Emboldened Pelosi takes hard line as relief talks drag on  —  Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stood up before a room full of Senate Republicans noshing on lunch Tuesday, compelled to make a declaration about Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  —  “There were press reports that Mark is indecisive and I'm owned by Nancy …

Trump's Bank Was Subpoenaed by N.Y. Prosecutors in Criminal Inquiry  —  The subpoena, sent to Deutsche Bank, suggests that the inquiry into President Trump's business practices is more wide-ranging than previously known.  —  The New York prosecutors who are seeking President Trump's tax records …

For the first time, Facebook removes post by Trump containing coronavirus misinformation  —  The company is has faced pressure to better moderate its site amid a massive advertiser boycott.  —  Facebook on Wednesday said it removed President Trump's post of a video clip from a Fox News interview …

Trump singles out Texas and Florida for help with coronavirus response  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump agreed to continue paying for the full cost of National Guard troops deployed to help with the coronavirus response in just two states — Texas and Florida — after their Republican governors appealed directly to him.

The Unique U.S. Failure to Control the Virus  —  Slowing the coronavirus has been especially difficult for the United States because of its tradition of prioritizing individualism and missteps by the Trump administration.  —  By David LeonhardtGraphics by Lauren Leatherby

Trump campaign uses unauthorized and altered Gazette photo to criticize Biden  —  New ad manipulates photo from Coralville to depict Biden hiding in Delaware basement  —  A new ad from President Donald Trump's re-election campaign uses a manipulated version of a news photo taken in Coralville …

Blame for Beirut Explosion Begins With a Leaky, Troubled Ship  —  The bleak tale of chronic negligence started over six years ago, when an indebted vessel and its volatile cargo pulled into port.  It ended on Tuesday in a giant explosion.  —  CAIRO — The countdown to catastrophe …

Sally Yates, Defending DOJ, Says Michael Flynn Talks Neutered U.S. Russia Policy  —  Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates defended a sensitive Justice Department investigation into onetime Trump aide Michael Flynn on Wednesday, telling lawmakers Flynn was essentially “neutering” …

Member of Conservative Think Tank Takes On Reporter Duties on Air Force Two  —  Instead of a member of the White House press corps, the role of pool reporter was filled by Robert B. Bluey, a vice president at the Heritage Foundation.  —  WASHINGTON — When Vice President Mike Pence traveled …

The Trump campaign's latest contest is a scam.  Here's proof.  —  This week, the Trump campaign has been heavily promoting a contest to win a “VIP Dinner” with Trump in Southhampton, New York, on August 8th.  Advertisements on Facebook touted the dinner as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to share a meal with Trump.

Davis Statement on His Positive COVID-19 Test  —  f t # e  —  U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill) released the following statement on his positive COVID-19 test:

Kanye West's bizarre ‘campaign’ is designed to help Trump  —  Kanye West announces he's running for president  —  John Avlon is a senior political analyst at CNN.  The views expressed in this commentary are his own.  Read more opinion on CNN.  —  (CNN)We need to talk about Kanye.

'I have no idea how I'm not dead': A Post correspondent recalls doomful night in Beirut  —  Sarah Dadouch, a Beirut-based correspondent for The Washington Post, shared her experience of Tuesday's explosions with The Post's Siobhán O'Grady.  The account was condensed and edited for clarity.

Fearing covid and missed classes, many parents prefer mixing online and in-person school, poll finds  —  Most American parents think it's unsafe to send their children back to school given the risks of the novel coronavirus, and more than 80 percent favor holding school at least partly online …

Joe Biden's mental ability is a campaign issue that can't be ignored  —  He might be riding high in the polls, but Joe Biden's mental acuity increasingly is an issue in the election campaign, and growling at reporters who ask about it is no way to alleviate voter concerns.

How to Steal an Election  —  Four ways Trump can still win, 89 days out.  —  If you want the bad news all at once, the TL/DR is this:  —  (1) Trump can use normal tactics to win outright or make the race closer.  —  (2) COVID problems with election administration can take up to 6 percent off of Biden's margin.

Georgia second grader tests positive for coronavirus after first day of school, forcing class to quarantine  —  Two suburban Atlanta school districts that began in-person classes Monday with mask-optional policies face more questions about COVID-19 safety protocols after on-campus pictures showed students packed shoulder-to-shoulder.

Poll-Based Election Forecasts Will Always Struggle With Uncertainty  —  KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE  — We have no idea how much uncertainty exists in pre-election polls.  That leads to very complex poll-based forecast models.  — The general public lacks the expertise necessary …

Virus ‘Checkpoints’ in N.Y.C. to Enforce Travel Rules?  Well, Not Exactly  —  The mayor is sending the sheriff to city bridges and tunnels to try to ward off a second wave of the coronavirus.  —  The announcement by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday seemed to signal a new crackdown …

Fauci Reveals He Has Received Death Threats And His Daughters Have Been Harassed  —  Dr. Anthony Fauci says that he has received death threats and his daughters have been harassed as a result of his high-profile statements about the coronavirus pandemic.  —  “Getting death threats …

How COVID-19 Changed Everything About the 2020 Election  —  In the 2020 that might have been, nobody is sick and politics is the center of the universe.  —  The Democratic Party has just nominated Joe Biden and his running mate at its mid-July convention in Milwaukee, while Republicans …

Biden dominates the electoral map, but here's how the race could tighten  —  WASHINGTON — When you're leading a presidential race nationally by double digits, you're set to exceed 300 electoral votes.  —  And that's where we have Joe Biden in our first battleground map of 2020 …

Meghan McCain Won't Commit to Voting Biden Over Trump  —  “I'm not saying who I'm voting for, but I'm not voting for Trump,” “The View” host said nonsensically on “Watch What Happens Live” Wednesday night.  —  Meghan McCain officially signed off of The View for the summer last week.

New York's Sidewalk Prophets Are Heirs of the Lascaux Cave Artisans  —  What street art adorning boarded-up storefronts tells us about our shared political realities and the ways our stories are connected.  A critic's tour deciphers the signs and symbols.  —  About 17,000 years ago …