Putin confronted by insider over Ukraine war, U.S. intelligence finds  —  The disagreement by a member of Putin's inner circle was deemed significant enough that it was included in President Biden's daily intelligence briefing  —  A member of Vladimir Putin's inner circle has voiced disagreement directly …

Justice Dept. Is Said to Believe Trump Has More Documents  —  Conversations between department officials and the former president's representatives have underscored investigators' skepticism about his cooperation and exposed a rift among his lawyers.  —  A top Justice Department official …

Biden: Nuclear ‘Armageddon’ risk highest since '62 crisis  —  President Joe Biden said Thursday that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks …

BLOWING SMOKE: Kellyanne Conway and Mark Penn on Biden's weed pardon being ‘timed for the election’  —  Conway claimed that Kamala Harris' office “handled more than 1,900 marijuana convictions” while she was a prosecutor  —  Dr Russell Kamer: America's youth need to be educated on marijuana

‘We Are F**KED’: New Book Reveals How GOP Senators Bailed Out Trump During 1st Impeachment Trial  —  The ineptitude of Trump's legal team reportedly forced GOP senators to take matters into their own hands by choreographing his Ukraine trial defense.  —  Republican senators were more deeply involved …

Herschel Walker should do a ‘virtual withdrawal’ from his Senate race  —  Herschel Walker should announce he will forswear service in the Senate — but with a twist.  —  Start with this, though: It is long past time for national and state Republicans and Walker himself to admit …

In the Age of Quiet Quitting, I Was Quiet Suspended, And I Can't Shut Up About It  —  On Toobin's wake, professionalism, and the lessons I thought we learned in #MeToo  —  People ask me these days if I'm still on TV.  The answer is: not really.  So, where have I been?

Michael Flynn's ReAwaken roadshow recruits ‘Army of God’  —  By the time the red, white and blue-colored microphone had been switched off, the crowd of 3,000 had listened to hours of invective and grievance.  “We're under warfare,” one speaker told them.  Another said she would …

Republicans called Biden's infrastructure program ‘socialism.’ Then they asked for money.  —  Last November, GOP Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota released a statement slamming the passage of the freshly approved infrastructure law he referred to as “President Biden's multi-trillion dollar socialist wish list.”

How a Dog's Killing Turned Brooklyn Progressives Against One Another  —  After a sudden confrontation that left a golden retriever dead, neighbors came together online to support the owner of the dog.  But then things changed.  —  Real-world ethics question: In a well-used city park …

Mark Finchem says Google and the ‘deep state’ are blocking his campaign site.  The truth is simpler — and implicates his own team.  —  If he wins in November, the Trump-backed “Stop the Steal” proponent would run Arizona's elections as secretary of state.  —  The Trump-endorsed …

The Democrats Wrecked My Retirement  —  If you're fortunate enough to lead a reasonably normal American life, things go something like this: you go through school and graduate from either high school or college, somewhere in the middle of the class.  You get a job, move out on your own, and meet your eventual spouse.

A Lost Manuscript Shows the Fire Barack Obama Couldn't Reveal on the Campaign Trail  —  At Harvard Law, he wrote a blistering manifesto he never published.  Its searing advice could help Democrats escape their current political quagmire.

The Astronaut and the Alien  —  In an uneventful debate, Mark Kelly has an encounter of the GOP kind.  —  Arizona's Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, an honest-to-goodness astronaut, must have felt like he was talking to an alien tonight.  —  No, not in space.

Quit dragging Maggie Haberman  —  A traitor is defined as someone who “betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty,” according to Merriam-Webster.  The dictionary people, however, might soon have to add an emerging variation: “A journalist who doesn't give me my juicy tidbits …

At the Athletic and New York Times, a marriage with promise and tension  —  Not long after the New York Times bought the Athletic earlier this year, the founders of the popular sports website held an all-staff call.  —  Most Athletic staffers were pleased with the purchase.

Ukrainian forces report Starlink outages during push against Russia  —  Some of Elon Musk's SpaceX devices stopped working when Ukrainian soldiers liberated territory, Kyiv officials say  —  Ukrainian troops have reported outages of their Starlink communication devices on the frontline …

Democrats' swing-state local news ploy  —  Writers for a D.C.-based media operation run by prominent Democratic operatives are behind a sprawling network of ostensible local media outlets churning out Democrat-aligned news content in midterm battleground states, Axios has learned.

Mayor Adams Declares State of Emergency to Respond to Migrant Crisis  —  The number of people in the New York City main shelter system has exceeded 61,000, nearing a record for the city.  —  Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency for New York City on Friday as the city struggles …

Trump has one eye at elections overseas even as the midterms approach  —  While most national Republicans have been fretting over whether Dr. Mehmet Oz can rebound in Pennsylvania, or whether Herschel Walker will be tripped up by the ghosts of his past, Donald Trump has also been keeping tabs …

Austin Orders Renaming of Bases that Honor Confederate Rebels  —  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday signed off on an independent commission's recommendations to rename military bases that honor Confederate officers and scrub a long list of references commemorating the southern rebellion.

OPEC was always going to mess with oil prices.  Was Biden's team naive?  —  Maybe Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia wasn't so brilliant.  —  On Wednesday, the energy price-fixing cartel OPEC+ announced that it was making a major reduction in oil production.  That will end up meaning less oil on the market …

Nike co-founder Phil Knight changes course, donates $1 million to Republican governor candidate Christine Drazan  —  Oregon's most well-known billionaire appears to have switched allegiance in the governor's race.  —  After donating $3.75 million to unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson …

Think you already know crazy?  Meet the House GOP Class of '22.  —  Can we have order in the House?  —  Not if this crowd takes over.  —  Much of the public focus in the midterm elections has been on the, er, exotic nature of the Republic nominees in Senate and gubernatorial races, and understandably so.