A Wyoming man has given more than $1.5 million to help defend Arizona's controversial immigration enforcement measure in court, Gov. Jan Brewer's office said Thursday.

Louisiana Democrats are seizing on Sen. David Vitter's role in a 2007 prostitution scandal for a new campaign attack ad that seeks to cut into the Louisiana Republican's commanding lead over his election opponents.

The unemployment rate rose in August for the first time in four months as more people entered the job market looking for work and struggled to find openings. 

A key financial backer of the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero once contributed to a U.S.-designated terror group, MyFox New York reports. 

Gov. Jan Brewer says she didn't do as well as she wanted in her televised debate with challenger Terry Goddard.

While James Jay Lee was holding three hostage at the Discovery Channel's headquarters, his image was broadcast to the world, catching the eye of an anti-abortion group that says it crossed once paths with him

Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said Thursday an Islamic community center and mosque planned near ground zero should be built because Muslims were among those of many faiths who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A long-shot Senate candidate who claims Tea Party support was indicted on a sex charge this week, an accusation he calls "politically motivated." 

As the Treasury Department considers a tax policy change that would allow trial lawyers to deduct their litigation expenses in contingency-fee cases, the American Medical Association and 90 medical organizations are urging Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to drop the proposal like a bad habit.

Middle East peace talks got under way Thursday for the first time in nearly two years with a violent reminder sent by the Palestinian terror group Hamas that it will try to torpedo any agreement struck in Washington between Israelis and the Palestinian Authority. 

A new website sponsored by the NAACP and left-leaning media operations is seeking videographers and bloggers who will search out "racism" and "extremism" among Tea Partiers.

Federal prisons are failing to notify crime victims and witnesses when inmates are allowed to travel by themselves for medical treatment, the Justice Department inspector general said Thursday.

Failed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene sued the St. Petersburg Times and The Miami Herald on Wednesday, claiming they published knowingly false articles timed to damage his chances of winning.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott named Jacksonville state Rep. Jennifer Carroll as his running mate Thursday. 

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Thursday the Justice Department "sandbagged" him with the lawsuit it filed earlier in the day against him.

Sen. Barbara Boxer and Republican challenger Carly Fiorina exchanged feisty jabs on taxes, the economy and their records in Congress and corporate America during the first debate in their Senate race. 

A new study from the Pew Hispanic Center found that the number of illegal immigrants in the United States dropped significantly for the first time in two decades -- but the population out of Mexico has held steady since reaching its peak in 2007. 

Orders to U.S. factories managed a slight gain in July as a surge in demand for commercial aircraft helped offset widespread weakness in other areas. 

Imprisoned former Illinois Gov. George Ryan is seeking to have elements of his conviction thrown out based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that sharply curtailed an anti-fraud law employed by prosecutors nationwide to convict politicians and executives. 

Defense Secretary Robert Gates touched down in Kabul Thursday, in a surprise visit to Afghanistan for a lightning round of strategy sessions with top commanders and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.