memeorandum: Attorney General Blanche said Trump's ‘weaponization fund’ was dead. Now DOJ is appealing (Jacob Knutson/Democracy Docket)

11:25 PM ET, September 11, 2026

Top Items:

Ohio Senate campaign staffer used Nazi soldiers as profile photo — Jon Husted's campaign, after being contacted by The Post, said it would part ways with the political director. — Summary — A top campaign staffer for Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) once used a photo of SS soldiers …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Guardian, The Hill, Newsweek, NewsMax.com, Mediaite and LGBTQ Nation

Gavin J. Quinton / The Washington Sun:

Husted Fires Political Director Over Past Nazi Posts — The former staffer had posted profile photos featuring Nazi officers and wore the attire in a group photo in 2018. — Copy — Sen. Jon Husted fired his campaign's political director Friday after discovering the staffer …

New York Times:

Contractor Blames Its Own Repairs, Not Vandals, for Reflecting Pool Failure — The contractor said the pool's new blue liner peeled and tore because of “human oversight” and a flawed plan that involved layering two incompatible chemicals, documents show. — The contractor that renovated …

Discussion: Gizmodo, The Washington Sun, NewsMax.com, New Republic, The Hill, Mediaite, The Independent and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Josephine Walker / Axios:

Reflecting Pool contractor admits faulty repairs, not vandalism, caused damage — The contractor hired to renovate the Reflecting Pool says its repair work caused the pool's liner to peel and bubble, according to documents first reviewed by The New York Times.

Steve Benen / MS NOW: Trump's Reflecting Pool contractor acknowledges reality, discredits ‘vandals’ claim

NBC News:

Lutnick says Trump's $5,000 checks for Americans wouldn't rely on taxpayer funds — A top White House official suggested Congress would use a budget process to fund them. Vice President JD Vance had said tariff revenues. … President Donald Trump's promised $5,000 “dividend” …

Discussion: NewsMax.com, New Republic, The Hill, Fox Business, Joe.My.God., PolitiFact, CBS News, PBS NewsHour, Breitbart and HuffPost

Herb Scribner / Axios:

How Trump's $5,000 check promise is supposed to work — The White House is doubling down on President Trump's promise to deliver $5,000 checks to American adults, arguing his record shows he can pull it off. — Why it matters: The Trump administration is teasing these massive checks …

Avani Kalra / The Washington Sun:
Republicans Jump at the Chance to Advertise on Trump's $5,000 Checks

Discussion: MeidasTouch, MS NOW and Mediaite

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / New Republic:

The Numbers Don't Lie: Trump's Convention Speech Was a Total Flop … Republicans spent more than $40 million to produce their unprecedented midterm convention—but even that enormous investment couldn't convince the American public to tune in. — Donald Trump spoke at the Dallas event …

Discussion: Reuters, Daily Kos, Advocate, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and NewsMax.com

James Poniewozik / New York Times:
Trump's ‘Midterm Convention’ Tried to Reach Die-Hard Republican Voters, but Lacked Oomph

Discussion: Mediaite

Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:
Out of Gas. Out of Ideas. Out of Time. — Today marks twenty-five years since the September 11th attacks.

Discussion: Daily Kos

New York Times:
'You Know What Happens if You Don't Vote': 7 Takeaways From the G.O.P. Convention

Politico:

Iran-backed Houthis seize Red Sea port, putting another key trade route at risk — Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the Red Sea port of Mokha and captured the nearby Perim island on Friday, tightening their grip around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait while the U.S.-Iran war chokes another …

New York Times:
Saudi Oil Exports Face Heightened Threats After Attacks on Pipeline

Discussion: NewsNation, NewsMax.com, Agence France-Presse, The Washington Sun, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, Al Jazeera, WTOP News and Christian Science Monitor

CNN:
Saudi Arabian oil pipeline system hit by projectiles triggering fires

Discussion: Reuters, Al Jazeera, CNBC, Newsweek, HotAir, Washington Examiner, NewsMax.com, Straight Arrow, KTVZ-TV, The Daily Caller and WTOP News

