Republican Sen. Darline Graham tells South Carolina voters that America has to stop leaning on Communist China. Her husband’s job runs through a company whose owners took control of a Chinese weapons maker. That weapons maker listed a state arms trader that the U.S. sanctioned for helping Russia’s war on Ukraine as a partner. After reporters started asking questions, the websites showing those ties went dark.

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Tough on China, Unless It’s Family

Graham was appointed in July to replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham, and she is now running for a full term against Democrat Annie Andrews. Her pitch includes a promise to stop depending on Communist China for things America can make ourselves. She said it in an August interview, as The Washington Post reported.

Her husband, Larry Nordone, works for two companies that share an address in Columbia. One is Birchwood Trading, a wholesale gift and home decor business. The other is Cosmox North America, which sells toy guns and imports firearms for retailers. The Post found that Cosmox imports gel blaster toy guns from China.

The Chinese Weapons Maker

Cosmox North America is a subsidiary of New York-based Cosmox Outdoors. In 2021, Cosmox Outdoors merged with Zhongzhou Machinery Works, a Chinese weapons manufacturer known as ZZM. The company told the Post its shareholders gained control of ZZM through a private deal.

Until recently, ZZM’s own website advertised its “military-grade” production. It also named two giant Chinese state arms companies as partners and clients: Norinco and Poly Technologies. Both have been hit with U.S. sanctions.

The Russia Connection

In June 2024, the Treasury Department put Poly Technologies on its sanctions list under its Russia program. Researchers at C4ADS had tracked the company shipping sensitive military technology to Russian defense firms after the invasion of Ukraine.

Norinco is a Chinese military conglomerate with a history of arming Iran going back to the 1980s. The Bush administration sanctioned it in 2003 over missile-related sales to Iran, then lifted those penalties in 2005. Drop Site reports that it remains on a Treasury restricted list.

A Senator Who Champions Ukraine

Lindsey Graham was the Senate’s loudest Republican voice for arming Ukraine. Darline Graham was lead sponsor of a Russia and Iran sanctions bill named for her brother. It became law in September. Trump then signed an executive order that rolled back its provisions.

So the senator selling herself as Putin’s enemy is married to a man who works for a company whose corporate family bragged about partnering with a firm sanctioned for arming Putin. Ryan Grim of Drop Site called the link a sharp contrast with the family’s stand on Ukraine.

The Websites Went Dark

The Post asked ZZM about its defense industry ties. Then ZZM’s and Cosmox Outdoors’ websites came down for “maintenance.” When ZZM’s site returned days later, the military-grade language was gone. So were Norinco and Poly Technologies.

A Cosmox spokesperson told the Post the company has had no commercial dealings with CSGC, NORINCO, or Poly Technologies. She said the old web pages were out of date and that ZZM no longer works with those firms. Graham’s campaign, Cosmox and ZZM did not answer Drop Site’s questions.

Missing From Her Disclosure

Graham’s Senate financial disclosure, filed in August, lists only Birchwood Trading as her husband’s employer. Cosmox isn’t on it. Her spokesman told the SC Daily Gazette that Nordone’s paychecks come only from Birchwood, and that one owner runs both businesses.

Andrews has demanded that Graham recuse herself from China trade and military votes and cut her family’s business ties to China. Graham fired back at their Oct. 11 debate: “You’re sinking pretty low.” She says Cosmox sells children’s toys and that her husband has no ownership or equity stake. Her spokesman told critics most toys come from China anyway.

The Bottom Line

Darline Graham wants South Carolina to believe she is the tough-on-China, stand-with-Ukraine Republican. Her own household tells a different story. Her husband works inside a corporate family that showed off ties to Beijing’s war machine. Her disclosure leaves that job out. And the evidence got scrubbed once reporters called. Voters deserve a senator who can tell the difference between “America First” and “family first.”

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Sources: Drop Site News reporting by Ryan Grim; The Washington Post reporting by Liz Goodwin, Cate Cadell and Aaron Schaffer; SC Daily Gazette.

Donald Trump’s pardons and commutations have wiped out at least $119 million that courts ordered criminals to pay back to their victims. That’s the finding of a new CBS News investigation. Small businesses, retirees and a school pension fund lost out. Many of the people who got off the hook had lawyers, lobbyists or donations tied to Trump.

