Today in Politics, Bulletin 500. 11/10/26 Ron Filipkowski Nov 10 ∙ … These Bulletins started exactly one week after the 2024 election with Bulletin #1 and here we are at #500. My how much has changed since then. I started these at a very low time for all of us, but I was determined to detail, chronicle and document every aspect of what was about to happen because I knew how bad it was going to be. … It was difficult a lot of the time. Obviously most of the news for quite a while was really bad, and with Democrats in the minority it was tough to highlight their accomplishments - although I certainly tried to find silver linings whenever possible. I know these can sometimes be exhausting to read because there is so much, but hopefully you have found being a hyper-informed citizen beneficial. … If you read these every day, you truly know a mountain of important information about a wide spectrum of issues related to politics. I do my very best to consume a huge amount of news from a wide array of sources to compile and then condense down into a readable format. It is very difficult and time consuming, but at the end of the day when I hit the publish button I have always been proud of the finished product. … Pete Hegseth held his first “press conference” in 6 months - and it was to defend himself in typical unhinged fashion, ranting and raving about how unjust and unfair the resolution to impeach him is. He only called on 6 people for questions - all from friendly right-wing outlets who lobbed him softballs. “We will not apologize: These resolutions are a farce. They mock the Constitution. They criminalize the warfighters who execute lawful orders. This process hands our adversaries a propaganda victory.” “For the first time in American history, a cabinet secretary overseeing America’s military is being attacked not for losing conflicts with our enemies. But for winning them. Condemned not for defeat. But for military victory. Impeachment for success.” “It tells our enemies that the US will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations. It puts a target on the backs of American warriors by signaling that Congress will undermine their missions in real time. This is not patriotism. This is sabotage.” “On the eve of Veterans Day, these resolutions tell every one of them that their service was a crime. Their service was not a crime. These are heroes, and no politician in Washington will tell them otherwise while I hold this office.” “If they want to come for the warriors, they’re going to have to come through me.” Q - “JD Vance says the Iran war was a major reason why Republicans lost in the midterms. Do you agree? Hegseth: Uh. I respect the VP and I’m certainly not going to exchange in finger pointing. Thankfully politics isn’t really my thing.” On Iran: “The media can just never admit the military success. Because you hate the president more than you love our country or our troops.” “This lame duck period is critically important for funding of our department. $350 billion at a minimum for reconciliation is what we believe is needed to make a generational and historic investment in this dept.” … Hegseth called on the following media companies: OANN Gateway Pundit Real America’s Voice Daily Wire Fox News Daily Signal Washington Times … WaPo Pentagon reporter Tara Copp: “I shouted at least 4 questions that Hegseth did not answer, on whether he takes responsibility for the war; on war crimes; others shouted if he’d become a distraction for Trump. Hegseth only took questions from Conservative media outlets they brought in after kicking out the Pentagon press corps last year.” … Trump posted at the end of the event: “Pete Hegseth gets an “A” PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!” … Massie: “I think there’s two categories of Republicans after Nov. 3rd who are more likely to vote to impeach Pete Hegseth. One, I call it the Retirement Caucus. These aren’t people who joined voluntarily. And the ranks of this caucus swelled for Republicans on Nov. 3rd. What do they have to lose? But more importantly, you have a caucus of people who just barely won their election. They thought they had a political annuity, that they’d go to fancy dinners for the rest of their lives, and they barely won by 500 votes. They’re used to winning by 10,000-15,000 votes. And those folks need to put some daylight between themselves and this admi, between themselves and this war.” … Speaker Mike Johnson: “Massie is a disgruntled congressman, and the impeachment effort is a political gambit for attention. I think Hegseth did an extraordinary job. I watched most of the press conference. I thought he did very well. I expect that we’re going to defeat that one way or the other, and we’ll get on with the business. The idea that you would impeach the Secretary of War at a time of conflict sends a terrible message to our enemies and our allies, and we are not going to play that game. You don’t impeach a Cabinet secretary lightly. They had no due process. There’s nothing that went into this. This is just purely for people to get attention, and it’s shameful.” … Rep.