Playbook: What Trump wants from Capitol Hill  —  With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  THE $46 BILLION MAN — “Elon Musk Says Vote on His Pay Winning by ‘Wide Margins,’” by WSJ's Christina Rogers and David Benoit

Public Notice's Sinclair report makes national headlines  —  From Morning Joe to the HuffPost, it's been a big week for the newsletter.  —  As part of a collaboration with Judd Legum of Popular Information, earlier this week I published a report on Sinclair's right-wing media empire …

Let's Talk About Trump's Gibberish  —  Perhaps the greatest trick Donald Trump ever pulled was convincing millions of people—and the American media—to treat his lapses into fantasies and gibberish as a normal, meaningful form of oratory.  But Trump is not a normal person, and his speeches are not normal political events.

Republican National Committee prepares for a convention Trump may not attend  —  Republican officials are working to ensure that Trump will be able to address convention attendees from afar if he chooses to do so — or if he is forced to because of his legal troubles.

Microsoft Chose Profit Over Security and Left U.S. Government Vulnerable to Russian Hack, Whistleblower Says  —  Microsoft hired Andrew Harris for his extraordinary skill in keeping hackers out of the nation's most sensitive computer networks.  In 2016, Harris was hard at work on a mystifying incident …

Here's what the Christian right wants from a second Trump term  —  Religious conservatives see opportunities for fresh gains after a series of victories during Trump's first term.  Rights advocates see a dangerous blurring of church and state.  —  Donald Trump's presidency delivered …

“It appears to be a payoff”: Expert says Kushner's Saudi cash an “egregious” national security worry  —  Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden is investigating Saudi support for Jared Kushner's private equity firm  —  Based on his prior experience and demonstrated abilities …

‘The big story of the 21st century’: is this the most shocking documentary of the year?  —  Six years in the making, jaw-dropping new film The Grab shows a secret scramble by governments and private firms to buy up global resources  —  In 2013, the US food conglomerate Smithfield Foods …

Supreme Court rejects bid to restrict access to abortion pill  —  The court found that anti-abortion doctors who questioned the FDA's easing of access to the pill did not have legal standing to sue.  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone …

Satellite ‘megaconstellations’ may jeopardize recovery of ozone hole  —  When old satellites fall into Earth's atmosphere and burn up, they leave behind tiny particles of aluminum oxide, which eat away at Earth's protective ozone layer.  A new study finds that these oxides …

US Southern Baptists condemn IVF procedure  —  The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., on Wednesday voted to condemn the use of in vitro fertilization, signaling the campaign by evangelicals against abortion is widening to include the popular fertility treatment.

Denial and Forgetting at the Hunter Biden Trial  —  Consider the levels of denial and forgetting that it takes to write this paragraph the week that Hunter Biden, charged by a Trump US Attorney turned Special Counsel using evidence significantly sourced from a laptop handed over by John Paul Mac Isaac, stood trial.

'Who's the Black guy?':  Evangelicals want Trump to pick an anti-abortion running mate.  They care less who it is.  —  Trump has evangelical voters locked in.  —  INDIANAPOLIS — Eight years ago, needing a running mate to vouch for him among skittish evangelicals, Donald Trump turned to Mike Pence …

Wisconsin Supreme Court Lifts New Restrictions on Early Voting Sites Ahead of 2024 Elections  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court's liberal majority yesterday froze part of a lower court's decision that stood to significantly limit the number of early voting locations municipalities …

Trump's bid to steal the youth … - The latest New York Times/Siena polling of likely voters has President Biden with just a 2-point lead over Trump. … - By contrast, CNN exit polling showed that Biden won the 18-29-year-old vote by 24 percentage points in 2020, and that Hillary Clinton won it by 19 points in 2016.

Congressional Baseball Game descends into chaos after protesters storm field  —  Eight people were arrested after storming the field at Nationals Park during the annual Congressional Baseball Game  —  Several arrests were made at the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity Wednesday night …

Record Share of U.S. Electorate Is Pro-Choice and Voting on It  —  Democrats continue to rally around abortion rights since Dobbs verdict  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — A record-high 32% of U.S. voters say they would only vote for a candidate for major office who shares their views on abortion.

Biden's Israel policy may hasten Trump's rise, US allies fear  —  As the president begins his last international trip before the election, the fear in the crowd is that conflict in Gaza is tripping him up.  —  FASANO, Italy — President Joe Biden's support for Israel's war in Gaza has caused …

Oklahoma Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit of last Tulsa Race Massacre survivors seeking reparations  —  The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit by survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, dampening the hope of advocates for racial justice that the city would make financial amends …

Mike Johnson Weaponizes Government in Fight Against Biden  —  House Speaker Mike Johnson has a tendency to think that when things go bad for his party, it's the product of gross legislative mismanagement, judicial weaponization, and a vast executive conspiracy.

Hearing on the Manhattan District Attorney's Office  —  Location:  —  2141 Rayburn House Office Building  —  Video  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, June 13, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. ET to examine Alvin Bragg's political prosecution of President Trump.

Neil Goldschmidt, Oregon former governor who sexually abused young girl, dies at 83  —  Neil Goldschmidt, the Oregon governor and Portland mayor credited with turning a frumpish city into a thriving metropolis only to see his record forever stained by revelations that he had sexually abused a young teen girl …