The Swamp, Undrained: ▶️ Ballard Partners has lobbied for 10 clients this year with the Justice Dept, which is headed by a former Ballard lobbyist, AG Pam Bondi. ▶️ BGR Group has lobbied for 19 clients with the Transportation Dept, which is headed by a former BGR lobbyist, Secretary Sean Duffy.

FWIW: Cava’s harissa & tzatziki are 🤤

The $50k in cash paid by undercover FBI agents to Tom Homan was inside a bag from the fast casual restaurant chain Cava, the @nytimes.com reports. The sting grew out of a long-running counterintelligence investigation that had not been targeting Homan.

Exactly one year ago today, Tom Homan was secretly recorded on camera accepting $50k in cash from undercover FBI agents posing as contractors, after Homan indicated he would help them win contracts for them once he was in office. The investigation stalled under Trump, per this stunning MSNBC report

Ted Cruz rebukes FCC chair Brendan Carr over his ABC/Kimmel threat: “That’s right out of ‘Goodfellas.’” “If the government gets in the business of saying … ‘we’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like,’ that will end up bad for conservatives.”

NEW: The SEC quietly dismissed complaints against 3 people who were granted clemency by Trump for frauds that collectively bilked victims out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Now, Devon Archer, Trevor Milton & Carlos Watson won't have to pay any money that could be used to make victims whole.

Kathleen Hackett co-wrote 2 books on Maine houses that extol her “reverence for the land.” *Her family repeatedly asked an elderly neighbor to chop down trees blocking their view of Penobscot Bay, but the neighbor refused. **Now, Hackett's husband is accused of killing the trees by poisoning.

Since SCOTUS's Citizens United decision in 2010, critics have mostly pushed incremental reforms to try to stanch the flow of big $ into politics unleashed by the decision. But @thmoore.bsky.social argues states can effectively neutralize the decision's impact by reworking their corporations laws.

Checking in on the Bidens: Joe Biden is struggling to find $ for his library, & audiences for his $300k-$500k speeches. Likewise, Hunter Biden in March told a judge presiding over a divorce matter: “I was expecting to obtain paid speaking engagements & paid appearances, but that has not happened.”

X can keep its lawsuit against Media Matters in federal court in Texas, a judge ruled on Tuesday, rejecting arguments that the venue was improper & the case should be moved to friendly terrain for @mmfa.bsky.social in California.

NEW: Some on the right worry that targeting hate speech could backfire against them next time Democrats are in power by opening “a Pandora’s box that we could all come to regret.”

In May, the Trump family's crypto start-up @worldlibertyfi.bsky.social announced a UAE investment of $2B. 2 weeks later, the WH agreed to allow the UAE access to coveted AI chips. The 2 deals are more connected than previously known, even spurring conflict of interest concerns inside the Trump WH.

Rachael Ray campaigned against a California bill to phase out the use “forever chemicals” in products including nonstick cookware. * She also sells her own nonstick cookware, including a 12-piece Cucina set priced at $179.99, @hirokotabuchi.bsky.social reports.

In the Jersey Shore town of Beach Haven Gardens, divisions are on full display: the renters vs the locals; the Trump flags vs the No Kings flags. But the rifts recede for 59 seconds each sunset when John Hersh plays taps on the trumpet from his roof deck.

Former Biden WH spokesman Andrew Bates reportedly told the House Oversight Committee that Joe Biden could have won re-election, that voters concerns’ about his age were unfounded, & that alarm over his debate performance was “overblown,” reports the New York Post.

In 2019, on Trump’s orders, a Navy SEAL Team arrived on a rocky North Korean beach with a mission of planting a device to monitor Kim Jong-un’s communications. A wild story about how things went wrong, prompting the SEALs to kill unarmed North Koreans, & leave without planting the listening device.

Seems like it’s only spitting rain, or maybe that’s just Jalen Carter…

The Eagles have a guy who might have been able to stop the Cowboys from running right up the gut, but he had to hock a loogie.

I guess there weren't any good teams for sale: The @newyorkgiants.bsky.social have agreed to sell a minority stake to David Koch's widow Julia Koch & members of the Koch family.

This is not the 1st time Trump has tried to use Andrew Cuomo & his family to further interests in NYC. In the 1990s (when Andrew was serving as HUD secretary), Trump leaned on the Cuomos to try to secure federal $ for a project on the West Side, per Maggie Haberman’s great book “Confidence Man.”

What a life: George Raveling, who died on Monday at 88: ▶️ worked security for the 1963 March on Washington, & ended up with MLK’s copy of the “I Have a Dream” speech ▶️ was the 1st Black head basketball coach in the Pac-8 ▶️ brought Michael Jordan to Nike ▶️ is in the basketball hall of fame

The latest strange twist in the Trump-Cuomo relationship: Trump’s advisers are trying to help Andrew Cuomo beat Zohran Mamdami, including by offering Trump administration jobs to Eric Adams & Curtis Sliwa, which would clear the field for a 1-on-1 matchup between Cuomo & Mamdani.

On his live podcast, Rudy Giuliani & his aide/co-host Ted Goodman recount their car accident from Saturday night.

One of the only policies Dems & Republicans agree on: Banning phones in classrooms. 39 states now have some sort of phone restrictions, & the other 11 have legislation pending. @jonathanhaidt.bsky.social’s “The Anxious Generation” catalyzed the movement, Jonathan Martin reports in @politico.com.

There’s an ad running on Audacy sports talk (& possibly other) stations encouraging listeners to buy the crypto token $CRO on Crypto.com by touting the deal Trump Media & Crypto.com announced Tuesday to create a digital treasury seeded with $1B of $CRO.

At a time when suburban synagogues across the country are shrinking or shuttering, the survival & growth of Beth Shalom in Elkins Park, Pa. — the only synagogue ever designed by Frank Lloyd Wright — feels like both legacy & defiance, writes @forward.com. forward.com/news/764188/...

Joe Biden leaving church in Rehoboth Beach over Labor Day weekend. 🎥: Fred Karger

For those familiar with the ups & (increasingly more common) downs of local news, ‘The Paper’ can be a little heartbreaking. In the spinoff of ‘The Office,’ The Toledo Truth Teller is a shell of its former self, languishing in a forgotten corner of an office of a better-resourced toilet paper co.

Ted Williams called Bobby Shantz’s curveball the best in the American League. Only 4 pitchers struck out Williams more times than Shantz, who is set to turn 100 on Sept. 26.

Spotted, at Double Dippers in Rehoboth Beach last night. 🎥: Fred Karger

The VP to a reality TV star-turned-president says celebrities should stay out of politics: “I think by and large, people want politicians to focus on politics, & they want celebrities to focus on whatever it is that made them famous, whether it's singing or dancing or acting.”

The FBI investigation of John Bolton picked up momentum during the Biden administration, when US intelligence collected data from an adversarial country's spy service that appears to show that Bolton sent emails with sensitive information on an unclassified system to people close to him.

Trump is a “camp icon,” said James Kirchick, adding: “He’s like a drag queen. He’s outrageous, he’s transgressive, he’s catty, he’s a narcissist the likes of which we haven’t seen since Alexander the Great.” Shawn McCreesh, on DC’s emerging MAGA gay scene.

This is an example of the type of opacity that shrouds influencer content. It’s often impossible for the audience to know who’s paying influencers & for what. Among the influencers who reportedly considered this offer: Aaron Parnas, who has compared himself to the Walter Cronkite of social media.

A Dem dark money group offered influencers $8k/mo. to push progressive messaging— as long as they didn’t reveal they were taking the $. “It avoids a lot of the public disclosure,” a lawyer for Marc Elias’ firm told the influencers. “Your names aren’t showing up on, like, reports filed with the FEC”

SCOOP from @teddyschleifer.bsky.social: The Gates Foundation has decided to stop funding Arabella Advisors-managed nonprofits that are a major hub of Democratic dark money -- & an increasing subject of scrutiny from Trump allies.

The Israeli military significantly loosened safeguards meant to protect civilians, paving the way for one of the deadliest bombardments of the 21st century.

Inside Gaza's Nasser Hospital after Israel's "double-tap" strikes killed journalists & medical workers, the hospital’s public relations coordinator described a chaotic scene of choking smoke & dust. “We couldn’t see anything,” she said in trembling voice. “All we could hear were screams.”

Trump fundraising emails, getting deep…

New Hampshire will be 1st in the 2028 Democratic presidential nominating calendar, even if that means moving its primary to 2027, Jonathan Martin predicts in @politico.com.

A 23-year-old ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student said he was resisting the Israeli military draft because God wanted him to study Torah. "When we do what he wants, he protects us,” the student said, arguing that Oct. 7 happened "partly because many people in this country are not doing what God wants.”

Tiffany Trump's husband Michael Boulos & his associates have used his connection to the Trumps for financial benefit. For example, Boulos sold Jared Kushner on an investment in a superyacht, for which Kushner was overcharged by $2.5m. The yacht sits unfinished in Greece.

Laura Loomer has an expanding roster of private clients, including major political donors, whose names she declines to disclose, per @michaelscherer.bsky.social's interesting profile. "There are several billionaires I work with, & they have retained me to do their political vetting," she says.

Dems are touting Texas State Rep. James Talarico as a rising star whose attacks against GOP billionaires resonate with voters. *One of his biggest donors is a group funded by the Trump-backing casino magnate Miriam Adelson. **She has pushed to legalize casino gambling in Texas, which he supported.

NEW: Mercury Public Affairs, where Trump 2024 campaign advisor Bryan Lanza is a partner, has been paid $3.15M this year to serve as a foreign agent for the US subsidiary of the Chinese government owned video surveillance company Hikvision, per FARA filings. efile.fara.gov/docs/6170-Su...

You gonna finish that smoothie or no?

Trump's Swamp: On Aug. 9, Bo Hines resigned as a Trump WH crypto adviser. On Aug. 19, Hines was hired by the Salvadoran crypto company Tether to help it enter the US market using a pathway for foreign stablecoins created by the GENIUS Act, which Trump signed into law last month.

How To Influence Trump: CEOs & world leaders who've had success getting what they want from Trump shared their tips with @axios.com: ▶️kiss Trump's ass ▶️bring him a "deal" ▶️hire lobbyists with ties to him ▶️donate to his super PAC

Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every one of the 30 states that track voter registration by party between 2020 & 2024. In Pennsylvania, Dems had 517,310 more active voters than Republicans in November 2020. That edge is now down to only 53,303 voters, per @shanegoldmacher.bsky.social.

Trump expresses fear that he might not get into heaven, but he's hoping a Ukraine-Russia peace deal might help his cause. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/u...