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 …

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 …

How Arizona ‘lost control of the epidemic’  —  PHOENIX — A drive-up testing site equipped for several hundred people in West Phoenix was swarmed on Saturday by about 1,000 people, leaving some baking in their cars for hours.  —  A nearby testing station has already reached capacity for this weekend …

Senate panel votes 21-1 to back Justice IG measure over Graham objections  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation on Thursday to expand the authority of the Justice Department inspector general over opposition from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and the Justice Department.

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 …

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.”

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 …

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 …

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 …

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

Michigan candidate's daughter urges people not to vote for him in viral tweet  —  The daughter of a candidate running for a seat in the Michigan state House has drawn viral attention online after taking to Twitter earlier this week to plead with voters not to elect her father to office.

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.

Nothing in America fits the GOP's ‘back to normal’ fantasy  —  Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the forthcoming book “OK Boomer, Let's Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind,” and of “The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness.”  Follow her on Twitter.

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 …

Who Cares if the IRS Sent Stimulus Checks to Dead People?  —  So it turns out the federal government sent more than 1 million coronavirus relief payments to dead people.  That's according to a report released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office, which earned some breathless coverage …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

Black Lives Matter network debunks Trump Twitter post  —  NEW YORK (AP) — The Black Lives Matter Global Network distanced itself Thursday from an unaffiliated activist whose comments sparked the ire of President Donald Trump, saying the activist was not speaking on behalf of the movement.

NSW MP's Sydney home raided as ASIO probes China links  —  Counter-espionage agency ASIO is conducting a sweeping investigation into allegations Chinese government agents have infiltrated the office of a NSW Labor politician to influence Australian politics.

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 …

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.

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.