Francis Wilkinson
@franciswilkinson.bsky.social
Political Columnist, Bloomberg.
A gracious concession: “I want to congratulate Abdul El-Sayed on winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He is a doctor, a community health official, a Rhodes Scholar, and a dedicated Michigander. I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election…
"As part of the partnership, Patel has brought officials from China's Ministry of Public Security, or MPS, to multiple FBI facilities in the United States to share intelligence and investigative information."
EXCLUSIVE: Under Patel, FBI forges unprecedented law enforcement ties with China, Russia
FBI Director Kash Patel says he has forged new law enforcement partnerships with China and Russia, two longtime U.S. rivals, over the past year in hopes of gaining allies in combating transnational cr...
reuters.com
2024 was only a mid point in the Republican Party’s moral collapse.
🗽LOLGOP🗽@thefarce.org · 11h agoMike Johnson comes out in support of abusing the daughters and grandchildren of Republican Senators.
Yet another story framed around Trump’s supposed anger rather than his incompetence. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/u...
An Angry Trump Struggles to Understand Iran’s Defiant Leaders
Iran’s leaders have perplexed several American presidents, perhaps none more than President Trump.
nytimes.com
Is being born yesterday a qualification for becoming managing partner of a major law firm?
Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 3d agoTrump “came up with a completely false quote saying I acknowledged things I never said. “My god." — Brad Karp, then the chairman of the law firm 2/2
“Every [source] indicated that no matter your appointment time, it was best to line up outside the consulate at the crack of dawn. Everyone else in the hotel, which faces the consulate across a major avenue, had apparently gotten the same message.” gourmetmagazine.net/72-hours-ciu...
Street Eating in Juárez
And some big news about this magazine…
gourmetmagazine.net
Scoop: FBI Director Kash Patel wants to shrink his general counsel's office, as tensions escalate with bureau's chief legal adviser. OGC is pushing early retirement to reduce staff, but has contemplated terminations. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Patel Aims to Cut FBI Lawyers as General Counsel Tensions Rise
FBI Director Kash Patel is planning to shrink his legal advisory office, deepening divisions with his general counsel as outside lawsuits challenge prior staff terminations, said people familiar with ...
news.bloomberglaw.com
One more interesting point: this spring I sat down with Sharyn Alfonsi of 60 Minutes for an extensive interview about my Epstein investigation. Subsequently, CBS pulled the segment and fired the reporter. The MAGA buyout of media has unquestionably aided the Trump administration’s cover up here.
Senator Ron Wyden@wyden.senate.gov · yesterdayBombshell new report out from my investigators this morning spanning our four year investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s financial records. This report shows exactly how Wall Street protected Epstein and enabled his sex trafficking for decades. Mega thread following with some key points:
Capital One disclosed in a court filing that it shut down hundreds of Trump Organization accounts over money-laundering concerns. Capital One disclosed in a court filing that it shut down hundreds of Trump Organization accounts over money-laundering concerns. Capital One disclosed in a court….
The US military’s strikes on alleged drug boats have likely illegally killed “individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking,” Sen. Tim Kaine told the White House, following “a careful review” of classified information he has seen so far.
‘They are murder victims’: Senator suggests US strikes have killed people who weren’t involved in drug trafficking | CNN Politics
The US military’s strikes on alleged drug boats have likely illegally killed “individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking,” Sen. Tim Kaine told the White House on Monday, following “a careful...
cnn.com
Bank of America didn't promptly report millions of dollars in suspicious Epstein-related transactions connected to billionaire Leon Black, including "two unusual wires" & others that did “not have a verifiable business purpose” and “no apparent economic, business or lawful purpose”
NEW/EXCLUSIVE: Deutsche Bank failed to promptly report to US authorities more than $250M in suspicious transactions tied to Epstein, including funds used to pay women in Russia & other Eastern European countries, according to a new report from @wyden.senate.gov 🎁 🧵 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, BofA Enabled Epstein, Wyden Report Says
Democrat Ron Wyden cited nonpublic documents held by the US Treasury in a report that says banks delayed reporting suspicious financial transactions and calls for tougher anti-money-laundering rules, ...
bloomberg.com
Edwin Lopez-Cornejo died at Delaney Hall in Newark, six weeks into ICE custody. He is the 23rd person to die in ICE detention this year and the second at Delaney Hall since it reopened under Trump. austinkocher.substack.com/p/edwin-lope...
