Mayor of Portland, Oregon, tear gassed by federal agents  —  PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The mayor of Portland, Oregon, was tear gassed by the U.S. government late Wednesday as he stood at a fence guarding a federal courthouse during another night of protest against the presence of federal agents sent …

Michael Cohen will be released from prison to home confinement, judge rules  —  Avlon: You should be outraged at the muzzling of Cohen  —  New York (CNN)Michael Cohen will be released to home confinement, a judge ruled on Thursday, finding that the government acted in a retaliatory manner …

White House, GOP kill payroll tax cut but flounder over broader coronavirus bill  —  Planned roll-out canceled in roller-coaster morning; White House floats piecemeal plan but Pelosi shoots it down  —  Senate Republicans killed President Trump's payroll tax cut proposal on Thursday but failed …

Former congressman Ozzie Myers, caught in 1970s Abscam sting, has been indicted again — this time for election fraud  —  A former congressman convicted in the 1970s Abscam investigation was charged Thursday with new allegations that he bribed a poll worker to stuff ballot boxes in local elections.

I Was Wrong About Florida's Response to Covid-19  —  I gave Governor Ron DeSantis more credit than he deserved for the low death rate in his state.  —  A little after 11 a.m. each weekday, I receive an email alert from the Miami Herald.  It contains the latest Covid-19 numbers for Florida.

Romney Says He Will Oppose Shelton's Fed Board Confirmation  —  Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah said he will vote against Judy Shelton, one of two Trump administration nominees to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.  —  “I'm not going to be endorsing,” Romney told reporters Thursday.

State Department Insiders Ask: What Is Susan Pompeo Really Up To?  —  Five years ago, a young Kansan named Jakob Provo had almost gotten a job working for ambitious Congressman Mike Pompeo.  He'd aced the interview, he thought, and he was certainly qualified.

Ocasio-Cortez, Dems assail men's abusive treatment of women  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's outrage over a Republican lawmaker's verbal assault broadened into an extraordinary moment on the House floor Thursday as she and other Democrats assailed a sexist culture of …

Twitter says it's looking at subscription options as ad revenue drops sharply  —  Washington (CNN Business)Twitter (TWTR) is actively exploring additional ways to make money from its users, including by considering a subscription model, CEO Jack Dorsey said Thursday.

Researchers Charged with Visa Fraud After Lying About Their Work for China's People's Liberation Army  —  China's San Francisco Consulate Harboring Known Fugitive from Justice  —  Four individuals have recently been charged with visa fraud in connection with a scheme to lie about their status …

Teacher: I was a reluctant Trump voter.  Coronavirus is the end of my Republican identity.  —  I am a special education teacher and lifelong Republican who reluctantly voted for Donald Trump in 2016 as the less bad of two bad choices.  When the pandemic hit, the incompetence of the man …

This Is Mask Haters' Most Nefarious Hoax Yet  —  A fake CDC document has spread across Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and more specialized websites like a hunting forum.  —  Face mask haters often don't trust the federal government, whether it's top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

POLITICO Playbook PM: Fiasco  —  WHAT AN ABJECT DISASTER of a morning for the three Ms: STEVEN MNUCHIN, MARK MEADOWS and MITCH MCCONNELL.  —  AFTER A FEW WEEKS of anticipation, the SENATE GOP LEADERSHIP had to abandon its plans to release a Covid relief bill after disagreements on policy with the TRUMP White House.

Ilhan Omar Campaign Mailer Accuses Opponent of Being ‘In the Pocket of Wall Street’ and Only References Jewish Donors  —  The mailer references three Jewish donors, plus “Michael, a donor from Scarsdale, New York.”  —  CJ  —  Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-Minn.) campaign recently sent …

Trump's frantic new effort to win back seniors is already failing  —  Here's President Trump's new reelection strategy, in a nutshell: Convince vulnerable seniors who rightly fear getting killed by the pandemic that Trump let rampage out of control that they should instead fear getting killed …

‘Shaking in Their Boots’: Trump Wanted a Portland-Style Offensive in Chicago  —  “If it were up to him, we would return to the old days [of] eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth—or forget about proportionality altogether,” one former administration official says.

Children's news website apologises to JK Rowling over trans tweet row  —  The Day faced legal action from author after implying that her comments on gender harmed trans people  —  A news website aimed at British schoolchildren has agreed to pay an unsubstantiated amount after it implied …

Poll shows Biden beating Trump by 13 points in Florida  —  Joe Biden is beating President Trump by 13 points in Florida — 51% to 38% — per a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.  —  Why it matters: With its 29 electoral votes, Florida is a key state for the president to hang onto in order to win re-election.

White House Told Kushner to Divest Cadre to Avoid Conflicts, Emails Show  —  An internal White House email obtained by CREW shows that in December 2019, the top White House ethics official determined that it was “reasonably necessary” for Jared Kushner to divest his interest in Cadre …

Fox News parts ways with a morning host who caused a Covid-19 scare  —  New York (CNN Business)Fox News has parted ways with a host who dismayed fellow staffers when she came to work while visibly sick in the early days of the coronavirus crisis.  —  Heather Childers, who had been an early morning host …

So *that's* how Breitbart is still making money  —  It turns out Breitbart has continued to collect your ad dollars through a shady ad revenue-sharing ring of propaganda sites.  —  7 hr  —  Welcome back to BRANDED, the newsletter exploring how marketers broke society (and how we can fix it).

DOJ OIG Announces Initiation of Work  —  Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced today that:  —  In response to Congressional requests, complaints received by the OIG, and a referral from the U.S. Attorney in Oregon, the DOJ Office of the Inspector General …

We're police officers.  You should know our names.  That goes for Portland, too.  —  Anonymity is for CIA officers (a job I also held), not for federal law enforcement countering protesters in America.  It denies local accountability.  —  My name is Patrick Skinner, and I'm a local police officer.

Amazon Met With Startups About Investing, Then Launched Competing Products  —  Some companies regret sharing information with tech giant and its Alexa Fund; ‘we may have been naive’  —  When Amazon.com Inc.'s AMZN -2.52% venture-capital fund invested in DefinedCrowd Corp. …

The Federal Response to Protests Extends Far Beyond Portland  —  A document responding to inquiries by Sen. Kamala Harris shows the extent of CBP involvement in local law enforcement.  —  In a conspicuous show of force, armed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers were recently seen …

Kansas school board rejects governor's executive order delaying start of the school year  —  The board was divided, 5-5, on delaying the start by three weeks.  —  As school districts across the country grapple with how and when to reopen safely during the coronavirus pandemic …

POLITICO London Playbook: Last day of term — WHO are ya?  — Russia report fallout  —  Good Wednesday morning.  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  LAST DAY OF TERM: Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer go head to head one final time today before parliament limps into its summer recess.

White House says Trump and Putin discussed virus, arms control on phone call  —  President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the coronavirus pandemic and arms control on Thursday, the Kremlin announced and the White House later confirmed.

American exceptionalism was our preexisting condition  —  America is sick.  Still sick.  The fever spikes, abates, returns.  The shortness of breath lingers.  America is waiting in virtual bread lines, listening to bad jazz, on hold with the unemployment office.