video retells her personal story of getting no answer to letters to members of Congress, then features four Kentuckians writing …

‘It works out actually better’: When Trump loses, he's quick to tout Plan B as the real victory  —  The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter's insights  —  After fighting for months in court to try to get a citizenship question on the 2020 Census — and briefly overruling …

House Passes $733 Billion Defense Bill Checking Trump's War Powers  —  WASHINGTON — The House gave final approval Friday to a sweeping defense bill that would put a liberal stamp on military policy, shackling President Trump's ability to wage war in Iran and Yemen, restricting the use …

FTC Approves Roughly $5 Billion Facebook Settlement  —  FTC commissioners broke along party lines, 3-2, with the Republican majority lining up to support the pact while Democratic commissioners objected  —  The Federal Trade Commission has endorsed a roughly $5 billion settlement with Facebook Inc …

Democrats learn the hard way: Latino voters don't just care about immigration  —  MILWAUKEE — As the nation's oldest Latino civil rights organization gathered here this week for its annual convention, anxiety over immigration issues could hardly have been higher.

Can Dante de Blasio Save His Father's Presidential Campaign?  —  With Mayor Bill de Blasio trailing badly, his son is heading to Iowa and beyond.  —  It started out with a soft launch: a snippet of Dante de Blasio supposedly giving his father some tongue-in-cheek advice before he stepped on the presidential debate stage.

Pompeo Seeks to Make Baghdad Embassy Pullout Permanent, Officials Say  —  The abrupt evacuation in May left hundreds of diplomats in limbo and too few in Iraq to handle Iran's influence and other pressing issues, according to State Department sources.  —  In May, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered …