Matthew Gertz
@mattgertz.bsky.social
Senior Fellow at @mmfa. Views expressed here my own. Husband of @alyssarosenberg. Dad. Not the former GOP congressman. Find me here: http://bio.site/mattgertz
Jeanine Pirro, now feuding with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum over his role in failed prosecutions for the alleged vandalism of the Reflecting Pool, previously touted Burgum as a “straight shooter” and endorsed him to become Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate. www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fla...
Flashback: Jeanine Pirro endorsed “straight shooter” Doug Burgum to be Trump’s VP
mediamatters.org
Klobuchar is going to put up Saddam numbers in November.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 16m agoEvery single Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota (including Mike Lindell!) makes clear that if Trump tried another Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, they would support his efforts to brutalize residents
Just to make the point abundantly clear, Chris Wallace is now a paid advisor to an investment firm that has a large stake in Paramount and a vested interest in getting the Warner Bros. merger over the line. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
Chris Wallace: States Are Playing Politics With the Law to Block Paramount’s Warner Bros. Deal
"I don’t believe government should use its powers to determine who owns a news platform or to control how that outlet reports the news," writes the former Fox and CNN anchor, who is now a paid advisor...
hollywoodreporter.com
as noted yesterday, Trump has now come around to treating an Iranian toll system covering the Strait of Hormuz as a given. Hard to overstate the level of strategic failure. US started the war purely as a war of choice and ends up dramatically empowering Iran and given the Iranian govt big wins.
Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 1h agoReuters: Iran wants fees of 5%-7% of the price of cargo from ships using the strait; Oman wants 3%. "Making fees voluntary, at least nominally, could be a way out of the impasse, although an implied threat of Iranian attacks could mean shippers would be unlikely to risk transit without paying."
My ice-cold boring take that will definitely not go viral is that a primary result with a margin of victory of roughly 1 percent tells you precisely nothing about The Future Of The Party.
What could explain Miller yesterday going on Newsmax and CNN -- but not Fox News, which also has basically ignored the story altogether? This seems like a job for Sean Hannity, and yet...
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3h agoNEWSMAX: Your daughter fractured her collarbone and there was a handprint on her upper chest, and it left a bruise. How did that happen? MAX MILLER: What I can tell you is I didn't do that. 9 of the 11 previous days was my ex-wife's care. What's so troubling about child protective services is ...
Yeah I mean I think you'd have to consider Burgum one of Trump's most "normal" appointees and Pirro one of the least, and yet...
Guy Gavriel Kay@guygavrielkay.bsky.social · 4h agoAnd Doug Burgum makes a determined push to rise up the crowed ranks of the corrupt henchflunkies.
It's very very strange to be in a situation where Jeanine Pirro is the sane and responsible one!
Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 4h agoIt's funny that Jeanine Pirro brought a box of evidence to WH to persuade Trump. He wants her to consciously *throw out* exculpatory facts and *knowingly* prosecute innocent people. So facts can't persuade him by definition. Me and @barbmcquade.bsky.social on this: newrepublic.com/article/2139...
This is wise, and hopefully his supporters and the supporters of his opponent will all model his behavior, rally together, and try to win the seat.
Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 11h agoEl-Sayed: There is so much more that unites us, however much we might disagree with our democratic opponent, there is so much more that unites us than divides us. And so to all of our supporters here tonight watching on TV—tomorrow, we begin to mend fences.
"More needs to be made of this," a senior CBS News staffer tells me about the 60 Minutes story that Sharyn Alfonsi was working on about Epstein and banks that appears to have been scuttled after her firing. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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:
A definitive tick-tock feature, with four WaPo bylines, about what @rephuffman.bsky.social calls “pretty close to a textbook definition of kakistocracy.” Everyone at the White House offers no-comments. We're days away from Trump complaining that the press is still talking about the Reflecting Pool.
Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · 2d agoTrump vowed his Reflecting Pool changes would last 50 years. They lasted a few days. Our deep dive into a saga that has embarrassed the administration, ensnared passerby and threatened Jeanine Pirro's job. More with @jakespring.bsky.social @megkelly.bsky.social and more.
In theory, the network that previously employed Pirro should be uniquely positioned to own this story and yet it's CNN breaking the news.
Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d ago“.. The president is ‘furious’ with Pirro, one of the sources said, telling CNN that he fumed about her all weekend.” @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/p...
You'd have to be total morons to buy this, so...
Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · yesterdayTrump has made big threats and given Iran a one-last-chance at least 8 times now, backing off without getting anything every time. "A whole civilization will die tonight" was April 7! He has claimed Iran is making concessions, desperate for a deal, and a deal is imminent too many times to count.
No one in MAGA media had carried more water for the baseless claims about the Reflecting Pool than Jesse Watters. The his old Fox News colleague Jeanine Pirro scuttled the case. www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/ref...
Reflecting Fool: How Jesse Watters helped push Trump's bogus vandalism story
mediamatters.org
It's insane that the president expects to be personally consulted about a single charge of felony vandalism!
Helen Kennedy@helenkennedy.com · 2d agolol "The president is “furious” with Pirro, one of the sources said, telling CNN that he fumed about her all weekend... "The president did not know beforehand that she was going to do that.” www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/p...
Congrats again to the White House Correspondents Association!
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d agoTrump says Jeanine Pirro "choked" and then snaps at a reporter who asks if her job is safe: "Don't ever talk again"
This doesn't seem like a person with the sort of respect for the law that you'd want appointing the attorney general. edition.cnn.com/2026/08/03/p...
Furious Trump is considering removing Pirro over Reflecting Pool filing, sources say | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump is considering removing Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, over a Justice Department filing on the Reflecting Pool, two people familiar with his thinki...
edition.cnn.com
There's a chunk of right-wing media desperate for a "quieter" immigration strategy (see the disappearance of "mass deportation" language on Fox www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox...) but also a bunch of extremely loud voices demanding deranged maximalist policies.
Fox stars dropped “mass deportation” language months ago
President Donald Trump’s Fox News propagandists walked away from describing his immigration policy as “mass deportations” weeks or months before a top White House aide reportedly urged House Republica...
mediamatters.org
Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 2d agoWhat triggered MAGA was Markwayne Mullin saying we should fix agricultural visas. The real transgression was Mullin admitting immigrants can help the economy, and that reform can *actually achieve this.* MAGA wants migration to be seen as fundamentally unmanagable. newrepublic.com/article/2138...
The laughable propaganda about Trump's popularity is instrumental to his plot to subvert elections. www.mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-...
This makes a ton of sense if you assume everyone involved has no interest in making a compelling product that would draw subscribers.
Natalie Korach@nataliekorach.bsky.social · 3d agoNew: Adam O'Neal's abrupt departure from the Washington Post's Opinion section blindsided even some senior leaders In recent weeks, he'd been privately touting the progress of his overhaul, giving little indication he was preparing to exit www.status.news/p/adam-oneal...
Really been amazing throughout the process how “should the attorney general be a former personal attorney to the president who has overseen a bunch of failed political prosecutions” just does not matter at all to the entire GOP caucus.
Matthew Gertz@mattgertz.bsky.social · 2d agoYou’d have to be a fool and/or desperate to get to yes to accept this, so it’ll probably be enough to get him confirmed. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...
You’d have to be a fool and/or desperate to get to yes to accept this, so it’ll probably be enough to get him confirmed. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...
Blanche Gives G.O.P. Senators Written Assurances on Trump’s I.R.S. Deal
Todd Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general has been held up over concerns about a planned $1.8 billion fund for Trump allies and the president’s immunity from tax scrutiny.
nytimes.com
It takes years to build an institution, a very short time to break it, and years more to rebuild it.
Natalie Korach@nataliekorach.bsky.social · 5d agoNew: Washington Post Opinion editor Adam O’Neal is leaving, he announced in an internal memo Friday
Is the First Amendment under an unusual amount of pressure and the free press’ endurance at risk? Why is that?
Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 2w agoThis quote sounds like it came out of a time machine from George HW Bush’s presidency nymag.com/intelligence...
The subpoenas to The New York Times are withdrawn in real time, in open court, during a very embarrassing hearing for the Trump administration. Incredible work.
Inner City Press@innercitypress.bsky.social · 2w agoJudge: Mr. O'Neil take it away. David O'Neil of Debevoise: I have a lot to say but I'll be brief. It is important that the public know that the Government is unilaterally withdrawing these subpoenas. After this bad faith, I do not expect new subpoenas
