For example, Jackson is under scrutiny after reports revealed he and his longtime partner, partner, not wife, with whom he shares two adult children, are second cousins.

You heard that right.

But before we get to Jackson, let’s start with our favorite former vice president.

For years, Kamala Harris has championed racial equality, diverse communities, and dismantling barriers to housing. Yet she has reportedly purchased an $8.15 million mansion in one of California’s whitest neighborhoods everyone. And the message is quite simple, the rhetoric doesn’t match the reality.

And let’s remember, this is the same vice president that once said, attending Howard University, a HBCU, helped her understand there is a whole world of people who are like you, describing how meaningful it was to be surrounded by other black Americans after growing up in a predominantly white environment.

But thanks to new reports, we now know that Harris bought a new swanky $8 million California mansion in Point Dume, right outside of Malibu.

An exclusive coastal enclave that census data estimates was roughly 94% white and just 0.2% black. The property reportedly includes ocean views, private golf greens, multiple wine fridges, and parking for five vehicles.

And the move definitely clashes with Harris’ long record of advocating for policies aimed at addressing racial disparities in housing. As California Attorney General, she backed expanding enforcement of the Fair Housing Act. As a presidential candidate, she proposed billions for historically redlined neighborhoods. And as Vice President, she promoted efforts to combat racial bias in home appraisals.

But don’t worry guys, she’s chosen one of California’s least diverse luxury neighborhoods. At least we can get an Architectural Digest tour or something. Maybe even revamp a Cribs episode?

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But the question is, which one of her homes in her real estate portfolio will she choose to be her primary residence if she runs again? Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, also own a Brentwood Los Angeles home, which Emhoff bought before they were married in 2014.

Estimates have put the value around 4.4 million in recent years, and it has remained their main private California residence.

And Harris isn’t the only Democrat facing uncomfortable headlines.

Troy Jackson, a former Maine state Senate president, was selected by Democrat delegates last week to replace Graham Plattner as the party’s nominee after Plattner withdrew from the race amid sexual assault allegations.

The reports first published by independent journalist Steve Robinson allege Jackson and his partner, Lana Pelletier, share the same great-grandparents, making them second cousins. Yikes.

And the genealogical records cited in the reports indicate the couple has two adult sons together. You heard that right.

So neither story is about whether either decision was illegal. It’s about the contrast between the image Democrats project and the headlines that follow.

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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“I don’t trust OpenAI. I don’t trust Sam Altman and I don’t think we want to have the most powerful AI in the world controlled by someone who is not trustworthy.”

— Elon Musk

Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, Sam Altman has promised that OpenAI was going to create jobs, train workers, and help keep AI leadership here in the United States.

He even waltzed into the White House to pitch rebuilding American manufacturing and promised to certify 10 million Americans in AI skills by 2030.

Well, it turns out hypocrisy is alive and well still because the DOJ just announced a $3.2 million settlement with OpenAI over allegations that the company discriminated against US workers during the federal PERM hiring process.

So much for telling Americans that their skepticism towards AI is overblown. Just accept it.

“You have to convince your community how great these things are. You can’t fight it. You have to go with it. And you’re going to have all that protection. And we’re giving you automatic protection. But you’re going to make a tremendous amount of money. You’re going to reduce taxes. And you’re going to have something that if you don’t have it, everybody else wants it.”

— President Donald Trump

Now what is the PERM program?

It allows employers to sponsor foreign workers for a permanent residency if they first make the good faith effort to recruit qualified US workers. And federal law prohibits employers from discriminating against US workers during that process.

According to the DOJ, OpenAI discouraged qualified Americans from applying for certain jobs while giving preference to temporary visa holders during the PERM hiring process.

Assistant Attorney General Harmi Dillon put it bluntly. It is illegal to discriminate against U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs.

To no surprise, OpenAI disagreed with the DOJ’s findings, but still agreed to pay the $3.2 million settlement, including $1.2 million in civil penalties and a $2 million back pay fund, along with sweeping changes to its hiring practices under the DOJ’s oversight.

