Top of the Fold

• Treason? General Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, allegedly undermined Trump White House with secret calls, promising to alert China of potential U.S. attacks (The Federalist) | Top Republicans call for Milley’s ouster (Washington Times)

• Antony Blinken says most Afghan evacuees weren’t vetted before airlift (Washington Times) | Friendly fire: Senate Democrats threaten subpoena after Pentagon chief refuses to appear at Afghanistan hearing (Washington Times)

• Governor Gavin Newsom survives recall as Larry Elder peaked too early (National Review)

Politics

• House Democrats break Joe Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on individuals making less than $400K (Washington Times)

• Congressional Research Service raises questions about OSHA vaccine mandate's legality (Daily Wire) | Arizona becomes first state to challenge constitutionality of the vaccine mandate (Daily Signal)

• “Breach of trust”: Secret Facebook program exempted celebrities and VIPs from moderation policies (Daily Wire)

Security

• Intelligence experts say Al-Qaeda could reform in Afghanistan in “one to two years” (Daily Wire) | Top U.S. general in Afghanistan told chain of command he disagreed with withdrawal (Washington Times)

• What could possibly go wrong? DOJ allows former intel/military members who hacked for foreign country to pay to escape prosecution (Daily Wire)

• China following Russian model with large-scale buildup of nuclear force (Washington Times)

• “Absolutely outrageous”: North Korea fires two ballistic missiles toward Japan (Fox News)

Economy

• The August inflation report is inconclusive (National Review)

• Big Meat hits back at Biden administration for blaming inflation on industry (Fox Business)

Culture

• Pro-life group Live Action says Google oligarchs banned its ads (Daily Caller)

• Judge blocks Texas Right for Life from enforcing new law (Axios)

• Facebook knows Instagram is toxic to teens, leaked documents reveal (Morning Brew)

Notables

• Baby of fallen Wyoming Marine Rylee McCollum is born (KGAB)

• Washington University student leader desecrates memorial to 9/11 victims (Free Beacon)

• No sports, no clubs, no talking during lunch, and other “joys” of COVID schooling (New York Post)

• Surveys show 3.2 million estimated first-time gun buyers in first half of 2021 (NSSF)

• A comedy legend: Remembering Norm Macdonald (City Journal)

Closing Arguments

• Policy: Repealing the SALT cap: State-by-state impact (AEI)

• Policy: The defense budget through administrations (AEI)

• Humor: Trump wows Met Gala crowd in “Rigged Election” dress (Babylon Bee)