Top Items:
Politico:
Paul says Fauci will face ‘repercussions’ for taking the Fifth. That could get complicated. — Rand Paul says Anthony Fauci can expect consequences for the former Covid czar's decision to exercise his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination to avoid testifying before Paul's Senate committee on Wednesday.
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NBC News:
Anthony Fauci invokes 5th Amendment right not to testify at Covid hearing, calls Sen. Rand Paul ‘unhinged’ — The former top health official said he would invoke his 5th Amendment right not to testify to avoid the possibility that Republicans might try to prosecute him for perjury.
Discussion:
CBS News, New York Post, Rolling Stone, Washington Post, HotAir, Associated Press, CNN, The Guardian, Fox News, Blaze Media, STAT, Time, The Federalist, Los Angeles Times, Legal Insurrection, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, The Maine Wire, PBS NewsHour, Washington Times, Politico, Joe.My.God. and Washington Examiner
NPR:
Anthony Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment in Rand Paul Senate hearing
Discussion:
The Hill, Bloomberg, Associated Press, New York Post, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, OutsideTheBeltway, Deseret News, UPI, The Independent, Washington Times, twitchy.com, New York Sun, TMZ.com, Breitbart, CBS News, Straight Arrow, ABC News, MS NOW, Scripps News, The Guardian, Reason and Racket News
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: Fauci Repeatedly Refuses to Answer Senators' Questions at Volatile Hearing
Trump Administration Live Updates: Fauci Repeatedly Refuses to Answer Senators' Questions at Volatile Hearing
Discussion:
Bloomberg
CNN:
Diary entries, a subpoena and an anticipated clash: Dr. Anthony Fauci and Rand Paul's long-running battle returns to the Hill
Diary entries, a subpoena and an anticipated clash: Dr. Anthony Fauci and Rand Paul's long-running battle returns to the Hill
Discussion:
Fox News, CBS News, Forbes, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Mail, STAT, Townhall, Washington Examiner and The Preamble
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Fauci Invokes the Fifth Amendment, Refusing to Answer Senate Committee Questions
Fauci Invokes the Fifth Amendment, Refusing to Answer Senate Committee Questions
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Magazine, NOTUS, Reason, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, New Republic, The Hill, Daily Mail, The Independent and NewsMax.com
New York Times:
Watch Live: Fauci Testifies Before Senate Committee
Watch Live: Fauci Testifies Before Senate Committee
Discussion:
CBS News, Florida Politics, NewsMax.com, Townhall, New York Post, The Independent, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com, Fox News, The Hill and Breitbart
David Nather / Axios:
Fauci takes Fifth Amendment, refuses to answer Senate panel questions
Fauci takes Fifth Amendment, refuses to answer Senate panel questions
Discussion:
New York Times, The Hill, Bloomberg, The Post Millennial and twitchy.com
New York Times:
Trump Demanded Details of Agents' Interview of Comey, New Filing Says — The demand suggests the intense personal involvement of President Trump in investigating one of his longtime critics, the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey. — Secret Service agents who questioned the former F.B …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
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Politico:
‘Preposterous’: Comey team attacks charges over alleged threat to Trump — A May 2026 FBI interview with notorious mobster “Sammy the Bull.” A text message from a disgruntled acquaintance misled by a Rudy Giuliani podcast. An actress' late-night television routine.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Bulwark, The Daily Beast, New Republic, Associated Press, CBS News and One America News Network
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Secret Service ‘illegally’ surveilled Comey in Trump ‘8647’ threat case: Court filing … Lawyers for James Comey allege the U.S. Secret Service “knowingly conducted illegal electronic surveillance” of the former FBI director at the request of a high-level official on the same …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
Why Do We Tolerate Elon Musk's Racist Commentary? — “The Turner Diaries” is a work of white supremacist agitprop. It purports to be the diary of a neo-Nazi militant, Earl Turner, who is working to overthrow the United States government — or as the book calls it, “the System” — through a group called “the Organization.”
