Country lacks a unifying voice in aftermath of Trump charges  —  No trusted figure has emerged to reassure the country in a shattering moment  —  In the hours after former president Donald Trump was indicted Tuesday, President Biden dined at a seafood restaurant, stopped by a movie theater …

Clarence Thomas's $267,230 R.V. and the Friend Who Financed It  —  The vehicle is a key part of the justice's just-folks persona.  It's also a luxury motor coach that was funded by someone else's money.  —  Justice Clarence Thomas met the recreational vehicle of his dreams in Phoenix, on a November Friday in 1999.

John Eastman Comes Clean: Hell Yes We Were Trying to Overthrow the Government  —  THE BACKCHANNEL  —  I want to return to this revelatory interview with coconspirator John Eastman, the last portion of which was published Thursday by Tom Klingenstein, the Chairman of the Trumpite Claremont Institute …

A dramatically close election in Kentucky gives clues for both parties  —  This year's bellwether election could tell us a lot.  —  A Democratic incumbent is running even with his Republican challenger.  He's trying to sell an optimistic economic message in the face of a slew of culture war attacks …

What the Best Places in America Have in Common  —  What the data show about the country's poorest places  —  When president lyndon B. Johnson declared an “unconditional war on poverty” in 1964, the nation didn't have any method of counting the poor, or even a firm notion of how poverty should be defined.

A Global Web of Chinese Propaganda Leads to a U.S. Tech Mogul  —  The Times unraveled a financial network that stretches from Chicago to Shanghai and uses American nonprofits to push Chinese talking points worldwide.  —  Mara Hvistendahl is an investigative reporter focused on China.

NASCAR suspends driver Noah Gragson for liking insensitive meme depicting face of George Floyd  —  NASCAR said Gragson violated the member conduct of its rule book, without providing details.  —  BROOKLYN, Mich. — Driver Noah Gragson has been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR and Legacy Motor Club due …

Charles J. Ogletree Jr., 70, Dies; at Harvard Law, a Voice for Equal Justice  —  A mentor to the Obamas and many others, he was renowned for his work in both the classroom and the courtroom, taking cases on behalf of the famous and the indigent alike.  —  Charles J. Ogletree Jr. …

I regret to report the economic anxiety theory of Trumpism is back  —  In David Brooks's new column, he asks the American elite if they're the baddies.  But he's actually telling them a comforting fiction.  —  The question of why Donald Trump manages to maintain such a grip on the Republican base …

Here's the Intelligence Assessment of Donald Trump that the Government Can't Write  —  Homeland Security officials can't use politicians' names in their assessments.  But I can.  —  Federal intelligence and national security agencies — from the FBI to DHS — are in universal agreement …

Democrats are drastically overperforming in 2023's special elections.  Is it a clue for Biden vs. Trump?  —  Some Republicans, however, caution against “reading too much into specials.”  —  Looking ahead to 2024, Democrats concede some cause for concern — including President Joe Biden's …