Jonathan M. Winer
@jonathanmwiner.bsky.social
Former Senate counsel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, U.S. Special Envoy, now Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow, Middle East Institute. Write about law & politics, national & global security, Middle East, financial crime, cross-border issues.
The Roberts SCOTUS is even more partisan than it is ideological. And when it is most partisan the Republican majority doesn't even bother signing its opinions.
Supreme Court Sides With Republicans in TV Ad Fight
Republican groups had asked the court to clear the way for political parties to pay the same low-cost ad rates as candidates, a move that could undercut a Democratic advantage in the midterms.
nytimes.com
youtu.be/FRCKG0zGb54 This is an important new video in which a former senior White House official lays out the plotting that is casting a shadow on our collective national future. Watch & be forewarned. Their success is not inevitable. But we and the country will need to get through this together.
Power at Any Cost: How Trump Might Sabotage the Midterms and How You Can Fight Back
YouTube video by Freedom Watch Media
youtu.be
This was a profoundly unethical & dangerous "experiment." Those behind it want to stay anonymous. Investigate domain registration & all online records and expose whomever did this. Fake Polls in Wisconsin and California Were Part of a ‘Social Experiment’ www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/p...
Polling Firm Released Fake Data in Hong and Bass Races as a ‘Social Experiment’
Median Strategies revealed that recent polls from the firm were intended to expose how easily false results can be spread.
nytimes.com
washingtonspectator.org/trumps-two-o... what is Trump doing with #Venezuela oil - and the mysteries of #Freedom Fuel
Trump’s Two Oil Mysteries: Freedom Fuel and Venezuelan Crude | Washington Spectator
Gasoline prices are rising again, adding to voter concerns about the cost of living. Yet in the Philadelphia region, a new company, Freedom Fuel, is suddenly selling gasoline substantially below its…
washingtonspectator.org
steadystate1.substack.com/p/when-intel...
When Intelligence Becomes an Election Weapon
How raw intelligence, stitched together and without normal analytical safeguards, was presented as the foundation for an unprecedented claim of presidential authority over American elections.
steadystate1.substack.com
First the East Wing, then the 2026 elections. washingtonspectator.org/the-wrecking...
The Wrecking Ball Comes For the Midterms | Washington Spectator
Last October, I wrote in The Washington Spectator that the Trump administration was constructing an integrated system to constrain voting and criminalize political opposition. Claims of election fraud...
washingtonspectator.org
This piece from Nov 2024 got it exactly right. Predicted both what Trump would do and who can counter him and how. Essential re-reading ahead of this fall.
@DemocracyHere@democracyhere.bsky.social · 3mo agoErasing the death of soldiers because Trump wants a smaller number. Absolutely Orwellian. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/u...
Number of U.S. Troop Deaths in Iran War Appears Lower on Pentagon Website
Three military officials and a Pentagon spokesman gave conflicting explanations for why the number of Americans killed in the Iran war had changed.
nytimes.com
The U.S. tax agency’s top attorney was forced from his role in recent days after refusing White House demands to participate in tax audits, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Top US tax lawyer forced out after White House clash over tax audits
The U.S. tax agency’s top attorney was forced from his role in recent days after refusing White House demands to participate in tax audits, according to three people familiar with the matter.
reut.rs
The #NYT appears to have simply accepted what its sources told them without getting any factual evidence on the actual mechanics of who is getting what from Venezuelan oil revenues. For starters, how's the $$ being held? How Marco Rubio Is Running Venezuela From Afar www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/u...
How Marco Rubio Is Running Venezuela From Afar
The secretary of state effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government. His grip on the country is a vivid manifestation of American power in th...
nytimes.com
Important piece from Norm Ornstein offering real solutions to the radical constitutional revisionism of the Roberts court. open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
Reining in a Rogue Supreme Court
It is up to Congress to use its legitimate Article I powers to do so.
open.substack.com
There isn't just one Trump #slushfund. There are at least five of them. washingtonspectator.org/government-b...
Government by Slush Fund | Washington Spectator
Trump’s new $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund is a slush fund. But it is not his only one.
washingtonspectator.org
www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/how-war... A colossal strategic mistake - not just in the short term. Not just the medium term. But for the long term.
How the War Saved the Iranian Regime
The unintended consequences of the U.S.-Israeli assault.
foreignaffairs.com
#Libya has a lot of oil and currently a lot of IOC interest. But it still needs to take steps to sustain more than exploratory investments, whatever agreements may be announced now. mei.edu/publication/...
Making Libya investable again - Middle East Institute
mei.edu
washingtonspectator.org/why-are-we-i...
Why Are We in Venezuela? | Washington Spectator
On December 15, 2025, Donald Trump issued the latest in a series of unprecedented executive orders, designating the narcotic drug fentanyl—used daily as an anesthetic in hospitals throughout the…
washingtonspectator.org
“A thug and a sick man.” Breaking from House Republicans who subpoenaed Jack Smith for a private interview about Trump prosecutions, Trump said Smith should appear in public hearing. “I’d rather see him testify publicly,” Trump said of Smith, after attacking him as a “thug” & “a sick man.”