The Week It Went South for Trump  —  He hasn't been equal to the crises.  He never makes anything better.  And everyone kind of knows.  —  Something shifted this month.  Donald Trump's hold on history loosened, and may be breaking.  In some new way his limitations are being seen and acknowledged …

Trump's pick for Manhattan U.S. attorney refuses to say he would recuse from probes of president's associates  —  President Trump's nominee to take over the Manhattan federal prosecutors office after the abrupt dismissal of U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman refused on Thursday to say whether …

Inside Barr's Effort to Undermine Prosecutors in N.Y.  —  The firing of the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan was foreshadowed by a disagreement over a case linked to President Trump.  —  Shortly after he became attorney general last year, William P. Barr set out to challenge …

Brad Parscale, Other Trump Staff in Quasi-Quarantine After Tulsa COVID Cases  —  The move, a campaign spokesperson said, was being made out of an abundance of caution.  —  Donald Trump's reelection campaign manager, Brad Parscale, is one of a group of campaign staffers in quasi-quarantine …

It's time to rethink the presidential debates  —  Given how many ugly turns this presidential election year has already taken and how many more are surely yet to come, it is probably a fool's errand to go in search of silver linings in 2020.  —  But the realities of campaigning amid a pandemic …

North Texas family shaken after 18 relatives test positive for COVID-19 following family gathering  —  Three are now hospitalized, including two elderly family members and one woman battling breast cancer.  —  CARROLLTON, Texas — As North Texas watches COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge …

Judge Tosses Trump Family Attempt to Block Mary Trump's Tell-All  —  A Queens County Surrogate Court Judge cited “several improprieties” in Robert Trump's attempt to block niece Mary's tell-all, slated to be published this fall.  —  A New York judge has tossed an application …

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff Charged in Crypto-Currency Case, U.S. Says  —  Jack Abramoff, the onetime Washington insider who went to prison in a lobbying scandal, was charged with a criminal conspiracy related to crypto currency and lobbying disclosure, a U.S. prosecutor said.

CDC says COVID-19 cases in U.S. may be 10 times higher than reported  —  The true number of Americans who've been infected with COVID-19 may top 20 million, according to new estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  —  “Our best estimate right now is that for every case that's reported …

New research explores how conservative media misinformation may have intensified the severity of the pandemic  —  The three studies paint a picture of a media ecosystem that entertains conspiracy theories and discourages audiences from taking steps to protect themselves and others

Pelosi and McConnell eye Dunford to lead coronavirus oversight commission  —  Retired Gen. Joseph Dunford is the leading candidate for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to chair the five-member commission tasked with monitoring the Trump administration's economic rescue effort amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Eye-Popping 500k Users Flock to Twitter Competitor After Twitter Shuts Down Pro-Trump Accounts  —  A whopping 500,000 users signed up for social-media platform Parler after Twitter shut down two conservative accounts this week, according to user metrics obtained by Mediaite.

Treasury sent more than 1 million coronavirus stimulus payments to dead people, congressional watchdog finds  —  The checks sent to dead people as of April 30 totaled nearly $1.4 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office  —  The federal government sent coronavirus stimulus payments …

Defense Secretary Faces White House Pressure on Aides and a Military Promotion  —  Senior Defense Department personnel who are perceived as White House critics are resigning or facing reprisal.  —  WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is facing a hemorrhage of talent as senior officials resign amid continued efforts …

Moscow Held Back Dirt So It Could Slime President Hillary  —  “They fully expected Hillary Clinton to become president, and [the Russians] wanted to have bullets they could use during her presidential term,” John Brennan said.  —  BEAST INSIDE  —  After four years, 34 indictments …

Facebook faces trust crisis as ad boycott grows  —  What started out as a few whispers about advertisers pulling Facebook ads has turned into a growing boycott of the social network over its content moderation policies — a situation the company is now describing as a “trust deficit.”

NASCAR releases image of noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage, says concern was ‘real’  —  NASCAR on Thursday completed its investigation into the garage pull rope formed as a noose that was found in Bubba Wallace's garage at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, with president Steve Phelps saying …

How the Virus Won  —  Invisible outbreaks sprang up everywhere.  The United States ignored the warning signs.  We analyzed travel patterns, hidden infections and genetic data to show how the epidemic spun out of control.  —  Invisible outbreaks sprang up everywhere.  The United States ignored the warning signs.

Verizon is pulling advertising from Facebook and Instagram  — Verizon said on Thursday it is pulling advertising on Facebook and Instagram.  — On Thursday, the Anti-Defamation League released an open letter that mentioned, in part, that it had found an advertisement for Verizon …

Campaign To Remove NYPD From Traffic Enforcement Gains Steam  —  An influential Manhattan panel voted to return street safety to the DOT.  Will Mayor de Blasio heed the call?  —  The campaign to remove the NYPD from traffic enforcement and return street oversight to the Department …

In Racist Screed, NYT's 1619 Project Founder Calls ‘White Race’ ‘Barbaric Devils,’ ‘Bloodsuckers,’ Columbus ‘No Different Than Hitler’  —  In an indication of what was to come, the founder of the New York Times' 1619 Project penned a lengthy racist screed attacking all white people in 1995.

US virus cases near an all-time high as governors backtrack  —  NEW YORK (AP) — The coronavirus crisis deepened in Arizona on Thursday, and the governor of Texas began to backtrack after making one of the most aggressive pushes in the nation to reopen, as the daily number of confirmed cases across …

The dirty secret behind Ben Shapiro's extraordinary success on Facebook  —  Founder of The Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro.  (MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)  —  The success of The Daily Wire, the website run by right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro, on Facebook is mind-boggling.

A Devastating New Stage of the Pandemic  —  Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers.  Find the collection here.  —  For the past few weeks in the United States, the awful logic of the coronavirus seemed to have lifted.  Stores and restaurants reopened.

The coronavirus surge is real, and it's everywhere  —  The coronavirus pandemic is getting dramatically worse in almost every corner of the U.S.  —  The big picture: The U.S. today is getting closer to the worst-case scenario envisioned in the spring — a nationwide crisis …

Russian Criminal Group Finds New Target: Americans Working at Home  —  A hacking group calling itself Evil Corp., indicted in December, has shown up in corporate networks with sophisticated ransomware.  American officials worry election infrastructure could be next.

Fired Wilmington cop: “We are just going to go out and start slaughtering them f—  ni—.  I can't wait.  God, I can't wait.  " [Free read]  —  Editor's note: This article contains extremely graphic and racist language, reader discretion is advised.  —  WILMINGTON — “We are just gonna …