Today in Politics, Bulletin 380. Ron Filipkowski May 15 ∙ … Trump’s DOJ is about to create a $1.7 billion slush fund to pay J6 criminals and his henchmen a fortune out of your tax dollars. ABC: “Trump is expected to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for the creation of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate allies who claim they were wrongfully targeted by the Biden admin. … “The commission overseeing the compensation fund would have the total authority to hand out approximately $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds to settle claims brought by anyone who alleges they were harmed by the Biden admin’s ‘weaponization’ of the legal system, including the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack as well as potentially entities associated with Trump himself.” … “The arrangement would be an unprecedented use of taxpayer dollars with little oversight. Under the terms of the potential settlement agreement, Trump would have the authority to remove members of the commission running the fund without cause, and the commission would be under no obligation to disclose its procedures or decision-making process for awarding more than a billion dollars.” … “The proposed creation of the compensation fund has led some admin officials to raise ethical concerns about the arrangement - stemming not only from Trump suing his own govt but also having control of an entity that can freely hand out $1.7 billion to his allies.” … Rep. Jamie Raskin to Meidas: “It’s illegal, unconstitutional, and outrageous. Congress controls the spending of money from the federal govt, and we never voted to establish a $1.7 billion fund to pay off insurrectionists and his extremist private militias, and we would never spend money on that. So it needs to be blocked. It’s an absolute corruption and prostitution of the Judgment Fund.” … AOC to Drop Site News: “It’s corruption. The judge basically said they wanted to dismiss the case, so they created this contrived settlement in order to enrich themselves.” … Rep. Pete Aguilar to Meidas: “This shouldn’t surprise anybody. This is a guy who pardoned 1,500 insurrectionists, and now, as part of that commitment to them, he wants to give them a check. It’s terrible, but this is exactly who he is.” Bloomberg … WSJ: “Boeing and Toyota donated $1 million each to help fund a new reality-television inspired show starring Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy with his family on a road trip. ‘The Great American Road Trip’ features the Duffys traveling throughout the US in a video series celebrating the country’s 250th birthday. Costs were covered by a nonprofit backed by big companies his agency oversees, including Boeing and Toyota.” … WaPo columnist Drew Harwell: “The maker of jets that crashed and killed everyone onboard and the carmaker fined tens of millions for mishandled recalls have suddenly decided to sponsor their top regulator’s reality show purely for the love of the open road.” … Trump concluded his embarrassing trip to China where he betrayed every campaign promise he made regarding China, signaled his willingness to sell out Taiwan for soybean contracts, and came across as a fawning fanboy of Xi Jinping. These were some of his comments to various people on his final day: Hannity: “Do you think you made progress? If you’re not going to sign this big agreement after meeting for hours, do you feel the foundation was laid? Trump: Sure. This time is bigger than last time. They’re going to do a lot of soy beans from our farmers.” On his campaign promise to force Chinese citizens to divest from US farmland holdings: “You want to see farm prices drop? If you want to see farmers lose a lot of money, take that out of the market.” … Trump at a 2024 campaign rally in PA on Chinese buying US farmland: “You can’t do it. We don’t want you buying our land. We don’t want you taking the land off the market.” On his campaign promise to “aggressively” reduce the number of Chinese student visas: “500,000 students—good students. I could tell them I don’t want any students. It’s a very insulting thing to say to a country. They would then immediately go out and start building universities all over China. If you want to see a university system die, take a half a million people out of it.” It’s a very insulting thing to tell a country, ‘we don’t want your people in our schools.’” “Xi is going to order 200 jets from Boeing. I think it was a commitment. Sort of like a statement.” … Boeing’s stock plummeted 4% on that announcement. That’s because China was expected to order 500 jets based on previous negotiations with the company. But Trump is trying to spin this as a win by him. Trump walking through the garden with Xi at the Zhongnanhai compound to interpreter: “Ask the president - other prime ministers and presidents - does he bring them here?” He wants to be a special boy so badly. He’s desperate for autocrats to love and respect him. Such a needy fragile child easily manipulated and rolled. And Xi brought Putin there, Barack Obama and others. But Trump wants to be able to say 1,000 times that Xi would only bring him there because of their “special relationship.” “If Biden came to China, I don’t even think he would get a meeting with President Xi.” On Xi: “If you went to Hollywood and looked for a leader of China to play a role in a movie. He’s Central Casting. He’s very tall—especially for this country. They tend to be a little bit shorter.” Hannity: “People worry about China having nefarious intentions. Trump: Honestly, you know, they do things to us and we do things to them.” Q: “What about the arms sales to Taiwan? Trump: I’ll make a determination over the next fairly short period. Q: You’re not necessarily gonna go ahead? It was your proposal. Trump: I’ll make a determination.” Q: “Would the US defend Taiwan if it came to it? Trump: I don’t want to say. That question was asked to me today by President Xi. I said, ‘I don’t talk about it.’” … Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about it: Q - “Should Trump have been more committal when it comes to Taiwan? Johnson: I’ve been really busy the last couple days, so I haven’t seen the exact readout on how that discussion went.” On Iran’s new leadership: “I think they are actually much more reasonable in many ways. Smarter than the first tier and the second tier who are no longer with us.” On retrieving enriched uranium in Iran: “I don’t think it’s necessary except from a public relations standpoint. I think it’s important for the fake news that we get it.” Q: “You saw the reporting on Iran’s missile capability, missile launchers that have remained. Is that accurate? Trump: It’s NYT fake news. The missile launchers are probably 80% gone.” … It was a report by US military intelligence. To NYT’s David Sanger: “I had a total military victory. But the fake news, guys like you, write incorrectly. You’re a fake guy. We had a total military victory. I actually think it’s sort of treasonous what you write. You should be ashamed of yourself. I actually think it’s treason.” … Iran Foreign Minister Araghchi: “If they want to go back to war, it’s up to them. They have tested us. They can test us again. But the result will not be any different.” Q: “Who are you going to endorse in the Texas Senate race? Trump: I’m looking at it. I think the Democrats have a weird, weird candidate. 6 genders, a real hit on Jesus. This guy is bad news. He was a vegan.” … Trump posted: “When President Xi very elegantly referred to the US as perhaps being a declining nation, he was referring to the tremendous damage we suffered during the 4 years of Sleepy Joe Biden and the Biden Admin, and on that score, he was 100% correct. Xi was not referring to the incredible rise that the US has displayed to the world during the 16 spectacular months of the Trump Admin.” … Sure, dude. Xi is openly mocking Trump but he can’t accept that his autocratic hero denigrated his presidency so he has to impute Xi’s comment to Biden. Lame, but typical Trump. … Conservative commentator Bonchie who writes for RedState.com: “I know the MAGA influencer accounts are busy posting fire emojis, but this China trip looks like a dud. We got a non-binding Boeing order, less than half its original size, and some vagaries about soy beans. China got profuse praise, concessions on trade, support for buying our farmland and 500,000 student visas, AI chips, and the softening of demands around Iran.” … “Sorry, I can’t lie to you and tell you this was a good result. Scream at me if you must. Oh, yeah, we also gave in on not pledging to sell weapons to or defend Taiwan.” … There were no women in either the US or Chinese delegations during the talks. … CNN: “The health official who led the public response to the Hantavirus outbreak has little background in public health and previously was a penile implant specialist who hosted a podcast where he questioned the 2020 election and compared the Biden admin to Nazi Germany.” … “Brian Christine, an Alabama urologist who was confirmed last year as Asst Secretary for Health once hosted a podcast called ‘Common Sense,’ where suggested George Soros and the World Economic Forum may have used the pandemic to shut down small businesses, urged listeners to watch the debunked election fraud film ‘2000 Mules,’ and said he opposed abortion even in case of rape or incest.” Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I’m off Saturdays. We are going on a challenging hike in a very remote area in northern Maine way off the grid. Once we get there on long dirt roads the hike is 8 hours with 9 waterfalls so hopefully we survive it. If so, I will be back with the weekend Bulletin on Sunday. If you missed the last Bulletin, you can find it here. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. … Mike Johnson: “The president has declared Operation Epic Fury to have concluded, and now we’re working on the next project, which is getting the Strait of Hormuz open. We don’t expect that to be a warfare activity, so to speak. So we’ve got to allow the admin time to negotiate these things. I don’t think Congress needs to get in the way of the admin.” … Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY): “I’m going to say this real slow for Mike Johnson: The Iranians control the Strait of Hormuz BECAUSE of Epic Fury. They have this leverage BECAUSE Trump went to war without a plan. The American People are paying hundreds at the gas pump because YOU refuse to stand up for them.” … Rep. Jim Jordan on CNN: Q - “What about Trump’s promise in 2024 that if he was reelected, gas would be under $2 a gallon? Jordan: Well, gas prices were coming down until we had to deal with this situation. But that’s life.” … Q - “But if someone was paying $2.98 a gallon before the war, and now they’re paying $4.53, saying ‘that’s life’ might not make them feel better. Jordan: Those are your words, not mine. Host: You said that just now. I quoted you.” … Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) to CNN: “What are the American people gonna get? I have a good sense of what Elon Musk is gonna get. These are the same CEOs that sat next to Trump during his inauguration. It’s a golden age for them. But what about the American people right now that have had to pay $40b more in gas and diesel since the start of this war?” … CNBC: “US Treasuries spiked on Friday morning following a week of messy inflation data and as traders looked to price interest rate policy under new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. The yield on the 30-year bond jumped 8.6 basis points to yield just under 5.1%, the highest since May 22, 2025, and nearing the highest since October 2023. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note - the main benchmark for US borrowing - surged 7 basis points to 4.55%.” … “Though the govt recorded a budget surplus of $215 billion for April - typical for the month as tax collections come in - it was 17% below the same month in 2025. Financing problems continued to be an issue, as the $97 billion spent for interest costs on the debt was the second-highest expenditure after Social Security.” … I predicted tax revenues would be way down this year. Not only because of the Trump tax cuts and sluggish economy but also because wealthy people and corporations no long fear being audited as Trump has neutered the IRS and DOJ’s tax fraud division. … Guardian: “DOJ is dropping its fraud charges against the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, the richest man in Asia, after he hired a new legal team led by Trump’s personal lawyer. In an undisclosed April meeting at DOJ, Trump’s personal lawyer, Robert J Giuffra Jr, said that Adani would invest $10B in the US economy and create 15,000 jobs if prosecutors dropped the charges against him.” … “Adani was accused of conspiring to pay $250m in bribes to Indian govt officials and misleading American and international investors with false statements. He and two other executives of an Indian renewable energy company were indicted in NY and charged with multiple counts of fraud in November 2024. At the time, DOJ said that in addition to paying $250m in bribes, Adani also schemed ‘to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice’.” … Lisa Miller, the Dep. Asst. AG at the time of the indictment: “These offenses were allegedly committed by senior executives and directors to obtain and finance massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of US investors.” … Politico: “Pete Hegseth’s last-minute decision to cancel the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland caught Pentagon staff and European allies by surprise - the latest example of an abrupt personnel move from the Defense secretary that blindsided both sides of the Atlantic. It wasn’t clear exactly why Hegseth issued the order.” … “The decision was even more surprising because troops and equipment had already started to arrive in the country. It sent fresh waves of anxiety through European capitals and inside the Pentagon on Thursday about whether such moves could embolden Russia - and which ally might turn into the next target.” … One US official: “We had no idea this was coming.” … “The move follows Hegseth’s announcement this month that the Pentagon would withdraw 5,000 troops from bases in Germany. But that decision followed through on a threat Trump made after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the US was ‘humiliating’ itself with the conflict in Iran.” … “The 4,000 Texas-based troops were preparing to leave on a long-planned 9 month rotation to Poland that includes training with NATO allies when the order to halt came through. The cancellation of this routine mission is especially unusual given that American troops stationed on the continent are a key deterrent to Russia.” … Politico: House Armed Services Committee Republicans are ripping the cancelation of troop deployment to Poland at Army budget hearing. Rep. Austin Scott: “These are major decisions that appear to many members of the committee to be last-minute decisions.” … Chair Mike Rogers: “So we don’t know what’s going on here, but I can just tell you we aren’t happy with what’s being talked about, particularly since there’s been no statutory consultation with us.” … Rep. Don Bacon: "It's an embarrassment to our country - what we just did to Poland.” … Philip Buchanan (Catturd on X with 4 million followers) angrily denounced Thomas Massie’s announcement that Lauren Boebert will be in his district this