memeorandum: The FTC Is Beginning to Probe the Sports Gambling Industry (Jeff Stein/The Washington Sun)

9:35 AM ET, October 13, 2026

Top Items:

Ken Paxton Partied in Dubai With Fugitives Ahead of High-Stakes Texas Senate Race — Trump backed the scandal-plagued Paxton in one of the riskiest bets of the midterms — As President Trump weighed endorsing Ken Paxton over incumbent Texas Sen. John Cornyn this spring …

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Examiner and HuffPost

Politico:

High on hopium — With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner — Good Tuesday morning. We're exactly three weeks out from Election Day, and early voting begins today in Georgia and Idaho. Get in touch. — In today's Playbook ... — Abdul El-Sayed and Chris Pappas show off Democrats' doubtless demeanor.

Matthew Choi / Washington Post: Ken Paxton took campaign funds from donors with interests before his office

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Trump picks fight with GOP senators over Russia diesel deal — President Trump is picking a fight with Senate Republicans right before the midterm elections with his surprise deal to allow Russia to export diesel to the United States. — Four Republican senators — Sens. Susan Collins …

Discussion: Axios, Associated Press, ABC News, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, DCReport.org, Scripps News, American Greatness, Politico, Political.org and Financial Times

Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:
Trump's Message to Ukraine Is Now Crystal Clear

Discussion: New York Post, Washington Examiner, Wonkette, New York Times, Politico, NextDraft and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

The Atlantic:
Trump's October Surprise

Discussion: New York Times, Bloomberg and NewsMax.com

Vic Verbalaitis / The Daily Beast: How Trump Just Became America's Biggest Traitor: Political Guru

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:
How Trump Just Exposed Himself as America's True Enemy Within

Discussion: Breitbart and Mediaite

Alex Nguyen / Mother Jones:

Pete Hegseth's Firing Squad Livestream Is Finding Fans in the Defense Industry — Co-founders of Palantir and defense tech firm Anduril are defending “public and brutal” executions. — “I have been outspoken on wanting public executions for over a decade.”

Discussion: vaticannews.va, Daily Mail, Political.org, MS NOW, The Independent, Mediaite, Business Insider, New Republic, NewsMax.com and Axios

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:
The fascist spectacle of streamed executions

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Transom

Mariana Alfaro / Washington Post:
Mike Johnson says execution video could be ‘recruiting tool’ for terrorists

Discussion: CBS News, Wonkette, The Independent, NewsMax.com, Political.org, twitchy.com, New Republic and Mediaite

Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press:

What to know about the search of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's home — Federal agents searched Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington, D.C. home on Monday, only three weeks before the frequent target of President Donald Trump's criticism stands for reelection in her congressional district in Minnesota.

Chadwick Moore / New York Post:
‘Compelling evidence’ of criminal activity drove feds to raid Rep. Ilhan Omar's home: sources

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Ace of Spades HQ, The Hill, Alpha News MN, Forbes, The Gateway Pundit, Wonkette and NewsMax.com

Politico:

GOP readies for an underwhelming lame duck — IN TODAY'S EDITION: — Johnson scrambles leadership outlook — Emmer endorses Trump's raid on Omar — Dems gear up for trade oversight — Republicans' dreams of a productive lame-duck session are dimming.

Politico: Republicans doubt their big lame-duck ambitions pan out

Bayliss Wagner / New York Times:

Republicans Promoted a False Rumor That James Talarico Was in Ohio — The Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas spent nine days off the trail with what he and his campaign said was a bad case of the flu. His opponents fueled rumors, including one that spread widely before it was debunked.

Kate Shaw / New York Times:

Democrats Need a Plan for Supreme Court Reform. Here's a Start. — The Supreme Court justices took the bench last week to hear oral arguments, but the start of this term feels different from previous ones. For one thing, with the sharp increase in activity on the shadow docket …

Discussion: The Nation

Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:

House Dems launch ads in four more Trump districts — House Democrats' campaign arm is expanding its target list just three weeks ahead of Election Day, going on the air for the first time in four more districts with coordinated ad buys with the candidates.

Eli Hager / ProPublica:

Scammers Are Stealing Millions From Food Stamp Recipients. Congress Could Fix It — but Won't. — Reporting Highlights — Lamborghinis and Food Stamps? Trump officials claim many SNAP recipients are scammers, even as statistics show they're far more likely to be victims.

Louise Radnofsky / Wall Street Journal:

Judge Yells at Trump Administration for Cutting Down Golf Course Trees — Several government officials called to testify about hasty removal on Washington site where president dreams of building championship-level course — An angry federal judge overseeing litigation challenging President Trump's plan …

Discussion: Straight Arrow, Politico, MS NOW, The Independent, HuffPost, ABC News, NBC News, Reuters, MeidasTouch, Salon, Political.org, NewsMax.com, WJLA-TV, New York Times, Fox News, Associated Press, The Hill, RedState, Washington Examiner, New Republic and Washington Post

TMZ.com:

Selma Blair Arrested, Attacks Flight Crew In Mid-Air — SELMA BLAIR ARRESTED AFTER ALLEGEDLY BITING FLIGHT ATTENDANT … 11:25 AM PT — TMZ has also obtained audio from an eyewitness of when Blair was exiting the plane at JFK Airport ... and you can hear her screaming bloody murder as an alarm rings.