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The Numbers

CBS reviewed court judgments in more than 160 clemency orders Trump issued from January 2025 through October 2026. It counted only restitution that was still unpaid when he granted clemency. The total came to $119.4 million, and that leaves out the Jan. 6 pardons entirely.

Joe Biden’s clemency orders erased about $14,000 in four years, according to Justice Department records cited by CBS. Trump has erased more than 8,000 times that in less than two. Counting fines, restitution prosecutors had requested, and debts shared with co-defendants, more than $1 billion has been affected.

The Ozy Media Con Man

Carlos Watson built Ozy Media into what looked like a media empire. A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted him of fraud in July 2024, and a judge ordered him to repay investors almost $37 million. Hours before he was due to report to prison in March 2025, Trump commuted his nearly 10-year sentence. The restitution vanished with it.

Investor Thomas Franco put almost $4 million into the company. He told CBS he felt victimized all over again: “authority and accountability are two very different things.” Watson’s clemency case was handled by a lawyer who represented Rudy Giuliani, according to CBS sources.

Small Businesses Got Burned

The single biggest debt erased was almost $49 million owed by Andres and Adriana Camberos. The siblings were convicted in 2024 of a scheme to buy food at deep discounts and resell it in the U.S. They owed 19 companies, from Mars Wrigley to a small veteran-owned business in Virginia. Trump granted both of them clemency in January 2026.

It was Adriana Camberos’ second grant from Trump. He commuted her sentence for an earlier fraud on his last day in office in 2021. Prosecutors say the siblings launched the new scheme within weeks of her release. Their clemency lawyers included a former deputy White House counsel from Trump’s first term.

Friends in High Places

CBS found at least 18 people freed from fines or restitution who had White House ties. Trump allies advocated for them, or they or their families had donated to his reelection. About 70% of his second-term clemency actions skipped the Justice Department’s pardon office entirely.

Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley owed $17 million to community banks they defrauded. Their daughter Savannah spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, then Trump pardoned her parents. Nikola founder Trevor Milton and his wife gave almost $3 million to pro-Trump groups about five months before his pardon. That pardon came two weeks after prosecutors asked for $660.8 million in restitution, so a judge never ruled on it. Milton says the pardon was not tied to his donations.

A Nursing Home Boss Got His Money Back

Some pardoned criminals did even better. Nursing home executive Joseph Schwartz paid nearly $1 million to a lobbying firm tied to right-wing operatives Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl to push for clemency. Trump pardoned him in November 2025, three months into a three-year sentence.

Schwartz had already paid $5 million in restitution to the IRS. After the pardon, a court let him take it back. His company, Skyline Healthcare, collapsed in 2018. A former cook at one of its homes told CBS the company took insurance premiums out of workers’ paychecks and never paid the insurers. She said none of Schwartz’s victims got any restitution.

Retirees Left Holding the Bag

Private equity CEO David Gentile was convicted of a $1.6 billion investment fraud that hit more than 10,000 investors. He served 12 days of a seven-year sentence before Trump freed him and cancelled any duty to repay. Victims included veterans, teachers and nurses. One retiree who voted for Trump three times lost $250,000 he’d saved for his grandchildren.

Federal prosecutors later gathered evidence that Gentile had discussed paying $2.5 million to secure his commutation, as The New York Times first reported. Political appointees at the Justice Department shut that investigation down, according to CBS sources. A retired priest close to Trump denied any money changed hands. No one has been charged.

The White House Response

A White House spokeswoman told CBS that Trump uses his constitutional authority at his discretion and that paying lobbyists for pardons is a waste of money. Officials called several of the cases political prosecutions or unfairly harsh sentences.

Victims can still sue, because clemency doesn’t erase civil liability. But experts told CBS those lawsuits are slow and expensive. Restitution orders let the government garnish wages for 20 years. A pardon from this Republican president ends all of it.

The Bottom Line

Trump sold himself as the law-and-order candidate. Instead, fraudsters with the right lawyers, lobbyists and donations walk free while their victims eat the loss. That’s $119 million taken from small businesses, retirees and workers, and every Republican who defends this pardon racket owns it.

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Sources: CBS News investigation by Gabe Kaminsky, Steve Reilly and Daniel Klaidman.

