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Today in Politics, Bulletin 465. 9/22/26

Sep 22

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… A blockbuster new story from the amazing investigative journalists at ProPublica detailing blatant corruption by Sen. Susan Collins that was covered up by Trump’s FBI and DOJ. After scandals rocked the initial Democratic nominee Graham Platner, his successor Troy Jackson looks to capitalize on corruption that might finally end Collins’ political career.

… ProPublica:

“Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign. The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers. Then Trump gutted the unit in charge.”
“Our story starts in 2019. Collins is at risk of losing her seat. A year earlier, she helped Navatek land a multimillion-dollar Navy contract in Maine. Scott Reed, head of the pro-Collins super PAC, meets with Navatek execs in a DC cafe and asks for a $500K donation. This is risky. Govt contractors are banned from making political contributions.”
“For the company to offer donations to Collins in exchange for an official action, or for Collins to accept, would constitute criminal bribery. To skirt campaign finance laws and conceal the source of the funds, Navatek’s CEO, Martin Kao, sends an initial $150K to the pro-Collins super PAC using a shell company.”
“Reed knows Kao is behind the donation. ‘Very smart,’ he says in an email. Kao wants assurance Collins would know he was behind it, and according to Kao, Reed confirms that she would. 7 days after the super PAC cashes the check, one of Reed’s subordinates emails a Navatek lobbyist: ‘Sen. Collins would like to call Martin to thank him.’”
“Weeks later, Kao tells his team Collins committed to getting the company $32M in naval contracts. But then, Kao got caught. The FBI had seen through his shell company ruse, and in 2022 a grand jury indicted him for making illegal campaign contributions. No one working for Collins was charged.”
“Facing years in prison, Kao recounted the cafe meeting to the FBI in 2022, hoping to reduce his sentence by revealing the scheme. What he told them has never before become public. That cafe meeting, Kao asserted, was just one episode in a sprawling pay-to-play operation in Congress.”
“He and his close associates donated nearly $900K to dozens of politicians, allowing Navatek to establish operations in half a dozen states with $40M+ a year in gov funds. Of all the politicians Navatek courted, Collins was its most important patron.”
“At times, Kao and his associates cut checks to Collins’ campaign within 24 hours of the annual defense spending bill, which funds military contracts, clearing a key Senate hurdle. Even Navatek’s executives were surprised at how far their money went in DC.”
“Here’s a crazy part: Kao told the FBI that the company’s gov work was of no real value. Its research under his stewardship resulted in products Navatek knew the military would never buy, former employees said. One example: A 3D-printed boat Collins posed with in a photo op.”
“By the end of 2024, FBI agents had enough evidence to pursue a sweeping bribery probe that could ensnare top lawmakers of both political parties. They asked their supervisors to approve a new investigation. Then Trump returned to the WH.”
“He eviscerated the specialized FBI and DOJ teams handling public corruption investigations, some of which were involved in Trump-related cases. And the govt stopped talking to an informant who had offered a road map to corruption in Congress.”

… Democratic nominee Troy Jackson: “We deserve answers about every contract and every conversation that Collins and her team facilitated on the backs of taxpayers. The jig is up.”

… Republicans are acting and sounding increasingly desperate as Trump is like an anchor dragging them to the bottom of the political ocean, as senate candidates in IA, MI and KS are now calling for an end to the Iran War while others remove references to Trump from their websites. But the sycophantic RNC Chair that Trump installed is plowing ahead with a strategy that the solution to the electoral map is more Trump.

… Fox News ratings change:

US Senate
Georgia: Lean D—>Likely D
Kansas: Likely R—>Lean R
——
Governor
Alaska: Lean R—>Toss-up
Texas: Likely R—>Lean R

… Decision Desk HQ ratings change:

US Senate Alaska

Toss-up —-> Leans Democratic

… USA Today: “In Michigan’s crucial Senate race, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is pulling ahead of Republican Mike Rogers in an election being driven by opposition to Trump, according to a Sept. 22 poll from Suffolk Univ. 48% of likely voters in MI said they were casting their ballot ‘to change the direction Trump is leading the nation.’ Just 20% said they were voting to support Trump.

… “El-Sayed, a doctor and former public health official, now leads Rogers, a former congressman, 47%-40% in a race many Republicans have viewed as their best chance to pick up a Democratic-held seat. Trump carried Michigan in 2024, albeit narrowly, and El-Sayed is a progressive who has never held elective office.”

… “The Suffolk survey found Trump’s approval rating has sunk to 31% in Michigan, where Democrats see the economic impact of his tariffs, especially those imposed on neighboring Canada, as a major liability for the GOP.”

… A Fox reporter to El-Sayed on the campaign trail today: Q - “You say you're a capitalist, what do you mean? El-Sayed: Capitalism is the process by which we enable supply and demand to allocate capital so that it's the most productive in an economy. We are not in a situation where we have capitalism, we have corporatism.”

… A new Marist poll has Democrat Josh Turek now up 8 points against Republican Ashley Hinson in the Senate race. Turek is up 50% to 42% among registered voters. In the governor’s race, Democrat Rob Sand leads 54-42%.”

… Politico: GOP leaders are also trying to keep a handle on contests in IA and KS - and they’ve quietly begun deprioritizing GA and even NC, which a growing number of Republicans are privately bracing for Democrats to flip. One senior GOP official: “We need to stop the contagion.”

… “Since Aug. 1, nearly two-thirds of advertising funds in House races have been booked or spent in races with GOP incumbents. Republicans have adjusted their Senate map expectations: They’re still bullish about ME, MI and NH. They’re not as optimistic about NC. Republicans are more concerned about AK and TX. And their worries about OH have escalated amid soaring diesel prices and backlash to tariffs.”

… RNC Chair Joe Gruters on Fox:

“We’re gonna put the president front and center, and we expect that to resonate with the American people.”

… Please do. Send him to Maine to do a rally with Collins.

HUH?

“If you think Havana and Caracas and Moscow is the way to go, then vote for the left.”
“We need more time right now. We need a longer runway.”
“This is not your grandparents’ Democrat Party. They want to get rid of Thanksgiving. They want to get rid of July 4.”

… Every day they get dumber and more desperate.

… Miami Herald: “FL Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds launched an updated campaign website this week stripping away numerous prominent references to his endorsement from Trump as the president’s approval ratings hit new lows.”

… “Donalds’ campaign website was previously dominated by references his Trump endorsement. A button to ‘Chip in to Support Trump Endorsed Byron Donalds’ was at the top of the homepage. ‘TRUMP-ENDORSED Proven Conservative Fighter. BYRON DONALDS’ was the page’s main text. A yellow banner reading ‘ENDORSED BY PRESIDENT TRUMP!’ marked the middle of the homepage and a prominent section quoting Trump’s 2025 endorsement said ‘RUN, BYRON, RUN!’”

… “All those mentions were stripped away from his updated campaign website. On a landing page detailing Donalds’ agenda, he removed what was previously listed among his priorities: Enact the Trump Agenda. Now affordability is the first issue on the page and Trump’s name is nowhere to be found. Donalds stripped at least 8 references to Trump from his homepage.”

… Laura Loomer: “Anyway, November is going to be a bust. We tried. But there’s only so much you can do. America will learn the hard way about the threat of communism and Islam since it’s not being taken seriously.”

… Former Rep. Marge Greene mocked Loomer: “Trump wants Mamdani to be a great mayor. Someone needs to check on Larry Doomer. She’s spiraling right now and doesn’t understand why worshipping him never gave her a WH press pass. Laura, the truth is, with Trump loyalty only goes one way.”

… New low in the latest CNN poll on Trump’s handling of Iran: Approve - 26%. Disapprove - 73%.

… CNN pollster Harry Enten: “Trump’s net approval on his handling of foreign affairs is 42 points underwater. It is the lowest that any president has ever had on foreign affairs. With independents he’s 57 points underwater - George W. Bush’s lowest rating with independents on foreign affairs was 34 points underwater in 2006.”

… As Trump walked into the UN today, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins attempted to ask him about the new poll numbers after she was banned from the WH. Trump wasn’t happy: “I’m surprised that CNN is here. You should not be here covering me. You said you wouldn’t be covering me. Collins: We are here because we are credentialed by the UN while being blocked by the WH from covering the president.”

… JD Vance on the campaign trail today:

Q: “Just hoping to get a response about a growing number of Republicans in battleground states, calling for an end to the Iran war? Vance: I haven’t seen what you’re talking about. What I’ve seen is people who are very excited about what we’ve done.”

… Politico: “6 weeks before an election Republicans portray as a referendum on socialism and communism, Trump started the week praising a socialist and will end it feting a communist. The president lingered on the lawn of Gracie Mansion yesterday alongside NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, lauding the democratic socialist’s ‘great potential’ and projecting ‘hope he will be a great mayor.’”

… “And as GOP Senate candidates like Mike Rogers and Ashley Hinson face a darkening political sky with the Iran war looming overhead, Trump on Thursday will regale Chinese President Xi Jinping with a state dinner in the East Room. That dissonance is driving WH allies and Republican strategists mad.”

… A Republican close to the WH: “I don’t think people really want to see you toasting the Chinese premier. You’re hosting this glamorous state dinner at a time when people are like, ‘Are you focused on me?’”

… GOP strategist Barrett Marson: “The in-your-face arguments from Republicans this election cycle is that Democrats want to bring socialism or communism to America. Trump is warmly embracing two of the most outspoken leaders of those ideologies.”

… “As Mamdani’s time to brief the press came, he asked Trump on the spot to join him, and the president agreed. During the presser, Mamdani called on MS NOW, CNN, and POLITICO 3 the 3 outlets Trump banned from the WH last week.”

… Mamdani held a press conference today to announce the city’s $135 million settlement with DoorDash to resolve an investigation into underpaying delivery workers:

“Today, after years of corporate greed and impunity, we are holding DoorDash to account. I am proud to announce that DoorDash will pay more than $131 million, the largest settlement for food delivery workers ever secured in American municipal history, and a landmark win for those who have been mistreated and abused for years with nowhere to turn.”
“City Hall will not sit idly by while a megacorporation that made nearly a billion dollars in profits last year rips off the working people who keep our city moving.”
“The Workers’ Justice Project and the Workers’ Algorithm Observatory are engineering software that lets delivery workers record the DoorDash app and share it directly with the city. For the first time, workers will have the power to crowdsource data and investigate the black box algorithms that dictate their schedules and pay.”
“DoorDash cannot prevent or penalize a worker for using this tool. And if DoorDash tries, we will fast-track any retaliation case to get that worker reinstated.”
“To any corporation that has built a business model on greedy algorithms and worker exploitation, consider this your notice. If you keep trying to rip off New Yorkers, we will be happy to make history again. This is NYC, where hard work pays and greed will cost you.”

Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my weekly live podcast Uncovered at 4 ET where we do a deep dive into the top stories of the week. If you missed yesterday’s Ask the Editor show that is here. Yesterday’s Bulletin is here.

… From Trump’s UN speech:

"I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again. Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival
and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election."
“We inherited a dark age of America from the previous administration and we turned it into the golden age.”
He said he’s officially renaming AI: “Artificial intelligence, hereinafter officially called super intelligence - changing the name in that the use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake. It makes it sound fake, and it is not fake. It's actually amazing.”
“Christians are being persecuted all over the world. It's not even believable.”
“The US is opposed to the out of control institution known as the ICC. We will never allow US service members or anyone else to be investigated or given show trials by an anti-American tribunal. You're an evil group of people. I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately.”
“When you add the US and Venezuela together we have more than 60% of the oil in the world. To the victor belong the spoils.”

… The US and Venezuela hold a combined 22% of the world’s oil reserves.

… Trump’s press conference after his speech:

"We have a lot of Fake News and I think when news is fake and it's actually dangerous, we have a right to clear it out."
Q - “The strikes inside Russia on the refining capacity and the diesel—It seems like that's been a serious hit on the Russians? Trump: It's also a serious hit on the price of diesel.”
On banning diesel exports: “I've called for that too. I've said let's not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel. That could have a little bit of an effect on regular automobile gasoline because when you do that, you know, it's a sort of a flow, it's a balance, but no, I've called for it. I've called for it within my people. I've been talking about it. Scott Bessent: We’re examining that.”

… Former Mike Pence Chief of Staff Marc Short: “The admin’s trade policies are hammering America’s farmers, and the polling in reliably red states shows it. Some Republicans are floating a diesel export ban. A diesel export ban would remove 20% of the world’s traded overseas diesel supply overnight and send a massive shockwave through supply chains and the global economy - naturally making matters worse ahead of the midterms.”

… “Lawmakers in newly found swing states would be better served reclaiming their constitutional authority to set trade policy rather than surrendering to the executive branch. The best way to help farmers is to lower tariffs and open markets to American agricultural products.”

… The Mirror: “Trump has been utterly humiliated as his new 24-hour video channel immediately flopped, with its initial ratings nowhere as good as he might have hoped. The admin launched its own TV channel, called Trump TV: The Essentials Station, just days after the Republican leader barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the WH. The new channel, which was launched on Sept 21, promises to feature all the ‘biggest moments in one place.’”

… “However, when the channel launched at 7pm on Monday, around 8,000 viewers tuned in - however, just 90 minutes later, the audience had dropped to below 4,000. By 9pm ET, only 3,000 viewers were watching the TV channel - a tiny audience compared to the millions of people who watch the major networks at primetime.”

… Ambassador to UN Mike Waltz was interviewed by Kaitlan Collins on CNN:

Q - “How is reporting on the president a national security threat? Waltz: When we have outlets that are relying on anonymous sources and talking about the levels of ammunition we have in the middle of conflict… Collins: That was in the IG's report from the Pentagon talking about shortages.”
Waltz: “We have a first amendment, right to publish, right for free speech. But what you don't have an inherent right to is to have access to any government institution that you want. Collins: What's the message to world leaders if he's banning coverage because he doesn't like what the reporters are reporting? Waltz: I think the message to world leaders is we need an open, free and fair and objective press corps. That's not what we're seeing right now.”
Waltz on Russia-Ukraine: “There are over a half a billion Africans that are going to go from bad to worse situation because of the attacks on food and the attacks on energy infrastructure that we're seeing both sides. Collins: You say both sides. Russia started the war, so shouldn't they stop attacking—they’re hitting schools, apartments, hospitals. Shouldn’t they stop first since they started the war? Waltz: Well, we would love the Russians to stop. We'd love the Ukrainians to stop.”

… Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Fox & Friends:

Q - “Now that you're secretary of state, what's it gonna take for you to take the lead on Ukraine and Iran? Because it seems like it's Witkoff and Kushner, and not you. Rubio: Well, the lead is the president on every one of these issues. I have two jobs. They're doing a great job.”
On NATO allies who blocked US use of bases to bomb Iran: “If that’s going to be denied to us, then we’ve lost the biggest reason for us to be in NATO.”
"The one thing we are concerned about, however, is that over the last few months on a number of occasions American-linked ships, American oil supplies, have been targeted - probably not deliberately - but targeted nonetheless by Ukraine. That needs to be addressed. We can't have that happen."

… Ukrainian journalist Kate Bohuslavska: “This didn't happen. What actually happened is that Russia deliberately bombed several American businesses in Ukraine. The Bunge oilseed plant was hit right after Senator Blumenthal's visit in a twisted demonstration of power.

… WSJ’s chief foreign affairs correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov: “No mention of multiple Russian attacks just in recent weeks on American-owned businesses and factories in Ukraine, though.”

… Financial Times war correspondent Christopher Miller: “One glaring omission here by Rubio: He says nothing about the several Russian attacks on American companies in Ukraine that have been badly damaged or destroyed. They include: Coca-Cola. Boeing. Terminal Autonomy. Cargill. PepsiCo. Philip Morris. Mondelez. Bunge. Flex Ltd.”

… WSJ: “The Trump admin has proposed investing $5 billion in a new fund that would help Middle East countries rebuild energy infrastructure battered in the Iran war and reduce their reliance on the Strait of Hormuz. The move is a tacit acknowledgment that the 7-month conflict has roiled the global energy market and destroyed regional pipelines and refineries that will be costly to rebuild.”

