May 14, 2026

If you watched the Chris Hayes segment I embedded earlier today, then you know that Trump has claimed (falsely, one presumes) that he would give to charities like the American Cancer Society all of the billions he hoped to steal from taxpayers in a suit in which he was both plaintiff & defendant -- a suit a federal judge opined was illegal on its face. Well, it seems the "gifts to charities" posture is over now. The scheming president* has a new plan. ~~~ 

~~~⭐Trump Plans to Run Criminal Enterprise Forcing Taxpayers to Bankroll Huge Slush Fund to Pay Terrorists, Other Criminals. Really. Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump is expected to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service in exchange for the creation of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate allies who claim they were wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration.... The commission overseeing the compensation fund [-- whom Trump would appoint & could fire at will --] 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 administration'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. While the settlement is expected to be agreed upon in the coming days, sources caution that the final terms will not be set until they are officially announced.... The proposed fund -- which could face significant legal hurdles -- would draw money from the Treasury Department's Judgment Fund, a permanent appropriation used by the federal government to pay court judgments and settlements, sources said. The arrangement would be an unprecedented use of taxpayer dollars with little oversight." Read on. 

You know, there's nothing quite like a fun taxpayer-funded snorkeling adventure around the grave of hundreds of American sailors lost at Pearl Harbor. ~~~

Jim Mustian, et al., of the AP: “When Kash Patel visited Hawaii last summer, the FBI took pains to note the director was not on vacation, highlighting his walking tour of the bureau’s Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement. Left out of the FBI’s news releases was an exclusive excursion that Patel took days later when he participated in what government officials described as a 'VIP snorkel' around the USS Arizona in an outing coordinated by the military. The sunken battleship entombs more than 900 sailors and Marines at Pearl Harbor. The swim, revealed in government emails obtained by The Associated Press, comes to light amid criticism of Patel’s use of the FBI plane and his global travel, which have blurred professional responsibilities with leisure activities. The FBI did not disclose the snorkeling session or that Patel had returned to Hawaii for two days after his initial stopover on the island.

“With few exceptions, snorkeling and diving are off-limits around the USS Arizona. The battleship, now a military cemetery reachable only by boat, has stood as one of the nation’s most hallowed sites since Japan bombed and sank it in 1941.”

Trump in China -- the Opera Buffa.

Pablo Robles, et al., of the New York Times lays out who-all Trump took to China.   

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The New York Times is live-updating Donald Trump's little excursion to China. From the pinned item at 5:00 am ET: “China’s leader, Xi Jinping, delivered a warning on Taiwan to ... [Donald] Trump as the two leaders began their summit in Beijing on Thursday, saying that the issue, if handled poorly, could lead to conflict and 'an extremely dangerous situation.'... Forcing major U.S. policy shifts on Taiwan would be a long shot. But Mr. Xi has a powerful card to play: China’s economic leverage over Iran, and the prospect that it could potentially help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.... One of China’s related priorities is persuading the United States to curtail its arms sales to Taiwan. Aside from Taiwan, Mr. Xi and Mr. Trump discussed trade, the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, according to Xinhua....

[Xi and Trump] met in the Chinese capital in a ceremony laden with pageantry and pleasantries.... Mr. Xi greeted Mr. Trump on Thursday morning outside the Great Hall of the People. They shook hands before walking together past an honor guard and rows of cheering children.... A question looming over the summit is whether China will agree to an extension [in the pause to a trade war that concerns China's export of rare earth minerals]. A number of top executives, including Jensen Huang of the chip giant Nvidia, have joined the president in China. American business leaders have been pushing for measures that would further open the Chinese market, though analysts say that a major deal is unlikely.” ~~~

     ~~~ The AP's live updates are here. 

Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: “Beijing granted permission on Thursday for hundreds of American slaughterhouses to resume beef shipments to China, 15 months after Chinese officials had signaled displeasure with ... [Donald] Trump’s initial tariffs by allowing the industrial facilities’ licenses to expire. The approval came before the start of Mr. Trump’s talks with Xi Jinping, China’s top leader. [Mr.] Trump is expected to press Mr. Xi to buy more American goods and reduce a trade imbalance in which China has long sold the United States three to five times more goods than it buys from America.... However, these [licensing] approvals do not guarantee that China will resume buying large quantities of American beef. Beijing manages imports through state-controlled purchasing associations that favor geopolitical and trade allies.”

John Hudson of the Washington Post: “A confidential U.S. intelligence analysis details how China is exploiting the war in Iran to maximize its advantage over the United States across military, economic, diplomatic and other fields, said two U.S. officials who have read the report. The assessment, the officials said, was produced this week for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, and has raised alarm within the Pentagon about the geopolitical costs of Washington’s standoff with Tehran as ... Donald Trump enters high-stakes talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.” Hudson goes on to outline some of the details of the report to Caine. Update: the link has been changed to a gift link.

New York Times Editors: “When Mr. Trump first won the presidency a decade ago, he correctly labeled China a threat to American interests and criticized past U.S. presidents for their naïveté. In both his terms in office, however, Mr. Trump has weakened the United States relative to China. The damage has been especially bad in his second term. His failed tariffs have been the central example, setting off a humbling chain of events.... He has also diluted instruments of American power that have long been crucial to constraining foreign adversaries. He has alienated partners that can help counter China, including Japan, Australia, India, the European Union and Canada. He has cut funding for scientific research, diminishing American prowess in A.I., green energy and other realms.... The biggest risk of this week’s summit is that Mr. Trump will trade short-term American gains, such as the exporting of more soybeans and other agricultural goods, for long-term Chinese advantages.”

Rubio on AF1 yesterday. Maduro during capture.

