HOW REALITY-TV FAME HANDED TRUMP A $427 MILLION LIFELINE  —  Tax records show that “The Apprentice” rescued Donald J. Trump, bringing him new sources of cash and a myth that would propel him to the White House.  —  From the back seat of a stretch limousine heading to meet the first contestants …

Trump Secretly Mocks His Christian Supporters  —  One day in 2015, Donald Trump beckoned Michael Cohen, his longtime confidant and personal attorney, into his office.  Trump was brandishing a printout of an article about an Atlanta-based megachurch pastor trying to raise $60 million from his flock to buy a private jet.

In Pennsylvania, advantage Biden with a big boost from women: POLL  —  The result includes a more than 2-1 Biden lead in the Philadelphia suburbs.  —  What to expect from the first presidential debate  —  “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos joins us to discuss President Trump's Supreme …

Electoral College Rating Changes: Ohio and Iowa Move to Toss Up  —  In mid-June, we moved both Iowa and Ohio from Likely Republican to Lean Republican.  At the time, we noted that while the polls were looking shaky for Pres. Trump, they were also catching him at what could be his lowest point of the cycle.

Behind the White House Effort to Pressure the C.D.C. on School Openings  —  Documents and interviews show how senior officials sought to play down the risks of sending children back to the classroom, alarming public health experts.  —  WASHINGTON — Top White House officials pressured …

Grand Jury Deliberations in Breonna Taylor Case Will Be Released  —  The Kentucky attorney general's office said it would release the recordings of the deliberations after a grand juror complained about how they were publicly represented.  —  LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A juror in the Breonna Taylor case contends …

Trump, Biden first debate: Everything you need to know  —  President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden come face-to-face for their first debate on Tuesday night amid increasingly nasty attacks on each other.  —  Trump has called Biden a socialist puppet who wants to destroy the suburbs and “hurt God.”

Trump — not Biden — is being underestimated going into the debate  —  In 2016, during one of her first prep sessions for the presidential debates with Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton listened to a litany of attacks from Philippe Reines, a longtime aide who was playing the role of Trump …

Schumer Refuses to Meet With Amy Coney Barrett, Calls Process ‘Illegitimate’  —  BARRETT, SPURNED  —  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he doesn't plan to meet with Amy Coney Barrett, Trump's Supreme Court nominee officially announced Saturday.

Postal Service workers quietly resist DeJoy's changes with eye on election  —  Many USPS employees see recent cost-cutting changes that have slowed mail delivery as violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the law.  —  This summer, as controversial new procedures at the U.S. Postal Service snarled …

Immigrants Say They Were Pressured Into Unneeded Surgeries  —  Immigrants detained at an ICE-contracted center in Georgia said they had invasive gynecology procedures that they later learned might have been unnecessary.  —  Wendy Dowe was startled awake early one morning in January 2019 …

The Weak Leading the Woke  —  What We Ask About When We Ask About Joe  —  How old is Joe Biden?  —  As this issue goes to press, 77.  America's median age is 38, which means that more than half the country is less than half Biden's age.  If inaugurated on January 20, 2021 …

Meet a Secret Trump Voter  —  'Being a lesbian who's voting for Trump is like coming out of the closet again.'  —  Chris is a registered Democrat in her 50s who lives in Manhattan.  She's well-educated, well-traveled and well-informed.  She has voted for candidates of both parties …

Barr's Justice Department serves up talking points for Trump  —  The prosecution of Michael Flynn.  A Senate investigation into the provenance of the Steele Dossier.  The nascent federal probe of discarded absentee ballots in Pennsylvania.  —  In recent days, the Justice Department …

‘Deeply unpatriotic’: Mary Trump slams the president for not paying taxes for years … WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's niece, Mary Trump, say the topic of her uncle not paying income taxes for 10 of the last 15 years must be “hammered on” during the first general election debate Tuesday night.

Biden's Texas Political Director Accused of Illegal Ballot Harvesting At Texas Supreme Court  —  Major Scandal Has Implications for the Biden Campaign  —  The Joe Biden campaign's Texas Political Director has been formally accused of helping to run an illegal ballot harvesting operation …

‘He just lies’: Florida's senior voters suddenly are in play  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida seniors, long an unflinching bloc of reliable GOP votes, are suddenly in play as President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus has his reelection campaign on the defensive.

Barrett tied to faith group ex-members say subjugates women  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court has close ties to a charismatic Christian religious group that holds men are divinely ordained as the “head” of the family and faith.

Fox News Lobotomizes Its ‘Brain Room,’ Cuts Fact-Based Journalism  —  ‘NOT INTERESTED IN FACTS’ … Staffers said the recent layoffs gutting Fox News' fact-checking team were a victory for the network's right-wing opinion shows and further cemented its status as “state media.”

Brooklyn Voters Receive Absentee Ballot Envelopes With Wrong Voter Names And Addresses  —  The New York City Board of Elections has mailed out nearly half a million absentee ballots ahead of Election Day this November, as many New Yorkers are opting to vote by mail during the pandemic.

‘To Represent All Mississippians’: Hyde-Smith Ad Uses Russian, Canadian Footage  —  Canadian, Russian, South African and Ukrainian models appear in U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's first 2020 campaign ad for her Mississippi campaigns—but no Mississippians.  Instead, the ad uses stock footage …