Today in Politics, Bulletin 316. 2/26/26
Today in Politics, Bulletin 316. 2/26/26… Adrian Aviles, the husband of the staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, who killed herself after being pressured by Rep. Tony Gonzales into an affair: “Tony Gonzales runs his whole campaign on family values, saying that he’s some family man. He’s actually quite a sick man. I have all the messages. I just released a tip of the iceberg of the things that this man was telling her. I would bet that Gonzales does not want me to release all of the messages that show how gross of a man he is.” … Aviles was sharing Regina’s story on CNN: “My son misses his mother every day. He no longer has his mother. He grabs a particular Gatorade out of the refrigerator and it’s a pink one. He says I’m going to drink these, these were mom’s favorite. It tore me to pieces. My son now has to remember his mother through the color of a Gatorade.”
… Speaker Mike Johnson continues to refuse to call for Gonzales to resign because that would leave him with just a one-seat majority, with the added problem that Thomas Massie often voting with Democrats these days. … Rep. Troy Nehls (R-NE) was asked by CNN if Gonzales should resign: “That would be the stupidest thing he could ever do given the razor-thin House GOP majority. Q - … Hockey News’s Ian Kennedy: “Despite President Trump saying that the USA women’s hockey team will be visiting the White House in his State of the Union address, members of Team USA today confirm they have not heard anything about that.” … Women’s team player Hilary Knight on the WH invite: “I’m really not sure where that stands. There was an announcement the other day. As far as my knowledge, like, I have not seen anything.” … Some of the players from the women’s hockey team were asked about the phone call to the locker room from Trump where he made a condescending comment about their team as the men laughed loudly. Hilary Knight: “I thought the call in of itself was distasteful and an awesome moment to refocus the narrative and understand our words matter and how we speak about women matters.” … Kelly Pannek: “With the phone call specifically, it’s not surprising, to be frank. So, I don’t know why we expect differently? But I think for us it’s also just about getting back to the focus on our team and what our team accomplished - dominant hockey.” … Men’s team player Jeremy Swayman apologized before his NHL game last night: “We should’ve reacted differently. We know that we are so excited for the women’s team. We have so much respect for the women’s team. To share that gold medal with them is something we’re forever grateful for.” … Michael Russo, hockey reporter for The Atlantic: “I just went to the Minnesota Frost practice and talked to 4 of the gold medalists from the women’s team (Heise, Pannek, Curl, Zumwinkle) and all of them echoed this: Heise said they’ve received public and private apologies too from men’s players.” … Bill and Hillary Clinton had their closed-door deposition today with the House Oversight committee on Epstein. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), who was present: “There were no Republicans in Ohio to talk to Les Wexner, who bankrolled Epstein’s fortune for the most part. Hillary Clinton, who maintains that she doesn’t recall meeting Epstein, is here today, and we have a lot of Republicans here today.” … The Clinton’s lawyers had to temporarily halt the deposition in progress because Lauren Boebert took a photo of Hillary testifying and sent it to right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson, who posted it on social media. A spokesman from the Clinton’s came out of the depo and made a statement about it to the media. Photos were strictly prohibited under the rules. The deposition resumed later. Maybe they took Boebert’s phone away. … Hillary gave a brief press conference outside after it was over: “I don’t know how many times I had to say I don’t know Jeffrey Epstein. I never went to his island. I never went to his homes. His offices." … “It then got at then end quite unusual because I started being asked about UFOs and a series of questions about Pizzagate - one of the most vile bogus conspiracy theories that was propagated on the internet that was serving as the basis of a member’s questions about me.” … Telegraph: “A secret storage locker rented by Jeffrey Epstein contained computers, video tapes, sex-slave manuals and photographs of naked women. Earlier this week, The Telegraph revealed that Epstein paid private detectives to remove items from his Florida property in an apparent attempt to hide them from investigators ahead of a police raid in 2005. These were kept at a nearby storage facility in Palm Beach for several years while police investigated the pedophile.” … “The unit was rented on Epstein’s behalf by the Riley Kiraly detective agency and was one of at least 6 storage lockers leased by the late financier over a 16-year period. An inventory of the secret Palm Beach lock-up showed that the stashed items included 3 computers, 29 address books and a 3-page list of masseuses in FL. The hidden storage unit also contained nude photographs, believed to be of Epstein’s victims, as well as dozens of pornographic magazines, VHS tapes and DVDs eroticizing teenagers.” … “An 8mm video