~~~ Joe Sommerlad of the Independent: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio posed in a tracksuit aboard Air Force One Tuesday - the same outfit worn by deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro when he was captured in January. Rubio had arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to board ... Donald Trump’s flight to China wearing a suit, only to make the unusual costume change after take-off. 'Secretary Rubio rocking the Nike Tech “Venezuela” on Air Force One!' posted White House Communications Director Steven Cheung on X, alluding to Maduro.... Cheung’s photograph was subsequently picked up by the official White House account....” Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I could be convinced otherwise, but to me the snapshot of Rubio looks like a hostage photo. Whether this was Trump's idea of Steven Cheung's, I don't think Rubio figured he had a wardrobe choice. The fact that White House bully Steven Cheung took the photo, then posted it on the White House account is evidence of my theory. Also, Chris Hayes said last night that the tracksuit Rubio was wearing didn't seem to fit him right. There may be a racist element to it, too: "All Latinos look alike"?? I'm surprised whoever put Rubio up to this cosplay didn't make him wear a Maduro mustache, too. ~~~

~~~ OR, maybe Marco was going incognito to try to sneak into China, where he is personal non grata: ~~~

~~~ Michelle Lee & Lyric Li of the Washington Post: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a fierce China critic, was banned in 2020 from entering the country. On Thursday, however, he sat across from Chinese officials in Beijing — with a nameplate displaying a new Chinese spelling of ]Rubio' that perhaps made his visit possible as part of ... Donald Trump’s entourage. The change predated Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Chinese state media and official records began using a different transliterated character for the 'Ru' or 'Lu' in Rubio’s name after Trump named him secretary of state in 2025.”

