Like Maria Said Paz

Saturday, September 26, 2026

Junior's grift

Sydney Lupkin (NPR) reports Secretary of Health and Human Services Junior's recent ethics filing:

The two book advances were for $2 million apiece from Skyhorse Publishing, which has also published other books Kennedy wrote and also paid him $451,000 in consulting fees the year before he became HHS secretary.

One of the books in the works will be called Unsettled Science. The title is a twist on the term "settled science," often used to describe the evidence for vaccine safety.

Kennedy also received free flights to and from Fiji and Greece and the use of a vacation home in Washington, D.C. Their value totaled more than a quarter of a million dollars, according to the financial disclosure.

Those gifts were from Gavin de Becker, a celebrity security adviser who also wrote a book published by Skyhorse Publishing called Forbidden Facts. It alleges government suppression of information about brain damage from childhood vaccines.

The Kennedy disclosures are unusual, says Virginia Canter at Democracy Defenders Fund, a nonprofit that is focused on fighting corruption and protecting elections. "Those are large amounts of money for a government's public servant to receive while he is in office," she says.

In fact, the gifts and book advances are so large, that she had questions about whether they represent a "supplementation of salary" — something that's prohibited.

She says she would have expected to see the advances when Kennedy filed his initial report during the nomination and confirmation process in 2025. She says it was unusual to see them paid out during Kennedy's time as HHS secretary. "There are strict prohibitions on government officials, particularly those who serve as presidential appointees confirmed by the Senate, [and] the acceptance of what we call 'outside earned income.'"

As for the gifts from de Becker, Canter says, "I would really want to know more about the nature of their friendship. In other words, if it's a gift … based on a personal relationship, is he giving these gifts to all of his friends or is it just Mr. Kennedy?"

Christina Jewett and Sheryl Gay Stolberg (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

Ethics experts said the financial relationships may violate federal rules barring officials from profiting from their government position, and call into question the secretary’s ability to remain independent and impartial.

The advances were for two books that will be published by a company owned by Tony Lyons, a longtime friend and business associate of Mr. Kennedy who also sits atop a constellation of MAHA-related entities, including some that accept political contributions and corporate sponsorships from health-related companies.

Cheryl Hines, Mr. Kennedy’s wife, accepted $210,000 in consulting fees from MAHA Action, a nonprofit advocacy group also led by Mr. Lyons. It rallies supporters of Mr. Kennedy’s priorities on weekly broadcasts and backs health-related legislation, including a federal bill to end liability protection for vaccine makers.

In an ethics filing before taking office, Mr. Kennedy pledged not to “engage in any writing, editing or promotional activities” associated with the books, but did not promise to forgo advances.

Ethics experts said the payments related to one book called “Unsettled Science” raised questions since federal rules say that an official may not “receive compensation from any source other than the government” for writing a book related to his official duties while in office. (The other book is called “A Defense of Israel.”)

Additionally, the consulting fees to Ms. Hines from a group aligned with Mr. Kennedy’s priorities “reeks of conflict of interest,” and could appear to be a bribe, said Richard Painter, a White House ethics counsel under President George W. Bush.

“You have a situation like this,” he said, “it just looks horrible.”

Junior is such a disappointment. He's brought dishonor to the family name. He is just a creepy little con artist.

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Friday, September 25, 2026. Chump's swirling in the toilet along with his low approval rating, Bank of America warns more inflation for groceries may be coming in the next six months, Markwayne Mullin needs to get his department in order, and much more.

As Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes Chump's poll numbers are, like him, in the toilet.

Aparajita Chatterjee (THE STREET) reports:

Food-at-home prices were unchanged in August from July but remained 2.2% higher than a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But:

Overall food prices increased 2.7%.

Electricity prices were up 3.8%

Utility-piped natural gas rose 4.4%

Gasoline climbed 27.4% from a year earlier.

Those pressures are showing up in consumer behavior.

Seventy-five percent of Americans surveyed by Algolia said they were stressed about their grocery bills, up from 73% a year earlier.

Forty-two percent said they had switched to private-label products to save money, while 36% replaced their favorite brands with cheaper alternatives.

Another 41% cut back on premium meat or seafood, and 39% bought fewer nonessential foods such as snacks and treats.

Now, shoppers may have another reason to watch supermarket prices closely.

Bank of America estimates that food-at-home inflation could accelerate to between 7% and 8% over the next six months as higher fuel, wage, and commodity costs work their way through the food supply chain.

That would represent a sharp increase from today’s 2.2% rate.

Repeating: Bank of America estimates that food-at-home inflation could accelerate to between 7% and 8% over the next six months. And Chump famously loved "I love inflation" back on -- Americans? They really don't love inflation. And as it continues, they hate it. As there's a possibility that it could increase even more over the next six months? Chump will go down as the worst president ever and the most hated.

He brought it all on himself. He was handed a recovering economy. In his first four year term, Chump presided over 8% inflation. Then came the pandemic and Joe Biden was elected. Joe got the economy under control. We were the envy of the world as 2024 drew to a close for our economic recovery. Then Chump came in with his tariffs. Tariffs are a tax. A tax on the one purchasing. Chump wanted to lie about this. It's a basic, it's a fundamental. Lawrence O'Donnell and Stephanie Ruhle explained this over and over on what is now MS NOW ahead of the election and after. But Chump's an idiot. The tariffs immediately screwed up the economy. His war on immigrants screwed up the economy as well. Some don't understand that. Eateries targeted for their customer base are impacted. Any place that deals in customer service was impacted because some employees did not want to go to work because it wasn't safe for them. The housing industry? Construction sites depend upon workers. Texas isn't the only state that workers weren't showing in because they were worried they'd be hauled off. Immigrants make up as much as 35% of housing construction workers in the US. Chump's programs have resulted in increases in the prices of homes. In addition, his war on immigrants has given the US a black eye on the global stage and people aren't coming to the US as part of the tourism industry in the numbers that they were before Chump got back in office. Las Vegas, for example, saw a 7.5% drop in tourism. Tourism is airlines, it's rent a cars, it's restaurants, it's hotels and motels, it's gift shops. It is huge and some cities economies depend a great deal upon tourism -- foreign travelers coming to the US. Chump's war on immigrants is ugly and vile and people don't want to deal with it so they're choosing to go places other than the US. And then there's the third big factor in Chump's destruction of the economy: His war of choice with Iran.

Chump will be remembered for destroying this economy.

As a result of all of this, Chump's polling is in the toilet. And now Congressional Republicans running for re-election are very scared.

Josh Marshall (TALKING POINTS MEMO) observes:

We don’t know what’s going to happen in the midterms. But we know for a fact that today you can watch the hilarity of the collapse of so many of Trump’s plans and cheap, or corrupt, midterms gambits. Even the inside D.C. sheets can sense the energy. Here’s a piece — Trump officials weigh rolling back beef import plan as GOP midterm panic spreads. A picture of an angst-ridden, wayward Trump adorns the article. This is the plan Trump rolled out last month to institute a 90-day import bonanza of foreign beef that was apparently some kind of sweetheart deal with a Brazilian beef lord named Joesley Batista. The Wall Street Journal has a good story on that part of the tale. Here’s a New York Times op-ed questioning the safety of what was first called Trump’s mystery meat. In any case, the point was to engineer an extremely short-lived drop in the price of hamburgers. But it drove beef producers — an extremely GOP constituency — crazy since, of course, the whole point was to lower the price of the product ahead of the midterms. Now they’re getting so desperate at the White House they’re apparently considering scrapping the whole plan, with, I guess, a sort of mass deportation of beef.

[. . .]

Meanwhile, you’ve got Trump making headlines about compiling new lists of Washington buildings and institutions to rename after himself, including Ford’s Theater, which may have a more ambiguous meaning than he realizes. At a basic level he can’t help broadcasting what people may not care about that much in itself — his silly schlock building projects and renaming efforts — but which tells them at high volume that doing the actual job of president or caring about top public concerns is the furthest thing from his mind.

Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) notes a post-midterm phase that would be highly uncomfortable for Chump:

If Republicans suffer massive losses in the midterms, which are just six weeks away, Donald Trump may find himself outside his party looking in.

According to former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), GOP lawmakers are getting tired of election losses during his second term and a midterm blow-out could be the last straw.

The former New Jersey governor told Politico Playbook that Trump-skeptical Republicans are already looking past Nov. 3. Calling in from New Hampshire, Christie warned that "for the first time in 15 years, we could be in a position to lose a majority of the governorships" — a stark reversal from when he chaired the Republican Governors Association and the party controlled 31 of 50 statehouses.

"I think there's a scenario where Republicans wake up in the week or two after Election Day and say, 'We're just tired of losing,'" Christie told Playbook.

This as Benjamin S. Weiss (HUFFINGTON POST) reports on another poll finding Chump has run off young male voters:

Republicans have all but erased their gains among young men from the 2024 election, according to a new poll released by a GOP-aligned firm.

The data, published by Cygnal and unveiled at the Symposium on Young American Men in Washington, showed Democratic candidates with a commanding lead over Republicans among young men ages 18-30 who are highly likely to vote in the midterm elections.

“Not great news for Republicans,” Cygnal principal and pollster Alex Tarascio said during the event.

According to the Cygnal survey of 800 young men, respondents who said they were determined to vote in the midterms preferred Democratic candidates around 57% of the time — a striking 17-point lead over Republicans. Notably, that margin reversed among men surveyed who said they were unlikely to turn out in November, with roughly 39% of respondents saying they’d back a Republican candidate.

Dan Froomkin (SALON) offers some advice for what could happen after the midterms:

Imagine, instead, a Democratic leadership with a to-do list in one hand — starting with a compelling affordability agenda — and a how-to list in the other hand, something like this:

No more cowering from veto threats. Democrats should dare Trump to veto popular legislation and make him own the consequences if he does.

Demand major concessions from Trump in return for passing a new debt limit and a defense spending bill, and shut down the government if necessary.

Drive a wedge between Republican legislators and their increasingly unpopular and irrational leader.

No more protecting “centrist” Democrats from tough votes.

Tell the lobbyists to take a hike.

Impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for malfeasance.

Impeach Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought for violating congressional spending directives.

Order the Capitol Police to arrest and jail administration officials if they refuse to honor congressional subpoenas.

Democrats in leadership and on the campaign trail talk a lot about their lofty legislative goals. But some of those goals are unattainable as long as Trump has the veto — and even more so if Republicans keep the Senate. Democrats need to be thinking and talking about what they can practically achieve — and how. And they need to have a battle plan so they can hit the ground running in January.

I raised questions about how they could do that in a Sept. 2 op-ed for MS NOW. As part of my hunt for answers, I turned to some wise left-leaning Washington veterans for their thoughts.

“This is going to be really tricky business,” Norman Ornstein, the longtime congressional analyst, told me.

“It would require a wholesale change in the DNA of House and Senate Democrats,” said Jim Manley, a political strategist who spent more than 20 years working in the Senate, including six years as spokesman for then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Triumphant congressional Democrats “are going to be feeling feisty, they’re going to feel vindicated, and they’re going to feel like fighting like hell,” said Robert Kuttner, who co-founded the Economic Policy Institute and the American Prospect.

“If they aren’t assertive,” Ornstein warned, “they may not hold their majority for very long.”

Each of these experts, with decades of experience between them, all agreed that whether Democrats control one of both chambers, they need to pass lots of popular bills and make it painful for Trump and Republicans to oppose them. If the legislation becomes law, it’s a huge victory. If it’s blocked, the public will know who to blame.

Turning to immigration, Richard Luscombe (GUARDIAN) reports that Sunday saw another death:

Leading Democrats and immigration advocates in Michigan are demanding transparency from federal authorities after a man died in a fiery car crash as he attempted to avoid agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Mario David Coronado Juarez, a Guatemalan national, was killed on Sunday in Grand Rapids when his vehicle struck a tree at high speed and burst into flames shortly after the ICE officers tried to conduct a traffic stop.

Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic Michigan governor, said she had ordered a review of the Grand Rapids incident.

Joseph Trigg, chief of the Grand Rapids police department, asked the Michigan state police (MSP) to join the investigation, noting in a statement that his own traffic detectives had been “limited in their ability” to obtain information from federal agencies.

That death took place Sunday -- the same day that saw ICE in Austin shoot Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez and that left a man in Evanston, Illinois -- a US citizen -- battered and laying in the street. On the attack in Evanston, Nicolai Haugsted (DAGENS) reports:

Video from the confrontation shows the man on the ground repeatedly insisting that he is an American citizen before the agents eventually release him and drive away. Local police are investigating.

[. . .]

“I’m a f—ing US citizen,” the man can be heard shouting while being restrained.

Moments later, the agents release him. Video then shows them getting into their vehicles and leaving while the man remains face down on the street and bystanders gather around him.

Witness Miguel Angel Olivares told NBC Chicago that the amount of force immediately concerned him.

“They were using very rough force on him, and it looked like they really did hurt him. I did want to go over there and tell them to leave him alone, but at the same time, me being Hispanic, I was kind scared that they don’t know I’m a U.S. citizen,” Olivares said.

[. . .]

Officers found the man on the ground with several people helping him and requested an ambulance after he complained of injuries to his head, neck and teeth.

Police later visited him at a local hospital and photographed his injuries as part of their investigation.

[. . .]

John Sandweg, who served as acting director of ICE and previously held senior positions at DHS during the Obama administration, told CNN that unanswered questions remain about exactly why agents approached the encounter so aggressively.

“Who was the individual they were targeting? Who was the guy they mistook here? Is this someone with a violent criminal history? Why did we have such an aggressive response from the officers?” Sandweg said.

Regardless of those answers, Sandweg argued that the footage raised broader concerns about the use of force.

“This is part of what we’ve seen across the board, where we’ve seen this erosion of accountability, where there’s a rush to defend these agents,” he said.

“And again, case after case after case where we’ve seen a very aggressive tone taken by the officers. It doesn’t always appear justified.”

A US citizen that ICE mistakes -- their mistake -- for someone they're supposed to be rounding up is attacked by ICE and then ICE leaves. The man's laying in the street. And ICE leaves. Even though they've attacked him. They don't call for medical assistance. They just run off like the cowards that they truly are.

The Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin declared yesterday, "DHS is calling on these sanctuary politicians to stop attacking federal law enforcement, stop putting the needs of illegal aliens ahead of the safety of American citizens, and to start working with us to make America safe again." When will Markwayne call on ICE to stop attacking US citizens? They left one bloodied in Evensville, laying in the street, after they attacked him. In fact, one of the ICE agents still had blood on his fist when local police caught up with him.

ICE is not working to make America safe again. It is working to destroy and harm. That's the reality that Markwayne doesn't want to face. ICE is the problem. And if you can't see that when they're terrorizing US citizens, you're not going to see it when they're terrorizing immigrants. ICE has shot and killed US citizens -- Renee Nicole Gold and Alex Pretti. That's not the distant past. That's the start of this calendar year.

Chump has othered the immigrant and that's all it takes for some Americans to not care about immigrants. But even if you set aside that awful treatment, you are still left with ICE attacking and killing -- terror tactics -- US citizens. Markwayne would be more effective as the Secretary of Homeland Security if he sought punishment for ICE agents whose actions require it. And there is talk of a class action suit against Homeland Security for their failure to maintain hiring standards and for putting agents out on the streets -- armed -- when they haven't even done background checks on them. Markwayne's got a lot of problems but sanctuary cities aren't one of them.

In other news, a Republican senator scooches away from Chump. Billal Rahman (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Republican Senator Roger Marshall has voiced concerns with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in southwest Kansas, calling on federal agents to coordinate more closely with local law enforcement as immigration raids unfold across the region.

