After Years of Political Hype, the Durham Inquiry Failed to Deliver  —  A dysfunctional investigation led by a Trump-era special counsel illustrates a dilemma about prosecutorial independence and accountability in politically sensitive matters.  —  Reporting from Washington

The GOP's Work-Requirement Scam  —  The Republican Party is threatening to deliberately engineer a global financial crisis unless Joe Biden slashes aid for America's most vulnerable.  And the president seems inclined to pay that ransom.  —  In recent days, the parameters of a deal to raise the debt ceiling have come into view.

DeSantis Goes 0-for-2 on Election Night  —  The 2024 hopeful made a dramatic, election-eve show of support in the Kentucky governor's race, only for his chosen candidate to get clobbered.  Another favored candidate in Jacksonville, Fla., lost, too.  —  On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida went out on a limb.

Prince Harry and Meghan involved in ‘near catastrophic’ paparazzi car chase in New York  —  Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were involved in a “near catastrophic” car chase with paparazzi photographers in New York on Tuesday night, his spokesperson has alleged.

Democrat Donna Deegan becomes first female mayor of Jacksonville  —  Democrat Donna Deegan will serve as the first female mayor of Jacksonville..  —  After months of hard campaigning and millions of dollars spent between both sides, Degan won the highly contested election against Republican Daniel Davis.

Kaitlan Collins, Moderator of Trump Forum, Named CNN's 9 p.m. Anchor  —  The appointment caps a fast rise at the network by Ms. Collins, 31, who previously covered the Trump and Biden administrations.  —  CNN has selected Kaitlan Collins to host a new weeknight show at 9 p.m. …

I've never seen the Kremlin so rattled  —  Anna Nemtsova is a Daily Beast correspondent and a contributing writer for the Atlantic.  —  A mysterious drone attack on the Kremlin.  A car bombing that wounded a key advocate of the invasion of Ukraine.  Four military aircraft shot down in a single day — inside Russia's borders.

Elon Musk: 'I'll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it'  — Elon Musk said he doesn't care if his inflammatory tweets scare off potential Tesla buyers or Twitter advertisers.  — “I'll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it,” Musk said.

Key Trump attorney departs legal team  —  Timothy Parlatore, an attorney for Donald Trump who played a key role in the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation and once testified before the grand jury, is leaving the former president's legal team, two sources familiar with the exit tell CNN.

PEN America, Penguin Random House sue Florida school district over book bans  —  Writers' group PEN America and publisher Penguin Random House have sued a Florida school district over its removal of books about race and LGBTQ+ identities  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Writers' group PEN America …

BLOWBACK: CNN advertisers get a serious warning about branding  —  Platforming extremism has consequences, and one network is finding out.  —  Donald Trump was welcomed onto CNN — a network he and his fans have long deemed “far-left” and “fake news” — for a Town Hall event last week …

Frank Luntz Can't Quit … “That's the original Big Boy,” Frank Luntz said, gesturing to the deep end of a peanut-shaped swimming pool where the iconic restaurant mascot of a portly child triumphantly hoists a hamburger above his head.  —  We were standing in the backyard of Luntz's home …

Yemi Mobalade elected mayor of Colorado Springs — the first Black man to lead the city — in political upheaval  —  Yemi Mobolade, a Nigerian immigrant and businessman with no political experience, will be the first Black mayor of Colorado Springs after he defeated Wayne Williams on Tuesday night in the city's runoff election.

Naomi Klein investigates ‘conspiracy theory culture’ that has shaken her life  —  Doppelganger, due out this autumn, examines ‘the wildness of right now’, including personal issues arising from being confused with Naomi Wolf  —  Award-winning author and Guardian columnist Naomi Klein …

Daniel Penny shows how much the right loves white vigilante violence  —  “Law and order” is often code for white supremacy.  —  ∙ Paid … Republicans often present themselves as the law and order party — the ones committed to public safety and fighting crime.

Supreme Court leaves in place Illinois restrictions on military-style weapons  —  The Supreme Court turned down a request to put on hold laws banning AR-15-style weapons and large ammunition magazines  —  The Supreme Court on Wednesday left in place for now Illinois's new ban on the purchase …

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 16, 2023  —  Click here to see ISW's interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  This map is updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report.  —  Click here to access ISW's archive of interactive time-lapse maps of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A Brief, Concerning Conversation With Dianne Feinstein  —  “Oh, you're an eager one,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said as the elevator door opened and she saw me on Tuesday afternoon.  —  The senior California senator had just voted, after returning to the Senate last week after an extended absence following a case of shingles.

639-foot Great Lakes freighter runs aground at Belle Isle  —  Detroit ― A 639-foot Great Lakes freighter carrying salt ran aground Wednesday morning on the east end of Belle Isle, just feet from the shoreline.  —  The freighter was headed toward Lake St. Clair from Cleveland …

First look: 6 in 10 want employers to call out racism  —  Six in 10 employees say they won't work for organizations that fail to speak out against racial injustice, the Edelman Trust Barometer finds in a new special report shared first with Axios.  — About the same number — 62% …

Republican tapped to lead Fulton elections board withdraws under pressure  —  The withdrawal followed a campaign from Democrats and voting-rights activists and reflects how contentious election administration has become  —  An Atlanta Republican on Wednesday withdrew his nomination to lead …

BREAKING: Drudge Reports Hannity to Replace Tucker in Major Fox News Shake Up  —  The Drudge Report dropped a siren-blaring scoop on Wednesday announcing an imminent shake-up at Fox News, eventually reporting that Sean Hannity will take over at 8 p.m.  —  “WORLD EXCLUSIVE: FOXNEWS SETS NEW SCHEDULE” …

As GOP aims to punish poor, CBO says extending Trump tax cuts for rich would add $3.5 trillion to deficit  —  While congressional Republicans hold the global economy hostage by refusing to raise the U.S. debt ceiling without major spending cuts that would hurt the working class …

Pentagon official who survived bruising confirmation battle to depart this summer  —  As policy chief, Colin Kahl has made the public case against sending F-16s to Ukraine.  —  Colin Kahl, the Pentagon's top policy official who was narrowly confirmed by the Senate after a tough confirmation battle …

More than 1M tax returns flagged for potential identity fraud: IRS  —  More than 1 million tax returns have been flagged for potential identity fraud with more than $6 billion in refunds requiring additional review, according to the IRS.  —  An interim report on the 2023 tax filing season …

‘We Sale Your Bank’: WaPo Reporter Rewrites Disastrous Fetterman Word Salad as a ‘Quote’  —  To protect the ever-brilliant Sen. John Frankenstein — er, Fetterman (D-Pa.) — a Washington Post reporter rewrote a muddled Fetterman ramble and posted it as a quote.