If you saw any of the group photos of the ceremonies around Trump's visit to China, you might have noticed the tallest person in the shots. That was Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization. ~~~

~~~ Steve Benen of MS NOW: “... Donald Trump went to great (and at times dishonest) lengths to go after Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, for his efforts in China, which predated Biden’s presidency....  as my MS NOW colleague Zeeshan Aleem explained last month, the Trumps’ China trip 'creates all kinds of possibilities for dealmaking that could undermine the public interest.'... It’s incumbent on U.S. administrations to avoid the appearance of conflicts like these. As is too often the case, Team Trump doesn’t seem to care.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Now, now, Steve. Don't you worry. I'm sure House Oversight Chair Jim Comer (R-Ky.) will get right after Eric, just as he did with Hunter -- again and again. 

“No Comment.” Greg Jaffe of the New York Times: “In nearly 14 hours of congressional testimony in recent weeks, Gen. Dan Caine was repeatedly asked versions of the same two questions: How had the world’s most powerful military allowed the Iranians to cut off the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, and what could it do to get ships moving again? The answers General Caine delivered highlighted the tightrope he walks. As the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he is obliged to stay out of the political fray inflamed by the war in Iran. But he works for a president who demands absolute loyalty. In public, General Caine has defined the military’s mission in narrow terms, an approach he took on Tuesday as frustrated Democratic and Republican lawmakers pressed him and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to explain their plans to open the strait and end the war.”

Slouching Toward Autocracy. New York Times Editors: Donald “Trump’s war with Iran is the most significant military action in American history that a president has undertaken without any form of congressional authorization.... Over the past two and half months, Mr. Trump has ordered thousands of strikes against another country and killed its leader. The war has roiled global energy markets and drained American munitions stockpiles. Yet despite its scope and stakes, the president continues to show disdain for members of Congress who ask questions about the war and has not even provided a coherent rationale for it. Congressional Republicans deserve significant responsibility for the situation.” The editors raised one factor on their “autocracy scale.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “The Senate on Wednesday blocked Democrats’ seventh attempt to halt the war in Iran, as Republicans banded together almost unanimously to beat back the first such effort since ... [Donald] Trump blew past a 60-day deadline to seek congressional authorization to continue the fighting. But another Republican who had opposed earlier attempts defected from the party line on Wednesday, in a sign of growing cracks in the G.O.P.’s patience with the conflict and the president’s handling of it. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska for the first time joined Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky in voting with Democrats to advance the measure. The effort failed on a vote of 50 to 49, with Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania again joining Republicans in opposition.” (Also linked yesterday.) The Hill's report is here.

Jonathan Edwards & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “Historic preservationists sued to stop the project, and a federal judge ordered a halt to it. But construction on ... Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom is pressing forward, with the first portions of the structure now rising aboveground amid a continuing legal battle and a congressional fight about how to pay for it.... Until recently, construction had been largely invisible to the public, focused on the underground infrastructure needed to support the 90,000-square-foot structure.... Photos taken in recent days show crews have erected a concrete structure topped with columns of exposed rebar, used to reinforce the pillars that will support additional floors. A federal judge’s order in March halted aboveground construction, but the order was stayed while an appeals court panel considers the case.”

Sarah Blaskey & Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration planned to start work at the site of the president’s proposed Triumphal Arch by piggybacking on an existing, unrelated contract for engineering services at the White House grounds more than a mile away, emails obtained by The Washington Post show. The move would allow the administration to bypass a potentially lengthy public bidding process, and experts said it was unusual because the arch site is on National Park Service land across the Potomac River and is not part of the White House complex.

“Park Service acting director Jessica Bowron wrote to White House officials last month asking whether the agency could extend a contract between the White House and engineering firm AECOM Services for an environmental assessment for the proposed 250-foot arch.... An hour later..., Heather Martin, an official in the Executive Office of the President..., [wrote back,] 'Yes of course.'... It’s not clear ... whether the Park Service ultimately followed through with the plan to use the White House contract. But site testing was to begin this week, according to a timeline laid out by the Trump administration in federal court last week. Heavy machinery was at the site Monday. A spokesperson for the Department of Interior, which oversees the Park Service, responded to a detailed list of questions about the proposed arrangement by saying The Post’s 'assertion on contract sourcing is incorrect.'”

Chris Hayes is livid that Trump is about to pull off "the greatest heist in American history": ~~~

Somewhere in the West Wing is a cramped, mouse-infested office staffed by at least half-a-dozen MAGAts. On the door is a presidential* challenge coin -- superglued on by Trump himself -- and a sign that identifies the office as the "Department of Awesome Ideas." (Some wiseacres call it the "Department of Asinine Idiots" or "... Awful Ideas.") Quite a few of those awful ideas meet with the president*s approval. Here's one in the works. ~~~

~~~ Mike Bedigan of the Independent: “Donald Trump is considering issuing 250 presidential pardons to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America, according to a new report. The president may make the announcement on June 14, his own birthday, or on July 4, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.  Trump has already faced criticism for issuing an historic number of pardons since returning to office for his second term, despite vowing to end what he described as the 'politicization' of the Justice Department during his campaign.... Trump is now 'normalizing public corruption' and downplaying the crimes of convicted fraudsters who stripped millions of dollars from victims, according to former DOJ Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer.”

