Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude

6/30/2026

chump survivor and general hospital

hafiz rashid ('the new republic') notes:

An anonymous victim of Jeffrey Epstein who has accused President Trump of sexually assaulting her is reportedly living in fear of retaliation.

The Guardian reports that the woman identified in the federal government’s Epstein files as “Jane Doe 4” is “living off the grid” and fears retaliation from the Trump administration, according to one of her relatives.

“Trauma is brutal. Chronic trauma destroys. She’s coping as best she can,” the relative told the publication, saying the woman had been abused since early childhood. “She’s coping as best she can.”

Jane Doe 4 spoke to the FBI in 2019, telling agents she was abused by Epstein in the 1980s and sexually assaulted by Trump when she was between 13 and 15 years old on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. In March, South Carolina’s Post and Courier confirmed certain details of the woman’s life outlined in the Epstein files. None of these details were related to her allegations against Trump.

There’s no evidence the FBI followed up after the woman made the allegations. One of her attorneys, who accompanied her in two of her FBI interviews, said he never received follow-up calls from the agents nor got copies of their reports, which normally are given to defense counsel. In her final FBI interview, the woman cut off contact with the bureau, telling agents that she believed she was being followed.

it would not surprise me 1 bit if chump assaulted the woman when she was 13 years old.

'general hospital'?

cassius? so sidwell told detective fitzgerald and city council member ezra that nathan was really cassius, nathan's twin brother.

cassius told fitzgerald to give him his gun. he then knocked him out. he did not kill sidwell as ross had told him to. instead, he told sidwell to run. before he changed his mind. sidwell tried to grab detective fitzgerald's gun but casius wouldn't let him, said if sidwell grbbed it, he'd try to kill cassius.

sidwell left. cassius told ezra to stay with fitzgerald until he comes to.

ava and nina had lunch. nina noted ethan was watching them and ava explained that sonny had assigned him to her as a bodyguard in case sidwell showed up.

carly met with charlotte and danny and they told her that the wsb tried to kidnap charlotte earlier. carly said that meant ross didn't know cassadine (charlotte's father) had gone to the top of the wsb to tell them that ross was working with sidwell and had been for years, he was a double agent.

carly is nervous about her daughter josslyn and afraid time is running out. charlotte told her she could get her into sidwell's mnsion and that she knows the tunnels. carly said cassadine wouldnt want charlotte involved and jason wouldn't want danny involved. they were to stay at the quartermaines and carly would get in with the map charlotte gave her.

danny & charlotte agreed. but at soon as carly left, charlotte told danny they were going along and they would be helping carly.

ava was at her art gallery when the awful acting d.a. showed up and started asking her questions. about sidwell. ava said she wouldn't spit on him if he were on fire. sidwell walks up and acts hurt. ethan goes for his gun but sidwell has a gun.

if we're lucky, maybe the acting d.a. will get killed by sidwell.

ross went to the hospital and visited jack. he locked jack's hands down and then put a gas mask over him. he told jack that it was the end.

on monday's episode, felicia called cody and told him not to let jack go off with nathan, that nathan wasn't who he said he was.

cody and jack were at the batting ring. nathan shows up. cody's phone comes on - monday, jack used a super squirter at the pool on cody and it got his phone wet so he hasn't been able to use it. nathan is telling jack that they're going to go off. where? he doesn't know. at that moment, cody hears felicia's voice mail.

lisel has finished the project. josslyn tells her that now they'll be killed lisel says that cassius will protect them. josslyn says cssius isn't nathan. she says they need to break out now. lisel asks how and josslyn says that if lisel can do nuclear fusion, she can figure out how to pop the door open.

cassius is planning on leaving port charles, by the way. he'd told josslyn that he would save her. and he would save lisel. but he's planning right now to leave with jack. so clearly he's not interested in saving those 2 women.

nina gets a cheeseburger for jack and visits him in the hospital only to discover him strapped to the bed with a gas mask over his mouth and his eyes closed.

let's close with c.i.'s 'The Snapshot:'

Tuesday, June 30, 2026. Chump tries to low profile it as the war with Iran continues and his state fair turned out to be a disaster, the electorate appears to be rejecting Republicans, Pete Hegseth attempts to destroy the military, and much more.

Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes Donald Chump will not be available to the press again today.

Shirin Hakim, Hari Raj, Aaron Boxerman and Leo Sands (NEW YORK TIMES) note this morning:

Iranian and U.S. negotiators were gearing up for meetings on Tuesday in Qatar, a key mediator between the two countries, days after a surge of attacks cast a pall over efforts to reach a lasting peace deal.

A spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that there were no plans for high-level meetings or direct talks between the United States and Iran, adding that the American delegation would meet with Qatari officials.

What might the current war on Iran be without Senator Lindsey Graham who has pimped it non-stop? Who knows but we might find out in Chump's next war. Fernando Alba (THE MIRROR) reports:

Lindsey Graham's seat in ruby red South Carolina could be at risk.

According to a new poll by Impact Research, the four-term U.S. senator, is near neck-and-neck with his Democratic opponent, Dr. Annie Andrews.

The 70-year-old is polling just three points ahead of Andrews, 48% to 45%, and scored just a 40% approval rating.

Andrews, 45, is framing her race to unseat the longtime senator as a changing of the guard. Graham was first elected to Congress in 1994 and later to the senate in 2002.

“Lindsey Graham has been in politics since I was in the eighth grade, and people are sick of these career politicians,” she told the Daily Beast, arguing his MAGA stance has alienated voters by prioritizing war and cuts to Medicaid.

“Casual observers are pretty disgusted by Lindsey Graham’s behavior. Imagine how South Carolinians feel. That’s exactly what this poll reflects.”

Old man Graham could get kicked out of the Senate. On GOP chances in the November midterms, Will Neal (DAILY BEAST) notes:

CNN’s resident numbers wizard has cast President Donald Trump’s thoroughly debunked claims of election rigging in 2020 as a losing strategy ahead of the November midterms.

“It is a losing message!” data guru Harry Enten, 38, told network viewers Monday, framing the divide it casts among the voting public as near-total. “The Republican Party is in one camp all the way over here on the right, and the rest of the American public is in the same camp.”

The claim still sells with the base, which is why, Enten went on, Republicans keep making it. About 60 percent of GOP voters called the 2020 contest stolen, a share that has since climbed to 63 percent, even though “there is no proof of that whatsoever!” He was blunter about the conviction itself, scoffing that Republicans “just believe this garbage.”

The trouble, as the polling analyst put it, is everyone else. Among Americans overall, 64 percent now call the 2020 result legitimate, up from 59 percent in 2021—a majority moving the opposite way from the voters the party is courting. That, Enten argued, is the trap: a message that wins a primary and loses a general election.