cassette tape was also locked away in the storage unit, apparently containing footage of someone in the shower and a woman in lingerie, as well as a 2005 calendar, greeting cards, letters and laboratory results. Although copies of two of the computer hard drives were recovered by the FBI years later, it is not known whether any of the material in the lock-up was ever found.” … “The Palm Beach unit was just one of at least 6 such lockers known to have been used by Epstein to store files, computers and other items from his properties. Search warrants suggest that US authorities never raided these lockers, raising the possibility that they contained unseen evidence relating to Epstein and his associates.” … Oversight ranking member Robert Garcia: “We’re going to be demanding that the remaining files get released to the public. And that includes new files that were just discovered in the last couple days of a survivor that has made serious accusations against Trump. We have seen the archive manifest. That clearly shows that the interviews and information around this survivor have been removed and are missing. Where are these files? Who removed them? Those questions have to be answered.” … NYT: “The vast trove of documents released by DOJ from its investigations into Jeffrey Epstein failed to include some key materials related to a woman who made an accusation against Trump. The materials are FBI memos summarizing interviews the bureau did in connection to claims made in 2019 by a woman who came forward after Epstein’s arrest to say she had been sexually assaulted by both Trump and the financier decades earlier, when she was a minor.” … “The existence of the memos was revealed in an index listing the investigative materials related to her account, which was publicly released. According to that index, the FBI conducted 4 interviews in connection with her claims and wrote summaries about each one. But only one of the summaries, which describes her accusations against Epstein, was released by DOJ. The other 3 are missing.” … “The public files also do not include the underlying interview notes, which the index also indicates are part of the file. DOJ released similar interview notes in connection to FBI interviews with other potential witnesses and victims. It is unclear why the materials are missing. DOJ said in a statement on Monday that ‘the only materials that have been withheld were either privileged or duplicates.’ In a new statement on Tues, the dept also noted that documents could have been withheld because of ‘an ongoing federal investigation.’” … On Wednesday afternoon, DOJ said in a new statement that it was reviewing which documents were released in connection to the index. The dept said it would publish any documents ‘found to have been improperly tagged in the review process’ that are legally required to be made public.” … Deadline: Trump’s State of the Union address only drew only 28 million viewers across 8 major news networks, according to preliminary data from Nielsen.
… WaPo: “Voters are closely split over which party they prefer in the Nov midterm elections, but Democrats hold a wide advantage in voter enthusiasm over Republicans that could help them reclaim at least some power. The poll reflects Republicans’ slippery grasp on power as they struggle to motivate their core supporters to show up for them in a year when Trump will not be on the ballot and when many voters are reporting dissatisfaction with the economy.” … “More Ds than Rs said they are certain to vote this fall - 79% to 65% among registered voters. That 14-point advantage is the largest Democrats have reported on this question ahead of a midterm election since at least 2006. In 2018, when Dems won back the House in a wave election during Trump’s first term, polls showed that they held a 5-point edge in Jan on certainty to vote.” … A new TV ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s (NRSC) against TX AG Ken Paxton, who is leading in the polls in the US senate primary race, is shocking when you consider that they may be forced to back him in coming months as the GOP nominee against the Democratic candidate. The committee controlled by John Thune is backing Sen. John Cornyn in the race. … Narrator in the ad: “It’s voting time, so let’s cut through the bullshit. Crooked Ken Paxton cheated on his wife. She’s divorcing him on biblical grounds. So now Paxton’s wrecking another home, sleeping around with a married mother of 7. And remember this, Crooked Ken has increased his net worth by as much as 7,000% since taking office. Now think of the Paxton dirty deeds we don’t know about, yet. The wife cheater and fraud, or the Texas workhorse?” … Seems like maybe Dems could ask to use the Republican add against Paxton after the primary is over. Save a few bucks. … Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) demonstrated yet again on CNN why he is determined to prove daily that he now holds the crown of dumbest senator. Mullin on Iran: “We are not wanting regime change, but the person that’s leading this effort is the Ayatollah. Remember in 1979, when he came to power, he was saying that he wanted to be a nuclear Iran.” … The Ayatollah he is talking about died in 1989. The current Ayatollah is not the same person. … Q - “If we obliterated their nuclear sites