October 6, 2026

Debra Kamin of the New York Times: “Cornell University named Sally Yates, the former acting U.S. attorney general, on Tuesday to lead an independent internal review of a former student’s rape claim amid growing outrage about how it was first handled. Ms. Yates, 62, will also examine the school’s policies related to sexual assault allegations, including how they are investigated and what support is given to students, the university said in a statement. Anne Smalling, the head of the committee that hired Ms. Yates, told The New York Times the university was obligated to the woman who had filed the rape complaint.” The link is a gift link.

Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “Lawyers for a former Olympian who was cleared of charges of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool are asking internal government watchdogs to investigate the conduct of senior Justice and Interior Department officials, accusing prosecutors of indicting him despite knowing that a renovation of the pool was failing. In a letter sent on Tuesday to the inspectors general for those agencies, lawyers for the former athlete, David Hearn, say the agencies ignored their own evidence in a rush to satisfy ... [David] Trump’s desire for criminal charges. Prosecutors then provided a court 'blatantly false' information about when they became aware that the real culprit for the badly peeling liner in the pool was a botched renovation overseen by Mr. Trump, his lawyers wrote. 'Because of the actions of various D.O.J. and D.O.I. employees, Mr. Hearn was deprived of his liberty, indicted for a crime he did not commit, threatened with incarceration of up to 10 years and endured the defaming of his name and reputation by high-ranking government officials,' Mr. Hearn’s lawyers wrote. Among the lawyers requesting the investigation is Michael R. Bromwich, a former inspector general at the Justice Department.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I hope this works, and I hope it teaches Toady Todd, et al., a lesson. Unfortunately, Todd, like the tyrant he serves, recognizes no shame and learns nothing from his mistakes.

Jeff Toobin of the New York Times: “The courts have provided mixed verdicts on Mr. Trump’s attempts at vote suppression in advance of the 2026 midterms. But the rulings have handed him an unambiguous gift: a road map for shaping the universe of eligible voters to his liking in the presidential election year of 2028. Last month, the Supreme Court gave tentative approval to one of the administration’s attempts to ferret out improperly registered voters, including noncitizens.... The Trump plan could have been a potential tool for mass disenfranchisement of legal voters in the midterms. But in a ruling on Sept. 25, the Supreme Court, with the three Democratic appointees dissenting, overruled those courts and allowed the regulation to go into effect — but with an important limitation. Because another federal law limits major changes to voting rules within 90 days of an election, the database can be used only to inquire about specific individuals, not to conduct 'bulk searches.' But there is plenty of time for 'bulk searches,' and thus mass voter purges, in 2028.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Since the Constitution clearly gives the states the sole power to run elections, the federal government should have nothing to do with it. It does sound "Constitutional" to me for states to request federal assistance in identifying people who are ineligible to vote -- say, obtaining information about federal prisoners if felons are not allowed to vote in a particular state. Conversely, the feds should not be able to order the state to purge from their voter roles felons serving time.

Jon Stewart takes an interest in A.I. ~~~

We should give credit to DeNiro for knowing when to use an expletive. Robert DeNiro & Mark Ruffalo speak at a Hands Off Our Vote! event Sunday: ~~~

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A Bad Day for Spies: One to Plead Guilty, One Was Arrested and One (probably not a real spy) Died.

I know more about inflation, I know more about everything than … anybody anywhere in the world. — Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Ohio, Saturday 

Max Rego of the Hill: Donald “Trump said Monday that reporters from The New York Times and other media outlets should be 'arrested' over their coverage of his Saturday rally in Ohio. 'The Ohio Arena was already full to the brim — And yet these people were still trying to get in,' Trump wrote on Truth Social, sharing a video of people in line for the rally. New York Times correspondent Katie Rogers wrote Sunday that 'several areas of an upper deck were empty' by the time the president finished speaking at Butler High School in Vandalia, The school’s student center, where the event took place, has a capacity of 4,500 people, Rogers noted.... 'The New York Times, and many other Artificial Media Outlets, should be arrested for their dishonesty and disservice to our Country,' the president added, accusing outlets of inflating crowds for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and downplaying how many people attend his rallies.”

They [Iran] could take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay, and it’s gonna be over with very soon. It’s essentially almost over with. -- Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Nebraska, Monday ~~~ 

~~~ Laura Chung of the New York Times: “It was not immediately clear what Mr. Trump meant, but his comments were met with anger from officials in California, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called the president 'deranged and dangerous.' 'After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego, Mr. Newsom posted on social media. Mayor Todd Gloria of San Diego wrote on social media that his city was not 'collateral damage' and not 'expendable.'... In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass said that ... 'The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives.'...” The link is a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Juan Cole of Informed Consent: "In a stemwinder of a speech in Nebraska, our mentally ill president joked around that if Iran took out Los Angeles and San Diego, it would be a small price to pay for keeping the rest of the country safe. Or at least that is what he appeared to say. What his slurred free association means is often anyone’s guess. The corporate media report on his speeches as if they are in any way coherent to stay on his good side, since he threatens people who disagree with him.... Ironically, San Diego is a major port for the US Navy, the sailors of which Trump is abusing by keeping them near the Strait of Hormuz for months at a time without a secure base for resupply or rest and recreation." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't think Trump's idea of blowing up San Diego is ironical. I think Trump is willing to lose San Diego precisely because it is a major U.S. naval port. Trump believes the sailors on the U.S.S. Lincoln and perhaps on other ships embarrassed him by (a) eventually showing the effects of Drunk Pete's overly long deployment, and (b) in general, not immediately winning the war for the Dear Leader. Most reporters and commentators, including Cole, refer to Trump's suggestion to "take out" San Diego and/or L.A. as a "joke." There's a difference between telling a joke and thinking something is funny. Besides, watch the video. I don't think Trump is joking. I think he means it when he says destroying California cities and the people who live there would be "a very small price to pay." He thinks most of the people who would die would be Democrats. And Trump is fine with that. 

Shane Goldmacher, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump reversed course on Monday and announced that his super PAC would now pay for the television ads promoting him that have been airing nationwide at taxpayer expense. In a post on his social media platform, Mr. Trump wrote, 'I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc.' More than $10 million in taxpayer-funded ads have run since September, according to AdImpact.... The ads, which are running on cable and network television, were paid for through a $20 million contract that used funds from the Department of Homeland Security.... One of them featured images of Mr. Trump as the song 'Love Me' by Christian Berishaj played. The artist, who performs as JMSN, has complained about the use of his song. The New York Times wrote over the weekend that Mr. Trump had personally instructed his budget director to use taxpayer money for TV ads....

“Mr. Trump’s claim in his social media post that he would pay for the ads 'myself' through his super PAC is likely to add fodder to another formal complaint against the president. Federal law bars federal office holders from directing spending decisions for a political organization with no contribution limits, such as a super PAC.... A campaign watchdog group, the Campaign Legal Center,” has previously filed a complaint accusing Mr. Trump of violating that law on other occasions. The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) An MS NOW report is here. ~~~

~~~ Show Us the Money. Marcy Wheeler suspects that Trump is caving to Republicans and not to outrage from Congressional Democrats and the public. Wheeler also notes that "thus far, this only covers future ads and anonymous cowards at the White House won’t commit to the obvious remedy: Reimbursing taxpayers (and, better, yet, firing those who participated in this crime).... It’s not enough. Make him cut a check to pay back taxpayers."

Katie Francis of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump, 80, has posted his fantasy of an American Greenland on Truth Social. The bizarre image features the back of Trump's (unusually glossy) head, as he looks upon a snowy mountain vista overtaken by a brigade of star and stripe-laden penguins." MB: It's particularly fantastical inasmuch as (a) there are no penguins in Greenland (unless there are a few in a zoo), and (b) Trump just signed a trilateral treaty with Greenland and Denmark that does not allow for a takeover of the island. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, et al., of the New York Times: “The [Trump] administration has said that a permanent fence around Lafayette Square would enhance security during 'heightened conditions,' and that the park would remain a public space. It has cited clashes between Black Lives Matter protesters and the police in 2020, vandalism of park statues in 2024 during protests against the war in Gaza and a shooting near the White House this year as examples of security concerns.... Opponents of the plan say that a fence would deter the free speech activities that have long defined the seven-acre park and make it easier for the administration to curb protests at will. It is the latest example of ... [Donald] Trump’s use of executive measures and legal maneuvers to clamp down on dissent, they say.... The planning commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, both federal panels filled with Mr. Trump’s appointees, have signaled they are likely to vote to give the project final approval.” The link is a gift link. Includes graphics and photos.