Other problems facing the Republicans in the lead up to the midterms? Thomas Kika notes:

Republicans are "bracing for a tough election season" heading into the 2026 midterms, according to a new report from The Hill, expressing concerns that President Donald Trump remains "out of sync" with the main issues concerning voters.

GOP lawmakers are eager to try and get legislation passed that could address affordability concerns that are weighing heavily on voters' minds, but Trump has continually made their prospects more difficult. In recent months, lawmakers have been frustrated by his remarks about not caring that Americans are struggling against rising costs, as well as his recent insistence that he will not sign a bipartisan affordable housing bill unless Congress passes new voter registration restrictions.

"Trump’s refusal to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is the latest troubling sign for GOP senators, who have pressed Trump for weeks to pay more personal attention to voters’ concerns about rising costs," The Hill detailed in a Monday morning report. "Instead, Trump’s off-the-cuff statements professing 'love' for higher inflation numbers and declaring he’s not thinking about the financial situations of American families while negotiating an end to the conflict with Iran have GOP candidates bracing for a tough election season."

Moving over to Chump's failed fair.

Rhian Lubin (INDEPENDENT) reports:

The launch of President Donald Trump’s Freedom250 group last year has led to a fierce rivalry with America250, the nonpartisan Congressional commission that has been planning the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations for a decade, according to a report.

America250 is the organization created by Congress in 2016 to lead the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The idea behind the group was to put on events across the country that everyone could enjoy.

But since Trump launched Freedom250 in January 2025, the group behind the Great American State Fair, a violent UFC fight on the White House South Lawn and an exhibition curated by a right-wing educational organization PragerU, a “feud” has broken out between the two organizations, according to a report by TIME.

America250, made up of lawmakers, private citizens and cabinet officials, as a result, “does not want to be affiliated with the kind of celebrations that Freedom 250 has set up,” according to TIME, citing internal documents and conversations with people working closely on the events.

Freedom250’s 16-day Great American State Fair, which kicked off last week, failed to attract large crowds on the National Mall this weekend. Organizers promoted the fair as a patriotic showcase featuring all 50 states, family attractions, live entertainment, and exhibits celebrating the country's history and culture.

Despite photographs of sparse crowds, Trump claimed the event was “packed with happy people” and touted his team for a “fantastic job” in a Truth Social post Monday.

The groups are reportedly butting heads over similar programming, budget and vying over major marketing campaigns that have led to confusion among the public. Freedom250 reportedly sends a representative to America250’s meetings, but “there is no sense of collaboration between the two groups.”

It was a bust and a waste of tax payer money (it received tax payer money and donations). Olivia Ralph (DAILY BEAST) notes:

MAGA lawmakers accidentally posted the receipts for President Donald Trump’s underwhelming Great American State Fair.

A string of Republican selfies, reels, and promotional posts from the National Mall show exactly what the White House-backed bash has been accused of becoming: a sparse, strangely empty celebration of America’s 250th birthday.

Rep. Blake Moore of Utah posted an Instagram reel from the fairgrounds, urging visitors to check out his state’s booth. But the sales pitch came with the unfortunate visual aid of Moore standing in an almost empty park, with an empty Ferris wheel turning behind him.

“Down here at the Great American State Fair—it’s gonna be open for two weeks. So if you’re here traveling in Washington, D.C. at all over the 4th, make sure to come check out the Utah booth,” Moore said.

He then seemed to all but beg people to let his office help them get there.

“Contact our office if there’s any help that you need to organize things or tours or get more information,” he added.

“Please, please reach out. We’d love to help out in that way.”

Rep. French Hill of Arkansas posted his own reel from the top of the Ferris wheel, where the view behind him showed the vast, empty National Mall grass stretching toward the Capitol.

“I hope if you have any plans to visit Washington for the 4th of July that you let us know,” Hill said from the ride.

Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas also shared a montage of himself and his wife walking around the fair, riding the Ferris wheel, inspecting an agriculture display, and visiting the Kansas state booth.

But the cheery video appeared to show mostly empty grounds as they moved through the event.

Chump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are 'celebrating' the country's 250th anniversary by attempting to destroy the Pentagon. Alex Henderson reports:

Prominent military experts, from retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling to retired U.S. Navy Adm. William H. McRaven, are sounding the alarm about the Trump administration forcing Gen. Chris Donahue to step down from his role as commander of U.S. Army Europe. The departures of Donahue and other military leaders, according to Hertling and McRaven, are making the military dangerously unstable. Similarly, legal scholars Michael N. Schmitt and Ryan Goodman are warning that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are robbing the military of a wealth of expertise.

Writing for Just Security, Schmitt (a law professor at New York University) emphasizes that nothing good can come of the Trump/Hegseth purges at the Pentagon — especially in light of the caliber of military leaders being forced out.

"Since January 2025," the legal scholar explains, "the Defense Department has removed, replaced, or forced the early retirement of a remarkable concentration of operationally experienced senior officers. Among them are the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the chief of naval operations, the chief of staff of the Army, and the commander of U.S. Cyber Command, who concurrently serves as director of the National Security Agency. Most recently, Gen. Christopher Donahue, one of the most decorated and combat-experienced officers of his generation, has been forced out as commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa and, in his NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) role, as commander of Allied Land Command. Public explanations have been sparse and, to the extent they have been offered, largely general."

Schmitt continues, "The question regarding these departures is not whether the president and secretary of defense have broad lawful authority to reshape the senior officer corps. They unequivocally do. Nor is it a question of whether personnel decisions of this kind are ever warranted. Sometimes, they certainly are. Instead, at its core, a central question is their impact on the combat effectiveness, indeed the lethality, of our armed forces."

Schmitt, in his article, lists 25 U.S. military leaders who have been forced out during Trump's second presidency and notes that collectively, they had a combined 901 and one-half years of experience.

Schmitt argues that the military purges that occurred in the Soviet under Josef Stalin during the 1930s offer a sobering history less for the U.S., as Stalin's Red Army purges made the Soviet Union more "vulnerable" to Adolf Hitler's aggression.

Sabrina Haake observes:

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth just hijacked more promotions of high-ranking service members, this time blocking career professionals with exemplary records who were on track to become one-star generals and admirals. Not only is Hegseth’s behavior unusual, there is no clear legal authority for what he is doing.

