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… Trump fell asleep again today at a press event in the Oval Office as EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin was speaking. His last few Truth Social posts were just after 1:00 AM where he was raging that the CA election was being stolen.
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… From Trump’s 1:00 AM posting rampage:
“There’s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California. Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY???”
“The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS.”
… Ron Desantis, who continues to angle for a job in the Trump admin, chimed in: “California keeps dumping votes. Odds are shifting because the vote dumps always seem to go one way. Count until you get the result you want?”
… Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins got destroyed today in a hearing before House Ag Committee:
Ranking Dem Angie Craig: “Do you know how many farms we lost in US last year? Rollins: You’re talking about bankruptcy? About 315 farms. Craig: We lost 15,000 farms. Some 3rd, 4th generation family farms, because of bad policy from this admin.”
Craig: “Do you know how much money farmers lost last year? Rollins: (Long pause, blank stare, smile, no answer). Craig: It was $28 billion. Rollins: It depends how you calculate that because you aren’t counting all the programs that went into supporting our farmers. Craig: Right, and if it wasn’t for the policies of this admin we wouldn’t need all that govt support for farmers because we’d have export markets still left. “
Craig: “What is the national avg for farm diesel? Rollins: Well, diesel has increased because of the Iranian conflict. Under the last admin - Craig: Madam Secretary, Joe Biden is no longer the president. Trump is. Your party controls Congress. You own these numbers. Since you don’t know the answer, in May the avg price of diesel was $5.41 a gallon. That’s up 95% from a year ago.”
Craig: “Do you know what percentage of farmers now say they can’t afford fertilizer as a result of Trump’s war in Iran? Rollins: Well, it depends on the geographic location. An exasperated Craig: Oh my God. 70% is the answer.”
Craig: “You bragged on TV about kicking 4 million people off SNAP benefits. Rollins: The righteousness of work is not - Craig: 700,000 kids. Rollins: Getting back to work is the goal of these welfare programs.”
Rep. Jim McGovern: “Do you stand by your comment that kicking people off food assistance is somehow ‘good news’? Rollins: Most of those were fraudulent. McGovern: I’ve talked to people who lost benefits. They were kicked off of SNAP. Hunger is getting worse in the US. We all should be ashamed of that.”
McGovern: “Do you believe pesticide companies deserve liability protection? Rollins: We cannot destroy our farmers’ ability to plant. McGovern: So even though you say glyphosate is safe, you believe they should have some sort of liability protection?”
Rep. Shontel Brown: “So this is what a golden age of agriculture looks like? Because if rising bankruptcies, falling farm income, and worsening financial conditions are a sign of a golden age, I’d hate to see what a downturn looks like.”
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… Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified before House Ways and Means:
Rep. Mike Thompson: “What should I tell my constituents when they ask about these costs? Farmers who are being hit by high costs of fuel and fertilizer, who can’t get their product to market because of the War in Iran - should I tell them it’s ‘golden’? Bessent: You should tell them we’ve had 2.6% GDP growth since Trump took office. Thompson: These farmers are pretty smart, and they’re not gonna fall for that line.”
Rep. Loretta Sanchez: “Do you believe that all Americans should follow our tax laws? Bessent: Yes. Sanchez: So why is it you are allowing Trump to have complete immunity from being audited? Bessent: I am unable to comment on any ongoing litigation. Sanchez: Can you name the ongoing case? Bessent: I will get you the names of the cases and get back to you.”
Bessent: “Trump cares about Americans’ financial situation. Rep. Judy Chu: Well, he actually said that he doesn’t. Bessent: No, that is a truncated thing like everything is. He is future-proofing - because Americans financial situation would be devastated if Iran got a nuclear weapon.”
Chu: “Was your prediction that Americans would face only 50 days of elevated prices because of the war wrong? You said Americans would face only 50 days. We’re at 100 days now. Bessent: How much has gasoline prices come down from the peak? That’s an inconvenient fact. Chu: Gas prices are up by 50% since Trump’s war started.”
… Financial Times: “Trump’s Iran war has driven US oil stocks to their lowest level in two decades as his admin drains stockpiles to contain surging prices and exporters capitalize on the drop in Middle Eastern supply. US govt data shows stocks of crude and petroleum products fell by 10.6M barrels last week to 1.57B barrels - the lowest level since 2004. The sharp fall triggered new warnings from industry analysts that oil prices are poised to move sharply higher again within weeks.”
… Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, warned prices could reach $200 per barrel this summer unless the Strait of Hormuz was reopened: “You start to raise the risk of spillover into other sectors, the economy and financial system. It detonates fragilities in the broader economy and financial system.”
… WSJ: Senators Privately Ask Graham Platner Whether New Allegations Will Emerge. Maine Senate candidate tells Democratic lawmakers, “The worst of the rumors we’ve all heard are not true” and denied credible allegations of assault are forthcoming.
… Democratic campaign consultant Michael Trujillo: “Umm yeah, not trying to disclose everything I do, but YES there is more on Platner and anyone saying there isn’t is 100% gaslighting you. NYT was expected to publish last night, was delayed by Platner’s lawyers. Story is about his ex GF alleging some kind of assault. He would block her from exiting rooms with his size, she would be frightened. Uncontrollable fits of anger. She called friends and family, documented.”
… “Yes she’s a former GOP operative. Partisanship isn’t the reason she is finally coming forward. Felt the public and Maine should know what they are voting for - this is a rough summary.
… Then the story from NYT: “On Tues evening, after a whirlwind day in Washington, Graham Platner rushed home. Rumors were spreading from Portland to the Potomac about Platner’s messy personal life, after news reports that he had sent sexual messages to women while married. Democratic senators were pressing him about whether more damaging revelations were coming. Journalists were swarming, staking out his hometown.”
… “Amid the turmoil, Platner worked the phones, rolling through calls to ex-girlfriends who might publicly acknowledge that while he may have been a bad boyfriend, he was, in fact, a decent guy. In extensive conversations over the past two months, 3 women who had been romantically involved with Platner offered a complicated assessment, describing volatile and ‘toxic’ relationships that were unsettling and at times emotionally wrenching.”
… “Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful.”
… AOC was asked today if Dems should drop Platner after the latest story: "Um you know, I haven’t waded into that primary. I don’t believe the primary has occurred yet. So I will kind of, you know, again, I don’t wade in on that. I haven’t weighed in on that right now.”
… She then walked away from reporters.
… Trump’s name is now officially coming off the Kennedy Center. CBS: “Lawyers for what is currently called the Trump Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are instructing staff to immediately begin switching the name of the facility back to its original title.”
… “The instructions, laid out in a memo sent Thursday by the center’s general counsel and obtained by CBS News, are the first official signal the national arts hub is complying with a federal court order to drop Trump’s name and reconsider plans to close for two years of renovations. Changes to interior and exterior signage and any furniture carrying the current name must be switched back by next Friday.”
… We are going to do our very best to have someone on scene to film that moment if we get any notice of it from anyone.
… Lawfare: “At least 97 of the more than 1,500 individuals granted clemency by Trump for their roles in the January 6 Capitol attack have been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of crimes separate from J6 since their participation in the J6 riot.”
… “A Lawfare study reveals that almost 1 in 16 insurrectionists subject to the president’s clemency order has been arrested for and charged with—and in the vast majority of cases convicted of—other crimes, at least some of which were actively enabled by the clemency actions.”
… “The alleged crimes by J6 defendants since Jan. 6, 2021, run the gamut from relatively low-grade offenses like property damage, possession of drug paraphernalia, and trespassing to serious felonies like grand larceny, stalking, planning to assassinate law enforcement officials and prominent politicians, and defrauding govt agencies. One J6 pardonee was convicted in Feb. 2026 of child molestation and sentenced to life in prison. Another was convicted in 2025 of reckless homicide.”