“When ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement. Our sheriffs and police know these communities better than anyone, and working together keeps officers and residents safe,” Marshall wrote in a post on X.

“I’m closely following what’s happening in SW Kansas and have been in direct contact with Secretary Mullin and local law enforcement as ICE executes warrants in order to keep Kansans safe.”

It comes after local officials reported increased ICE activity in communities including Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal.

Officials in those cities said they were not notified in advance of the federal enforcement operations and learned of them only after agents became visible in their communities. In a joint statement, the cities said leaders “understand the concern and uncertainty this situation has created within our communities,” which “are built on trust, communication, and transparency.”

As the midterms approach, the senator hurries to put some distance between himself and Chump. It also comes as ICE is seen wasting huge amounts of tax dollars. Ryan J. Foley (INDEPENDENT) reports:

ICE and other federal agencies have squandered tens of millions of dollars pursuing ill-conceived plans to rapidly expand detention capacity, with ongoing mismanagement likely to drive costs even higher, congressional investigators warned on Thursday.

A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office documented costly problems across several initiatives launched after President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025 and ordered the mass arrest and deportation of people who are in the country illegally.

Key examples of misspending include nearly $3 million spent to erect tents at Guantanamo Bay that were never used, $20 million to maintain purchased warehouses that are now being sold without ever housing a detainee, and excessive rates paid to hold detainees at a deficient and now-closed Florida lockup.

Here's another thing Markwayne can add to his to-do list: Come up with a budget plan. Foley notes Congress has given ICE "an unprecedented $45 billion to expand detention capacity last year as part of the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill, but the agency still lacks a comprehensive strategic plan for how to spend it wisely, the report warned."

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has some work to do as well. A lot. And to his long list that he's ignoring, he can add emotional well being of the troops. Filip Timotija (THE HILL) reports:

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao told a Senate Democrat this week that eight sailors assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during a lengthy deployment that included military operations against Iran.

Cao disclosed the figure, which includes crew on the USS Abraham Lincoln and sailors from its carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, in a four-page letter to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), which was obtained by The Hill on Wednesday.

A carrier strike group is a formation typically made up of an aircraft carrier, cruiser, destroyers or frigates and a carrier wing with dozens of aircraft. Sometimes the groups can include submarines.

Eight sailors attempted suicide? While serving. That means there's a problem. The USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN was a set of its own problems -- a tour that lasted way too long, lack of water and other things on the ship, food rationing, etc. Hegseth needs to address all of those issues -- especially since reports first came out in April about what was going on onboard the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN and Hegseth dismissed those reports as false back in April. But he also needs to so some sort of study to determine whether these eight attempts -- and I'm sure many more considered suicide onboard the vessel -- all stem from the failures to adequately stock the ship and the excessive time at sea? There may be other issues and a study could determine that. I know Hegseth won't implement one because he doesn't care about the well being of the troops.

Yesterday's snapshot included:

As Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes in the video above, early this morning the court released a verdict. Erik Wemple (NEW YORK TIMES) explains:

A federal judge on Thursday said that President Trump’s order barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House was likely unconstitutional and ordered the administration to restore access to the three news outlets.

Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the U.S. District Court in Washington granted a 14-day restraining order and told the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the press credentials held by employees of the three outlets.

The news organizations were likely to succeed in their claim that the White House had violated their constitutional due process rights by revoking their press credentials without advance notice or an opportunity to respond, Judge Kelly wrote in the order issued in the early hours of Thursday.

He also rejected, for now, the administration’s argument that revoking the outlets’ press credentials was necessary to protect national security.

Holmes Lybrand, Brian Stelter, Katelyn Polantz, Alex Stambaugh and Haven Orecchio-Egresitz (CNN) add:

In the ruling issued early Thursday, Kelly found the revocation of reporters’ press badges was done without “constitutionally adequate due process.”

The ruling - which comes just hours before Trump is set to welcome Chinese leader Xi Jinping - means journalists should now be able to return to work at the White House complex. Some CNN staff, however, were unable to gain access to the White House early Thursday morning. CNN reporter Betsy Klein and a photojournalist were denied access to the White House grounds in the 6:00 a.m. hour. There was no reason provided for the refusal and CNN will continue to try to gain access as regular business hours start.

One CNN producer was able to enter the White House using their pass after 6:00 a.m. It was not immediately clear why the person had been able to access the building.

In a normal world, that would be it. The judge ruled. The White House complies. But, no, not in Chump world. So yesterday started with a temporary ruling saying MS NOW, POLITIO and CNN could not be barred from the White House. That ruling came down shortly after midnight. Thursday morning reporters from the three outlets were still struggling to get in. Then they were finally allowed in and by that evening there was another hiccup.

Dylan Stableford and Mike Bebernes (YAHOO NEWS) explains:

CNN and MS NOW said their journalists were denied access to Chinese President Xi Jinping's state dinner arrival on Thursday amid the ongoing dispute between the Trump administration and three news organizations.

CNN reported that the White House approved credentials for an audio technician and photojournalist to cover President Xi's arrival, but excluded a reporter and producer. MS NOW said White House reporter Laura Barrón-López was turned away from the arrival ceremony. The organization said it had requested credentials for the event, but had not received a response.

According to the Associated Press, the four other broadcast networks that are part of the so-called "video pool" also declined to air coverage of President Xi's arrival in a show of support for CNN, meaning there was no live broadcast by a major U.S. network.

On the banning itself, NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED addressed that yesterday:

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

Now, part of the Trump administration's argument for banning these new outlets is that their coverage posed a threat to national security. In a letter to Politico, the White House pointed to a story Politico published in June about the U.S. nearing a deal to end the war in Iran. It specifically raised concerns about a quote from an anonymous official, but it turns out the source was reportedly Vice President JD Vance. Oliver Darcy is a media reporter who first broke the story last night. He's the founder of Status, an outlet that covers the media. Welcome.

OLIVER DARCY: Hey. Thanks for having me.

DETROW: So the interesting thing here is the details are not that the vice president was, you know, anonymously tipping off reporters on a burner phone, but I think that makes what happened here even more glaring. Walk us through what happened with the initial reports and Vance's involvement.

DARCY: Yes, this was a sanctioned briefing by the White House. So the White House often holds what are called background briefings. And basically, it means that they'll make a senior official in the administration available to a large group of reporters who listen on a call and they can report what the official says. They're just told that they can only refer to this person anonymously by usually a, you know, description like a senior administration official, as was the case with this June 2026 report that Politico published. What's - you know, this is very common. Republicans and Democrats have been doing this for a long time. It's very common in Washington to be participating in these background briefings.

What's uncommon is a White House, obviously, that attacks and demonizes the press for using anonymous sourcing while often providing that anonymous sourcing in sanctioned calls like the one that JD Vance participated in about the Iran war.

DETROW: Right.

DARCY: And obviously, what's even more abnormal here is then accusing that outlet of endangering national security or spreading falsehoods for participating in a call they were invited to by the White House and following the ground rules of anonymously identifying the official versus just saying JD Vance said this on a call.

DETROW: Right, because even though the quotes are anonymous, this is about as sanctioned as information from a White House can get - these phone calls, these background briefings, like the one in question here. How are news outlets responding to this, the way that the White House has been portraying this, again, official White House call?

DARCY: I mean, I think - I mean, most news outlets, to be clear, actually can't even respond to this because they were part of this background briefing call, which kind of makes this interesting. You haven't seen this broadly reported because most outlets - CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post - they agreed to the rules of this call, which meant that they cannot identify JD Vance as the source of the information. They all published stories about what was said on this background briefing call.

So actually, you're seeing kind of a muted response from a lot of other outlets, which could definitely - they definitely know that JD Vance is the source. They were on this call. We were not on the call, which is why we can identify him, because we never agreed to these rules.

I think in the journalism community, it looks really bad for JD Vance. I mean, this is very embarrassing for the White House. They invited Politico to this call. Politico followed all the rules and reported what JD Vance told reporters on this call. And then the White House, a couple months later, uses that against Politico and accuses them of violating national security or endangering national security. I've been reporting on media for over a decade. I have never seen anything like this. I've always thought it was strange the White House, under Trump, who bashes anonymous sources, holds these background briefing calls, where he - where they require people to anonymously identify officials. I've always thought that was weird and reporters should push back.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Senators continue to express “concerns about the judgment of the DOJ, and the extent to which the DOJ is willing and able to prosecute white collar criminals under President Trump.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) pressed Attorney General Todd Blanche for answers following new revelations that came to light in the criminal case against billionaire Gautam Adani. In particular, new court filings confirmed that after Adani hired President Trump’s personal lawyer, Mr. Adani attorneys conveyed an offer to invest $10 billion in the United States “as part of any resolution of” his criminal matter, after which Adani’s criminal charges were dismissed.

Senators Warren and Blumenthal initially opened an investigation of this matter in June 2026.

As reported, the new court filings acknowledge… that [Adani] had offered to invest $10 billion in the United States as part of the resolution of his criminal case.”

“The audacity of this statement is astounding,” the senators wrote. “This appears to be an offer of a quid-pro-quo for individual criminal immunity.”

The chain of events was so outside the norm that the overseeing federal judge went out of his way in his order to remark that the DOJ’s decision-making process appeared to be “highly unusual” and that the “irregularities in the decision to dismiss the indictment are concerning.”

New information also indicates that another of the President’s personal lawyers and advisors, Boris Epshteyn, became involved in the case, as well. Mr. Epshteyn reportedly “operat[es] as a connector for clients with business before the Trump Administration” where “[h]e offer[s] to help potential clients solve issues before the administration in exchange for a monthly fee of as much as six figures.”

Given that the new public reports and documents filed with the court provide even more questions about what happened, Senators Warren and Blumenthal are pushing the DOJ to provide the full truth of what happened.

Senator Warren has led the fight to root out corruption and hold the Trump administration accountable:

In September 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, pressed James Gadwood, nominee to be Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to make a series of ethics commitments ahead of his September 15 hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.
In August 2026, following a social media post from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to RFK Jr. asking whether he has changed his ethics agreement, and if so, how and when any changes were made. The letter builds on an investigation into whether RFK Jr.’s family may be financially benefitting from a $50 million anti-vaccine settlement he could have influenced as HHS Secretary.
In August 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed President Donald Trump on his recent financial disclosures, which reveal 3,555 individual stock trades worth up to half a billion dollars in just the first three months of 2026 and more than 14,000 stock trades worth up to $1.06 billion during Trump’s first year in office.
In August 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) pressed Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and David Gotlib Luxury Cufflinks over the decision to gift President Trump an 18-karat gold, diamond-encrusted ring shortly before the Trump administration announced tariff exemptions on European diamonds.
In June 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Dr. Erich Hernandez-Baquero, a current Raytheon executive nominated for Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, to make a series of ethics commitments, including recusing himself for four years from all matters related to his former employer, committing to not work for a defense contractor for four years after leaving government service, and commit to not lobby the Department of Defense (DoD) for at least four years after leaving his new role.
In June 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations; Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary; and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance, wrote to the Republican Chairs of their respective Committees urging immediate hearings on the Trump family’s cryptocurrency firm and its ties to a foreign government that subsequently received advanced U.S. AI chips and a major arms deal.
In June 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.), pressed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles following reports that the White House interfered to deliver a lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contract to Vulcan Elements, a key Trump Jr.-linked company.
In May 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed the Acting Director-Designate for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), David Venturella, on his decades-long revolving door career between ICE and the private prison industry and his reported use of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel and resources for personal or political favors.
In May 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) introduced the Banning Lobbying And Safeguarding Trust (BLAST) Act, a bipartisan bill to impose a lifetime ban on lobbying by former members of Congress.
In February 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), along with Representatives Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) pressed the Inspectors General (IGs) of 16 key agencies to open investigations into senior Trump officials who were recently lobbyists or “shadow lobbyists” and may be using their roles to benefit their former employers and clients.
In January 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on potential conflicts of interest surrounding the awarding of multiple lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contracts and loans to companies associated with President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
In December 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) pressed the Trump administration to follow through on promises to limit defense companies’ stock buybacks and incentivize them to increase research and development spending.
In December 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called for then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to recuse herself from the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s review of any Warner Bros. merger due to potential conflicts of interest related to her former employer, lobbying firm Ballard Partners.
In September 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to Donald Korb, nominee for Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), ahead of Korb’s confirmation hearing, pressing him on his stark conflicts of interest and urging him to make ethics commitments to mitigate these conflicts.
In July 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote to former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin seeking an explanation and further information on his recent decision to start a strategic advisory firm. Austin had publicly promised Senator Warren during his 2021 confirmation process that he would not become a lobbyist after his government service ended.
In July 2023, United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Personnel, and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and United States Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) introduced the Retired Officers Conflict of Interest Act – a bill that would require public reporting on retired service members working on behalf of foreign governments and create civil penalties if they break the law.
In December 2020, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reintroduced the Anti-Corruption & Public Integrity Act to strengthen ethics laws and crack down on government officials’ conflicts of interest across the government.

###

The following sites updated:

Friday, September 25, 2026

Chump is an embarrassment on the world stage

Edith Olmsted (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:

One of our closest allies now believes that it can’t rely on the United States under President Donald Trump’s leadership.

Belgium’s foreign ministry warned that America was “no longer the ally it has been in the past,” according to a late-2025 strategy document reviewed by the Financial Times.

The Belgian document called for a “thorough re-evaluation of the relation between the European Union and Belgium on the one hand, and the U.S. on the other hand.” It argued that the current political dynamics in the United States were “likely to compromise several vital interests of Belgium and the European Union.

The document maintained that engagement with the Trump administration was “indispensable,” but also acknowledged that it was mostly a lost cause. The document advised that a dialogue with levels below the federal government should be “significantly reinforced,” that discussions should be held with Democratic opposition, and that Belgian officials should focus on “identifying the new generations of bipartisan elites that could play a role in tomorrow’s America.”

It happened. Probably, it's happening with a lot of countries. Chump has destroyed our standing in the global community. He is an idiot and he is a bully. He is not fit to represent the American people.

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, September 24, 2026. Chump's failing economy is getting push back from Americans and, on the Senate floor, from Senator Patty Murray, the FBI got hacked, the GOP is considering waving the white flag in two states over US senatorial candidates, ICE has ramped back up, and much more.

As Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes in the video above, early this morning the court released a verdict. Erik Wemple (NEW YORK TIMES) explains:

He also rejected, for now, the administration’s argument that revoking the outlets’ press credentials was necessary to protect national security.

Holmes Lybrand, Brian Stelter, Katelyn Polantz, Alex Stambaugh and Haven Orecchio-Egresitz (CNN) add:

In the ruling issued early Thursday, Kelly found the revocation of reporters’ press badges was done without “constitutionally adequate due process.”

One CNN producer was able to enter the White House using their pass after 6:00 a.m. It was not immediately clear why the person had been able to access the building.

Looking at the economic picture in Chumpland and it's not pretty. Giulia Carbonaro (NEWSWEEK) reports:

The number of working-age adults struggling to pay rent climbed last year amid rising costs for housing and other essential expenses, according to a new analysis by Urban Institute researchers, with middle-income renters facing the biggest increase across all households.

While lower-income households were the most likely to report challenges paying rent last year at 27.8 percent, up from 26.4 percent in 2024, the share of middle-income renters struggling saw a huge jump in the space of 12 months, going from 14.3 percent in 2024 to 21.6 percent in 2025.

[. . .]

The findings represent yet another blow to the American middle class, for which many traditional life milestones reached relatively easily by their parents—like homeownership, kids and marriage—feel increasingly out of reach.

A July survey from Primerica, a financial service company, found that 71 percent of middle-income Americans believed their income could not keep up with the cost of living, 66 percent said they had little to no wiggle room in their budgets, and more than half had stopped saving for the future.