Congress entrusted military promotions largely to the respective promotion boards and Secretaries of the Military Departments, not the Secretary of Defense. Although 10 U.S.C. § 629 empowers the President with removal authority, a longstanding executive order limits the Secretary of Defense’s removal authority to grades below colonel or captain, not the general or admiral promotions Hegseth has blocked. The Pentagon’s own regulations restrict grounds for removing an officer from a promotions list to specific circumstances like moral, mental, or professional deficiencies, none of which were present in Hegseth’s removals.

It’s obvious that a disproportionate number of Hegseth’s blocked, delayed, or demoted officers are women and people of color. However, while mainstream headlines suggest Hegseth is motivated by race and gender animus, an even worse—and more dangerous— likelihood is that he is weeding out those he deems “ideologically incompatible” with how he and Trump plan to use the military.

Hegseth likes to emphasize that “every officer serves at the pleasure of the president,” arguing that Trump’s policy goals require removing commanders “tied to the culture” of previous administrations. He argues that past promotions were based on race and gender instead of qualifications, but military records dispute those claims, and there is no evidence that any promotions he blocked were attributable to anything other than merit.

Hegseth, a former Fox News bobble head, is notoriously unqualified to serve as Secretary of Defense, which seems to have been Trump’s point in naming him. He was a mid-level National Guard officer, had no senior leadership role in the military, and had no experience anywhere that qualified him to oversee three million personnel and an annual budget of $800 billion.

More dangerous than his lack of qualifications is his bloodlust. As a media commentator, he lobbied aggressively for presidential pardons for service members convicted or accused of notorious war crimes, including Army Lt. Clint Lorance, convicted of murdering two Afghan civilians, and Maj. Matt Golsteyn, who admitted during an interview for the CIA that he and another soldier took an alleged Taliban bomb-maker off base in 2010, shot him, and buried his remains. Trump granted full pardons to both.

Which is perfectly in keeping with the War Crime that Hegseth and Chump committed. Jon Duffy (LOS ANGELES TIMES) notes, "It has been more than 100 days since the United States struck an elementary school in Minab, Iran, and killed at least 175 people, most of them children." They are not governing, they are murdering. Hegseth was confirmed via JD Vance offering the tie breaking vote. He was not a good nominee and shame on those who supported him by voting for him. John Bowden (INDEPENDENT) reports:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing heat from a key House Republican as he continues reshaping the Pentagon to fit Donald Trump’s agenda.

Rep. Don Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN on Sunday that the firings at the Pentagon and the reported campaign of Hegseth slow-walking or denying promotions to senior officers, disproportionately women and people of color, was harming America’s fighting forces.

[. . .]

In his CNN interview, Bacon added that he’d known some of the dismissed commanders personally, and vouched for their credentials and professionalism.

“He’s fired about 20 admirals and generals. I’ve worked with some of them personally...these are great people. We had the head of U.S. Cyber Command fired for no reason,” said Bacon.

In June, it was reported by CNN that a sense of paranoia and fear was gripping the top ranks at the Pentagon, a direct result of the firings and interference in promotions. The atmosphere was so intense that troops were being forced to submit to polygraph tests and nondisclosure agreements to be read in on sensitive topics, potentially adversely affecting readiness.

Senior officials told the outlet that decisions were now being made with the constant undertone of fear about job security.

On FACE THE NATION (CBS) Sunday morning, Senator Tim Kaine spoke with moderator Margaret Brennan about Hegseth:

MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who joins us from Brussels.

Good morning to you, Senator.

SENATOR TIM KAINE (D-Virginia): Great to be with you, Margaret. Thanks.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because you are in Europe, I want to ask you about exactly what is going on with the U.S. Army Europe General Chris Donahue. We know he was ordered by Secretary Hegseth to turn in his retirement papers. He's going to relinquish command July 2, relinquish NATO command July 9.

Do you have any indication why this very well-respected general is getting pushed out the door?

SENATOR TIM KAINE: Margaret, I am in Europe with a bipartisan delegation of senators visiting NATO allies and our troops, talking primarily about NATO summit next week and support for Ukraine.

I will say, on General Donahue, a lot of questions and very few answers. He was very well regarded in the Armed Services Committee, where I sit. Both sides of the aisle thought really highly of him. And so the news that he was being ushered out caught us all by surprise, and we don't yet have good answers from the Pentagon.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it's part of a bigger question as to the changes Secretary Hegseth is making at the Pentagon.

Retired Admiral Bill McRaven, people know him from commanding the raid to take out Osama bin Laden. He wrote a piece in "The Atlantic" raising concerns about the exit and the firing of at least 12 other high-ranking military officials.

He explained officers need to be brutally candid in order to give good advice. He said: "These recent firings raise a real risk senior officers will be overly cautious about providing their best advice, and therefore the chance for military miscalculation will grow dramatically."

How concerned are you? Can Congress intervene and do anything here?

SENATOR TIM KAINE: Well, I don't think that concern is misplaced. We're worried about the same thing.

Are you – are you pushing out the truth-tellers to surround yourself by yes-men? And, in particular, it looks like the secretary is coming down hardest, coming down hardest on the Army. He served in the Army. He felt like he wasn't treated well by the Army. That's a grudge he's carried that he's described publicly.

And so, when you see Army officers forced out, you got to wonder, is this a personal thing, or is it really what's best for the nation? So we are working on the defense bill right now. We've – we voted it out of the Senate Armed Services Committee. There's nothing in the bill at this point that would address this situation.

But, when we bring it up on the floor, I think by then, we'll have some of our questions answered. And if we need to go farther to put some guardrails in place, you'll probably find bipartisan support to do that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What are you hearing from your NATO partners there about the American plans to reduce the presence in Europe?

SENATOR TIM KAINE: So the – it would be difficult to reduce the presence in Europe, based upon some NDAA provisions that we have put in place that kind of set a floor in terms of U.S. troop strength.

And here's the good news, Margaret. Both because of President Trump, but also, frankly, because the actions of Vladimir Putin, European nations are really stepping up their investment in their collective defense. They see the need to do it, and they understand that the United States is right there with them.

There's some political churn. No doubt about it. European nations are not only concerned about rhetoric coming out of the White House. They see a chaotic tariff policy as hurting their economies. But they also see the U.S. continuing to make sizable investments in European defense, troop presence.

Turning to Chump's buddy Jeffrey Epstein, Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) reports:

A woman who alleges Donald Trump sexually assaulted her more than 30 years ago says she believes the network of people connected to Jeffrey Epstein is on the verge of being fully exposed as more survivors will come forward this year to detail their experiences.

Beatrice Keul, a former Miss Switzerland and Miss Europe contestant, made the prediction in a recent interview, telling PunchUp that "the dam is about to burst." Keul, now 55, has previously alleged that Trump assaulted her in 1993 at the Plaza Hotel during his "American Dream Pageant" in New York when she was 23, and that Epstein separately approached her the same day, introducing himself as "Don's best friend."