… “At least 14, meanwhile, have been charged with sex crimes or crimes related to child sexual abuse material, and at least 6 have faced domestic violence charges. Others have faced charges for physical assaults, illegal firearms possession, or other violent crimes. At least 20 have been charged with DUI or public intoxication.”
… AP: “Former Trump NSA John Bolton has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified info under a deal with DOJ that could allow him to avoid prison time. The deal would resolve a criminal case that charged Bolton with 18 counts of either retaining or disseminating classified info. Bolton would also face a $2.25 million fine. Any prison sentence would be capped at 5 years, but the agreement allows for him to avoid time behind bars, though the punishment will ultimately be up to a judge.”
… Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) to Fox: “Q - It sounded like the other night that the president didn’t think that this, weaponization fund had been put to bed. Does Todd Blanche need to clean this up again? Tillis: The right hand and the left hand need to figure out what the hell they’re doing, because I heard a guy who just got put forth as AG say it’s dead. And if it’s dead, we should be able to codify that and be done with it.”
… House Dem Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Meidas that he doesn’t believe Blanche that Trump’s slush fund to pay criminals is dead: “We believe it is imperative for Congress to act. We need to bury it into the ground and ensure it can never rise again. We can claw back anything that has been done in January, and we are prepared to do that.”
I completely unplugged yesterday because my daughter was in town from FL and we took a ferry out to an island here in Maine for the day. It certainly looked like it was a pretty crazy day when got caught up on the news this morning, but since this is “today in politics” I focused this Bulletin on what happened today. Today certainly had more than enough news and drama.
I did do my weekly podcast Uncovered before that, which you can find here. You can find the last Bulletin here.
… WaPo’s Dan Diamond: “For years, Trump took a hair-loss drug - Propecia (finasteride). Now it’s no longer on his medical reports. I asked the WH if Trump still uses it, and officials said they’re not obligated to disclose all his medications. Of course, it’s just a hair-loss drug. And Trump’s allies have mocked the ongoing focus on the president’s health. But physicians and medical ethicists say - if the WH won’t be transparent about Propecia, will they be honest about bigger health matters?”
… Dr. Jonathan Reiner: “Since WH won’t disclose if he’s taking finasteride we don’t know why his PSA has risen 10x from last yr’s 0.1 to 1.0 now. Did he stop taking the drug, or is he still taking it and now there’s something going on with his prostate? That’s why it’s important. An incomplete medical report is not a credible report. They can’t pick and choose which data they’re willing to report. What else is missing?”
… Sen. John Cornyn told CNN’s Manu Raju that he’s undecided on Blanche as AG: “Being AG is probably one of the hardest jobs in the Cabinet, because you’re working for the President, but you’re also supposed to be able to tell the President ‘no.’ So we need to talk about that.”
… Sen. Jon Ossoff on MS NOW: “There is no world in which Todd Blanche could earn my vote. As far as I’m concerned, he should resign. Blanche is a crony. Blanche is a loyalist. He has no business as the nation’s top law enforcement official. If we want to stop these spectacularly incompetent nominees from getting confirmed, we’re going to have to stop relying on a few Republican senators to suddenly discover their courage and integrity. We’re going to have to win the majority in the senate.”
… Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-FL) was asked on CNBC why he supports Blanche being nominated to be permanent AG: “He’s been steadfast and loyal to the president. The president needs somebody he can trust, and Todd has shown he can be counted on.”
… Loyalty to the president isn’t really supposed to be part of the job criteria for AG, let alone the sole criteria. But it certainly is with Trump and Republicans.
… Rep. Lauren Boebert to TMZ on Rep. Tom Kean missing over 3 months: “Where is he? It’s embarrassing. I don’t know where this guy is. I haven’t heard from him. I’ve heard people cover for him. We need a majority but not under these circumstances. Maybe I’m working too hard. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him in person. I would recommend showing up. Is he is the hospital? Where is he?”
… Boebert on Trump wanting a primary challenge against her: “Well, I can’t be primaried. My primary is locked in, so I support the president and we’re moving forward. I got work to do.”
… 60 Minutes legend Steve Kroft told Variety that the show has become “disastrous” under CBS News boss Bari Weiss. “It’s the highest rated news program on television, and it has been that way for more than 50 years. The audience was up about 9% last year. Why would you mess with that?”
… Deadline: “In the immediate term, as former top staffers lawyer up and a he said/they said clash emerges over how the blunt Scott Pelley’s final days at CBS were handled, there is the question of whether the 3 remaining full-time correspondents at 60 Minutes will stay. Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim have yet to issue a public statement. The trio are said to be ‘taking a breath’ and assessing the situation.”
… “Despite the friction and faceplants, Bari Weiss’ position still appears secure as she enjoys the backing of Ellison as Paramount moves ahead on its $111 billion acquisition of CNN owner Warner Bros Discovery with help from good friend Donald Trump and his admin.”
… The Writers Guild of America: “In the past year, CBS has enacted cruel and needless layoffs across the organization and shuttered CBS News Radio. It is clear that CBS brass is engaged in a near-constant level of editorial interference that would have previously been unthinkable.”
… “These assaults on CBS News, an institution of American journalism for nearly a century, are more than mere ideological interference with the news. They display a profound contempt for the journalism profession, for our members who have dedicated their lives to informing the public about the world, and for the ethics that underpin true journalism, chief among them honesty, integrity, and objectivity.”
… WaPo: “MAHA and tech-allied officials who are quietly paving the way for a future in which AI chatbots and robots are an integral part of medical care: diagnosing illness and prescribing medicine with limited or no human oversight. The longtime Silicon Valley dream is taking shape, some entrepreneurs say, thanks in part to a new approach within the Trump admin.”
… “Today, chatbots can only legally offer medical guidance with a disclaimer attached: ‘Neither the FDA, nor any state licensing board, allows a fully autonomous AI to practice medicine.’ But Trump officials are driving a significant shift. They have backed a controversial 3-month-old pilot program in Utah that allows AI chatbots to refill prescriptions instantly. Currently humans oversee the chatbot’s decisions, but there are plans to make the program fully autonomous.”
… “The Cicero Institute, a think tank funded by right-leaning tech entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale, is pushing a bill that would allow states to create similar pilots. And in internal discussions, admin figures are working a pathway to regulate independent AI doctors, likening the change to the decades-long process that moved self-driving cars from test tracks to cities across the US.”
… “Tech companies, including Google’s DeepMind, OpenAI, Certuma and Doctronic are pouring tens of millions of dollars into AI systems that can read medical records and tell people how to act on the info. Entrepreneurs are newly emboldened to argue that AI can perform medicine independently, even though it’s currently not legal.”
… Robert Wachter, chair of the Medical School at UCSF: “They are saying the quiet part out loud. You’re combining a general anti-regulatory, pro-business admin with very close ties to an enormous amount of wealth to a segment of society that wants us to go fast.”
… NOTUS: “The Ethics Committee is and has always been dominated by men, which could limit its ability to police sexual misconduct. Women in Congress want that to change. It probably won’t. Rep. Linda Sánchez, who served as the top Democrat of the committee for 3 consecutive terms: ‘I think that would certainly help every time you have significant representation of women. Then, I think you’re going to get better results.’”
… “Female lawmakers, with the blessing of both House Republican and Democratic leadership, have been leading the charge to reform the House ethics process following two high-profile resignations over sexual misconduct allegations. The House Ethics Committee has always been composed mostly of male lawmakers. The 10-person panel has never had more than 4 women serving on it at the same time.”
… “Female lawmakers in the House have complained that the anti-harassment training for members is ‘laughable.’ Last month a group of bipartisan women launched a task force to spell out clearer policies and reporting requirements.
… Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR), who is currently working with the Republican Women’s Caucus to make recommendations to update the House ethics process, said it was a “great idea” to even out the number of men and women on the basis that men, she suggested, will inherently have less sensibilities about women’s issues and sexual misconduct.
… Trump posted about the War Powers resolution: “Yesterday, in a meaningless vote, the House voted, 4 bad Republicans and all of the Dumocrats, to limit my War Powers, right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with Iran. Who would do such an unpatriotic thing. They would rather have our Country fail than give me another, of many, victories. The 4 Republicans, that’s a whole other story - They’re GRANDSTANDERS! They should be ashamed of themselves.”
… The “final negotiations” have been going on for over 3 months.
… Fox host Maria Bartiromo had some major breaking news this morning: “The president is expressing optimism about a potential deal with Iran. He said yesterday an agreement could come as soon as this weekend.”
… Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter on the Trump-Netanyahu phone call where Trump later admitted to cursing at Netanyahu: “Lovers have spats. They may have had a little lovers’ spat this week, that’s okay.”
… JD Vance posted his support of Bill Pulte for DNI: “Bill is a great guy who recognizes that the bureaucracy of the intel community must respond to the elected leadership (rather than the other way around). He'll do great!”
… Political commentator Mike Young: “The DNI coordinates 18 agencies and produces the intelligence that tells presidents what adversaries are doing before wars start. Trump appointed the Fannie Mae chairman. Vance said the goal is making intel answer to elected leaders. That's not a qualification. It's the stated reason expertise doesn't matter here.”
… Punchbowl: “House Republicans just released two FY2027 funding bills: DHS and Labor-HHS. $65 billion for DHS, which includes $11 billion for TSA. That’s a nearly $350 million cut to TSA, according to Dems. Labor-HHS bill would cut HHS, Education and Labor departments.”
… BBC: “Protests in the centre of Albania’s capital, Tirana, are not exactly unusual. The opposition Democratic Party stage them so often that they could almost be classified as an offbeat tourist attraction. But this week’s nightly rallies in front of PM Edi Rama’s office have been different - targeting Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as well as the Socialist Party govt. The focus of the anger is a proposed project on Albania’s Adriatic coast.”
… Kushner’s Affinity Partners would be one of the investors – and Rama has welcomed his interest with open arms. The protesters are using a pink flamingo as their emblem. They say plans for the development on Sazan island and a site at Zvernec, near the coastal city of Vlora, pose a threat to flamingos - which are a protected species - as well as other species in the protected wetlands area.”
… “The protesters are also angry about what they see as a lack of transparency over Affinity Partners’ involvement, with negotiations between the company and the government dating back to 2024. Some placards at the protests have highlighted the participants’ unhappiness about the concession of land to foreign developers, declaring Albania is ‘not for sale’.”
… Tony Jacob: “Ivanka Trump says she swam barefoot to a 1,400-hectare, off-grid Mediterranean island to scout her next project. Now, she and Jared Kushner are building a massive destination from scratch on one of the last untouched coastlines in Europe.”
… “I looked into the details. The site is Sazan Island in Albania. It is a decommissioned Soviet and Italian military base that has sat abandoned for years. Through Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, they are investing $1.4 billion to transform the restricted island into an ultra-luxury eco-resort.”
… I thought her saying she “swam barefoot” in the interview was a little odd. But Ivanka is a little odd.
… At 11:00 AM, Trump rage-posted: “Fox should get rid of sloppy RINO Karl Rove. He’s called ME and MAGA wrong for 11 years now, and he still doesn’t get it, and he never will, because he suffers from a completely inoperable, and totally dysfunctional, case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Put Karl Rove out to pasture, NOW. He is a LOSER, and he always will be!”
… Obviously Trump was watching Fox instead of working (shocking), so I went back and watched Rove’s appearance today right before Trump’s post to see what set him off. All Rove said was that Trump’s low approval rating was going to make it more difficult for Republicans to hold the House. He didn’t say anything else critical of the Orange Snowflake.”
… Trump always working hard to bring prices down and get the Iran War resolved.
… Republican nominee for US senate in NC Michael Whatley talked about how much he loves the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team and posted AI images of several players, so local reporter Bryan Anderson asked him to name his favorite player: “I like them all.” He was then asked to name a single player on their roster and walked away.
… Democratic nominee Roy Cooper, who is a very knowledgeable Hurricanes hockey fan: “It’s always great to welcome new Canes fans!”
… Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) asked by TMZ what he did to discipline the alleged staffer who posted from Ogles’ account saying that gays have no place in America: “That’s an HR issue. It’s under review. Q - What’s your personal opinion about it, because that post doesn’t seem inconsistent with other things you have said? Ogles: The Supreme Court has ruled. I get to have my opinion and you get to have yours.”
… Robert Agee, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, announced that a “friendly hockey match” will take place between Russia and the US on July 1 in Moscow: “We hope that in this way we will contribute to a certain melting of the ice between us.”
… Maybe they will stop bombing Ukrainian apartment buildings for a day.
… With her new album coming out, Olivia Rodrigo told Dazed magazine that it enraged her that Trump’s WH used her music to promote deportations: “It was so deeply disturbing to see that propaganda, and the fact it was my song in there made me feel even more enraged. What they’re doing is so awful and barbaric and cruel. I am really sad to be in a country that thinks that’s okay.”
… “The video was posted last year on Nov. 4 and used ‘All-American Bitch,’ over images of ICE agents detaining people of color. The DHS captioned the video: ‘LEAVE NOW and self-deport using the CBP Home app. If you don’t, you will face the consequences.’ Rodrigo’s song played in the background with the following lyrics: ‘All the time, I’m grateful all the time, I’m sexy and I’m kind, I’m pretty when I cry.’”
… UFC’s Dana White told Hollywood Reporter he expects to lose a minimum of $60 million on their Freedom 250 fights at the WH: “Losing money is never fun. I did that for quite a few years in the early days, but you have to jump on an opportunity like this, no matter what it costs you.”
… Mark Shapiro, the president and COO of parent company TKO: “I want to be clear about something: “We will not be making money on the event. This is an investment for the long term. This is about earned media. This is about sampling, new fans, casual viewers, a spectacle on a stage that will ultimately expand our audience, our viewership, and our success on Paramount.”
… We see this once-in-a-lifetime stage as a strategic investment to drive subscriber acquisition at Paramount+, massive audience sampling for the UFC overall, and Super Bowl-like earned media across the globe.”
… Trump on the UFC arena being built on the WH South Lawn: “People don’t know that in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower, 1889 it was built. It was supposed to be taken down immediately after the World’s Fair, and then they said: ‘leave it up a little bit longer, and then they said, ‘let’s leave it up longer and longer and longer’.”
… “Well, they never took it down, and you know we’re building something in front of the WH that’s quite attractive to a lot of people. Really, it’s going to have the big UFC fight on June 14, and I’m looking at it and maybe we’ll never ever take it down.”
… It looks like Vanilla Ice got iced out as Trump decides to turn the Freedom 250 into a Trump rally: “We will be bringing you, LIVE, the Greatest Rally, EVER! It will be special at every level - A Rally to end all Rallies! We don’t want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we’ve told them all to stay home. All we want is you, me, a few speakers, and the Greatest Music ever played, the same Music you have listened to for years!”
… “We will have the fabulous Lee Greenwood introducing me with what has turned out to be one of the Greatest Hits of All Time, GOD BLESS THE U.S.A., and the amazing Christopher Macchio, who will sing Nessun Dorma, Hallelujah, Ave Maria, God Bless America, and others.”
… Sounds thrilling.
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