Trump ally Rep. Scott Perry says the FBI seized his cell phone one day after Mar-a-Lago raid  —  The confiscation of Perry's phone comes one day after the FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate  —  Bret Baier on Trump raid: There is a lot we don't know  —  EXCLUSIVE - Republican …

This Is the Data Facebook Gave Police to Prosecute a Teenager for Abortion  —  Motherboard has obtained court documents that show Facebook gave police a teenager's private chats about her abortion.  Cops then used those chats to seize her phone and computer.

Why does the IRS need $80 billion?  Just look at its cafeteria.  —  This is the cafeteria at the Internal Revenue Service offices in Austin.  —  Yes, the cafeteria.  —  It's part of what the IRS calls the “Pipeline”: a 1970s-era assembly line used to process tax returns at several locations around the country.

Neera Tanden takes the wheel  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With help from Allie Bice.  —  Inside the White House, NEERA TANDEN has taken a far more assertive role in determining what papers …

I Finally Got To Date My Crush Years After Middle School.  Then The Unthinkable Happened.  —  “A woman introduced herself as a longtime friend of Jeremy's ... 'I'm so sorry if I am the first one to share the news,' she wrote.  ‘He would want you to know...’”  —  Everyone remembers their first big crush.

Grand jury declines to indict woman in Emmett Till killing  —  A grand jury in Mississippi has declined to indict the white woman whose accusation set off the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till nearly 70 years ago, despite revelations about an unserved arrest warrant and an unpublished memoir by the woman, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

The DOJ Crosses the Rubicon  —  “DEFUND THE FBI”  —  I had planned to devote this newsletter to Our Very Stupid Politics, but after the events of last night, I had to call an audible, and so will instead devote today's Morning Shots to our Extremely Stupid Politics.  —  Happy Tuesday.

Pizzagate promoter tapped for Kremlin-backed propaganda campaign  —  Russia's state-backed media apparatus is financing four new TV programs produced by a U.S. conspiracy theorist and aimed in large part at undercutting America's image and interests in the developing world, records show.

Former Twitter Employee Convicted of Spying for Saudi Arabia  —  Ahmad Abouammo was charged with sending Saudi officials private information of users in exchange for money  —  SAN FRANCISCO—Former Twitter Inc. employee Ahmad Abouammo was found guilty of spying for Saudi Arabia after passing …

Inside Trump's Frantic Hunt for ‘Killer’ Criminal Defense Attorneys  —  High on the president's list is a long-time MAGA ally best known for defending a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes  —  Behind closed doors this summer, Donald Trump and his advisers have been narrowing the shortlist …

Trump ally Doug Mastriano's January 6 committee appearance ends without a single question answered, source says  —  Trump ally Doug Mastriano's virtual appearance Tuesday before the House January 6 committee only lasted about 15 minutes and “he didn't answer a single question,” according to a source familiar with the matter.

Biden has appointed more federal judges than any president since JFK at this point in his tenure  —  President Joe Biden has appointed more judges to the federal courts at this stage in his tenure than any president since John F. Kennedy, and his appointees include a record number of women …

How Wall Street wooed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and preserved its multibillion-dollar carried interest tax break  — To get Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's vote, and the Inflation Reduction Act passed, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats had “no choice” but to drop the provision that would have closed …