Keul's renewed prediction comes alongside new claims about ongoing intimidation she says she's faced since going public with her allegations in October 2024. She told PunchUp she received an AI-generated audio message on her personal cellphone from an anonymous number around the time of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre's death in April 2025.

"We know where you are, and we will get you," the message repeatedly warned.

Keul says similar messages have continued since, with the most recent arriving about a month ago. She says she doesn't know who is behind them but believes they were designed to frighten her into silence.

Powerful figures connected to Epstein, Keul says, have strong incentives to keep survivors from speaking, and she believes some women have stayed quiet after watching others get targeted or publicly discredited. She also rejected the official finding that Epstein died by suicide in 2019, telling PunchUp, "This is not a guy who would commit suicide."

Tom Latchem (DAILY BEAST) adds:

Keul first came forward in October 2024, alleging that Trump—then 47, while she was a 23-year-old banking executive and part-time model—lured her to his Donald J. Trump American Dream Pageant in New York. She says an aide then asked her to join the property developer for a “private meeting” before he allegedly groped her in a suite at the Plaza Hotel.

Her allegations prompted author and Daily Beast Inside Trump’s Head podcast co-host Michael Wolff to release some of the 100 hours of interviews he conducted with Jeffrey Epstein, including a recording of Epstein describing himself as Trump’s “closest friend.”

Last December, multiple women came forward with similar accounts in a New York Times investigation, in which Keul further detailed the alleged assault.

Keul is one of at least 28 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, including writer E. Jean Carroll, whose sexual abuse claims a New York jury found credible. The Supreme Court rejected his push to throw out that jury’s finding on Monday. Trump, 80, has denied all allegations, calling them “unequivocally false” and insisting he has “never met” some of his accusers. He has not taken legal action.

(White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, then serving as press secretary for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, also said in October 2024 that Keul’s claims were “fake allegations.”)

Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Brokers have been caught selling the location data of people visiting abortion clinics, risking the safety and security of women seeking basic health care

Updated bill would protect Americans’ privacy and ban brokers from selling Americans’ health and location data

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) announced that they will reintroduce the Health and Location Data Protection Act, legislation banning data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive personal information.

“It’s more important than ever that we crack down on data brokers that are raking in giant profits from selling Americans’ most sensitive information,” said Senator Warren. “Especially as more people enter their private health data into AI systems, we need to make sure that information isn’t exploited by the highest bidder.”

Data gathered by brokers has been used to circumvent the Fourth Amendment, out LGBTQ+ Americans, and stalk and harass individuals. Data brokers’ unfettered access to people’s health and location data has become increasingly dire as states continue to ban abortion care and law enforcement agencies may attempt to use this data to criminalize abortion seekers and providers.

The $300 billion data broker industry is largely unregulated by federal law. Data brokers gather personal data, such as location data from weather or prayer apps, often without consumers’ consent or knowledge. Brokers sell this data in bulk to virtually any willing buyer, reaping massive profits. These predatory and invasive practices pose real dangers to Americans’ privacy and safety.

The Health and Location Data Protection Act would:

Ban data brokers from collecting, selling, or transferring location data and health data, including data entered into AI systems.
Empower the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, and injured persons to sue to enforce the provisions of the law, allowing for remedies such as damages and injunctions to stop any illegal practices.
Provide $1 billion to the Federal Trade Commission over the next decade to carry out its work, including the enforcement of this law.

This bill is cosponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Representatives Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).

The bill is endorsed by the National Partnership for Women & Families, All* Above All, the Guttmacher Institute, the National Network of Abortion Funds, and the National Council of Jewish Women.

Senator Warren has fought to protect the sensitive data of American consumers from Big Tech companies and data brokers:

In May 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and U.S. Representative Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.) in releasing information confirming for the first time that hostile foreign adversaries are using commercial location data to target American servicemembers in active war zones.
In October 2024, Senators Warren, Ron Wyden, and Richard Blumenthal, along with Representative Katie Porter, wrote to the Department of Justice (DOJ) urging the investigation and prosecution of major tax preparation companies for illegally sharing protected and sensitive taxpayer information with Big Tech firms.
In May 2024, Senators Warren, Ron Wyden, and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with Representative Katie Porter, sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, among others, calling on them to investigate use and disclosures of legally protected and sensitive taxpayer information by tax prep companies.
In April 2024, Senators Warren, Bill Cassidy, and Richard Blumenthal wrote to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) urging an assessment of the cybersecurity landscape leading up to, and after, the Change Healthcare cyberattack.
In April 2024, at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Senator Warren pushed back on Big Tech’s misleading claims that “free data flows” provisions in trade agreements will help combat China’s digital authoritarianism, when the opposite in fact is true.
In January 2024, at a hearing of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Senator Elizabeth Warren questioned Emily Kilcrease, Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, on the national security risks posed by digital trade rules that allow tech companies to collect, sell, and store Americans’ data wherever is cheapest, including China.
In November 2023, Senators Warren, Ed Markey, John Kennedy, and Jeff Merkley joined their colleagues in introducing the bipartisan Traveler Privacy Protection Act, which would ban the use of facial recognition technology and the collection of facial biometric data by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in U.S. airports.
In November 2023, Senators Warren and Bill Cassidy, M.D. released statements after Duke University published a report highlighting the detail, ease, and volume at which data brokers are selling the personal data of U.S. service members to web addresses located both in the United States and abroad.
In September 2023, Senators Warren and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, expressing concerns about the implementation of the contract the Department of Defense (DoD) awarded to Leidos Partnership for Defense Health (Leidos) for the Military Health System (MHS) Genesis electronic health record system after reports that the use of MHS Genesis may be contributing to delays in military recruiting, creating barriers to accessing benefits information, and invading the privacy of service members and military recruits.
In July 2023, Senators Warren and Lindsey Graham unveiled comprehensive legislation that would rein in Big Tech by establishing a new commission to regulate online platforms. The commission would have concurrent jurisdiction with FTC and DOJ, and would be responsible for overseeing and enforcing the new statutory provisions in the bill and implementing rules to promote competition, protect privacy, protect consumers, and strengthen our national security.
In July 2023, Senator Warren opened an investigation into a disturbing report on Google’s confidential effort to secure exclusive access to millions of tissue samples held at the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint Pathology Center (JPC).
In March 2023, Senators Warren, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) introduced the Upholding Protections for Health and Online Location Data (UPHOLD) Privacy Act, legislation that would expand protections for Americans’ personal health data by preventing companies from profiting off of personally identifiable health data for advertising purposes, allow consumers greater access to and ownership over their personal health information, restrict companies’ ability to collect or use information about personal health without user consent, and ban data brokers from selling location data.
In March 2023, Senators Warren, Cassidy, and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) reintroduced the Protecting Military Service Members’ Data Act of 2023, a bipartisan bill that would protect the data of U.S. service members by preventing data brokers from selling lists of military personnel to adversarial nations, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. They first introduced the bill in May 2022.
In June 2022, Senators Warren, Cory Booker, and Ron Wyden sent letters to two leading mental health apps, expressing deep concerns about the companies’ use of patients’ personal health data.
In June 2022, Senators Warren, Wyden, Patty Murray, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Bernie Sanders introduced the Health and Location Data Protection Act, sweeping legislation that bans data brokers from selling some of the most sensitive data available about everyday Americans: their health and location data.
In May 2022, Senators Warren; Bill Cassidy, M.D.; and Marco Rubio introduced the Protecting Military Service Members’ Data Act of 2022 to protect the data of U.S. service members by preventing data brokers from selling lists of military personnel to adversarial nations, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
In May 2022, Senator Warren led thirteen of her Senate colleagues in letters to two data brokers demanding answers regarding their collection and sale of the cellphone-based location data of people who visit abortion clinics such as Planned Parenthood.
In December 2021, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth, Senator Warren called on Congress and regulators to pass stronger antitrust laws, ban mergers involving huge companies, and encourage robust enforcement to protect the economy, consumers, workers, and data.
In March 2020, Senators Warren; Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.); and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) sent a letter to Ascension, the second-largest health systems provider in the United States, regarding the company’s information-sharing partnership with Google—also known as Project Nightingale—that provides Google with the health records of tens of millions of Americans.
In November 2019, following alarming reports of Google’s efforts to obtain the health records of millions of Americans without their awareness or consent, Senators Warren, Blumenthal, and Cassidy sent a bipartisan letter to Google demanding answers to the serious questions and concerns raised by “Project Nightingale.”