-elect Richard Ojeda (D-NC) on the MeidasTouch podcast: “It bothers me that we have so many people that like to rattle the drums of war, and they have no idea what the ramifications are. There have been a lot of things that have been done wrong that need to be addressed. You know, we don’t kill people in the Caribbean and just think it’s no big deal. We don’t bomb a school that kills 160-plus little girls and just say that that’s water under the bridge. Crimes have been committed.” … CNN’s Alayna Treene: “While Trump and Stephen Miller have continued to support Hegseth, there are many senior advisers throughout the admin who have grown skeptical of whether the defense secretary will be able to hang onto his position for much longer, arguing his goodwill with the president will last until it becomes a serious liability. … A former Trump advisor: “The president will back him to a point. But he may be forced to remove him once it’s no longer tenable. There are varying views in the West Wing on how long that will be.” … Punchbowl: Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) just went off on Hegseth, and left open the possibility of voting to allow an impeachment trial to proceed. Ernst slammed the ‘lack of info’ to Congress on the Iran war and seemed to accuse Hegseth of deceiving Trump/Congress about the war. “I question whether the info that is coming through the secretary out of the Pentagon has been accurate, and the way he is portraying the war to the president. If there is deception coming from our Pentagon and being transmitted to the President, I would want to know that. Now, will that be part of this impeachment? I don’t know. But I have some serious questions.” … WaPo: “Several US military aircraft left a British air force base in England on Monday - the second time US military assets have redeployed from British bases in two months. 3 Osprey helicopters, which are used by US Special Operations Forces, and 10 KC-135R Stratotanker refueling aircraft were redeployed to other bases in Britain as well as Spain and Germany. … The WSJ reported that US aircraft were evacuated in the wake of a threat from Iran. The exact nature of any potential threat and the reasons behind the move remain unclear.” … Axios: “Trump, with the clock ticking and congressional investigators closing in, plans to govern even more imperially, hell-bent on stretching executive power, targeting those on his enemies list, pardoning allies, and daring the courts and Congress to slow him down. The playbook: Restore MAGA. Two years ago, MAGA - mostly its network of podcasts, YouTubers and online activists - was a powerful, united force in media and politics. Today it’s a hot, divided mess. Trump’s attention to his base drifted. Now Vance and Miller desperately want to rebuild and rev up MAGA. Rule by pen. Miller, Vought and WH lawyers have been drafting executive actions to govern without Congress, with DOJ opinions ready to defend them. Remember: Vought was an architect of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint for maximizing executive power in Trump II. Target enemies. Before, it was pure payback. Now, it’s also a preemptive warning that the Trump admin will target anyone, including elected members of Congress who target them. Trump ally Roger Stone told us: ‘Many Democrat lawmakers are going to find themselves under indictment and fighting conviction. Watch.’ More monuments. Trump’s pharaonic need to gild the WH, build a ballroom, erect a triumphal arch and slap his name on buildings is also an exercise in raw power.” … NYT: “Alina Habba’s $50 million contract was terminated last week. The company fired her for ‘failure to perform duties.’ She will keep $6.5 mil in salary and $8 mil signing bonus. The firing came days after The Times reporting prompted a Trump outburst.” … So she gets a $14.5 million bribe from her new “boss” instead of a $50 million bribe to secure a pardon from Trump as her penalty for not giving Trump his cut. And she doesn’t have to even pretend to work now. My bet is the other $36 million went into Trump’s pocket somehow. Habba needs to be hauled in front of Congress while we are doing all this oversight stuff. … Axios reporter Andrew Solender: “Huge applause in the Dem caucus meeting for Rep-elect Eileen Laubacher, the Democrat who beat Lauren Boebert. The House Dem caucus meeting this morning is ecstatic. ‘It took a long time to get everyone quiet to start because there are so many of us and we’re all SO EXCITED,’ one member tells me. … Rep. DelBene joked that someone told her the food line is long and she said “you’re welcome.” One House Democrat tells me a new member asked them if caucus meetings are always this jubilant, comparing it to the State of the Union. ‘We haven’t been this happy in a long time,’ the returning member replied. … Meidas reporters Scott Macfarlane and Pablo Manriquez interviewed several Democrats in the hallways: Rep.-Elect Rebecca Bennett (D-NJ): “People would always ask me what it was like to be a helicopter pilot as a woman. And I would always say, ‘The helicopter doesn’t know what gender it is. You just got to get the job done.’ And I’m very proud to have been part of a small group of women. When I was in the military, only 6% of women were naval aviators, and I was also the 18th woman to be a Navy test pilot. And so, ultimately, we should be recruiting our best and brightest from every background and every walk of life. And that’s part of the beauty of the military, is that we’re a melting pot of the entire country. And the fact that we are seeing Pete Hegseth single-handedly target women and people of color, again, is making our military less effective, and it is harming our national security.” Q to Rep.-Elect Dan Koh (D-MA): “Trump said he may with Democrats on a pathway to citizenship for certain categories of undocumented immigrants. Koh: My mom used to always say: Look at what people do instead of what they say. When you’re appointing a xenophobic jackass like Stephen Miller as your chief of staff, who said that we were being invaded when it comes to immigrants, who celebrated legal immigration going down, then we clearly know what Trump actually means.” … Hakeem Jeffries: “House Democrats have won 258 seats and counting. This is the largest majority that any party has had this century. News of our demise was greatly exaggerated.” … Rep. Jim Jordan (R-IN) defeated Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) as the new Republican leader of the House by a vote of 106-73. With Stephen Miller elevated to WH COS, and now Jordan’s promotion, Republicans have obviously learned nothing from the midterms. That vote total also indicates that Republicans continue to struggle to get members who lost their elections to return to work in DC during the lame duck session. … John Thune was reelected as Republican leader in the senate. … Politico: “A major labor union is telling Sen. Chuck Schumer it’s time to go. The Intl Assn of Machinists and Aerospace Workers sent him a letter Monday urging him ‘not to seek another term’ as Senate Democratic leader - making the 600,000-member union the latest voice to join the push for a leadership shakeup after last week’s elections. … IAM President Brian Bryant: “After thoughtful discussions with our IAM Union Executive Council, we believe this is the right moment for a new generation to lead Senate Democrats. This week’s elections sent a clear message: working people are demanding change. This moment will require fresh ideas, new energy and a new generation of leadership. The IAM Union is through with any member of leadership, in any political party, who stops one iota short of being a ferocious, unyielding and unbending champion of working people.” … Schumer’s potential challenger Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) to MS NOW: “We have two members in that room, newly elected senators, who would not be there if Schumer and the DSCC had had their way. And, you know, Schumer and the DSCC sided with the crypto industry and AIPAC against these candidates.” … Rachel Maddow was a guest on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Stewart: “I get pessimistic when I see status quo leadership in place that has disappointed in the past. What will be different now? What would you need to see from Democratic leadership to show they’re moving with purpose and urgency? Give me a few things.” … Maddow: I think they should not only investigate what ICE has been doing, they need to defund ICE. They should impeach not only Pete Hegseth, but Todd Blanche. They need to do something on health care that will stop the president from taking away people’s health insurance. There’s 4 million kids in America right now who aren’t covered by health insurance. Maybe we can’t go for Medicare for All right off the bat, but maybe we can go Medicare for All Kids. They can use the power of the purse to stop the Iran war. Stop Members of Congress from stock trading. Prevent people who have federal contracts from making political donations.” … Politico: “The massive Democratic House victory last week has transformed what might have otherwise been a fraught effort for Hakeem Jeffries to secure the speaker’s gavel, where a smaller majority could have empowered a tightknit block of hard-left holdouts. … Jeffries boasts strong backing around the caucus, with power bases in the Congressional Black Caucus, which is projected to have more than 60 members next term, and the New Democrat Coalition, which is tracking toward more than 140 members. Support from these two groups alone already puts Jeffries close to the 218 votes he would need in January. … Plenty of top progressives are endorsing Jeffries, too. Rep. Greg Casar, the Congressional Progressive Caucus chair, is voting for him, as is the group’s influential former chair, Rep. Pramila Jayapal. Rep. AOC, perhaps the best-known face of the party’s leftist wing, is also backing Jeffries. Reminder there is no Bulletin tomorrow because I do my weekly podcast Uncovered on Wednesdays, where we do a deeper dive into the top stories of the week. Thank you to all who watch, read, share and subscribe to our work! If you missed yesterday’s 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. … Matt Stoller, director of the American Economic Liberties Project: “Dem members of Congress and base voters see Hakeem Jeffries very