Former Advisor to Presidential Candidate Among Three Defendants Charged with Acting as Agents of a Foreign Government  —  Defendants Allegedly Acted and Conspired to Act at the Direction of Senior United Arab Emirates Officials to Influence a Presidential Campaign, Public Opinion and the U.S. Government

Scoop: White House official, Pelosi aide test positive for COVID  —  A White House official and a staff member for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have both tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the same reception last week, officials confirmed to Axios.

Unvaccinated Trump supporter who spread coronavirus conspiracy theories dies of COVID-19  —  On Tuesday, the Cape Cod Times reported that Linda Zuern, a former member of the Bourne, Massachusetts Board of Selectmen and a Trump-supporting figure in the local Republican Party, had died of COVID-19.

Tom Brady Joins Biden to Laugh at Trump in Worst Day of Trump's Life The sum of all Trump fears.  —  Tom Brady visited the White House Tuesday to celebrate the Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning the Super Bowl, where he joked around with President Biden at Donald Trump's expense.

Bezos says space flight reinforced commitment to fighting climate change  —  Jeff Bezos said in an interview hours after flying to suborbital space on Tuesday that there are “no words” to adequately describe the experience, but that it reinforced his commitment to combatting climate change and keeping Earth …

After waiting, Steve Scalise gets vaccinated against COVID-19, calls it “safe and effective”  —  “Soon,” U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise replied at the beginning of April when asked when he would be vaccinated against the coronavirus.  —  “Soon,” he repeated at the beginning of May when asked the same question.

Axios-Ipsos poll: Most unvaccinated Americans won't get the shot for any reason  —  Many won't budge even if their own doctor gives the shot, a celebrity endorses it or they get paid time off.

Here's What to Expect from the Republicans on the Jan. 6 Committee  —  Kevin McCarthy met with Trump before announcing his appointees.  —  After a pilgrimage to Bedminster to get the blessing of the GOP's Apricot Archbishop, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy announced yesterday …

WATCHING THE WATCHMEN  —  In the inky darkness of a late summer night last September, three cars filled with armed men began circling Birch Lake in northern Michigan, looking for ways to approach Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's three-bedroom vacation cottage, subdue her — using a stun gun if necessary — and drag her away.

D.C. Council votes to raise taxes on the rich  —  The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to increase income taxes on residents earning more than $250,000 per year, and use the revenue to tackle homelessness and other social problems.  —  With $2.3 billion in federal money to spend …

DEA agent charged with breaching police lines during Capitol riot  —  A special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration has become the first federal law enforcement charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.  —  Mark Ibrahim of Orange County, Calif. …

NPR's Brilliant Self-Own  —  National Public Radio complains about a media figure who tells people “what their opinions should be” and uses political “buzzwords”  —  Yesterday's NPR article, “Outrage As A Business Model: How Ben Shapiro Is Using Facebook To Build An Empire,” …

We're begging you, Gov. DeSantis, stop messing in Texas and save Florida from COVID  —  That's what DeSantis told the conservative TPUSA crowd on Sunday.  —  We agree.  Completely.  —  Please, governor, we're begging you, handle the COVID problem.  Be a leader.

Texas Senate Bill Drops Teaching Requirement That Ku Klux Klan Is ‘Morally Wrong’  —  Eliminated requirements also include the writings of Martin Luther King Jr., United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez and suffragist Susan B. Anthony.  —  In a new political low in Texas …

What were the Capitol rioters thinking on Jan. 6?  —  Robert Gieswein is a good man, according to family and friends, who describe him as gentle and compassionate.  His mother says he has “an amazing work ethic.”  His younger sister calls him “the most inspiring person in my life.”

EXCLUSIVE: Ben & Jerry's Targets Anti-Semite Demographic With Audacious New Ice Cream Flavors  —  Ben & Jerry's, a left-wing ice cream company owned by Unilever, announced Monday that it will stop selling its products in the so-called Occupied Palestinian Territory, more commonly known as the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The FBI has lost the plot  —  Whom the gods would destroy, they first make ridiculous.  Consider the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  That once-respected institution has been busy wiping (or, more to the point, not wiping) egg off its face at least since the moist tenure of James ‘higher loyalty’ Comey.

Tarrant, AL Councilman Tommy Bryant: “Do We Have A House N***** In Here?”  —  Tarrant, AL city council member Tommy Bryant, has come under fire from residents after an exchange at a city council meeting Monday night in which he stood up and loudly asked, “Do we have a house n***er in here?”

Rand Paul Accuses Fauci of Lying to Congress about Gain-of-Function Research Funding  —  Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and Dr. Anthony Fauci again clashed over alleged U.S. government funding of gain-of-function research on bat coronavirus in Wuhan, China, during testimony before a Senate committee on Tuesday.

Running against the Democratic dystopia  —  From a political perspective, the fact that Democrats run everything in Washington means they get the blame for everything that goes wrong.  —  And many, many things are going wrong.  —  The Nationals game was suspended on Saturday night …

The Bizarre Martyrdom of Nikole Hannah-Jones  —  The creator of the 1619 Project is hardly the model journalist, despite her celebrity and prizes.  —  One of the summer's less predictable media firestorms has been the angst-ridden watch party concerning whether celebrity journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones …

Florida GOP chair under investigation for alleged sexual harassment  —  TALLAHASSEE — The Republican Party of Florida is investigating its chair, Joe Gruters, in connection with a sexual harassment allegation involving a legislative staffer amid complaints from top party officials that the accusation was covered up.

Don't Call Them ‘Shark Attacks,’ Scientists Say  —  In recent years, researchers and wildlife officials in Australia and the United States have adopted terms like “bites,” “incidents” and “encounters.”  They wish the public would, too.  —  On the beaches of Western Australia …

On the list: Ten prime ministers, three presidents and a king … Spies for centuries have trained their sights on those who shape destinies of nations: presidents, prime ministers, kings.  —  And in the 21st century, most of them carry smartphones.  —  Such is the underlying logic …

Indicted Trump Organization executive may have defended his Mercedes perks in custody, court documents show  —  NEW YORK — Indicted Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg may have offered an unprompted early defense to investigators on the day he was charged in a 15-year tax avoidance …

Swalwell Had Meetings With Qatari Charity Tied to Terrorist Groups  —  Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.), the House Intelligence Committee member who was targeted by a foreign spy during his early days in Congress, has met twice in the past nine months with a Hamas-linked charity that spends hundreds …

I discussed ousting PM after 2019 election landslide  —  Dominic Cummings has revealed he discussed ousting Boris Johnson within days of the Conservatives winning the December 2019 election by a landslide.  —  The PM's former chief adviser told the BBC it seemed that, by mid-January 2020, Mr Johnson did not “have a plan”.

3 Tropes of White Victimhood  —  In the conservative world, the idea that white people in the United States are under siege has become doctrine.  In recent weeks, three prominent figures have each offered their own versions of this tenet.  —  In June, Brian Kilmeade, one of the hosts of Fox & Friends …

Justice Department seeks 50-year bar to release of grand jury material  —  The Justice Department is pushing for rule changes that would put a 50-year delay on when courts can consider releasing material from federal grand juries, according to documents and interviews, and would separately allow gag orders …