The New York Times reports: The 17-year-old charged with murder as a hate crime in the fatal stabbing last month of a gay Black dancer at a Brooklyn gas station pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on Friday. The teenager, Dmitriy Popov, entered the plea in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, where he will be tried as an adult. He …

Reuters reports: A U.S judge on Friday revoked Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail, after finding probable cause that the indicted founder of the bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange tampered with witnesses at least twice. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan announced the decision at a hearing in federal court in Manhattan, less than two months before the scheduled October fraud trial. He rejected a …

Rolling Stone reports: Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation appears to be zeroing in on Sidney Powell, a conspiracy-theory-obsessed lawyer who was a key figure in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Four sources with knowledge of the matter, several witnesses, and Trump allies who’ve appeared before the special counsel — including at least one in the past few …

ABC News reports: The Illinois State Supreme Court found a strict assault weapons ban passed after the Highland Park shooting to be constitutional in a ruling issued Friday. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit that claimed that the ban violated the equal protections clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court reversed a lower court …

Houston’s ABC affiliate reports: Some Conroe ISD trustees want to crack down on displays of racial inclusivity and pride, saying they represent, “symbols of personal ideologies.” One trustee says a child was traumatized by a poster showing different colored children holding hands and had to switch classrooms. Citing “a number of parents reaching out to her about supposed displays of …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis has named an outspoken opponent of LGBTQ equality to the appeals bench of Central and Southwest Florida. DeSantis appointed Apopka lawyer Roger Gannam to serve as judge on the 6th District Court of Appeal, which hears cases from Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Polk, Orange and Osceola counties. For the better part …

Via email from hate group leader Tony Perkins: As a partner of Family Research Council, we want to let you know about an upcoming opportunity to leave a lasting legacy through estate planning. In case you missed it, on Monday, August 14, FRC will offer two free estate planning webinars where you can learn more about creating a Will, Trust, …

Politico reports: It was an inauspicious start for Ron DeSantis in Iowa on Friday. Chanting “Ron DeFascist” and “pudding fingers” on a megaphone while ringing cowbells, two protesters effectively cut short the Florida governor’s first campaign stop of the day. At the DeSantis event, Kara Ryan of Des Moines said she and her aunt, Heather Ryan, were there on behalf …

The New York Times reports: Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on Friday named a special counsel to take over the Justice Department’s investigation into President Biden’s son Hunter, elevating the long-running and politically fraught inquiry. Mr. Garland, who made the announcement at the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington, named David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, who has handled …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis would allow offshore drilling and fracking in the U.S. as president, as long as it’s not in Florida. The position is part of DeSantis’ plan to “unleash American energy independence,” while maintaining Florida as the only Gulf state without rigs, refineries and pipelines dotting its coast. “We have a constitutional amendment that …

CNN reports: US District Judge Tanya Chutkan said Friday that she plans to issue a protective order over the handling of evidence in the Donald Trump 2020 election interference case, saying it’s needed to protect witnesses or other interference in the trial. The former president has a right to free speech, but that right is “not absolute,” the judge said …

The Houston Chronicle reports: More than 20 members of Congress want to join a federal lawsuit to help protect Gov. Greg Abbott’s buoy barrier in the Rio Grande, referencing Noah’s Ark and questioning if the river can be considered a “navigable waterway” despite being the fourth largest river in North America. In a motion filed on behalf of U.S. Rep. …

Mediaite reports: “Trump 2024!” shouted one man in a “Make America Great Again” hat and “Team Trump” shirt as Pence could be seen walking through the fairground with his entourage. Another woman dressed similarly then joined in with the heckles, shouting “MAGA!” and “Pence is a traitor!” She continued, “Anybody that says he has a higher power, uses those words, …

“A man in his 70s, Craig Deleeuw Robertson made multiple violent and vile threats against Joe Biden’s life ahead of the president’s visit to that state. Well yesterday morning, in a predawn raid, he was killed by FBI agents hours before Biden was set to arrive in Salt Lake City. “Now, the FBI reports that he was armed, but the …

Gizmodo reports: Are you not entertained?! Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk’s will they/won’t they continues, and it appears that the long awaited fight between the two tech billionaires could take place in Italy. Musk tweeted this morning that he spoke to the Prime Minister of Italy and the Minister of Culture to hold the brawl in Italy. The fate of …

The Guardian reports: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has recorded a steep 75% drop in full-year profit but sees opportunities ahead as it expands the use of cost-saving AI-produced content. The US-listed media conglomerate – which owns mastheads in the US, UK and Australia, along with book publishers, subscription television and real estate advertising assets – recorded $US187m ($A287m) in net …

The Associated Press reports: The Mississippi Supreme Court says it will not remove former NFL quarterback Brett Favre as a defendant in a civil lawsuit that seeks to recover millions of dollars of misspent welfare money meant to help some of the poorest people in the United States. A panel of three justices issued a brief ruling Wednesday, denying an …

“Joe Biden is using these partisan prosecutors to physically prevent his opponent from campaigning. Gross election interference. And Joe Biden still has not even been asked about this once by the media. Biden’s Department of Justice even designated Donald Trump a flight risk. When prosecutor Jack Smith got a search warrant to crack into Trump’s Twitter account, he made the …

The Austin Statesman reports: Federal prosecutors have seated a grand jury in San Antonio and called witnesses close to suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to testify, two sources with knowledge of the investigation told the American-Statesman. The purpose of the testimony is unclear, but it comes days after Paxton’s attorney confirmed last week that there is an active federal …

Media Matters has the transcript: JESSE WATTERS (HOST): Thanks to the 26th amendment, it means that you got the right to vote. But Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t so sure 18-year-olds are ready for that kind of responsibility. He’s proposing a constitutional amendment that would make 18 to 24-year-olds pass a civics test before they have the right to …