Donald Trump’s oil and gas stocks are now worth as much as $81.6 million, according to a new report from Democrats on Congress’s Joint Economic Committee. At the end of 2025 they were worth up to about $46 million. His accounts kept buying oil stocks after he launched the war with Iran. Meanwhile, you’re paying more than $4 a gallon.

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The Numbers

The committee’s Democrats went through Trump’s own financial disclosures with the Office of Government Ethics. They put his oil and gas holdings at $22.5 million to $81.6 million as of October 19. At the end of 2025, the range was $12.6 million to roughly $46 million.

The oil stocks he already owned going into 2026 rose 43% in value. Disclosures only report ranges, so the exact dollar figure is unknown. The real totals could be higher. Trump hasn’t reported any trades from September or October yet.

He Bought In After the Bombs Fell

Trump launched the war with Iran on February 28. Between March and the end of August, his accounts bought $4.7 million to $17.5 million in oil and gas stocks. They sold $2 million to $5.4 million over the same stretch.

The timing is hard to miss. More than 94% of his oil and gas purchases this year came after the fighting started. The Republican president started a war that sent oil prices soaring, and his portfolio loaded up on oil.

Bragging About Big Oil’s Windfall

Trump isn’t hiding from it. At a rally in Georgia on Saturday, he boasted that U.S. oil and gas companies are “making hundreds of billions of dollars.” He tied that money directly to what’s happening in the Middle East.

He even told the crowd his advisers had warned him not to talk about how much the industry is making. He said it anyway. A week before the midterms, the Republican in the White House is celebrating oil profits while families pay at the pump.

You’re Paying for It

Before the war, a gallon of regular cost $2.87 nationwide. Now it’s about $4.29, and diesel has jumped from $3.68 to $6.28. Brent crude is hovering above $115 a barrel, up from under $75 the day before the war.

The committee estimates Americans have spent an extra $101.4 billion on gas since February 28. That works out to about $856 per family. That’s money out of your pocket, flowing to the same companies in Trump’s portfolio.

Chevron and Exxon at the Top

His two biggest oil positions are Chevron and ExxonMobil. He owns up to $23.1 million in Chevron and up to $18.4 million in Exxon. Since February 20, Chevron shares are up nearly 25% and Exxon nearly 22%.

These are the same companies Trump called out by name in August for making too much money on fuel. He complained about their profits. His accounts kept holding their stock.

The Exxon Sale Before the Ceasefire

One trade stands out. On April 7, the day Trump declared a ceasefire, his accounts sold $500,000 to $1 million in Exxon stock, according to a disclosure he filed in June. Exxon closed at $163.91 that day.

Trump announced the ceasefire that evening. The next morning, Exxon opened down over 6%. There’s no evidence Trump personally directed that sale. But it shows exactly why a president trading stocks in industries his decisions move is a problem.

The White House Says Hands Off

The White House says Trump’s portfolio is run by independent managers using automated index-tracking accounts. Spokesman Davis Ingle said neither Trump nor his family has any say in what gets bought or sold, and that there are no conflicts of interest.

But Trump told CNBC in July that his son Eric handles his finances. Sen. Maggie Hassan, the committee’s top Democrat, said his actions “raise major concerns about conflicts of interest.” Presidents are allowed to own and trade stocks, and insider trading laws still apply.

The Bottom Line

Trump started a war, gas went past $4, and his oil portfolio swelled to as much as $81.6 million. He brags about Big Oil’s windfall on stage while American families pay $856 more at the pump. Every Republican who stands with him in November is standing with that.

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Sources: CBS News (Kathryn Watson), reporting on the Joint Economic Committee Democrats’ report; EconoTimes.

Elon Musk has now poured more than $735 million into American elections since the summer of 2024. That’s more than George Soros has given to federal elections in his entire life, by our count of the public records. Musk spent years telling his followers that Soros was buying American democracy. Then he went out and outspent him.

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The $735 Million Man

Start with 2024. Musk gave more than $291 million to help elect Donald Trump and other Republicans. That included the million-dollar giveaways his super PAC handed to swing-state voters. He was the biggest donor of that election by a mile.

In May 2025 he promised to pull back, saying “I think I’ve done enough.” He hadn’t. This cycle he has given $446 million to Republican causes, making him the biggest individual political donor in modern American history.