Jessica Hill / Associated Press:

AI data centers are coming for federal land. They are roiling the Nevada governor's race — Janelle Sorenson loves the clear night skies in Boulder City, less than an hour's drive from the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip. It's a small, quiet town, and she thinks …

Lisa Kashinsky / Politico:

Mary Peltola raises $17M in Q3 in Alaska's Senate race — Former Rep. Mary Peltola raked in $17 million over the last three months, her campaign shared first with POLITICO, a sizable haul for the Democratic challenger in one of the biggest Senate battlegrounds.

Discussion: Newsweek

Leigh Kimmins / The Daily Beast:

RFK Jr. Shows Off Son's Lavish 3-Day Pop Star Wedding in Rio … Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pulled back the curtain on his son's lavish three-day wedding to a pop star in Brazil. — Conor Kennedy, 32, reportedly married Giulia Be, 27, in a civil ceremony in Los Angeles in March.

Tariq Panja / New York Times:

FIFA's Trump Tower Deal: 7 Years, $4 Million, One Mostly Unused Office — The deal is another sign of how Gianni Infantino, the leader of soccer's global governing body, has sought closer ties to President Trump. — About a year before the World Cup, FIFA held a splashy opening for its latest office …

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:

Top G.O.P. Groups Pull Support From First House Incumbents — Two major Republican super PACs are said to be withdrawing cash from the races of the incumbent Representatives Thomas H. Kean Jr. of New Jersey and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa in an effort to triage the midterm map.

Discussion: The Bulwark

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

New White House press secretary has a history of conspiracy-laced social media posts — Donald Trump Fighting disinformation Social media Epstein files — President Donald Trump's incoming White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, repeatedly made baseless accusations of pedophilia …

Discussion: NPR, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:

GOP ad buyer mixes up Portlands, spends money meant to help Maine Sen. Susan Collins in Oregon — An outside group mistakenly spent nearly $25,000 to boost Collins in Portland, Oregon, rather than Portland, Maine. The buyer admitted to the error and refunded the PAC.

Discussion: The Hill, The Intercept, Crooks and Liars, Washington Post, Boston.com, The Independent, The Portland Press Herald, New Republic, New York Times, Newsweek, MS NOW, Washington Examiner and Mediaite

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Trump's new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, claims she's a lawyer. Is she? — There is no evidence Zacharia has ever been licensed to practice law — and the White House did not provide any — When President Trump plucked Katie Zacharia from obscurity and appointed her as his new press secretary, he called her “an attorney.”

Discussion: The Guardian

Jeff Stein / The Washington Sun:

The FTC Is Beginning to Probe the Sports Gambling Industry — Officials at the Federal Trade Commission are probing the $167 billion online sports gambling industry, which has been celebrated by the White House but faces mounting skepticism from some conservative activists.

Adam Gramegna / Military.com:

Air Force Major Who Called for Trump's Impeachment is in Solitary Confinement 24 Hours a Day: Attorney — Maj. Jason Watson has been jailed since August after publicly opining on the president and his administration, drawing a big legal battle. — Add us on

Alex Miller / Fox News:

Trump vanishes from GOP senator's campaign website as poll numbers plunge weeks before election — Sen Mike Rounds' campaign says it is ‘not abnormal’ to focus in on ‘general election messaging’ — A Senate Republican running for re-election in ruby-red South Dakota has joined a growing number …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Associated Press:

Trump says he cares for Americans. They think he's more focused on his wealth, an AP-NORC poll finds — Most Americans think Donald Trump is profiting off the presidency in unethical or illegal ways and is focused more on his wealth than helping people like them, a new AP-NORC poll finds.

Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:

Republicans Spend Big to Defend Nebraska Senate Seat — In latest sign of GOP's Midwest angst, Senate Leadership Fund plans to pour $8 million into race to help Sen. Pete Ricketts — WASHINGTON—The big-donor group aligned with Senate Republicans disclosed that it plans to spend heavily …

Discussion: Politico and NewsMax.com

Margaret Talev / Axios:

Axios-Ipsos poll: “Medicare for All” support surges — Supporters of “Medicare for All” now outnumber opponents by nearly 2-to-1, according to a new survey of U.S. adults from the Axios-Ipsos American Health Index. … - But the public's openness is driven more by desperation than by confidence in government.

Mike Zapler / Axios:

Dems' red-state showings raise prospect of a bigger 2028 map — Move over Wisconsin and Arizona. … Sure, this could be a blip — or a reminder that it's a 50-50 moody nation, even in a bunch of red states. — The conditions that helped Barack Obama carry conservative states like Indiana …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Josh Dawsey / Wall Street Journal:

I Went Home to South Carolina to Ask Young Voters About Trump and the Economy — Watch as a WSJ reporter visits his college town—where the University of South Carolina is booming, but students are worried about their futures — This is an episode of Rooted In, where our reporters …

Ben Finley / Associated Press:

After surging troops to the border, US Army showcases a quieter Rio Grande — Standing on a high bank of the Rio Grande, Army Lt. Col. Ray Richards points to a stretch of river that was, until recently, one of the busiest spots for illegal border crossings from Mexico. But on a recent afternoon, the area is quiet.

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:

Billionaire Elon Musk has already funneled at least $366 million into the midterms to try to make sure voters elect Republicans. Theodore Schleifer of the New York Times reported today that Musk has put more than $276 million of that money into groups and political action committees just since July.