Dan Diamond & Aaron Schaffer of the Washington Post: “A group of Miami residents sued ... Donald Trump, Florida officials and trustees of Miami Dade College on Tuesday over Trump’s planned presidential library, claiming that the college’s decision to hand over a coveted parcel of land for the project constitutes an illegal benefit for the president. The litigants — who include a current Miami Dade College student — allege that the land transfer violates the Constitution’s domestic emoluments clause, which bars states from attempting to influence a president by giving him gifts. They argue that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his handpicked board of trustees at the state-operated college were wrong to give a nearly three-acre parcel in downtown Miami to Trump’s library foundation last year in exchange for $10. The county’s property appraiser had said the land was worth more than $67 million.... The lawsuit also cites Trump’s public comments in March that he expects to use his future library, which is being run by a nonprofit foundation, as a hotel. The land 'is no longer available to serve MDC’s student community and Downtown Miami,' the litigants write, calling for the transfer to be nullified. 'Instead, the land will house a Trump hotel that brings riches to the President.'” (Also linked yesterday.) Update: the link to the WashPo story has been changed to a gift link. An NBC News story is here.

Thomas Edsall of the New York Times: “On the day our oil-stained president returned to the White House, he began an all-out assault on clean energy. Today, 16 months later, he and his party are paying a significant political price while American consumers are stuck with the bill. That bill, according to one scholarly estimate, totals $1,508 per household since ... [Donald] Trump took office for the second time (in after-tax dollars).... As if that were not enough, these same voters, when they fill up their cars, are confronting the costs of Trump’s choice to go to war with Iran, at a national average of $4.52 a gallon — that’s $90.40 for a 20-gallon tank. Trump has severely, but not fatally, wounded the American renewable energy industry, which is falling further behind China. At the same time, he is doling out tax dollars by the millions to keep dilapidated coal-fired power plants open.”

Colby Smith of the New York Times: “The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Kevin M. Warsh to become the next chair of the Federal Reserve, marking the start of a new era for an institution that ... [Donald] Trump has repeatedly attacked for not lowering interest rates as aggressively as he would like. Mr. Warsh, whom Mr. Trump nominated for the top job at the central bank, was approved on a 54-45 vote. He will replace Jerome H. Powell, whose term as chair ends May 15. All but one Democrat in the upper chamber voted against Mr. Warsh, reflecting lingering concerns about his willingness to uphold the longstanding political independence of the central bank. Mr. Trump has taken direct aim at that autonomy since returning to the White House last year.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Who is that one Democrat? Smith won't tell you (at least in this initial report), but I will tell you it's John Fetterman. Of course. (Also linked yesterday.) 

     ~~~ Marie: If you still are wondering what to think about Fetterman, maybe this clip RAS linked Wednesday will help. Referring to Fetterman & Bill Maher, RAS wrote, "What misogynistic assholes.... The fact that they can't tell the difference between uttering unvarnished truths versus a bigoted old man losing his filter tells you all you need to know about the intelligence of these two losers." I'll endorse that.

Perry Stein & Jeremy Roebuck of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is suing the D.C. Bar Association over its recommendation to disbar Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who was found to have violated legal ethics in his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in D.C. on Wednesday evening, accuses the D.C. Bar of unlawfully punishing federal government attorneys, impinging on the powers of the executive branch. The lawsuit is the latest example of the Trump administration asserting its authority to try to redeem Trump allies and supporters who were charged or accused of wrongdoing for their actions around attempts to thwart the 2020 election results. It also marks an escalation in the administration’s battle with state bar associations, which are regulatory groups for the legal profession that ensure practicing attorneys meet educational requirements and ethical standards.”

Sarah Kliff of the New York Times: “The Trump administration will withhold $1.3 billion in federal Medicaid payments from California, Vice President JD Vance announced on Wednesday, saying the state had failed to combat fraud in the public health insurance program.... The vice president also announced an audit of state-level watchdog agencies called Medicaid fraud control unit.... The announcements were part of the administration’s growing focus on fraud in public health insurance programs.... So far, the actions have focused on Democratic states.” MB: Gosh, that's a surprise. An NBC News story is here.

Pranav Baskar of the New York Times: “A federal judge [-- Richard J. Leon --] ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration had most likely violated the law by deporting a Colombian woman to the Democratic Republic of Congo in April despite that country’s refusal to take her. The judge ordered the administration to return the woman, Adriana Maria Quiroz Zapata, 55, to the United States, a rare instance of a judge doing so amid the administration’s deportation campaign.... Congo had agreed to accept some deportees, but refused on medical grounds to accept Ms. Zapata, court records show. Ms. Zapata has diabetes, hyperlipidemia and hypothyroidism, according to her lawyer, Lauren O’Neal. Because of those conditions, the Congolese Interior Ministry told I.C.E. in a letter that it could not accept her because it could not provide adequate medical care.... Federal law allows the government to deport people to countries other than their own. But that law requires that the new country agree to accept them.”