Discussion:
The New World
Chris Marquette / Politico:
Blanche nomination hangs by a thread as Cornyn stands by settlement ultimatum — GOP Sen. John Cornyn said Wednesday, less than 24 hours before a critical committee vote, that he is “not prepared” to support Todd Blanche's confirmation as attorney general as the two continue to tangle …
Discussion:
CNBC, MS NOW, Forbes, Washington Examiner, NOTUS, The Daily Caller, Bloomberg and Talking Points Memo
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New York Times:
With Blanche Nomination at Stake, Payouts to Trump Allies Continue
Discussion:
Associated Press, New York Sun, Courthouse News Service, The Hill, MS NOW, Balls and Strikes and CNN
Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
Cornyn meeting with Blanche canceled ahead of key Judiciary Committee vote
Cornyn meeting with Blanche canceled ahead of key Judiciary Committee vote
Discussion:
Bloomberg, NOTUS, The Daily Wire, Newsweek, New York Sun and Raw Story
New York Times:
Iran War Live Updates: U.S. and Saudi Airstrikes Drag More Countries Into Fighting — Global oil prices jumped on Wednesday after the U.S. and Saudi Arabia said they had carried out joint airstrikes on Iranian proxies in Iraq. — Here's the latest. — American and Saudi fighter jets …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CBS News, Washington Post, Reuters, France 24, Fox News, BOE Report, Phillips's Newsletter, Newsweek, UPI, The Gateway Pundit, Al Jazeera, Middle East Monitor and Semafor
RELATED:
Steff Chávez / Financial Times:
Trump vows to deliver ‘beating’ to Iran in retaliation for latest attack
Trump vows to deliver ‘beating’ to Iran in retaliation for latest attack
Joshua Keating / Vox:
We're running out of ways to get oil out of the Middle East
We're running out of ways to get oil out of the Middle East
Discussion:
Legal Insurrection, Israpundit and Associated Press
Associated Press:
Iran resumes missile attacks as US and Saudis strike Tehran-backed militias in Iraq
Iran resumes missile attacks as US and Saudis strike Tehran-backed militias in Iraq
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, CBS News, The Hill, Courthouse News Service, BOE Report, FDD's Long War Journal, Military.com, Israpundit, CNN, BBC, Washington Times, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Times of Israel, Daily Mail, Informed Comment, Straight Arrow, France 24, Washington Examiner, Breitbart and Middle East Monitor
Jordain Carney / Politico:
GOP governors back new reconciliation bill as Senate sputters — Nearly two dozen governors are throwing their support behind President Donald Trump's push for a new party-line spending bill — the latest effort to build pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his GOP colleagues to move quickly.
Discussion:
Axios
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Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Sanctions Bill Would Give Trump Sweeping New Tariff Powers
Discussion:
Deseret News and Bloomberg
Politico:
Capitol agenda: Senate launches push for Graham's final bill
Capitol agenda: Senate launches push for Graham's final bill
Discussion:
Washington Post, Deseret News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Washington Times, Scripps News, New York Times, ABC News and CBS News
Stef W. Kight / Axios:
86 senators vote to move forward with Graham Russia sanctions bill
86 senators vote to move forward with Graham Russia sanctions bill
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, Politico, Alabama Political Reporter, Fox News, New York Post, The Daily Wire, The Hill, Associated Press, NOTUS, Joe.My.God., New York Times, CNBC and The Guardian
Thomas Frank / Politico:
Trump overrode his own agencies to deny four Democratic disaster requests — President Donald Trump overruled his own agencies when he denied disaster aid for four Democratic-led states this month. — Emails between state and federal officials obtained by POLITICO along with more than 150 pages …
Discussion:
MS NOW, New Republic and The Parnas Perspective
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Oliver Darcy / Status:
Bari's New ‘60’ Slate … On Tuesday afternoon, I received an urgent tip on the encrypted-messaging app Signal: Ross Douthat, the conservative opinion columnist at The New York Times, was set to leave the newspaper and join “60 Minutes.” Initially, I was skeptical.
Discussion:
Associated Press, New York Post, The Guardian, Raw Story, Fox News, CBS News, Deseret News and The Daily Wire
RELATED:
Riley Moser / CBS News:
Elon Musk's xAI sues to stop Minnesota law banning nudification technology — Add CBS News on Google — Billionaire Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company is suing Minnesota over a first-of-its-kind law that bans apps and websites that create fake, sexualized pictures of individuals, claiming it violates the First Amendment.
