Afghan Contractor Handed Out Russian Cash to Kill Americans, Officials Say  —  A small-time businessman became a key middleman for bounties on coalition troops in Afghanistan, U.S. intelligence reports say.  Friends saw him grow rich, but didn't know how.  —  KABUL, Afghanistan …

The RNC Is Paying a Former Apprentice Hand Accused of Having Trump Dirt  —  Chuck Labella worked on Trump's show for years.  Now, despite having no ostensible political work on his resume, he's helping with the 2020 convention.  —  Last year, the Republican National Convention began cutting checks …

Trump's aides debate a new virus approach as President claims it will ‘disappear’  —  (CNN)A divide has emerged inside President Donald Trump's inner circle over whether he should turn his attention back to the coronavirus pandemic or continue to focus on reopening the economy, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Tell-All Book on Trump Can Move Forward Pending Hearing, Judge Rules  —  The decision reversed a lower court's ruling that had temporarily halted publication of the book by the president's niece, but it didn't address whether she violated a confidentiality agreement.

Vanilla Ice throwing Fourth of July concert: 'We didn't have coronavirus' in the '90s  —  The ‘Ice Ice Baby’ singer will perform for thousands in Texas, where coronavirus cases are surging.  —  Alright ... stop.  —  Vanilla Ice is throwing a Fourth of July weekend concert deep in the heart of pandemic hotspot Texas.

More than 40 Bay Area school principals in quarantine after in-person meeting  —  More than 40 school principals in the South Bay are in quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19 during an in-person meeting held by the Santa Clara County Unified School District.

Alabama students throwing ‘COVID parties’ to see who gets infected: Officials  —  Rising infections prompt Gov. Kay Ivy to extend ‘Safer at Home’ orders.  —  Students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 have been attending parties in the city and surrounding area …

Coronavirus cases rose by nearly 50 percent last month, led by states that reopened first  —  Coronavirus infections in the United States surged nearly 50 percent in June as states relaxed quarantine rules and tried to reopen their economies, data compiled Wednesday showed …

Inquiry Prompted by Trump's Hurricane Dorian Claim Is Being Blocked, Investigator Says  —  The Commerce Department is impeding findings into whether it coerced the top NOAA official to support President Trump's inaccurate claim that Dorian would hit Alabama, the department's inspector general said.

​Popular Pro-Trump ​Digital Strategist Made Racist Comments on a Secret Twitter Account  —  Caleb Hull, ​a digital communications strategist popular with pro-Trump Republicans, made racist ​and inflammatory​ comments, including the use of the n-word …

Senate Republicans can't catch a break  —  The high point of 2020 for Senate Republicans — if there is one — may have been Feb. 6.  —  The Senate had acquitted President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial the day before, and he held an hour-long “victory celebration” in the East Room of the White House.

In wake of Trump's Tulsa rally, his campaign is still contending with the fallout  —  It was just hours before President Trump was set to take the stage for his rally in Tulsa last month when the news broke: Six staff at the site had just tested positive for the coronavirus.

Zuckerberg Tells Facebook Staff He Expects Advertisers to Return ‘Soon Enough’  —  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees he was reluctant to bow to the threats of a growing ad boycott, saying in private remarks that “my guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough.”

Official U.S. coronavirus death toll is ‘a substantial undercount’ of actual tally, Yale study finds  — The 781,000 total deaths in the U.S. in the three months through May 30 were nearly 19% higher than what would normally be expected, the study said.  — The number of excess deaths …

D.C. sued over Black Lives Matter painted on city streets  —  Judicial Watch went to court Wednesday demanding access to paint the streets of Washington with its own political message after the city wrote “Black Lives Matter” on one street and allowed protesters to paint “Defund the Police” next to it.

Beijing's New Security Law Is a Warning Sign  —  By silencing Hong Kong, the Chinese Communist Party shows it prioritizes ideology over pragmatism.  —  Welcome to Foreign Policy's China Brief.  The highlights this week: Beijing's new security law takes effect in Hong Kong …

Scoop: Twitter removes photo from Trump tweet after NYT copyright complaint  —  Twitter has removed a picture from a tweet by President Trump on Tuesday after it received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint from the New York Times, which owns the rights to the photo.

Democratic ad makers think they've discovered Trump's soft spot  —  After more than a year of polling, focus groups and message testing against the president, there's a growing consensus about what damages Trump — and what doesn't.  —  President Donald Trump.

Harvard grad Claira Janover says she's lost Deloitte job over TikTok ‘stab threat’  —  The Harvard graduate who said in a TikTok video that she would “stab” anyone who told her “All Lives Matter” revealed in a new pair of recordings that she has lost her job over the perceived threats and ensuing furor.

A Warning For Democrats: Handling the Economy Is Trump's Last Remaining Bright Spot  —  The president's approval numbers are catastrophic.  And he has no ability to change course.  But some voters still trust him on the economy.  Can Biden take away Trump's last advantage?

Breakdown … The unwinding of law and order in our cities has happened with stunning speed.  —  Public safety  —  The Social Order  —  It took several months for the first iteration of the Ferguson Effect to become obvious.  Michael Brown was fatally shot by a Ferguson, Missouri …

Amid Virus Surge, Republicans Abruptly Urge Masks Despite Trump's Resistance  —  Masks became a political cause for some in the early months of the pandemic.  A growing set of Republican leaders are suddenly pushing Americans to wear them.  —  CHICAGO — Protesters marched on the State Capitol in Texas …