… “Some Middle East officials said the initiative appeared to be Washington’s attempt to cast the Strait of Hormuz as a less consequential energy route and show that the US and its allies as united in confronting Iran. But risky to do deal without an Iran peace deal, some said.”

… Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) called for a congressional investigation into Junior’s wedding:

“A toaster is a wedding gift. A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else. Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign relationships. We should not unplug it now. ‘Trust us’ was not enough then, and it is not enough now.”
“The country should not have to accept one standard for the family of a Republican president and another for the family of a Democratic president. Nor should congressional oversight begin and end when control of the WH changes hands.”

… NYT: “AOC has said she will weigh the decision of whether to run for president after the midterm elections. The decision is clearly already weighing on her. In an interview with NYT, AOC revealed the electoral equations she is crunching and the mental ‘math’ she is calculating as she approaches the biggest crossroads of her political career.”

… AOC: “There’s an argument that some make that this is a very unique political window and, oftentimes in politics, you do only get one shot. And you don’t - and just in life in general - life doesn’t wait for you to be ready for things. Sometimes life just makes things ready for you.”

… AOC, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, is now in her 8th year representing parts of the Bronx and Queens. She could simply keep winning re-election. But in 2028, she has two other choices: run for the WH, or seek the seat now held by Sen. Chuck Schumer.”

… On whether a woman can win running for president: “If you’re asking me about the things that I weigh, of course, that’s part of what I weigh. It’s funny because it’s kind of like, everyone else is allowed to talk about it, but I’m not? What is very odd about our political culture is that for some reason when you raise it, people just freak out. They get so defensive at the mere suggestion that gender could play a role.”

… The losses of the only two women ever to secure the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, loom large: “It may or may not be related, but I absolutely empathize with the heartbreak that people feel around that and, frankly, how those women were treated.”

… “This country has never elected a female president. Why are we pretending that this is not a factor? That doesn’t make it impossible, but to act as though it’s not a factor in anything ever is really a form of, like, denialism.”

… Reuters: “The ‌PA Dept of Health reported 792 measles cases on Monday, 25 more than on Friday, as ‌the state’s outbreak grew further, remaining at ⁠the center of the nation’s worst measles resurgence in decades. Here ‌are some more details:

The state health dept confirmed 155 hospitalized measles patients, up from the 150 reported on Sept 18.
Earlier this month, PA reported measles-related deaths among unvaccinated residents, a toll that sparked disagreement between Gov. Josh Shapiro and HHS Secretary RFK Jr. over how ‌many fatalities were directly caused by the virus.
The CDC has not yet added PA’s 2026 measles deaths to its national count. The agency has ⁠said it is reviewing how it classifies such deaths.
The US has recorded 3,471 measles cases this year as of Sept 17, according to CDC data.

… Politico: “The political consulting firm that runs several of Trump’s top social media accounts is suing one of its co-founders, accusing him of embezzling and gambling away millions of dollars, including spending company funds on luxury sports cars, designer clothing and first-class travel.”

… “X Strategies, the firm co-founded and led by Alex Bruesewitz, the Gen Z wunderkind behind much of Trump’s social media strategy, filed the lawsuit on Monday against Derek Utley, Bruesewitz’s longtime business partner and the company’s former chair and CFO. The company maintains the ~~Trump War Room~~ and Team Trump accounts on X and helps manage Trump’s TikTok presence - some of the social media accounts with the most significant followings on the right.”

… “The lawsuit accuses Utley of embezzling at least $5 million from X Strategies in a yearslong scheme that the company alleges helped fund an increasingly lavish lifestyle and gambling addiction. The complaint brings claims including civil racketeering, civil theft, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.”

… “The lawsuit alleges that beginning in 2021, Utley siphoned off millions of dollars and “purchased luxury sports cars, designer clothing, jewelry, traveled to exclusive locations first-class (with an entourage), and wagered higher amounts at casinos on a more regular basis.”

… “In 2025 alone, the lawsuit alleges, Utley spent 200 days gambling at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and used $29 million in company money to win more than $26 million playing slot machines, a net loss of $3 million.”

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