differently. I’ll try to make the case FOR Jeffries, from the perspective of members. Ironically, they like him for the same reason voters don’t, which is that he’s nice and passive. He’s NOT Nancy Pelosi. If she liked you, you could do anything. If she didn’t. you got virtually nothing. She was in charge. When committees selected new members, Pelosi had a big say. When legislation needed to be finalized, that was Pelosi’s call and her advisors choosing which lobbyists to listen to. She raised money, she allocated favors, handed out metaphorical parking spots. She knew everything. The upside is that Pelosi could whip close votes, and could rule the House. She was able to save the ACA when Obama was ready to give up on it, because of her centralized control of the House. She governed. In some ways, she sort of saved the Obama admin. If you liked the direction she wanted to go, you were happy. If you didn’t, you were not. But there were a few significant institutional downsides. But Jeffries is completely different as a House leader. He doesn’t track very much, he doesn’t know what is happening in every corner of the caucus, and he doesn’t have strong views. He won’t set a direction. He’ll listen, he will act if there’s a consensus, but otherwise will sort of let things play out. You can talk to him about your concerns, he’ll listen and be sympathetic. No one is worried about crossing Jeffries. The downsides to Jeffries are pretty clear. He’s widely disliked as a public speaker, he makes the Democratic Party look bad because he clearly doesn’t have a view of how to govern. He likes Israel and big money, but he’ll do populist things if pushed. He proposed no agenda for the 2026 election, so there’s no obvious specific mandate. Do something about ‘affordability,’ sure, but what? He also won’t be able to manage the House. He won’t be able to whip close votes, he won’t set a direction, and the committee chairs or caucuses will likely run the place. When he speaks publicly, he’ll lack the credibility to speak for the caucus. He won’t be able to negotiate with Trump one on one, Trump will just go around him to other groups of Dems. It’ll be chaos. He’s also not creative. Like Pelosi, he isn’t going to reverse the Gingrich changes that ripped out the institutional capacity of the House. But he won’t be strong enough to manage the centralized control that implies. The upside is the same as the downside. Chaos. The House Democrats are going to have to set the agenda themselves, through organizing, committee hearings, and pure hustle. An entrepreneurial member or set of members working together on something will be able to get a real hearing for what they want. New leaders could emerge. There will be bitter fights between and among caucuses. Members could demand real structural changes to how Congress works and make it functional again, and Jeffries would probably eventually go along.” … Washington Sun: “Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who enraged Democrats by endorsing GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers, spent the vote series tonight in the Republican cloakroom. This was the first vote series post election. Multiple reporters from The Sun stopped by her office today and it appeared to be closed.” … Rep. Nancy Pelosi was asked about members who want to expel Stevens from the caucus: “We have a few more weeks of being in Congress, so I don’t think we should start making judgments about anybody in the caucus at this point. I was disappointed. I conveyed that to her. I want to be helpful to her in terms of how she deals with this, but I’m not supporting kicking her out. Let’s focus on the very positive.” … CNBC: “Costs for goods and services rose more than expected in October, providing fresh warning signs for the Federal Reserve in its fight to lower inflation. The consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% for the month. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a 0.3% increase. … Stripping out volatile food and energy, so-called core CPI increased 0.3% against the forecast for a 0.2% gain. Headline CPI had increased 0.6% in September while core was up 0.3%. The BLS did not estimate a yearly rate. The govt shutdown last year prevented the bureau from collecting sufficient data in Oct 2025, so there is no comparable figure to use. … Investment analyst Karen Manna: “This was the report the market could least afford to see. A hotter inflation print raises fresh questions about whether the Fed has done enough to contain price pressures and reinforces the risk that interest rates need to move higher and stay there for longer.” … Though gas prices have been falling in recent weeks, the energy index rose 0.7% and the gas index was up 1%. The natural gas index, though, was off 0.8%. Food costs accelerated 0.5%, pushed higher by increases of 1% for snacks, 0.9% for beef and 0.5% for meats, poultry, fish and eggs. Transportation services jumped 0.8%. New vehicle prices increased 0.2% but used cars and trucks fell 1.2%.” … Fox Business announcing the news: “It is hotter than expected - we are nowhere near good enough. Real earnings for all private workers