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The following sites -- plus Rebecca's "chump the idiot loser and general hospital" and Mike's "Speaker of the Closet Johnson and Miss Sassy JD Vance both humiliate themselves" -- updated:

chump the idiot loser and general hospital

james ball ('the i paper') notes:

Donald Trump has, for the moment, almost total control over America’s political institutions. He lives in the White House, Republican-appointed justices fill six of the nine seats on the Supreme Court – three of them filled by Trump himself – and Republicans are in the majority in both the House and the Senate.

Despite this, the US President has managed to pass very little legislation through Congress. His second term has been a flurry of activity, but almost all of that has been through Executive Orders – which could be overturned immediately if a Democrat won in 2028.

So, when Congress finally passed a popular housing bill, supported by the Trump White House, this month, it should have been a major accomplishment for the President, even if it had passed with broad support from Democrats, too.

This was a genuinely major bit of legislation, tackling a crisis that matters to millions of Americans.

But on the day Trump was due to sign the bill into law in an Oval Office ceremony, the President abruptly changed his mind. He wouldn’t let the bill become law unless Congress also passed a law introducing nationwide restrictions on voting, mandating voter ID and even trying to ban postal voting nationwide.

Trump appears to be in a belated panic about the impact of the fast-approaching November mid-term elections, which Republicans are widely expected to lose, not least because of the President’s plummeting approval ratings, which are at an all-time low. Trump is dragging other Republicans down with him. Almost every forecast has Republicans losing the House, and there is an outside chance Democrats take the Senate as well.

If Democrats take the House, they will control all its committees and can use them to launch investigations into the Trump administration – subpoenaing documents, calling witnesses, and much more. If they take the Senate, they can block almost any senior appointment Trump tries to make, including to the judiciary and Supreme Court.

For months, Republicans have tried to alert Trump to the importance of the mid-terms, in a bid to get him to care about an election in which his name doesn’t appear on the ballot. The President has seemed almost aggressively indifferent to what voters care about. He has pursued an unpopular war against Iran and claimed he “couldn’t care less” about rising costs of living linked to the conflict, even saying he “loves the inflation”. At times, he has been almost militantly unwilling to play the game.

chump's an idiot. we should all be glad he's an idiot. if he had even a tiny working brain, he would have been able to do serious damage via legislation and not had to rely on executive orders.

'general hospital'?

charlotte and danny spent the hour today trying to figure out what to do and how to protect themselves from the wsb.

'nathan' went to ross and told him the tip he got about sidwell from laura and jordan. ross tells him he needs to go to the house and see if sidwell is there and if so? he has to kill sidwell. ross tells him that he'll then get 50% of the profits from the project. nathan asks what happens if he doesn't and ross says then there's no reason for nathan to remain alive.

detective fitzgerald has been sent to the house by acting d.a. really? the acting d.a. is giving orders to the police?

he goes and finds fitzgerald there. they agree to stake out together after nathan's unable to get fitz to leave. then they see ezra pull in to the drive way. and go around to the back of his car, open the trunk and sidwell gets out.

they storm the house despite fitz wanting to call it in to get acting d.a. to send in a swat unit but when nathan says that there's a mole in the p.d., fitz agrees not to.

sidwell outs nathan as cassius fitz tells him that his name is nathan not cassius. he tells fitz that it's cassius and outs him as nathan's twin. he then tells nathan to shoot fitz.

ana tells felicia that nathan isn't nathan. when she escaped from the mental home in france, she went to one of faizon's safety houses. she wanted to see if faizon was alive. she didn't find him in the home but she did find a letter from madeline (lisel's sister - played by donna mills) telling him that she was providing him with cassius and that cassius could be his to raise as he wished while lisel would raise nathan and be told that cassius had dies in child birth.

felicia read over the letter.

she then called chase, who was back in port charles watching jack with molly. she got voice mail and left a message that nathan was not to be alone with jack. that she had concerns.

let's close with c.i.'s 'The Snapshot:'

Monday, June 29, 2026. Oil prices rise again, new negotiations take place between Iran and the US, Chump's buddy Epstein remains in the news cycle -- and the joke cycle, Chump's attempt to turn last week into a 250th celebration of himself did not work, and much more.

THE NEW YORK TIMES notes this morning:

The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, rose over 1 percent on Monday to between $73 and $74 a barrel for September delivery, the most actively traded contract. Prices remain near prewar levels, where they returned last week after a series of declines.

West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, rose 1.5 percent to around $70 a barrel.

What happened? Saturday, THE NEW YORK TIMES reported, "U.S. forces carried out more airstrikes on Iran, calling them a retaliation for an attack on an oil tanker. Iran’s military later said it had attacked American targets in Bahrain and Kuwait." That was today. The 'memo,' 'deal,' 'treaty' or 'chain letter' fell apart on Friday. Kevin Reed (WSWS) reported:

The US launched a new round of strikes on Iran on Friday in the most explicit indication yet that the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has collapsed into an escalating and open conflict. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz.

A report by Al Jazeera said the US strikes were near the Iranian port of Sirik. Al Jazeera also reported that Iran said it had “succeeded in neutralizing” the attack and pledged to retaliate in a statement shared by the ISNA news agency. The statement said, “We emphasize that this aggression will not go unanswered, and our response will be swift and decisive at a time and place of our choosing.”

An Iranian parliamentary security official, Ebrahim Azizi, accused Washington of attacking “in the middle of negotiations once again” and said the US president had shown no commitment to negotiation or ceasefire principles.

According to other reports, the US strikes were carried out in response to Iran’s launching of at least four one-way attack drones at a commercial vessel on Thursday, with one drone striking the ship’s upper deck and damaging it before the vessel continued its course.

Tabby Wilson (BBC) notes each side is blaming the other:

Following the exchange of fire, the US and Iran accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.

Centcom said in a statement, "Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone that hit MT Kiku," a Panama-flagged tanker.

In response, it said, Centcom hit military equipment, communication systems, air defense sites and drone storage facilities.

In the IRGC's statement, it said the US had attacked five coastal posts in Iran under what it called "the pretext of the IRGC Navy confronting the offending ship".

In retaliation, the IRGC said it had launched ballistic missiles and drones at "eight key pieces of infrastructure" at the Ali al-Salem base in Kuwait and the Fifth Naval Fleet in Port Salman, Bahrain, "destroying them".

ALJAZEERA noted, "Saturday’s renewed attacks are the latest indication that a Middle East ceasefire, established as part of a June 17 memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, might be at breaking point." Optimism. Aime Williams (FINANCIAL TIMES) noted the attacks " further imperilling the fragile ceasefire agreement struck between Washington and Tehran almost two weeks ago." While Benoit Faucon, Lara Selignman and Saleh al-Batati (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL) noted Saturday's attack was "the second wave of American attacks in as many days." Uwa Ede-Osifo (GUARDIAN) adds, "In a statement the IRGC vowed that any further aggression would be met with a 'crushing response' and warned that violating the ceasefire would result 'in the complete ⁠halt of all diplomatic processes'."

That was Saturday. Sunday? As Sunday drew to a close, continues. Aaron Boxerman, Euan Ward, John Ismay, Tyler Pager and Ephrat Livni (NEW YORK TIMES) reported:

The U.S. and Iran have agreed to halt attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and allow vessels to move through freely, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, as continued hostilities threatened a two-week-old cease-fire. Iran has yet to confirm an agreement.

The agreement would bring calm to the crucial waterway, where renewed skirmishing began last week after an attack on a cargo ship. U.S. officials blamed Iran for the resumption of hostilities, saying it had launched drone attacks on two vessels in the strait in recent days. Iran has not claimed responsibility for those strikes, but on Sunday reiterated its demand that vessels follow its designated routes in the strait.

Earlier in the day, the Iranian foreign minister declared that his country alone had the authority to manage commercial traffic through the strait.

Talks were slated to continue on the mechanics of putting into action a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran that produced the fragile cease-fire, according to the U.S. official. The official declined to provide any specifics on when or where those talks would occur.

Ben covers the latest for MEIDASTOUCH NEWS this morning.

"I actually heard Trump may come tonight but he couldn't make it. He got caught in sex traffic."

That was Whitney Cummings last night at The Kennedy Center's honoring of Bill Maher.

Donald Chump was best friends with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. He's highly defensive of that relationship now and lies about it all the time. Epstein came up on Sunday's MEET THE PRESS (NBC):

RYAN NOBLES:

Yeah. Let’s talk now about the Epstein files. That’s been an issue that has been very difficult for the Trump administration. President Trump’s decision to move on from the Epstein files, that launched a series of top secret meetings in the Situation Room. Maggie, what do those moments reveal about how Trump’s top advisors handled that crisis?

MAGGIE HABERMAN:

So you have to set this picture here, Ryan. This had been something that top officials in the Trump government–JD Vance, Kash Patel, the FBI director, Dan Bongino, the deputy FBI director—had spent years talking about how there was a secret cabal of pedophiles. And once they were in charge, they would open this up and make this visible. Trump, to be fair, had never actually really quite gone that far. He had talked about it more in 2015, but it kind of went away.

RYAN NOBLES:

He certainly didn’t reject it, though.

MAGGIE HABERMAN:

Yeah, I mean, as he often does, he sort of leaves it as an option. And there were a number of senior officials in Trump’s White House who didn’t understand what a driving force this was for the MAGA base, for Trump’s own base. Trump wanted nothing to do with any of this. He didn’t want anything out. He was snapping at people who would talk about it. And then he started attacking his own supporters and saying, “This is a hoax.” So we write about a series of meetings in the White House Situation Room, which is intended to deal with national security crises, with foreign wars, you know, with sensitive matters, but not usually matters about, you know, Epstein PR crisis comms. And there were several of these, but we zeroed in on a few. These start, the ones we write about, right after the White House has used all of its political capital on the One Big Beautiful Bill, which you know, was what they would’ve rather been talking about. Instead they find themselves–and it’s the top levels of government. JD Vance, White House chief of staff, attorney general, deputy attorney general, Kash Patel, you know, several lawyers. And that’s, like, half the crew who were in some of these, talking about how to get themselves out of this. And this goes on, and on, and on. And all it does is allow a greater clamor among Trump’s supporters, including this surreal meeting that we end up writing about, where they were planning on putting out some public-facing website with things old and new, and you know, they were discussing what universe it would be. And then somebody had looked up in that mock website they were setting up, Trump’s name. And up pops up this unverified, already public claim with an allegation that Trump, you know, was made second-hand, but it was about Trump. And that was sort of the end of that.

Ryan Nobles was filling in for Kristen Welker. and speaking with Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan about their new book REGIME CHANGE.: INSIDE THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY OF DONALD TRUMP. In other Epstein news, Robert Davis (RAW STORY) notes:

President Donald Trump has had a hard time distancing himself from the Jeffrey Epstein saga, and a new development in the case might prove to be more of a headache than he wants, according to two legal experts.

Earlier this month, convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein's assistant, Lesley Groff, testified before Congress about her relationship with the disgraced financier and his crimes. The transcripts of that interview were released late last week, and some of the details Groff shared with investigators raised red flags for attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian, who co-host the "Civil Action" podcast on the Legal AF Network.

