First there was Robert Mueller. Then there was Anthony Fauci. Now some Democrats have begun to embrace a new folk hero and Trump foe: special counsel Jack Smith.
The big picture: Some e-commerce shops are filling up with Smith-themed merchandise — T-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers, and even a baby blanket —celebrating the prosecutor who's pressing the federal charges against former President Trump in the classified documents case.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a large portion of Indiana's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, which was set to take effect July 1.
Why it matters: Indiana is now among a handful of states — including Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri and Florida — where gender-affirming care bans have been halted by the courts.
The gunman who killed 11 people and injured 6 others during a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 was found guilty of 63 criminal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death, by a Pennsylvania jury on Friday, AP reports.
The big picture: The shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue marked the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history, and Friday's verdict brings the harrowing case closer to a close.
Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, was in Little Rock on Friday for a deposition in his paternity case with Lunden Roberts of Batesville, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. The two have a 4-year-old daughter together.
Driving the news: Hunter Biden is advocating for a reduction in the previously agreed-upon $20,000-per-month child support payments and is opposed to Roberts' desire to change the girl's last name to Biden.
Former President Barack Obama called out how some Republicans of color downplay racial inequality, specifically naming 2024 presidential hopefuls Tim Scott and Nikki Haley.
Why it matters: Obama, the first and only U.S. Black president, has not weighed much into the 2024 political fray as of yet — and said there was "a long history" of Black or minority Republicans downplaying racial discrimination in the U.S.
A two-year investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that the Minneapolis Police Department has engaged in a pattern of unlawful racial discrimination and excessive force, violating residents' constitutional and civil rights, federal officials announced Friday.
Why it matters: The findings will likely lead to another court-enforced agreement to bring sweeping changes to the embattled department, three years after George Floyd's murder set off global protests over race and policing.
The drug company founded by and formerly led by anti-ESG and DEI crusader Vivek Ramaswamy has a nonprofit arm whose official mission now includes increasing the racial and gender diversity of pharma industry leadership.
Why it matters: Ramaswamy, a longshot 2024 GOP presidential candidate, is best known for arguing that ESG and DEI run counter to fiduciary duty and can have undue influence on cultural change.
New York Times congressional reporters Annie Karni and Luke Broadwater will be out in 2025 with "a rollicking, unvarnished, and deeply sourced account of life inside the Republican Party focusing on the GOP-led 118th Congress."
Why it matters: The book will be a "fast-paced insider's account of how Washington works today," according to Penguin Random House, the publisher.
President Biden will use a Philadelphia address to union supporters on Saturday to make the economic case for his re-election, according to people familiar with his plans.
Why it matters: Biden is presiding over a healthy — if somewhat confounding — Timex economy: It just keeps ticking.
Before there were white cowboys in the American West, there were Latino vaqueros, Indigenous cattle handlers and Black cowboys.
Why it matters: That history, often forgotten in tales of the nation's frontier, is what photographer Ivan McClellan has honored by documenting Black cowboys and cowgirls for nearly a decade — and why he organized a Juneteenth rodeo in Portland, Ore., on Saturday.
