New York Magazine and writer Olivia Nuzzi have parted ways after she was placed on leave last month following reports that she had a personal relationship with former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.
The big picture: N.Y. Mag said Monday that a law firm reached the same conclusion as the magazine's "initial internal review of her published work, finding no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias" following the allegations.
Legal experts aresounding off on tech billionaireElon Musk's million-dollar giveaways to voters in Pennsylvania.
Why it matters: Musk, the world's richest man, has pledged to give $1 million each day to registered voters in battleground states who sign a petition launched by his pro-Trump political action committee supporting free speech and the right to own firearms.
The big picture: Trump's campaign and the GOP have been working to distance the former president from scandal-embroiled Robinson, with North Carolina being a must-win state for the party in the 2024 presidential race.
Senate Democrats are now defending four seats in "toss-up" races after Cook Political Report added the Pennsylvania Senate race to the pile.
Why it matters: 2024 is a nasty map for Senate Democrats, who can't afford to lose a single seat if they want to keep their majority. Pennsylvania is also arguably the most important 2024 presidential swing seat.
Five men wrongfully convicted in the "Central Park Five" case sued former President Trump for defamation Monday over comments he made during the Sept. 10 presidential debate.
Why it matters: Trump has falsely maintained for decades the five men were guilty despite their exoneration, and during the debate he claimed the men had pled guilty to raping and assaulting a jogger and that they killed the victim, none of which was correct.
The Social Security trust fund is on track to run out of money in a decade — but that day would come three years earlier if several of former President Trump's proposed policies are enacted, according to new analysis from a fiscal watchdog group.
The big picture: Under current law, the trust fund is set to be depleted in 2034, triggering automatic benefit cuts absent Congressional action. Trump's policies would move that day of reckoning to 2031, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget finds.
Former President Trump's longtime fixer Michael Cohen lost a last ditch bid Monday to revive a lawsuit claiming his former boss sent him back to prison as retaliation after the Supreme Court passed on the case.
Why it matters: The Supreme Court rejection means Trump dodges yet another legal pitfall during a tight election year.
A bipartisan House task force investigating the first assassination attempt against former President Trump released an interim report Monday detailing the "stunning security failures" that preceded the July shooting.
Why it matters: The task force's damning assessment is based on thousands of pages of documentation, interviews with roughly two dozen state and local law enforcement officials, and briefings from the Secret Service and FBI.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is known for his stoic public face. But in private, he cried tears of joy when he broke a record he long chased: Longest-serving Senate party leader.
Why it matters: McConnell's teary moment is one of several revealing scenes unearthed by Michael Tackett in his new McConnell biography. "The Price of Power," out later this month (just before election day).
Health insurers would be required to cover over-the-counter birth control and additional FDA-approved contraceptiveswithout cost-sharing under a proposal the Biden administration unveiled on Monday.
Why it matters: The effort is aimed at keeping a focus on reproductive health in the final weeks before the election while expanding the Affordable Care Act's mandate that insurers cover at least one form of each FDA-approved contraception method at no cost.
Nearly one in five Republicans say that if Donald Trump loses the 2024 election, he should declare the results invalid and do whatever it takes to assume office, according to a new national survey.
Why it matters: The growing number of Republicans willing to shun democratic norms — and possibly embrace violence — comes as Trump continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen from him and is saying the 2024 election is already rigged.
Judges in some of the nation's most important election battlegrounds have rejected a string of last-minute efforts by conservative and Trump-aligned groups to impose new voting rules ahead of Election Day.
Why it matters: Even as courts have shot down several of these challenges, election law experts are warning that the rejections could be used to promote conspiracy theories and misinformation about what polls suggest will be a very close presidential election.
Groups trying to elect pro-crypto candidates to Congress areset to spend $21 million more on ads to boost Republicans than they'll spend on Democrats in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The crypto industry is proving to be a new, formidable force in this year's elections, dropping tens of millions of dollars on races that could decide which party will control Congress.
Israel gave the U.S. a document last week with its conditions for a diplomatic solution to end the war in Lebanon and allow displaced civilians from both sides of the border to return to their homes, two U.S. officials and two Israeli officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The Israeli Prime Minister's Office gave the paper to the White House ahead of President Biden's envoy Amos Hochstein's visit to Beirut on Monday to discuss a diplomatic solution to the conflict, Israeli officials said.