are flat now. Until this starts to show significant change, real earnings flat does not get consumers out of the hole they feel they have been in - this is not what Fed Chair Kevin Warsh wanted.” … Economist Mike Konczal: “Food and energy came in hot. But if you exclude that, goods came in hot. But if you exclude that, shelter came in hot. But if you exclude that, the rest of core non-housing services came in hot. If you exclude that, then, well, there’s nothing left.” … Even WH economic advisor Kevin Hassett couldn’t find a way to spin these numbers on Fox: “It’s a disappointing report. Things have accelerated over the last 3 months. The trickle down from higher energy prices is definitely very palpable in the data.” … Economist Heather Long: The October inflation report underscores why so many Americans voted the way they did in the mid-term elections. Hotter-than-expected inflation. Inflation in past year (4%) wiping out wage gains of 3.1% in past year. 7 straight months of this squeeze. Grocery prices rising. Electricity prices rising. Medical care rising. Rent rising. A lot of fun stuff - airfares, restaurant prices - rising Gas price highest ever on Election Day. … Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) rolled back into town blaming Mike Johnson for the midterms: “Our messaging stinks. We messaged about appliances. People are hurting and they don’t need to hear that it takes you 4 times to flush a commode. Our messaging stinks and we need to change that. I’m talking to leadership.” … Their policies stink even more. … Democrat Scott Colom, who continues to lead in the MS senate race by just over 2,000 votes as the remaining few votes are counted, posted: “At some point, we have to talk about Cook Political and other ‘prognosticators’ who had me and other southern candidates labeled as solid R for much of the campaign cycle. They made it much more difficult to fundraise and are part of the reason the South has been neglected for so long. They’re only a reflection of the past and mysteriously avoid any accountability when they’re wrong. One of their ‘analysts’ was extremely condescending to me when I tried to make my pitch for why they were wrong about my rating like he knew something about MS politics when he’s never been to the Sip. This attitude hurt Jaime Davis and others so much. The thing about Cook is there was one guy that I tried to explain to him the potential in MS and why the rating was wrong, and he wouldn’t even listen to me. He basically acted like he knew more about MS politics than me. And I’m thinking in the back of my mind, he’s being so condescending to me. I’ve been paying attention to MS politics for 20 years, buddy. I’ve never even seen you in MS. This guy didn’t even hear me out. He thought he knew more about MS politics than me. And turns out he doesn’t.” … CNN: “Andrew Couch had voted at the same polling location in the last two elections. But when he arrived at his polling place on Election Day, he was told he was registered in a different county that he hadn’t lived in for 6 years. He filled out a provisional ballot that night and, in the days since, has taken steps to try to fix the issue and understand what went wrong. But on Monday, he was told his vote will not count. … Couch: “I couldn’t believe that. That was such an old address. I’ve lived at so many other addresses since then. I’m very upset. I’ve been participating in his process for many years as an adult. I’ve been teaching my kids to participate as well. So, if people lose faith in the process that we’re going through, I think it’s going to hurt voter turnout in general in the future.” … In a Senate race that is still too close to call, MS state election officials are facing intense scrutiny over their methods for maintaining voter rolls after thousands of voters like Couch cast provisional ballots because they were not included in precinct poll books or did not have appropriate photo identification. … Whether those ballots are ultimately counted could determine the outcome of a contest where Scott Colom is narrowly leading Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. But the fight over provisional ballots – known as affidavit ballots in MS – is indicative of how Republicans at the federal and state level have zeroed in on voter rolls, in some cases disqualifying voters with scant notice. … Election officials in MS made waves last year when they began using commercially available credit data to identify voters who may have moved as part of voter list maintenance. Critics of the use of the credit data, which they argue may not be reliable in a state where many residents don’t have bank accounts, say they believe it contributed to a surge in voters deemed inactive and then excluded from poll books.” … Trump bizarrely called in to C-SPAN last night and told them that he watches it all the time. When he first got on air, a woman that sound like Natalie Harp was heard giggling in the background, then she stopped as soon as Trump started talking. … Washington Sun: “Kamala Harris’ decision to run for President could come at the end of the year. Kamala Harris has a decision to make - and