Putin's Newest Annexation Is Dire for Russia Too  —  His baldly illegitimate claim to four Ukrainian provinces shows contempt for the global order—and his own subjects.  —  Vladimir Putin today announced his annexation of four provinces of Ukraine—four provinces that he does not fully control …

Gerrymandering Isn't Giving Republicans the Advantage You Might Expect  —  Yes, the G.O.P. has a structural edge in the House, but it isn't anything near insurmountable for Democrats.  —  There is no shortage of reasons Republicans are expected to retake the House this year …

Gavin Newsom's trolling deftly unmasks Ron DeSantis's cruelty  —  It's hard to deny that Gov. Gavin Newsom harbors garish and even cringeworthy presidential ambitions.  The California Democrat regularly trolls Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a top 2024 GOP contender, and Newsom surely knows playing foil …

You thought the Supreme Court's last term was bad?  Brace yourself.  —  The cataclysmic Supreme Court term that included the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion and the end of constitutional protection for abortion would, in the normal ebb and flow, be followed by a period of quiet …

Trump's legal team divided over how to handle Mar-a-Lago case  —  New lawyer's advice to seek an ‘off-ramp’ with Justice Department is not being heeded, people familiar with discussions say  —  After attorney Christopher Kise accepted $3 million to represent Donald Trump in the FBI's investigation …

'It's My Curse and My Salvation': Trump's Most Famous Chronicler Opens Up  —  NEW YORK — Late one recent afternoon, Maggie Haberman pulled into a parking spot in the lot at Gargiulo's, the old-time Italian restaurant in Coney Island where Donald Trump's father used to eat lunch.

Dysfunction in Texas AG's office as Paxton seeks third term  —  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's staff this month quietly dropped a series of human trafficking and child sexual assault cases after losing track of one of the victims, a stumble in open court emblematic of broader dysfunction inside …

GOP congressional candidate Joe Kent's ties to white nationalists include interview with Nazi sympathizer  —  Despite disavowing White nationalism last spring when one of its adherents endorsed him, a US House candidate in Washington subsequently gave a previously unreported interview in June to a Nazi sympathizer and White nationalist.

Trump allies have interviewed nearly 200 election officials to probe for weaknesses  —  Volunteers for “Operation Eagles Wings” are using surveys in eight states to seek support for conspiracy theories.  —  Two of Donald Trump's most prominent allies in his fight to overturn the 2020 election …

A new reminder that candidate quality matters  —  What's apparent at this point, just over a month before voting ends in the 2022 midterm election, is that nearly any national outcome is possible.  FiveThirtyEight's analysis of the state of play figures there's about a 3 in 10 chance …

Tucker Carlson Secretly Tried to Get Jared Kushner to Broker Pardon for Roger Stone, Book Reveals  —  Maggie Haberman writes in Confidence Man that the Fox News host went to great lengths to get former President Trump to let his former campaign adviser off the hook

NYC human rights officials are ‘closely monitoring’ allegations against the owner of a gay bar  —  NBC News previously reported that Michael J. Cohen was accused of unwanted sexual conduct and discrimination.  Cohen's attorney said he is not under investigation.

It Isn't Journalism's Job To Hand-Hold People To The Correct Moral Conclusions  —  Stop hating your readers  —  One of the silliest ideas to infect mainstream journalism in recent years is the notion that when journalists produce work about a bad person, they must signpost that work …

NYC Proposal Offers Cash for Spotting Parking Violations in Bike Lanes  —  It's a familiar experience for pedestrians and bicyclists — a car or truck parked in a bike lane or on the sidewalk forces a detour into the street — and into traffic.  When vehicles block these travel paths, it's not just an annoyance and safety hazard.

The Pandemic's Legacy Is Already Clear  —  Recently, after a week in which 2,789 Americans died of COVID-19, President Joe Biden proclaimed that “the pandemic is over.”  Anthony Fauci described the controversy around the proclamation as a matter of “semantics,” but the facts we are living with can speak for themselves.