The Justice Department is busy staffing up as part of its investigation of Donald Trump’s role in the January 6 riots at the US Capitol.

The DOJ has reportedly recruited JP Cooney, an experienced public corruption prosecutor, to join the effort, reports Insider.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the investigation is broadest and most important in Justice Department history.

“People in the Justice Department are committed to this. They are working 24/7 on this,” he said last week.

There are more than 800 separate cases linked to January 6, according to officials.

If you want a bizarro understanding of US politics, Russian state TV is a decent place to start.

During an episode of The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov on Thursday, gust Yaakov Kedmi argued Russia has been so succesful getting the world to support its invasion of Ukraine that Vladimir Putin could run for president in the US and win support.

“It was said that [the West] is winning a propaganda war, but I’m not so sure about that. Look at any country in Europe. Look at France: who is more popular—Macron or Putin?” he said, adding, “In who do they trust? If tomorrow Putin announced his candidacy for the president of the United States, who in the U.S. could compete with him in popularity?”

“And Trump would become his Vice President,” added another panelist, foreign policy analyst Alexander Kamkin.

More details about the strange comparison via The Daily Beast.

If Joe Biden had reason to celebrate Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer’s deal on a climate and healthcare on Wednesday, he got a reality check on Thursday with the news that the US economy contracted by 0.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2022. This, after a first quarter in which it shrank by 1.4 per cent.

Typically, two consecutive quarters of negative growth signals a recession. But as my colleague Oliver O’Connell has explained, extra data shows it isn’t quite that simple. The US boasts a robust labor market, and the announcement of negative growth came just after the Federal Reserve announced another 0.75 per cent interest rate hike meant to tamp down inflation – which is now at a 40-year high, with prices jumping 9.1 per cent in 12 months.

Eric Garcia has more analysis from Washington.

The January 6 committee in Congress spoke with former White House acting chief of staff MickMulvaney on Thursday.

It reportedly reviewed a text he sent to Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel about the “sinking feeling” that the Trump campaign was making innaccurate claims about the 2020 election.

“I’m getting this sinking feeling that everyone other than me thinks we have lost this election,” he told her after the election.

“I am out there telling everyone we haven’t. If people know something I do not, I would appreciate it if you would let me know. It is better for me not to do TV, and to keep my mouth shut, than to do TV and say we have a chance when the people in the know know that we do not.”

One of the key questions of the January 6 inquiry is what the president and his top advisers knew, and when.

Multiple top Trump officials have testified before the committee that the president knew his election claims were false, but persisted in making them anyway.

More criticism is coming against Donald Trump for hosting a stop of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course on Thursday.

Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason took issue with the contest, arguing it’s disrespectful to those who lost loved ones in 9/11. Many of the hijackers were Saudi.

“That is the ultimate insult to the families that are sitting here going, ‘what are we doing? We’re hosting a Saudi Arabian golf tournament with the Public Investment Fund from the government of Saudi Arabia at Trump Bedminster, right in the shadow of where these two buildings once stood?’ That’s what we’re doing here?” Mr Esiason said on Boomer and Gio, his morning radio show on WFAN.

Donald Trump’s red MAGA hats earned $80,000 per day for his 2016 presidential election campaign, Jared Kushner writes in his upcoming memoir.

The former president’s son-in-law writes that Mr Trump’s aides only ordered 100 of the hats to begin with before they became a hit with his supporters on the campaign trail.

Mr Kushner writes in Breaking History, which is due out next month, that they ended up selling enough hats to cover most of the campaign’s daily expenses.

He states that he first noticed the red hats in an office at Trump Tower in 2015.

Graeme Massie has more.

The veteran Secret Service agent who was handpicked to lead the agency by former president Donald Trump will put off taking his pension and decamping for a corporate security position while the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog considers whether agents committed criminal violations of federal record-keeping laws.

In an internal memo, Secret Service DirectorJames Murray said he would “briefly delay” his retirement, which had been announced earlier this month, to “help bridge the gap and foster a smooth and meaningful transition for our future director”.

Mr Murray said his decision to remain on post rather than turn in his badge on 31 July as planned was approved by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and the White House.

“I feel strongly about using this time to oversee and ensure our agency’s continued cooperation, responsiveness, and full support with respect to ongoing congressional and other inquiries,” he said in the message distributed to all Secret Service personnel. “Doing so is critically important and I am especially grateful for the extra time to help lead our Service ever forward.”

Andrew Feinberg has more.

A new poll shows that Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman holds a commanding lead against Republican physician and former television host Dr Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s Senate race.

The Fox News survey shows that 47 per cent of voters support Mr Fetterman, compared to 36 per cent of voters who support Dr Oz, while 11 per cent of voters are undecided.

The two candidates also have a wide enthusiasm gap, as 68 per cent of Mr Fetterman’s backers support him “enthusiastically” while 35 per cent of Dr Oz’s supporters do the same – but 45 per cent do so with some reservations. This comes despite the fact that former President Donald Trump endorsed Dr Oz toward the end of the primary.

Eric Garcia has the story.

The families of 9/11 victims have slammed Donald Trump and LIV golfers as “cowards” for failing to admit they are solely taking part in a Saudi-funded tournament for the money.

Dozens of members of the 9/11 Justice group protested the start of the cash-rich LIV tournament that started at Trump Bedminster National Golf Course in New Jersey on Friday, just 50 miles from Ground Zero.

Brett Eagleson, whose father John died in the attack on the World Trade Center, told reporters that his attempts to appeal directly to golfers had been ignored.

“When I think about (my father) and I hear thousands of other stories about true heroes that day and I see these golfers dodge questions, put their head in the sand. Not want to ... address our issues and just say ‘golf is for the greater good’ or ‘I’m doing this for my family’. Well my dad went to work that day to provide for his family and he got blown away.

Bevan Hurley has more on the controversy.

The House Jan. 6 committee will share 20 of its interview transcripts with the Justice Department as federal prosecutors have been increasingly focused on efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the election.

A committee aide said that the panel will share the 20 transcripts but has “no plans to share additional transcripts at this time.” The person, who requested anonymity to discuss the confidential transaction, would not say which interviews the committee is sharing.

The information sharing comes after the committee had rejected a Justice Department request for transcripts in May. At the time, the committee’s chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, had said it was “premature” for the committee to share its work because the panel’s probe is ongoing.

More details here.