Fox was resigned to a tough trial.  Then, a secret mediator stepped in.  —  Dominion held firm to its big-money claim, and the jury was seated, just before a dramatic ending to the defamation case  —  For months, as the pretrial proceedings wore on and the embarrassing internal messages kept spilling …

Three takeaways from McCarthy's debt limit bill  —  Good morning, Early Birds.  It's 4/20, the 152nd anniversary of the signing of the Ku Klux Klan Act, which is still used to prosecute groups tied to white supremacy.  Tips: earlytips@washpost.com.  Thanks for waking up with us.  —  Reading this online?

‘Deeply frustrated’: Florida legislators worn out by DeSantis  —  The governor didn't wow D.C. It's not great in Tallahassee either.  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' iron-clad grip on the Republican-controlled Legislature may be slipping amid growing frustration among GOP legislators.

‘Fear and paranoia.’ Grandson says Andrew Lester bought into conspiracies, disinformation  —  A grandson of the man charged with shooting a Black teen in Kansas City's Northland last week said he was “appalled” and “disgusted” at his grandfather's actions and is thankful Ralph Yarl is recovering.

Republicans are alarmed about a Mastriano for Senate bid.  Even Trump.  —  The former president has privately conveyed concerns about having the Pennsylvania Republican on the top of the ticket alongside him this cycle.  —  MAGA firebrand Doug Mastriano is inducing panic among GOP officials …

House Republicans to vote on barring trans athletes from women's sports  —  House Republicans are set to pass a bill Thursday that would amend a landmark federal civil rights law to bar transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports.  —  The two-page bill proposed …

Microsoft drops Twitter from its advertising platform  —  Yet another big B2B service passes on paying for Twitter's new high-priced API.  —  Twitter is being removed from yet another big B2B platform.  And this time it's one of the biggest companies in the tech industry.

No Labels Took More Than $100,000 From Clarence Thomas Buddy Harlan Crow  —  Years before megadonor Harlan Crow was reading ProPublica stories about his close ties with Clarence Thomas, often seen as maybe the most partisan justice on the Supreme Court, he was doling out donations …

Abortion divides 2024 candidates and confounds many within the GOP  —  Presidential hopefuls have struggled to settle on a position amid warning signs that the party is on the wrong side of public opinion on the issue  —  When Republican donors arrived at the Four Seasons in Nashville last weekend …

DeKalb County releases autopsy in ‘Cop City’ protester Manuel Teran's death  —  Teran was protesting the development of a police training center.  DeKalb County has released the autopsy results related to the death of Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, who demonstrated against the construction …

Most adults value reproductive rights when deciding where to go to college, poll shows  —  Class sizes, available majors and extracurriculars aren't the only things going into college decisions this year.  —  A new poll shows that incoming and current college students are also thinking …

Trump Says He May Skip Rape Case to Spare New Yorkers Traffic Hassles  —  The trial of writer E. Jean Carroll's allegations that the former president assaulted her at a department store is to begin next week.  —  Former President Donald J. Trump wants to come to a Manhattan trial over allegations …

Little girl, parents shot after basketball rolls into gunman's yard in Gastonia; suspect sought: police  —  GASTONIA, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) - A manhunt is underway for an “armed and dangerous” man accused of shooting several people including a six-year-old girl and her parents, according to the Gaston County Police Department.

Donald Trump Is Running a Democratic Campaign in a Republican Primary  —  He's defending entitlements.  And Republican voters are here for it.  —  DONALD TRUMP IS PUMMELING RON DESANTIS in the battle for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.  He accuses DeSantis of exaggerating …

The Hacker Who Hijacked Matt Walsh's Twitter Was Just ‘Bored’  —  The breach of the right-wing provocateur was simply a way of “stirring up some drama,” the attacker tells WIRED.  But the damage could have been much worse.  —  The hacker who claims to have compromised the Twitter account …

A new Smithsonian boss settled multiple employee retaliation lawsuits  —  The selection of Nancy Yao to run the American Women's History Museum is being re-evaluated because of questions about firing three sex-harassment accusers at a New York museum  —  When the Smithsonian Institution announced …

Blinding flash over Kyiv was probably meteor, says Ukraine space agency  —  A mysterious flash which lit up skies over Ukraine's capital on Wednesday night generated much speculation.  —  Officials in Kyiv initially suspected it was a Nasa satellite falling to Earth but the US space agency told the BBC it was still in orbit.

‘I got duped’: Republican senator fumes over Trump-appointed judge's ethics scandal  —  Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is upset that a controversial Trump-appointed judge concealed his involvement in an article attacking abortion rights and transgender people during his confirmation hearing, reported POLITICO on Wednesday.