Erik Wemple of the New York Times: “Politico was scheduled to accompany ... [Donald] Trump to Nebraska for his campaign rally as the primary pool representative for the travel pool, a rotating group of journalists who cover presidential trips. But the White House blocked the outlet’s rotation, Politico confirmed Monday. The move by the White House is the latest development in a struggle over presidential access that began on Sept. 18 when Mr. Trump declared a ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico and barred them from White House grounds. CNN has been stopped from traveling with the president twice in the separate TV pool, a partnership of five major TV networks that supplies footage from presidential events of all sorts. The news outlets sued the White House to overturn the ban, and a federal judge ordered the restoration of the outlets to the grounds. But the order didn’t explicitly address the outlets’ pool assignments.” The link is a gift link. MS NOW's story is here.

Chris Cameron of the New York Times: Donald “Trump has approved the execution of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. Army officer who killed 13 people and wounded 32 others in the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, the deadliest mass shooting at an American military base. Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Monday that Major Hasan would be executed by firing squad, adding that the secretary of the Army would set the time and place of the execution. If the order is carried out, Major Hasan, 56, will be the first person to be executed through the military justice system since 1961, and could be the first person to be put to death by the federal government since the execution of 13 inmates in the waning days of Mr. Trump’s first term. President George W. Bush had authorized a military execution in 2008, but it was later halted and has not been carried out. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. commuted the sentences of nearly all prisoners on the civilian federal death row in late 2024.” The link is a gift link. An AP report, published by Politico, is here. 

Jenny Lee of CNBC: "... Donald Trump has offered to help Russia after a laboratory worker died following an illness at a plague research institute in Siberia, while the Russian authorities said the situation was under control.... The World Health Organization in an email response said the cause of death had not been confirmed and testing was underway. It said it was in contact with Russian authorities, and has offered support if needed, while assessing the risk to the general public as low based on available information. It remains unclear whether Moscow has sought or would accept any assistance.

Eric Schmitt & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: “The United States abruptly withdrew all 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from an air base in southern England based on new information that commanders received about a potential drone attack ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to U.S. and British officials. The suspected attack was part of a complex, multipronged Iranian plot to strike aircraft and kill some of the several hundred American personnel stationed at the base, R.A.F. Fairford, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. All of the Air Force bombers were withdrawn over the weekend.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Mason Boycott-Owen, et al., of Politico: “Britain and the U.S. sought to ease friction Monday after American bombers were suddenly moved amid major security concerns at the base that hosted U.S. aircraft used to strike Iran. The U.S. move is the latest stumbling block in the special relationship between the allies and underscores reservations in Donald Trump’s administration about how the U.K. is handling its defense and security commitments.... The move comes as the Trump administration has grown increasingly frustrated with the U.K.’s defense spending and the White House's continuing anger that the U.K. didn’t send warships to the Middle East to help with the American blockade of Iranian shipping.”

“A Weirdo, a Beardo, and a Fatty.” Paul Waldman in Public Notice: last week, during a speech to troops he summoned to Quantico, Pete Hegseth announced, “'We are no longer the woke department or the weak department,' he said. 'No fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.' Then Hegseth announced the creation of 'Project Meridian,' a new effort to “creatively look to the future and identify the domains that we must conquer and capabilities we must master,” and 'ruthlessly map the trajectory of wars, domains, and technologies to ensure this war department, your war department dominates the future.' Leading this project of ruthless mapping will be 'three of our nation’s best minds': Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich. In other words — at the risk of being unkind — a weirdo, a beardo, and a fatty.” Waldman goes onto critique "The Three Stooges" and their, uh, capacity for success in fulfilling their assigned mission. 

Salvador Rizzo & Warren Strobel of the Washington Post: “A former senior executive at the CIA is expected to plead guilty to a federal crime Tuesday after the FBI said it seized 303 gold bars worth about $40 million from his home this year. The former official, David J. Rush, was arrested in May and charged with theft of public money. He is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff for a plea agreement hearing Tuesday afternoon in Alexandria, Virginia, according to court records. Details of the plea were not immediately available.... At times evoking a spy novel, the allegations in the case have raised questions about how the CIA decided to place Rush in a sensitive intelligence position while failing to uncover alleged misrepresentations about his educational history and military service.”

