This case shows the very unusual way that deals now often get done in the Trump era. Players seeking actions from Washington often create a financial tie to the Trump family, making offers even if the Trump family has not sought them out.
The billionaire Syrian businessmen Khayyat brothers lobbied to get the Trump administration to lift sanctions on Syria, while simultaneously working on real estate deals with the Trump family & pitching a Trump-branded golf course, @EricLipton.nytimes.com reports.
Jonathan Gavalas was a seemingly healthy & even-keeled 36-year-old when he began chatting with Google’s Gemini chatbot partly to seek comfort about splitting up with his wife.
Over 56 days, they traded 4,732 messages.
The end of their chat log is haunting.
For years, @jkbjournalist.bsky.social tried to land her dream job: reporter at her hometown Philly @Inquirer.com
Instead, she reported for papers in Bethlehem & Bucks County & the Inqy’s tabloid rival Philly Daily News.
Today, the Inqy profiled her as “The woman who took down Jeffrey Epstein.”
NEW: Gambling companies DraftKings, FanDuel & Fanatics this year quietly donated $41m to a super PAC targeting state legislative races in Texas & Georgia (which are among the biggest states that have not legalized sports betting) & Pennsylvania (which has considered raising taxes on sports betting).
Great hires by @axios.com & @wired.com.
Mike Zapler is a sharp editor with a deep understanding of how money & influence work in DC.
And @hugolowell.bsky.social is a scoop machine.
The years-long chain of events that led to Swalwell’s downfall highlights the challenges of responsibly reporting out sexual misconduct stories, as well as the role influencers are playing as modern-day gadflies.
Great behind-the-scenes account by @melmason.bsky.social & @jeremybwhite.bsky.social
How Dem-aligned influencers surfaced the allegations that ultimately took down @ericswalwell.bsky.social.
“People were saying, ‘They’re paid. This is [backed by] a billionaire. This is Roger Stone. This is MAGA,” Arielle Fodor said. “In the end, it was 3 women in a group chat.”
Hunter Biden has apparently agreed to moderate (emcee?) 3 stops on Andrew Callaghan’s Channel 5 Carnival & Talent Show tour.
(This is the context for the headlines about Hunter challenging Eric Trump & Don Jr to a cage match.)
NEW: Trump accepted $37m worth of donated steel for his WH ballroom project from the Luxembourg-based company ArcelorMittal.
Days later, the WH made adjustments to Trump's tariffs that could benefit ArcelorMittal.
In Oct, the Trump administration lifted sanctions against Serbian nationalist leader Milorad Dodik after a lobbying & influence campaign involving Rod Blagojevich, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Flynn & other Trump allies.
Today, Donald Trump Jr. visited Banja Luka as the guest of Dodik's son Igor.
During a Feb. 11 WH meeting, Netanyahu told Trump that Iran’s ballistic missile program could be destroyed in a few weeks & that the regime would be so weakened it could not choke off the Strait of Hormuz.
👀excerpt from new Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan book goes behind the scenes of the Iran war.
"The Trump book that even Trump is waiting for."
Days after Trump ripped Maggie Haberman & her "associates" on Truth Social last month, he sat down with her & Jonathan Swan for an hour in the Oval.
Their book, "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," is due out June 23.
US Marshals this morning raided the home of Jim Courtovich, the once-high flying Republican lobbyist & fixer.
Saudi & other business partners had won a judgment against him for stealing $4m, & the raid was an effort to collect, reports Brody Mullins, who was on the scene & has a lively dispatch:
Josh Shapiro had game, & the @inquirer.com has the tape. www.inquirer.com/high-school-...
In 2024, 40%+ of the nearly $2B raised by the largest Dem super PACs came from entities that did not disclose their donors — twice the rate of undisclosed donations to the largest GOP super PACs, per a @nytimes.com analysis.
@teddyschleifer.bsky.social & @datab.ae on Dems’ embrace of gray money.
Sometimes, a column can do more to capture the context & significance of a story than news coverage.
@jerrybrewer.bsky.social deftly crystalized the essence of the Geno Auriemma/Dawn Staley contretemps with perceptive, sharp & graceful writing, all while on a tight deadline.
Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has been charged with stealing $5m in FEMA funds & using it to support her campaign.
She argues she’s innocent & is being targeted by Trump’s DOJ.
Yet she sought a pardon from Trump at last year’s WH Christmas party, according to The Hill.
In 2023, @draperrobert.bsky.social reported for the @nytimes.com on Rick Perry’s advocacy of the hallucinogen ibogaine.
Last year, to grapple with the guilt he felt from the death of his brother in 1979, Robert traveled to Tijuana to try ibogaine for himself.
His account is vulnerable & gripping.
As the SEC's enforcement director, Margaret Ryan pushed to aggressively pursue charges against Justin Sun (a major backer of the Trumps' World Liberty Financial crypto venture) & Elon Musk.
Instead, the SEC settled with Sun & is in talks to settle with Musk.
Ryan resigned in frustration last week.
AI is creating a new form of professional stratification, Anthropic data suggests, per Jim VandeHei & Mike Allen’s reading.
Signs of a two-tier workforce are already emerging between fluent AI users & slow adapters, Jim & Mike posit.
Mark Felt was just the beginning.
Bob Woodward’s forthcoming memoir, “Secrets,” will name off-the-record & background sources behind some of his biggest stories, he hints to @axios.com:
"Some of the best sources are deceased, & I can tell those stories now,” Woodward says.
The Trump administration is considering withholding HIV treatment from Zambia (where 1.3M people rely on it) if Zambia doesn't give the US more access to critical minerals, according to a draft memo prepared by the State Department's Africa Bureau for Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Robert S. Mueller III was born into privilege.
He graduated from St. Paul’s, Princeton & NYU.
But, unlike many scions of the Eastern Establishment, he joined the Marines & went to Vietnam, where he performed valiantly under fire.
🎁🔗 to the NYT obit. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/u...
Mike Davis, a Trump-allied lawyer for Hewlett Packard Enterprise, threatened to "destroy" DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater if she didn't approve HPE’s $14B bid to acquire a rival, per a sworn deposition.
Davis denies the threat.
But DOJ approved the acquisition & Slater is out of DOJ.
A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Pentagon’s restrictions on news outlets violate the First Amendment & issued an order tossing parts of the policy in response to a lawsuit filed by the @nytimes.com in December.
NEW: A District Court judge has blocked the Pentagon policy restricting journalists' access, ruling that it violated the 1st amendment & granting an injunction sought by the @nytimes.com.
SCOOP: The Alexander bros have explored ways to pursue a pardon.
Their team reached out to a lobbyist & a Jewish group that work on clemencies.
Both declined.
There are no signs the WH is considering clemency.
But Trump's antisemitism envoy nominee did intervene when the bros were awaiting trial
A poll by Daniel Biss's congressional campaign found 51% of Democratic voters viewed AIPAC unfavorably vs 17% favorably in the Illinois district where he was running.
So, by the time AIPAC started spending heavily against him, he had already decided to make the group a villain.
It worked.
