President Biden can get a little more candid while speaking at fundraisers, and today’s in Park City was no exception.

Here are some example. When talking about the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden admitted “I wish I hadn’t called it that because it has less to do with reducing inflation than it has to do with providing alternatives that generate economic growth.”

The ramp down to the Door of No Return at Cape Coast Castle Let me tell you a little bit about our tour with Vice President Harris today at Cape Coast Castle.

Near the Door of No Return, Harris walked into the dungeon that once held enslaved women, carrying a bouquet of white flowers that she had been gifted earlier.

Speaker Pelosi, one of the masters of the inside game, says at the White House that "inside maneuvering only takes us so far" when it comes to civil rights.

Thanking advocates for gay marriage, she credits their "impatience, persistence and your patriotism." Senate Leader Schumer spoke before Pelosi, says he's wearing the same purple tie that he wore to his daughter's wedding. She and her wife are expecting their first child.

"I want them to raise their child with all the love and security that ever kid deserves."

The Justice Department's redacted explanation for why information on witnesses needs to remain redacted. "In short, the government has well-founded concerns that steps may be taken to frustrate or
otherwise interfere with this investigation if facts in the affidavit were prematurely disclosed."

President Biden in Buffalo —

“In America, evil will not win, I promise you. Hate will not prevail. And white supremacy will not have the last word.” Biden describes the attack as “domestic terrorism,” and says racist ideas have been spread in the media and by politicians.

COVID-19 has entered the White House in a potentially significant way.

Doug Emhoff tested positive earlier today. Vice President Harris skipping this equal pay event that is about to start. She was with President Biden earlier for bill signing. Harris has tested negative so far. Biden last tested negative on Sunday, according to the White House.

President Biden has begun one of the most important speeches of his administration so far, talking about Russia’s “brutal attack” on Ukraine "It's unfolding largely as we predicted," Biden says.

There's "staged political theater," cyberattacks, "flagrant violations of international law."

Sen. Reed is kicking off the Senate Armed Services hearing this morning.

"While there is a temptation to close the book on Afghanistan . . . we must capture the lessons of the last two decades." Sen. Inhofe (R) criticizes President Biden's handling of Afghanistan withdrawal in his opening statement.

"He failed to anticipate what all of us knew would happen. So in August, we all witnessed the horror of the president's own making."

Killer @latimes front page on the California recall results The big lead story from @philwillon @TarynLuna @sherlyholmes, with this notable quote from Larry Elder, who has pushed bogus fraud claims — “Let’s be gracious in defeat.” latimes.com/california/sto…

The CDC briefing on masking for vaccinated people has begun. Dr. Walensky is kicking it off.

"Today we have new science related to the Delta variant that requires us to update the guidance." Dr. Walensky says vaccines provide good protection but the Delta variant acts differently than previous versions of the virus. It's possible for vaccinated people to become contagious, she says.

"This new science is worrisome."

Thomas Barrack has been charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent to advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates, the Justice Department just announced. The allegations cover the period between April 2016 and April 2018, during which time Barrack was raising money for Trump's presidential campaign and chairing his inaugural committee.

Ok, so former President Trump just released another statement attacking Gen. Milley, and it's worth unpacking a little. Trump says, "Never once did I have a discussion with him about bringing in the Military, or a 'coup,' which makes sense, because I lost total confidence in him and the way he handled himself on our little walk to the church."

The bottom line here is that a lab accident remains a theory under active consideration by U.S. intelligence

https://twitter.com/edokeefe/status/1397597742092926978

It's important that people are clear about what the lab accident theory entails.

This isn't a suggestion that COVID-19 is a bioweapon or artificially engineered.

It could have developed naturally, then isolated and studied in the Wuhan lab, and then escaped from there.

President Trump is silent about the daily tragedy of COVID-19, but families who lost loved ones are turning their obituaries into pleas for others to take the virus seriously latimes.com/world-nation/s… You might have read the viral obituary that Courtney Farr wrote for his father, Marvin. It’s part of a growing genre of writing rooted in private grief over a public health catastrophe latimes.com/world-nation/s…

The issue with Sidney Powell may be as simple as Georgia — at the same time Republicans are desperately trying to hold onto two Senate seats there, she’s suggesting the state’s top Republicans are part of an election rigging conspiracy. I mean, she even suggested that Doug Collins was the rightful winner of the election, not Kelly Loeffler.

Republicans need their voters to turn out for Loeffler, not get sucked into a baseless conspiracy theory about communist vote changing software.

This is the case that Rudy Giuliani personably argued in court. As I wrote at the time, it didn’t go well latimes.com/politics/story…

https://twitter.com/chrisgeidner/status/1330293386792857601

The judge’s decision eviscerates the Trump campaign’s arguments. @bradheath dissects it well in this thread

https://twitter.com/bradheath/status/1330290542375292930

President Trump takes the podium, says he'll be making the "biggest ever" announcement about prescription drug pricing. When talking about his new regulation on prescription drugs, President Trump says, "I just hope they keep it. I hope they have the courage to keep it."

Who is "they?" Maybe the next administration?

I noticed something strange on Twitter this morning, so I started poking around. Here’s what I found. It started with this tweet from the president, thanking his older sister for publicly supporting him.

A rare event — Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx are at the White House coronavirus briefing. Scott Atlas is not.

Vice President Pence is starting at the podium. President Trump isn't here. Pence says there are "cases and hospitalizations rising across the country."

It's newsworthy whenever reality is acknowledged from behind the White House podium.

The gang is all there There is no news at this news conference at this point. The only new — and baseless — allegation that I've heard so far is that there was a centralized plan to perpetuate voter fraud in Democratic-run cities.

"There are 3,999 participants on this call, including you."

Time for the federal court hearing with Rudy Giuliani. "Rudolph W. Giuliani, I represent the plaintiffs in this case."