The New York Times reports: Ivanka Trump or her trust received at least $12.6 million since early 2016 from her various business ventures and has an arrangement to guarantee her at least $1.5 million a year even as she serves in a top White House position, according to her first ethics disclosure made public late Friday. The report was released …

The Philadelphia Gay News reports: Like her two co-defendants, Kathryn Knott is contending she acted in self-defense during a high-profile attack on a gay couple in Center City. Knott made the claim in a June 23 court filing in a civil case brought by plaintiffs Andrew Haught and Zachary Hesse, who are seeking at least $500,000 in damages. The couple …

The Los Angeles Times reports: President Trump, in one of a long string of Saturday morning tweets venting various frustrations, confirmed that he is pondering presidential pardons related to the probe into his campaign’s potential collusion with Russia. In the tweet, Trump said a president “has complete power to pardon,” suggesting he believes he can pardon himself, or is at …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump says Sean Spicer is a “wonderful person who took tremendous abuse from the Fake News Media.” Trump also says in a late Friday tweet that Spicer’s future is “bright.” Spicer resigned earlier in the day, six months into the administration, after Trump tapped New York businessman and political supporter Anthony Scaramucci for the …

The Washington Post reports: Russia’s ambassador to Washington told his superiors in Moscow that he discussed campaign-related matters, including policy issues important to Moscow, with Jeff Sessions during the 2016 presidential race, contrary to public assertions by the embattled attorney general, according to current and former U.S. officials. Ambassador Sergey Kislyak’s accounts of two conversations with Sessions — then a …

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: At the request of the mayor, Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau announced her resignation Friday afternoon in the aftermath of the officer-involved fatal shooting of Justine Damond, a 40-year-old Australian woman. Last Saturday, Damond called 911 around 11:30 p.m. to report a possible sexual assault near her home in south Minneapolis, and one of the responding …

Portland’s Fox affiliate reports: The self-proclaimed unit leader of Oregon’s National Socialist Movement, a known white supremacist group, is speaking openly about the state of their movement in the Pacific Northwest. Kynan Dutton agreed to sit down with FOX 12 to discuss public perception of the NSM. He believes people should not be afraid of members in their group. “We …

“This out-of-control investigation that is obviously a political opposition research program underway, with all the liberal Democrats supporting Obama and Hillary that Mueller has hired. And the no parameters and the wide open playing field, they go anywhere back in time to any point they want. There’s no limits on them. And one way Trump can shut it down, there’s …

Vulture reports: According to creator Ryan Murphy, season seven of American Horror Story (a.k.a. Cult) is inspired by the 2016 election. If we’re reading the season’s first trailer, which involves a creepy horde of clowns, correctly, the clowns are a metaphor for Trump voters? And the lone blue one is a Hillary voter? And the voices are the media? And …

The Associated Press reports: Embattled former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has opened a new consulting firm called Resilient Patriot, LLC that is advising private equity firms, according to one of his brothers, who says Flynn is “moving on with his life.” Joe Flynn said his family also is in the early stages of starting a fund to pay for …

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: A Montgomery County religious leader has been charged with prostitution. According to charging documents, 52-year-old Eddie Hilburn was taken into custody after he agreed to pay for sex. Officials at The Woodlands First Baptist Church confirmed that Hilburn is an associate pastor. According to the church’s website, Hilburn has been with the church since 2012 and …

Yesterday I reported that Ken Ham’s creationist for-profit company had sold the Ark Encounter to its non-profit division for $10 in order to evade a 50-cents per ticket local sales tax meant to pay for the additional fire and police protection required by the attraction. Well, THAT fucking backfired on them big time. Hemant Mehta reports at The Friendly Atheist: …

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: A federal judge Friday ordered the state of Kentucky to pay $222,695 in attorneys’ fees to same-sex couples who sued clerk Kim Davis in 2015 when she refused to give them marriage licenses. U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered the payments Friday. In a statement, William Sharp, legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said: “We …

The Washington Examiner reports: Rep. Maxine Waters zinged Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the expense of White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who resigned Friday. “Congratulations Sean Spicer. You’ve got more guts than Jeff Sessions!” the California Democrat said in a tweet Friday, moments after reports surfaced that Spicer resigned from his post in the Trump administration. Sessions, meanwhile, is …

You’ll enjoy this. The Hill reports: “The Daily Show” shared a satirical goodbye video for Sean Spicer after he resigned as White House press secretary Friday. The video compilation of viral Spicer moments from the White House podium includes the time he told reporter April Ryan to stop shaking her head, stumbles over Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s name and Spicer’s …

Perhaps surprisingly, today’s White House press briefing will actually be on-camera. According to CNN, Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be behind the podium, but there’s a chance newly-hired communications director Anthony Scaramucci will make an appearance. Things are due to kick off at 2PM Eastern. This WILL be fun.

WHOA. NBC News reports: President Donald Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer has resigned after opposing Trump’s appointment of Anthony Scaramucci as communications director, NBC has confirmed with two people familiar with the matter. A source close to the White House told NBC that Scaramucci met with Trump and it went well. When NBC asked whether Trump would change is mind, …

Nutjob Pastor Lance Wallnau, who recently claimed that angels literally dusted his face with gold flakes because he loves Donald Trump, has delivered an “intercessory prayer” against the spells, hexes, and jinxes all those witches have been casting against the president. Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: As Wallnau explained it, the prayers of Christians have protected Trump from …

Bloomberg reports: Germany’s president has signed legislation legalizing gay marriage, his office said Friday, paving the way for the bill to take effect this fall. Lawmakers approved the bill on June 30 in parliament’s last session before Germany’s September election. The move became possible after Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose conservative party had long been reluctant to budge on the issue, …

Reuters reports: Exxon Mobil Corp sued the U.S. government on Thursday, blasting as “unlawful” and “capricious” a $2 million fine levied against it for a three-year-old oil joint venture with Russia’s Rosneft. The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday morning slapped the world’s largest publicly traded oil producer with the fine for “reckless disregard” of U.S. sanctions in dealings with Russia …