For instance, Kabateck pointed out in a new episode on Sunday that Groff testified she began working for Epstein in 2001 and that Epstein and Trump were in contact for at least a decade. That seems to contradict Trump's previous claim that he cut off communications with Epstein in 2004 or 2005, well before Trump became president, Kabateck noted.

Another issue is that those dates extend beyond Epstein's 2008 felony conviction for soliciting a minor, which is another "problematic" aspect of the timeline, Kabateck said.

Friday, the House Oversight Committee heard remarks from Leon Black behind closed doors until Black decided to walk out mid-testimony. Jimmy Jenkins (BLOOMBERG NEWS) explains:

Billionaire investor Leon Black was issued two subpoenas by a congressional committee and walked out early from voluntary testimony regarding his relationship to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Members of the House panel investigating Epstein clashed with Black behind closed doors on Friday about non-disclosure agreements the Apollo Global Management Inc. co-founder allegedly concluded with women.

The House Oversight Committee issued one subpoena requiring Black to appear for a deposition on July 16, according to a statement from the panel. The second subpoena requires him to produce NDAs to the committee.

Black said in his opening statement to the committee that he never abused women and wasn't blackmailed by Epstein, his longtime friend and client. After questions about NDAs, Black left the meeting early, something the chairman of the panel said he had never seen before.

Anna Katrina Sevilla (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES) adds:

The billionaire financier's abrupt exit from The House of Representatives Oversight Committee session has shifted the focus from his long-running ties to Jeffrey Epstein to the secrecy deals investigators now believe could hold vital clues about the disgraced financier's network.

Black voluntarily testified on Epstein's relationships with wealthy and influential figures. His name is mentioned in files released by the US Department of Justice. However, when committee members began the inquiry about NDAs that may have been signed in connection with women Black had relationships with, he stormed out.

Committee leaders proceeded to approve subpoenas seeking copies of any relevant agreements after Black's departure and required him to return for an on-camera deposition under oath.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee issued the following statement:

Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement after Leon Black, billionaire and primary client of Jeffrey Epstein, stormed out of his transcribed interview with the Committee when asked about non-disclosure agreements.

“Leon Black had a chance to do the right thing and help us bring justice to the survivors. Instead, he ran out of the room when he was pressed for information about his non-disclosure agreements with women and his relationship with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. He has now been subpoenaed and must provide real answers to the Committee. He will be held accountable if he doesn’t comply with our investigation,” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.

Leon Black had a longstanding relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Black was Epstein’s primary client, even after Epstein was convicted in Florida of sex crimes. Black paid millions to women he engaged with sexually, some of whom were also connected to Epstein. Black forced women to sign strict non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to keep them quiet. He also paid $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Island to avoid Epstein-related claims against him. Black paid Epstein $170 million for “tax and estate work” and his name is mentioned hundreds of times in the Epstein files.

###

And as the story continues to play out in the public, Adam Lynch notes:

Salon reports the specter of Jeffrey Epstein appears to be looming over the Republican Party as the GOP struggles to maintain it’s delicate House and Senate majorities.

Republicans have seized on Epstein’s ties to Democratic figures like former President Bill Clinton, but it appears that Epstein lingers most heavily over the party with a president whose name peppers the Epstein files, and who worked so obviously to keep the files under wraps. Trump also labored to remove Republicans who favored exposing the Epstein files in Republican primaries.

This is giving Democrats an additional edge in a race that is already swinging heavily away from Republicans who have failed to reign in President Donald Trump’s various power grabs and his monetizing of the White House.

“The revelations from the files further fueled the widespread, bipartisan exasperation among voters with the wealthiest elites,” reports Salon. “The Epstein issue, two Democratic pollsters told The 19th, is rare for its high salience and far reach even among less politically engaged voters — and for the high levels of bipartisan agreement on the need for more action.”

Surveys from Navigator Research and progressive pollster Data for Progress buttress that argument, with both polls showing majorities of voters — including a majority of Republicans — believe “there hasn’t been enough accountability connected to Epstein’s crimes” and they want to see more arrests and prosecutions. The March Navigator poll, in particular, revealed the share of Americans who said they believed Trump administration officials should resign over the Epstein matter increased when they were informed about officials in other countries being arrested, fired or forced to resign over their Epstein connections.

In 1976, the US celebrated it's 250th anniversary and it id so with national events and national gatherings. Not partisan ones. Chump did not get 50% of the votes. He got 49%. And many Americans didn't vote. His speeches at these supposed events to celebrate the 250th anniversary are nothing but boasts from him about himself and attacks on Americans who aren't MAGA. It's disgusting and it's perverted. That's why people aren't turning out. Even some Republicans grasp that this not how a nation celebrates its birth.

He's not speaking of our 250 years, he's not speaking of anything but himself. He gets in front of people and lies that two years ago we were buried and that he's made us "hot" again and blah blah blah. He is not an hour in our country's 250th anniversary. His importance does not even register as one hour. But he continues to inflate himself and to try to make everything about him. To do that, he has to insult others because no one's praising him. Outside of the Cabinet meetings, he's not getting praised. Only around the suck ups does he get praised.

He's a failure. He's a Convicted Felon. He's someone who tried to overthrow the republic on January 6, 2021. And he can't recognize those who came before except to insult them because he is such a narcissist. No salutes to any who came before -- not Lincoln, not Benjamin Franklin, not Martin Luther King Jr., not Ida B. Wells -- no one.

Now he's old, he's 80, but he's not 250 years old. So, no, celebrating himself is not celebrating 250 years of our country's existence.

And that's why America rejected his July 4th events all last week. Stephanie Kalo (THE WRAP) notes:

Donald Trump's Great American State Fair kicked off Friday on the National Mann in Washington, D.C. to bad weather, power outages, poor attendance, and, apparently, a Confederate flag problem. This prompted plenty of responses from both attendees and people watching from afar via social media. As one person put it, "This is pathetic."

The New York Times reported Saturday the fair is missing key traditional elements often present at similar events (like butter sculptures, naturally), but there are displays promoting Turning Point USA and a portrait of Donald Trump.

Footage from Saturday showed scarce attendance on the lawn.

Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who served in Illinois from 2011 to 2023, wrote on X, "Wow. Turns out people aren't very maga after all."

THE IRISH STAR notes:

Vanilla Ice's performance at Freedom 250's Great American State Fair was scrapped at the last minute on Friday, June 26, as storms swept through Washington, D. C. Heavy rain fell near the stage area before the 58-year-old was scheduled to perform, with very few people turning out for the show. It comes after critics came up with a wild reason for the show to be canceled.

Before the show was canceled, Vanilla Ice faced criticism from fans for participating in the Trump-backed event. A number of artists had pulled out of the event, including Martina McBride, Morris Day and the Time, and Young MC. It comes as Trump was accused of a "very unhealthy" relationship with his blonde 34-year-old aide.

A concession stand at the Great American State Fair listed beers for $12 and bottled water for $5, with additional taxes and processing fees, adding to complaints about high prices at the event. It comes after a chilling discovery was made at the bottom of the Washington DC Reflecting Pool that exposes Trump.

Tom Boggion (RAW STORY) observes, "The cancellation represents yet another failure for what has become a disaster for the administration. Three days into the 16-day celebration, Trump's fair has been wracked by artist boycotts, electrical failures, broken equipment, sparse attendance, and now a weather-canceled performance by a 1990s rap act that was supposed to salvage the event." Edith Olmsted (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes the high prices:

President Donald Trump has made it clear he doesn’t care about high prices—even at his own Great American State Fair.

Attendees at the first day of the president’s festival were disappointed to discover that what few food options were actually open were far from cheap.

USA Today reported that the only food stall open on Thursday sold turkey legs for $23—almost twice the price of the same offering from a Disney theme park. The stall also offered smashburgers and giant western sausage sandwiches for $20, and lemonade for a whopping $9.

Kate Corliss (WASHINGTONIAN) notes:

The crowd beyond the gates is meager. Upon entry, the Ferris wheel smacks you in the face—it’s not very big, but the slow-moving line boasts the highest concentration of people anywhere on the Mall. One couple toward the back tells me they’ve been waiting for 20 minutes already and they haven’t even seen the ride run yet. (City Cast reported around 6 PM Thursday night that the wheel had broken down due to generator issues and was expected to be out of commission for an hour or two. We reached out to Freedom 250 for specifics and are waiting to hear back.) A few days ago, I might have been reluctant to hop on, given how the administration’s last construction project resulted in a potentially toxic algae bloom in the Reflecting Pool. But recent reporting confirmed the wheel was inspected both by DC safety officials and a third-party company, so I am tempted to join the queue. No single passengers are allowed, so I consider asking to join another group. A beaming woman swimming in American flag apparel saunters past, and she seems like she’d be a good time. I ask if she’s ridden yet. “No,” she says firmly, gesturing at the enclosed gondolas. “It looks like a hot box.” If she’s out, so am I.

[. . .]

An hour into my excursion, I have already been the subject of two exorcism attempts and my constitution is starting to falter. There can’t possibly be a better time for my lemonade. I step into the food hall, where I see a single vendor: Express Hibachi, which is an unusual name for a purveyor of personal pizzas and chicken Caesar salads. I skip the dining and head straight for the beverage stand. At this moment, I realize it’s all over: The only available lemonade is Minute Maid, sold by the plastic bottle. Feeling bamboozled and stupid for believing that I might find something beautiful at this garish perversion of an American tradition, I consider purchasing three $14 Cutwaters and passing out in the middle of the grass. But I already appear to be emanating a demonic energy to my fellow fairgoers, so I settle on a $5 water. In the meantime, another performer has taken the stage, a 14-year-old singer named Reagan Oliver who has traveled here from Arkansas and croons a sweetly timid rendition of “Delta Dawn.” Most of the attendees ignore her, and only a few clap when she’s done.

And Jennifer Bowers Bahney (MEDIAITE) notes:

A display at Washington, D.C.’s Great American State Fair has been taken down after an “unapproved image” drew criticism from some fairgoers.

CNN’s Gabe Cohen said the dustup occurred over an image of the Confederate flag at the booth representing North Carolina.

“People who were here attending the state fair were surprised yesterday when they walked into that booth, into the North Carolina pavilion, and found that there were images of a Confederate flag projected on multiple screens,” Cohen said, continuing:

I will tell you, North Carolina is one of the states that did not send official representatives. Their booth is actually being run by several companies from North Carolina. And I spoke to a spokesperson for the pavilion who told me that they became aware of an unapproved image in a video that was displayed inside the pavilion on Friday. And they said, quote, “As soon as we were made aware, we immediately removed the video and began reviewing how it occurred.” So we still don’t know how that image ended up there, but it certainly speaks to some of the concerns that people have over this event.

And again, we we still don’t know how that picture ended up in the North Carolina pavilion, but we were in there a little earlier…and it clearly has been taken down at this point, but even the governor’s office in North Carolina immediately put out a statement and said, “This is not the North Carolina that we love and we represent.” They had called Freedom 250, the organization that put this together, demanded that be taken off the screens. It seems, though, that the companies inside were already notified and they were working to get it taken down.

The Confederate flag was first reported by Spectrum News’s Reuben Jones, who wrote Friday, “I stopped by the North Carolina booth at the ‘Great American State Fair’ on the National Mall today. The state decided not to participate because of the high costs so the booth is sponsored by private orgs.”

Let's wind down with this from Senator Ron Wyden's office:

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said today he has joined Senate colleagues in demanding answers from the Trump administration about its rushed rehabilitation project of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The lawmakers note that the issues facing the reflecting pool are not simply maintenance concerns, but failures by the Department of the Interior in project execution and government oversight.

"The American people deserve to know why the rehabilitation project has failed and the corrective actions the Department is taking to address this ongoing issue," the senators wrote to Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

Following the award of a no-bid contract and a drastic increase in project costs — from an initial cost estimate of $1.8 million to reportedly $14 million — the administration assured the public that the rehabilitation project would restore one of the nation's most visible landmarks. Instead, days after the reflecting pool was refilled, large algae blooms turned the water green, and sections of the newly applied blue coating separated from the bottom and surfaced to the top of the pool, despite the project having been completed only days earlier.

"Perhaps, most troubling, is that the reflecting pool now will have to be drained again for additional repairs only weeks after its completion," the senators continued. "If a project this costly and of this magnitude cannot remain functional for an entire month after its completion, serious questions must be raised regarding the planning, execution, inspection process, and the Department's acceptance of the completed work."

"Taxpayers deserve a full explanation of how these failures occurred and who will be held accountable for correcting them," the senators added.

The lawmakers concluded the letter by requesting answers by July 9 to the following:

Why did costs rise from $1.8 million to more than $14 million?
What funds were used for the project?
Who will pay for future repairs?
What was the Department's justification for awarding a no-bid contract?
Will the contractor be held accountable for the defects and failures?
What investigations have been conducted into the coating failures and algae bloom?

The letter was led by U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.. In addition to Wyden, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Angus King, I-Maine, Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.

The text of the letter is here.

The following sites updated: