Today in Politics, Bulletin 207. 9/15/25 Ron Filipkowski Sep 15 ∙ … Fox reports that Kash Patel may be fired soon: “On Monday, former Missouri AG Andrew Bailey will be sworn into a new power-sharing role with Dan Bongino. Bailey’s installment comes at a perilous time for Patel, whose leadership atop the nation’s premier law enforcement agency is under fire, according to 10 sources. The WH’s reasoning to create an unprecedented office for Bailey has not been explained and left FBI leadership confused.” … One source with knowledge of ongoing personnel decisions: "The WH, Bondi, Blanche have no confidence in Kash. Pam in particular cannot stand him. Blanche either.” … “Allies of President Trump and Patel’s harshest critics have begun to circulate word that contingency plans for Patel’s ouster are forming. They also claim his hopeful successor, Andrew Bailey, made clear that he would not leave his post as Missouri’s AG – or abandon his aspirations to run for state governor – only to serve as Patel’s number two. Bailey, who starts at the Bureau on Sept 15th, would be eligible to fill the FBI Director post after he has been employed by the FBI for at least 90 days.” … “Multiple sources close to Trump acknowledged the president was not thrilled with some past episodes of Patel’s performance – including a public feud with AG Bondi over the admin’s handling of the Epstein case. One senior WH official also framed Patel’s botched communications during the manhunt for Charlie Kirk’s assassin as something Patel likely wished he could do differently, if he could do it all over again. Patel’s purported off-ramp would not involve his firing but a reassignment to another admin role.” … This report was from Fox’s chief WH correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, who probably has better sources inside the Trump WH than anyone else, so I would not doubt any of this. … Meanwhile, Patel was on Fox & Friends this morning trying to defend his erratic behavior during the Kirk investigation: Q - “When you were still looking for the guy you posted ‘we got him’. That ended up not being true. Patel: Could I have worded it a little better in the heat of the moment? Sure.” … Matthew Gertz with Media Matters: “The dynamic where Kash Patel appears to be on the outs with DOJ and the WH and is trying to salvage his job by leaking tidbits about the Kirk investigation to right-wing media outlets doesn't seem great for obtaining accurate information.” … Jim Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee announced today that it will hold an FBI oversight hearing on Wednesday morning where Kash Patel will testify. Should be interesting. … This was Kash in 2022 when he was selling his Trump RussiaGate-themed children’s book, ‘The Plot Against The King’ with his other K$H merch like his line of tee shirts and hats. He also rented out a mock castle in Texas to promote the book where he had kids shoot watermelons with pics of Sen. Adam Schiff’s face on them from a trebuchet at the castle. I posted a video of it back then. Totally normal stuff. … A memorial service for Kirk was held at the Kennedy Center last night. Kari Lake speaking at the event: “How does a 22-year-old become so filled with hate? Five years earlier I was told he was a Trump supporter and we send our kids off to college and they brainwashed them. I am making a plea to mothers. Do not send your children into these indoctrination camps. Do not do it.” … Just a reminder that Robinson spent the last 3 years at a trade school in Utah learning to be an electrician for his radical left woke marxist indoctrination. … Karoline Leavitt also spoke: "When so many influential voices in our society are brainwashing young people to abandon our faith, to stay single, not to have children and to bash our country, Charlie Kirk offered us an alternative path." … RFK Jr started out with this story: “I met Charlie for the first time in July of 2001 when I went on his podcast.” … Charlie was 8 years old in 2001. … Trump skipped the event to remain at his Bedminster golf club for the weekend. … ICE is now using the murder as a tool to recruit new agents: “DHS is holding a career expo, seeking courageous Americans to answer the call and join the ranks of law enforcement. This event is taking place at the Utah Valley Convention Center—only a few miles away from where Charlie Kirk was murdered. Like Charlie, DHS, under President Trump and Secretary DOG KILLER Noem, will NEVER cower to those who threaten America. Our resolve to defend the homeland burns brighter than ever.” … JD Vance hosted Kirk’s podcast live today from the WH. His guest was Stephen Miller. As you might expect with these two, it was dark with lots of threats. Vance: "While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far-Left." … “There is no unity with someone who lies about what Charlie Kirk said in order to excuse his murder. There is no unity with someone who harasses an innocent family the day after the father of that family lost a dear friend. There is no unity with the people who celebrate Kirk's assassination. And there is no unity with the people who fund these articles, who pay the salaries of these terrorist sympathizers who argue that Kirk deserved a shot to the neck because he spoke words with which they disagree.” … Elon Musk: “Unity is impossible with evil fanatics who celebrate murder.” … Miller: “We are going to channel all the anger we have over the organized campaign to led to this assassination to uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks. The organized doxxing campaigns. The organized riots. The organized street violence. The organized of dehumanization. Vilification. Posting people’s addresses. Combining that with messaging designed to trigger and incite violence and the actual organized cells that carry out and facilitate the violence. It is a vast domestic terror movement.” … “With God and as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have at the DOJ, DHS, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks, and make America safe again for the American people. It will happen, and we will do it in Charlie’s name.” … Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) had this exchange with Miller on X: “Hunting down and prosecuting service members for their individual political beliefs is dangerous and un-American. We must condemn political violence AND allow peaceful speech that doesn’t impact the chain of command.” … Miller: “Member of Congress says that Armed Forces personnel should be allowed to support and encourage the assassination of conservative and religious Americans. Those in positions of power have been deeply, chillingly radicalized.” … Crow: “No, Stephen, unlike you I have unequivocally condemned political violence in all its forms. This was a moment that required leaders to unite Americans and put us on a better path. You on the other hand are using this tragedy to target political opponents and incite more violence. You are the problem.” … Rolling Stone: “More than 7 months into Trump’s term, Stephen Miller has become America’s — if not the world’s — most powerful unelected bureaucrat. With Trump’s blessing, Miller has been allowed to run and remake the country in a manner virtually unheard of for a US govt official of his rank. Think of any egregious policy from the Trump admin: Chances are, it was driven by Stephen Miller.” … “All of it bears Trump’s signature, but the president is not the one spending his nights writing executive orders and bending legal theory to his will; nearly all of this bears the authorship (or, at least, co-authorship) of Miller. Everything you loathe or love about Donald Trump’s America, you hate or cherish about Stephen Miller’s republic of fear.” … “Trump admin officials and other Republicans close to the president are paranoid that Miller will one day hear them gossiping about him behind his back — but they still whisper the unofficial titles and nicknames that they bestow onto the WH deputy chief of staff: “Shadow Sec Def.” “Prime Minister Miller.” “The REAL Attorney General.” “The DHS boss.” “President Miller.” … “When Rolling Stone asks one senior admin official about former Fox News star and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, this source says, unprompted, that ‘he does what Stephen wants him to do.’” … The WI Democratic Party released a report on Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s social media activity since the Kirk murder. I noted in this column that Van Orden has been by far the most unhinged member of Congress since this happened. The report notes he tweeted more than 550 times in 5 days. … In those posts, Van Orden has called Dems domestic terrorists, agreed with the conspiracy that Dems tried to assassinate Trump in PA, said that George Soros should be investigated and charged with being complicit in Kirk’s murder, and called for civil war. … WI Dem Party spokesperson Philip Shulman: “America’s most dedicated keyboard warrior Derrick Van Orden will not stop encouraging violence against Democrats and reporters — when is someone in his own party going to tell him to stop?” … Van Orden is in a swing district where he barely won reelection in 2024 and is high on the list of seats that Democrats think they can win in 2026. … Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) did a photo op where he had himself filmed painting over anti-Kirk graffiti near a highway so he could post it on social media. Interesting that the paint he is using exactly matches the graffiti that was supposedly painted on here by a leftist, and not the object he is painting. But I’m sure Ted wouldn’t stage a false flag photo op. … Alina Habba complained on social media about state buildings in NY and NJ flying their flags normally instead of at half-staff to honor Kirk: “Flags were ordered to be lowered by the President of the United States. Lower. Your. Flags.” … The president only has authority over flags on federal property. … A reporter asked Trump today why he didn’t order flags to be flown at half-staff for MN Democratic State Rep Melissa Hortman after she was assassinated by a right-wing extremist in June: Q - “Do you think it would have been fitting to lower the flags for Melissa Hortman who was killed as well? Trump: Uh, I’m not familiar, who?” … Jessica Tarlov then had this exchange with Greg Gutfeld on Fox. Gutfeld: “What is interesting here is why it's only this happening on the left and not the right? Tarlov: What about Melissa Hortman? Gutfeld: Did you know her name before it happened? None of us did. None of us were spending every single day talking about her. Tarlov: So she doesn't matter? Gutfeld: Don't play that bullshit with me.” … One day after most NFL teams recognized Kirk in various ways before their games, Trump attacked the league for a new rule which changed the play where most serious injuries occur: “The NFL has to get rid of that ridiculous looking new Kickoff Rule. ‘Sissy’ football is bad for America, and bad for the NFL! Who comes up with these ridiculous ideas?” … NYT: “This summer, Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, paid a visit to the coast of Sardinia, a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea crowded with super yachts. On one of those extravagant vessels, Witkoff sat down with a member of the ultra rich ruling family of UAE. He was meeting Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a trim figure in dark glasses who controls $1.5 trillion of the Emiratis’ sovereign wealth.” … “Over the past few months, Witkoff and Sheikh Tahnoon had become both diplomatic allies and business partners, testing the limits of ethics rules while enriching the president, his family and his inner circle. In May, Witkoff’s son Zach announced the first of the deals at a conference in Dubai. One of Sheikh Tahnoon’s investment firms would deposit $2 billion into World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency start-up founded by the Witkoffs and Trumps.” … “Two weeks later, the WH agreed to allow the UAE access to hundreds of thousands of the world’s most advanced and scarce computer chips, a crucial tool in the high-stakes race to dominate AI. Many of the chips would go to G42, a sprawling technology firm controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon, despite national security concerns that the chips could be shared with China.” … “Those negotiations involved another key WH official with ties to the tech industry and to the Middle East: David Sacks. A longtime venture capitalist, Sacks serves as the admin’s AI and crypto czar, a newly created position that has allowed him to shape tech policy even as he continues to work in Silicon Valley.” … Labor policy analyst Sam Peak: “It's now clear that the Hyundai immigration raid was an operational mistake. A big reason why this mistake happened is because the agents who raided this plant have no experience in worksite enforcement. They previously worked on high priority counter-terrorism and child sex trafficking cases, but were reassigned to work on these low priority enforcement cases to help boost the administration's deportation numbers.” … “Because these agents did not know what they were doing, they arrested hundreds of Koreans who were legally authorized to help install equipment at the Hyundai plant in what became the largest raid in US history. Meanwhile, cases involving terror threat investigations, child trafficking, and other transnational crimes are being deprioritized.” … Trump threatened to withhold federal funding to NY if they elect Zohran Mamdani mayor of NYC: “Gov Kathy Hochul of NY has Endorsed the ‘Liddle’ Communist. This is a rather shocking development, and a very bad one for NYC. How can such a thing happen? Washington will be watching this situation very closely. No reason to be sending good money after bad!” … Trump launched another missile strike today against a small boat off the coast of Venezuela. He claims that they were involved in drug trafficking and all 3 people on board the boat were killed. He posted a video of the missile strike on Truth Social. Sorry if this seems like a lot more bad news, but these are dark and dangerous times which I fear will continue to get worse before they get better. I certainly do not think Vance and Miller are bluffing when they promise their most rabid right-wing cultists they are about to unleash hell on Democrats and institutions. With so many people getting fired and under attack, this is the time to be fully aware of what is happening and to stick together. I do think they are going to continue to overplay their hand and it is going to cost them big time in the midterms. I know some of you think there won’t be elections, etc, but I can’t/won’t operate under that premise because that just leads to defeatism. I am working on a Substack which will be out Wed showing the staggering degree Dem candidates have overperformed bigly all over the country in races big and small since Nov 2024. We have to be vigilant, aware, and ready to fight back. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. … WaPo: “More Americans are facing stretches of unemployment of 6 months or more, a worrisome sign for the U.S. economy. More than 1 in 4 workers without jobs have been unemployed for at least half a year. That number is a post-pandemic high and a level typically only seen during periods of economic turmoil. In all, more than 1.9 million Americans had been unemployed ‘long term’ in Aug, meaning they have been out of work for 27 weeks or more, a critical cliff when it comes to finding a job. That’s more than double the 1 million people who were in a similar position in early 2023.” … Labor market analyst Laura Ullrich: “We have a low-hire, low-fire environment — and that stagnancy means there aren’t a lot of new positions for people to move into. The probability of becoming unemployed has not gone up that much, but if you become unemployed, it’s much harder to find a job.” … Financial Times: “Trump’s attack on US economic institutions and rising concern over the quality of official data are propelling unofficial statistics into an evermore prominent role on Wall Street. Long-standing private reports have recently risen in prominence, including a labour market report collated by payrolls processor ADP. Google searches for the ADP Employment Report have recently trebled. … “The host of private data sets published by research firms, universities and industry groups can often outdo public sector alternatives on speed and detail. Free market advocates argue a shift to private figures would help improve trust in data, as it is harder for the govt to exert influence over them.” … Economist Derek Tang: “We’ve always sort of taken for granted that we didn’t have to worry about the confidence of the govt data because it set the standard for neutrality and reliability. That credibility is being impugned, whether fairly or not, right now.” … JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon: “We get data like you wouldn’t believe. The govt data is important. Our own data is important. We get data from non-govt sources. And you can look at delinquency data, worldwide data, trade data. We get all of that.” … Adam Michel with Cato Institute: “I think the private sector is more insulated. Trump explicitly criticized some of the Goldman Sachs economic forecasts and said their head economist should be fired. And that person still has their job — unlike the head of the BLS.” … Pope Leo: “CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making 4-6 times more than what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it’s 600 times more than what average workers are receiving. Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world. What does that mean and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has value any more, then we’re in big trouble.” … Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY): “We need more sanctions on Russia now. If Trump refuses to fight for America and put pressure on Putin, we will fight for Congress to increase sanctions on Russia now.” … This is something to keep an eye on because this post by Schumer comes one day after Lindsay Graham announced that he was seeking to attach a Russia sanctions package to the CR to keep the govt open, which Schumer has suggested he would filibuster if Republicans refused to negotiate with Dems. Graham said he was doing it to get Dems to vote for the CR if they want Russia sanctions since Trump will do nothing. … Semafor: “House Republicans will try to move CR through Nov. 20 and negotiate with Senate on package of long-term bills. But Democrats say no negotiations are really happening yet. Schumer spokesperson: “If Republicans follow Donald Trump’s orders to not even bother dealing with Democrats they will be single-handedly putting our country on the path towards a shutdown.” … Some of the usual suspects on the Republican side are making noises about opposing leadership on the CR, but they have done this before and always caved in the end when Trump started making threatening phone calls. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN): “CR until Thanksgiving? NO. I am willing to vote for a CR of any duration, but I cannot support one that ends funding right before a major holiday to jam us with an Omnibus. I’ve seen this playbook too many times.” … Rep. Marge Greene (R-GA): “We have had zero meetings about voting on a CR. Zero. We have zero bill text. We knew it was coming for a long time, but Johnson continued the charade of passing our own appropriations. By the way, a CR does not pass any new funding requests for our districts. It is an extension of the Johnson/Schumer/Biden omnibus that I, and many of my conservative colleagues, originally voted NO on. Congress should not pass a CR and hand our elected legislative power over to unelected OMB. That’s not how this works.” … Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH): “I’m not sure the GOP, the Republicans, MAGA, conservatives, or some other blend of right of center politics will do anything different. I already hated status quo thinking and approaches (soft incrementalism at best), so I’m out on another CR for the sake of more govt. We know we need a smaller, more accountable, more focused America First government. I will tolerate nothing else.” … He said the same thing in March before he changed his mind and voted for the last CR. He also did the same with the Republican budget bill which exploded the deficit, before changing his mind and voting for that. But Johnson can only lose 2 Republican votes, and it is almost certain that Thomas Massie is going to vote against it - and he won’t change is mind like the others who talk a big game before caving. … Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL): “They are like the movie Titanic. Hours of drama but we all know how its going to end.” … Ukrainian Journalist Kristina Berdynskykh: “Exactly one month ago, Trump and Putin met in Alaska. Since then, Russia has shelled an American factory in Ukraine, damaged the EU Delegation building, fired a missile at the Ukrainian govt, and launched drones into Poland.” … Financial Times Christopher Miller: “Add to that destruction from Russian attacks dozens of civilians killed and hundreds injured. And today Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said explicitly that it is obvious the Russia-Ukraine peace process is on ‘pause,’ meaning that as things stand today Moscow has no interest in ending its war anytime soon.” … CNN’s Manu Raju asked several Republicans about Trump’s refusal to act on Russia sanctions. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC): “Russia’s really playing us like a piano right now.” … Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA): “I think it is time to move on Russia sanctions.” … Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): “He's been weak on Russia.” … Raju also asked Sen. John Fetterman if his frequent criticisms of Democrats signals that he might be looking to change parties: “I’m a Democrat. I just made a significant investment in the PA Democratic Party. I’m not changing my party. I’m not going to be an independent.” … Rep. Michael Rulli (R-OH) on Fox explaining why the Trump has shifted away from solar and wind: "When you first get elected into office, everybody says 'all of the above' for natural resources, for energy. But in reality it's just natural gas and coal that can produce right now. You look at Russia, they're building coal plants left and right. We're closing coal plants - coal is the way." … Treasury Sec Scott Bessent told WSJ that the admin may have reached a deal to comply with the TikTok divestiture law which they have ignored since January: “We have a framework for a TikTok deal. The two leaders, President Trump and Party Chair Xi, will speak on Friday to complete the deal." … It will be interesting to see who is profiting from this “framework.” … Politico: “Conor McGregor has quit without landing a blow in his doomed bid to become Ireland’s next president. The Dublin-born MMA fighter, who now spends much of his online time decrying immigration, long had vowed to win a place on the ballot for the election. To become eligible, McGregor required official nominations from at least 4 of Ireland’s 31 councils. Yet, after months of huffing and puffing online, he didn’t even attempt to clear that low bar. Instead, he quit in an online missive Monday to avoid suffering a likely technical knockout at the hands of Dublin City Council.” … “The council had been due to convene within hours to hear McGregor’s in-person appeal for their support. He had secured backing from only a few anti-immigration councilors, while dozens had pledged to reject him. The fighter had secured less, if any, support from other councils. Reflecting the lack of real-world seriousness of his campaign, McGregor didn’t even travel to Dublin and issued his submission statement from the US.” … “McGregor’s bid for the Irish presidency — during which he won a visit to meet Trump at the WH and was given copious long-distance support from X owner Elon Musk — likewise failed to garner any significant backing from the Irish public. The latest opinion poll, published Sunday in the Business Post, dumped McGregor into the humiliating ‘others’ category with less than 2% support.” … Carolina Forward: “In the US Senate race, former governor Roy Cooper leads his likely Republican opponent Michael Whatley by 7 percentage points, 48% to 41%. Continuing a long-running trend, Cooper is seen favorably by a majority of NC voters, with a 7-point net approval rating. By comparison, 41% of voters have never heard of his Republican opponent.” … NYU law professor Ryan Goodman: “With terrific team, I just published a large study looking at all court cases involving the Trump admin. It shows the basis for courts no longer giving a so-called ‘presumption of regularity’ (a legal doctrine involving a strong benefit of the doubt) to the admin. We document over 15 cases in which judges have explicitly found the admin violated a court order.” … “We also document over 35 cases in which judges have criticized the DOJ for providing false information, misrepresentations of facts, and the like. Finally, we document over 50 cases in which courts have found the admin engaged in ‘arbitrary capricious’ conduct. A really staggering number (as are the other numbers) in such a short period.” … Immigration lawyer Aaron Reichlin-Melnick: “It took less than a year for many federal courts to essentially stop believing anything the Department of Justice says.” … NYT: “Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor who handled criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, is contesting her abrupt July firing in a lawsuit that challenges Trump’s claim of sweeping presidential power. Comey, whose father, James Comey, is a former FBI director, says in the lawsuit filed on Monday that she was never given a reason for her dismissal. She contends that no plausible explanation exists other than that she is the daughter of one of the president’s best-known adversaries — or her perceived political affiliations.” … “The lawsuit argues that Comey’s firing was done without cause, advance notice or an opportunity to contest it, and was unlawful and unconstitutional. It says that the dismissal was retaliation for ‘her father’s protected speech, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both.’ Comey contends that the law provides no authority for the president to fire rank-and-file prosecutors, who are protected by civil service laws passed by Congress and signed by past presidents.” … Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) released a report today which reveals that over the past 4 months, the Depts of Ag, Labor, and HHS have illegally spent taxpayer dollars on banners that serve no public purpose other than promoting Trump. The contracts, costing at least $50,000 so far, include enormous Trump portraits and campaign-style slogans. … These include gigantic multi-story banners of Trump and Abraham Lincoln on the Dept of Ag building, a banner with Trump’s face next to Theodore Roosevelt on the Labor Dept HQ, and two MAHA banners at HHS. … Graham Platner, the Democratic challenger to Sen. Susan Collins, was a guest today on the MeidasTouch podcast: “I think Collins has tried to create this charade in which she’s always the moderate voice in the room. But that’s nonsense, and everybody knows it’s nonsense.” … “The recent budget bill is the most glaring example. She allowed it to move onto the floor. She did nothing — used none of her power to slow it down or force a more public conversation about it. And then, when it was on the floor, she voted against it. That way she can come back to Maine and say, ‘See, I was against it.’ But she wasn’t against it. If she had been, she would have shut it down or at least slowed it down. She did none of that. Susan Collins does not represent the interests of working Mainers.”