Mohammed Ghobari / Reuters:
Yemen's Houthis reach strategic island at mouth of vital shipping lane

Julian E. Barnes / New York Times:

C.I.A. Releases Intelligence Sent to White House Before Sept. 11 — The spy agency released dozens of intelligence documents it had sent to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, outlining what was known about Al Qaeda. — Tucked at the end of a Sept. 10, 1998, intelligence report sent …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, CBS News, NewsMax.com and The Washington Sun

CIA:

CIA Releases President's Daily Briefs in Commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of 9/11 — Agency makes public more than 70 intelligence products in historic release — Today, Director John Ratcliffe declassified 71 President's Daily Brief (PDB) products in commemoration of the 25th anniversary …

Discussion: ISOO Overview, CBS News, Wall Street Journal, The Independent, KTVZ-TV, Nextgov/FCW, NewsMax.com, The Daily Caller, One America News Network, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Wire and NewsNation

New York Times:

Facing Islamophobia, Mamdani Keeps Focus on 9/11 Victims — In recent weeks, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has visited firehouses around New York City as part of an effort to direct the public's attention toward the victims, and away from himself. — Three days before the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 …

Discussion: The Daily Wire, The Mahablog, RedState, twitchy.com, The Federalist and Truthout

Nia Prater / New York Magazine:
Giuliani Manages to Be Cordial to Mamdani at Ground Zero

Discussion: NewsMax.com, New York Post, The Hill, New York Times, The Post Millennial, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, VINnews, The Independent, TheJournal.ie and RNS

Brandy Zadrozny / MS NOW:

A Russian disinformation campaign is doctoring celebrity videos to meddle in the midterms — The Kremlin-backed operation, known as Matryoshka, has Hollywood actors telling voters to disavow the Democratic Party and vote Republican. — A Russian disinformation campaign is targeting the midterms …

more at Mediagazer »

Hafiz Rashid / New Republic:

USPS Tries Rejecting Entire County's Ballot Over Spacing Issue — A Florida county's mail-in ballot envelope design was almost rejected by the U.S. Postal Service for less than two-hundredths of an inch. — Leon County, Florida's mail ballot envelope design placed the words …

Discussion: Democracy Docket and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jim Saksa / Democracy Docket:
In ominous sign, USPS initially rejected Florida county's mail ballot over spacing issue

Discussion: Washington Post, Election Law Blog, Yahoo News, NBC News, Daily Kos, Joe.My.God. and New York Times

Emily Goodin / New York Post:

Condoleezza Rice apologizes to families for failing to prevent 9/11 — Condoleezza Rice admitted she carries “deep personal remorse” for not doing enough to prevent 9/11, offering her apologies on Friday during a memorial ceremony at the Pentagon. — “Those of us in authority …

Discussion: NewsMax.com

Emily Goodin / New York Post:
Trump admin declassifies 9/11 documents on info presidents knew in lead-up to terrorist attacks

Discussion: Fox News, Associated Press, Straight Arrow, The Post Millennial and RedState

Salvador Rizzo / Washington Post:

Woman deported to Afghanistan in first use of Alien Terrorist Removal Court — Nazira Haji Zada conceded being an “alien terrorist” in a case heard by a secretive court established three decades ago but which held its first hearing this year. — Summary — A woman with lawful-permanent …

Discussion: Fox News, Reuters, NewsNation, Townhall, MS NOW, The Hill, The Independent, KTVZ-TV and The Gateway Pundit

US Department of Justice:
Department of Justice Removes Alien Terrorist in First Use of United States Alien Terrorist Removal Court

Discussion: Axios, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, NewsMax.com, Court Watch, Law Dork, Washington Examiner, RedState, The Washington Sun, Zeteo and CBS News

Mark Alfred / The Washington Sun:

Sen. Jim Justice Failed to Properly Disclose His Massive Wealth — Sen. Jim Justice failed to properly submit an annual report detailing his billion-dollar personal fortune, blowing past a legal deadline despite requesting and receiving two extensions, The Washington Sun found.

Ben Johansen / Politico:

Trump, Hegseth push Iran war at Pentagon 9/11 memorial — President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday used remarks commemorating the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 to draw a parallel between the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans and the ongoing U.S. war with Iran.