Nicole Foy, et al., of ProPublica: “The Trump administration says none of this is happening. 'DHS is NOT arresting U.S. citizens by mistake.' 'There are no “indiscriminate’ stops.' Allegations of 'racial profiling are disgusting, reckless and categorically FALSE.' 'The pattern is NOT of law enforcement using force.' 'ICE does not zip tie or restrain children.' But that is precisely what is happening, and at a far larger scale than previously reported. We know because we have ... tallied and cataloged every case we can find of an immigration agent holding a citizen during the current administration. More than 500 cases. That includes:

“More than a hundred Americans held after agents questioned their citizenship. Nearly all were people of color. At least 70 American children and teens detained, some of whom were handcuffed. Of the more than 300 Americans we tracked as detained for allegedly assaulting or obstructing agents, we found fewer than half were actually charged in federal court, and many of those cases were dropped or dismissed. At least 63 Americans detained while recording. 36 Americans held for at least a day without being able to contact a lawyer or their family. Roughly a dozen citizens deported, mostly children. Collectively, these cases show that as the administration has relentlessly pursued immigrants, federal agents have run roughshod over the constitutional rights of citizens too.” Includes (horrifying) videos. 

When Even Douthat More-or-Less Tells a GOP Senator He's a Hypocritical Coward. Sean James of Mediaite: “Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) warned 60 Minutes there is a 'risk' President Donald Trump will react recklessly if the Republicans get drubbed in the midterm elections — a worry he said stems from how the president behaved before and after the January 6 Capitol Riot.... Look, this was the first time in the history of this country that we had not had a completely peaceful transfer of power on that day. And that was despicable, Tillis said. The people that led the charge, the people that assaulted police officers, I wish they were still in prison and serving a very long sentence.' Douthat noted it didn’t disgust him enough to convict Trump in the impeachment trial that followed, though.... [Tillis also] told Douthat, 'We will have a sort of dictator king if we’re not careful.'” P.S. Tillis is coming out with a new book tomorrow. (Also linked yesterday.)

She's Had Enough of Those Little Tykes. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: “Karoline Leavitt, who until August served as Mr. Trump’s press secretary and chief spokeswoman, is joining ... [Fox News] next month as an on-air contributor, the network said on Monday.... In May, after giving birth to her second child, Ms. Leavitt went on maternity leave and ultimately said she would leave the White House to spend more time with her young children. At the time, Ms. Leavitt vowed to 'remain a vocal advocate for MAGA and the Republican Party.'” 