And there’s the irony. The same company promising an American AI jobs boom is settling allegations that it didn’t give American workers a fair shot at its own jobs.

I mean, should we be shocked? This is what the CEO’s perspective on the future of AI is:

“I think AI will probably like most likely sort of lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there will be great companies created with serious machine learning.”

— Sam Altman

And while OpenAI is still pushing projects like Stargate and building a new data center in Georgia to sell itself as a champion of American AI, this settlement poses an obvious question.

If you were asking Washington to trust you with the future of America’s workforce, shouldn’t you have started following the rules designed to protect American workers?

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Those street-side cameras that are already all across America, what if I told you they’re not stopping there? The same company behind the cameras are now putting autonomous surveillance drones in the sky. And depending on who you ask, it’s either the The future of public safety or the more likely option, the biggest expansion of government surveillance we’ve seen yet.

Now the company’s automated license plate readers have spread across the country creating one of the nation’s largest interconnected video surveillance networks. The drone sits inside a waterproof docking station, waiting for a call, and when a 911 report comes in, The drone can launch automatically and fly up to 60 miles per hour.

Officers don’t even have to be standing nearby. They can deploy it directly from one of these little things, a smartphone.

And this thing isn’t just flying overhead.

It’s got thermal imaging, high definition cameras, and powerful optical zoom. And well, according to Flock, it can even read a vehicle’s license plate from 2,000 feet away. That’s not terrifying at all.

We’re constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on. And we’re using AI to monitor the video.

Well, Flock says that’s exactly the point.

The company claims that its product can help locate missing children, track dangerous suspects, monitor police pursuits, and give first responders critical information before they arrive on scene.

And that sounds great and all, but let’s be real. When you combine autonomous drones with millions of license plate scans and all its bells and whistles, and then you put it in the government’s hand, you obviously create something far more powerful than a typical police tool.

Groups like the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation argue this dramatically expands law enforcement’s ability to monitor where ordinary Americans go every day. Because flawed cameras just don’t record suspected criminals, they collect information on virtually every vehicle that passes by.

And when it’s necessary to scare enemies and on occasion kill them.

And concern has grown so much so, it’s made its way to Capitol Hill. Republican Congressman Tim Burchett recently introduced the Protection Against Mass Surveillance Act. The bill would stop federal agencies from purchasing, operating, accessing, or contracting for mass surveillance systems, including flock cameras.

Another lawmaker is taking aim at Flock as well.

Congressman Thomas Massey says he’ll soon introduce legislation cutting off federal funding for cities and police departments that use Flock or similar systems to surveil law-abiding Americans. His slogan? Don’t Flock me.

Because once drones can launch themselves, track vehicles from the sky, streamline video, and connect with one of the largest license plate databases in the country, the question isn’t just what technology can do, it’s who decides when it gets used and who can access it.

Well, those questions remain largely unanswered.

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Yes, that’s Jimothy, not Timothy.

Now, if you haven’t been following along, Jimothy has become the internet’s newest obsession because of his bizarre and mutant-like appearance. The viral Seattle raccoon is believed to have short spine syndrome, a rare congenital condition where his vertebra fuse and compress, giving him that uniquely short round body and making it appear like he has no visible neck.

But while the internet has fallen in love with Jimothy, experts say there are real concerns about his future.

Veterinarians have warned that his condition could make survival in the wild more difficult from escaping predators to climbing trees and finding food.

One expert raised concerns to the New York Post that because Jimothy may not have the same mobility and agility as a typical raccoon, threats like dogs, cars, and other dangers could pose a bigger risk. And his condition can also be linked to issues like joint problems, compressed organs, meaning his life expectancy may be shorter than a typical raccoon.

Honestly, how dare you.

Here’s the thing though, wildlife experts also say Jimothy is currently healthy, active, and adapting to his new environment. And little do the experts know, he’s thriving and the internet is rallying around him.