Discussion:
Straight Arrow, New York Sun, Breitbart, Joe.My.God. and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »
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Noel Sims / Popular Information:
The fake historian advising Trump's anti-Smithsonian crusade — Last Friday, President Trump released an executive order directing officials to install signs outside the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (NMAH) informing visitors that the museum presents history inaccurately.
Discussion:
Washington Blade and SCOTUSblog
Stef W. Kight / Axios:
Thune's next nightmare — Senate Majority Leader John Thune has one of the toughest jobs in Washington. It could get even harder next year. … But the Senate leader could enter the next Congress with diminished power, leading a conference whose loyalty increasingly lies with Trump.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal
RELATED:
Jonathan Tamari / Bloomberg:
Trump-Thune Divide Goes Beyond Voting Bill
Ariel Edwards-Levy / CNN:
CNN Poll: Americans doubt Trump is paying enough attention to the country's most important problems — A record-high 73% of US adults say that President Donald Trump hasn't paid enough attention to the country's most important problems, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, with just 27% saying he's had the right priorities.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, Palm Beach Post, DCCC, Staff Stories, Newsweek, Louder With Crowder and HuffPost
New York Times:
Domestic Abuse Allegations Rock an Ohio House Race — Representative Max Miller, a Republican, is facing accusations of abuse from his ex-wife in a bitter family feud that might put his otherwise safe seat in play. — A sordid, yearslong family drama involving two powerful Republican members …
Discussion:
LGBTQ Nation, Raw Story, Zeteo, Staff Stories and Newsweek
New York Times:
Trump's Tariffs Are Sending Some Companies Back to China … Workers at factories in China and Thailand assembling and testing flashlights for sale to American customers.Videos by Lauren DeCicca and Qilai Shen — On a dusty piece of land south of Bangkok, a flashlight factory stands full of promise.
Discussion:
NewsMax.com and PRICKLY PEAR
Adeel Hassan / New York Times:
A U.S. Citizen Deleted His Phone's Data. Now He Faces a Felony Charge. — Federal prosecutors charged a man returning to the United States with obstruction because he gave them a passcode that erased his smartphone during a customs search. — It sounds like something that James Bond would use …
Discussion:
Reason and Joe.My.God.
emptywheel:
Todd Blanche Colluded with an Italian Mafioso ... and Also Rudy Guiliani ... to Indict Jim Comey — Jim Comey has filed his pretrial motions. The memoranda and backup for each are here (Fitzgerald's affidavit is a worthwhile place to start): — Motion to Dismiss (MTD) for lack of a true threat
Phil Stewart / Reuters:
US commander warns troops their videos help Iran, sources say — The top U.S. commander for the Middle East has warned troops that cellphone videos shared online can help Iran target American bases, and sources told Reuters some deployed personnel could soon be ordered to surrender their phones.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, RedState, The Independent, Daily Mail and The Intercept
Mark Price / The Charlotte Observer:
ICE agents target NC's Pisgah National Forest and make multiple arrests, feds say — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has extended its reach into North Carolina's wilderness areas to find people suspected of living in the country illegally. — On Sunday, multiple arrests …
Discussion:
American Greatness
Politico:
Republicans start pondering another debt limit hike as midterms loom — Republicans raised the debt limit by $5 trillion last year. Now they are already thinking about how to head off another dive over the fiscal cliff on President Donald Trump's watch. Independent forecasters predict …
Discussion:
The Hill
Gerry Doyle / Bloomberg:
A New Age of Missiles Reshapes Battlefields Around The World — The world is on the cusp of a third missile age, with conventional ballistic weapons proliferating at unprecedented speed in the wake of widespread, battlefield-warping deployment in Iran and Ukraine.
Discussion:
Axios
Liz Dye / Public Notice:
Harmeet Dhillon demonstrates danger of posting through it — This edition of PN is made possible by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 🫵 Subscribe to PN 🫵 … On October 3, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division …
Discussion:
Techdirt

