You know who else was weak on crime? JESUS. Famously advised people who have been assaulted to “turn the other cheek.” Big-time loser.

Vance has never “opposed” the war an Iran! He has publicly supported it from the beginning and every step along the way. The idea that he privately opposed it and that should be considered his official position is absolute garbage.

So the Trump administration’s two goals in peace talks with Iran are: 1. A commitment by Iran not to develop a nuke (This was part of the Obama deal that Trump canceled) 2. Opening the Strait of Hormuz. (Was open before war.)

Did Kushner communicate with MBS, his biggest client, while the negotiations with Iran were ongoing?

REMINDER: Saudi Arabia does not want the war in Iran to end before there is regime change. The Saudis are paying a top U.S. negotiator, Jared Kushner, tens of millions annually. The negotiations just ended without a deal, exactly what the Saudis wanted.

There is absolutely no justification for calling Vance anti-interventionalist. He supports the war in Iran. (And he supported all of Trump’s other foreign interventions.) As the chief negotiator, he has decided the best course is for the war in Iran to continue.

Seems like they all know they are commiting crimes?

One of the most brazenly corrupt events in history will take place tomorrow when Jared Kushner represents the U.S. in critical negotiations with Iran to end the war while he accepts millions in fees (and billions in investments) from the Saudi gov’t which has been lobbying Trump to continue the war

I'm glad there is a ceasefire of some sort but it's clear that Trump secured NOTHING from the Iranians and agreed to a ceasefire because he really had no other options.

Whatever happens, this is a deeply shameful episode in American history that will leave a permanent stain on the country. Repeatedly vowing to commit war crimes against millions of innocent civilians is beyond the pale.

Trump is not worried about committing war crimes.

1. Trump is determined to exclude people from voting in the 2026 election based on one database: the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements or SAVE. Follow along for all the details. 🧵

The information we have about the Iran War is incomplete and unreliable and it’s still clearly a debacle. The full story is likely much worse.

For weeks, Hegseth has insisted that the U.S. has complete control of Iranian air space

"Energy costs...including gasoline, will drop by more than 50% within the first 12 months" — Trump, 8/19/24 "12 months from January 20th… your gasoline for your car is going to be 50% cheaper" — Trump, 10/10/24 "Mark it down, and you can get very angry at me if we don’t do it” — Trump, 9/21/24

Thought experiment: Have you ever heard of ANYONE using Truth Social besides Trump himself?

1. The AI industry has tapped Taylor Budowich, a key operative in the effort to undermine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, to lead a new group dedicated to boosting GOP candidates in the 2026 midterms. The group is reportedly planning to spend $100 million.

Every morning Trump says something to try to buoy the stock market but his pronouncements seem completely disconnected from reality.

1. A new lawsuit by the lawyers who successfully took on the tobacco industry sets its sights on online sports books. The case argues that DraftKings and FanDuel are fundamentally different than traditional sports books — the equivalent of digital heroin.

Look how aggressively we are sanitizing Kushner's conflicts. The NYT described Kushner as "having business interests" in the Middle East. KUSHNER IS BEING DIRECTLY PAID TENS OF MILLIONS ANNUALLY BY MIDDLE EASTERN GOVERNMENTS

1. Yesterday, the NYT dropped a bombshell: Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has been aggressively lobbying Trump not to end the fighting and pushing him to launch a ground operation. Why would Trump listen? Follow the money.

What’s remarkable about this piece is that it doesn’t even attempt to argue the Iran War is close to achieving some important goal. Instead he argues: 1. There have been times in history that gas was more expensive 2. Other wars (some of which he also supported) had gone even worse

Not mentioned in this piece: The Saudis and MBS are paying Trump's chief negotiator, Jared Kushner, tens of millions of dollars annually.

1. HealthEquity, the nation's largest administrator of health savings accounts, just donated $1 MILLION to Trump's Super PAC. Previsouly, the company had never donated more than 5K to any political committee WTF is going on? 🧵

“WITCH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK”

The “goal” of the Iran war is now reportedly to open the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the war began

Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, is absolutely tanking. The company burned through over $700 million dollars while bringing in just $3.7 million in revenue. It merged with a nuclear fusion firm, bought a bunch of bitcoin, floated a spin-off of Truth Social. None of it has worked.

"The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a more than $200 billion request to Congress to fund the war in Iran, according to a senior administration official" www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Democrats’ new campaign ad just dropped

1. A few months before it started a war in Iran, the Trump administration decommissioned the last of its four mine countermeasure ships. These ships were “capable of finding, classifying and destroying moored and bottom mines.” Now the Strait of Hormuz is closed.

Why is the U.S. still at war in Iran? What is the goal? Is anyone even trying to explain?

Please read this important work. I tried to get at the larger issue in an essay called "Oligarchical Corridor." snyder.substack.com/p/the-oligar...

Someone reading this message knowns about a big story. If you have a news tip, please contact me via Signal at juddlegum.47. I will maintain your anonymity.

1. Jared Kushner said that, to prevent conflicts and corruption, he would not raise any funds for his private equity fund during Trump's second term. HE LIED.

How is the war in Iran going? Trump used a photo of a dead soldiers casket in a fundraising appeal and now he's playing golf.

Maybe it's just me, but I think more people should be talking about the fact that Jared Kushner helped convince Trump to start a war with Iran. Meanwhile, Kushner's top client, Saudi Arabia, which pays Kushner $25 million+ annually, was also lobbying Trump to start a war.

1. CONSUMERS paid most of Trump's tariffs, which the Supreme Court ruled were illegal. But CORPORATIONS will receive the refunds. Will they pass that cash back to consumers? Or pocket the money? We asked them. 🧵 popular.info/p/consumers-...

News today: Wisconsin Justice Ziegler, a conservative up for reelection NEXT spring, just announced she won’t seek reelection. That means that if liberals win a seat next month, they’ll then have a golden opportunity to pick ANOTHER seat next spring and go up… 6-1!

WE STILL DON'T HAVE A CLEAR ANSWER ON THE MOST BASIC QUESTION ABOUT THE IRAN WAR WHY did the U.S. go to war? A Popular Information review of public statements over the last 9 days found 17 DIFFERENT EXPLAINATIONS. Many of which contradict each other. 🧵

"A woman who claims she was abused as a minor by both Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump has given the FBI vivid accounts that include aspects of her life corroborated by the The Post and Courier through public records."

Senator Husted can’t testify in person in corruption trial due to '"Iran War," but did come to Ohio for fundraiser

Maybe I’m too demanding but I’d really like a definitive answer on why the United States started a war in Iran and what we are trying to accomplish.

😐️

FLASHBACK: Bezos' revamped Editorial Board really nailed this one

"The secretary of Miami-Dade County’s GOP started a group chat primarily for conservative students last fall — and within 3 weeks it was filled with racist slurs, someone wrote dozens of ways of violently killing Black people & the chat was renamed after what one member described as 'Nazi heaven.'"

1. FACT: The Trump administration started a war in the Middle East with NO PLAN WHATSOEVER to ensure the safety of the hundreds of thousands of American citizens in the region.

1.Internal emails from Liberty University Law School, obtained by Popular Information, reveal how the Trump admin hires interns. Students were informed about "exciting" legal internships at Labor Department. “You MUST be aligned politically with President Trump… GPA is not a strong factor.”

1. The Iran War has already claimed the lives of 6 U.S. soldiers, hundreds of Iranians, and dozens of people in neighboring countries. For others, it's been a money-making opportunity.

1. According to multiple reports both Saudi Arabia and the UAE lobbied Trump to attack Iran. Both countries have increased their influence with Trump by investing billions in projects that personally enrich Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.