People have been watching his updates, sharing his videos, and becoming emotionally invested, including myself, to this tiny raccoon with a huge fan base, even reminiscing on baby Jimothy.

And strangers who had never heard of Jimothy just a week ago are checking for updates like they’re following a sports playoff series.

But let’s face it, they’re all rooting for him, they’re sharing his story, but just don’t let Jimothy around soccer star Erling Haaland.

So in a world where the internet is usually filled with arguments, outrage, and endless negativity, millions of people have found something that we can all agree on.

We all love Jimothy.

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That’s easier said than done when the bill is for nearly $10,000.

During our annual February snow goose hunting trip, my husband had rented a Chevy Tahoe from Hertz in Nashville and returned it at the Memphis airport a couple days later.

It was a pretty uneventful rental, aside from my husband angrily peeling out of the fourth gas station we stopped at in a row where the pumps didn’t work. Yet three months later, we received an email from Hertz demanding we pay them $9,368.15 for damages allegedly caused during the rental period.

Hertz wanted to know whether we planned to file with our insurance, use credit card benefits, or pay them directly.

There was one problem: we did not damage the car.

As a female driver, I am no stranger to backing into a pole or tapping a bumper. But I definitely would have noticed if we had scraped the entire side of the SUV like Hertz claimed we did.

Along with the payment demand, Hertz sent us a 74-page document outlining their evidence that we were the culprits.

I was determined not to let this injustice stand, so I put on my journalist cap and started digging.

A few discrepancies immediately stood out to me.

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The primary was brutal, with Cornyn and his allies warning for months that Paxton’s personal and legal baggage could endanger a seat Republicans have held for decades. But the GOP establishment moved quickly to quash the feud. Cornyn conceded and pledged to support the Republican ticket, while top Texas Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz, rallied behind Paxton after his win. Paxton also struck a gracious note toward Cornyn, thanking him for his service after a bloody intraparty battle.

Democrats are betting Paxton’s baggage gives Talarico an opening. Republicans are betting Texas voters will take a closer look at the supposedly moderate Democrat’s history of Biblical revisionism and progressive opinions.

Daily Caller reporting has already documented Talarico’s record of bizarre theological and cultural positions. The Presbyterian seminary student has claimed “God is nonbinary” and argued that the Bible takes a “pro-choice” view on abortion. He has also tied Christianity to climate alarmism, saying the faith requires fighting greenhouse gases, and resurfaced posts show him bragging about pushing “#liberalpropaganda” as a public school teacher.

Then there is the meat problem. Talarico has promoted non-meat activism in Texas — a state where barbecue is practically a civic religion — while Democrats try to sell him as a heartland moderate.

Talarico is already trying to walk back to the center, dismissing his past statements as “intentionally provocative” and blaming Paxton’s team for circulating his “cringey” moments.

Paxton has liabilities, but Talarico’s own record gives Republicans a ready-made argument: he is not the moderate Democrats need Texans to believe he is.

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The Supreme Court threw out a lower-court order barring Alabama from using the congressional map the state adopted in 2023 and sent the dispute back to the lower court for another look. But a three-judge federal panel again blocked Alabama from using that map for the 2026 midterms.

The panel claimed the Supreme Court’s recent Voting Rights Act ruling in Louisiana v. Callais did not change its earlier conclusion that Alabama’s map was intentionally discriminatory against black voters.

“Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination,” the ruling said.

The practical result is that a lower federal court is attempting to keep alive the very kind of judicial redistricting fight SCOTUS appeared to rein in. Rather than treating the Supreme Court’s ruling as a course correction, the panel doubled down on its original conclusion.

Alabama could still appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

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However, the Trump-backed candidate in the Georgia gubernatorial race finished in second place and will advance to a runoff.

