Hunting Leaks, Trump Officials Focused on Democrats in Congress  —  The Justice Department seized records from Apple for metadata of House Intelligence Committee members, their aides and family members.  —  WASHINGTON — As the Justice Department investigated who was behind leaks …

Feds obtain another conspiracy indictment in Jan. 6 riot  —  Federal prosecutors have obtained a conspiracy indictment against six men allegedly affiliated with a “California Patriots” group for plotting to obstruct the electoral vote count on Jan. 6.  —  The indictment, returned by a grand jury …

Jeffrey Toobin is back at CNN eight months after exposing himself on Zoom  —  New York (CNN Business)Jeffrey Toobin returned to CNN as the network's chief legal analyst on Thursday, eight months after he exposed himself during a Zoom call with colleagues at The New Yorker.

Gore pressed Biden to stick with climate plans as liberals fear White House is softening its agenda  —  The president and former vice president had a private phone call amid concerns the White House might strip climate measures from the infrastructure deal.  —  A number of Democrats …

Leading biologist dampens his ‘smoking gun’ Covid lab leak theory  —  Nobel laureate David Baltimore says he overstated case, and the origins of the virus are still unknown  —  A Nobel prize-winning US biologist, who has been widely quoted describing a “smoking gun” to support the thesis …

Half of the pandemic's unemployment money may have been stolen  —  Criminals may have stolen as much as half of the unemployment benefits the U.S. has been pumping out over the past year, some experts say.  —  Why it matters: Unemployment fraud during the pandemic could easily reach $400 billion …

Senate confirms Zahid Quraishi as first Muslim American federal judge in US history  —  (CNN)The Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Zahid Quraishi to be a US District Judge for the District of New Jersey, making him the first Muslim American federal judge in US history.

Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas will build a border wall, but doesn't yet give details on cost or location  —  The governor suggested more details would be released next week.  His announcement Thursday of several initiatives is the latest in an ongoing conflict between Abbott, a Republican …

Russia is preparing to supply Iran with an advanced satellite system that will boost Tehran's ability to surveil military targets, officials say  —  Russia is preparing to supply Iran with an advanced satellite system that will give Tehran an unprecedented ability to track potential military targets across …

America's Image Abroad Rebounds With Transition From Trump to Biden  —  But many raise concerns about health of U.S. political system  —  This analysis focuses on public opinion of the United States in 16 advanced economies in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Epstein Kept Dossiers on His Victims to Blackmail Them  —  A ballerina says that Epstein and his associates kept files on underage girls to scare them into silence.  —  A survivor of Jeffrey Epstein's sex ring claims that a financial advisory firm linked to the deceased trafficker “coaxed” …

CDC says heart inflammation cases were higher than expected in 16- to 24-year-olds after second Covid vaccine shot, but still rare  — The number of cases of a heart inflammation condition in 16- to 24-year-olds was higher than expected after they received their second dose of Pfizer's or Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines, the CDC said.

These businesses found a way around the worker shortage: Raising wages to $15 an hour or more  —  The owners of Klavon's Ice Cream Parlor had hit a wall.  —  For months, the 98-year-old confectionary in Pittsburgh couldn't find applicants for the open positions it needed to fill ahead of warmer weather and …

Was Trump right about hydroxychloroquine all along?  New study shows drug touted by former president can increase COVID survival rates by 200%  — A study on 255 patients was done by St Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey  — The resulting report, out May 31, found hydroxychloroquine to be effective

On the Sliming of Susan Hennessey  —  I have made a point of staying quiet as the Trumpist right has gone after Lawfare's former executive editor, Susan Hennessey, following her appointment to a position in the Justice Department's National Security Division.

A New Giuliani Tape Shows a Key Witness Didn't Testify Accurately in the First Trump Impeachment  —  Kurt Volker said he didn't know Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Biden.  New audio indicates he did.  —  Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise …

Pelosi, leaders seek to squelch Omar controversy with rare joint statement  —  With a rare joint statement, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her entire leadership team on Thursday sought to quell a growing controversy over Rep. Ilhan Omar's remarks equating war crimes committed by the U.S …

Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman will throw ceremonial first pitch at Nats Park  —  U.S. Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, who has been hailed as a hero for protecting lawmakers and facing down a wave of rioters who breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, will throw out the ceremonial …

The “Lab-leak” inquiry at the State Department:  —  An Open Letter by former Assistant Secretary Christopher Ford  —  In both journalism and policymaking — if not always in politics, or in the sordid world of score-settling by unemployed, second-rate apparatchiks — facts matter, and intellectual integrity matters.

S.F. supervisor Aaron Peskin says he's entering ‘alcohol treatment’ after complaints  —  San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin said Thursday he is entering treatment for alcohol use, a day after The Chronicle asked Peskin about his berating of a department head in a public meeting this week and other complaints about his behavior.

Shelby sides against Trump in Alabama Senate race  —  Republican Richard Shelby is backing his former chief of staff Katie Boyd Britt in the race to succeed him in the Senate, siding against former President Donald Trump's favored candidate, Rep. Mo Brooks.  —  “She's like family.

Norfolk Elects Prosecutor Who Says Crime Is a “Symptom of Structural Racism”  —  Virginia's primaries on Tuesday saw Ramin Fatehi clinch the Democratic nomination for Commonwealth Attorney in Norfolk, the site of a major showdown over reform in 2019.  He is unchallenged in November.

A ‘potential resolution’ to Hannah Jones tenure controversy may not heal damage done at UNC  —  “Ninety percent of Black and non-white faculty right now, they are probably looking at their other options.  That may be a conservative estimate.”  —  Attorneys for UNC-Chapel Hill will meet …

Jason Miller to head tech startup that could become Trump platform  —  Longtime senior Donald Trump adviser Jason Miller is taking over as chief executive officer of a tech startup company that could be used by the former president.  —  Miller's company is currently developing a social media platform …

Koch-and-switch  —  About seven months ago, billionaire businessman Charles Koch's smiling face was in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.  The 85-year-old Koch had spent decades funding a vast network of far-right causes, including the Tea Party, the movement which laid the groundwork for Donald Trump's ascension to the presidency.