Comey and McCabe, Who Infuriated Trump, Both Faced Intensive I.R.S. Audits  —  The former F.B.I. director and his deputy, both of whom former President Donald J. Trump wanted prosecuted, were selected for a rare audit program that the tax agency says is random.  — Give this article- - - Read in app

Republicans plot vengeance on Jan. 6 committee … - The hearings have painted a damning portrait of Trump, with many former aides testifying they told him his claims of a stolen election were bogus.  — While Republicans have been eager to move beyond what happened on Jan. 6, 2021 …

Elon Musk had twins last year with one of his top executives … Court documents obtained by Insider show that the tech mogul Elon Musk quietly had twins last November with one of his top executives, Shivon Zilis.  Musk, who has been an outspoken advocate of bringing more babies into the world, now has nine known children.

Welsh secretary resigns after Boris Johnson sacks Michael Gove and refuses to quit - live  —  Levelling up secretary had told PM to step down in face-to-face meeting as Simon Hart says it is too late to ‘turn the ship around’  —  Key events:  —  A summary of today's developments

Kate Bedingfield is leaving the White House  —  President Joe Biden's communications director, Kate Bedingfield, is leaving the White House, marking another departure of a high-ranking communications official ahead of the midterm elections.  —  Bedingfield, who is set to leave in a matter of weeks …

Highland Park gunman confesses to shooting, considered a second attack  —  The man accused of killing seven people attending a parade in Highland Park, Illinois, on the Fourth of July has confessed to his role in the massacre, a prosecutor said Wednesday.  —  Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III …

Give Biden a break  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  Here's the deal, Democrats: You need to give Joe Biden a break.  —  For weeks, Democrats have arrayed themselves in traditional circular firing formation, complaining about the president's failure to channel outrage about mass shootings …

SCOTUS Justices ‘Prayed With’ Her — Then Cited Her Bosses to End Roe  —  The court's majority cited a legal brief that her group filed while overturning Roe v. Wade  —  At an evangelical victory party in front of the Supreme Court to celebrate the downfall of Roe v. Wade last week …

Why the Trumpist threat in 2024 just got more dangerous  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  Although there are reasons to be skeptical that Donald Trump will run for president in 2024, one thing could push him into it: Mounting legal troubles.  With his potential crimes related …

‘Satanic’ Georgia Tablets Despised by Conspiracy Theorists Bombed  —  Authorities said the attack by “unknown individuals” happened early Wednesday morning.  —  Part of a Georgia monument despised by right-wing conspiracy theorists was reduced to rubble on Wednesday morning by an explosion, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

The Rise of the Far-Right Latina  —  Representative Mayra Flores is one of three Republican Latinas vying to transform South Texas politics by shunning moderates and often embracing the extreme.  —  WASHINGTON — For years, Texas Republicans tried to win the Hispanic vote using a Bush-era brand of compassionate conservatism.

Group of Pa. Republicans bucking party to endorse Democrat Josh Shapiro for governor  —  In what analysts are calling an unprecedented move in an era of extreme hyperpartisanship, a group of Republican leaders — including a number of former officials who have been stalwarts …

Disinformation Has Become Another Untouchable Problem in Washington  —  Numerous federal agencies agree that widely promoted falsehoods threaten the nation's security.  Doing something about them is another matter.  — Give this article- - - Read in app

NYPD blocked off ‘VIP’ viewing sites for friends, family during July 4th fireworks  —  Each year, more than a million people flock to either side of the East River, jostling through security checkpoints and dense crowds in search of a close-up view of the Macy's 4th of July fireworks.

The GOP's Militia Problem: Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Lessons from Abroad  —  The January 6 Select Committee hearings have been framed as an effort aimed at accountability and posterity.  But their findings are at least as important to the future.  The Committee's disclosures …

DeSantis is smarter than Trump.  That may make him more of a threat.  —  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is having a moment.  Pundits are suggesting that the Jan. 6 hearings, by exposing former president Donald Trump's complicity in a coup attempt, will redound to DeSantis's benefit in 2024.

Democratic drug pricing bill removes insulin cost cap amid bipartisan push  —  Senate Democrats' latest bill to lower prescription drug prices removes a provision to cap patients' insulin costs at $35 per month, legislation that comes amid a push for a separate bipartisan bill on insulin.

An Israeli bullet killed Shireen.  Denial is the army's time-tested strategy  —  Israel's attempts to deny responsibility for Abu Akleh's death is part of its long-standing policy of obfuscating investigations into Palestinian killings.  —  On July 4, more than two months …

Newsom finally reveals his whereabouts  —  Gov. Gavin Newsom is on vacation in Montana visiting family, I was the first to report Tuesday evening.  —  It was information that the governor's office appeared loath to disclose.  Although the office said Friday the governor had left California …

AOC sees fines pile up for 5-year-old unpaid tax warrant  —  Fines are piling up for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) over her failure to resolve a New York state tax warrant filed against her defunct business five years ago.  —  New York state filed a tax warrant against Brook Avenue Press …

Republicans May Have Set Themselves Up for a Showdown With the Supreme Court  —  Last week's decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency limiting the E.P.A.'s ability to regulate a shift to a less carbon-intensive economy should have surprised no one familiar with conservative complaints about the administrative state.

Popularism's Iraq War problem  —  My main objection to the current line of neo-centrism is that I've seen this all play out before.  And it ended in disaster.  —  Jason Zengerle published an interesting and personally clarifying piece in The New York Times Magazine last Wednesday about the present and future of moderate Democrats.