Senators announce bipartisan bills to stop candidates from stealing elections  —  WASHINGTON — After months of negotiating, a group of senators announced two proposals Wednesday designed to close gaps in federal law and prevent future candidates from stealing elections.

Federal investigation of Hunter Biden reaches critical juncture, sources say  —  The federal investigation into Hunter Biden's business activities is nearing a critical juncture as investigators weigh possible charges and prosecutors confront Justice Department guidelines …

In Harvard study of Jan. 6 rioters, top motivation is clear: Trump  —  Researchers at Harvard University who conducted the largest study yet of what motivated Jan. 6 rioters say the data is clear: The most common responses focused on former President Donald Trump and his lies about the election.

GOP freezes up on same-sex marriage  —  Mitt Romney doesn't think it's necessary.  Richard Burr hasn't read it.  And Todd Young is “fixated” on microchips.  —  Those are some of the answers Republicans gave Wednesday on whether they'd back legislation writing same-sex marriage into law.

Former Trump White House aide who met with January 6 panel attacks witnesses, lawmakers in profane and sexist rant  —  (CNN)A former Trump White House aide who met with the January 6 committee earlier this week went on a profane and sexist rant on a livestream after his testimony …

The GOP Just Nominated a ‘QAnon Whackjob’ and a ‘True Confederate’ in Maryland  —  A guy who tried to impeach Maryland's GOP governor was just nominated to replace him—and he's not even the most extreme candidate who won on Tuesday.  —  Cameron Joseph  —  WASHINGTON, US

Biden Approval Hits New Low Amid Public Discontent With Both Parties, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Nearly Half Of Americans Worry About Being Mass Shooting Victim  — mail_outline  —  One and a half years since President Joe Biden took office, Americans give President Biden …

Documents detail the secret strategy behind Trump's census citizenship question push  —  Former President Donald Trump's administration spent years trying to add a census citizenship question as part of a secret strategy for altering the population numbers used to divide up seats in Congress …

Steve Bannon's offer to testify in the House January 6 inquiry might have backfired at his criminal trial  — Steve Bannon's lawyers told jurors about his recent offer to testify in the House January 6 inquiry.  — Prosecutors called the offer “sudden” and underscored that it cost the House panel precious time.

John Fetterman, in first interview since stroke, talks recovery and return to U.S. Senate campaign trail  —  This story will be updated.  —  In his first media interview since suffering a stroke days before the May primary election, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman …

Joe Biden says he has cancer in possible gaffe  —  President Biden said Wednesday that he has cancer — making either a gaffe or a stunningly casual health announcement during a speech about global warming in Massachusetts.  —  Biden was describing the health effects of emissions …

Americans Who Can't Afford Homes Are Moving to Europe Instead  —  More Americans are relocating to Europe, driven across the Atlantic by the rising cost of living, inflated house prices, a surging dollar and political rancor at home.  —  Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece and France are among the most popular destinations.

Endemic Covid-19 Looks Pretty Brutal  —  It may surprise you to learn, given the mood of the country — and indeed the world — about the pandemic that probably half of all Covid infections have happened this calendar year — and it's only July.  By December, the figure could be 80 percent or more.

Indiana Mall Gunman Appears to Have Posted Plans on 4chan  —  Police have told VICE News they are familiar with the posts and are investigating.  —  TO  —  TORONTO, CA  —  Hours before a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on a food court in a suburban mall near Indianapolis on Sunday …

Confessions of a Conservative Apostate  —  What does it mean to be a conservative now? … For weeks I've been watching a parade of Republican officials describe how they worked inside a Republican administration under Donald Trump as the GOP fell to a bunch of kooks, opportunists, racists, and aspiring fascists.

Welcome to the New Era of Political Memoir, Where Leaving Readers Uneasy Is the Point  —  This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME's politics newsletter.  Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox.  —  Maybe Donald Trump was onto something with those non-disclosure agreements.

Judge orders Giuliani to testify before Fulton grand jury  —  Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump's personal attorney, is being ordered to appear in front of a Fulton County special grand jury next month after failing to attend a hearing in New York to challenge a recent subpoena.

Secret Service was told at least once before Jan. 6, 2021, to preserve texts  —  A senior Secret Service official said agency employees received two emails — at least one prior to Jan. 6, 2021 — reminding them to preserve records on their cellphones, including text messages …

Mystery solved: DOJ secretly thwarted release of Russia documents declassified by Trump  —  In the final hours of the Trump presidency, the U.S. Justice Department raised privacy concerns to thwart the release of hundreds of pages of documents that Donald Trump had declassified …

'It's the accumulation': The Jan. 6 hearings are wounding Trump, after all  —  The conventional wisdom about the Jan. 6 committee hearings was that no single revelation was going to change Republican minds about Donald Trump.  —  What happened instead, a slow drip of negative coverage, may be just as damaging to the former president.

The Abortion Vote In Kansas Looks Like It's Going To Be Close  —  A new poll shows that Democrats may be more energized than Republicans.  —  By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Nathaniel Rakich and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Nathaniel Rakich  —  Jul. 20, 2022, at 9:33 AM

Trump called ‘within the last week’ to overturn Wis. election results, speaker says  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin's Republican house speaker said Tuesday that former president Donald Trump called him “within the last week” seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election that President Biden won.

Was Yellowstone's Deadliest Wolf Hunt in 100 Years an Inside Job?  —  Daylight was fading over the Northern Range of Yellowstone National Park.  It was late January, and a cold front had just moved in.  Nearing the park's boundary, the young wolf would have been unfazed by the plunging temperatures.

Okay, but Cassandra cannot possibly be right *again*  —  Listen  —  Gift Article  —  I hear what you are saying.  And, yes, the data is compelling.  Cassandra has been right literally every time she has made a prediction.  War.  Famine.  Rights rollbacks.