Discussion: NewsMax.com, One America News Network, MS NOW, The Hill, Bloomberg and CBS News

The Guardian:
Trump and Hegseth use 9/11 memorial remarks at Pentagon to defend war on Iran

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, The American Conservative, Agence France-Presse, New York Times, TheGrio, Business Insider and Bloomberg

Wall Street Journal:

Anthropic Says Iran Used Its American AI Model to Target U.S. Navy Warships — Anthropic says it disrupted the plot, which was included in its report on adversaries using AI to develop weapons and track dissidents — Iran used American-developed artificial-intelligence models to try …

Discussion: New York Post, WTOP News, Breitbart, RedState, Stars & Stripes, Daily Mail, Metro.co.uk, The Guardian, France 24, Al Jazeera and Reuters, more at Techmeme »

Andrew Howard / Politico:

Republicans just opened the floodgates on spending for Ken Paxton — DALLAS — Texas Republican Ken Paxton is getting a major infusion of financial help in his Senate battle with Democrat James Talarico. — A new super PAC linked to Senate Republican leadership has purchased at least $32 million …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune, The Daily Wire, Axios, Joe.My.God., Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Washington Post, The Hill and The Nation

Amy B Wang / Washington Post:

Trump asks convention crowd to pledge to him they will vote, ‘cheat like hell’ — At the midterm event, the president had audience members raise their hands and repeat after him. — Closing out the GOP's midterm convention in Dallas on Thursday, President Donald Trump asked those in the audience to raise their right hands.

Discussion: Esquire, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, TMZ.com, Metro.co.uk, Joe.My.God., The Independent, Newsweek, FOX 7 Austin, The Gateway Pundit and The Hill

Gillian Brockell / American Prospect:

Immigrant Trump Sent to African Hotel Prison Arrested After Speaking With Media, Lawyers Say — Ahmed Soliman, a 30-year-old gay immigrant from Egypt who had lived in Arizona since he was a child, was arrested by police in Equatorial Guinea Friday, days after speaking to reporters about police abuse, his lawyers said.

Discussion: Reuters

Marlow Stern / Variety:

Lilly Wachowski on Her New Studio Anarchists United, the Black Power Origins of ‘The Matrix’ and How ‘Harry Potter’ Fans Are ‘Supporting Trans Genocide’ — The visionary filmmaker behind ‘The Matrix’ opens up about her new studio for marginalized voices, J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk.

Discussion: Blaze Media, LGBTQ Nation and Advocate

Andrew Solender / Axios:

Scoop: Mike Johnson urged to cancel House recess over AI warnings — A letter is circulating among House members urging Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to bring back the House “immediately” and keep it in session until Congress passes AI safeguards, Axios has learned.

Discussion: New York Times and Washington Examiner, more at Techmeme »

Nick Arama / RedState:

New Info Just Revealed About Lindsay Clancy Holdout Juror Shocks Liberal Media Host — We've been hearing from some of the 11 jurors in the Lindsay Clancy case who wanted to acquit her by reason of insanity. We've heard from three women on camera, one man, and the youngest female juror.

Josh Christenson / New York Post:

Joe diGenova resigns abruptly from DOJ job investigating Trump foes, calling out ‘ethical’ problems on way out — Counselor to the Attorney General Joe diGenova abruptly resigned Thursday from a sprawling probe into former officials in the Obama administration, The Post has learned.

Joseph De Avila / Wall Street Journal:

Misconduct Inquiry Gives N.J. Gov. Mikie Sherrill Another Headache — Months after a voter roll fallout, allegations about Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell bring more political trouble for her administration — New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a rising star in the Democratic Party …

Cameron Peters / Vox:

25 years after 9/11, the GOP has never been more anti-Muslim — The GOP wants America to fear Muslims. … Hi readers — today marks 25 years since 9/11. In New York City, Washington, and Pennsylvania, survivors, families, and politicians are gathering to grieve and commemorate the attacks.

Discussion: MS NOW, Lone Star Left and Mother Jones