Fetterman's painful debate … Capitol Hill's reaction to the Pennsylvania Senate debate was brutal for Democratic nominee John Fetterman, from Democrats and Republicans alike. … Fetterman struggled at times to respond to the moderators' questions, even with the assistance of a closed captioning device.

The House: GOP Hits 218 in Ratings as Battle Rages Across Big Playing Field  —  Five rating changes, all benefiting Republicans  —  KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE  — We now rate 218 House seats — the magic number for winning a majority — as at least Leans Republican in our House ratings.

Senator Robert Menendez is under investigation again  —  Kadia is a Political Reporter for Semafor, joining us from BuzzFeed News.  Sign up for the daily Principals newsletter to get our insider's guide to American power.  —  Senator Robert Menendez, D-N.J. faces a new federal investigation …

Here's what changed in Dinesh D'Souza's ‘2,000 Mules’ book after it was recalled  —  After an abrupt recall and a two-month delay - along with the threat of possible legal action - the election denial book 2,000 Mules has reached bookstores, though with a few significant changes.

A Secret Deal, Wishful Thinking: How the U.S.-Saudi Relationship Ruptured  —  Ahead of President Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia this summer, his administration thought it had secured pledges of increases in oil production throughout the year.  The opposite happened.

That Cardboard Box in Your Home Is Fueling Election Denial  —  A previously unreported boom in profits for the shipping supply giant Uline has provided the funds for a deeply conservative Midwestern family to bankroll anti-democracy causes around the country.  —  Co-published with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Why Are Florida Republicans Paying a White Supremacist Goon? … Monday morning, Senator Marco Rubio sent out a tweet with the horrifying news that “one of our canvassers wearing my T-shirt and a Desantis hat was brutally attacked by 4 animals who told him Republicans weren't allowed in their neighborhood.”

‘Absolutely F—ing Not.’ Trump's Team Scrambled to Talk Him Out of Jan. 6 Testimony  —  The former president saw a chance for a live televised spectacle.  His advisors saw a fast-track to perjury charges … Even the idea of it sent Trump's advisers scrambling to convince him it would be a disaster.

Attorney who fought Florida helmet laws died in motorcycle crash while not wearing one  —  Ron Smith, 66, and his girlfriend, 62-year-old Brenda Jeanan Volpe, were on their way to a funeral with a group of riders from the American Legion.  —  In the late 1990s, when Florida bikers …

If I Emailed My Parents Like Democrats Email Me  —  Mom, did you see this?!?  —  FIRST: I got a $300 traffic ticket because I forgot about alternate side parking.  —  THEN: I saw this really cute shirt and it was $95, but that's actually a good deal because I'm definitely going to wear it a lot.

Climate Pledges Are Falling Short, and a Chaotic Future Looks More Like Reality  —  With an annual summit next month, the United Nations assessed progress on countries' past emissions commitments.  Severe disruption would be hard to avoid on the current trajectory.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Marco Rubio hold big leads over Democratic opponents  —  TALLAHASSEE — Less than two weeks before the November 8 election, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio hold double-digit leads over their Democratic opponents, a new poll shows.

Justice Alito says leak of abortion opinion made majority ‘targets for assassination’  —  Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said Tuesday that the leak of his draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade made his colleagues in the majority on the U.S. Supreme Court “targets for assassination.”

As mayor trying to revive crumbling town, Fetterman shunned local government  —  The Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate used a family-funded nonprofit to circumvent a city council he viewed as broken and intransigent.  —  BRADDOCK, Pa. — The website promoting this gutted steel town …

Exclusive: Twitter is losing its most active users, internal documents show  —  “Is Twitter dying?” billionaire Elon Musk mused in April, five days before offering to buy the social media platform.  —  The reality, according to internal Twitter (TWTR.N) research seen by Reuters …

Dems hit Republicans from the right with “Trump traitor” ads  —  Democrats are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars attacking Republican House candidates from the right, with efforts to boost spoiler Libertarian candidates and portray a Republican who voted to impeach Donald Trump as a traitor to the former president.

Pro-China Disinformation Blamed US for Nord Stream Explosion  —  An disinformation campaign that aligns with Beijing's interests alleged the US was behind the recent explosions of the Nord Stream gas pipelines and that the US is backing a prolific hacking group, according to a report published Wednesday …

Meghan Markle has admitted she is ‘particular’ but insisted ‘telling people what you need does not make you demanding’ as she claimed black women are stereotyped as ‘angry’ in her latest Archetypes podcast on Spotify.  —  Discussing her behaviour in work situations, the Duchess of Sussex spoke …