New emails show how Trump and his allies pressured Justice Department to try to challenge 2020 election results  —  (CNN)New emails show how former President Donald Trump's White House assistant, chief of staff and other allies pressured the Justice Department to investigate claims of voter fraud …

Trump Executive Could Face Charges as Soon as This Summer  —  An investigation into Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's finance chief, appears to be heading into its final stages as prosecutors increase pressure on him.  —  The Manhattan district attorney's office appears to have entered …

Alabama lawmaker wants to ban critical race theory, so I asked him what it is  —  This is an opinion column.  —  There's been a lot of talk about critical race theory lately, and I've felt at a loss.  I've heard so many conflicting things about critical race theory, I've gotten more and more confused.

The Wuhan lab-leak explanation is “not a conspiracy theory, ” says ... Jon Stewart?  —  That strange popping sound you've been hearing overnight?  Media-elite heads exploding, perhaps, or maybe just eardrums adjusting to the new narrative pressure provided by Jon Stewart.

Senate Unanimously Approves A Bill To Make Juneteenth A Public Holiday  —  The Senate unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would make Juneteenth, the date commemorating the end of chattel slavery in the United States, a legal public holiday.  —  The holiday is celebrated on June 19 …

Biden names first political ambassadors, including for Israel and Mexico  —  President Biden announced his first slate of political ambassadors Tuesday, naming five political allies and donors, as well as four career foreign service officers.  —  Why it matters: Biden's announcement …

Sen. John Barrasso: GOP aiming to make Biden a ‘half-term president’  —  A member of Senate Republican leadership is vowing to make President Joe Biden a “one-half-term president” by toppling Democrats' congressional majorities in the 2022 midterms.  —  Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming …

REVEALED: The Federalist Foundation's Tax Records  —  The Center for Democracy (CMD) has obtained the first 990 tax filing of a new nonprofit linked to the right-wing digital publication The Federalist, as well as the most recent filing from the Real Clear Foundation, another media nonprofit that has ties to The Federalist.

A Composer Condemned Arson.  Now No One Will Hire Him.  —  Until last year, Daniel Elder—a 34-year-old musician who lives in Nashville, Tennessee—had a promising career ahead of him.  The theme of the prize-winning composer's work, truth through emotion, is evident across his catalogue of choral music …

Hillary Clinton endorses Tali Farhadian Weinstein for Manhattan DA  —  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Tuesday she's backing Tali Farhadian Weinstein's run for Manhattan district attorney — a big coup in a crowded field that has focused much of their attention on criminal justice reform.

Some Americans were infected with COVID in December 2019  —  The National Institutes of Health said Tuesday morning that testing of samples from an ongoing study of Americans show a very limited number of cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in five U.S. states as early as Jan. 7, 2020.

Wait, This Is Why a Local Fox Reporter Sabotaged Her Career?  —  Ivory Hecker told The Daily Beast on Tuesday that she's been terminated after claiming on-air that the station has “muzzled” her. … Fox 26 Houston general assignment reporter Ivory Hecker said Tuesday that she has been fired …

Critical race theory invades school boards — with help from conservative groups  —  A booby-trapped billboard.  A list of demands.  A conservative media frenzy.  —  Jeff Porter, superintendent of a wealthy suburban school district in Maine, had no idea that his community was about to become part …

The Amazon That Customers Don't See  —  Each year, hundreds of thousands of workers churn through a vast mechanism that hires and monitors, disciplines and fires.  Amid the pandemic, the already strained system lurched.

The backlash against In the Heights, explained  —  The new film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway show relegated its Black Latinx community to the background and sparked a debate about colorism.  —  Despite an early onslaught of critical praise, the highly anticipated film adaptation …

Saudi Arabia executes Mustafa al-Darwish for teenage protests  —  In a statement this morning, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of the Interior announced that Mustafa Hashem al-Darwish has been executed.  His family received no advance notice, and found out Mustafa had been executed by reading the news online.

Seeding by Ceding  —  Sitting down to write this post, I felt stuck.  I want to de-emphasize privileged voices and cede focus to others, yet I know some media stories will focus on wealth.  The headline I would wish for this post is “286 Teams Empowering Voices the World Needs to Hear.”

'He's screwed over so many publishers': Trump confronts a skeptical book industry  —  Almost five months after leaving office, major publishing houses still are wary of publishing a book by former President Donald Trump, even though a post-White House memoir would almost assuredly be a best-seller.

Pa. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean won't run for Senate, further shaping 2022 Democratic primary  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean will not run for U.S. Senate and will instead aim to build her career in the House, she said Tuesday, further clarifying the Democratic field …

Saudi embassy has helped its citizens facing criminal charges flee the United States  —  On the night of Oct. 13, 2018, Raekwon Moore was stabbed during a street fight with two strangers in the popular Uptown district of Greenville, N.C. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died.

Get Ready for the Shitstorm That Will Follow the Arizona “Recount”  —  Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy's plan for Arizona is the same as it was before January 6.  —  Your whole life, like a sandglass, will always be reversed and will ever run out again,—a long minute of time will elapse until …

Medical-Debt Charity to Buy, Wipe Out $278 Million of Patients' Hospital Bills  —  Deal between Ballad Health and RIP Medical Debt shows the gaps in the financial-aid programs of nonprofit hospitals  —  A national charity will for the first time buy medical debt, totaling $278 million …

Death penalty should be reinstated for Tsarnaev in Boston Marathon bombings case, Biden administration tells US Supreme Court  —  The Biden administration is asking the US Supreme Court to reinstate the death penalty against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for the Boston Marathon terror bombings that killed three people and wounded hundreds more.

Politico's top editor leaving for NBC  —  Politico's top editor Carrie Budoff Brown is joining NBC in a high-level executive position at the network that includes overseeing the “Meet the Press” franchise, sources familiar with the discussions tell Axios.  —  Why it matters …

Proud Boys descended into dysfunction and finger-pointing as members were arrested in US Capitol riot, new messages show  —  Washington (CNN)A private Proud Boys audio chat that was made public Tuesday shows how the right-wing group fell into dysfunction and finger-pointing as its members got arrested after the US Capitol riot.

21 House Republicans vote against awarding Congressional Gold Medal to all police officers who responded on Jan. 6  —  Twenty-one House Republicans on Tuesday voted against awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to all police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 violent attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

‘Shocking failure’: Pentagon and FBI come under fire for Jan. 6 response  —  Days before the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, social media company Parler flagged dozens of worrying messages to the FBI — warnings that appeared to go unanswered.  —  “Don't be surprised if we take the Capitol building …

Israeli Planes Bomb Gaza Just Days Into New Government  —  After a day of rising tensions, which saw a far-right march in Jerusalem and incendiary balloons launched from Gaza, Israel's new coalition government ordered airstrikes against Hamas.  —  JERUSALEM — The Israeli military …

The Myth of Unprecedented Republican Obstructionism  —  Political parties might be right or wrong, but only one clamors to blow up the rules every time they don't get their way.  —  he political media have spent the entire Joe Biden presidency up to this point pressuring holdout moderate Democrats …

Madison Cawthorn lead staffer makes $127,000 despite no experience, Republican source says  —  The top staffer for Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina makes the equivalent of a $127,111 annual salary despite having no background in government and little other work experience except …

Nickelodeon Ratings Crash Amid LGBTQ Push  —  There's growing evidence that Nickelodeon's hard push to promote the LGBTQ agenda to children is having a negative impact on the network's ratings.  —  In the last two weeks, both Nickelodeon and its preschool-targeted network, Nick Jr. …

White House to host July 4 ‘independence from virus’ bash  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Cue the fireworks.  —  President Joe Biden wants to imbue Independence Day with new meaning this year by encouraging nationwide celebrations to mark the country's effective return to normalcy after 16 months of coronavirus pandemic disruption.