WaPo: “Mark Robinson, the firebrand Republican nominee for governor in North Carolina, has for years made comments downplaying and making light of sexual assault and domestic violence. A review of Robinson’s social media posts over the past decade shows that he frequently questioned the credibility of women who aired allegations of sexual assault against prominent…

Political Wire: “In recent weeks, House Ethics Committee investigators have conducted a string of interviews behind closed doors with numerous women who were witnesses in the years-long Justice Department sex trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz,“ ABC News reports. “Investigators have interviewed at least half a dozen women who allegedly attended parties where the Florida Congressman was…

AL.com: “Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has some thoughts on voter fraud and election integrity, and, under the right circumstances, he’ll share them. Circumstances matter a lot to Marshall’s willingness to talk about voter issues. Take, for instance, the case of John Wahl, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. After the Alabama secretary of state…

Political Wire: “Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) said “he will not run for reelection — ending months of questions about his political future after redistricting scrambled Louisiana’s congressional map,” Politico reports. “The decision comes as Graves, a close ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, was staring down two difficult choices: He could either have run in his radically…

WaPo: “Almost 200 House Republicans voted Thursday to reinstall a Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. All of the House GOP leadership, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), voted for the measure. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) — a Black conservative and Donald Trump surrogate who took heat this month for seeming to praise…

Political Wire: “Whether Virginia backs Donald Trump or Joe Biden shouldn’t even be a discussion,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The state hasn’t backed a Republican for president since George W. Bush in 2004.” “But early polls showing Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, cutting into the Democratic president’s lead have served as a wake-up call for Virginia…

WaPo: “Fulton County prosecutors asked a Georgia appellate court to dismiss Donald Trump’s appeal of a state court ruling allowing District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) to continue prosecuting the 2020 election interference case against the former president and several of his allies. … The court had tentatively scheduled oral arguments for early October but postponed them…

Politico: “The Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest and most politically powerful Protestant denomination, voted Wednesday to oppose in vitro fertilization. The move may signal the beginning of a broad turn on the right against IVF, an issue that many evangelicals, anti-abortion advocates and other social conservatives see as the “pro-life” movement’s next frontier —…

NY Times: “Key parts of a Florida law that bans gender transition care for minors and imposes hurdles on adults seeking such care are unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. Judge Robert L. Hinkle of Federal District Court in Tallahassee sided with advocacy groups and three families who had said that the law stripped…

Daily Mail: “There has been vast reporting on Robinson entertaining conspiracy theories but this is believed to be the first audio of him discussing conspiracies about Pearl Harbor and Patton.  Robinson can be heard saying ‘you know, I’m not prepared to say our government intentionally set Pearl Harbor up. I know there’s a lot of…