Massie, who has represented Kentucky’s 4th District since 2012, was the race everyone was watching last night. The libertarian-minded congressman has been a thorn in Trump’s side over the past year and a half, hitting him on everything from the Epstein files to the war in Iran and the national debt. Trump backed an outside challenger, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, and the president’s allies — and AIPAC — dumped tons of money into the race.

Warning signs were on the horizon over the weekend as I got word from Kentucky sources that Massie’s ground game was severely lacking and the campaign was starting to get nervous.

Sure enough, Massie was ousted by about ten points. The outgoing congressman quipped during his concession speech that he “would have come out sooner but I had to call my opponent to concede and it took a while in Tel Aviv.”

Other Republican incumbents who have been pushed out by Trump over the past decade were more obvious. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who finished third in his recent primary, previously voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. Former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, meanwhile, voted to impeach him in the House.

Massie presented a unique challenge to Trump, as his criticism mostly came from the president’s right flank. Earlier this year, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who similarly accused Trump of not being ‘America First,’ announced she would resign from Congress after Trump threatened to back a primary challenger.

Will the president next go after those who supported Massie against his wishes, like Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert?

Adding to Tuesday night’s chaos were the results in the Kentucky Senate primary, the Georgia gubernatorial primary, and a shock endorsement from Trump.

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Massie is facing former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, whom Trump endorsed after months of blasting Massie as disloyal over his support for releasing the Epstein files and his opposition to the war with Iran.

The race has increasingly become a proxy fight over Trump, foreign policy and Israel. Massie recently claimed “the Israeli lobby” was spending heavily to defeat him, and then he introduced legislation to force AIPAC to register as a foreign agent.

The Daily Caller has reported several wrinkles complicating the anti-Massie push. Gallrein raised $1.2 million in the fourth quarter after Trump backed him, but a Caller review later found that 85% of his max-out donors had a history of giving to Democrats. The Caller also reported Sunday that there are inconsistencies in Gallrein’s claims about his military service and that he went through a weird, messy divorce that involved basically paying his ex-wife “child support” for her two cats.

Team Trump sent in the big guns Monday, with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth appearing in his “personal capacity” at a pro-Gallrein rally. Sources on the ground in Kentucky tell us Tuesday night’s outcome is up in the air.

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“The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they cannot have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all,” Trump told Reese at the White House during a press gaggle Tuesday.

That answer may reflect a hardline national security posture, but it comes at a time when Republicans are struggling to sell Americans on their affordability message ahead of the midterms. The cost of the Iran War has ballooned to nearly $30 billion and gas prices are over $4.50 a gallon.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, when asked about Trump’s comments, didn’t seem to believe the president meant them — which could end up being the GOP line. Either Republicans will dismiss the president’s comments as being a blip or they will follow Trump’s lead in identifying Iranian nukes as a bigger threat than the price at the pump.

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The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a Democrat-backed referendum that would have redrawn the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms, ruling that the measure violated the state constitution’s required process for amendments. That means the map will remain at a 6-5 seat advantage for Democrats as opposed to the 10-1 advantage they sought with the referendum.

The ruling was a major blow to Democrats, who had poured tens of millions into the effort. The pro-redistricting group Virginians for Fair Elections reportedly raised more than $64 million, reportedly including nearly $40 million from a group aligned with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. It was also an embarrassing reversal for Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, who took a boastful victory lap on social media before the court struck down the redraw.

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and other officials filed a motion asking the court to delay its order, but even that filing drew attention for misspelling “Virginia” as “Virgnia” and “senator” as “sentator” on the first page.

Democrats are now reportedly discussing lowering the retirement age for Virginia Supreme Court justices from 75 to 54. That arbitrary age limit would force every current justice off the bench and allow Democrats to appoint replacements. Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has not publicly endorsed the idea.

For now, the old map remains in play and Democrats’ $64 million gerrymandering push has become a political headache rather than a midterm advantage.

