Police did not clear Lafayette Park area so Trump could hold ‘Bible’ photo op: Watchdog  —  The inspector general's findings shed new light on a major controversy.  —  U.S. Park Police did not clear Lafayette Park and the nearby area of protesters on June 1, 2020, so President Donald Trump …

Trump administration pursued CNN reporter's records in months-long secret court battle  —  Washington (CNN)The Trump administration battled with CNN for half a year to obtain the email records of a reporter and insisted it all take place under an extraordinary order of secrecy, CNN's lead attorney revealed on Wednesday.

From the synagogue to the Senate: The busiest Democratic senator you've probably never heard of … Larry Rosen and Doug Emhoff bonded because of their powerful wives.  As two of the only men in the book club for spouses when their other halves served as senators, they became good friends.

Stephen Breyer's Apparent Retirement Plan Will Backfire  —  The New York Times reported last month that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, age 82, has been resisting calls for his retirement from fellow progressives.  The reason?  Breyer apparently worries that retiring in the face …

Biden disliked Putin before it was cool  —  When President George W. Bush first met Vladimir Putin, he seemed smitten, describing the still-new Russian leader as “very straightforward and trustworthy,” even claiming he got “a sense of his soul.”  —  A certain Democratic senator from Delaware had a very different reaction.

There's A Stark Red-Blue Divide When It Comes To States' Vaccination Rates  —  Loading...  It's less than a month until the Fourth of July, which was President Biden's goal for 70% of American adults to have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.  —  It looks like it's going to be a stretch to get there.

Biden administration to buy 500 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses to donate to the world  —  The Biden administration is buying 500 million doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine to donate to the world, as the United States dramatically increases its efforts to help vaccinate the global population …

State GOPs Can't Explain Millions In ‘Trump Victory’ Cash  —  “These joint fundraising practices amount to little more than legalized money laundering,” said Brendan Fischer, director of federal reform at the Campaign Legal Center.  —  Months after the Federal Election Commission notified …

My Fellow Republicans, Stop Fearing This Dangerous and Diminished Man  —  Ms. Comstock, a Virginia Republican and a lawyer, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019.  —  When Donald Trump, the patron saint of sore losers, appeared at a Republican event on Saturday night …

Justice Department says it can ‘vigorously’ defend religious schools' exemption from anti-LGBTQ discrimination laws  —  The Justice Department in a court filing Tuesday said it can “vigorously” defend a religious exemption from federal civil rights law that allows federally funded religious schools …

White House ‘Perplexed’ By Kamala Harris Performance on First Foreign Policy Trip: CNN  —  Unnamed White House “insiders” were left “perplexed” by the performance of Vice President Kamala Harris on her recent trip to Guatemala and Mexico to address the root causes of the immigration problems at the US Southern border.

Democratic Rep. Val Demings announces challenge to GOP Sen. Marco Rubio … WASHINGTON — Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., made her Senate bid official Wednesday, announcing that she plans to challenge GOP Sen. Marco Rubio for his seat next year.  —  Demings made the announcement in a three-minute-long video …

Exclusive: US businesses warn crumbling infrastructure is hurting the economy  —  New York (CNN Business)As infrastructure negotiations between the White House and a GOP Senate group broke down this week, business executives are warning that aging infrastructure is holding America back.

Critical Race Theory's Poisonous Roots Trace Back To Harvard University  —  Harvard bears a unique responsibility for disseminating the toxic ideology known as critical race theory into our national discourse.  —  In the past several months, multiple state legislatures have made moves …

An open letter on U.S. media coverage of Palestine  —  From journalists, to journalists: Why reporting on Palestine has to change.  —  Finding truth and holding the powerful to account are core principles of journalism.  —  Yet for decades, our news industry has abandoned those values in coverage of Israel and Palestine.

Story retracted  —  Editor's note (6/8/21): Earlier today, Media Matters published a story stating that Texas state Sen. Bob Hall had “appeared on the program of a white nationalist, pro-Hitler outlet that denies the Holocaust.”  After publication, we were made aware that the program in question …

Trump is sabotaging the GOP's Senate prospects  —  The former president's growing involvement in primaries is jeopardizing Republican chances of winning back the majority.  —  Former President Trump could have been an important asset for the GOP, turning out voters as it seeks to regain control …

Dog ejected from car during Sunday crash found on sheep farm, herding sheep  —  Tilly, the 2-year-old Border Collie who was ejected from a car Sunday during a crash, has been found.  —  He was found on a sheep farm, where he had apparently taken up the role of sheep herder.

The case for prosecuting Donald Trump  —  Saving American democracy for the long run requires a clear condemnation of the Trump presidency.  That means making clear that no one is above the law.  —  Norms in a democracy are only as good as our willingness to enforce them.

The Curious Rise of Twitter Power Broker Yashar Ali  —  I'm extremely upset.  Yashar Ali delivers this news as he settles into a booth in the lobby of Santa Monica's Proper Hotel.  His eyes are red and puffy—he's clearly been crying—and his voice cracks with emotion when he speaks.

Bogus Social Media Outrage Is Making Authors Change Lines in Their Books Now  —  Elin Hilderbrand writes novels about people who summer in Nantucket and have lots of family secrets and complicated love lives.  The books—whose covers feature beach scenes with women in sun hats …

Five Former Treasury Secretaries: Fund the IRS  —  The authors are former U.S. Treasury secretaries.  Mr. Geithner and Mr. Lew served under President Barack Obama, Mr. Paulson under President George W. Bush, and Mr. Rubin and Mr. Summers under President Bill Clinton.

Eric Adams Gives Apartment Tour as Questions Arise About Where He Lives  —  As Mr. Adams invited reporters to Brooklyn to rebut questions about whether he lives part-time in New Jersey, one of his rivals in the mayor's race, Maya Wiley, received a major endorsement.

Almost Overnight, Standards of Color-Blind Merit Tumble Across American Society  —  A broad revolution is underway in the United States as traditional standards used to measure achievement and provide opportunity are being rejected by schools, corporations, and governments in favor of quotas based on race and gender.

Dre(a)dfully fake outrage  —  The New Yorker's contribution to the “cancel culture” rage machine is embarrassing.  —  2 hr ago  —  Last month, I wrote an article about the expansion of Fox News' annual “War on Christmas” narrative into a year-long freakout, which was itself an expansion …

Executive Order on Protecting Americans' Sensitive Data from Foreign Adversaries … By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)

On What Planet Does Louie Gohmert Live?  —  Louie Gohmert asked, during a climate change hearing, if the Bureau of Land Management was influencing the orbit of the Earth or maybe the Moon or maybe something solar flares.  —  Views:  —  Either Louie Gohmert is the best performance artist on Planet Earth, or he's... Louie Gohmert.

How Far Are Republicans Willing to Go?  They're Already Gone.  —  Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C. on politics, demographics and inequality.  —  Determined to enforce white political dominance in pivotal states like Georgia, Arizona, Texas and North Carolina …

Oxford student who led ‘woke’ move to remove Queen's portrait is American … The Oxford university student who led a vote to remove Queen Elizabeth II's portrait — sparking outrage in the top tiers of UK government — is a wealthy American private school boy who is a Captain America fan, it emerged Wednesday.