Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events  —  Friends of the Court: SCOTUS Justices' Beneficial Relationships With Billionaire Donors  —  Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' decadeslong friendship with real estate tycoon Harlan Crow and Samuel Alito's luxury travel …

Playbook: How Matt Gaetz took over the House  —  Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  NEW SCOTUS INVESTIGATION JUST DROPPED — ProPublica is up with its latest must-read dive into ethics on the Supreme Court.  This time, the story centers …

Senator Robert Menendez Is Indicted in New York  —  Mr. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, was charged six years after his trial in a different corruption case ended in a hung jury.  —  Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee …

Trump lights his legal defenses on fire on Meet the Press  —  This is why you shut the hell up when you're facing criminal charges. … Last week, Kristen Welker kicked off her tenure at NBC's “Meet the Press” by interviewing Donald Trump.  It was roundly criticized as an epic shitshow …

Is Trump running for a second Biden term?  —  Despite outward appearances, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump increasingly resemble each other.  And they are taking steps to be even more alike.  —  Their old age — 80 and 77, respectively — is a key similarity everyone knows about and dislikes.

U.S. close to providing Ukraine with long-range cluster missiles  —  After nearly a year of rebuffing Kyiv's pleas, the Biden administration intends to send a variant of the Army Tactical Missile System, which would enable strikes farther into Russian-held territory

‘Waiting for him to drop out’: DeSantis' influence nosedives in Florida  —  Some party members view the once-powerful governor as weakened amid his campaign struggles.  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is losing his clout in Florida.  —  College boards, stacked …

America's Cities Need Republicans, and I'm Becoming One  —  While Dallas has thrived, elsewhere Democratic policies have exacerbated crime and homelessness.  —  Dallas  —  I have been mayor of Dallas for more than four years.  During that time, my priority has been to make the city safer, stronger and more vibrant.

Michigan attorney general says fake GOP electors she charged are ‘brainwashed’  —  Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said at a recent event with liberal activists that the fake Republican electors from 2020 that she charged were “brainwashed” to keep former President Donald Trump in power …

U.S. braces for calamitous, costly government shutdown in eight days  —  Federal workers and military service members won't be paid, while federal programs — from some food safety inspections to child care funds — come to an abrupt halt  —  Millions of federal employees …

David Brooks is laughing at you, peasant  —  David Brooks, the “moderate” columnist for the New York Times, is a very deep thinker who understands the important issues of the day well, and who deigns to share his understanding with the plebs as long as he gets a nice paycheck for doing so.

Office of Management and Budget to initiate process of preparing for a shutdown  —  While the House and Senate remain far apart on a spending deal, the federal government will soon formally initiate the process of preparing for a potential shutdown, participating in the mandatory but standard process …

The Ludicrous Agony of Rupert Murdoch  —  It's nice to know that Fox News, which has so deranged America while making Rupert Murdoch ungodly sums of money, has in the end made Murdoch miserable, at least if the journalist Michael Wolff is to be believed.  But the consolation is a small one.