Trump asserts his dominance inside GOP, pushing Republicans to embrace his false claims of fraud  —  Former president Donald Trump has in the last week threatened electoral defeat for Republicans who dismiss his election falsehoods, inserted himself into the Virginia governor's race to the delight …

Fox News Poll: Schools, economy driving close Virginia governor's race  —  57 percent of Virginia parents think they should get a say in what schools teach  —  Youngkin: McAuliffe is telling parents 'sit down, be quiet, I don't care what you think'  —  Virginia voters give better personal ratings …

Southlake school leader tells teachers to balance Holocaust books with ‘opposing’ views  —  New flare-up in fight over books at Southlake school  —  SOUTHLAKE, Texas — A top administrator with the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake advised teachers last week that if they have a book …

Fired FBI official Andrew McCabe wins retirement benefits and back pay in settlement  —  The Justice Department has agreed to restore full law enforcement benefits and provide some attorney fees for former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired by the Trump administration only hours before his retirement three years ago.

N.F.L.'s Top Lawyer Had Cozy Relationship With Washington Team President  —  Jeff Pash, the N.F.L.'s general counsel, brokered penalties, discussed a cheerleading scandal and arranged perks in emails with the former president of the Washington Football Team.

The Trump Presidency Is Still an Active Crime Scene  —  It's hard to consign the Trump years to the history books when we remain in the middle of the crisis that it sparked.  —  Every Administration produces a shelf full of memoirs, of the score-settling variety and otherwise.

Manchin and Sinema detail key disagreements over Biden agenda  —  (CNN)The two leading Democratic moderates made clear to their colleagues this week that a deal on the party's sweeping economic package is far from secured, raising new questions about the fate of President Joe Biden's first-term agenda …

Can Ted Sarandos Clean Up His Chappelle Mess?  —  Netflix's economic rationale for defending Chappelle's transphobic routine has deepened an internal crisis that is not going away.  When I texted Hollywood executives and comms pros this week about how the streamer is managing the controversy …

Former President Bill Clinton hospitalized for infection but ‘on the mend’  —  (CNN)Former President Bill Clinton was admitted to the University of California Irvine Medical Center's intensive care unit for a urinary tract infection that spread to his bloodstream, his doctors told CNN on Thursday.

At Yale Law School, a party invitation ignites a firestorm  —  Maoist reeducation camps have nothing on Yale Law School.  If you think this is an exaggeration, okay, it is, but keep reading.  —  Last month, a second-year law student sent some classmates an invitation to a party — to celebrate Constitution Day, of all things.

Can Pete Buttigieg have it all?  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With Allie Bice.  —  PETE BUTTIGIEG has been MIA.  —  While U.S. ports faced anchor-to-anchor traffic and Congress nearly melted …

Conservative MP Sir David Amess stabbed multiple times in incident at constituency surgery  —  Sir David Amess, who represents Southend West in Essex, was attacked on Friday at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea.  Sky News understands a man walked into his constituency surgery and stabbed him multiple times.

Biden administration says it's ready to restore ‘Remain in Mexico’ along border next month  —  The Biden administration is prepared to reimplement the Trump-era border policy known as the Migrant Protection Protocols in mid-November if the Mexican government agrees to accept the return …

Texas Abortion Restrictions Can Continue During Litigation, Appeals Court Rules  —  Federal appeals court order sets the stage for the issue to return to the Supreme Court  —  A federal appeals court on Thursday said Texas's restrictive abortion law can remain in effect during ongoing litigation …

Blast at Afghan Mosque Kills 37 as Shiites Are Targeted Again  —  The explosion in Kandahar marked the second week in a row that attackers had struck a Shiite place of worship during Friday Prayer.  —  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A blast in a mosque in southern Afghanistan killed 37 people …

The Unvaccinated May Not Be Who You Think  —  Back when a viral pandemic killing millions around the world was just the plot of a scary movie, the film “Contagion” was lauded for how accurately it depicted the way such an outbreak would occur.  —  On the science of viral contagion …

Warnock raises $9.5M over 3 months in bid to defend Senate seat  —  U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock raised more than $9.5 million during the latest fundraising quarter, an enormous sum that highlights the extensive fundraising infrastructure the Democrat has built for a re-election bid …

Missouri Governor Vows to Prosecute St. Louis Post-Dispatch for Reporting Security Vulnerability  —  On Wednesday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran a story about how its staff discovered and reported a security vulnerability in a Missouri state education website that exposed the Social Security numbers …

Biden's Supreme Court reform study panel notes ‘considerable’ risks to court expansion  —  A bipartisan commission on Thursday said there are “considerable” risks to expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court, including the potential to undermine the high court's legitimacy.

He Attacked Cops At The Capitol.  The FBI Interviewed Him.  Then He Rejoined The Army.  —  James Mault was caught on film attacking officers during the Jan. 6 attack and lost his civilian job.  So he rejoined the military while under FBI investigation.  —  On Jan. 6, 2021 …

Boeing's former chief technical pilot on 737 MAX indicted on fraud charges  —  A federal grand jury in Texas on Thursday indicted Mark Forkner, 49, Boeing's former chief technical pilot on the 737 MAX program, charging him with fraud.  —  This is the only criminal charge so far resulting …

U.S. to lift curbs from Nov. 8 for vaccinated foreign travelers - official  —  The White House will announce on Friday it will lift travel restrictions for fully vaccinated foreign nationals effective Nov. 8, at land borders and for air travel, a White House official said.

POLITICO Playbook: Models and bottles: When Melania's pal Paolo blew through D.C.  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  This is the story of what happened when a notorious New York City playboy not named DONALD TRUMP tried to replicate his act in Washington.  —  Few people are more intertwined with Donald and MELANIA TRUMP than PAOLO ZAMPOLLI.

Abandoned wells are a huge climate problem  —  TGIF!  Today we're wondering why pumpkin spice hummus is a thing.  But first:  —  The United States has more abandoned wells than we thought  —  The number of abandoned oil and gas wells in the United States is much higher than previously thought …

Close to 40% of U.S. Households Say They Face Financial Difficulties as Covid-19 Pandemic Continues  —  More than 30% of people say their situation is worse, survey finds; 19% of households have depleted their savings  —  Nearly 40% of U.S. households said they faced serious financial difficulties …

Destroying Comedy … Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the release of Airplane!, the comedy I wrote and directed with my brother Jerry and our friend Jim Abrahams.  Just before the world shut down, Paramount held a screening at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood …

Inflation in the economy today is different.  Here are four charts that can explain why.  —  The delta variant and supply chain backlogs have kept prices elevated.  When will that change?  —  The bumpy economic recovery has policymakers, economists and Americans at large grappling …

‘Be Human’  —  Notes on a gathering of democracy leaders and human-rights activists  —  Someone says to me, “Jay, this is Andrei.”  I say, “Hi, Andrei.”  Then I look at his name tag, which includes his last name.  My eyes widen.  My heart skips a beat or two.