$5,800 Whiskey Bottle, a Gift From Japan to Pompeo, Is Missing, U.S. Says  —  The State Department is investigating what happened to it.  —  The State Department is investigating the whereabouts of a $5,800 bottle of whiskey the Japanese government gave to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019 …

Selfie shows Andrew Cuomo SMIRK moments after he 'grabbed and rubbed trembling assistant's butt' as embattled NY Governor refuses to resign despite prosecutors claiming he sexually harassed 11 women  — A selfie released in the official report into sexual harassment allegations against NY …

The DOJ Official Who Tried to Steal the Election for Trump Has a Sweet New Gig  —  On Tuesday, ABC News reported that Jeffrey Bossert Clark—the Justice Department official who spearheaded an effort to overturn the 2020 election—sought to convince the Georgia General Assembly to throw …

White woman in viral video says she had no choice but to call police on Black bird-watcher … The white woman who was recorded on video calling police to claim that a Black bird-watcher was threatening her in New York City's Central Park last year said she felt she was backed into a corner.

Fauci warns COVID-19 cases may double in delta variant surge  —  Coronavirus cases driven by the delta variant are rising in a “very steep fashion” across the United States and may double in the coming weeks to 200,000 cases a day, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday.

‘The stuff of which violent insurrections are made:’ Federal judge punishes Colorado lawyers for 2020 election lawsuit  —  A federal judge in Colorado has punished two lawyers who filed a lawsuit challenging the 2020 election late last year, finding that the case was “frivolous,” “not warranted by existing law” and filed “in bad faith.”

NYU researchers speak out after Facebook disables their accounts  —  On Tuesday, Facebook suspended the accounts, apps and pages of several New York University researchers who have been using scraping tools to better understand political ads and disinformation on Facebook.

Boston mayor compares NYC's vaccine mandate to slavery, birtherism  —  The mayor of Boston said the city won't be following New York's lead requiring proof of vaccination at many indoor businesses, claiming the move is reminiscent of “slavery” and birtherism.

Two House Democrats who broke quorum missing from Washington, D.C., reportedly vacationing in Portugal  —  Their vacation does not affect the lack of quorum that the House has in Austin to pass the elections bill.  But it is at odds with Democrats' insistence that they would use their time away …

‘Dark times’: Houston's fourth COVID-19 wave to be the largest yet, medical leaders predict  —  Fueled by the delta variant, a surge in Houston COVID-19 hospitalizations is growing as fast as at any time during the pandemic so far, and is projected to pass previous records by mid-August …

These corporations just donated to a Republican group that helped create the January 6 mob  —  Judd Legum, Tesnim Zekeria, and Rebecca Crosby … That was an excerpt from robocalls sent on January 5 by the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), through its self-described “policy branch,” the Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF).

Cori Bush, Democrat demanding eviction halt, was sued for not paying rent  —  Rep. Bush was sued for not paying thousands of dollars in rent in 2015  —  Fox News Flash top headlines for August 4  —  “Squad” member Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, who has been demanding a halt in evictions since last week …

Dickinson councilman H Scott Apley, hospitalized with COVID-19, dies at 45  —  H Scott Apley, a Dickinson city council member and official in the Galveston County Republican Party, has died after being hospitalized with COVID-19, officials said Wednesday in a post on the party's Facebook page.

Biden Loses Ground On His Handling Of COVID-19 Response, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Infrastructure Bill Gets A Thumbs Up By A 2 To 1 Margin  — mail_outline  —  With the Delta variant spreading and coronavirus cases once again spiking in the U.S. …

NYC vaccine campaign surges 40 percent amid mandates, new incentives  —  Sometimes it takes a carrot — and a stick!  —  The Big Apple's vaccination campaign has surged 40 percent after Mayor Bill de Blasio offered $100 gift cards for shots and ordered city employees to get vaccinated …

Marist Poll Results & Analysis: Governor Andrew Cuomo  —  The post Marist Poll Results & Analysis: Governor Andrew Cuomo first appeared on Home of the Marist Poll.

Obama Significantly Scales Back 60th Birthday Party as Virus Cases Rebound  —  Hundreds of former Obama administration officials, celebrities and Democratic donors had been planning to attend the huge bash on Martha's Vineyard on Saturday.  —  WASHINGTON — The party plans had been months …

Mexico to sue U.S.-based gunmakers over flow of arms across border  —  MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government said Wednesday it plans to file legal action against several major U.S.-based gun manufacturers, alleging that lax controls contribute to the illegal flow of weapons over the border …

Nina Turner Lost to the Redbox  —  How Shontel Brown used questionably legal campaign finance tactics to take a House seat  —  A cardboard cutout likeness of Nina Turner atop a campaign vehicle  —  As recently as June, the special election to replace Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge …

Tucker Carlson Has Seen the Future, and It Is Fascist Orban's Hungary is the road map for American authoritarianism.  —  In 1919, the progressive journalist Lincoln Steffens visited the nascent Soviet Union and declared, “I have seen the future and it works.”

House GOP Campaign Chair Won't Rule Out Backing Candidates Who Attended Jan. 6 Riot  —  At least two Republican congressional candidates were part of the mob that went to the Capitol to overturn the election results.  —  Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the man in charge of taking back the House majority …

A $5 Million Fine for Classroom Discussions on Race?  In Tennessee, This Is the New Reality  —  Remove  —  Tennessee aims to levy fines starting at $1 million and rising to $5 million on school districts each time one of their teachers is found to have “knowingly violated” …

Gov. Hutchinson wishes he didn't sign mask mandate ban into law  —  Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday that he regrets signing a mask mandate ban into law.  He has called a special session to amend the law for schools.  —  LITTLE ROCK, Ark — Governor Asa Hutchinson …

How Trump Destroyed The GOP: It Can't Live With Him, And It Can't Live Without Him  —  CNN senior political analyst John Avlon noted during his “Reality Check” segment on CNN's New Day Tuesday that Republicans are stuck in a humiliating position, thanks to their seemingly undying fealty to former President Donald Trump.

The ‘Cuomosexual’ phenomenon was disgraceful.  We're politicians' bosses, not their fans.  —  Is there a more embarrassing recent entry to the American lexicon than “Cuomosexual?”  The expression burst into the public imagination last spring, when New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's briefings …

“I Don't Believe Anything”: Among the Unvaccinated in One Central Texas Community  —  “You don't have to wear a mask!” the man shouted as I approached the Army Store in downtown Killeen.  It was a brutally hot afternoon in late July, and Bell County, where Killeen is located …

Reality Winner's lawyer lays out the case for her freedom  —  Scott speaks with Alison Grinter, a lawyer to some of America's most politically persecuted people, including Reality Winner, whose bombshell NSA leak about Russia's attack on the 2016 election changed the course of our nation's politics.

Shock poll: Charlie Crist leads Ron DeSantis amid COVID-19 surge … Janelle Irwin Taylor  —  Janelle Irwin Taylor has been a professional journalist covering local news and politics in Tampa Bay since 2003.  Most recently, Janelle reported for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Scoop: Buzzy media startup Puck launches in beta  —  Puck, a splashy new digital media company, is coming out of stealth mode, Axios has learned.  The company debuted its landing page, puck.news, on Wednesday, and will officially launch its website in September.