the clock is ticking on when those close to her say she should make up her mind. … Advisers and friends in Harris’ orbit have told the former VP that she should decide by the end of this year whether to make another run at the WH, arguing that drawing it out much beyond that would be unfair to the nearly two-dozen candidates expected to run.” … NYT: “There was a time not too long ago when a federal prosecutor could spend a long career in the courtroom and never once fail to get a grand jury to sign off on an indictment. But that time is over, especially in Trump’s Washington. … In the past two weeks alone, prosecutors there have failed to secure indictments in at least 3 cases - an extraordinary acceleration of the troubles that DOJ, and the US Attorney’s office in DC in particular, has had with grand juries for nearly two years.” … MS NOW: Former president Joe Biden expresses frustration and delivers a rebuke to those who suggested he covered-up and failed to disclose his cancer diagnosis in a timely manner, according to excerpts from his new memoir: “What did surprise me was the cynical twist the story took in the political press and among political commentators. Almost immediately, the reaction was: ‘You hid it from us.’ ‘You must have known it.’ ‘You’re lying.’ Let me tell you something: There isn’t anyone in this world with stage 4 cancer who doesn’t wish it had been caught sooner.” … CNN: “House Democrats are demanding that the Interior Dept retain documents related to Trump’s construction projects around DC after whistleblowers warned that key paperwork has already been destroyed before Democrats take power. … The warnings come as the Trump admin is signaling it will accelerate plans for moving ahead with the projects - a key part of what the president sees as his legacy - to lay as much groundwork as possible before the Democrats take over Congress in January. … Rep. Jared Huffman, ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources committee, plans to issue letters to the Interior Dept as well as other federal agencies and private companies, requesting that they “preserve all records and data responsive to oversight” the congressional panel oversees. … Multiple credible whistleblowers have approached Huffman’s committee in recent weeks to voice concern that the Interior Dept is getting rid of records in anticipation of forthcoming scrutiny. The agency oversees much of the national parkland Trump wants to use for his projects.” … President Zelenskyy, while the latest round of negotiations takes place between Russia, Ukraine and the US in UAE: “The quickest way to end Russia’s war is to hold the positions and move to discussions. What is very important here is that we decided: stop where we are, it’s a ceasefire, and we go to the diplomatic track. We end the hot stage and people stop dying. When you hold, you speak about the contact line, slow down the pace of mobilization; the economy begins to work. You are in discussions. Dialogue is better than guns. That's why the best way to end this war is to exchange guns for words. Of course, you will have thousands of questions. How to stop? Where to stand? What is the mandate of the monitoring mission? What is demilitarized? What does it mean? What do we need for this? Europeans. Reconstruction. Where to get the money? Thousands of questions, but this is the format to stop the war – ceasefire. If Putin doesn't want a ceasefire and says, ‘No, I want a long plan, with different questions, both difficult, sensitive, and not. And then, when we sign this long plan, we will stop the war,’ it simply means he doesn't want to stop the war.” … Telegraph: “Gianni Infantino could be hauled before Congress within weeks. Democrats are preparing to escalate their investigation into FIFA’s ties to Trump, with congressional subpoenas potentially issued as early as January. … Jamie Raskin, who is in line to chair the powerful House Judiciary Committee, is examining fresh allegations involving Infantino, including revelations that he asked a FIFA intermediary to help secure a work permit for a maid at his luxury Miami home.” … DC reporter Natalie Fertig: I asked one national Republican Party insider if he thought Stephen Miller would give Vance any space to separate himself from Trump on some things ahead of a 2028 presidential run: “He will dress the VP up as an ICE agent and put him in charge of a raid squad before he allows the VP to get away with that.” … Democratic pollster Adam Carlson on the 2028 Democratic presidential primary race: All but certain: 🔵 Andy Beshear 🔵 Cory Booker 🔵 Pete Buttigieg 🔵 Rahm Emanuel 🔵 Ro Khanna 🔵 Gavin Newsom 🔵 JB Pritzker 🔵 Josh Shapiro Seems pretty likely: 🔵 Mark Kelly 🔵 Wes Moore Clearly considering: 🔵 Ruben Gallego 🔵 Kamala Harris 🔵 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 🔵 Elissa Slotkin 🔵 Chris Van Hollen 🔵 Raphael Warnock Says they’re not considering running but no one really believes them: 🔵 Jon Ossoff Wouldn’t be surprised, and get well soon: 🔵 Chris Murphy Haven’t closed the door, but unlikely: 🔵 Gretchen Whitmer … Today is the Marine Corps Birthday. This was me at Parris Island in 1986 at age 17.

