Politics

The Huffington Post reports: Sarah Huckabee Sanders would not get an easy ride in “The Handmaid’s Tale” universe, according to one of the dystopian drama’s stars. On Thursday’s “Late Night,” actress Ann Dowd — who plays the ruthless Aunt Lydia in Hulu’s TV adaption of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel — claimed her character “would make mincemeat” of the White House …

The Washington Post reports: For the second time this week, Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan held forth about local and national politics during a visit to Democrat-rich Montgomery County, floating the idea of open primaries and contemplating a future in national politics. “You never say never,” Hogan told a gathering of business leaders in Bethesda when asked if he would …

The Wall Street Journal reports: A major donor to President Trump agreed to pay $10 million to the president’s then-personal attorney if he successfully helped obtain funding for a nuclear-power project, including a $5 billion loan from the U.S. government, according to people familiar with the matter. The donor, Franklin L. Haney, gave the contract to Trump attorney Michael Cohen …

Britain’s Daily Mail reports: Omarosa Manigault-Newman is about to rip the lid off what she deems the deteriorating mental condition of President Trump in her bombshell new book. In an exclusive excerpt obtained by DailyMail.com, Omarosa, 44, who first met Trump when she appeared on The Apprentice and later became an assistant to the president, tells of the dread she …

The New York Post reports: Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday named several close allies and aides to a new panel he is convening to draft legislation that would result in the legalization of recreational marijuana. “I have reviewed the multi-agency report commissioned last January and have discussed its findings with Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker,” Cuomo said in a statement. …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump came out Thursday against the family separations that resulted from her father’s zero-tolerance policy for illegal immigration, calling them a “low point” of her White House tenure thus far.”That was a low point for me as well,” she said during an interview with Axios. “I feel very strongly about that, …

Roll Call reports: A politically connected contractor made a $500,000 contribution this spring to a pro-Trump super PAC the day after it received a payment of almost the same amount as part of a Department of Defense contract, a watchdog group said. The Campaign Legal Center flagged that contribution and a $50,000 contribution from another company to a super PAC …

NBC News reports: Retired Ohio State wrestling coach Russ Hellickson reached out to two ex-team members and asked them to support their former assistant coach, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a day after they accused the powerful congressman of turning a blind eye to alleged sexual abuse by the team doctor, according to the wrestlers and text messages they shared with …

The Chicago Tribune reports: An Illinois House Republican lawmaker who had been appointed to the General Assembly’s sexual harassment task force resigned Wednesday following his ex-girlfriend’s allegations of improper sexual activity online, House GOP Leader Jim Durkin said. State Rep. Nick Sauer, of Lake Barrington, was accused by an ex-girlfriend of sending nude photos of her to other men online, …

The Guardian reports: Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, has laid a ceremonial brick at a Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and said he might one day buy a “holiday home” there. The two-time Republican presidential hopeful and father of the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, used a cement trowel to pave a wall in the …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump said Wednesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should terminate the investigation into Russian election interference “right now,” and called the prosecution of his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort “a hoax.” But in an interview Wednesday, two of Trump’s lawyers said Trump was not ordering Sessions to take any specific action. “The president has issued …

The Hill reports: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) holds a six-point lead over Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) in the race for Senate in Texas, according to a Quinnipiac University poll out Wednesday. Cruz’s support comes in at 49 percent among Texas voters, according to the survey. O’Rourke comes in at 43 percent. That’s a significantly smaller lead for the incumbent than …

USA Today reports: Former President Barack Obama announced endorsements Wednesday of 81 Democratic candidates in the November midterm elections, and said he is “eager” to help his party gain seats in a contest widely seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump. While Obama did not mention Trump by name, he said in the public statement outlining his plans that …

The Associated Press reports: The Republican-controlled Senate has defeated a push by Democrats to set aside an additional $250 million for states to upgrade their voting systems to protect against hacking and other cyberattacks. An amendment offered by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy received 50 yes votes, 10 short of the 60 needed for approval. Leahy said securing U.S. elections and …

Politico reports: A former girlfriend of Illinois state Rep. Nick Sauer has filed an official complaint accusing the first-term Republican of creating a fake Instagram account and populating it with nude photos of her to lure men into “graphic” discussions. According to the complaint filed by ex-girlfriend Kate Kelly with the Office of the Legislative Inspector General and obtained by …

Politico reports: Former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by 7 percentage points in a head-to-head match-up, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. A plurality of registered voters, 44 percent, said they’d choose Biden in the 2020 presidential election, while 37 percent of voters said they would vote for Trump. The percentage of Democrats who would choose …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge in Seattle has issued a temporary restraining order to stop the release of blueprints to make untraceable and undetectable 3D-printed plastic guns. Eight Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block the federal government’s settlement with the company that makes the plans available online. They also sought a restraining order, arguing …

The Washington Post reports: Tad Devine, who was Bernie Sanders’s chief strategist in the 2016 election, explained to jurors how he came to work with Paul Manafort in Ukraine. He said his then-partner, Mike Donilon, was contacted by Manafort’s then-partner, Richard Gates, in 2005 about working for the Party of Regions, a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine. Devine described the …

The New York Post reports: Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds a commanding 2-1 lead over rival Cynthia Nixon in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary — but his running mate, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, is locked in a surprisingly close race against insurgent Jumaane Williams, according to a poll released Tuesday. Cuomo, who is running for a third term, leads Nixon 60 …

Courthouse News reports: A jury has been seated in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on tax evasion and bank fraud charges. A jury of six men and six women has been sworn in for the trial, and four alternate jurors, three women and one man, have also been selected. Opening arguments will begin later Tuesday afternoon. …