The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax  —  The Secret IRS Files  —  In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world's richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes.  He achieved the feat again in 2011.

White House infrastructure talks with Capito collapse, leading to fingerpointing as Biden shifts strategy  —  The negotiations had stalled amid major disagreements over the size of any package and how to pay for it.  —  President Biden and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.a) …

Capitol Police had intelligence indicating an armed invasion weeks before Jan. 6 riot, Senate probe finds  —  The U.S. Capitol Police had specific intelligence that supporters of President Donald Trump planned to mount an armed invasion of the Capitol at least two weeks before the Jan. 6 riot …

Joe Manchin is opposing big parts of Biden's agenda as the Koch network pressures him  — The Koch network has been pressuring Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to oppose key parts of the Democratic agenda, including filibuster reform and voting rights legislation.  — That lobbying effort appears to be paying off.

NBC's Lester Holt Grills Kamala Harris on Migrant Crisis: 'You Haven't Been to the Border'  —  The veep attempted to wave off Holt's question with a laugh, noting that she also hasn't been to Europe lately.  —  NBC anchor Lester Holt pressed Vice President Kamala Harris on why she has yet …

Sidney Powell Just ‘Eviscerated’ Her Own Legal Defense, Experts Say  —  “That seems like an extremely damaging admission from Ms. Powell,” a top lawyer says.  —  Sidney Powell lost the plot.  —  To protect herself from a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit, the Trumpist lawyer was supposed …

Pretending that what's happening isn't happening  —  I want to highlight a comment DamnYankeesLGM made in Scott's post about Merrick Garland's decision to have the DOJ continue to substitute the United States for Donald Trump as the defendant in E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit.

A Ranked Choice Cheat Sheet We asked New Yorkers about their ranked-choice-voting strategies.  —  Picking who to vote for in an election with a crowded field, numerous scandals, and New York City's recovery at stake is already a difficult task — but picking five candidates?

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden addressed his white lawyer as ‘n***a’ multiple times, used phrases like ‘true dat n***a’ and bantered 'I only love you because you're black,' in shocking texts unearthed days after Joe's emotional Tulsa speech decrying racism  — Text messages obtained …

The White House press corps's most useless reporter strikes again  —  Subservience.  —  6 hr ago … For a brief moment this weekend, after conducting an embarrassingly sycophantic interview with White House press secretary Jen Psaki, CNN's Brian Stelter became the poster child for all that is wrong with legacy media.

How America Fractured Into Four Parts  —  Nations, like individuals, tell stories in order to understand what they are, where they come from, and what they want to be.  National narratives, like personal ones, are prone to sentimentality, grievance, pride, shame, self-blindness.

New Democratic focus groups find many voters aren't sure what the party stands for  —  WASHINGTON — New focus groups conducted by a prominent Democratic pollster warn that many voters “have trouble describing a clear positive vision of what the Democratic Party stands for.”

Alyssa Milano says she could ‘potentially run’ for House in 2024  —  Actor-turned-activist Alyssa Milano may seek to transition from Hollywood to the House, saying she's “considering” a congressional run in 2024.  —  “I'm looking at California's 4th District to potentially run against …

Why I Stopped Hiring Ivy League Graduates  —  Even those who aren't woke seem damaged by the experience, and they're deprived of role models.  —  I'm not inclined to hire a graduate from one of America's elite universities.  That marks a change.  A decade ago I relished the opportunity …

James Murdoch spent $100 million to help fund political causes during 2020 election cycle  — James Murdoch, the son of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, quietly invested $100 million into his nonprofit foundation, which then used a chunk of the money to fund political groups during the 2020 election cycle.

Democrats are giving up on their greatest achievement since the 1960s  —  The pandemic boost to unemployment benefits has helped millions of Americans  —  The $600 boost to unemployment benefits passed in the CARES Act last year was the best policy passed in this country since the 1960s.

Record-High 70% in U.S. Support Same-Sex Marriage  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. support for legal same-sex marriage continues to trend upward, now at 70% — a new high in Gallup's trend since 1996.  This latest figure marks an increase of 10 percentage points since 2015 …

Rebekah Jones' Twitter account suspended, citing ‘platform manipulation,’ ‘spam’  —  Rebekah Jones, who formerly maintained Florida's COVID-19 dashboard but was fired last year as she raised concerns about transparency, was suspended Monday from Twitter for “platform manipulation and spam.”

Why a Judge Has Georgia Vote Fraud on His Mind: ‘Pristine’ Biden Ballots That Looked Xeroxed  —  When Fulton County, Ga., poll manager Suzi Voyles sorted through a large stack of mail-in ballots last November, she noticed an alarmingly odd pattern of uniformity in the markings for Joseph R. Biden.

Antony Blinken's Rock & Roll Heart  —  The U.S. secretary of state talks worshiping Clapton, crashing White House concerts, and the time he jammed with Hüsker Dü's Grant Hart  —  On the plane home from Jordan, Antony Blinken seems relieved to be talking about something other than his day job.

It's apartheid, say Israeli ambassadors to South Africa  —  “It is clearer than ever that the occupation is not temporary, and there is not the political will in the Israeli government to bring about its end.”  —  Ilan Baruch and Alon Liel  —  Map of the West Bank, the Israeli occupied Palestinian territory.

Global sting: Secure FBI-run messaging network tricks crooks  —  THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Criminal gangs divulged plans for moving drug shipments and carrying out killings on a secure messaging system secretly run by the FBI, law enforcement agencies said Tuesday, as they unveiled …

Sen. Johnson and Colleagues Request Answers from DOJ on Unequal Application of Justice to Protestors  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), along with senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), sent a letter on Monday …

Erdan to AP CEO: Hamas worked on anti-Iron Dome tech in AP Gaza building  —  Hamas had intelligence, research and development offices in building Israel struck last month.  —  Hamas worked on a device to disrupt the Iron Dome missile defense system in the same building in Gaza …

Why Cruise Ship Vaccination Requirements Are Different from Those of Other Institutions  —  A huge part of life is drawing distinctions.  —  This requires observation, foresight for likely consequences, and judgment — and even then, you can still get it wrong.  This is hard.

Fresh Off Twitter Ban, Naomi Wolf To Headline Anti-Vax “Juneteenth” Event  —  Organizers told me they found that date appropriate because the ending of slavery and resistance to vaccines are both about “liberation”  —  Three groups opposed to Covid restrictions, masks …

Rep. Mo Brooks pushes falsehood that Trump won 2020 election, claims unlawful votes for Biden  —  Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) is continuing to promote the false claim that former president Donald Trump won the 2020 election, ahead of a battle for the seat of Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.).