"American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan -- including targeting American troops -- amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there," the newspaper reported,"

"The intelligence finding was briefed to President Trump, and the White House's National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March, the officials said. Officials developed a menu of potential options -- starting with making a diplomatic complaint to Moscow and a demand that it stop, along with an escalating series of sanctions and other possible responses, but the White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said,"

"U.S. stocks wrapped up their best quarter in more than 20 years, a remarkable rally after the coronavirus pandemic brought business around the world to a virtual standstill," the Wall Street Journal reports.

"Just three months ago, investors were lamenting the end of the bull market--and the longest economic expansion on record--after major U.S. stock indexes lost about 35% of their value in less than six weeks. The subsequent rebound has been nearly as brisk."

unfit for office

The punchline is of course Trumps own voice reminding people of the source.

Reading around there is a real fear it could be a tipping point.

Dr. Anthony Fauci "discouraged Americans from attending events like President Trump's upcoming fireworks display at Mount Rushmore, pointing out that a large gathering of people in close proximity goes against best practices for stopping the spread of the coronavirus," Politico reports.

"Trump's fireworks display on Mount Rushmore has already garnered fierce backlash for its disregard for social-distancing measures. More than 7,000 people are expected to attend."

Maxwell is charged with enticement and conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transportation and conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and two counts of perjury, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday.
"In particular, from at least in or about 1994, up to an including at least in or about 1997, Maxwell assisted, facilitated, and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims known to Maxwell and Epstein to be under the age of 18," the indictment says.

"I'm concerned about voter registration in Mississippi. The blacks are having lots of events for voter registration. People in Mississippi have to get involved, too."

-- Mississippi election commissioner Gail Welch, quoted by the Hattiesburg American.

California Legislature Votes to Strike `the State Shall Not Discriminate' from Constitution

The temporarily missing handgun was not the only concern sources raised with the way Chicago police have handled evidence in the high-profile matter.

For example, the sweatshirt Smollett wore the night of the alleged attack was apparently checked out of the evidence holding area in April 2019 -- after Smollett's first case was dropped -- by someone who signed their name as "Sig Nature," sources familiar with case said.

"Well, one of the things that will be really great -- you know, the word experience is still good. I always say talent is more important than experience, I've always said that. But the word experience is a very important word. It's a very important meaning. I never did this before. I never slept over in Washington. I was in Washington, I think, 17 times, all of a sudden, I'm president of the United States. You know the story, I'm riding down Pennsylvania Avenue with our first lady and I say, this is great. But I didn't know very many people in Washington. It wasn't my thing. I was from Manhattan, from New York. Now, I know everybody and I have great people in the administration. You make some mistakes like, you know, an idiot like Bolton. All he wanted to do was drop bombs on everybody. You don't have to drop bombs on everybody. You don't have to kill people."

"Given our Responsibility Framework and the polarized atmosphere in the U.S., we have decided that starting now through at least the end of the year, we will not run brand advertising in social media newsfeed platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in the U.S.," the company said in a statement. "Continuing to advertise on these platforms at this time would not add value to people and society. We will be monitoring ongoing and will revisit our current position if necessary."

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R), who has long insisted voters should decide whether to remove the Confederate emblem from the state's flag, said for the first time Saturday that he would sign a bill to change the banner if one is sent his way, the Washington Post reports.

This morning I drove to the dispensary.  Nice day nice drive.  I have made that drive at least 10 times.  It's one of two equal distance from my house.  About 45 minutes.

Before today I honestly do not remember seeing a confederate flag.  There might have been I did not see them.  Today I saw 3.  Different houses.  Far apart.   All prominently displayed.  

British rock legends The Rolling Stones have threatened legal action against Donald Trump for the US president's use of their song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" at campaign rallies.

The band has appointed performing rights organisation BMI to try to stop him using the song, according to a statement given to US website, Deadline, overnight Saturday.

"The BMI have notified the Trump campaign on behalf of the Stones that the unauthorised use of their songs will constitute a breach of its licensing agreement," read the statement, which was retweeted by the Rolling Stones official Twitter account

"If Donald Trump disregards the exclusion and persists then he would face a lawsuit for breaking the embargo and playing music that has not been licensed."

Trump Shares Video of Man Chanting `White Power'

June 28, 2020 at 11:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 20 Comments

President Trump shared a video he said is from the Villages, a retirement community in Florida, in which a man driving a golf cart with Trump campaign sign is chanting "white power."

The president thanked the "great people" shown in the video.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) told CNN that Trump should take down the video as it is "indefensible."

Charles Gasparino
@CGasparino
BREAKING-- (thread)GOP operatives are for the first time raising the possibility that
@realDonaldTrump
 could drop out of the race if his poll numbers don't rebound. Over the weekend I spoke to a sample of major players; one described Trumps current psyche as "fragile." I'm
11:40 AM · Jun 28, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
4.4K
 Retweets and comments
10.3K
 Likes

Charles Gasparino
@CGasparino
·
4h
Replying to
@CGasparino
not convinced yet; he's got time and he's running against an opponent who is literally hiding in his basement. Plus the public isn't focusing yet on just how left wing
@JoeBiden
 has become, so much so, he can bring himself to denounce rioting.
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Charles Gasparino
@CGasparino
·
4h
That said the speculation indicates how tense  GOP operatives are about Trump losing and the party losing the senate and having their entire agenda abolished in a leftist wave election. Again lots of time and Trump has endured a horrible couple of months but that's the snap shot

According to event organizers, Baron Cohen first disguised himself as the leader of a PAC that wanted to sponsor the rally and then hired his own security to block them from getting him off the stage or cutting off the power once he had started performing.  

So far over 180 companies have signed up to the #StopHateForProfit campaign that is pushing for the social media giant to tackle hate speech and misinformation on its platforms.

Supreme Court Allows Feds to Resume Executions

June 29, 2020 at 9:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 6 Comments

"The Supreme Court will not take up a challenge to new federal death penalty protocols proposed by the Justice Department, which wants to resume executions as early as July for the first time since 2003," the Washington Post reports.

"The court, without comment, declined Monday to take up the lawsuit filed by four death row inmates. As is customary, it gave no reason. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor said they would have accepted the case."

Rachel just said with something like 75% in it's ahead

State Question 802 will be the only state question on the ballot for Oklahoma voters for the June 30 primary election. The question asks whether or not to expand Medicaid, a government-sponsored health insurance program for qualifying low-income persons, in Oklahoma.

If the proposal passes, approximately 200,000 more people will be eligible for the state's Medicaid program. That's about 20 percent of Oklahoma's total estimated population.

Voting yes, for the proposal, is a vote to expand Medicaid coverage for low-income adults aged 64 or younger. Voting no, against the proposal, is a vote to keep Medicaid coverage as is in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma is one of 14 states, including neighboring states Texas, Kansas and Missouri, to have not yet expanded Medicaid.

John Hickenlooper overcame a rocky month to defeat Andrew Romanoff in a Democratic U.S. Senate primary, setting the stage for a November faceoff with Sen. Cory Gardner, the Denver Post reports.

Thomas AND Alito might go before the end of the year

Because things are just not crazy enough

The potential retirement of Justice Thomas, who by most measures is the most conservative jurist on the nation's top court, set off a firestorm on social media among some court-watching conservatives and liberals - even though Costa noted that "Thomas has not given any indication" he is retiring.

Costa's reporting was, he says, seen by far right wing pundit Hugh Hewitt, who told his "radio audience this morning that he hears from several leading conservatives that Justice Alito, 70, is considering retirement, and adds that he also hears the Alito family is ready to leave Washington, D.C."