Scoop: Melania Trump's Comments About Trump Family Were Taped  —  I hope you'll subscribe to my newsletter by clicking the button above or the button at the end of this post.  Please follow me on Twitter and Instagram  —  If you want to post this edition on social media, use the button above.

The Grand Old Meltdown  —  Earlier this month, while speaking via Zoom to a promising group of politically inclined high school students, I was met with an abrupt line of inquiry.  “I'm sorry, but I still don't understand,” said one young man, his pitch a blend of curiosity and exasperation.

Exclusive: Falwell says ‘Fatal Attraction’ threat led to depression  —  Jerry Falwell Jr., suspended as president of Virginia's Christian-focused Liberty University after a string of embarrassing acts, today said that he has suffered depression caused by a former family friend who had an affair …

So You Think New York Is ‘Dead’  —  Mr. Seinfeld is a comedian.  —  When I got my first apartment in Manhattan in the hot summer of 1976, there was no pooper-scooper law, and the streets were covered in dog crap.  —  I signed the rental agreement, walked outside, and my car had been towed.

Kellyanne Conway to leave the White House at the end of the month, citing the need to focus on her family  —  Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to President Trump and one of his longest-serving aides, is leaving the White House at the end of the month.  —  Conway, whose title is counselor …

Jeff Flake joins over two-dozen former GOP members of Congress to launch ‘Republicans for Biden’  —  Announcement comes on the first day of the Republican National Convention  —  EXCLUSIVE: More than two-dozen former Republican members of Congress threw their support behind a “Republicans for Biden” …

The enduring mystery: What would Trump do in a second term?  —  As a reality TV star, Donald Trump seized the White House with an unusual slate of Republican pledges: take on China, tear up trade deals, restrict immigration.  But as president, Trump has faced warnings from a long line …

Kenosha emergency curfew in place after police shoot man; video appears to show officer firing several shots into man's back  —  Kenosha police shot a man Sunday evening, setting off unrest in the city after a video appeared to show the officer firing several shots at close range into the man's back.

Trump's Handpicked Postal Service Chair Has A Long History Of Voter Suppression  —  Robert Duncan chaired the RNC during the party's unprecedented escalation of voter disenfranchisement efforts in swing states.  —  President Donald Trump's selection for a key Postal Service position …

Democratic Edge in Party Affiliation Shrinks  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Republican convention gets underway, recent Gallup polling finds the GOP still trailing Democrats in U.S. adults' party affiliation but not nearly to the degree it did in June.  The Democratic advantage over the Republican Party …

AP-NORC poll: Trump faces pessimism as GOP convention opens  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is promising to outline an optimistic vision for America at this week's Republican convention.  But he'll be speaking to a public deeply pessimistic about the direction of the country …

Donald Trump Jr. Is Ready.  But for What, Exactly?  —  Of all the president's children, he has the strongest connection to the politics, voters and online disinformation ecosystem that put his father in the White House.  What will he do with it?  —  To hear more audio stories from publishers …

Joe Biden's Campaign Apologizes to Anti-Semite Linda Sarsour in Pathetic Reversal  —  Apologizing to anti-Semites for telling the truth about them is not a good look, but according to a new report, that's what the Biden campaign did Sunday evening.  —  The backstory is that Palestinian …

Revealed: Jared Kushner's Private Channel With Putin's Money Man  —  DIRECT LINE  —  More than a dozen Trump administration officials, current and former, described a clandestine relationship between Jared Kushner and the CEO of a Kremlin sovereign wealth fund.

TikTok is expected to take the Trump administration to court over its plan to ban the app  —  TikTok is expected to sue the Trump administration Monday over its move to ban the app, in what's likely to be an explosive and closely watched court battle.  —  Why it matters: The Trump administration …

Last-minute confusion: Many Republicans still in the dark about convention  —  The majority of Republican politicians and operatives will learn about the details of this week's convention in the same manner most Americans do — by watching it unfold on TV.  —  The lack of information …

The Supporters Buoying Trump's Spirits: Boat Owners  —  Parades of seagoing Trump fans have been touted by the president and his campaign in the absence of his signature campaign rallies  —  Trish Willis hasn't returned to her nursing job in Atlanta since the outbreak of Covid-19, and still won't get on an airplane.

Prominent Russian opposition activist Navalny was poisoned, German doctors say  —  BERLIN — Alexei Navalny, the prominent Russian opposition figure and Kremlin critic, was poisoned, Berlin's Charité Hospital said in a statement Monday, citing clinical results confirmed by independent laboratories.

How Zeynep Tufekci Keeps Getting the Big Things Right  —  Ms. Tufekci, a computer programmer who became a sociologist, sounded an early alarm on the need for protective masks.  It wasn't the first time she was right about something big.  —  When the Centers for Disease Control …

Endorsement: Save our democracy.  Vote for Joe Biden  —  A republic, Madam, if you can keep it — Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia, 1787, when asked what the Constitutional Convention had proposed  —  The question that Franklin answered 233 years ago overshadows every other issue in the presidential election.

How a Ukrainian Oligarch's Companies Got Paycheck Protection Program Loans  —  Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov owns four coal mining operations sprinkled across Appalachia that received loans intended to help small businesses keep workers on payroll during the pandemic.

Why a Third of Latinos Still Plan to Vote for Trump  —  Entrepreneurial and evangelical, Republican Latinos are a force to be reckoned with this November.  —  The political evolution of Mindy Garcia occurred very slowly, then all at once.  Growing up up a Democrat in California in the 1980s and 1990s …