Marie: You may recall that back in 2015, news reports and commentators called former Fox "News" host Megyn Kelly a "reluctant feminist" after Donald Trump implied menstruation had caused her to ask him, during a GOP primary debate, about past derogatory remarks he had made re: women's looks. Kelly subsequently said she was not a feminist, and now she's totally over criticizing cracks about women's looks: ~~~

~~~ Media Matters transcript of Megyn Kelly's remarks on her radio show on Cornell's Jane Doe, an alleged gang-rape victim: "No one will even consider the possibility that this woman made a decision to get it on with four men total, not seven, and enjoyed it because — I'm just going to be honest, she's not the most attractive gal. She's extremely beefy in her arms and her legs. She has a whole video online talking about her cankles. And she possibly enjoyed being admired. This is how women make these mistakes. Admired, wanted, some women even foolishly say loved by these guys at Cornell. But this is probably a first for her. She's probably thrilled to be so admired because she clearly didn't grow up the incredibly beautiful one....  And that's why she kept saying yes."  

Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: “Francis Halzen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for his work on a project at the South Pole that has helped discover high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.... Mr. Halzen is a physics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was born in 1944 in Tienen, Belgium.... The Nobel Committee praised Mr. Halzen's “vision and scientific leadership” at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a research project at the South Pole that he directs.” The link is a gift link.   

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “J. Dennis Hastert, a once-obscure Illinois congressman who rose to become the longest-serving Republican speaker of the House before falling from grace in a sex abuse scandal that came to light after he left government, has died [link fixed]. He was 84.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Clyde Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: “Jim Bakker, a television evangelist who lost his popular and prosperous ministry in a 1980s sex scandal and then lost his freedom for five years, imprisoned for having violated federal laws with his conflation of God and mammon, died on Monday. He was 86.” The link is a gift link.  

Alan Cowell of the New York Times: “Jeffrey Archer, a best-selling British author, politician, philanthropist, athlete and one-time jailbird whose résumé seesawed between achievement and disgrace, and who inspired abiding public fascination with headline-grabbing accounts, both fictional and personal, of ambition, self-promotion, misbehavior and scandal, died on Monday at his home in London. He was 86.” The link is a gift link. 

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Florida. Peter Schorsch of Florida Politics: "The Republican Party of Palm Beach County has listed Mike Caruso on its official voter guide as the party’s nominee for Palm Beach County Clerk of Court, despite Caruso’s still-pending felony charges of kidnapping, lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, luring or enticing a child and child abuse causing mental injury. The case centers on a male relative who was under 5 at the time.... Caruso was arrested on those charges on Aug. 18. He remained in jail until late August, after a hearing on Aug. 28 established a $160,000 bond. Caruso has maintained his innocence and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He’s also since said he intends to stay in the race for Clerk of Court."

New York. Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times: “Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a statewide health emergency in New York State on Monday as measles cases increased dangerously across rural counties where vaccination rates have lagged. As of Saturday, 108 measles cases had been reported across the state this year, the most since 2019, when New York was the epicenter of a national outbreak. Most of the cases are in rural areas, concentrated in the Finger Lakes region. Ms. Hochul’s declaration will relax rules about who can administer vaccines to make it easier for midwives, pharmacists and other health care workers to give shots to prevent measles.... Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Trump administration’s health secretary, has waged a campaign against [vaccines] that has further weakened public confidence in immunizations. In the New York counties with the most measles cases, fewer than 80 percent of children had received their first dose of the measles vaccine by the time they turned 2. In most counties in the state, more than 80 percent of children had received their first dose by then.” The link is a gift link. 

Texas. Christina Jewett of the New York Times: “Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general and Republican Senate candidate, has alleged a sprawling profit-driven conspiracy [among doctors who administer vaccines to children, insurance companies and Big Pharma].... Mr. Paxton has also implicated the nation’s largest organization of pediatricians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, in the alleged conspiracy over the workaday task of protecting children from polio, measles, meningitis and more than a dozen other dangerous and sometimes life-threatening diseases.... Pediatricians have become a focus in what has become a wide-ranging campaign to raise doubts about vaccination, part of a 20-year quest for [Robert F.] Kennedy [Jr.] that some of his political allies have joined.... Unlike many organizations that have drawn fire from the Trump administration and its surrogates, the 67,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics has not retreated. It has sued the Trump administration over policy changes and grant cancellations, with some success so far.” Some Texans think Paxton began his "investigation" for political purposes. MB: No-o-o. The link is a gift link. 

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Canada.  Norimitsu Onishi of the New York Times: “The separatist Parti Québécois won the provincial election in Quebec on Monday, possibly setting the stage for a referendum on the French-speaking province’s independence from Canada in the next few years. Voters hungry for change returned the Parti Québécois to power for the first time in 12 years, even though they displayed little interest in the commitment of its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, to hold a referendum on secession from Canada. The Parti Québécois fell short of clinching a majority, winning 59 seats out of 127 in the provincial legislature, according to incomplete results late Monday. That could make it difficult for Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon to fulfill his campaign promise to hold a referendum after ... [Donald] Trump leaves office in 2029 and the economy stabilizes.” The link is a gift link. 

Germany. Natalie Muller of Reuters & AFP, published by Deutsche Welle: "Police have arrested the former head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency, August Hanning, on suspicion of espionage, the federal prosecutor's office announced Tuesday. Hanning served as the agency's chief from December 1998 to November 2005 before moving to the Federal Interior Ministry, where he worked as state secretary until November 2009. According to a statement from the prosecutor's office, the 80-year-old faces charges including espionage, disclosure of state secrets, attempted treason and working as a secret service agent. It did not say which foreign intelligence service he is suspected of working for. The statement added that another former high-ranking BND employee was also arrested on suspicion of providing hundreds of classified documents to Hanning after his tenure as spy chief ended in exchange for payment."