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The former Hills star — who has never pretended his reality TV past didn’t happen — leaned into the thing that first made him famous: knowing how to command a camera. But this time, the stakes weren’t pre-scripted personal drama. Pratt used the stage to hammer Mayor Karen Bass and Councilwoman Nithya Raman over homelessness, crime, public disorder, illegal immigration and the failures surrounding the devastating Palisades Fire.

In one viral exchange, Pratt challenged Raman’s approach to homelessness, offering to go “below the freeway” with her to find the people she wants to “offer treatment” to — before bluntly warning, “She’s going to get stabbed in the neck.” The point? LA’s leaders sell sanitized policy “solutions” while residents live with the dangerous reality.

In one of the debate’s sharpest moments, Pratt confronted Bass over her administration’s wildfire response, accusing the city of leaving firefighters without the resources they needed as parts of LA burned.

He was just as direct when asked whether non-citizens should vote in U.S. elections. Pratt was the only person to give a clear “no,” while Bass and Raman gave waffling, mealy-mouthed answers.

Pratt’s viral campaign ads have turned his personal loss from the Palisades Fire into a broader indictment of LA’s political class. Even mainstream media outlets had to admit he had a breakout moment. Vanity Fair noted that Pratt needed to prove he could do more than “farm outrage online” — and, “for stretches” of the debate, did exactly that.

For Bass and Raman, the debate was supposed to expose Pratt as a celebrity sideshow.

Instead, Pratt turned the cameras back on them.

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Reeves said Mississippi is juggling three redistricting fights: Supreme Court districts, congressional districts and state legislative districts.

“In Mississippi, it’s a little bit more complicated,” Reeves said, noting the state is already in a Section 2 Voting Rights Act case.

The most immediate issue is Mississippi’s state Supreme Court map. Reeves has called a special session to address those districts if a federal judge forces lawmakers to redraw them.

But he made clear he can expand that call to “other redistricting matters.”

Translation: congressional and legislative maps could also be on the table.

Mississippi currently has one majority-minority congressional district, represented by Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson. Reeves said lawmakers are likely to revisit whether that map still passes muster after Callais.

“We know that Mississippi’s majority-minority district was drawn race-consciously,” Reeves said. “I anticipate that the Mississippi Legislature certainly will reevaluate our state’s congressional map at the earliest opportunity that they have.”

The timing is a bit messy. Unlike other Southern states, Mississippi already held its 2026 party primaries, so officials are weighing whether any new congressional map would apply in 2026 or 2028.

Reeves also accused the ACLU, NAACP and Southern Poverty Law Center of using racial gerrymandering to boost Democrats in the South.

“100%,” he said. “I absolutely believe that that has been their goal: to grow the power of the Democrat Party.”

Now Mississippi may become the next state to test just how far Callais goes.

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Assistant Chief LaShay Makal and Second District Commander Tatjana Savoy were placed on administrative leave due to a possible connection with crime statistics investigations led by the city, the Department of Justice, and Republicans in Congress, the Washington Post reported.

Former Third District commander Michael Pulliam, who was previously placed on administrative leave over the crime statistics issue, also faces termination, the outlet reported.

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was accused of misclassifying crime or changing crime classifications to reduce the city’s violent crime rates.The city’s allegedly artificially lowered crime rates were used to argue against President Donald Trump’s decision to send in the National Guard to help make the city safer.

The Daily Caller exclusively reported in October 2025 how D.C. police were manipulating data. Sources told the Caller that directives to reduce crime numbers were “pervasive from the top, all the way down.” One method was that responding officers were required to call supervisors on scene to be able to charge someone with a violent crime, the sources said. Officers were sometimes berated in front of their colleagues when violent crime numbers in their area were considered too high, they explained.

However, the wave of actions ostensibly taken against crime statistics manipulation Tuesday may be little more than CYA, a source familiar told the Caller …

To continue reading this newsletter, including exclusive reporting on the DC crime stat investigation, Alito shutting down Jackson, and a curious photo of a Cuban map, please become a paid subscriber.

