New York AG Letitia James files $250M lawsuit against Trump for defrauding lenders, others  —  The suit accuses Trump and his firm of “persistent and repeated business fraud.”  —  For 20 years, Donald Trump and his family enriched themselves through “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentations …

BREAKING Russian airlines ordered to stop selling tickets to Russian men aged 18 to 65  —  Flights abroad sell out following Putin's partial mobilization.  —  Russian airlines have stopped selling tickets to Russian men aged 18 to 65 unless they can provide evidence of approval to travel from the Ministry of Defense.

Dem Party Image Drag on Incumbent  —  Warnock better liked than Walker, but does not have a clear edge on the issues  —  West Long Branch, NJ - Incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock is viewed more favorably than challenger Herschel Walker, but poor voter opinion of the Democratic Party in Georgia is keeping the race for U.S. Senate close.

‘Unchecked’ book excerpt: Inside McConnell's decision not to convict Trump  —  “Let's just ignore him,” the GOP Senate leader said at one point, underscoring his hands-off approach on whether to stand up to pro-Trump lawmakers after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol

The Performative Sadism of Ron DeSantis  —  The Florida governor and MAGA heir is betting his political future on hurting vulnerable people to own the libs. … The GOP—under Donald Trump and perhaps soon under his would-be successor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—is rapidly becoming …

Trump Endorsed QAnon Because He's Stuck  —  For a man who believes in nothing, has no coherent ideology or value system except his own continuing relevance, obsesses over conspiracies, and subsists on grievance and anger, Donald Trump took a long time to fully embrace QAnon.

Ohio GOP House candidate has misrepresented military service  —  Campaigning for a northwestern Ohio congressional seat, Republican J.R. Majewski presents himself as an Air Force combat veteran who deployed to Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, once describing “tough” …

Suspect Admits to Fatally Plowing Car into Republican Teen in ‘Politically Motivated’ Attack  —  A suspect accused of fatally plowing a car into a Republican teen in North Dakota over the weekend confessed on Monday to the attack, which he confirmed was “politically motivated.”

How a zombie apocalypse is informing a new wave of Dem ads  —  The final sprint of the midterms has brought another battery of ads, with scores of spots set to ominous music and deep-voiced narrators warning about the perils of the opposition.  —  But deep into an election cycle once assumed …

The Pollster Who Thinks It's Happening Again for Republicans  —  Robert Cahaly of Trafalgar explains why his polls show Republicans competitive even in some of the bluest places.  —  There are a bunch of big debates to tackle in analyzing what is happening in the 2022 election.

Trump vs. DeSantis in 2024?  USA TODAY/Suffolk poll shows Florida Republicans prefer their governor  —  In a hypothetical 2024 presidential primary in the Sunshine State, DeSantis leads Trump 48%-40%.  That's a reversal from a poll of Florida in January, when Trump led DeSantis 47%-40%.

House Rating Changes: Schweikert Moves to Toss Up, Cuellar to Lean Democrat  —  As both parties begin to blitz the competitive battleground with ads, Republicans continue to be the party playing more offense, linking Democratic incumbents to “wasteful spending” and more IRS funding in the just-passed reconciliation bill.

Revealed: the ‘shocking’ levels of toxic lead in Chicago tap water  —  Tests performed for thousands of Chicago residents found lead, a neurotoxin, in amounts far exceeding the federal standards  —  Erin McCormick, Aliya Uteuova and Taylor Moore with photographs by Jamie Kelter Davis

Bill Maher Says ‘Woke Baggage’ Is Democrats' Biggest Problem: ‘Stop Talking About Pregnant Men’ … Bill Maher has shared his opinions on today's top issues for nearly two decades on HBO's “Real Time.”  Now, with his new podcast “Club Random,” the comedian turned political commentator tells Variety …

Meta: We're not-so-big tech now  —  As Meta shapes its antitrust defense, it has begun pointing out its plummeting stock price as a sign that competition is alive and well in its market. … It has lost ground to its surging rival TikTok, and its revenue has been curtailed by Apple's iOS privacy changes.

Revealed: US Military Bought Mass Monitoring Tool That Includes Internet Browsing, Email Data  —  The “Augury” platform includes highly sensitive network data that Team Cymru, a private company, is selling to the military.  “It's everything.  There's nothing else to capture except the smell of electricity …

Kenya Barris Says ‘Wizard of Oz’ Remake Will Include LGBTQ Representation to ‘Reflect the World’ … Welcome to this week's “Just for Variety.”  —  Somewhere over the rainbow, indeed!  Kenya Barris tells me that LGBTQ representation will be featured in his “Wizard of Oz” remake.