EXCLUSIVE: Cyber expert says his team can't prove Mike Lindell's claims that China hacked election  —  SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The cyber expert on the “red team” hired by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell now says the key data underpinning the theory that China hacked the 2020 election unveiled at the Cyber Symposium is illegitimate.

Former U.S. attorney in Atlanta says Trump wanted to fire him for not backing election fraud claims.  —  Byung J. Pak, a former U.S. attorney in Atlanta, told congressional investigators on Wednesday that his abrupt resignation in January had been prompted by Justice Department officials' warning …

Texas Hospitals Are Already Overloaded.  Doctors Are ‘Frightened by What Is Coming.’  —  Across Texas, health officials warned of a growing crisis not seen in months, with more than 10,000 Texans hospitalized and intensive care units stretched thin.  —  SAN ANTONIO — At least two hospitals …

Gaetz associate providing feds intel, documents as probe into congressman continues: Sources  —  Former tax collector Joel Greenberg is cooperating with investigators.  —  As the federal investigation into Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz continues into the summer, sources tell ABC News that Gaetz's …

U.S. #COVID19 vaccination levels by county OVER TIME  —  As regular readers know, I've become a bit obsessive over tracking COVID-19 vaccination rates at both the state and county levels over the past month or so.  I post the daily rate levels daily on Twitter, and once a week I've been updating …

EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Russians have videos of me doing crazy f***ing sex!’  Hunter Biden is seen in unearthed footage telling a prostitute that Russian drug dealers stole ANOTHER of his laptops for blackmail while he was close to overdosing in a Vegas hotel room  — Hunter Biden claims Russian …

Rand Paul discloses 16 months late that his wife bought stock in company behind covid treatment  —  An aide to the Kentucky Republican said he prepared the disclosure last year and only recently learned that it was never transmitted  —  Sen. Rand Paul revealed Wednesday that his wife bought stock …

White House seizes an opportunity to whack DeSantis  —  MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made himself the national face of the anti-Biden Covid-response resistance.  —  So the president decided to punch it.  —  For the past two weeks, Biden and his allies have publicly escalated a war …

Mississippi's Hospital System Could ‘Fail’ In 10 Days, UMMC Warns As Feds Rush In  —  With COVID-19 patients overflowing at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, including in its pediatric center, hospital leaders are warning that the medical system statewide could be on the verge of failing without drastic intervention.

A majority of Americans in highly vaccinated counties now live in covid hot spots, Post analysis finds  —  Two-thirds of Americans in highly vaccinated counties now live in coronavirus hot spots, according to an analysis by The Washington Post, as outbreaks of the highly transmissible delta variant …

Giuliani told agents it was okay to ‘throw a fake’ during political campaign  —  Rudolph W. Giuliani's promise of a “big surprise” to help Donald Trump's election in October 2016 led to Democratic accusations the FBI was feeding him secrets about an investigation of Hillary Clinton.

Trump Keeps Rejecting Pleas From Allies for Pro-Vax Campaign  —  Donald Trump's former allies keep pleading with him to aggressively back the COVID-19 vaccine.  Trump won't do it.  —  It's been more than six months since Donald Trump left office and, despite pleas from multiple friends and advisers …

Business Is Using Less Carrot and More Stick on Vaccinations  —  Forget incentives like paid time off or free concert tickets.  Governments and employers increasingly worry that mandates are the only answer for the fast-spreading delta variant.  —  The belief that vaccination should be a matter …

Cuomo dynasty ends; search for ‘tough liberal’ persists  —  And so, another political dynasty has ended.  Like the Kennedy dynasty before it, the Cuomo dynasty ends in tragedy and personal failure.  —  By preparing to run for a fourth term, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was clearly trying …

Biden on Afghanistan: Not my problem  —  As the Taliban blitz across Afghanistan and U.S. officials scramble to assess just how quickly the government in Kabul could fall, President Joe Biden is recalibrating his message to Americans.  —  Where he once insisted that two decades of U.S. backing …

Redistricting sprint begins with major census data drop  —  The Census Bureau's long-awaited release of redistricting data Thursday will unleash a torrent of new state political maps in the weeks and months to come, starting with the handful of states pressed against early fall deadlines to enact new district boundaries.

Matthew Taylor Coleman: Man ‘Enlightened’ by QAnon to Kill His Kids, Feds Say  —  Matthew Taylor Coleman is a California man who is accused of abducting and killing his young children in Mexico after he said he became “enlightened” by conspiracy theories, including QAnon.

5th graders at Georgia school are sent home due to Covid-19  —  Fifth graders at one suburban Atlanta elementary school were sent home Wednesday for virtual learning due to high numbers of positive Covid-19 cases, according to a school district email sent to parents and obtained by CNN.

POLITICO Playbook: Pelosi's summer squeeze  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  PELOSI FACES DOWN THE MODS — Speaker NANCY PELOSI is calling the House back from summer recess Aug. 23 to vote on the party's $3.5 trillion budget, but she has a problem: Six moderate House Democrats, our ace House reporters Sarah Ferris …

Autonomy for Red America, Part 1  —  In biology, an ecosystem is a complex of living organisms and their interrelationships with their physical environment within a particular unit of space.  —  In American politics today, the ecosystem of the Right is no less complex and interwoven.

Texas Sen. Carol Alvarado's filibuster against GOP elections bill passes twelve hours  —  The Houston Democrat has been on her feet speaking, not allowed to sit or lean against her desk, and unable to take bathroom breaks or drink water, since Wednesday evening.

Trump to meet with former Cheney ally about Wyoming primary challenge  —  The former president has been interviewing potential challengers with an eye toward making an endorsement against Cheney.  —  Former President Donald Trump is poised to sit down with Harriet Hageman …

Kate Clanchy: Author to rewrite memoir amid book's race and ableism row  —  Publisher Picador is considering alterations to Kate Clanchy's Orwell prize-winning memoir amid accusations of racial and ableist stereotyping.  —  Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me sparked online criticism …