Top Items:


Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says — The Trump administration has been deliberating for months about what to do about a stunning intelligence assessment. — WASHINGTON — American intelligence officials have concluded …
Discussion:
The Sun, New York Post, Mediaite, Raw Story and Alternet.org
RELATED:


Russian Spy Unit Paid Taliban to Attack Americans, U.S. Intelligence Says — Bounties paid by GRU are disclosed as U.S. plans troops drawdown, Taliban peace plan — WASHINGTON—A Russian spy unit paid members of Afghanistan's Taliban movement to conduct lethal attacks on U.S. troops in that country …


Republican nightmare: Trump vote-by-mail demonizing driving down GOP participation — President Trump's extreme opposition to mail-in ballots is more likely hurting him and down-ballot Republicans than it is helping him. — Mounting evidence in voter registration data, a survey …
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics and Al Jazeera
RELATED:


Supreme Court Turns Down Request to Allow All Texans to Vote by Mail — Democrats in the state had urged the justices to reinstate a federal trial judge's order based on the 26th Amendment, which bars voting discrimination based on age. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said on Friday …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Bloomberg


Supreme Court won't force Texas to allow absentee ballots for all voters
Discussion:
Law & Crime and The Hill


Live updates: Florida reports nearly 9,000 new coronavirus cases; Texas reverses course to stave off surge — The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free. For more free coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter …
Discussion:
Alternet.org, Portland Mercury, TalkLeft, Kaiser Health News, Raw Story, Fox News and Mediaite
RELATED:


Texas rolls back its reopening a day after pausing plans, as coronavirus cases rise — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Friday that he will roll back some of the state's reopening as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to rise. — “As I said from the start …


Gov. Greg Abbott orders Texas bars to close again and restaurants to reduce to 50% occupancy as coronavirus spreads
Discussion:
Office of the Texas Governor, Washington Post, Reason, Mediaite, Gothamist and Balloon Juice

States retreat as confirmed virus cases hit all-time high
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The American Independent and Defense One

Trump administration restores federal funding for Texas testing sites
Discussion:
The Hill


E.U. Plans to Bar Most U.S. Travelers When Bloc Reopens — Europe will allow outsiders to begin entering again on July 1, but the U.S. and Russia are now among the nations considered too risky because they have not controlled the coronavirus outbreak. — BRUSSELS — The European Union …


Poll: Trump Disapproval Hits All-Time High And He Trails Biden By 8 — After weeks of protests against police brutality and racism, and amid a renewed spike in coronavirus cases, the number of voters disapproving of the job President Trump is doing is at an all-time high, a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Fox News and Wall Street Journal
RELATED:


The Trump Referendum — He still has no second term message beyond his own grievances. — By The Editorial Board — President Trump may soon need a new nickname for “Sleepy Joe” Biden. How does President-elect sound? On present trend that's exactly what Mr. Biden will be on Nov. 4 …
Discussion:
Redstate, Fox News, Mediaite, Alternet.org, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Politico

Trump Is in a Deep Hole. Can He Dig Himself Out Before November?
Discussion:
Associated Press


Bowing to pressure, Facebook will start labeling violating posts from politicians. But critics say it's not enough. — Rising public pressure, employee unrest and a burgeoning advertiser boycott have formed over Facebook's long-standing refusal to more aggressively address hate speech.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Politico and Mashable
RELATED:


Unilever to Halt U.S. Ads on Facebook and Twitter for Rest of 2020 — The company cites hate speech and polarized politics as reasons for ad suspension — Consumer goods giant Unilever UL -.46% PLC said it will halt U.S. advertising on Facebook Inc. FB -6.95% and Twitter Inc. TWTR -6.98% …
Discussion:
The Verge, Marketplace, New York Times, New York Post, KFOR-TV and CNBC, more at Mediagazer »

Three weeks ago, I committed to reviewing our policies ahead of the 2020 elections.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Mashable, IJR, TheStreet, WHDH-TV, The Daily Dot and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

Facebook to label all rule-breaking posts - even Trump's
Discussion:
Mashable and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »


Democrats renew health care attacks on GOP as virus builds — WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are intensifying their attacks on President Donald Trump and his Republican allies over health care, hoping that an issue that helped lift the party during the 2018 midterms will prove even more resonant during a public health crisis.
RELATED:


House approves DC statehood bill, GOP calls move Dem ‘power grab’
Discussion:
NBC News, National Review, New York Post, CNBC and Iowa Starting Line

Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Strike Down Affordable Care Act
Discussion:
NPR, Washington Post, Blue Virginia, Daily Kos, Marketplace, No More Mister Nice Blog, Vanity Fair, Vox, Mother Jones, Slate, SCOTUSblog, National Review and Arizona Democratic Party

D.C. statehood approved by U.S. House for first time in history
Discussion:
Congresswoman Eleanor … and IJR


Roger Stone ordered to report to prison July 14, as judge denies request for two-month delay — A federal judge has ordered Roger Stone to report to prison July 14, granting him a two-week delay because of the coronavirus pandemic, but not the two months that President Trump's confidant had requested with prosecutors' assent.
Discussion:
Axios


What Ever Happened to Joy Reid's Alleged Hackers and That FBI Investigation? — Joy Reid, a weekend fixture of MSNBC, is expected to take over a top weekday hour at the network: 7 p.m., the hour vacated by Hardball host Chris Matthews, who retired amid controversy earlier this year.
Discussion:
Poynter, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:


Coronavirus task force returns, but downplays new flareups as local ‘hot spots’ — The White House Coronavirus Task Force is back on camera — but it wants Americans to know that everything is under control. — The panel held a public briefing on Friday for the first time since late April …
Discussion:
NBC News, Associated Press, Breitbart, Washington Post and Mother Jones
RELATED:

Pence claims ‘remarkable progress’ as Covid-19 cases hit new record in US
Discussion:
Balloon Juice


Why Do These Trump Campaign Ads Link to Brad Parscale's Facebook Page? — For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones' newsletters. — The Trump campaign is running Facebook ads from a page for campaign manager Brad Parscale …
RELATED:

Tom Cotton's Argument Against DC Statehood Is the Same One Racists Have Always Used
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Hill and Lawyers, Guns & Money


The Daily 202: Trump's legal argument for throwing out all of the ACA is a nightmare for Senate Republicans — President Trump insists on the campaign trail that he wants to protect insurance coverage for people with preexisting conditions. His legal team just told the Supreme Court otherwise.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, IJR, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Daily Kos


You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument — The black people I come from were owned and raped by the white people I come from. Who dares to tell me to celebrate them? — Ms. Williams is a poet. — NASHVILLE — I have rape-colored skin.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money


Trump Family Makes New Attempt to Kill Niece's Tell-All — A New York City judge called their filing “fatally defective,” so they have refiled in a different jurisdiction. — Fresh from one legal defeat, the Trump family is taking another stab at halting publication of presidential niece Mary Trump's upcoming tell-all.
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:


Appeals court rules funding for Trump border wall construction ‘unlawful’ — The Trump administration does not have the authority to use military funding to pay for construction of a border wall, a federal appeals court panel ruled on Friday. — In a 2-1 ruling, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court …
Discussion:
MeidasTouch, The Hill and One America News Network


Senate panel demands testimony from ex-Obama officials in revived Biden probe — A Senate committee is re-engaging former Obama administration officials as part of an investigation targeting Joe Biden's son, demanding transcribed interviews and documents for the Republican-led probe.
Discussion:
Raw Story


Trump Retreats to His Hannity Bunker — Beaten by the pandemic and down in the polls, a President and his propagandist create an alternate reality. — June began poorly for President Trump, and it's ending worse. Despite his optimistic pronouncements about the coronavirus …


Florida governor under fire over claims state is ‘cooking the books’ on Covid-19 — Ron DeSantis angrily dismisses allegation from fired scientist that officials are massaging figures to hide true impact of coronavirus — Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis's faltering response …
Discussion:
TheGrio, Raw Story, Sun-Sentinel and POLITICUSUSA


Beyond ‘White Fragility’ — If you want to let freedom ring, hammer on economic injustice. — Since it emerged seven years ago in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the Black Lives Matter movement has produced a sea change in attitudes, politics and policy.


People Spent Thousands To Go On A Cruise With Glenn Beck. Now They Can't Get Their Money Back. — Last June, Jeff and Jennifer Welliver heard about a cruise around the Mediterranean, to be hosted by conservative radio host Glenn Beck and featuring other right-wing luminaries like Bill O'Reilly.


The DOJ Decided Not to Prosecute Trump. It's Hiding the Reason Why. — The Department of Justice has confirmed the existence of a memo laying out its rationale for not bringing charges against President Trump, but it refuses to make its reasoning public. In response to ongoing litigation involving …
Discussion:
Law & Crime and Alternet.org


Wrongly arrested Black man sues a Georgia city and police officers for excessive force and injury — Wrongly arrested Black man sues police and Georgia city — (CNN)A Black man who was slammed to the ground as he was wrongly arrested is suing the Georgia city of Valdosta …


16th Street Baptist Church bomber Thomas Blanton dies in prison — The last surviving Ku Klux Klan member convicted in the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four little girls has died. — Thomas E. Blanton, 82, died of natural causes Friday morning …