SCOTUS
The Clarence Thomas Scandal Is Somehow Looking Even Worse
ProPublica reports that Thomas was in debt, frustrated with his salary, and implying he’d resign from the Supreme Court if his financial situation didn’t change—just before Harlan Crow and other conservatives started lavishing him with expensive gifts and luxury vacations.
2024 CAMPAIGN
“Poisoning the Blood”: Donald Trump Doubles Down On Anti-Migrant Language During New Hampshire Rally
The Biden campaign said Trump “parroted Hitler … and threaten[ed] American democracy.”
SANDY HOOK PAYOUT
Alex Jones Makes Low-Ball Offer to Sandy Hook Families: $55 Million Over A Decade
A lawyer representing the shooting victims’ relatives, who won defamation judgments worth $1.4 billion, said Jones's proposal “falls woefully short.”
Middle East
White House: IDF Mistaken Killing of Three Israeli Hostages “A Terrible Tragedy”
The hostages were not wearing shirts and waving a white flag on a stick, according to preliminary military reports.
Scandals
Bridget and Christian Ziegler: Everything We Know About the MAGA-Couple Scandal Involving Threesomes, an Alleged Payout, a Rape Accusation, and the Height of Republican Hypocrisy
The chairman of the Republican Party of Florida has been accused of raping a woman he and his wife previously had a threesome with. That’s just one part of the story.
Couldn’t Have Happened To A Nicer Guy
Rudy Giuliani Is Absolutely F--ked, Must Pay $148 Million to the Election Workers He Defamed
Oh, and he could be going to prison next.
Trump Trials
Jack Smith May Have a Secret Weapon Against Donald Trump at the Supreme Court
The former president has already lost many times before the justices. Whether he’s absolutely immune from prosecution is his latest Hail Mary. But there’s a twist.
Levin Report
Kevin McCarthy Says He Loved “Every Single Day” in Congress, Where His Colleagues Despised Him and Threw Him Out on His Ass
In one final humiliation, almost no one attended McCarthy’s goodbye speech.
Inside the Hive
The Democratic Strategist Who’s Bullish About Biden
Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg explains why he’s so optimistic about President Biden’s chances in 2024 despite all the bed-wetting among pundits and the media.
Crime
Rudy Giuliani Is a Hop, Skip, and a Jump Away From Telling His Cellmate “They Used to Call Me America’s Mayor”
He also might be officially broke before 2024 is out.
Media
“A Slippery Slope”: NYPD is Relocating Reporters From Police HQ to a Trailer
Officials say the move is for space reasons. But it comes “against a backdrop of complaints about the coverage of crime,” says one veteran crime reporter, which has “raised everybody’s antenna.”
Congress
Republicans Vote to Prolong Their Desperate Fishing Expedition Into Biden
Without a single shred of evidence, House Republicans have voted to approve an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. The president, meanwhile, called the vote a “baseless political stunt.”
Levin Report
Ted Cruz Won’t Discuss Texas’s Horrific Treatment of Woman Denied Abortion Despite Fatal Fetus Diagnosis (Because He Knows How Bad It Looks)
When you’re a certified weasel and a coward.
Media
“We Wanted to Keep Chasing It”: How Student Journalists at Harvard and Penn Are Beating Big-Time Reporters to the Punch
So much for finals! Crimson and Daily Pennsylvanian scribes are providing “blow-by-blow” coverage of the campus antisemitism scandals embroiling (recently ousted) Penn president Liz Magill and Harvard’s (safe-for-now) Claudine Gay.
Impeachment
Republicans Can’t Believe Fox News Keeps Calling Them Out on Their Impeachment Bulls--t
House Oversight Committee chair James Comer has literally said he won’t go on Steve Doocy’s show anymore because of it.
Israel-Hamas Conflict
Biden Says Netanyahu Must “Change” His Government—But Vows “Unshakeable” Support Either Way
The president is getting more candid about his frustrations with his Israeli counterpart, warning that Netanyahu is “starting to lose” international backing. But for now, that rhetorical shift hasn't come with a shift in policy.
He’s Not Alone
Rudy Giuliani’s Lawyer Wishes Rudy Giuliani Would Shut the Hell Up
“My client, as you saw last night, likes to talk a lot, unfortunately.”
Scenes from the MAGAverse
“I Don’t Give a F--k”: Behind the Media Revolt at the New York Young Republican Gala
The club, which convened this past weekend to see Donald Trump in the flesh, set one ground rule for the press: Don’t talk to guests. It wasn’t long before the rule became a mere suggestion.
Crime
George Santos May Plead Guilty to Some of Those Crimes He Says He Didn’t Commit
He also says he hopes to eventually return to Congress.
Impeachment
It May Be Impeachment Eve For House Republicans
'Tis the season to formalize proceedings against Joe Biden—even in the absence of evidence of wrongdoing.