Politics

The New York Times reports: This year, there are 21 openly L.G.B.T. people nominated for Congress and four for governor, all Democrats, according to the L.G.B.T.Q. Victory Fund, a nonpartisan group that supports and tracks gay and transgender political candidates. Eight years ago, the first year the group started tracking candidates, there were only five openly L.G.B.T. people nominated for …

The Hill reports: The Cook Political Report on Friday updated its rating for Texas’s heated Senate race, moving it from leans Republican to toss-up amid new polls showing Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) in a tightening race with Sen. Ted Cruz (R). The change in rating Friday came amid two other Senate race changes, with the prediction website changing the race …

Bloomberg reports: President Trump likes to mock Nancy Pelosi, but a private survey conducted for the Republican National Committee finds that she’s actually more popular—and beats the president when the midterm election is framed as a contest between the two. The internal poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and obtained by Bloomberg Businessweek, asks registered voters who they support “when …

Politico reports: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will face a barrage of congressional inquiries into his business dealings, travels, political activities and relations with industry if Democrats win the House in November, according to lawmakers who hope to lead the chamber next year. Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, has already unsuccessfully demanded a …

The New York Daily News reports: The fixer is pulling a fast one of his former boss. Michael Cohen tweeted and quickly deleted a third-person message Thursday night that confirmed his “critical” cooperation against President Trump in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference. “Good for Michael Cohen for providing critical information to the #MuellerInvestigation without a cooperation …

Gosh, who could it have been? CNN reports: The personal Gmail accounts of an unspecified number of US senators and Senate staff have been targeted by foreign government hackers, a Google spokesperson confirmed to CNN on Thursday. On Wednesday, Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, wrote in a letter to Senate leadership that his office had learned that “at least …

The Washington Post reports: In his opening statements at an election debate Thursday, a South Carolina congressman kicked things off with a joke. “Did y’all hear this latest late-breaking news on the Kavanaugh hearings?” Rep. Ralph Norman (R) asked the audience at a Kiwanis club in his district. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out saying she was groped by Abraham Lincoln.” …

Newsweek reports: Melania Trump’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham violated the Hatch Act, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel confirmed on Thursday. The affirmation comes two months after Senator Tom Carper filed a complaint that Grisham was in violation of the ethics law when she used her official Twitter account to post a message that included Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan “Make …

The Washingtonian reports: The Trump White House has yet another legal headache—and this time, the other side brought paddles. The Canoe Cruisers Association of Greater Washington filed a lawsuit in Maryland Thursday against members of the administration, alleging defendants Karl L. Schultz, the commandant of the US Coast Guard, and Kirstjen M. Nielsen, the secretary of Homeland Security, failed to …

The New York Times reports: The woman who has accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault, in an apparent bid to jump-start negotiations, has told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she “would be prepared to testify next week,” so long as senators offer “terms that are fair and which ensure her safety,” according to an email her lawyers sent …

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: Ivanka Trump plans to raise money for Senate Republicans’ campaign arm this fall — amid new concern about the party’s fragile 51-seat majority in that chamber. An invitation shared with the Star-Telegram Tuesday lists the president’s daughter as a “special guest” at a Dallas fundraiser that’s now being rescheduled, according to the White House. Tickets …

Reuters reports: A French court ordered Marine Le Pen to submit to a psychiatric evaluation as part of its investigation into her decision to post images of Islamic State executions on Twitter, the far right leader said on Thursday and denounced the order. The investigation is one of a series that have distracted Le Pen’s National Rally, formerly known as …

CNN reports: Iran, North Korea, Syria and … commas. While Mike Pompeo is focused on a number of key geopolitical concerns, an email obtained by CNN suggests that the secretary of state also appears to have had it, up to, here, with, the rampant, improper use of commas by State Department staff. In the last few months, two emails have …

Politico reports: Republican activist who donated more than $20,000 to Ron DeSantis and lined up a speech for him at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club called President Obama a “F—- MUSLIM N—-” on Twitter recently, in addition to other inflammatory remarks. Steven M. Alembik told POLITICO Wednesday he wrote the Obama tweet in anger, that he’s “absolutely not” a racist and …

CNBC reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions blamed a number of activist groups on Wednesday for a rise in violent crime in Chicago, saying that “if you want more shootings, more death, then listen to the ACLU, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and groups who do not know the reality of policing.” “If you want public safety, then listen to the police …

From an interview with the British tabloid Daily Mail: The (Mueller) investigation — which Palin called “a fishing expedition” — has been going on so long that it is bound to find something amiss, she said. ‘When we go fishing, have we ever stopped before we caught something? No…we keep fishing,” Palin told Palmer. “Unfortunately, that is what’s going on …

The Washington Post reports: The Polish government did everything it could to turn Tuesday’s visit into one of Trump’s more enjoyable moments. Yet, somehow, Trump managed to offend the Poles so deeply that the fallout was all over Polish news sites on Wednesday morning. What happened? At the end of their meeting, the two leaders agreed to sign a strategic …

Talking Points Memo reports: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley reiterated that Christine Blasey Ford, the professor who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, should consider a hearing he has schedule for Monday her only opportunity to air her allegations, in a letter to her attorneys Wednesday afternoon. “It is not the FBI’s role to investigate …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: A new poll released Wednesday shows Andrew Gillum ahead of Ron DeSantis by seven percentage points in the race for governor, while the U.S. Senate race is still in a dead heat.  According to the poll, 42 percent of respondents said they would vote for Gillum, the Democratic nominee, while 35 percent chose DeSantis, the …

Reuters reports: North Korea said on Wednesday it would permanently abolish its key missile facilities in the presence of foreign experts, the latest gesture by leader Kim Jong Un to revive faltering talks with Washington over his country’s nuclear program. Speaking at a joint news conference in Pyongyang, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in said they agreed to turn …