Trump’s Senate Pick Is Losing. Look Who’s Paying For Him.
The detail that stopped me cold in Michael Whatley’s filings was one single box. Under “employer,” the filing for Trump’s Energy Secretary literally says: “US Dept of Energy.” They aren’t even trying to hide it. We have at least 10 more investigations like this dropping before Election Day. If you want to fund the dig and put the next batch of receipts in front of millions of voters, step up as a Founding Member or gift a subscription. Trump’s Senate Pick Is Losing. Look Who’s Paying For Him.Also: The judge, the lawyer, and the peanut farmer Trump didn’t see coming
What you’re about to read isn’t sitting on a cable news teleprompter. It exists because we spent hours and hours digging through records Trump’s people hoped nobody would ever read. Before we dig into the receipts, tap the ❤️ like button and restack this post so the algorithms can’t hide it. It’s a huge help. We don’t take corporate cash, and we have no billionaire publisher telling us to take it easy on Trump. That independence is how we’ve delivered three exclusive investigations this week, and have at least 10 more to release on GOP Senate candidates before Election Day. It’s also how we’ve organized readers to send more than 875,000 letters to Congress, and why what we post gets seen billions of times a month. If you’re ready to fund the next 10 investigations and keep this operation independent—join us as a paid subscriber right here
We Found Trump’s Cabinet InWhatley’s Donor FilesThis spring, $12,000 to help elect Michael Whatley showed up in federal filings with the donor’s employer listed as “US Dept of Energy.” The donor is Chris Wright, Trump’s Energy Secretary. We went through the rest of Whatley’s filings, and Wright wasn’t the only one of Trump’s people in there. Whatley ran the Republican National Committee, and now Trump wants him in the Senate from North Carolina. Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler gave $62,000. Education Secretary Linda McMahon gave $66,300 in December, and three months later she was at an event with Whatley in High Point. Christine Toretti, Trump’s ambassador to Sweden, sent $10,000 the day after Christmas, about three months into the job. That’s a total of $150,300 from four different people who are getting paid by our tax dollars. All of it went through a joint fundraising account that feeds both Whatley’s campaign and Republican Party committees—including the RNC. Then there’s Russ Ferguson—the top federal prosecutor for western North Carolina, the man who decides which people get charged with a federal crime there. He gave Whatley $1,000 while the Senate was still weighing his own nomination. He gave another $1,000 this March, two days after then-Attorney General Pam Bondi threw out the DOJ’s tougher rules on political activity by appointees. We haven’t found these donations reported anywhere else. None of it is illegal. Federal officials can give their own money; they just can’t ask anybody else to give. But the checks tell you who has Whatley’s ear, and it’s not people in Greensboro, Durham, or Raleigh—that’s for sure. All that money they’re throwing at the campaign is not working. Democratic nominee and former Gov. Roy Cooper leads Whatley by 11 points in Elon University’s poll and by 15 in a poll from the conservative Carolina Journal. At the end of June, Cooper had $20.7 million in the bank to Whatley’s $3.5 million, and a super PAC backing Whatley just canceled $6.5 million in October ads. The cabinet can keep writing checks. North Carolina voters can keep saying no. Whatley’s campaign, the SBA, and the Energy, State and Education departments did not respond to requests for comment.
The Judge Who Refused Trump’s BallotShakedownEvery year, FEMA sends cities and states about $1 billion to train and equip first responders for terrorist attacks. This summer, the regime put a price on that money. Plan a switch to hand-marked paper ballots, manually audit at least 5% of them after every election, and run every voter through a federal citizenship check—or lose 20 percent of that funding until you do. More than $200 million was on the line. Six local governments said no: Nashville, Columbus, and the Texas counties of Harris, Dallas, Travis, and El Paso. Going along would have cost Dallas County $7.25 million in printing equipment alone. El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez called the citizenship demand “reckless.” They sued, and on Monday they won. Judge Amir Ali asked a question the regime never answered: what does any of this have to do with terrorism? FEMA, he wrote, “never explains how that condition, or any of the others, is tied to the goal of shoring up vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks.” Then he threw the conditions out for everyone in the program, not just the six that sued. Trump took money that was meant to protect the American people from terrorists—and then tried to use it to change how people vote. But a group of cities and counties stood up, and a judge tore up that ransom note for all of us. Local officials still run elections, and the money that trains first responders is no longer Trump’s bargaining chip.