weekend to campaign for him against Trump-endorsed challenger Ed Gallrein: “Time to vote out Lauren Boebert. This is how she repays Trump for all his past support of her. Enough of these backstabbing snakes.” … Boebert responded with a photo of herself with Massie: “Below is my friend Thomas Massie. He loves America and is fighting to save it. And if that makes you angry, bless your heart.” … New Yorker: “There was a time, not very long ago, when Ben Shapiro could reasonably call himself the king of all conservative media. His company, the Daily Wire, dominated social-media feeds and podcast apps; in the run-up to the 2020 election, it was ranked as Facebook’s top English-language publisher for 3 straight months.” … “He was a digital battering ram against the Democrats and the progressive left. He seemed guaranteed, like Fox itself, for an indefinite run at the top of the media heap. That’s all over now. The Daily Wire is instituting significant layoffs. Its YouTube channel’s subscriber base is starting to shrink, and its website has emerged as one of the great traffic losers in conservative media.” … “There are Daily Wire YouTube videos that now, after a few days online, have less than 10,000 views, a catastrophically small number for a channel with more than 3 million subscribers. The top comments all mock the low view counts.” … Shapiro responded to the story with a video captioned, “All the haters can kiss my ass,” where he melted down, raging that the attacks on his company were a conspiracy between the far right and liberals in the media to destroy traditional conservatism: “For the media left, they love a right that is crazy. They don’t want a right that is characterized by normie beliefs. They want a right that’s nuts, because the easiest way to make AOC president in 2028 is to have her run against a movement that is focused on Brigitte Macron’s testicles, or demon attacks, or why the Jews are responsible for your inability to get a date.” “As for the woke right - Nick Fuentes, Tucker, Candace, Megyn Kelly - they want to tear down traditional conservatism and turn it into a skin suit for their own perverse politics. The alliance between the left and the woke right is real. It’s why they are using the same talking points. All these people are on the same script.” “It’s no coincidence that at the same time these legacy left publications are attacking the Daily Wire, they’re also writing strange new respect features on Fuentes, Greene, and Tucker. The left wants those people to win. They want traditional normie Republicans to go away.” “Maybe they’re right. Maybe it will turn out the future of the right is Tucker-style grievance conspiracies, or Candace Owens’ kookery, or Nick Fuentes Nazi cosplay or Theo Von’s man-child illiteracy. Maybe that’s what comes next.” … Colorada Sun: “Gov. Jared Polis on Friday cut former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ 9-year prison sentence in half, and ordered the 70-year-old, who has become a national martyr for election conspiracy theorists, released on parole June 1. Peters was sentenced for orchestrating a security breach of her county’s election system in 2021 in a failed attempt to uncover voter fraud.” … “The extraordinary, but expected, decision puts Polis at odds not only with fellow Democrats, but also with many Republicans in Colorado - including the man who prosecuted Peters and a list of conservative local elections officials outraged by Peters’ behavior.” … “The governor’s move - which comes as Polis and Colorado have faced mounting criticism and retaliation from Trump - also likely ends any speculation about his political future as a Democrat. By commuting Peters’ sentence, Polis, who has been mentioned as a possible presidential contender, has probably neutered any chance of rising in his party’s ranks.” … Rep. Lauren Boebert: “Govenor Polis and I have had many conversations regarding Tina’s unjust punishment and her release. My heart was filled with joy when he called me today to share this great news!” … Axios: “Trump allies want to smash the Guinness World Record for the world’s biggest fireworks show, planning over 30 minutes of pyrotechnics in DC this July 4. The supersized spectacle for America’s 250th birthday is the latest Trump touch on DC, including a never-before-seen UFC cage fight on the WH lawn next month.” … “The fireworks spectacle will run nearly twice as long as last year’s show on the National Mall. Breaking the world record - set in the Philippines in 2016 - will take more than 810,904 fireworks. … “Freedom 250, which is funded with a public-private partnership, did not immediately respond to questions about the cost estimates or whether taxpayer funds will be used.” … Elon Musk has been an emotional wreck over the past few days. He has been eagerly anticipating Christopher Nolan making The Odyssey into a movie with Matt Damon as the lead character until his dreams were shattered when Nolan announced that Academy Award winning actress Luputa Nyong’o (who happens to be black) was cast as Helen of Troy. … Elon has been melting down 24/7 ever since with an endless stream of posts about the movie being ruined for him.