The New York Times reports: Lawyers for the families of two Sandy Hook shooting victims are accusing the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars media business of intentionally destroying evidence relevant to the defamation cases against him, according to a motion filed on Friday in a Texas court. Mr. Jones had been informed in writing in April that he …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really, truly, absolutely wants to be known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not the LDS Church. Not the Mormon church. It made that clear Thursday — even though the last attempt to eradicate those nicknames for the Utah-based faith flopped. The new push …

The Hill reports: The judge in the tax and bank fraud trial against one-time Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said Friday he’s been threatened over the case, denying a request from media outlets to release the names and addresses of the jurors. Judge T.S. Ellis III said he’s not going to reveal the specifics of the threats he received. “I …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump said Friday that he plans “very quickly” to strip the security clearance of Bruce Ohr, a Justice Department official he said is “a disgrace” who is tied to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has repeatedly targeted Ohr as a source for Mueller and …

The Washington Examiner reports: Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Thursday evening he would ask President Trump to lift sanctions against the chairmen of both houses of the Russian legislature so they can visit the U.S. in the fall. Paul just returned to the U.S. from Russia after a trip intended to promote diplomacy between the two countries. Paul told Fox …

Via press release from the Liberty Counsel: A recent study, Effects of Therapy on Religious Men Who Have Unwanted Same-Sex Attraction, confirms the overwhelming effectiveness of people receiving counseling to reduce or eliminate their unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity. In this study, more than two-thirds of those who participated in group or professional help had significant heterosexual shifts in …

Courthouse News reports: California is on the verge of shunning treatments that promise to “cure” patients of homosexuality through hypnosis, counseling and even electric shock sessions. The state Senate on Thursday cleared a proposal to list so-called conversion therapy as a fraudulent business practice, bringing it under the umbrella of state consumer-protection laws and opening the door for victims to …

NBC News reports: Adult film star Stormy Daniels pulled out of the British edition of “Celebrity Big Brother” on Thursday night, but there were conflicting explanations for her last-minute withdrawal. The 39-year-old, who claims she had an affair with Trump more than a decade ago and is suing the president, did not appear as planned on the reality show’s season …

And the pardon chatter turns into a roar: President Trump on Friday defended his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, as a “good person” even as a jury deliberates a verdict in his financial fraud trial. Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, Trump said Manafort only worked for him for a short period of time but …

The Huffington Post reports: Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump and executive vice president of the family’s company, fired off a complaint on Twitter about “disloyal people.” Trump was likely referring to Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former “Apprentice” villain and fired White House aide who’s been promoting her new tell-all book with secretly recorded audio. But critics on Twitter …

The Associated Press reports: At a time when big-box retailers are trying to offer the same conveniences as their online competitors, the biggest U.S. grocery chain is testing the use of driverless cars to deliver groceries in a Phoenix suburb. Kroger’s pilot program launched Thursday morning with a robotic vehicle parked outside one of its own Fry’s supermarkets in Scottsdale. …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump on Friday blamed local officials for his decision to postpone a grand military parade in Washington this fall, alleging without evidence that they had unreasonably inflated the price. Trump said it was possible the parade could be staged next year if the cost “comes WAY DOWN” and added that with the savings “we can …

Mediaite reports: GOP Senate Candidate Chris McDaniel has had a rough 48 hours of attempted Civil War revisionism. The state senator, running to represent Mississippi in Congress, first took to social media to wheel out some wild claims about Confederate general Robert E. Lee. He was promptly fact checked, by everyone from CNN anchor Jake Tapper to historian Kevin Kruse. …

Little Rock’s Fox affiliate reports: Dozens attended a rally held by the Satanic Temple at the Arkansas State Capitol on Thursday. The rally comes after the Arkansas legislature approved the placement of a Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds. During the Satanic Temple’s Rally for the First Amendment, a more than 8 feet tall Baphomet statue was unveiled. “The …

The New York Times reports: The tapes of Ms. Manigault Newman’s private conversations with Mr. Trump and other officials connected to him have rattled the White House in a way that few things other than the special counsel investigation into possible campaign collusion with Russia have. Mr. Trump’s aides have been concerned that they will make appearances on other tapes, …

You knew this was coming: President Trump called Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) a “loser” and “a total Fake” after Blumenthal criticized news that cost estimates for Trump’s proposed military parade exceeded initial estimates by millions. Blumenthal had criticized news that cost estimates for the parade had reached $92 million, around $80 million more than initially estimated. The president’s attacks …

From a Christian Newswire press release: When asked about what is at the root of the crisis Cardinal Burke said “it seems clear in light of these recent terrible scandals that indeed there is a homosexual culture, not only among the clergy but even within the hierarchy, which needs to be purified at the root. It is of course a …

Billboard Magazine reports: Ariana Grande’s new album Sweetener is due out Friday, but Arianators got a sweet, early taste when she appeared overnight on The Late Late Show. Grande took another ride with its host James Corden, as the pair belted out some classics and some new goodies for a “carpool karaoke” segment. The pair hit “God is a Woman,” …

The Washington Post reports: The Defense Department and the White House, which had targeted a November date for the Washington military parade sought by President Trump, will instead “explore opportunities in 2019,” a Pentagon spokesman said in a statement. Officials have been planning the event since earlier this year, when the president, apparently inspired by a similar display he observed …

Orlando’s NBC affiliate reports: An unruly passenger was arrested Thursday morning at Orlando International Airport and the incident was caught on camera. Jeffrey Epstein is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, trespassing after a warning and disorderly conduct, according to an arrest affidavit from the Orlando Police Department. Police said that Epstein began to yell when …