⭐Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “The immediate consequence of the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais is that Republican-led states in the South can destroy their majority-minority districts and, in turn, deprive their Black residents of federal representation by politicians of their choosing. Within days of the ruling, in fact, lawmakers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama rushed to do just that, practically gloating over the opportunity to purge Democrats — most of them Black — from their congressional delegations....To watch this whole spectacle is to put the lie to the idea — seen in the court’s opinion as well as among the court’s apologists — that the South has changed so much since 1965 that a strong Voting Rights Act is no longer necessary.... The main consequence, however, might be to undermine American democracy altogether and push this nation’s politics to an even more dangerous place of high partisan tension and ideological Balkanization.... The effect of [the redistricting] arms race is a House that looks something like the Electoral College.... A system in which political parties can rewrite the rules to keep themselves in power indefinitely ... is not a democracy in any meaningful sense.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: I don't know how to evaluate this: a MAGA guy -- we'll call him "Rich Wanker," which seems like a good name for a GOP VIP -- quits for a good reason, but he is completely oblivious to what a terrible president* Trump is. ~~~

~~~ Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: “The chief spokesman for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resigned on Wednesday in protest over the administration’s push to allow major tobacco companies to begin selling flavored vapes that appeal to children. His departure came one day after the head of the Food and Drug Administration quit for the same reason. In a letter to Mr. Trump, obtained by The New York Times, the spokesman, Rich Danker, did not blame the president, whom he said had 'twice restored our prosperity and national security against all odds.' But he warned that authorizing flavored e-cigarettes would draw more children into vaping and increase their risk for a number of health issues, from addiction to cancer.” (Also linked yesterday.)

The FBI's Very Fake Arrest Record. Carol Leonnig & Ken Dilanian of MS NOW: During a Senate hearing on Tuesday, “FBI Director Kash Patel ... boasted of the bureau almost doubling its number of arrests under his tenure, and of capturing the world’s 'Ten Most Wanted' villains at a record clip.... But Patel’s FBI has imposed new policies that inflate these numbers and overstate the bureau’s progress in stemming crime, according to a half dozen law enforcement sources.... For example, the FBI began counting thousands of arrests of immigrants that occurred when bureau agents accompanied the federal immigration officers who made the arrests.... Such cases are not ones the bureau had previously recorded as a bureau arrest.... At Patel’s direction last year, FBI field offices were instructed to count as FBI arrests any suspects detained when FBI personnel were simply present or assisting.... 

“'We’ve arrested 8 of the top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives in the world in 14 months,' Patel said. It was a repeat of what he told a Fox News interviewer on April 20: 'That’s twice as many as Joe Biden did in four years.' However, according to reports from current law enforcement officials and an MS NOW review of the Ten Most Wanted list under Patel’s watch, his FBI has accelerated the pace of arrests in part by making several last-minute adds to the list.... The most striking example is that of Samuel Ramirez Jr., who was wanted on suspicion of killing two women. He was apprehended in Culiacán, Mexico, in March, just one hour and 13 minutes after FBI leadership placed him on the Most Wanted list....” ~~~

~~~ Senator Van Hollen Calls Kash's Bluff. Jenna Monnin of NOTUS: “Sen. Chris Van Hollen [D-Md.] issued a public callout to FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday, filling his end of a bargain the pair had made during a tense Senate hearing a day prior to both release their results on an alcohol abuse test. 'Yesterday, @FBIDirectorKash told me he’d take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test if I did. Well, here’s mine. Given all the lies he told yesterday, I imagine he’ll fudge the numbers here, but let’s see yours, Director Patel,' Van Hollen wrote in a post on X.... A spokesperson for Van Hollen said because of his public agreement with Patel, 'the Senator expects him to follow through.' Patel denied that he has a drinking problem in fiery testimony in front of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday. When Van Hollen asked Patel was willing to take the AUDIT assessment, the FBI director said he would — as long as the senator did as well.” ~~~

~~~ digby: "...  the FBI is becoming so tainted that America is actually in danger — not only from criminal and national security threats they aren’t bothering to investigate but from the FBI itself." digby embeds Anderson Cooper's interview of Brian Driscoll, who for a nanosecond served as acting FBI director & whom Kash later fired outright "for failing to be the brown-noser Trump requires."

Hailey Fuchs & Aaron Pellish of Politico: “Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in closed-door testimony to Congress refuted accusations that he maintained a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein years after he claimed he had cut ties. Lutnick, who has faced harsh criticism for his ties with the convicted sex offender as part of a global reckoning sparked by the release of long-sealed documents, told the House Oversight Committee that his conflicting statements weren’t intentional, according to a transcript released Wednesday.... During the interview, Lutnick declined to discuss whether he had spoken with ... Donald Trump about Epstein.” ~~~

