Good Wednesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

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• Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican who had to apologize for a cavalier reference to a public hanging, won a special runoff election on Tuesday, defeating the Democratic nominee, Mike Espy, who was trying to become the state’s first black senator since Reconstruction. Read the story.

• In a highly unusual arrangement, President Trump’s lawyers are said to have been briefed on what his onetime campaign chairman Paul Manafort told investigators, inflaming tensions with Robert Mueller, the special counsel. Some legal experts speculated that it was a bid by Mr. Manafort for a presidential pardon.

• A day after the revelation that Mr. Manafort violated his plea deal by repeatedly lying to investigators, Mr. Trump lobbed accusations at the Mueller inquiry, calling it a “Phony Witch Hunt.” Read about his Twitter comments.