Lawyers with supreme court business paid Clarence Thomas aide via Venmo  —  Payments to Rajan Vasisht, an aide from 2019-21, underscore ties between the justice and lawyers who argue cases in front of him  —  Several lawyers who have had business before the supreme court …

Murdochs Start to Sour on DeSantis: ‘They Can Smell a Loser’  —  The conservative media kingmakers' preferred candidate to knock off Donald Trump is not meeting expectations, and the family's patriarch is getting tired of waiting … But in recent weeks, the Murdochs have grown increasingly displeased …

Democratic jitters grow over Cornel West's third-party bid  —  Cornel West's third-party presidential campaign is stirring up unpleasant flashbacks to 2016 for members of the Democratic Party, some of whom are starting to grow anxious about the effect it could have on President Biden's reelection.

Hollywood Studios' WGA Strike Endgame Is To Let Writers Go Broke Before Resuming Talks In Fall  —  EXCLUSIVE: Regardless of whether SAG-AFTRA goes on strike this week, the studios have no intention of sitting down with the Writers Guild for several more months.

CPI Report Shows Inflation Eased to 3% in June  —  Fed officials are still likely to raise interest rates when they meet later this month  —  U.S. inflation eased last month to its slowest pace in more than two years as underlying price pressures moderated more than expected.

NASA releases spectacular image to celebrate James Webb Space Telescope  —  The James Webb Space Telescope was designed to tunnel deeper into space and farther back in time than any previous observatory, with the audacious goal of seeing the very first galaxies that lit up the young universe.

Biden's approval rating lingers at 40%, economy remains top worry, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows  —  U.S. President Joe Biden's public approval rating held steady at 40% in early July, close to the lowest levels of his presidency, as economic worries continued to trouble Americans, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week.

China-based hackers breached email accounts, Microsoft says  —  Microsoft said late Tuesday a known group that primarily focuses on hacking Western governments to spy on them had successfully breached some accounts.  —  Hackers in China recently broke into the email accounts of around 25 organizations …

Milan Kundera, Author of ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being,’ Dies at 94  —  The author of “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” he was known for sexually charged novels that captured the suffocating absurdity of life in his native Czechoslovakia.  —  Milan Kundera, the Communist Party outcast …

Pence would ban abortions when pregnancies aren't viable.  His GOP rivals won't say if they agree  —  In a Republican presidential field full of opponents to abortion rights, Mike Pence stands out in his embrace of the cause.  The former vice president, who is seeking the White House in 2024 …

‘He was free and clear’: How the leak of Jon Gruden's email led to the fall of Commanders owner Dan Snyder  —  AS HE HOPPED on a call with Roger Goodell, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis had no plans to fire his head coach.  —  It was the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 8, 2021.

GOP Lawmaker Banned From Wikipedia for Self-Editing Spree  —  Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), one of the House GOP's most vulnerable members, may have been a little too eager to polish his online resume. … Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) is a notable alumnus of Manhattan College—at least according …

MSNBC Expert Arrives At Darkly Hilarious Take On Tommy Tuberville  —  Eddie S. Glaude Jr. made MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace crack up with his zinger aimed at the senator from Alabama.  —  MSNBC guest Eddie S. Glaude Jr. riffed on Nicolle Wallace's takedown of Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) on Tuesday, drawing cackles from the host.

The campaign of Chris Christie's dreams  —  Who needs to wake up to the political realities of 2024 — Trump loyalists, or the anti-Trump candidate?  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. — Chris Christie has a dream.  Not a fantasy, though some might call it that, but rather a waking ambition that he is pursuing with open eyes.

Tax prep companies shared private taxpayer data with Google and Meta for years, congressional probe finds  —  Some of the nation's largest tax-prep companies have spent years sharing Americans' sensitive financial data with tech titans including Meta and Google in a potential violation of federal law …

This Is One Republican Strategy That Isn't Paying Off  —  Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C., on politics, demographics and inequality.  —  In 2011, determined to push back the ascendant Democratic coalition that elected America's first Black president …

Teens buying ghost guns online, with deadly consequences  —  As unserialized firearms proliferate on the streets, teens discover the ease of obtaining weapons they couldn't get from a licensed dealer  —  At 18, Zachary Burkard was too young to buy a handgun from a licensed gun store …

Georgia election workers say Giuliani failed to turn over key evidence in defamation suit  —  “He failed to take any steps to preserve relevant electronic evidence,” their attorneys said of Giuliani.  —  Amid Donald Trump's desperate bid to subvert the 2020 election, a top adviser …

A Missing Russian General Is ‘Taking a Rest’ a Top Lawmaker Says  —  Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, has not been seen in public since a short-lived mutiny of mercenaries on June 24.  —  Gen. Sergei Surovikin of Russia, a onetime ally of the Wagner chief …

RFK Jr.'s campaign gear not union- or U.S.-made … - For generations, a rule for Democratic campaigns has been that as many materials as possible — shirts, stickers, placards, lawn signs, even campaign buses — be made by union shops in America as a sign of the party's commitment to labor unions and the working class.

Rough Days for Biden, Rougher Days for Trump  —  WAS LAST WEEK “hellish” for President Joe Biden?  Is he in for a cruel summer, filled with setbacks, scandal and calls for him to step aside because he's too old?  On the contrary.  The cruel, hellish summer of setbacks and scandal is coming for Donald Trump.

Republican Barbara Kirkmeyer won't run again in Colorado's highly competitive 8th Congressional District  —  Republican state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer announced Wednesday morning that she won't run again next year in Colorado's highly competitive 8th Congressional District.

Executed Russian sub commander may have been tracked on a fitness app  —  As with any news coming out of Russia, there's almost no telling what is true and what is not.  What we do know for certain is that a former Naval officer and sub commander who Ukraine had accused of war crimes was killed …