 

JUST A FEW OF MANY COMMENTS:

Ron, you have done a FANTASTIC unmatched job of getting us through these last awful 2 years and HAVE made us hyper-informed citizens, yes!!! 👏 Thank you so much!!! I look forward to your bulletins, Uncovered and Ask-the-Editor always!!! And what a handsome young Marine you were!!! Thank you for your service!!! 💕 And thanks for tonight’s bulletin 😎

💙💯🔥❤️💙💯🔥❤️💙💯🔥❤️💙💯🔥❤️💙💯🔥❤️💙💯🔥❤️💙💯🔥❤️💙💯🔥❤️

I read this bulletin every day. It’s a priceless resource and I am very grateful to Ron for all he’s done.

Semper Fi Ron.

SHUT THE FUCK UP

MIKEY (little) JOHNSON

Nobody needs to listen to your sorry lying hypocritical rump ranger ass anymore

YOU ARE AN IRRELEVANT LOSER

It sounds like Chris Van Hollen is going to challenge Schumer. Hopefully he will win.

Schumer needs his nap times. And I seriously wish they would replace Jeffries. Now is not a time for any Democrat to be nice. We need a strong leader of the House who knows what is going on.

It was disturbing to say the least to read how Jeffries conducts himself with his peers…..I will take Pelosi anytime over Jeffries and it just confirms, he is not the right person at all, especially at this time!!!

Yes, we need someone who can "Herd the cats!"

Let's keep the pressure on our senators to help him run and win. Bernie already announced he will not support Schumer.

I called today to say “no” to Schumer!

change.org already has a petition supporting Chris Van Hollen

https://www.change.org/p/chris-van-hollen-for-senate-majority-leader?source_location=search

Fingers crossed. The ginormous labor union has told Schumer to move along. All the petitions, letter-writing and phone calls from We The People are sending him the same message. His presumption and announcement of his coronation are premature.

I'm doing my letters tomorrow. Write or call Chris Van Hollen encouraging him to challenge Schumer:

Contact | U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland

Email Senator Van Hollen · Schedule ... Fax: (202) 228-0629 · Get Directions · BALTIMORE REGIONAL OFFICE · 1040 Park Avenue Suite 120 Baltimore, MD 21201 Phone: (667) 212-4610 ·...

Ron really likes Chris Van Hollen! He repeated that on Uncovered several times. I trust Ron Filipkowski!

Urge Senator Van Hollen to be the Challenger!

* change.org already has a petition supporting Chris Van Hollen

https://www.change.org/p/chris-van-hollen-for-senate-majority-leader?source_location=search

*Contact | U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland

Email Senator Van Hollen · Schedule ... Fax: (202) 228-0629 · Get Directions · BALTIMORE REGIONAL OFFICE · 1040 Park Avenue Suite 120 Baltimore, MD 21201 Phone: (667) 212-4610 ·...