Commander Pulliam, the source said, was “literally the only police official in DC that actually cared about solving crime.”

“Chief Smith used the stats as a pretense to terminate [Commander Pulliam],” the source explained. “As I understand it, a complete power move by Smith to shut down dissent in the ranks. [Pulliam had] risen incredibly quickly on leading successful proactive policing initiatives as Captain and Inspector.”

The source added, “Unfortunately the union just wants scalps so they’re cheering everything even if it’s a whitewash.”

Smith also reassigned Captain Rachel Pulliam, Commander Pulliam’s wife, from the Youth Division to a midnight shift last April.

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Pritzker has given six and seven-figure sums to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and also appears to be throwing his financial weight around key Democrats in what would be early primary states for a presidential contest.

“It is notable that almost all of the House Democrats being financially backed by Pritzker either hold vulnerable seats in red states, are key allies of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, or are senior lawmakers in early Democratic Party presidential primary states,” Daily Caller Senior Politics Editor Will Upton reported.

The major donations, political strategists told the Caller, suggest Pritzker is trying to buy early support from Democratic leadership before he squares off against potential primary opponents like Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.

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The UAE is one of OPEC’s top producers, and its departure damages the organization’s aura of control. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader, will now have a weaker hand in managing global oil prices as the UAE signals it wants more freedom to increase production — a move that could eventually push prices lower outside the cartel’s grip.

Bigger picture, the move suggests the UAE may be positioning itself even more firmly alongside the United States and other anti-Iran powers in the region. One side effect of Trump’s confrontation with Iran is that it could reorder the Middle East, with U.S.-aligned states breaking away from old regional arrangements and lining up more openly against Tehran. That would mark a major strategic shift: instead of the Middle East being defined primarily by old oil-cartel loyalties or cautious neutrality, it could increasingly be divided between countries willing to work with Washington and countries tied to Iran, China, or Russia.

And with Maduro ousted in Venezuela and Washington asserting extraordinary influence over the country’s oil sector, Trump could be laying the groundwork for a new global oil order — one that weakens China’s energy leverage and shifts power back toward the United States. Put together, Trump may be doing something bigger than winning a war: he may be cornering the global oil market and prying it out of China’s hands.

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Cole Allen has been charged with the transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, and attempt to assassinate the U.S. president.

The assassination attempt charge carries a potential life sentence.

Allen was stripped upon capture at the Washington Hilton, which sources tell me is standard protocol with shooters who target high-profile individuals to ensure they don’t have explosives on their person. Allen was seen in photographs lying on the floor covered in an emergency blanket.

Mike Solana, editor-in-chief of Pirate Wires, quipped, “Every would-be assassin should be wrapped in aluminum foil and positioned for photos like a gay baked potato. they should tour him around the country so we can all come see the gay baked potato before his public floggings, and throw vegetables.”

Another interesting tidbit from the affidavit: the Secret Service officer who was shot in the chest plate may have been the only officer to return fire on Allen.

“U.S. Secret Service Officer V.G. was shot once in the chest; Officer V.G. was wearing a ballistic vest at the time,” the affidavit says. “Officer V.G. drew his service weapon and fired multiple times at ALLEN, who fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries but was not shot. ALLEN was subsequently arrested.”

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No one anticipated that DC’s so-called “Nerd Prom” would end with shots fired in the lobby of the hotel as a gunman rushed past security in search of Trump administration officials to kill.

It was just after 8:30 PM when dinner attendees heard loud pops and the Secret Service ushered the president and his cabinet off the stage. Early reports of what exactly happened were filtered through short video clips uploaded to X from journalists hiding under tables and eyewitness accounts shared over cellphones with spotty service.

Eventually, we learned the suspect shot a Secret Service agent in the chest plate before being taken into custody.

Cole Allen, a teacher from Torrance, California, ran through magnetometers at the security perimeter with a shotgun, pistol, and several knives. He had booked a room at the Washington Hilton the day prior to the event.

Allen reportedly sent a manifesto to his family shortly before attempting to take out Trump officials. In it, he called the president “a pedophile, rapist, and traitor,” adding, “I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Allen also had a BlueSky account where he referred to Trump as a “sociopathic mob boss” and a “known traitor.”

The alleged gunman’s vendetta against the president led to the dinner ending in chaos: some journalists swiping bottles of wine off tables, others sprinting to the White House for a presser with Trump in the briefing room, and Erika Kirk leaving the venue sobbing — just about six months after her husband was assassinated on a live stream.

And about 30 minutes after the shots rang out, my husband and I were in an Uber headed downtown…

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The proposed new map, which ostensibly gives Democrats a 10-1 advantage for congressional seats compared to the current 6-5 advantage, passed by a roughly three-point margin after all the votes were tallied.

However, the ten new blue-leaning seats are not guaranteed for Democrats. Patrick Ruffini, the pollster for Echelon Insights, noted that the “lobster district” — which I wrote about in yesterday’s newsletter — only voted in favor of the ballot initiative by 0.3 points. The newly drawn district voted seven points in favor of former Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.

“Dummymander incoming?” Ruffini wondered.

Matt Whitlock, a Republican strategist and communicator, pointed out that Republicans got three of the newly drawn districts to vote against the gerrymandered map, even though they were expected to only win one. In addition to the deep red 9th district, Republicans also managed to win the 2nd and 6th districts.

“This is pretty amazing,” Whitlock wrote. “Democrats leaned so heavily on Fairfax to drive the entire referendum, but Republicans actually drove enough turnout to win 3 of the new districts, got ‘The Lobster’ within 0.3, and 2 others blue districts within 5.”

It could be that the proposed new map was just so obviously unfair that a bunch of moderates or center-left voters in those districts voted against it. Or GOP voters were motivated to turn out. It could also be a sign that the Democrat brand is incredibly damaged in Virginia … just five months after Governor Abigail Spanberger defeated her Republican opponent by 15 points.

All that being said, this gerrymander is going to face a long battle in the courts. Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli laid out potential areas for legal challenges and in a tweet Wednesday said that the Tazewell Circuit Court rendered the referendum unconstitutional. The election cannot be certified, which means the map can’t go into effect — although Cuccinelli said he expects an appeal. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up at the Virginia Supreme Court.

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Swalwell ended his bid for California governor and announced he is resigning from Congress after a former staffer accused him of engaging in sexual activity with her when she was too drunk to consent. He claims the allegations are false but didn’t want to be a distraction in Congress.

In 2018, though, Swalwell repeatedly demanded his Republican colleagues believe Christine Blasey Ford, who accused then Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school.

“What rang of truth from Dr. Ford? A lot of it,” Swalwell tweeted in October 2018. “But her description of #Kavanaugh struggling to take her clothes off because she had a one-piece bathing suit on — that is clearly burned in her memory. And a fact only a survivor would remember. #BelieveSurvivors”

“Support survivors. Believe survivors. We are with you,” he tweeted in November 2018.

Swalwell also said that subsequent Kavanaugh accusers deserved to have their stories heard.

Few Democrats publicly called on Swalwell to resign, but Rep. Andy Ogles suggested Monday that there may have been a deal in the works to trade two Republican expulsions for Swalwell and another Democrat.

“I think Swalwell is almost certain to happen,” Ogles told Benny Johnson before Swalwell resigned, adding that the House could also remove Democratic Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who is accused of breaking campaign finance laws, alongside Republican Florida Rep. Cory Mills, who is accused of assaulting a woman, and Republican Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, who allegedly had an affair with a member of his staff before she died by self-immolation.

Mills allegedly previously refused to vote to censure Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar because he was worried Democrats would turn around and censure him. Yet again, Mills and Cherfilus-McCormick were spared. Gonzales announced he was resigning from Congress shortly after Swalwell.

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