The reason why middle-income households have seen such a big jump is that costs have been increasing across the board, Kathryn Reynolds, one of the authors, told Newsweek. “You’re seeing increases in food costs and gas prices and utilities, and, honestly, I think people are just starting to be squeezed,” she added.

Juliana Kaplan (BUSINESS INSIDER) adds:

When the rent was due in 2025, a fifth of Americans weren't able to pay on time.

According to a new report from the Urban Institute, 20% of surveyed Americans aged 18 to 64 said that, at some point in 2025, they couldn't pay their full rent on time. That's the highest share of rent troubles recorded since the Urban Institute's Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey began asking this question in 2019, and a marked increase from 2024.

Lurking under that bleak rent outlook is another signal of a flailing middle class: In the year leading up to December 2025, middle-income renters, who earn between 200% to 400% of the federal poverty line, were much more likely to say they were struggling to pay rent.

This as Ali Swenson, Sarah Jane Tribble and Linley Sanders (AP) report:

About half of rural American voters believe the economy is worse off now than when President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new survey that points to economic frustration among a key group that has backed him and other Republicans in recent elections.

The Associated Press, in partnership with KFF, polled more than 2,000 rural registered voters and found broadly negative views of the national and local economies, including among many Republicans. The costs of groceries, gas and healthcare rank as top pain points for the rural voters, who were surveyed over two weeks starting in mid-August. A larger share than among voters overall say they are worried about being able to afford groceries or gas.

At the same time, about half of rural voters approve of Trump’s job performance, more than among U.S. adults overall in separate AP-NORC polling.

The findings suggest that many rural voters have not turned on Trump but that they also largely do not think he has delivered the economic renaissance he promised in his campaign.

Ed Westrick, a registered Republican and veteran, rates Trump’s job performance as “mediocre, middle-of-the-road.” Westrick, who lives in rural Texas, is not sure he will cast a midterm ballot, a troubling sign for Republicans in a key state in their fight to keep control of Congress.

Rural Americans skew Republican and historically have been an instrumental group of voters for Trump. The survey reveals that while rural voters seem unlikely to support Democrats on a large scale, Trump and the Republican Party could face challenges with them in November.

As Chump's economy continues to fail, Senator Patty Murray took to the Senate floor this week to review some of Chump's claims:

Murray: “It is everything. It is health care costs—which Trump has sent higher. It is child care—which is out of control. It is goods across the board—which are up due to Trump’s insane trade wars. It is gas—which Trump launched to new heights with his Iran war. Trump just does not get it. He has no idea what Americans are going through.”

***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full speech***

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor slamming Trump for the many wildly out-of-touch statements he’s made about the economy and working families. In addition to ticking through ten of Trump’s most out-of-touch takes, she discussed how Trump and Republicans’ policies are making gas, groceries, health care, and child care more expensive for working families while pouring trillions into illegal wars.

Senator Murray focused her discussion on Trump quotes below:

“I love the inflation.”
“’Groceries,’ it’s a very simple word. ‘Groceries.’ Like almost—you know, who uses the word?”
“Affordability is a hoax…”
“I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl needs…to have 30 dolls. I think they can have three dolls or four dolls…”
“I always say tariffs is the most beautiful word to me in the dictionary.”
“I found health care sort of like not of tremendous interest…”
“We can’t take care of day care. We’re a big country. We have 50 states. We have all these other people. We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care.”
“I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes.”
“Wars can be fought ‘forever’…”
Reporter: “I wonder what grade would you give your economy?” Trump: “A plus. A plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus.”

Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

“As President Trump himself has admitted: ‘I’m not so careful with what I say.’ And: ‘Americans’ financial situation? I don’t think about anybody.’

“No kidding—we noticed!

“And when it comes to the economy, President Trump’s statements could not be more divorced from reality—let alone the experience of everyday Americans. Yes—in a shock to no one, the billionaire who gets advice from a trillionaire is way out of touch today with everyday people.

“Trump said last year he never even knew the word affordability until recently. He said that ‘tariffs’—the taxes that he raised on working families—is his favorite word. Trump said we can’t afford child care. He said no one cares about affordable housing. He said health care is not of tremendous interest.

“Or—get a load of this—Trump said he loves inflation. And that $4 for a gallon of gas is ‘Okay.’ And then when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.

“Well, that may be true for his buddies—the billionaires and oil robber barons—but it sure isn’t true for working families!

“Of course, I know it is hard to keep track of all of Trump’s whack-a-doodle claims about the economy—especially with the constant stream of new nonsense spewing out of this President’s brain.

“So today, I want to take a trip down memory lane and discuss what I consider Trump’s craziest quotes about the economy and working families.

[INFLATION]

“It’s no secret Americans are fed up with inflation—at least all Americans except for one.

“President Trump has said: ‘I love it, the numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation.’

“Do my Republican colleagues agree? Do they love inflation? Because I will say, they have not lifted a finger to help us stop the Trump policies driving inflation through the roof.

“Republicans have not helped rein in Trump’s absurd trade wars. Republicans have not stood up against Trump’s war with Iran. They have not helped reject Trump cuts to programs that lower energy costs. They did not stop the MAGA health care hike that caused insurance premiums to skyrocket.

“I know Trump is out of touch with everyday Americans when he says he loves inflation. I know it because I hear directly from people back in Washington state about this all the time.

“But what about Republicans here in Congress? They may not be as blunt about it as Trump, but their actions—or rather, their inaction to lower prices—speaks pretty darn loudly.

[GROCERY COSTS]

“Now, if you are not a billionaire like Trump, you are probably very familiar with groceries, and the fact that costs have been going up, up, and up.

“If you are Trump, well then: you are saying things like: ‘It’s a very simple word, ‘groceries,’ like, almost, you know, who uses the word?’ That’s a quote. Or: ‘It’s such an old-fashioned term but a beautiful term: groceries… It sort of says a bag with different things in it.’ That is a quote.

“For most of us, the grocery trip is a weekly errand—it’s everyday life. But the way Trump talks about groceries—he may as well be from another planet.

“It’s very clear Trump has no idea what it’s like to clip coupons for discounts on milk and bread. He doesn’t know what it’s like to compare cereal boxes to see what size has the best value, or check the clearance aisle in hopes of finding a deal. And I would bet my bottom dollar he’s never in his life bought the generic brand to save a few bucks. He probably doesn’t even know they exist!

“Now, groceries may seem old-fashioned to Trump, but for everyone else—whether or not we can afford groceries is the difference between being able to put a healthy dinner on the table, scraping by on the cheapest junk, or just going hungry.

[AFFORDABILITY]

“Now, if you were wondering why President Trump doesn’t seem to care at all about rising prices—well, it may just be that a billionaire like Trump literally doesn’t understand the idea of struggling to pay for something. The word ‘affordability’ is practically a new concept for him. He doesn’t believe in it! He thinks it was made up!

“In his own words: ‘First time I heard it, was a word, you know, made up by the Democrats: affordability.’

“He said, ‘Affordability is a Democrat scam.’

“‘They made up a phony word that they used. They said, ‘affordability.’

“And he said, ‘Look, affordability is a hoax.’

“A scam, a hoax, a phony, made up word—that is what Trump thinks affordability is.

“But for families across the country, affordability is a very real problem—one that they are having to deal with every day, and one that is being made worse by this President’s own policies.

[FAMILIES STRETCHING BUDGETS]

“In case anybody thinks Trump doesn’t have any solutions on affordability, don’t forget this little pearl of wisdom from Trump: ‘I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl needs to have 30 dolls. I think they can have three dolls or four dolls… They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.’

“Seriously? I talk to moms and dads all the time who are struggling to get by. Families are already stretching their budgets and pinching their pennies. People are not struggling because they are blowing their savings on dolls. The problem is not their pencil budget. Good lord!

“It is everything. It is health care costs—which Trump has sent higher. It is child care—which is out of control. It is goods across the board—which are up due to Trump’s insane trade wars. It is gas—which Trump launched to new heights with his Iran war.

