Room rentals, resort fees and furniture removal: How Trump's company charged the U.S. government more than $900,000  —  The Secret Service had asked for a room close to the president.  But Mar-a-Lago said it was too late.  The room was booked.  Would agents like a room across the street from the president, instead?

Trump set to skewer Biden in convention address  —  President Donald Trump will unload on Joe Biden in a blistering convention speech Thursday night, according to two people familiar with the address.  —  Trump is expected to go after the former vice president on everything from the economy to trade.

Could A Backlash Against Black Lives Matter Hurt Biden?  The Two Don't Appear Linked So Far.  —  In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd on May 25, the popularity of the Black Lives Matter movement skyrocketed.  By early June, 53 percent of registered voters said they supported the movement …

Trump had public meltdown over missed phone call from Putin, former No 10 aide says  —  ‘If Putin wants a call with me you just put him through,’ US president yelled according to Theresa May's former chief of staff  —  Donald Trump exploded with anger at one of his most senior aides …

Pelosi Statement After Conversation with Trump Administration on COVID-19 Relief  —  Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement after a 25-minute phone conversation with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about the need for coronavirus relief:

Tracking the Suspect in the Fatal Kenosha Shootings  —  Footage appears to show a teenager shooting three people during protests in Wisconsin.  We tracked his movements that night.  —  A teenager who walked among protesters in Kenosha, Wis., carrying a military-style semi-automatic rifle …

Jacob Blake handcuffed to hospital bed, father says  —  “He can't go anywhere,” his father said, speaking of his son's paralysis.  “Why do you have him cuffed to the bed?”  —  When Jacob Blake's father visited him in the hospital Wednesday, he said his son was handcuffed to the bed.

Jacob Wohl Accused of Starting a Voter Suppression Scheme  —  The notorious huckster is allegedly behind a robocall campaign clearly designed to spook people from voting by mail.  —  Michigan state officials are investigating a voter-suppression robocall allegedly tied to blundering conservative operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman.

Kushner: NBA players are ‘fortunate’ to have wealth to take night off  —  Jared Kushner on Thursday commented on NBA players boycotting playoff games the night before, saying they are “fortunate” to have enough wealth to “take a night off from work” while saying he wants “actual action” in the racial justice movement.

Trump will tout purchase of 150M rapid coronavirus tests in RNC speech  —  President Donald Trump will tout a major expansion of rapid coronavirus testing in his Thursday night address at the Republican National Convention, POLITICO first reported and White House officials confirmed.

“QAnon Is Batshit Crazy”: Lindsey Graham Talks TikTok, Online Conspiracies, and Why He's Sticking With Trump  —  The South Carolina senator, facing a tough reelection fight, recalls warning Trump not to shut down TikTok after getting calls from Hannity, Petraeus, and his niece …

New Hot-Mic Video: What Trump Told His Lawyer When He Didn't Know a Camera Was Rolling  —  For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones' newsletters.  —  On December 10, 2015, Donald Trump took time off from campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination …

Turmoil consumes Chamber of Commerce as it backs Democrats  —  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is poised to endorse nearly two dozen freshmen House Democrats for reelection, triggering a revolt within the right-leaning organization and drawing fierce pushback from the group's powerful GOP donors.

Four Years Later, It's Still All About the Base  —  As the RNC convention comes to a close, the biggest question is whether it can give Pres. Trump the bounce he needs to catch up to former Vice President Joe Biden.  Trump came into the convention trailing the Democratic nominee by 8-9 points in national polling.

Max Kellerman: Trump Base in SEC Seems Susceptible to Low Quality Information and Easy to Propagandize  —  Max Kellerman, speaking in a segment on First Take today about what all of the ongoing protests in the NBA and canceled practices mean in the NFL, said that President Donald Trump's base voters …

Biden is selling hand sanitizer with his Covid-19 plan printed on it.  —  Sometimes campaign stores are not just about selling merchandise.  Sometimes they are about making political statements.  —  That is what Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s campaign is doing with the release on Tuesday …

Protesters in Multiple States Are Facing Felony Charges, Including Terrorism … Prosecutors and lawmakers in several states have responded to mass protests against police brutality by charging demonstrators with committing felonies, including terrorism charges.

China Secretly Built A Vast New Infrastructure To Imprison Muslims  —  China rounded up so many Muslims in Xinjiang that there wasn't enough space to hold them.  Then the government started building.  —  Copy … China has secretly built scores of massive new prison and internment camps …

Melania Trump's Ex-BFF Tells (Almost) All An insider's account of falling out with the First Lady.  —  I'd heard Melania Trump speak before.  But I'd never heard her sound like this.  I was sitting at the end of the dining-room table in the Park Avenue home of Stephanie Winston Wolkoff …

Pence altered a biblical reference, changing ‘Jesus’ to the American flag in his convention speech  —  BALTIMORE — Vice President Pence closed out his speech before the Republican National Convention on Wednesday evening with a mash-up of Bible references, into which he inserted American symbols and ideals.

Ronald Reagan sends you to do war crimes in the latest Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War trailer  —  He's one of the new characters in the game  —  Activision and its development studios, Treyarch and Raven Software, debuted a new trailer for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War …