Politics

The Hill reports: A county GOP official in Pennsylvania resigned on Friday, just a day after it was revealed that she repeatedly called NFL players who kneeled during the national anthem “baboons.” Carla Maloney, secretary of the Republican Committee of Beaver County, made the comments in a series of Facebook posts, according to The Beaver County Times. Maloney reportedly published …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: Gov. Jerry Brown will decide whether San Francisco, Oakland and five other California cities should be allowed to keep their bars open until 4 a.m. Under a bill the state Legislature approved Thursday, the cities could participate in a five-year pilot program that extends the time alcohol can be served at bars, nightclubs and restaurants …

The New York Post reports: Mayor de Blasio is trying to jump-start his stalled streetcar with a new route and study. The city announced Thursday a route and environmental review for the Brooklyn-Queens Connector streetcar, a trolley known as the BQX that would run along the boroughs’ waterfront. The new BQX plan has been chopped down to an 11-mile route, …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Andrew Gillum’s historic come-from-behind primary win coupled by a volley of attacks from his Republican opponents has opened a floodgate of cash for the Tallahassee mayor’s quest to be the next governor of Florida. On Wednesday, the 39-year-old Democratic nominee had his best day of fundraising – collecting more than $1 million. On Thursday, the Democratic …

The BBC reports: Protesters have been given permission to fly a bikini-clad blimp of London mayor Sadiq Khan over Westminster. Campaigners raised £58,182 for the 29ft-long ‘baby Khan’, which will fly over Parliament Square on 1 September. A crowdfunding anti-Khan campaign was launched following the giant Donald Trump baby balloon flown by protesters during the president’s visit in July. Mr …

Los Angeles’ Fox affiliate reports: “My only message would be resign,” Gore, now an environmental activist, told Fox 11 during an interview about climate change. Gore’s remarks came in response to a question about what he would say to the president. “I think everyone knows to discount what this current Administration is doing and saying. They’ve made the EPA the …

The Hill reports: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate whether Google’s search and digital advertising practices are stifling the marketplace. Hatch sent a letter to FTC Chairman Joseph Simons expressing concern about reports in recent years ranging from Google restricting competing advertising services to collecting data from users’ Gmail inbox contents. “Needless …

Mike Allen reports at Axios: Donald Trump Jr., who has 3 million Twitter followers and 1.3 million Instagram followers, told me there is “exactly zero doubt in my mind” that tech bias is real: “I don’t think [this issue] is going away, because I don’t think it’s changing.” The president’s oldest son, reflecting Trumpworld’s growing appetite for action against Big …

Newsweek reports: The first and only gubernatorial primary debate between New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his Democratic primary challenger Cynthia Nixon turned into a war of words on Wednesday with Nixon calling Cuomo a “lying” and “corrupt” leader while the incumbent accused the actor-turned-politician of peddling “fiction” to voters. “I’m not an Albany insider, like Governor Cuomo, but I …

From a Washington Post story titled “Winter Is Coming”: President Trump’s advisers and allies are increasingly worried that he has neither the staff nor the strategy to protect himself from a possible Democratic takeover of the House, which would empower the opposition party to shower the administration with subpoenas or even pursue impeachment charges. Within Trump’s orbit, there is consensus …

Politico reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team wants to review emails between Paul Manafort and one of his former lawyers — messages that would typically be protected by attorney-client privilege. Manafort’s emails are a special case, Mueller’s team argued in a court motion Wednesday. Attorney-client privilege doesn’t apply when the client enlists a lawyer’s help to commit a crime — …

Roll Call reports: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) missed votes this week as he spent time campaigning back in Texas, where he is running in a closer-than-anticipated Senate race. The Senate cut its work week short, but before they did so the chamber held seven roll call votes to clear nominees for President Trump. GOP Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the No. …

The Washington Examiner reports: “It’s very clear that Mr. DeSantis is taking a page directly from the campaign manual of Donald Trump, but I think he has got another thing coming to him if he thinks that in today’s day and age Florida voters are going to respond to that level of derision and division, they are sick of it,” …

The West Virginia Metro News reports: Don Blankenship will not be on the November General Election ballot for U.S. Senate in West Virginia after the state Supreme Court denied his attempt in an order handed down Wednesday afternoon. The order came about three hours after oral arguments had concluded before the Court in which Blankenship’s attorney argued the state’s Sore …

NBC News reports: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has not been invited to attend funeral services for Sen. John McCain, her one-time running mate. A source within the Palin family told NBC News that “out of respect to Senator McCain and his family we have nothing to add at this point.” “The Palin family will always cherish their friendship …

The New York Times reports: Romania, long considered one of the most corrupt states in the European Union, has made energetic efforts to root out graft, with high-profile lawmakers caught in the cross hairs and concerns about the rule of law prompting rallies attended by tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of protesters. Now, unexpectedly, Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s …

“A little while ago we had Ron DeSantis, the Republican nominee for governor in Florida, on for an interview to discuss the Florida election. During the interview he made what some are calling an inappropriate comment about his Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum. We do not condone this language and wanted to make our viewers aware that he has since clarified …

The Hill reports: The Texas Republican Party invoked a decades-old mug shot from a previous Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-Texas) arrest as part of a series of jabs at the congressman for declining to debate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The tweet included O’Rourke’s mugshot from an arrest. The photo included a message that reads: “Sorry, Can’t debate. Had a little too …

The Daily Beast reports: Republican candidate Ron DeSantis’ general election campaign for governor of Florida got off to an abysmal start on Wednesday morning when he went on Fox News and warned voters not to “monkey this up” by electing his Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum, who would be the first African-American to lead the state. “The last thing we need …

USA Today reports: White House counsel Don McGahn, who had extraordinary access to President Donald Trump during some of his most controversial dealings and decisions, will leave his post this fall, the president said Wednesday. Trump announced McGahn’s departure on Twitter hours after a report by Axios broke the news that the lawyer planned to leave. Trump thanked McGahn for …