Trump’s Revenge Probe Is Running Out OfProsecutorsTrump wants the people who investigated him charged. Former CIA Director John Brennan and former intelligence chief James Clapper signed off on the finding that Russia meddled in 2016 to help him. Brennan has now been ordered before a grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, and Clapper got a subpoena. It’s known as the “grand conspiracy” investigation, and it was built to go after people like them. Now the folks who have been running it are leaving. On Monday, Kurt Olsen sent an email saying he was stepping off the case. Olsen’s one of the lawyers who tried to help Trump overturn his 2020 loss. He worked with Texas AG Ken Paxton on the lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to throw out the results, and a federal appeals court later upheld sanctions against him for “false, misleading, and unsupported factual assertions” in an Arizona election case. Apparently, an issue came up with his security clearance first, and he’s floated moving to a federal prosecutor’s office in North Carolina to work on election matters. He’s the second big name out in three weeks. Joe diGenova, brought in to lead the case, quit and said, “If you want indictments where there’s no evidence, you have an ethical problem.” He later told the AP he’d been taken out of context, that there’s “plenty of evidence” and it “just takes time.” Time is the one thing they’ve had. Pam Bondi gave the order for a grand jury investigation in August 2025—more than a year later the probe hasn’t produced a single charge.
Ossoff Wins Over Georgia’s Peanut CountryDonald Chase grows peanuts in Oglethorpe and chairs the Georgia Peanut Commission. He has voted Republican nearly all his life. This week he endorsed Dem Sen. Jon Ossoff. “We don’t necessarily elect a party,” Chase said. “He stood up and said, ‘This is not appropriate.’ I like people who will stand up for the things that I believe we, as Georgians, support.” Here’s what Ossoff stood up for. A lot of the emergency food America sends to nurse starving children back to health is a paste made from Georgia peanuts, and Mana Nutrition in Fitzgerald buys about 2 million pounds of those peanuts a month to make it. When the regime gutted foreign aid last year, Mana lost $12 million in orders overnight. When Senate Republicans moved to take back billions more in July 2025, Ossoff offered an amendment to protect the money for UNICEF—the agency that buys Mana’s paste. The Republican majority voted it down 51 to 48. His current opponent, Rep. Mike Collins, voted in support of the cuts on the House side. Peanut country didn’t forget any of this. Polls last month all had Ossoff ahead, one by as much as 10 points. Democrats can’t afford to lose the Georgia Senate seat if they want to flip the chamber. Ossoff showed up for farmers and hungry kids when it mattered. Now it’s paying off in a part of the state Republicans thought they owned. There are only 33 days left to flip Congress, and we’re not taking our foot off the gas. While corporate media repeats what Trump says, we are busy pulling the dockets, tracking the dark money, and relentlessly investigating the regime’s rampant corruption. No one can call us to kill an exclusive. We have no corporate sponsors to protect or a billionaire owner begging for favors in Washington. When we catch a politician taking money from the wrong people, we don’t blink—we get the proof out there. We refuse to put any of this evidence behind a paywall. We need 26 new paid subscribers today to keep our investigations free, independent, and firing on all cylinders through Election Day—and beyond. Before you go, hit the ❤️ like button and restack this edition. Your restack gets our investigations in front of people who’ve been told the receipts always stay hidden. Your share can prove them wrong. Onward! Scott Should Trump’s appointees be allowed to write checks to political candidates? What’s your prediction for Election Day, as of now? Thanks for your support! Another way to help us out is by gifting subscriptions to friends and family! You can get yours by clicking the link. For all contact Congress links, or to volunteer, you can go here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-for-the-watchdog-coalition COMMENTS: If you are tired, read this and get up. They are not invincible. They are sloppy, and sloppy loses. Let’s go! |
Sloppy loses every single time, Sam. Seeing through the illusion of their invincibility is what gets us out of our chairs and into the fight!
Lots of wins to keep us motivated, Sam! And you are right...so sloppy. Did you see, they can't even spell the "United States" properly on Trump's "Super Intelligence" accord?
The unforced errors and spelling blunders on official documents speak for themselves, Julie. Incompetence always shows through!
I believe a culture of carelessness has taken hold from the top down. I see it reflected in misspellings. In the awesome humiliation of yesterday's GOP members while attempting to attack hero Jack Smith. They didn't bother to check. The convention in texas. The gross display of Trump's birthday. The careless tearing out of the rose garden. Where did those plants end up? The mess he's made with the "ballroom". Jeanine Piro unable to see thru a case. Careless. Bombing a SCHOOL in Iran. Because they used an out dated map. And lying about it. Hegseth firing people who could save his sorry ass. And ours. Careless. Why? There are no consequences at all for these awful people. Things are swept away, excuses made. I can list many much worse examples. So can you all. How long??
MAGA JAMES COMER convened the circus to impeach President Biden, ignored evidence revealed in THE GUARDIAN (the LIAR was paid for a year prior to COMER'S clown show); COMER couldn't find a 'witness' who had fled the country to avoid arrest, another 'witness' was in prison.
Who expected the MAGA CLOWNS to prevail in their attack of Jack Smith?
Couldn't figure out which GAME he attended?
Regarding the first destruction of the ROSE GARDEN, there were quiet reports that dedicated gardeners preserved the rose bushes. Not sure if the same was true of the second desecration.
Jeanine Pirro is a FAUX NEWS BIMBO who has lots of historical baggage.
PIRRO GETS ZERO IN SLAY BLUNDER; INNOCENT MAN HAD NO HELP FROM DA
By Kenneth Lovett
Published Sep. 21, 2006,
excerpt:
ALBANY – A man convicted of murder – and whose written plea for help was ignored by GOP attorney-general candidate Jeanine Pirro when she was Westchester County district attorney – was cleared of the crime yesterday and released from prison after 16 years.
In a blow to Pirro’s campaign, Jeffrey Deskovic, now 33, was freed after Pirro’s successor, DA Janet DiFiore, agreed to do what Pirro wouldn’t – send DNA for re-testing, which linked the crime to another man already serving life in prison.
Deskovic’s release from Sing Sing state prison, where he was serving a 15 years to life on rape and murder charges, came hours after Pirro abruptly canceled a scheduled press conference at Ground Zero to call for reinstatement of the death penalty.
In a phone interview with The Post, Deskovic ripped Pirro for having ignored his request to examine his case in 1997.
https://nypost.com/2006/09/21/pirro-gets-zero-in-slay-blunder-innocent-man-had-no-help-from-da/
MAGA GOP believe ALL AMERICANS are as STUPID as they are.
Isn't that just the height of irony? Stupid is as stupid does... (Forest Gump)
I doubt that it's trump coming up with all of this stuff, he does not have the brain power to do much of anything these days - other than spew vitriol, chaos, including speaking words that are provided to him. He is evil, but he is also stupid. The Project 2025 brains in the background are the ones coming up with content, setting him up behind the podium.
The architects behind the curtain rely on chaos to distract, Judy, but shining a light on their playbook robs them of that advantage.
Chump didn't come up with the 'agreement'. It was written by Zuckerberg and AI. The 'AI bros' just shoved it in front of the orange corpse and said sign here - probably along with a nice fat bribe.
I am very sorry that Zuckerberg is part of our society. I'm sorry that facebook exists. I'm sickened by the sight of he and the other Uber wealthy on their gross mega yachts. Clogging small harbors. Just being ugly entitled Americans. That's our new brand right now.
Thank you, Sam. We need reminding of this every day!! They are NOT invincible...they just want us to think they are.
Keeping that reminder front and center is vital, Elaine. They want people to feel helpless, but organized voters hold the real power.
Jon Ossoff is one of my 2 fantastic Senators. I live out in SW GA literally surrounded by Cotton and Peanut fields - I'm looking out on Cotton from my office window. The farmers here are hurting. They are paying ridiculous prices for fertilizer. The cost of diesel used to power the equipment they are harvesting with right now is through the roof. Farming is in a very real recession. Talk to everyone you know - we need a real Blue Tsunami on November 3rd!
Stephen, thank you for sharing that vital on-the-ground report from southwest Georgia. Farmers bearing the brunt of soaring diesel and fertilizer costs due to reckless federal policies are living the reality of this recession. A blue wave on November 3rd is essential for real agricultural relief!
Stephen, you have my prayers. I am feeling for farm families all across the country! It is an absolute CRIME! what DJT is doing to you all! WE all must VOTE like our lives depended on it!!!! Let the BLUE TSUNAMI crash down on all of them!
Thank you for the well wishes! I am lucky not to be a farmer. I retired up from S FL (to escape the Hurricanes - I lived at sea level, and to escape the politics in that state). I came up here to grow Camellias and other niceties.
Oh, I see Stephen! Good for you! Thank you for voicing your concerns about the farmers, all the same. A bit of a flower gardener myself in years passed. Enjoy! :-)