Trump questions linger as DOJ expands Jan. 6 probe

BY REBECCA BEITSCH AND HARPER NEIDIG

© Associated Press/Jacquelyn Martin

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is facing pressure as the House Jan. 6 select committee’s presentation of damning evidence involving the Trump White House has raised questions about whether federal prosecutors have kept pace with the lawmakers’ inquiry and how long the former president can escape being directly investigated.

Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told reporters this week the panel was nearing an agreement to share some of its work on Trump’s “alternate elector” scheme that would send faulty certificates to Washington in an attempt to reverse President Biden’s victory in key states.

The move generated a more positive tone from members of the committee who have often been critical of the speed of DOJ’s investigation.

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Secret Service under pressure over erased texts and Jan. 6 actions

BY EMILY BROOKS AND REBECCA BEITSCH

The revelation of erased Secret Service text messages from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, is putting the agency in hot water, renewing questions about how forthcoming it has been in investigations into the Capitol attack, as well as the actions and motivations of agents.

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Jan. 6 committee schedules prime-time hearing on Trump’s inaction during attack

BY REBECCA BEITSCH

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack will hold what could be its final public hearing of the summer during prime time on Thursday, examining former President Trump’s three hours of inaction during the insurrection.

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House passes bills to protect abortion access following Roe reversal

BY MYCHAEL SCHNELL

The House on Friday passed two bills aimed at protecting access to abortion, marking the chamber’s first legislative attempts at safeguarding the procedure after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month.

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Biden greets Saudi crown prince with fist bump

BY MORGAN CHALFANT

President Biden greeted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist bump on Friday ahead of the controversial face-to-face meeting between the two men in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

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Biden says he raised Khashoggi murder with Saudi crown prince

BY MORGAN CHALFANT

President Biden said Friday that he raised the 2018 murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and that he told the Saudi leader he believed him to be responsible for Khashoggi’s death.

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Manchin’s decision provokes fury over potential for warmer world

BY RACHEL FRAZIN AND ZACK BUDRYK

Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) decision to move ahead with a reconciliation deal that doesn’t involve climate change risks consigning the entire world to a warmer future, scientists, Democrats and advocates said Friday in reacting to the news. 

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Biden to Senate: Pass health bill and I’ll tackle climate through executive action

BY ALEX GANGITANO

President Biden on Friday told senators to move forward with a slimmed-down, health care-only reconciliation package before their August recess after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) struck a blow to his agenda over its tax and climate provisions, which Biden said he will address through executive action.

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Pence to deliver speech in DC day before Trump

BY JARED GANS

Former Vice President Mike Pence will give a speech to the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation later this month, one day before former President Trump returns to Washington, D.C., for the first time since the end of his presidency last year. 

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Reports: Musk demands months for trial prep in Twitter suit

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk fired back Friday at Twitter’s lawsuit seeking to force him to complete his $44 billion acquisition of the platform, according to multiple news reports.

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Inflation has knocked Democrats down — but not out

BY BRAD BANNON

OPINION | Inflation hitting a record 9.1 percent was bad news for Democrats, but it could have been devastating. The blow was cushioned by the negative reaction to the reversal of Roe vs. Wade and the revelations from the Jan. 6 congressional investigatory committee that has shined the spotlight on former President Donald Trump’s role in the Capitol insurrection.

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What the Jan. 6 hearings really mean for the midterms

BY TODD BELT

OPINION | With the Jan. 6 committee hearings in full swing and with midterm elections four months away, it’s tempting to think about the electoral effects of the hearings. But reducing the impact of the committee’s work to the “game frame” of which party gains or losses in their effort to wrest control of Congress misses the bigger story — Americans will weigh in on nothing less that the preservation of our democratic system. 

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AP: Ocasio-Cortez navigates the expectations that come with fame

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE

NEW YORK (AP) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was almost hidden from the street as she stood behind a nondescript building in Queens that a local nonprofit is buying with federal money. But people spotted her anyway, slowly trickling up the sidewalk and forming a small line to get a picture with her.

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WSJ: What Is the True Cost of Inflation? It’s Complicated.

BY J.J. MCCORVEY, AYSE KELSE AND BRIAN WHITTON

Gas, groceries and housing. The three areas where Americans spend the most are significantly more expensive than they were a year ago.

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NYT: Biden’s Fraught Saudi Visit Garners Scathing Criticism and Modest Accords

BY PETER BAKER AND DAVID E. SANGER

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — President Biden exchanged the shaken fist for a fist bump on Friday as he abandoned his promise to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” and sat down with the crown prince he deemed responsible for the grisly killing and dismemberment of a columnist who lived in the United States.

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WaPo: Limiting crypto helped the Texas power grid weather a heat wave

BY ALLYSON CHIU

As a blistering heat wave smothered Texas this week and taxed the power grid with record-high demand, bitcoin mining operators in the state shut down their electricity-guzzling machines.

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