“Trump just does not get it. He has no idea what Americans are going through.

[TARIFFS]

“Trump has already told us that he views ‘groceries’ as an old-fashioned word. He has already said he thinks the word ‘affordability’ is made up. But what has he said about ‘tariffs?’ You almost have to hear it to believe it.

“Trump has said: ‘I always say tariffs is the most beautiful word to me in the dictionary.’

“Now, as a reminder—since Republicans keep trying to put their heads in the sand on this—tariffs are taxes. A Republican president is saying his favorite thing is a tax increase!

“Reagan must be spinning in his grave.

“And not only are tariffs taxes—they are taxes that hurt working families especially hard. We have seen that time after time.

“Trump’s tariffs have rocketed grocery prices through the roof. Trump’s tariffs have made baby items—strollers, car seats, toys more expensive. Trump’s tariffs have put a strain on back-to-school shopping. They’ve squeezed our local coffee shops.

“And Trump’s favorite word is crushing small businesses too! I’ve talked to local restaurants, and sporting goods stores, and farmers, and a lot more, they are all facing serious hardship because of Trump’s tariffs. They are losing customers for produce that they ship abroad. They are having to raise prices in their stores. They are having to pay employees less, let people go, or even just shut their doors entirely.

“All because Trump chose to pursue some of the biggest tax hikes in American history, while Republicans cheered him on.

[HEALTH CARE]

“Let’s not forget, Trump is also totally out of touch on health care. As Trump put it: ‘I’ve found health care sort of like…not of tremendous interest.”

“That explains why he has done absolutely nothing to lower health care costs. And worse than that—Trump and Republicans passed the largest cuts to health care in our nation’s history, and then stood by and cheered as patients faced some of the largest health care price hikes in history.

“In their Big Ugly Bill, Republicans gutted Medicaid, with changes that are—right now—kicking families off their health care coverage.

“And while Trump and Republicans are plenty interested in tax cuts for billionaires, while they will bend over backwards to help keep the private jets fueled—they didn’t lift a finger to save families from exploding [health] insurance premiums.

“They stood by as tax credits for working families expired, and people saw their monthly premiums double, triple, or even worse. We know millions of people lost their coverage because of Trump and Republicans.

“And don’t forget—Trump put tariffs on pharmaceuticals, of all things!

“Now maybe a billionaire like Trump doesn’t find health care interesting because Trump has never had to. He’s never had to ration his prescription and hope it would be okay, he’s never had to delay a needed check-up until the next paycheck. He’s never debated whether to go get urgent care or not because he was worried about the bill, or wondered how on earth he could afford a lifesaving cancer treatment.

“But that is the reality millions of patients face every day, and they deserve leaders in Washington who are interested in the challenges they face, and focused on solutions so that everyone can get the care they need without worrying about the cost.

[CHILD CARE]

“Now, M. President, I of course have to talk about child care. I got into politics fighting for child care, and it’s something I push hard on every day.

“So I was floored when I heard Trump say: ‘The United States can’t take care of day care. That has to be up to a state. We can’t take care of day care. It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things.’

“Talk about out of touch—this is exactly backwards. We have a child care crisis in this country. It is holding our country back!

“A billionaire like Trump may not understand—but working parents are the backbone of our economy. And if mom and dad can’t find child care, then mom and dad can’t go to work.

“That is a big problem—for parents who are trying to make ends meet, and small businesses who are trying to find workers.

“Trump says we can’t afford child care? The truth is—we cannot afford to ignore child care.

[HOUSING]

“One of the most outrageous things Trump has said about the economy was something he actually said behind closed doors. According to Punchbowl News, earlier this year, Trump told Republican leaders: ‘No one gives a ‘BLEEP’ about housing.’

“How ridiculous. We have an enormous housing shortage in this country—especially when it comes to affordable housing.

“The rising costs from Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war have made it harder for people to make rent. And because Trump has done so much damage to the economy—federal interest rates are on the rise, meaning mortgage rates are going higher and higher, and millions of families are watching as Trump pulls the rug out from under them—putting their dream of owning a home farther and farther out of reach.

“But Trump doesn’t care. And worse than that—Trump sees high housing costs as a good thing. He literally said: ‘I don’t wanna drive housing prices down, I wanna drive housing prices up.’

“Spoken like a true slum-lord.

[TRUMP’S WAR]

“And let’s not forget that while Trump doesn’t know words like ‘affordability’ and ‘groceries,’ while he loves ‘inflation’ and ‘tariffs,’ and while he doesn’t care about health care, or housing, and doesn’t think we need money for child care, there is one issue Trump is ready to throw trillions of dollars at—war.

“He started a pointless war with Iran—with no plan, and no concern for how it would explode gas prices. Even now, he is saying $4 gas is okay.

“He doubled down recently, saying: ‘You have a higher gas—it’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done. Remember that. It’s a little more. Frankly, even if it was a lot more.’

“Meanwhile, he has put forward a completely war-bloated budget calling for $1.5 trillion for war spending. That’s trillion, with T—we are talking twelve zeroes here.

“And I know what you’re thinking—it’s the same thing most Americans are thinking—we cannot afford another ‘forever’ war. We have investments right here we need to be making—child care, health care, energy, roads, housing, and more.

“But Trump—who once promised ‘no more forever wars’—has actually done a complete one-eighty. Not only did he launch a new war—he wrote online about his belief that ‘wars can be fought forever and very successfully.’

“So to recap: Trump thinks wars can be fought forever, but we can’t afford child care at all. He wants to spend trillions on bombs and weapons, but doesn’t care about housing and health care.

“It simply does not get more wrong or out of touch than that.

[TRUMP OUT-OF-TOUCH WITH AMERICANS]

“There are so many insane things Trump has said about the economy. But a lot of it comes down to one basic fact: he is in complete denial. Maybe it’s because he has let AI videos melt his brain. Maybe it is because he is hopelessly an out-of-touch billionaire. Maybe it’s just because he is exactly what he has always been—a liar.

“They say the first step is admitting you have a problem. When it comes to the economy, Trump cannot even do that.

“Despite the painful inflation, despite the sluggish job growth, despite the red flashing lights—like rising bond rates, and slowing GDP growth, and plummeting consumer confidence—despite all of that: when Trump was asked to give himself a grade on the economy, he gave himself an: ‘A plus… A plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus.’ That was a quote.

“A Plus? That’s more like: BS.

“Maybe the high prices and chaos are working great for corrupt billionaires like Trump. After all, he has made more stock trades as President than all of congress combined, he’s raking in billions through crypto scams, and his family is cashing in through highly conflicted foreign business deals.

“However, Trump’s rigged economy is not working for working families.

“But here’s the thing—we live in a democracy. And at the end of the day, Trump’s final grade on the economy won’t come from himself. The American people—the ones who are paying the prices of Trump’s tariffs, the ones who are paying the price of his war with Iran, the moms and dads who are struggling to find child care, the patients struggling to afford health care, the families struggling to pay rent—they are the ones who will pass final judgement later on this year on Trump’s economy.

“I have no doubt that in the meantime Trump will continue making out of touch statements and bizarre AI videos.

“But here’s a reminder to all of my colleagues who are afraid to stand up to this President: even if Trump has lost touch with reality, he is still going to have to face all of that this fall.”

###

The tides have turned and they've turned against Chump. How bad is it? Erkki Forster (DAILY BEAST) reports:

Republicans are considering surrendering a pair of Senate races in states that President Donald Trump won in 2024, a new report alleges.

GOP operatives are considering pulling spending on Senate races in Georgia and North Carolina, insiders tell Politico, in what is the latest proof that Republican odds of maintaining control of the upper chamber are falling fast.

Rumblings of a southern surrender come as GOP operatives fear that spending money to prop up those candidates could leave them vulnerable in once-safe seats that have become competitive elsewhere in the country, Politico reports, citing “well-placed party sources.”

