A Supreme Blow to Intimidation  —  Sheldon Whitehouse is unhappy about Thursday's ruling.  That's a good sign.  —  Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is unhappy with Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that reins in his ability to harass political opponents.  Perhaps he and his fellow intimidators should have been less brazen.

Biden aide charges “sabotage” of Harris  —  Top White House officials are mobilizing to defend Vice President Kamala Harris amid a gusher of leaks about dysfunction and infighting in her office.  —  Driving the news: White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told Axios in a statement …

Weisselberg indictment creates new questions about Trump kids' hidden compensation: John Heilemann  —  During a panel discussion on MSNBC's “Morning Joe,” regular contributor John Heilemann suggested that investigators might want to investigate if Trump Organization CFO Alan Weisselberg …

U.S. economy added 850,000 jobs in June as labor market showed renewed strength  —  Hiring surged heading into the second half of the year.  —  The U.S. economy added 850,000 jobs in June as the pace of the recovery surged — quieting simmering fears, at least temporarily, of more lasting harm from labor and supply shortages.

U.S. Leaves Its Last Afghan Base, Effectively Ending Operations  —  With little fanfare, Bagram Air Base — once the military's nerve center — was handed over to the Afghans, after nearly 20 years of waging war from the hub.  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — American troops and their Western allies …

A former police officer arrested after the Jan. 6 riot was told to stay away from guns.  He bought 34, feds say.  —  In January, a federal judge agreed to release Thomas Robertson, a former Rocky Mount, Va., police officer facing multiple charges over his alleged participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Did Biden Really Win California?  —  The November 3, 2020, Presidential election data from California sets off alarm bells.  —  Election data generated by the natural voting process will closely match Benford's Law predictions.  (Benford's Law, or the rule of leading digits, is used as an indicator of fraud in numerical data.)

Attorney General Merrick Garland orders pause of federal executions  —  Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered a temporary stop Thursday to scheduling further federal executions.  —  In a memo to senior officials, he said serious concerns have arisen about the arbitrariness of capital punishment …

Tucker Carlson and Glenn Greenwald's Shameless Marriage of Convenience … Last week, in an appearance on a Mediaite podcast, the journalist Glenn Greenwald came to the defense once again of Fox News's chief hatemonger, Tucker Carlson.  While he rightly accused Carlson of “deliberately inflaming …

First on CNN: Biden unveils unprecedented government-wide strategy to encourage US citizenship  —  (CNN)The Biden administration is introducing an unprecedented effort to encourage eligible immigrants to apply for US citizenship, according to a US Citizenship and Immigration Services official.

Ohio Is Now Fully Trumpified  —  In another lifetime, Representative Anthony Gonzalez was the Ohio Republican Party's dream candidate.  Many of his future suburban-Cleveland constituents cheered for him at Byers Field when he was a high-school-football standout at St. Ignatius …

Concern over crime is growing — but Americans don't just want more police, Post-ABC poll shows  —  Concern over crime has reached the highest point in four years amid a spike in killings in big cities and an uptick in violent crime, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Friday …

Pelosi cancels the Fourth of July  —  During an average year, the U.S. Capitol welcomes 2.5 million visitors, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to reopen the Capitol to visitors — school groups, families, or anyone hoping to see the legislative branch in action.

Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Protects Against Delta Variant, Company Reports  —  The vaccine also produced long-lasting immune responses, researchers said.  Booster shots seem unnecessary, at least for now.  —  The Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is effective against the highly contagious Delta variant …

The NFL's investigation was just like Daniel Snyder's workplace culture: Rotten  —  The so-called investigative report on the nasty skirt-clutching culture inside the Washington Football Team has vanished like invisible ink.  And somehow the NFL thinks it can make it all right by handing Tanya Snyder the mop and broom.

Trumpworld App Is Bankrolled by Fugitive Chinese Billionaire  —  Trump adviser Jason Miller launched a new social media company that's being bankrolled by a buddy of pardoned Trump strategist Steve Bannon.  —  A new social media network led by Donald Trump adviser Jason Miller is backed …

Washington lawmaker apologizes for wearing Star of David to protest Covid mandates … WASHINGTON — A Washington state lawmaker apologized Thursday for wearing a yellow Star of David on his shirt during an event last weekend where he spoke to conservative activists.

‘Forever Purge’ Follows Far-Left's Fear of White Supremacy, Ignores Antifa  —  The “Purge” franchise offers a glimpse into the progressive mindset.  —  Previous installments slammed Christians as monsters, railed against President Donald Trump and stoked the dying embers of Occupy Wall Street's class resentment.

Inside Broke Roger Stone's Very ‘Shady’ Condo Purchase  —  Roger Stone somehow secured a $400,000 mortgage while facing a $1.5 million federal lien and owing the IRS roughly $2 million.  —  BEAST INSIDE  —  The federal government says longtime Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone owes $2 million in unpaid taxes.

Pennsylvania's election audit moves follow the partisan playbook  —  In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, across the country, we saw radical efforts to spread lies about voter fraud, attack voting rights and overturn the results of the presidential election.

Conservatives' sensitivity to pandemic threat suppressed by distrust of science, media  —  Researchers studying the intersection of politics and psychology have long documented a link between threat sensitivity and social conservatism: People who are more socially conservative tend to react more strongly to threats.

Defund the FBI  —  Republicans need to abandon their longtime, reflexive loyalty to the FBI.  —  It's been a gold star week for the men and women of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  —  Nearly six months after the events of January 6, the FBI, under the direction …