Ron DeSantis Holds Early Lead Over Donald Trump Among GOP Primary Voters, WSJ Poll Shows  —  The former president's standing among Republican voters has fallen after candidates he promoted lost in midterm elections  —  Republican primary voters have high interest in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis …

DOJ and SEC charge social media influencers in alleged $100 million stock pump and dump scheme  — Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission charged seven social media influencers with using Twitter and Discord to commit securities fraud that netted them more than $100 million in illicit gains.

Florida pastor and his son are arrested in alleged $8 million Covid scam  —  A Florida pastor and his son were arrested Wednesday on charges of fraudulently obtaining more than $8 million in federal Covid relief funds and attempting to use some of the money to buy a luxury home near Walt Disney World.

The supply chain that keeps tech flowing to Russia  —  In March this year, a new firm appeared in Turkey's corporate registry.  Azu International Ltd Sti described itself as a wholesale trader of IT products, and a week later began shipping U.S. computer parts to Russia.

In 60 Seconds Before CPI Hit, Heavy Trading Drove Mystery Rally  —  Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for President Joe Biden, quickly brushed off the question when it came in toward the end of her daily press conference Tuesday.  No, she said, there was no chance that anyone …

Texts Show How Members Of Congress Advanced ‘Antifa’ Conspiracy Theories In The Wake Of Jan. 6  —  Within two hours of protesters breaking the first barricades at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, right-wing politicians and media figures were already texting President Trump's Chief …

‘Ellen’ DJ Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss Dead at 40 by Suicide  —  9:49 AM PT — Ellen DeGeneres just paid tribute to her friend, Stephen “tWitch” Boss, writing, “I'm heartbroken. tWitch was pure love and light.  He was my family, and I loved him with all my heart.  I will miss him.

With Passenger Mask Mandate Gone, Flight Turbulence Stats Improve Markedly  —  Flight cabin disruptions over masks, like the one shown, are much less likely now.  With a Biden administration mandate overturned, incidents are down 74%.  —  The friendly skies too often resembled “season's beatings” …

Texas attorney general's office sought state data on transgender Texans  —  HOUSTON — Employees at the Texas Department of Public Safety in June received a sweeping request from Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton's office: to compile a list of individuals who had changed their gender …

Iran ousted from U.N. women's commission after U.S. campaign  —  Iran was ousted from a United Nations women's body on Wednesday for policies contrary to the rights of women and girls, a move proposed by the United States after Tehran's brutal crackdown on protests sparked by the death of a young woman in custody.

QAnon, adrift after Trump's defeat, finds new life in Elon Musk's Twitter  —  Among some QAnon devotees, Musk has become a figure of prophecy on par with Donald Trump  —  Twitter owner Elon Musk's boosting of far-right memes and grievances has injected new energy into the jumbled set …

Trump Org. was secretly held in contempt for hindering probe  —  Donald Trump's company impeded a grand jury investigation last year by repeatedly failing to turn over evidence in a timely fashion, leading to a secret contempt finding and a $4,000 fine, according to court records made public Tuesday.

Elizabeth Warren: The Federal Reserve Is Trying ‘To Get More People Fired’  —  Democrats are increasingly worried about the Federal Reserve tanking the economy.  —  WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is coming under increasing political pressure to stop raising interest rates as aggressively as it has done so this year.

Republicans Don't Have a ‘Candidate-Quality Problem,’ They Have a Crazy-People Problem … The most consistent theme articulated by the Republican Establishment in response to the midterm elections is a determination to solve what Mitch McConnell euphemistically called its “candidate-quality problem.”

Michelle Obama's Fashion Declaration of Independence  —  The former first lady dressed with a new sense of freedom on her book tour.  —  When is a book tour not just a book tour?  When it is a platform for the refashioning, literally, of a major public figure — when it is a way for someone whose image …

China's War Against Taiwan Has Already Started  —  In 2018, a typhoon stranded thousands of people at Kansai International Airport, near Osaka, Japan.  Among them were some tourists from Taiwan.  Normally, this story might not have had much political meaning.

Sam Bankman-Fried's Bahamas jail infested by rats and maggots: ‘Not fit for humanity’  —  Fallen crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is being held in a Bahamian jail known to be overrun with rats and maggots — one so bad a warden has called it “not fit for humanity.”

Antiabortion movement seeks to jail people for ‘trafficking’ illegal pills  —  Six months after their Supreme Court victory, conservatives complain that strict new laws are not being sufficiently enforced  —  The largest anti abortion organization in Texas has created a team of advocates assigned …

Is this Donald Trump's Joe McCarthy moment?  —  Former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago dinner with anti-Semite and Adolf Hitler admirer Kanye West (now known as Ye) and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, followed by his declaration that the U.S. Constitution should be “terminated” …

Trump on ‘Fast Track’ to Prosecution as DOJ Gets Documents Needed to Indict  —  Attorneys representing the Department of Justice (DOJ) will likely soon get their hands on a number of classified documents necessary to bring charges against former President Donald Trump, legal observers contend …

Oregon governor commutes sentences for state's 17 death row inmates  —  Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) on Tuesday commuted the sentences of all 17 people on the state's death row, changing their punishment from execution to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Senate Dems prepare to join the investigative fray  —  Senate Democrats finally have subpoena power, and they're ready to use it.  —  Though their target list is still under discussion, Democrats in the upper chamber have made clear that they intend to use their investigative authority …

Conservative Activist Poured Millions Into Groups Seeking to Influence Supreme Court on Elections and Discrimination  —  Newly obtained records show how Leonard Leo, an architect of the right-wing takeover of the courts, has been funding groups pushing to change elections and anti-discrimination laws.

House votes to remove bust of Dred Scott decision author from Capitol  —  The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would remove a bust at the U.S. Capitol of Roger B. Taney, the chief justice who authored the majority Supreme Court opinion protecting slavery in Dred Scott v. Sandford.

US national included in latest prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia  —  An American Air Force veteran who was captured by Russian forces in Ukraine was included in a prisoner swap between the two warring countries on Wednesday.  —  Suedi Murekezi, a Rwandan-born U.S. national …

Shelby ending career as Alabama's longest-serving senator  —  U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, Alabama's longest serving senator and a shrewd force in state and national politics for more than four decades, leaves office next month after choosing not to seek a seventh term.