Elisa Slotkin and Bernie Sanders held a press conference this afternoon stating it’s time for new Senate Leadership. I watched Timothy Snyder interview Chris Van Hollen on his Substack. I really liked him.

I watched that presser. Slotkin did not oppose Schumer; she waffled and did not commit, unlike Bernie, who did and said he would not support Schumer.

I have to admit, I am not 100% positive I know who Van Hollen is. If that substack is open I will go watch. Thanks for the tip Linda.

I really respect some of Jefferies backers. I can't quite figure out what's up. I agree with Ron's assessment of Hakeem. I think we can do better.

We definitely can do better with a New Speaker of the House.

Thank you for all you do, Ron, it's greatly appreciated!!

Faithful reader since discovering the “Bulletin”…yeah, Gym Jordan and sexual abuse in the OSU wrestling team’s showers…Jordan has ducked that scandal for years, and Josh Marshall at TPM reminds us that the Gymster still needs to be called out:

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/jim-jordan-and-the-ohio-state-student-athlete-sex-abuse-cover-up

OHIO gerrymandered his district to keep him there.....beyond GYM's abuse....   

Out of curiosity, I did a quick search...ALAN DERSHOWITZ defended JEFFREY EPSTEIN, O.J. SIMPSON, HARVEY WEINSTEIN, MIKE TYSON and tRump.... 

and is avoided in his 'community' - a local vendor refused to serve him

Dershowitz to Newsmax: Jim Jordan Built for Democrat Lawfare

Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax that newly elected House Republican leader Jim Jordan is "a pit bull" ready to fight what he called "two years of lawfare" from the incoming Democrat majority.

Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor emeritus who said he argued before the Senate during President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial, spoke on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" after House Republicans picked Jordan, R-Ohio, on Tuesday by a 106-73 vote over Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La.

Democrats take control of the House and Senate in January.

"He rolls his sleeves up, and it's no nonsense," Dershowitz said.

Responding to a quip that Jordan would make a good trial lawyer, Dershowitz added, "If he were the trial lawyer, you wouldn't need an appellate lawyer because he'd win the case."

He said Republicans are bracing for "two years of misreading and misusing the Constitution, two years of neglecting the business of the American public and affordability, and two years of trying to get even."

He compared that to how Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and his secret police chief, Lavrentiy Beria, used the justice system: "Show me the man, and I'll find you the crime."

With Democrats in charge, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, is in line to chair the panel Jordan now leads.

Dershowitz said he once gave Raskin top marks in criminal law but predicted that "he'll be beaten down, and he's not going to be able to use this tool of impeachment, which was reserved by the framers for high crimes and misdemeanors."

"Well, it's going to be the Congress of impeachment," Dershowitz said. "They're going to be impeaching people over and over again."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/dershowitz-newsmax-jim-jordan-built-230623234.html

The Independent

https://www.independent.co.uk › news › world › americas › us-politics › alan-dershowitz-marthas-vineyard-pierogi-b2803763.html

Alan Dershowitz once again denied pierogi as Martha's Vineyard ...

Aug 7, 2025Alan Dershowitz unsuccessfully attempts to purchase pierogi from an unwilling vendor at a Martha's Vineyard market. It's the latest in his controversies over pierogis in the celebrity hotspot.

Van Hollen: " ... Schumer and the DSCC sided with the crypto industry and AIPAC against these candidates.”

Thank you!! But don't forget Schumer's daughters, one a lobbyist for OpenAI, the other works for Amazon. His conflicts of interest are huge and render him unfit to lead the Senate.

Ron: " ... I know these can sometimes be exhausting to read because there is so much, but hopefully you have found being a hyper-informed citizen beneficial."

Knowledge is power. I feel the deepest gratitude for your perseverance, dedication to the truth, following wassup in MAGAworld so we don't have to, and condensing it down to a well-balanced summary of the day in politics. I have no doubt your work and MTN in general helped us turn this tide of corruption and cruelty around. Now I hope you will help us get corruption out of the Democratic party leadership by exposing who they take money from and holding their feet to the fire.