~~~ Stephen Groves of the AP: "The House Oversight Committee released the transcript of the interview [of Howard Lutnick] Wednesday, as well as a transcript of an interview with Tedd Waitt, a former boyfriend of Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell.” 

Riley Rogerson & Calen Razor of Politico: “After spending more than a decade pushing for anti-gerrymandering measures and other good-government initiatives, Democratic lawmakers said this week they are gearing up to play political hardball in the wake of stunning court losses on redistricting — potentially for years to come. 'We will beat the far-right extremists, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Wednesday. 'We’re going to win in November, and then we’re going to crush their souls as it relates to the extremism that they are trying to unleash on the American people.' It’s a marked reversal from years of high-minded Democratic rhetoric that included advocating for independent redistricting commissions, campaign finance curbs and more — even as Republicans used the courts and their control of state governments to consolidate and enhance their own party’s power.”

Stuart Thompson & David Yaffe-Bellany of the New York Times: “The explosive growth of prediction markets like Polymarket has rattled the political world over the last year, fueling concerns about a new kind of insider trading by military leaders and government officials with access to confidential plans. A military reservist was recently indicted in Israel for a scheme to bet on [Israel's] June [2025] strike [on Iran], while a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier was accused last month of wagering on the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela. Those bets represent only a slice of the suspicious activity on Polymarket. A New York Times examination found that more than 80 Polymarket users have placed bets with suspicious characteristics, including 38 whose well-timed wagers have drawn little or no public attention. They won money across nearly 30 topics dating back to at least 2024, from Israel’s strike on Iran last year to the regulatory debate over cryptocurrency trading. The Times’s examination also revealed previously unreported red flags in some of the high-profile bets that have drawn scrutiny.... Those signals include long-shot bets that pay off, well-timed wagers by recently opened accounts and bets by users who gamble on only a few related topics without ever losing....”

Mia McCarthy & Meredith Hill of Politico: “A bill that would deliver new aid to Ukraine and sanction Russia is set to get a House vote in the coming weeks after a bipartisan group of lawmakers completed a discharge petition forcing it to the floor. Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) delivered the decisive 218th signature Wednesday on the effort to push the Ukraine Support Act through the House over the objections of Republican leaders.... It’s the latest headache for Speaker Mike Johnson, who has already seen a staggering number of discharge petitions succeed this Congress and is now seeking to unify his conference around a party-line immigration enforcement bill.”

Apple ... Tree? Just Asking. Reese Gorman of NOTUS: “William Paul, the son of Sen. Rand Paul, drunkenly hurled antisemitic insults at Republican Rep. Mike Lawler at a Capitol Hill bar and restaurant on Tuesday evening....  William Paul ... interrupted a conversation between NOTUS and Lawler to say that if [Rep. Thomas] Massie [R] loses [the primary election], it’s going to be because of 'your people.' 'My people?' Lawler asked Paul. 'Yeah, you Jews,' Paul responded. 'Do you think I’m Jewish?' Lawler asked. 'I’m not.' 'Oh wow, I’m so sorry for calling you a Jew,' Paul said. He then continued on a tirade about how Jews were 'anti-American' and how Lawler and his 'Jewish supporters' served Israel more than America. Lawler repeatedly pushed back and engaged with Paul, defending his support of Israel, and told Paul he was being antisemitic.” ~~~

     ~~~ See also Akhilleus' commentary in yesterday's thread. MB: I'll just add that the boy Paul also showed his prejudice against urban areas, specifically New York City. Paul seems to have assumed that anyone who lived in New York City and could possibly pass for Semitic, must be Jewish.  (Lawler is of Italian & Irish heritage.) Paul is "otherizing" both Jews & urbanites as "un-American." This is all an expression of a fear of the unknown (and probably a sense of comparative inadequacy). In Paul's case, he had to get liquored up to reveal this particular shortcoming.  