If true, GOP spending against Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff—who flipped the seat in 2021 and is now a top 2028 presidential contender—would dry up, surely dooming his scandal-plagued MAGA opponent, Rep. Mike Collins.

Ossoff led Collins by 7 points in a survey conducted this month by Republican pollster Trafalgar Group.

Retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat in North Carolina is also being viewed as a likely flip in GOP circles, Politico’s reporting suggests. The site reports that internal GOP polling shows former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper with a double-digit lead over the Republican candidate, Michael Whatley.

Maybe if Chump would campaign for Whatley, he'd be doing better. Oh. Wait. "Trump has thrown his full weight behind Whatley, traveling to North Carolina for a rally earlier this month." So that's what doomed Whatley. Andrew Prokop (VOX) notes the move on the part of GOP candidates to put distance between themselves and Chump:

With the midterms just under six weeks away, more Republican candidates are coming to the belated realization that, if they want to save their seats, they could perhaps use some distance from the very unpopular president whose approval is reaching new lows.

Now, after a decade in which President Donald Trump has demanded — and increasingly received — near-total loyalty from his parties’ candidates and congressional delegation, and used his bully pulpit to launch harsh personal attacks on Republicans who don’t provide it, such distancing attempts remain cautious and limited.

But they are growing more common. And this isn’t just in the toughest blue territory — even Republicans in states or districts Trump won overwhelmingly are now rushing to emphasize how they don’t agree with the president on some of his most controversial and unpopular agenda items.

“It’s only natural that candidates would seek to create distance from Trump, especially on issues — like the Iran war — that are unpopular,” GOP strategist Douglas Heye told me. “That doesn’t guarantee success, and can be a hard needle to thread, but it’s the natural play.”

THE ARKANSAS PUBLIC ADVOCATE reports:

North Carolina’s closely watched U.S. Senate race has entered a consequential stage after a Republican political group canceled $6.5 million in October advertising reservations intended to support Michael Whatley. The September 21 decision comes as Republican strategists privately express concern about the contest against former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

[. . .]

The canceled reservations belong to Old North Action, a Republican super PAC. According to advertising tracker AdImpact, the organization removed $6.5 million in planned October advertising while retaining approximately $14.5 million in reservations through Election Day. Semafor first reported the spending adjustment on September 21.

And one more on North Carolina, Natalie Allison and Dan Merica (WASHINGTON POST) report:

Republican officials, who opened the midterm season with high hopes they would keep the Senate, are growing increasingly anxious about a state that voted for Donald Trump three times and has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly two decades.

They’re privately conceding the party appears set to lose North Carolina’s Senate seat unless Trump’s poor approval ratings — and the high prices that caused them — improve dramatically in the coming weeks.

The state is one of nine battlegrounds that will likely determine control of the Senate, where Republicans now hold a 53-47 advantage. Six of the battlegrounds, including North Carolina, are currently in Republican hands.

Adam Wollner (NBC NEWS) notes Republicans in Congress Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks have distanced themselves from Chump on the war and:

Several hours later yesterday, former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee in Michigan’s Senate race, released a video on social media saying that “the war with Iran needs to end and end quickly.”

And today, another Michigan Republican, gubernatorial candidate John James, said during a news conference that “we need to end this war quickly,” according to The Detroit News. Like Hinson, James, a congressman, has repeatedly voted against the resolutions in the House directing Trump to halt the war.

These pivots come amid deepening voter frustration with the war and the state of the economy. According to the new national NBC News poll, 55% of registered voters said they believe Trump’s policies have hurt the economy, and 62% said the military action in Iran has not been worth it.

Moreover, 57% of voters said supporting the Iran war would make them less likely to vote for a candidate, compared with 24% who said it would make them more likely.

As the midterms near, Republicans are breaking with Trump on more than just the Iran war. As we noted last week, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., released an ad criticizing the president’s deportation agenda.

Elsewhere in Florida, Republican candidate for governor Byron Donalds removed most references to Trump on his campaign website. And Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, called for an investigation into the business dealings of Donald Trump Jr. (as well as Hunter Biden) following the revelation that a Russian oligarch paid for the president’s son’s post-wedding festivities in the Caribbean.

Sam Stevenson (NEWSWEEK) provides a list of Congressional Republicans putting some distance between themselves and Chump. Stef W. Kight (VOX) notes the trend of GOP candidates putting distance between Chump and themselves:

Just on Tuesday: Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) railed on the Senate floor at Trump's decision to host Chinese President Xi Jinping this week for a state dinner.

Wicker urged Trump to "keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly" at the U.S.

Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) called for the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. over his foreign business dealings and the hundreds of thousands of dollars he allegedly received from a Russian oligarch for his wedding.

"If your family's involved in the [presidency], then you ought to be very transparent," Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a close Trump ally, told Axios last week when asked about the reporting on Trump Jr.'s wedding.

Chump's not the only one running off voters from the Republicans. There's also his dead friend, pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Julie Carr Smuth and Alexandra Olson (AP) report:

Billionaire Les Wexner has long been a magnet for political campaigns seeking contributions — especially in his native Ohio, where the retail tycoon directed a generous portion of his giving to candidates from both parties. Then came the Epstein files.

Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, was Wexner's former financial adviser. That relationship and Wexner's history of political donations has figured prominently in Ohio's U.S. Senate race, which could end up as the most expensive in the country this year.

Wexner, who has disavowed his prior association with Epstein, contributed about $116,000 to support Republican Sen. Jon Husted from 2001 to 2025, mostly during the two decades he spent in state politics before being appointed to fill Vice President JD Vance’s seat last year.

While that’s just a sliver of Husted’s prolific fundraising, his opponent in this year’s race, former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, is turning it into a campaign cudgel. He’s run at least three different television commercials pounding Husted for receiving more money from Wexner than any other current member of Congress.

And Chump has lost young voters. Rich Baris (REAL CLEAR POLITICS) writes:

Everything Republicans thought they knew about younger voters who backed them less than two years ago is wrong. Conservative pundits and consultants have had an almost bipolar misunderstanding of these now-disaffected Americans.

When President Donald Trump made his historic political comeback in 2024, a slew of right-wing commentators repeated each other’s claims that “Zoomers” were just “more conservative” than previous cohorts. That was news to us, given BIG DATA POLL was met with fierce skepticism leading up to that election, explicitly because we led the industry in identifying trends indicating the president was making significant gains with younger, nonwhite voters.

Some of these very same consultants argued that our trends showed little more than a “polling mirage,” the result of higher sampling errors for subgroups. Their slowness in coming to the realization that these trends were in fact very real has only been rivaled by more recent attempts to reconcile that rightward shift in 2024 with events that have transpired since.

Turning to immigration, Sunday, ICE shot another person. Earlier this year, they shot and killed Renee Nicole Good. Her mother spoke on Tuesday. Fernando Cervantes Jr. (USA TODAY) reports:

Renee Nicole Good’s mother, Donna Ganger, said on Tuesday, Sept. 22, that she voted for President Donald Trump and believed that federal immigration officers would “protect” Americans.

“But no one can protect against others who are determined to disregard our country’s constitutional rules and values,” Ganger said during a public forum hosted by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-California.

Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in January during immigration enforcement efforts in Minneapolis. Her death sparked nationwide protests.

Ganger, who identified herself as a registered Republican, said it was torture that "as a mom and as a family, we could not protect" Good.

“I voted for President Trump under the impression that these agents were here to protect the citizens of the United States, innocents like our family and the others here, against terrorists, certainly not to accuse those of us here of being terrorists and take precious lives,” Ganger said.

Vic Verbalaitis (DAILY BEAST) adds:

Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Robert Garcia of California led Tuesday’s forum. Among the other participants were the families of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Ruben Ray Martinez, as well as Stella Carlson, who recorded the fatal shooting of VA ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who was also gunned down by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis.

Good was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7 during a protest of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.”

The mother of three was in her car when Ross fired three shots into her vehicle, striking her in the forearm, breast, and the left temple. Good’s death was ruled a homicide by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.

