Scoop: Tucker Carlson sought Putin interview at time of spying claim  —  Tucker Carlson was talking to U.S.-based Kremlin intermediaries about setting up an interview with Vladimir Putin shortly before the Fox News host accused the National Security Agency of spying on him, sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios.

Trump's Social Media Lawsuits Are Full Of Arguments Courts Have Repeatedly Rejected  —  WASHINGTON — Former president Donald Trump's latest attempt at getting back on mainstream social media platforms came in the form of lawsuits on Wednesday against Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube …

Breakfast with J.D. Vance, Anti-Trump Author Turned Pro-Trump Candidate  —  “I'm not just a flip-flopper, I'm a flip-flop-flipper on Trump,” J.D. Vance says with a laugh, slicing into a half-stack of breakfast pancakes.  The Hillbilly Elegy author and newly minted Republican Senate candidate …

QAnon' new ‘plan’?  Run for school board  —  Drake Wuertz came to the school board meeting in Seminole County, Florida, in late June with a message familiar to those who had heard him speak at previous meetings: America's children are at risk of systemic abuse.  —  And the way to stop it is to run for local office.

Exclusive: Documents Reveal Erik Prince's $10 Billion Plan to Make Weapons and Create a Private Army in Ukraine  —  On the second night of his visit to Kyiv, Erik Prince had a dinner date on his agenda.  A few of his Ukrainian associates had arranged to meet the American billionaire at the Vodka Grill that evening, Feb. 23, 2020.

Rudy Giuliani suspended from practicing law in D.C. court  —  The D.C. Court of Appeals has temporarily barred Rudolph W. Giuliani from practicing law, following a similar decision in New York.  —  A committee of judges in New York determined last month that Giuliani was unfit to keep practicing law …

Conservative groups mount opposition to increase in IRS budget, threatening White House infrastructure plan  —  The new funding is supposed to be a cornerstone of a bipartisan deal negotiated by the White House and moderate senators  —  Conservative political groups are mobilizing …

The Chilling Message of Trump's Embrace of Ashli Babbitt Martyrdom January 6 is now a heroic uprising for the movement.  —  Last Thursday, Donald Trump announced a new theme, with all his customary blunt-force subtlety.  “Who shot Ashli Babbitt?,” he wrote on his official pseudo-presidential stationery.

California Capitol reinstates mask mandate after COVID outbreak  —  California has reinstated a mask mandate for all lawmakers and employees at the state Capitol regardless of vaccination status following an outbreak of nine COVID-19 cases there.  —  All nine people who contracted the coronavirus …

Virginia GOP gubernatorial nominee admits to hiding extreme abortion views to win election  —  Glenn Youngkin said he won't talk publicly about some of his more severe positions on abortion because that 'won't win my independent votes that I have to get.'  —  Virginia's Republican nominee …

Secretary of State Katie Hobbs asks Attorney General Mark Brnovich to investigate possible election interference by Donald Trump, allies  —  Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs on Wednesday asked Attorney General Mark Brnovich to open a criminal investigation into possible efforts …

Michigan Judge Refuses to Allow Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, and Other ‘Kraken’ Attorneys to Skip Sanctions Hearing  —  Mere hours after lawyers for the so-called “Kraken” litigation to overturn the 2020 presidential election asked to skip attending an upcoming sanctions hearing …

Stop calling food ‘exotic’  —  “One of the nicest things about Afghan restaurants is that they appeal to even the most timid of diners,” Mark and Gail Barnett wrote in the May 16, 1993, edition of The Post.  “Your visiting aunt from Spokane, Wash., can enjoy the adventure of an exotic cuisine …

FBI orders new look at autopsy of Black motorist Ronald Greene after release of graphic bodycam video  —  The FBI is taking the unusual step of ordering a new look at the autopsy of Black motorist Ronald Greene to consider evidence not provided after his 2019 death, including graphic body camera video …

Trump told chief of staff Hitler ‘did a lot of good things’, book says  — Remark shocked John Kelly, author Michael Bender reports  — Book details former president's ‘stunning disregard for history’  —  On a visit to Europe to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war …

Judge: Air Force mostly at fault in 2017 Texas church attack  —  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Air Force is mostly responsible for a former serviceman killing more than two dozen people at a Texas church in 2017 because it failed to submit his criminal history into a database …

From corporate America to conspiracy theory promotion: How a Minnesota man made a career out of anonymously amplifying dark plots  —  STILLWATER, Minn. — Sean G. Turnbull displays many of the hallmarks of a successful upper-middle-class family man, a former film producer and marketing manager …

Marjorie Taylor Greene Shuts Down Idea That Trump Will be Reinstated in August, ‘Not True’  —  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is still a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump but she's not in the camp of people who believe he'll return to office before fall.

Biden taunts McConnell for ‘bragging’ about relief bill he voted against  —  McConnell has vowed to wage a “hell of a fight” on Biden's infrastructure plan.  —  President Joe Biden taunted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday for having acknowledged his home state of Kentucky …

We Might Have Reached Peak Populism  —  Feeling optimistic about the state of American politics is hard.  The country is deeply polarized.  Much of the debate consists of name-calling and demonization.  Dissatisfied with a strategy of maximal obstructionism in Congress …

Biden's new Cold War with China will result in climate collapse, progressives warn  —  As a new Cold War takes shape between the U.S. and China, progressives fear the result will be a dramatically warming planet.  —  Over 40 progressive groups sent a letter to President Joe Biden and lawmakers …

Where is Trump's White House staff now?  We created a searchable database of more than 327 top staffers to show where they all landed  — Insider set out to find 327 of the most prominent Trump administration alumni.  — Nearly 100 have gotten “establishment” jobs.

Ted Cruz, perennial favorite at CPAC, cites family commitment for skipping Dallas gathering  —  Trump headlines 3-day conservative conference.  Cruz spoke at CPAC in Orlando four months ago, as he almost always does.  —  WASHINGTON - Sen. Ted Cruz, a reliable presence and recurring star …

Rep on bipartisanship: Republicans want ‘18 more months of chaos’ … On the surface, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) might seem like the kind of House Republican who might be willing to work with his Democratic colleagues.  It's not because he's moderate — he's actually a very conservative Texas Republican …

Deaths and Hospitalizations Averted by Rapid U.S. Vaccination Rollout  —  The U.S. COVID-19 vaccination campaign has significantly curbed the virus's spread and national death toll, saving an estimated 279,000 lives and averting up to 1.25 million hospitalizations

Kevin McCarthy's struggles over the Jan. 6 committee reveal a dark GOP truth  —  Here's a puzzling development to ponder.  Why is it that the Republicans most eager to join the Jan. 6 select committee are also among those most prone to sowing doubt about the legitimacy of the 2020 election …

A Planned Biden Order Aims to Tilt the Job Market Toward Workers  —  Noncompete clauses, licensing requirements and corporate mergers have tended to strengthen the hand of business.  —  According to an increasingly influential school of thought in left-of-center economic circles …

Official: Haiti President Jovenel Moïse assassinated at home  —  PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in an attack on his private residence early Wednesday, according to a statement from the country's interim prime minister, who called the killing a …

Jacob Zuma, Former South African President, Is Arrested  —  The Constitutional Court had found him guilty of contempt for failing to appear before a commission investigating corruption accusations that tainted a president once best known for fighting apartheid.

Julian Assange Won't Be Held in Supermax Jail If Extradited, U.S. Assures U.K.  —  American government says the WikiLeaks founder, if convicted on espionage charges, can serve any custodial sentence in his native Australia  —  LONDON—The U.S. government has given assurances to the U.K …

Americans' Life Ratings Reach Record High  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — The percentage of Americans who evaluate their lives well enough to be considered “thriving” on Gallup's Live Evaluation Index reached 59.2% in June, the highest in over 13 years of ongoing measurement and exceeding the previous high of 57.3% from September 2017.

‘We Make Mistakes’: Twitter's Embrace of the Extreme Far Right  —  Twitter gave far-right extremists the platform they needed to plan an attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and the website, if it maintains its current approach, will likely enable politically motivated violence again in the future.

The reporter who broke the news about Nikole Hannah-Jones tells the rest of the story  —  Joe Killian says NHJ was ready for what was coming.  —  4 hr ago  —  In May, I broke the story that the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees would not grant acclaimed journalist and New York Times Magazine staff writer Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure.