Some of you have been asking what book(s) to start with, here's a post to cover 4 primary answers depending on what you like -- there are lots more than just these, and all but one of these are multi-book series. If you're into traditional thrillers, then Perimeter and Multiverse are likely good book 1 choices, though if you ask me, I'd suggest starting with Perimeter because they're related series. Darwin's Cipher is a medical thriller and Primordial Threat is a heavy on the science and mildly futuristic Science Fiction Thriller. Below are the basic descriptions: 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫: (geni.us/Gn1TlOA) Levi Yoder is a man who solves problems—Mafia problems. But when he’s diagnosed with terminal cancer, there’s nothing left to fix. He prepares to die… until the impossible happens—he learns that he's in complete remission. Before he can make sense of his second chance, Levi is thrust into a deadly game of international espionage. The CIA claims the Russian mob is gunning for him, but the truth is even more dangerous—someone wants him dead because of something his late wife did. As Levi navigates a web of deceit, organized crime, and shadowy intelligence forces, he faces an enemy he might not be able to outmaneuver. Can he uncover the truth before he and his family become collateral damage? 𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: (geni.us/3zby0R) 𝐌𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄 – 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 What if your greatest scientific breakthrough became humanity’s biggest threat? Michael Salomon, a brilliant particle physicist, has just unlocked the secrets of tachyons—faster-than-light particles that could rewrite the laws of reality. But before he can even share his discovery, his research is seized by the government, and a stranger—one who knows his future—warns him that his work has already shattered time itself. A waking nightmare grips him: visions of a child he hasn’t lost—yet. A government that now hunts him. A student who remembers things they haven’t done—yet. Michael’s experiment didn’t just open a door; it shattered the walls between past, present, and future. Now, he must race against time—before the version of himself that already went too far dooms them all. From a 𝐔𝐒𝐀 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 best-selling author, 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 is a high-stakes sci-fi thriller that bends time, twists reality, and asks the ultimate question: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞? 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐧'𝐬 𝐂𝐢𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫: (geni.us/94LpxLR) A revolutionary discovery. A lethal new threat. A race against time to save humanity. In Darwin’s Cipher, brilliant cancer researcher Juan Gutierrez uncovers a hidden genetic algorithm that can predict the path of a species’ evolution over millennia. His breakthrough offers a tantalizing hope for overcoming human vulnerability to disease—but shadowy forces have their own sinister plans for this genetic super-tool. When an FBI analyst investigating bizarre, unsolved cases is called out to a ranch with a single surviving calf surrounded by dead cattle, the DNA evidence points to something far beyond the ordinary. Meanwhile, a newborn child with an impossible genome sets off alarms at the NIH—and the race to contain a nightmarish outbreak begins. From hidden labs to high-security bio-containment units, Darwin’s Cipher hurtles you into a nerve-shredding chase where science, conspiracy, and evolution collide—with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance. Prepare to question everything you thought you knew about our genetic destiny. 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭: (geni.us/ye6Y) The year is 2066, and the world is oblivious to the threat it faces. The fate of humanity lies on the shoulders of Burt Radcliffe, the new head of NASA's Near Earth Object program. He's been rushing the completion of DefenseNet, a ring of satellites that are both part of an early-warning system, as well as

𝐅𝐁𝐈’𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅-𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 “𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓” 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐍𝐈𝐊𝐊𝐈 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐋𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 Nikki Floris — the former FBI official who privately texted that she was “𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵” inside the Bureau during the 2020 election — was charged Friday with lying to Congress about her role investigating Hunter Biden’s laptop. Her former colleague, 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬, was charged alongside her in the same case. Floris ran the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force as Deputy Assistant Director from mid-2019 to mid-2022; Benavides served as the task force’s Section Chief through the 2020 election. Both told the House Judiciary Committee in 2023 that the task force had nothing to do with the Hunter Biden investigations. Prosecutors say that’s a lie — contradicted, per the complaint, by 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬. Benavides’ excuse is the detail that makes this case: he testified he first learned the FBI even had Hunter Biden’s laptop by reading about it on 𝐖𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚. Records cited in the complaint allegedly show he’d actually been discussing the laptop investigation with FBI colleagues regularly, all the way up to Election Day 2020. Floris’ attorneys are calling it political theater, saying the government’s reasons for charging her “𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵” and that it’s “𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” FBI Director Kash Patel, who announced the case, says the documents tell a different story — and that neither official is above the law. Each faces one count of making false statements. Both are presumed innocent, and the case is far from over — but the woman who once bragged about running her own shadow government inside the FBI is now explaining herself in federal court instead. 𝐖𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. Source: @OANN xitter.cf/OANN/status/2114911209…

𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐀 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐔𝐌𝐏: 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐓𝐎𝐍’𝐒 $𝟑 𝐆𝐀𝐒 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄 California drivers are paying some of the steepest gas prices in the country right now — AAA had the statewide average at $𝟔.𝟐𝟒 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐧 in mid-October, with federal data showing prices up 37% from a year ago. Into that backdrop walks Republican gubernatorial nominee Steve Hilton, pumping gas himself and making his signature promise in person. At the pump, Hilton talked to a voter who hadn’t even planned to cast a ballot this cycle. By the end of the conversation, that changed. “𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺... 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬... 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵.” Hilton’s $3 pledge isn’t just a slogan. His platform calls for 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝, scrapping cap-and-trade, easing refinery rules and expanding in-state oil production — the policy package he blames for making California gas the most expensive in the nation. He faces Democrat Xavier Becerra, the former state attorney general and Biden-era HHS secretary, on November 3. Whether that $3 number ever shows up at the pump, the pitch worked on at least one driver standing right there — and with 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲, that's exactly the voter Hilton needs. 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 $𝟔 𝐠𝐚𝐬. 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 $𝟑. Source: @SteveHiltonx xitter.cf/SteveHiltonx/status/21…

𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐒 𝐀 $𝟏 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐈𝐏𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 President Trump just put a price tag on catching election cheats. In a recent interview, he confirmed he’s rolling out 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 for anyone who helps put a fraudster behind bars. “𝘐’𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴.” In the same exchange, the conversation turned to an even harder line: any noncitizen caught casting a ballot “𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥” — folding immigration enforcement and election security into a single message nine days before the midterms. The timing isn’t random. His own Justice Department is already in court over exactly this problem. The DOJ sued California and Los Angeles County on October 15, demanding 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 tied to suspected noncitizens be set aside until citizenship can be verified — a case still pending days before the state's votes get counted. A seven-figure bounty for busting fraudsters is the kind of blunt, transactional move Trump trademarks. It also puts 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡 in an awkward spot: if the system's clean, nobody collects. If it isn't, somebody's about to get rich proving it. 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧. Source: @BoLoudon xitter.cf/BoLoudon/status/211480…

𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐅𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐂𝐄 ’𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆’ 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐓𝐘 Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderón, a 43-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico living in South Los Angeles, admitted in federal court Monday that her viral “𝘐𝘊𝘌 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨” story was a 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — built from the ground up to smear the federal agents who were never actually after her. According to the DOJ, “𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳ó𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 ’𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’ 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵-𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 ’𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯,’ ’𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸’ 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘺.” Two days later she called a tenants’ rights activist with a blocked caller ID and claimed she’d been hauled to San Ysidro and pressured to sign deportation papers, then told a third person she was locked in a warehouse with other detainees. Her family held a tearful press conference spreading the story and launched a GoFundMe — since deleted — while Calderón 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, changed her appearance, and went dark for two days before agents found her very much free in a Bakersfield shopping-plaza parking lot, still insisting she’d been kidnapped. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli didn’t mince words: “𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐𝘊𝘌 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 ’𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨’ 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.” Calderón now faces up to five years in federal prison at her February 8, 2027 sentencing — for a hoax a single surveillance camera was enough to unravel. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭. Source: New York Post nypost.com/2026/10/26/us-new… nypost.com/2026/10/26/us-new…

𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏: 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐀𝐗 𝐂𝐔𝐓𝐒, 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐃, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘 President Trump used a campaign stop to read the Democrats’ voting record back to them, line by line. “𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘹 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘴,” he said. “𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵.” He joked the phrase might “𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴” as a label that defines the party. The list kept going. By Trump’s account, the same bloc voted against 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐱 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐱 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐱 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 — three of the administration’s signature pocketbook wins for working families and retirees. On election integrity, Trump said Democrats voted against 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐃 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟-𝐨𝐟-𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, framing the motive bluntly: “𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵.” He paired that with their vote against securing the border. Then came the other side of the ledger, in Trump’s telling: Democrats voted in favor of the worst inflation and highest energy costs in American history, transgender medical procedures for minors, and allowing 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬. It’s a simple contrast Trump is betting works heading into the midterms — a party that blocked tax relief and border security while backing the costliest, most unpopular fights in American politics. He’s content to let voters keep score themselves. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭. Source: @RapidResponse47 xitter.cf/RapidResponse47/status…

𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐓 𝐉𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐒’ 𝟓𝟎-𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐘, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐏, 𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐆𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has spent weeks calling the latest gas-price jump “𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺,” blaming September's surge on a one-time energy shock after it drove more than half of that month's inflation report. 𝐂𝐍𝐍 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 thinks the honest answer is simpler than that. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘱. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺,” Jennings said, describing what he thinks the administration should just come out and say. Then he pivoted to the part nobody in Washington wants to own. “𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝟐𝟓-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝟑𝟎-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝟓𝟎-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 — 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳,” he said. Jennings didn't stop at domestic politics. “𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘙𝘎𝘊. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭,” he added — a jab at Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the leverage Tehran still holds over global oil routes whenever Washington hesitates on drilling and pipelines at home. Blocked pipelines, stalled refinery permits and scrapped LNG terminals don't reverse themselves the moment an administration changes. 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 “𝐧𝐨” 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞. Every month the price at the pump becomes a referendum on whoever happens to be in the White House — not on the fifty years of policy that got the country here. 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐩. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧. Source: @SteveGuest xitter.cf/SteveGuest/status/2114…

𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐍: 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊, 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏'𝐒 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 Ten days before the November 3rd midterms, 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 laid out the number Democrats are counting on — and the one thing in American politics that doesn't fit the pattern this cycle. “𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘨,” Hanson said. “126 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 1900, 90 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥-𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵.” By that math, Republicans should already be bracing for a wipeout. But Hanson points to what's different this time: Trump himself is 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 on the argument that he's effectively on the ballot, even though his name isn't printed on it. “𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘵,” Hanson explained — a bet that nationalizing dozens of separate House and Senate races around one man's record can override the historical drag of a second-term midterm. It's a gamble past two-term presidents never tried at this scale, and Hanson's own read is that 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬 remain to keep the outcome genuinely uncertain. Democrats are mocking the strategy as desperate. They're also the ones who have to hope 126 years of precedent holds. 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. Source: @DailySignal xitter.cf/DailySignal/status/211…

𝟗𝐓𝐇 𝐂𝐈𝐑𝐂𝐔𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐉 𝐁𝐈𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐆 𝟐𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐒𝐔𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐀—𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒𝐎𝐌 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐑𝐒 The Trump Justice Department wanted a federal appeals court to force California to set aside roughly 𝟐𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 tied to voters it suspects are not citizens, before a single one gets counted. On Monday, the 9th Circuit said not yet. In a 𝟐-𝟏 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, Judges Mark Bennett and Gabriel Sanchez ruled the appeals court had no jurisdiction to step in before the district court below had even issued a ruling, writing that “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴’𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺, 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦.” A 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲, in the court’s own words. Some background: DOJ sued California and Los Angeles County on October 15th, arguing the state blew past a 48-hour deadline to review the flagged names, and asked U.S. District Judge David Carter to order the ballots held until citizenship could be verified. When Carter didn’t rule by DOJ’s own deadline, the department rushed to the 9th Circuit calling it an emergency — the same delay the panel just used against them. Gov. Gavin Newsom wasted no time declaring victory, calling the dismissal “𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘮𝘱.” California Attorney General Rob Bonta cheered right alongside him — while his own state still hasn’t confirmed whether those 20,000 flagged voters are legally allowed to cast a ballot at all. Nothing was actually settled. The fight just lands back on Judge Carter’s desk, with a hearing on the underlying case already on today’s calendar — eight days before Election Day. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. Source: @EricLDaugh xitter.cf/EricLDaugh/status/2114…

𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐓 𝐉𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: 𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐈’𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐈𝐃 — 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐍’𝐓 CNN contributor Scott Jennings is done being subtle about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's pattern. The Kampala-born, Queens-raised democratic socialist — a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2018 — has spent the last few weeks putting out video after video, and Jennings says the throughline is obvious. “𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 2 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘐𝘊𝘌, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘐𝘋 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘠𝘊.” Jennings said. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘴.” He is referring to Mamdani's December "𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬" video telling New Yorkers that ICE agents cannot enter a home, school or private workplace without a judge-signed warrant — advice Rep. Elise Stefanik blasted as coaching people to evade federal law enforcement. The sharper hypocrisy is the one Sen. Rick Scott and President Trump have both hammered: Mamdani's signature city-run grocery stores will require shoppers to show an access card to make a purchase, while Mamdani has fought voter-ID requirements as discriminatory. “𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘐𝘋 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩.” Trump said of New York's leadership. 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐱. Source: @EricLDaugh xitter.cf/EricLDaugh/status/2114…

𝐍𝐘𝐂 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐀 𝟗𝟐-𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑-𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 — 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 $𝟖𝟕𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐓𝐎 $𝟐𝟕,𝟎𝟎𝟎 Paulette Kohler has lived in the same Upper West Side apartment since 1957. She has no living relatives. In 2021 she named her best friend, Inga Eggerud, her power of attorney and sole beneficiary. In 2022, the management of her building, 500 West End Avenue, petitioned the court. According to NBC New York, the petition was reportedly filed while Kohler was recovering from surgery in a rehab center. It called her incapacitated and a possible victim of elder abuse by Eggerud. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲. Over 16 months, her savings fell from about $870,000 to about $27,000. More than $500,000 went to home health aides hired by the guardian. Her friends, including Eggerud and Barbara Goodstein, were barred from visiting. Eggerud told NBC New York that Kohler wore the same clothes for a week and went three or four days without her diapers being changed. The guardianship was later ruled improper and overturned. NBC New York reports there was never any documented evidence against Eggerud. Goodstein said the likely motive was the potential sale of Kohler's rent-stabilized apartment, which costs under $2,000 a month. Eggerud's defamation and emotional-distress suit may now proceed against the firm that represented the building. The defendants deny wrongdoing. 𝐀 𝟗𝟓-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝. She lost it to a system that was supposed to protect her. If it can happen to a woman with a power of attorney already on file, ask yourself who is watching over your parents. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 $𝟖𝟒𝟑,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐭.

𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 𝐊𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐇 — 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐘 Valerie Kloosterman was a physician assistant with positive performance reviews. In 2021 she asked University of Michigan Health-West in Grand Rapids for a religious accommodation from a mandatory training that required her to affirm statements about gender identity. Her lawsuit says she got no accommodation and was fired in August 2021. Kloosterman told Fox News Digital: “𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘴.” The suit alleges hospital officials called her “𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 “𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫”, told her she couldn’t bring her Christian beliefs into the workplace, and accused her of contributing to suicides among people with gender dysphoria. Those are her allegations. The reports on the case carry no hospital response to them. She sued in 2022 with First Liberty Institute under Title VII. Four years later the hospital settled: $𝟒𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐬, plus a new religious accommodation policy, employee training, and accommodations without retaliation. Under the new policy, employees won’t be forced to perform or assist with gender transition treatments, or use pronouns against their conscience, if it violates a sincerely held religious belief. First Liberty’s Kayla Toney said “𝘛𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘝𝘐𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩”. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

𝐉𝐔𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐔𝐒𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃’𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐄𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐂𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒’ 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 A CalMatters investigation of six Ventura County conservatorships found that private fiduciary Angelique Friend and her husband, attorney David Esquibias, took in about $3 million from her elderly clients between 2019 and 2025. About $2.7 million of it went to Townsgate In-Home Services, the care company Esquibias founded the year they married. Judge Roger Lund approved the payments. At a 2022 hearing, CalMatters reports, he called the pricing “𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵.” Friend told CalMatters she complied with disclosure and court-approval rules, and her attorney said he doesn’t think hiring an affiliated agency is a conflict. Then came the families. Mary Jane Vind’s account paid Townsgate about $𝟐𝟓,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡, 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 $𝟒𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟔 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬, even after relatives warned the court of a conflict. Grace Brown’s account paid Townsgate $873,000, nearly 80% of her assets, and at least $583,000 of it was paid without prior court approval, according to CalMatters. Lester Moore d∗ed in 2021 after Friend moved him to a care facility, and a state investigation cited “𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫.” His daughter Poppy Helgren had complained repeatedly. James Baker Mabry d∗ed in February 2026, and his daughter Kristin Tranquada learned of it from an email from Friend’s office. The state’s Professional Fiduciaries Bureau reports no action against Friend over the conflicts. Her only listed discipline is a $750 fine in 2020 for failing to report a resignation. Judge Lund has since been reassigned to family court, and the new judge voiced skepticism at a February hearing, but Friend’s license was renewed without restriction and she is still taking clients. If a court-appointed stranger can run your parents’ money like this, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤.

𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐒 𝟏𝟓𝟎 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 '𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘' 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 On July 20, 2015, Texas child protective workers took a 5-month-old and his 4-year-old brother from their parents, Lorina Bourne and Jason Troy. The boys spent 𝟏𝟓𝟎 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞, according to the family's federal lawsuit, as reported by ABC News. The trigger: the baby had an enlarging head and vomiting, and needed surgery to drain fluid. Dell Children's Medical Center reported suspected shaken baby syndrome to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). Troy was charged with two felony counts of injury to a child. The parents could see their sons only twice a week for two hours at a time. Bourne described the boys crying after each visit and asking 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. The charges were dismissed on Jan. 26, 2018. A doctor hired by the family later concluded the baby had benign external hydrocephalus, and the suit says his birth records showed a blood collection from birth trauma that the birth hospital never disclosed. The family 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐬 and Troy lost his job. They sued in federal court in Austin, alleging the DFPS defendants knew there was no abuse. DFPS declined to comment, and no ruling has been reported. These are allegations in a complaint, not court findings. But the part no court needs to decide is the damage: the criminal case collapsed, and the family had already lost years and their home. 𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝.

𝟗𝐓𝐇 𝐂𝐈𝐑𝐂𝐔𝐈𝐓 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐉 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝟐𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐒𝐔𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐒 A federal appeals court Monday night rejected the Justice Department’s emergency bid to stop California from counting more than 20,000 mail ballots tied to people the federal government suspects are noncitizens. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals split 2-1 against the DOJ 𝘯𝘰𝘵 on the merits of the noncitizen claims, but on a technicality: the department demanded a ruling from U.S. District Judge David Carter within 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟓 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬, after twice moving up its own deadline. The majority — Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, and Judge Gabriel Sanchez, a Biden appointee — called that “𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥” emergency and ruled there was nothing yet to appeal. Judge Patrick Bumatay, also a Trump appointee, wasn’t having it. In a sharp dissent, he warned the panel just handed California a green light to run out the clock: “𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” He added that the majority’s inaction “𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.” This isn’t the DOJ’s first run at this list. Twenty-eight people on these same 20,000 names have already been charged with fraudulently registering and casting illegal ballots — including a 72-year-old Belizean national who voted in four straight U.S. elections after lying about his citizenship. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber disputes the federal numbers; the DOJ insists the real count is “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.” The underlying lawsuit isn’t dead. It heads back to Judge Carter’s courtroom Tuesday at 1 p.m.—one week before Election Day. 𝐁𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. Source: Washington Examiner washingtonexaminer.com/news/… washingtonexaminer.com/news/…

𝐍𝐘𝐂 𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐔𝐍𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 — 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐈𝐙𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 A caseworker from New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services showed up when a Bronx baby was six days old and took him. There was no court order. The father, identified in court papers as K.W., was never accused of anything. The family court petition named only the mother. K.W. was listed as a “𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭,” meaning he faced no abuse or neglect allegation and had no record of either. ACS cited the mother’s history with the agency and took the child anyway. The father says he spent nearly three years getting his son back. “𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴,” he said, per amNY. Reports put the separation at two years and eight months. A federal trial court threw out his lawsuit. On May 19, the Second Circuit revived it, finding it was “𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘒.𝘈. 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺.” If the facts are proven, the panel said, they would violate the father’s and son’s rights against unlawful seizure and their due process rights. Claims against the city and caseworker Amar Moody 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. This is a ruling on a motion to dismiss, not a final judgment, and the city Law Department says it is reviewing the decision. But for the first time, the agency that took him has to answer in court. 𝐀 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭. imprintnews.org/top-stories/…

𝐎𝐁𝐀𝐌𝐀 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔, 𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐀 𝐈𝐍 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒—𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐇 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏, 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐇𝐄'𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 With Election Day one week out, Barack Obama is back on the trail for Democrats in the toughest midterm races in the country. Newsmax host Rob Finnerty's take on the strategy behind it was simple: Democrats “𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺, 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘖𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢.” Finnerty laid out why that's a strange crutch to lean on. “𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱,” he said, before turning to Obama's actual electoral record as a closer. “𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 2016 — 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱. 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘪𝘯 2024 — 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱.” 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬—𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧. Obama remains the most requested surrogate in the party, and Democrats keep calling him back into competitive races on the theory that his 2008 and 2012 magic still travels. His actual track record as a closer against Trump specifically says otherwise, and it's a shocking one for a party still treating his name like a trump card. None of that is stopping this cycle. Obama is campaigning for Senate and House Democrats across several battleground states in the final week, the same playbook Finnerty described: no policy pitch, just 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 and a former president's name on the marquee. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝟎 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟐. Source: @NEWSMAX xitter.cf/NEWSMAX/status/2114881…

𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐍𝐀𝐌 𝐕𝐄𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 — 𝟓𝟖 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 Army veteran Daniel Knote, 79, was 21 when he was wounded in South Vietnam, sh∗t in the leg under fire while helping save fellow soldier Mike Beck, ABC7 New York reports. Beck's name came up again when Knote spoke about the day: "𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘦'𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳." He came home with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. But the Purple Heart was never recorded in his service file. For 𝟓𝟖 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. Knote never went looking for it. His war wounds and medical issues eventually brought the error to light, and he contacted the office of Rep. Nick LaLota. LaLota's staff worked to fix the record, and LaLota said of Knote: "𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯." Knote was formally presented the medal on Purple Heart Day, and the Long Island veteran was brought to tears. Even then, he deflected the praise: "𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘣." After six years in the Army, he worked 𝟑𝟏 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 and later for the U.S. Department of Transportation. His wife Virginia put it best: "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐'𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦." 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟓𝟖 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. abc7ny.com/post/us-army-vete…

𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐄: “𝐘𝐎𝐔’𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑” 𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐈’𝐒 𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝟕 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖𝐒 New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's Spanish-language video coaching residents through an ICE encounter has now been viewed more than 𝟕 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬. In it, Mamdani walks viewers through what to do if federal agents show up: “𝘐𝘊𝘌 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺.” Rep. Nancy Mace wasn't impressed. “𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥.” she said, firing back at a mayor who's built his brand on protecting people federal law considers unlawfully present. The video is only the latest entry in a pattern. Mamdani previously released a similar instructional video on evading ICE encounters, and faced separate criticism this year after it emerged that New York City requires multiple forms of government ID to volunteer for snow removal — but none at all to cast a ballot. Supporters call it a public service. Critics call it a sitting mayor coaching people on how to avoid federal law enforcement 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚, 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭. Either way, the video isn't going anywhere, and neither is the scrutiny. 𝟕 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥. Source: @FoxNews xitter.cf/FoxNews/status/2114854…

𝐆𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒𝐎𝐌: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐒𝐀'𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐍-𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 “𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂” A young voter asked Gavin Newsom, on camera, where the Democratic Party is headed now that Kamala Harris is old news. His answer wasn't a dodge — it was an endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America taking the wheel. “𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘰 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘚𝘈 — 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 — 𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤. 𝘕𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.” He didn't stop there. Newsom told the voter the party “𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦” because “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮'𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘵.” This isn't a one-off soundbite. Newsom told PBS NewsHour just weeks ago that Democratic leadership and DSA candidates are “𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝” on healthcare, climate and energy, and he told Politico he's “𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥” by the DSA's rise inside his own party, branding himself a “𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵” Democrat instead. The DSA already elected a socialist mayor of New York City this year and is fielding candidates in House primaries from Michigan to Wisconsin. The sitting governor widely seen as the Democrats' 2028 front-runner just told his own voters that movement isn't a fringe — it's the future of his party. 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬. 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. Source: @TPostMillennial xitter.cf/TPostMillennial/status…