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Good afternoon, everyone. This is a shorter update than usual because I am recovering from a serious fall down icy stairs yesterday that left me with injuries to my head, back, and neck. I will be laying down as soon as you finish reading this, but the news does not stop, and there are developments that matter too much to ignore. This update includes Trump once again doubling down on his appalling comments about Rob Reiner, as well as the growing possibility that Trump could be compelled to turn over his psychological records in a lawsuit. Unlike major media outlets, I will not sanitize or normalize Trump’s behavior. I will call it exactly what it is. His comments were horrific, vile, and dangerous, and they deserve to be treated that way. To everyone who has subscribed to support my work, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It has not even been a full year of reporting full time on Substack, and I am deeply grateful for the community we are building together. Looking ahead to 2026, I have several major projects in the works, and subscribers will be the first to hear about them. If you value independent, unfiltered reporting, please consider subscribing to support this work, help fund these projects, and keep this platform reaching millions of people.
Here’s what you missed: Members of the Pulitzer Prize Board filed sweeping discovery demands in President Donald Trump’s Florida defamation lawsuit, seeking years of his tax returns, financial records, health and psychological records, and prescription medication history as part of their defense of the 2018 Pulitzer Prizes awarded for Russia probe reporting. The defendants argue the information is relevant to Trump’s claims of reputational and emotional harm, while Trump’s legal team says the lawsuit is aimed at vindicating him against what they call false media narratives surrounding alleged Russia collusion. Read the full discovery here.
FBI Director Kash Patel is facing renewed criticism after publicly claiming the FBI helped detain a “person of interest” in the Brown University shooting, only for the individual to be released hours later due to insufficient evidence while the shooter remains at large. Critics say Patel’s premature social media posts undermine public trust and reflect a pattern of overstating law enforcement progress, with former agents and commentators questioning his judgment, experience, and leadership amid reports of low morale and dysfunction within the bureau. Trump meanwhile placed the blame on the school:
 The two students killed in the Brown University mass shooting were identified as Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, an international student from Uzbekistan remembered for his kindness, intellect and dream of becoming a doctor, and Ella Cook, 19, of Alabama, who was described by her church and classmates as a bright, compassionate leader and vice president of the university’s College Republicans. Federal authorities arrested four alleged members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front accused of planning coordinated backpack IED bombings at five Los Angeles–area locations linked to two U.S. companies at midnight on New Year’s Eve 2025. Investigators said the group obtained bomb-making materials, traveled to the Mojave Desert to conduct test detonations, and documented the plot in a handwritten notebook titled “Operation Midnight Sun.” The FBI intervened and made arrests before the suspects were able to complete any functional explosive devices. According to CBS News, President Barack Obama urged Democrats to “meet the moment” at a Los Angeles fundraiser, calling winning back the House the party’s top short-term priority to serve as a check on the White House while pushing a longer-term strategy focused on unifying the party and sharpening its message around affordability, wages and health care. Speaking alongside House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Obama emphasized unity across ideological factions, argued voters care more about economic security than internal party debates. According to the Guardian, US green card holder, Hilda Ramirez Sanan, has filed a $1m lawsuit against ICE alleging that officers violently and unlawfully detained her and her two US citizen children outside a Massachusetts courthouse. The suit claims unmarked ICE vehicles boxed in her car, officers shattered its windows without identifying themselves, violently arrested Ramirez Sanan in front of her children, and attempted to pull her autistic 13-year-old son from the vehicle while threatening him with arrest. Ramirez Sanan and her children were hospitalized with injuries, and advocates say the incident reflects illegal and inhumane conduct by ICE, which declined to comment. A Massachusetts jury convicted Brian Walshe of first-degree murder for killing his wife, Ana Walshe, after prosecutors proved he dismembered her body and disposed of evidence following her New Year’s Day 2023 disappearance, citing his financial motive tied to her $2.7 million life insurance policy, evidence of an affair, extensive internet searches about body disposal, surveillance footage of him buying cleaning and cutting supplies, and his lies to police. The FDA sent warning letters to Walmart, Target, Kroger and Albertsons for continuing to sell recalled ByHeart infant formula despite being notified of the recall, saying the products were linked to a nationwide outbreak of infant botulism. The agency said at least 51 infants in 19 states have been sickened, and inspections found the recalled formula still on shelves across dozens of states, sometimes even promoted with discounts. President Donald Trump signed an executive order classifying illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals as weapons of mass destruction, arguing that the drug’s deadly impact rivals that of conventional weapons. The order directs the attorney general to aggressively pursue fentanyl trafficking prosecutions and instructs the State and Treasury departments to target financial assets and institutions linked to its manufacture and distribution. European leaders said they are prepared to lead a US-backed multinational force in Ukraine as part of a proposed peace deal with Russia, offering “article five–like” security guarantees that would include rebuilding Ukraine’s forces, securing its airspace and seas, supporting an 800,000-strong Ukrainian army, and committing Europe to respond to any future Russian attack, though major disagreements remain over the status of Russian-occupied territories and other unresolved issues. Washington state officials ordered immediate evacuations in three south Seattle suburbs after a levee failed following a week of heavy rain, forcing residents and businesses in parts of Kent, Auburn and Tukwila to leave. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning affecting nearly 47,000 people, as an intense atmospheric river dumped more than a foot of rain, causing record flooding, mudslides, washed-out homes, and emergency rescues across the region. According to NBC, former Rep. Mark Walker’s nomination as U.S. ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom has stalled for eight months in the Senate, with Trump allies and GOP sources alleging that Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina — a former primary rival — has quietly blocked the process out of lingering political grievances. Despite broad support from the White House, faith leaders and lawmakers, Walker has not received a confirmation hearing, putting the nomination at risk of expiring at year’s end, as Trump and his allies publicly press for faster action.
See you in the morning. — Aaron
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