The administration claimed that Good had attempted to run over ICE officers with her vehicle, with top officials, including Vice President JD Vance and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, labeling her as a “domestic terrorist” in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.

Andrea Castillo (LOS ANGELES TIMES) notes of the hearing:

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s wife used to spend her evenings cooking a big meal for her husband and waiting for him to return home from his job as a homebuilder. Now, his son told members of Congress, Salgado Araujo’s wife spends those evenings visiting her husband’s grave at the cemetery.

In a packed Senate hearing room, a rapt audience of dozens listened to the sons of Salgado Araujo, the mothers of Ruben Ray Martinez and Renee Good, as well as the woman who video recorded the death of Alex Pretti and the lawyer for the family of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero.

Salgado Araujo, Martinez, Good, Pretti and Durán Guerrero were shot and killed by federal agents since the start of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants. Some were U.S. citizens; others were immigrants.

“We still have so many questions,” said Lorenzo Salgado, one of Salgado Araujo’s sons. “What are the names of the ICE agents who killed our dad? Why do they get to be protected behind anonymity, while my brother and I stand before cameras, showing our faces, proudly saying our first and last name?”

ICE is becoming very active again and is back to terrorizing people. Alice Gibbs (NEWSWEEK) compiles a list of the 11 people known to have been shot by ICE so far this year. Yesterday on MS NOW's MORNING JOE, Mika Brzezinski observed, "There's one just simply unbearable throughline here. Lethal force, competing accounts, incomplete information and devastated families -- also terrorized communities. A country can enforce its laws, we've learned this, and still insist on the Rule of Law. It can protect its borders and still demand that the government meet the highest standard when an agent draws a weapon and pulls the trigger. That is not what's happening in America right now." Rachel Maddow (MS NOW) noted on her program Monday, "Also on Sunday, this time in Evanston, Illinois, Donald Trump’s ICE agents badly beat a U.S. citizen and then drove away, leaving him lying in the street, bloody and injured and writhing in pain. Somebody then called the Evanston police, who showed up and called an ambulance for the man. He was taken to the hospital with injuries to his head and neck and teeth."

Ryan Mancini (THE HILL) notes:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) left a U.S. citizen from Evanston, Ill., injured on the ground after he was detained in an incident of mistaken identity on Sunday, according to local police.

[. . .]

The Evanston Police Department said in a statement that at around 9:49 a.m., the department received a call about two men having an argument and someone saying that a person was being taken into custody. Officers were dispatched to the 1700 block of Howard Street.

ABC 7 Chicago spoke with Miguel Olivares, who said he was on his break at El Pueblito Mexican Grill on Howard Street when he saw vehicles outside the restaurant and a confrontation taking place.

"It looked like police vehicles until I started hearing, 'I'm a U.S. citizen. I'm a U.S. citizen,'" Olivares told the outlet.

Olivares said he recorded the incident on his phone, adding that the federal officers "were being rough with [the man]; they had him pinned against the floor, and it looked like one of the agents hit him in the face."

He told NBC 5 Chicago that because it appeared the men really hurt the man, "we had to call 911."

Billy Witz (NEW YORK TIMES) notes:

Mr. Garton said the agent’s conduct was unacceptable. “Let’s say it was a fugitive and they got the wrong guy,” he said. “If you tackle the wrong guy, you don’t leave him on the ground bleeding and drive off. It’s like fleeing the scene of a crime.”

Sanctuary Evanston, a community organization that assists immigrants, condemned the federal agents’ actions and called for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to also investigate the incident.

“People are horrified to see this happening on the streets of Evanston or any other U.S. city,” said Nathan Ryan, a spokesman for the organization. “It’s been a continuation of the violence we’ve seen and it reinforces that it’s not about safety, it’s about violence. It’s about the federal government sabotaging the safety of our cities.”

Sunday, ICE shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin, Texas. He has a bullet n his back from the shooting and doctors believe it is too close to the spine to be removed. Katey Psencik, Eva Ruth Moravec and Dante Motley (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN) report on ICE's effort to push back against assertions made by Garces Perez's attorney Kay Lincoln-Goldfinch:

DHS also disputed Garcés Pérez's account of his medical care and detention. Through a translator Monday, Garcés Pérez said he remained in significant pain and that doctors told him the bullet was too close to his spine to safely remove. DHS responded that he "has been given some of the best medical care he's ever received in his life," is receiving pain medication and that ICE did not advise doctors to leave the bullet in place.

Lincoln-Goldfinch disputed that account Tuesday, saying Garcés Pérez was not given pain medication when he was released from the hospital Sunday night. She said he was taken to a processing center before arriving at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall around 4 a.m. Monday.

About 12 hours later, Garcés Pérez was hospitalized again and received a morphine drip, Lincoln-Goldfinch said. He was transferred back to the Pearsall facility around midnight Tuesday and was being given Tylenol and ibuprofen, she said.

"The claim that Wilber's getting some of the best medical care in his life is patently absurd," Lincoln-Goldfinch said. "He has a bullet lodged in his body. His clavicle is broken. He is being transferred from detention centers to hospitals and back, while he is chained, handcuffed with a belt chain and his ankles tied together."

Meanwhile Todd Blanche and Ka$h Patel have a problem Raphael Satter and AJ Vicens (REUTERS) report:

FBI data allegedly stolen by the hacking group ShinyHunters carries granular detail about scores of bureau officials’ job assignments, including sensitive work against Chinese spies, Russian intelligence, drug cartels, and more, Reuters has found.

The 5,000-line spreadsheet – said by the hackers to represent only a small piece of their claimed two- to three-terabyte trove – includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, social security numbers, and emergency contact details for what they claimed were thousands of FBI employees. It also includes details of assignments to specific field offices and, in some cases, to units engaged in high-stakes intelligence, security, or counterespionage work.

How embarrassing for Blanche and Patel, the FBI hacked. They're supposed to be preventing those crimes taking place on others but they got hacked themselves.

Ross Ibbetson (DAILY MAIL) adds:

Kash Patel is facing a major security breach at the FBI after hackers claimed to have stolen personal data on every employee and job applicant at the bureau.

ShinyHunters, a notorious hacking gang, said it obtained FBI agents' names, home addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth, and even details on their spouses.

The gang also defaced the FBI's jobs website on Tuesday, writing: 'This site has been seized by ShinyHunters.' The message mocked the seizure notices the bureau plasters on criminal sites it takes down.

They then trolled Donald Trump, ending the message with the president's trademark Truth Social sign-off: 'Thank you for your attention to this matter.'

One of the hackers issued a menacing threat to the Trump administration in an interview with 404 Media, which first reported the alleged breach.

'What we plan to do is not something I'd call extortion, maybe coercion,' the hacker said of their plans, adding that it was 'not financially motivated.'

Now back to Chump's roll dog, the late Jeffrey Epstein. Joe Palazzolo and Khadeeja Safdar (WALL STREET JOURNAL) report:

Federal authorities have opened a probe into Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime lawyer and accountant who are now his estate executors, according to people familiar with the matter.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan in recent months have been scheduling interviews with potential witnesses and have requested documents about their dealings with Indyke, Epstein’s lawyer, and Kahn, his accountant, the people said. The documents include emails and financial records.

The two men have previously said they didn’t know Epstein was engaged in sex trafficking and denied being complicit in or knowingly facilitating any crimes. They said none of the women ever reported to them they were being sexually abused. A lawyer for Kahn referred to the prior statement, and a lawyer for Indyke didn’t respond.

[. . .]

The Journal published an investigation last year reporting that the two men were officers of Epstein entities that obscured transactions, arranged cash for Epstein, made payments to women and facilitated Epstein’s immigration schemes. In statements, the two men denied wrongdoing.

Neither man was questioned about their work for Epstein in 2019 and 2020 when federal prosecutors in Manhattan were investigating Epstein and Maxwell on sex-trafficking charges, the Journal reported.

The following sites updated: