Trump casts shadow over Biden impeachment inquiry 

BY BRETT SAMUELS

© Photo Credit

Former President Trump’s presence is looming large over House Republicans’ decision to push ahead with an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

Trump has publicly called for House Republicans to impeach his predecessor and has privately spoken with members of the conference on the topic. The former president also suggested in an interview this week that the push for Biden to be impeached may partly be a tit-for-tat effort in response to Trump’s impeachment.

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Five ways Tuberville's holds are hurting the military 

BY ELLEN MITCHELL

A national security apparatus at risk, turmoil for military families, delayed retirements and military branches struggling to recruit and keep top candidates. 

These are just some of a litany of effects stemming from Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-Ala.) hold on military promotions over his opposition to a Pentagon policy allowing service members leave time and travel expenses to seek abortions. 

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Ken Paxton acquitted in Texas impeachment trial

BY JULIA MUELLER

A jury of state senators voted to acquit Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on all of the 16 articles of impeachment he faced in his historic trial. 

None of the articles of impeachment received the 21 votes needed to convict Paxton, meaning the Lone Star State’s top law enforcement officer — who had been suspended from his post since the House impeached him in May — will be reinstated to office. 

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Harris chatter leaves Biden allies seeking to shut down talk of replacing her

BY BRETT SAMUELS

The Biden campaign and its allies are rallying around Vice President Harris, rejecting chatter that President Biden should reconsider his running mate heading into 2024.

A series of opinion columns published this week all suggested one way for Biden to juice enthusiasm among Democrats and quell concerns about his age heading into a second term would be to replace Harris on the ticket.

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Anti-Trump movement frets about void left by Romney retirement

BY AL WEAVER

Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) impending exit from political life is dealing a significant blow to the anti-Trump movement as they face life without one of their most prominent leaders and the potential White House return of the former president.

Romney’s decision to retire from the Senate at the end of 2024 comes after he voted to convict former President Trump in both impeachment trials — the only Republican senator to do so — and spent the past 18 months hammering Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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Former DOJ official says Trump is ‘playing with fire’ ahead of criminal trials

BY NICK ROBERTSON

A former Justice Department (DOJ) official criticized former President Trump for his “risky” rhetoric after federal prosecutors moved to limit what he can say about the federal elections case.

DOJ special counsel Jack Smith requested a limit on what Trump can say publicly regarding case testimony and witnesses, fearful that Trump could negatively impact the prosecution. Trump responded by saying Smith “wants to take away my right of speaking freely.”

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Sean Penn seeks to shape Ukraine debate with new film on Zelensky

BY COLIN MEYN

On Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, Sean Penn had a meeting scheduled in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a film he was making on the comedian-turned-politician.  

Even while presiding over his country’s defenses in the largest land war in Europe since World War II, Zelensky kept the meeting with the American actor and his crew — though he made them wait a few hours.

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Trump on message he left for Biden after leaving White House: ‘It was a nice note’

BY LAUREN IRWIN

In a recent interview with Meet the Press, former President Trump said he left President Biden “a nice note” at the White House when he left office. 

“I don’t think you’ve ever gotten this question. But it’s been reported that you left a note for President Biden when you left office,” Kristen Welker asked Trump in the interview set to air on Sunday. “Can you give us a little sense of what you said?” 

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Psaki suggests Biden is a ‘heartbroken president’ worried about his son amid legal woes

BY TARA SUTER

Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki gave her two cents on Hunter Biden’s recent indictment on MSNBC on Friday.

“I mean, first and foremost, the politics of this are a little hard to predict, but right now you have the president’s son, somebody he loves deeply, somebody who has very publicly struggled with drug addiction, now facing these charges,” Psaki said on “Morning Joe.”

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Ukraine’s best defense is to decolonize the Russian Federation from within

BY YAROSLAV YURCHYSHYN

OPINION | Last month, Ukraine’s parliament established a special committee to formulate a legal framework for interactions with small and indigenous national movements within Russia. Its underlying goal is to establish enduring peace for both Ukraine and the trans-Atlantic community.

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Do you use apps like Apple Pay or Etsy? You could be seeing new taxes soon.

BY RYAN ELLIS

OPINION | Tax planning season starts in the fall for financially savvy people. Millions of these families will find that next spring’s annual slog through tax return preparation is going to get a lot worse for them even though they did nothing more than sell old baby clothes on Meta’s Facebook Marketplace or split the monthly rent on Apple Pay.

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The New York Times: In Risky Hunt for Secrets, U.S. and China Expand Global Spy Operations

BY JULIAN E. BARNES AND EDWARD WONG

The nations are taking bold steps in the espionage shadow war to try to collect intelligence on leadership thinking and military capabilities.

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The Wall Street Journal: Ukraine’s Next Battlefield Foe: Bad Weather

BY ISABEL COLESFOLLOW AND DANIEL MICHAELS

For Ukrainian soldiers struggling to make headway against entrenched Russian troops, the counteroffensive is taking on a new urgency as summer gives way to shorter days, drenching rain and then snow.

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Associated Press: Atlantic storm Lee delivers high winds and rain before forecasters call off warnings in some areas

BY ROBERT F. BUKATY AND DAVID SHARP

Atlantic storm Lee made landfall at near-hurricane strength Saturday, bringing destructive winds, rough surf and torrential rains to New England and Maritime Canada. But officials withdrew some warnings for the region late Saturday night.

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The Washington Post: Speaker McCarthy steps into the breach as his conference toils

BY PAUL KANE AND MARIANNA SOTOMAYOR

After a drawn-out fight to attain the speakership in early January, lawmakers predicted that the September funding battle would be the real test of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s staying power.

That test is here.

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