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Georgia Redistricting. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: “Gov. Brian Kemp [R] of Georgia on Wednesday called lawmakers back to the capital next month to redraw the state’s legislative districts for the 2028 election cycle, and to work on changes to the state’s voting system. The call for a special session, which will begin on June 17, comes as Southern lawmakers have been rushing to reconfigure congressional maps to be more favorable to Republicans for this year’s midterms in response to the recent Supreme Court decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But in Georgia, where early voting for next week’s primaries has already begun, lawmakers will instead consider new maps for 2028, taking action now in case Republicans lose control of the governor’s office or the State Legislature in November.”

Mississippi Redistricting. Heather Harrison of the Mississippi Free Press: “Mississippi will not redraw any of its electoral districts this month. Gov. Tate Reeves canceled a special legislative session to redistrict the state’s Supreme Court map after a federal appeals court determined that the state no longer needs to create a majority-Black district. SuperTalk reported Wednesday morning that Reeves said that there is no reason for the Legislature to come in.' But the governor is urging the Mississippi Legislature to redraw its legislative, state supreme court and congressional lines before the 2027 elections, when state legislative seats will be on the ballot. He also vowed in a social media post on Wednesday morning that the state’s only Black congressman’s 'reign of terror' will be 'over' soon, referring to Democratic U.S. House Rep. Bennie Thompson. 'Just to clarify, I said I expect lawmakers to redraw congressional lines BETWEEN NOW and 2027 elections! I also expect them to redraw legislative and Supreme Court lines between now and 2027 elections,' Reeves posted on social media Wednesday morning.”

Nebraska House Primary Election. Kellen Browning of the New York Times: “Denise Powell, a political organizer, won the Democratic primary election in a key Nebraska House district, according to The Associated Press. She will face Brinker Harding, a Republican city councilman, in the general election, a pivotal contest in a battleground district that comes as Democrats try to recapture control of Congress this fall. Representative Don Bacon, the Republican incumbent in the district and a frequent critic of ... [Donald] Trump, chose not to run for re-election.... Ms. Powell narrowly triumphed in a competitive Democratic primary that centered on an unusual argument: that electing her chief rival, State Senator John Cavanaugh, could make it easier for Republicans to win the White House in 2028.” The idea is that if Cavanaugh won the House race, he would have to leave the state senate. That might leave the state senate unable to oppose continuing GOP efforts to turn Nebraska into a winner-take-all state in the Electoral College. The district around Omaha -- a/k/a the “blue dot” -- often votes for the Democratic presidential candidate and gets the Democrat one Electoral College vote. 

South Carolina Redistricting. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: “Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina, a Republican, plans to call the state legislature back for a special session that will be focused on redrawing the state’s congressional maps, lawmakers said on Wednesday evening. The effort could eliminate the state’s sole Democratic district, held by Representative James E. Clyburn. Mr. McMaster’s decision came one day after five Republican state senators voted with Democrats to block a resolution that would have brought the legislature back to the State Capitol to consider redistricting. That vote had seemed to close the door on the matter. Republican lawmakers had considered an agreement to extend their session only when it became clear that Mr. McMaster would not immediately call a special session himself. But Mr. McMaster, who cannot seek re-election because of term limits, now appears willing to thrust South Carolina into the redistricting battles that have reached fever intensity, particularly in the South, ever since the Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Voting Rights Act last month.” Politico's report is here.

South Carolina. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: “South Carolina’s top court on Wednesday undid the murder convictions against Alex Murdaugh, the lawyer a jury had found guilty of murdering his wife and one of his sons in a trial that captivated the country. In a unanimous opinion, the State Supreme Court said that “shocking jury interference” by a court clerk who oversaw jurors during the 2023 trial meant that Mr. Murdaugh’s convictions and life sentence must be overturned. Mr. Murdaugh, 57, will remain in prison because he is also serving decades-long prison sentences after pleading guilty to stealing millions of dollars from his law firm and his former clients. While he has admitted to embezzlement, he has long maintained — including during testimony at his trial — that he did not kill his wife, Maggie, 52, and their younger son, Paul, 22. The South Carolina attorney general's office, which prosecuted the case, will retry Mr. Murdaugh for the killings.” (Also linked yesterday.)