Edwin Lopez-Cornejo Is the 23rd Person to Die in ICE Custody in 2026
Edwin Lopez-Cornejo died at Delaney Hall in Newark, six weeks into ICE custody. He is the 23rd person to die in ICE detention this year and the second at Delaney Hall since it reopened under Trump.
austinkocher.substack.com
“Trump’s second presidency is so pervasively corrupt, abusive and destructive that it will be virtually impossible for anyone who supported him to move on and rehabilitate themselves. Outside of MAGA, who will ever be willing to trust Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos again?”
James Downie@jamescdownie.bsky.social · yesterday"Just as the billionaires have come to the obvious realization that there is no turning back on MAGAdom, Democrats must also realize that there is no turning back on opposition to the billionaire agenda." – @pkrugman.bsky.social
What this means is that Trump has stolen an estimated $100mm from US taxpayers by avoiding the pending audit of his filed returns. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Blanche Strikes Deal With GOP Holdouts to Advance His Nomination
Holdout Republican senators are backing a deal with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to formally rescind an order creating an “anti-weaponization fund” that could have paid $1.8 billion to Preside...
bloomberg.com
Friday: Capital One reveals they debanked Trump debanked bc he was laundering money. Sunday: Acting Attorney General solidifies promise Trump's tax crimes won't be punished.
Interesting conversation if you like data and elections. @ronbrownstein.bsky.social www.youtube.com/live/vIKJHQP...
Trump Is at 35%. Why Aren’t Republicans Panicking? (w/ Ron Brownstein) | Bulwark on Sunday
YouTube video by The Bulwark
youtube.com
Time to add another formerly respected institution to the garbage pile, this time @aau.edu, which just worked with the Trump admin to endorse resegregation in high education, embedding MAGA fraudsters as faculty, and banning student expression. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
this is actually the wife-beatingest reply possible. this is the platonic ideal of how a guy who beat his wife would respond to a question about beating his wife.
The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 3d agoRep. Max Miller: "These are incredibly serious criminal accusations. If these accusations were true, I would be in jail — I would be. My former wife would not have been offering to cook me dinner and inviting me to playgrounds. Think about that."
Once again, NYT has no problem highlighting Trump's inner state, yet otherwise claims it can't use the word "lie" because it can't know Trump's mind.
Larry Glickman@larryglickman.bsky.social · 3d agoAnother example of the problem with the fixation with Trump’s putative emotions: here a story about the Trump administration’s corruption, incompetence, and venality is framed as one about Trump’s “wrath.” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/u...
Words to live by: "I want to be an honest man and a good writer." James A. Baldwin, born on this day in 1924
We are deep into the phase in which this behavior is deemed acceptable. We will soon enter the phase in which Republicans consider this behavior desirable.
Hoodlum 🇺🇸@nothoodlum.bsky.social · 4d agoThe man endorsed by Sarah Huckabeast in this video is Arkansas state Rep. Austin McCollum. McCollum was arrested today on charges of aggravated assault against a family or household member, first-degree false imprisonment, and third-degree domestic battery. www.nwaonline.com/news/2026/au...
We need new institutions to supplant the rot throughout American society. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/u...
How a Top Law Firm Went From Standing Up to Trump to Bending the Knee
Paul Weiss was a progressive stalwart for decades and led the legal resistance against President Trump in his first term. Then it surrendered without a fight. This is the inside story of its transform...
nytimes.com
Trump’s personal intervention in Coast Guard ships provides new insights into how his administration has cut corners and flouted rules in pursuit of projects that suit the president’s desires, regardless of whether they fit any broader strategic rationale. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/c...
Trump’s Fixation on Arctic Ships Led to Billions in No-Bid Contracts
The president decided to buy 11 polar icebreakers after a game of golf with Finland’s president. Experts say it’s far from clear the United States needs so many.
nytimes.com
What a great quote from a Wall Street analyst: "We’re replacing the free market with the market for Trump’s affections.”
I can't stress enough what a crisis this is. Trump's own intelligence agencies concluded that Iran attacked Minnesota's critical infrastructure and Trump is saying that it's Minnesota's own fault and denying it was Iran. The federal government won't defend blue states in a literal war.
U.S. Sees Iran as Likely Behind Cyberattack on Minnesota Water Systems (Gift Article)
Investigators cautioned that the assessment was preliminary. There were no indications that any water supply had been rendered unsafe to drink.
nytimes.com
DOJ just kicking the door wide open to people putting their hands in reflecting pools. This isn’t the America I grew up in.
“Other vandals”
emptywheel@emptywheel.bsky.social · 5d agoJuicebox Jeanine files a 20-page Motion to Dismiss the case against Davey Hearn that ... claims to have been helpless before DOI told them how Trump's incompetence ruined the pool. Not sure when I've seen this Olympic class ass-covering before. legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...