already, why are you worried about it right now? Mullin: Because they’re rebuilding it. Host: But it was obliterated. Mullin: I mean, people have car accidents and obliterate their bones and their legs, and yet they can still put you know, they can still put metal back in them and, and and walk again.” Tomorrow is Ask the Editor where I answer 5 of your questions on a short podcast with Ben, in addition to posting the regular daily Bulletin. Please post any questions you have or any topic you just want me to talk more about in the comments section to this Bulletin. If you missed yesterday’s podcast Uncovered, where I do a deeper dive into the Top 10 stories of the week with Anthony, you can find that here. If you missed the last Bulletin, you can find it here. … The New Republic: “Kristi Noem’s blanket fiasco may not have been about a blanket at all. The so-called ICE Barbie allegedly had her rumored beau, expired-special-employee Corey Lewandowski, fire a Coast Guard pilot last May after Noem neglected to bring her favorite weighted blanket onto the second flight of one of her trips. But three DHS insiders indicate that the spectacle may not have been about an abandoned blanket, but rather a mysterious bag with potentially embarrassing contents.” … One insider: “This was never about a blanket. The blanket was a cover story for what really happened. The whole thing was really about the bag that was left.” … The consensus of speculation on social media was that likely contained sex toys, but the source could not say what was in the bag specifically. … “Noem’s alleged affair with Lewandowski is one of the worst-kept secrets in Washington. The pair are practically inseparable, and have been spotted grinding on each other at parties and leaving each other’s apartments, despite the fact that they are both married to other people. The arrangement has become such a MAGA meme that the DHS secretary was actually mocked for taking her husband to a black-tie WH event over the weekend instead of Lewandowski.” … MS NOW: “Kash Patel just fired at least 7 agents and support staff as a result of their role in the classified documents case that involved Trump and the documents at Mar-a-Lago. The people fired are said to have participated in some way in pulling phone records for Patel and Susie Wiles during the investigation.” … Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) responded to the story: “It does look like an epic cover-up. You have Judge Cannon, who is doing a cover up by preventing the release of the special counsel's report. This is all going to come out eventually, because I am confident we're going to get a new admin in 3 years, and that admin is going to provide all this info. And Patel should also resign for acting like a fool and using taxpayers money to go do a big party in the Olympics.” … Jack Smith likely subpoenaed the phone records of Patel because both and and Trump claimed repeatedly in interviews that Patel was the only person with Trump when he “verbally declassified” all the documents in the Oval Office before they were shipped to Mar-a-Lago, and he was prepared to testify at trial for Trump in the case since he was the only witness to that supposedly happening. … WSJ: “Melania Trump will preside over a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, per a FLOTUS statement, which ‘will mark the first time a sitting US First Lady presides over the Security Council as members consider education, technology, peace, and security.’” … Trump’s newly-minted ‘Fraud Czar’ JD Vance was in MN to announce that he was freezing all Medicaid payments to that state due to a pending investigation of fraud into some daycare centers in the state: “We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of MN in order to ensure that the state of MN takes its obligation seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.” … Medicare and Medicaid director Dr. Oz said they will not release the $259 million Medicaid reimbursement this month to MN: “We’re going to hold it and only release it after they propose an act on a comprehensive corrective action plan to solve the problem. If MN fails to clean up the systems, the state will rack up a billion dollars of deferred payments this year.” … MN Gov. Tim Walz: “This has nothing to do with fraud. The agents Trump allegedly sent to investigate fraud are shooting protesters and arresting children. His DOJ is gutting the US Attorney’s Office and crippling their ability to prosecute fraud. And every week Trump pardons another fraudster. These cuts will be devastating for veterans, families with young kids, folks with disabilities, and working people across our state.” … Q: “Can you talk about the legal authority under which the federal govt pauses legally obligated funds, such as Medicaid? Vance: “Congress appropriates the money. We're the ones who actually make sure it actually goes to the people it ought to go to. And inherent in that is making sure that it only goes to the people that Congress says that it should go to. We shouldn’t be sending money to fraudsters.” … Kristy Greenberg on Vance’s statement: “I led SDNY’s health care fraud prosecutions for years. You don’t cut off Medicaid for people who need it to stop fraudsters who abuse it. This isn’t a War on Fraud. It’s a War on Minnesota.” … Vance then moved on with Oz to WI today to threaten them. Reporter: “Here in WI, the governor has refused to give over the Snap data along with the voter data. Is there a point where the admin withholds federal funds from WI? Vance: We are going to look at every option we have because we have got to stop this terrible fraud. Why would the govt of WI not want to help us kick fraud off of the welfare rolls and kick fraud off of the voter rolls? The only answer I could possibly come up with is because they like to cheat.” … Q: “Rural hospitals in WI are struggling. Closures are creating healthcare deserts. What can be done federally to keep hospitals open? Vance: Unfortunately, this, like so much of what's going on in the country right now, is a problem we inherited from the previous admin.” … Q: “Polling shows the biggest concern for WI voters is affordability. What can still be done at the federal level to ease those concerns? Vance: The thing we’ve tried to remind ourselves of in the Trump admin is we were put in a very big hole by Biden.” … So basically their plan for heading into the midterms is to blame everything that is going wrong in the country in Year 2 of the Trump Admin on Joe Biden. Great plan. … Conservative commentator and former Trump supporter Pedro Gonzalez: “It’s very funny that there is still this class of soft spoken conservative intellectuals, many Christians, who see in Vance some paragon of virtue and honesty, all while Vance phones in the laziest lies, lies about Trump policies, lies about US bishops that he privately acknowledges as such. Vance lies whenever he’s not inhaling or exhaling.” … Q: “What is the admin doing about healthcare worker shortages in hospitals in WI? Vance: Use technology to your advantage. So if you have a guy who can do a telehealth appointment, we’re trying to encourage that, because that puts less stress on healthcare workers.” … Q - “Can you explain to the American people why the US would need to strike Iran to stop them from getting a nuclear weapon if the US ‘obliterated’ their enrichment program last summer? Vance: I’m not going to make any news on Iran today.” … Vance: “Someone here said I’m the coolest VP in American history. That is a very low bar but I do think that I clear that bar.” … WaPo: “Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) demanded an investigation into the arrest of her guest at the SOTU, who was removed from the House chamber after standing to protest Trump’s words. Omar said the guest, Minneapolis resident Aliya Rahman, ‘stood up silently in the gallery during the president’s speech for a short period of time, part of which other guests were also standing.’ Following Rahman’s arrest by Capitol Police, she was charged with unlawful conduct.” … “Rahman, a US citizen and software engineer, was forcefully removed from her car by ICE agents as part of the Trump admin’s crackdown on alleged undocumented immigrants in Jan. She said at a congressional forum that she was injured during the detention, and now no longer has full use of her arms. Omar said in a statement that Rahman was ‘forcibly removed’ from the House gallery ‘despite warning officers about her injured shoulders.’” … Reuters: “US Vice Admiral Fred Kacher has been removed from his position as director of the Joint Staff after only taking the post in December. One source says Kacher was ‘returned to service’ because he wasn’t the right fit for the job.” … MarketWatch: “The temporary chief of the US agency that produces critical economic reports on jobs, unemployment and inflation says the data is not being manipulated or influenced by politicians. Complaints about undue interference in key economic reports are nothing new and stretch back years, but they’ve become more pronounced since Trump fired the former BLS chief last summer. Critics of Trump have accused the WH of manipulating the data.” (I feel seen) … William Wiatrowski: “I can tell you there is no outside interference in the data. If anyone was cooking the books, I would be one of the first persons shouting.” … “Wiatrowski has been referred to as a ‘BLS lifer.’ He got his first job at the agency some 45 years ago in the waning months of Jimmy Carter’s presidency, working his way up to one of the top jobs. Wiatrowski has served as acting commissioner 3 times, twice under Trump. The agency does not have a single political appointee currently, but Trump has nominated a new commissioner, Brett Matsumoto. Matsumoto is a longtime govt economist and veteran at the BLS who is widely respected.” … NBC: “Eddie Gossett awoke one morning last summer to what sounded like an airport runway suddenly opening on his rural Mississippi road. The jet engine roar has been almost nonstop ever since, much to the frustration and insomnia of Gossett and his neighbors. It isn’t a plane - or anything supernatural - though. It’s Elon Musk.” … “Just down the road from Gossett’s house, 18 methane gas turbines had arrived on trailers on behalf of the richest person in the world. Without warning, the temporary turbines began running day and night, locals say, to power Musk’s AI ambitions. 9 more temporary turbines arrived in Dec, bringing the total to 27. The company has since applied for a permit to put in 41 permanent turbines at the 114-acre site to generate electricity for AI data centers.” … Gossett was asked whether he intends to move: “I intended to die right here. Hell, I couldn’t give my house away with all this noise.” … “Tech giants like Microsoft, OpenAI and Google are making billions in AI investments across the country to build up the computing and electric power the technology demands. That requires vast land and resources and, for communities like Southaven, a tradeoff between the promise of new jobs and tax revenue vs. environmental and energy costs.” … Reuters: “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she is considering legal action following a comment by tech billionaire Elon Musk that alleged she was connected to drug cartels. Musk’s post on X followed the capture and killing of Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera by Mexican security forces. In the post, Musk responded to a 2025 video of Sheinbaum discussing cartel violence and alleged that she was ‘saying what her cartel bosses tell her to say.’ He did not provide further evidence.” … Politico: “In a White House that prizes spectacle, Howard Lutnick has mastered the art of the announcement. But behind the scenes, his habit of jumping into complex projects and claiming the win has created growing resentment among other officials irritated at having to clean up the details once the cameras are off.” … “Now, though, Lutnick finds himself facing bipartisan calls for his resignation after his name surfaced in the Epstein files, and even frustration from Trump himself about how much Lutnick’s family has been profiting off their association with the president’s brand. Some Cabinet secretaries and senior officials in the admin are also increasingly wary of what they describe as his brash and controlling style – and whether he can deliver on the $18 trillion in pledged investments Trump claims he’s promised.” … Scott Lincicome with Cato Institute: “The reality is that only a small fraction of that has any specifics behind it and can really be considered new investment. So the rest of it is just repackaged stuff that they were already going to do, or stuff that’s related to the AI boom and has almost nothing to do with tariffs.” … One former Trump admin official: “When you’re in a meeting with him, if he disagrees with what you’re saying, or if you are trying to offer, even diplomatically, an alternative view, he just completely shouts over you.” … Lutnick stepped into government from Cantor Fitzgerald, where his sons, Brandon and Kyle, have taken controlling roles. The firm has had a blockbuster year amid a surge of major transactions. It posted revenues of $2.5 billion in 2025, up 25% from the previous year. Trump has been upset that Lutnick’s family is profiting so aggressively off of his popularity and he confronted Lutnick directly about it during an episode at Mar-a-Lago over the winter holiday.” … Punchbowl: “John Thune is facing relentless pressure from all directions as he navigates a politically perilous - and MAGA-driven - fight over legislation requiring ID and proof of citizenship to vote. The pressure is coming from MAGA influencers online, House and Senate conservatives and even Trump. It all centers around a push to use the ‘talking filibuster’ to pass the SAVE America Act.” … “Thune has long expressed skepticism of the ‘talking filibuster’ tactic, warning it would jam up the Senate floor for weeks or even months. The procedure would allow Senate Dems to force votes on some of the most politically treacherous issues facing vulnerable Republicans." By Wed, Thune had enough. He declared publicly for the first time that there’s no way for Senate Republicans to maintain the procedural unity required in order to pass the SAVE Act via a ‘talking filibuster.’” … Republicans would need to stick together to kill every Democratic amendment, or risk allowing Dems to hijack the Senate floor and derail the SAVE Act. Thune: “We’d have to have 50 Republicans to defeat every amendment. And that’s not where we are right now.” … Gas market analyst Patrick De Haan: “The national average is just 1.5c/gal from reaching the $3/gal mark. 42 states seeing weekly increases, so its hitting just about everyone - and prices will likely keep rising until April/May.” … Trump claimed he had gas prices down to $1.85 in his SOTU speech. … WSJ: “The Trump admin told Congress it won’t share with lawmakers the classified intelligence that led to a whistleblower complaint against US spy chief Tulsi Gabbard, citing presidential claims of executive privilege. In an email, Gabbard’s office said it was unable to provide the unredacted intelligence that underpinned the complaint ‘due to the assertion of executive privilege to portions’ of the intelligence itself.” … Currency Comptroller Jonathan Gould testified before the Senate Banking Committee. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ): “Let me read you a quote. ‘We can literally sell shit in a can covered in piss for a billion dollars because people will buy it.’ Do you know who said that? Gould: I’m not familiar with that quote. Gallego: A gentleman named Chase Herro. Gould: I’m not familiar with him. Gallego: He is the co-founder World Liberty Financial.” … WLF is the crypto company owned by Trump, Don Jr. and Eric. |
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