Prosecutor in Trump criminal probe convenes grand jury to hear evidence, weigh potential charges  —  NEW YORK — Manhattan's district attorney has convened the grand jury that is expected to decide whether to indict former president Donald Trump, other executives at his company or the business itself …

Leader McCarthy Condemns Comparisons to the Holocaust  —  Washington, D.C. - House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) released the following statement:

Tech company running Arizona ballot audit backs out: ‘They were done’  —  Jen Fifield Andrew OxfordArizona Republic  —  The Pennsylvania-based IT company that was in charge of running the hand recount of Maricopa County ballots is no longer involved in the audit.

Bipartisan group of senators prepares new infrastructure plan as talks stall between White House and GOP  —  Romney and several others are trying to craft a deal that they hope can win support from lawmakers in both parties  —  A small bipartisan group of senators is privately sketching …

Secretary of State Katie Hobbs stripped of roles by Appropriations Committee  —  PHOENIX — Political score-settling is not supposed to be part of the budgeting process, but you will have a hard time convincing Democratic members of the House Appropriations Committee of that.

Kathryn Garcia leads field in new poll, 4 weeks ahead of Election Day  —  Former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia is leading the Democratic field of mayoral contenders, with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams hot on her trail, according to a new poll four weeks ahead of Election Day.

Senate confirms DOJ nominee Kristen Clarke with just one Republican vote  —  Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted yes with all Democrats, and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., did not vote  —  Fox News Flash top headlines for May 25  —  The Senate confirmed Kristen Clarke as the first Black woman …

What Biden Didn't Realize About His Presidency  —  Joe Biden had been president for less than two weeks when he told me something he'd heard from a friend after the election.  Biden was like the dog that caught the car, the friend told him—after a lifetime of dreaming of becoming president, he'd finally done it.

Justice Dept. releases part of internal memo on not charging Trump in Russia probe  —  The Justice Department late Monday night released part of a key internal document used in 2019 to justify not charging President Donald Trump with obstruction, but also signaled it would fight a judge's effort to make the entire document public.

We Are Critics of Nikole Hannah-Jones.  Her Tenure Denial Is a Travesty.  —  Political intervention in hiring will badly damage higher ed.  —  Today's rampant political polarization has led to alarming interference in academic affairs, threatening basic principles of openness and faculty authority …

Steve Bannon's fraud case dismissed after months of haggling over Trump pardon  —  NEW YORK — A federal judge on Monday formally dismissed the fraud case against Stephen K. Bannon, the conservative provocateur and ex-adviser to President Donald Trump, ending months of litigation …

Faulty redactions in court document show federal investigators seized more info in case against Rudy Giuliani than previously disclosed  —  New details emerge about investigation into Giuliani  —  (CNN)New York federal prosecutors investigating Rudy Giuliani have seized material from a wider array …

Trump responds to insurrection lawsuit by claiming immunity while he was President  —  ‘Storm the Capitol!’:  Rioters react to Trump speech  —  Washington (CNN)Donald Trump's attorney defended the ex-President's incendiary speech on January 6, saying he is protected under the First Amendment and had …

The End IS Near.  No, Seriously.  —  The tone of some recent writing about this pandemic has seemed — to me, anyway — strangely defeatist.  —  Friends keep asking me questions like: “Is what I'm hearing true?  We'll never reach herd immunity?”  —  The subtext is we'll never really be safe …

Dems fight off ‘defund the police’ attack in New Mexico special election  —  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Melanie Stansbury, the Democratic candidate in next week's special congressional election here, spent last weekend touting Joe Biden's agenda, vowing to strengthen infrastructure and fight climate change, drought and hunger.

Chris Cuomo Made a ‘Mistake,’ CNN Boss Jeff Zucker Tells Concerned Staffers  —  In a staff-wide meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the CNN chief addressed “unease” over the news that Cuomo advised his powerful brother on handling multiple misconduct allegations.

Timeline: How the Wuhan lab-leak theory suddenly became credible  —  The source of the coronavirus that has left more than 3 million people dead around the world remains a mystery.  But in recent months the idea that it emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) …

Axios-Ipsos poll: Re-emerging without trust  —  Americans are taking off their masks and re-engaging publicly at levels not seen since the start of the pandemic, with the most dramatic shifts in people over 50 and those who've been vaccinated, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

WWE's Cena apologises to China after Taiwan country reference  —  John Cena says on Taiwanese TV that it would be ‘the first country to watch the film’ American quickly backtracked on Weibo, saying he made ‘one mistake’ after doing ‘a lot of interviews’ John Cena backtracks comments …

Murkowski to back Jan. 6 commission bill  —  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Tuesday became the second Senate Republican to say she will support a House-passed bill to establish a bipartisan commission on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, which could come to the floor for a vote this week.

After Trump, EU feels a more familiar US arrogance  —  European leaders are thrilled to have Joe Biden and a return to the friendly American exceptionalism they know so well.  —  With Joe Biden preparing for his first trip abroad as president, European leaders are noticing a change in the transatlantic air.

How Libs Can Stop Owning Themselves Online  —  The Right has mastered trolling as a political communications strategy and Dems have to stop falling for it  —  In the last few weeks, Senator Ted Cruz, no stranger to Twitter controversy, has  — Retweeted a Russian propaganda video while calling the U.S. military “emasculated.”

Biden administration reins in street-level enforcement by ICE as officials try to refocus agency mission  —  At the detention centers and county jails that the Trump administration once filled with immigrants facing deportation, thousands of beds are now empty.