The Man Who Cried Soros

For years, Soros has been Musk’s favorite villain. In 2023 he compared Soros, a survivor of the Nazi occupation of Hungary, to the Marvel villain Magneto. Then he wrote: “He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.”

After the 2024 election, Musk didn’t drop the obsession. He studied it. The Washington Post reported he was using Soros’s past donations as a road map for his own political targets. The billionaire who spent years crying about one man buying elections decided to become that man, and then some.

Doing the Math

This cycle, Soros’s companies gave $102 million to his super PAC, Democracy PAC. That makes him the top Democratic individual donor of the midterms. Musk has given more than four times as much.

Soros’s biggest year ever was 2022, when OpenSecrets recorded about $179 million from him. Now add up every federal election dollar OpenSecrets has tracked from Soros, his firm and its employees since 1990, plus his nonprofit’s transfers to Democracy PAC in 2020 and 2024, plus this year’s $102 million. It comes to roughly $536 million over 36 years.

Musk beat that in a little over two. One caveat: Soros has also given billions through his Open Society Foundations. But that’s charity money for nonprofits, not checks to campaigns and super PACs. On election money, it isn’t close.

Where the Money Went

In September alone, Musk wrote two checks, $75 million and $83 million, to the main Senate Republican super PAC. Both times, within a day, the same amount moved to a brand-new group with one job: electing Republican Ken Paxton in Texas.

Then, in the first two weeks of October, he gave another $76.8 million to his own America PAC, per its FEC filing. Millions more went to House Republicans, the Republican Governors Association and Republican attorneys general.

And that’s only what we can see. A spokesman for America PAC confirmed that Musk has also given through groups that don’t disclose their donors.

What Musk Gets

The richest man in the world doesn’t spend like this for fun. SpaceX has collected more than $30 billion in federal work since 2008, according to the research firm FedScout. This year alone it’s $6.78 billion, a record.

Musk is also back inside the government. In September, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth named him a co-lead of Project Meridian, a study on the future of warfare. Pentagon officials warned of conflicts of interest. None of this proves a donation bought a decision. But almost no one alive has more riding on which party runs Congress.

Republicans Are Running on One Man’s Wallet

Musk isn’t alone, but he leads the pack. A CNBC analysis found 14 of the 20 biggest donors this cycle give exclusively or nearly exclusively to Republicans. Among the top 10 individual donors, Republican backers account for 86% of the money.

Democrats have big donors too. Mike Bloomberg has put more than $80 million into the midterms in recent months. But nobody on either side comes close to Musk. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico slammed a system that allows “one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator.”

Musk’s spokespeople did not respond to Politico’s questions about Democrats’ plans to investigate him. Musk answered on X instead, warning his critics: “Live by the sword, die by the sword.”

The Bottom Line

For years, the Republican base was told George Soros was secretly buying America. Turns out the biggest checkbook in American politics belongs to Elon Musk, and he writes his checks to Republicans. In a little over two years he has outspent Soros’s entire life of election giving, while his companies rake in record federal contracts. On Nov. 3, voters get to decide whether Congress is for sale.

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Sources: The Washington Post; OpenSecrets; FEC filings; CNN; Reuters; FactCheck.org; ABC News; WIRED; CNBC; The Guardian; POLITICO; Forbes (Antonio Pequeño IV).

Billionaire hedge fund boss Ken Griffin just gave Republican Byron Donalds another $5 million. That brings Griffin’s total to $15 million, more than any other donor has given the Republican’s political committee. The check landed as polls show Donalds clinging to a two-point lead over Democrat David Jolly. Election Day is Nov. 3.

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The $5 Million Check

The new money shows up on the committee’s own list of contributions. Kenneth Griffin, listed as “Founder CEO” at Citadel’s Miami address, gave $5 million on Oct. 15. It went to Friends of Byron Donalds, the political committee running alongside the Republican’s campaign.

That same list shows Griffin’s earlier $10 million check on July 17, a month before the Republican primary. Corporate accountability reporter Jason Garcia first flagged the new gift, and the Miami Herald confirmed it.

Why Florida Lets One Man Write $15 Million Checks

Florida limits how much anyone can give straight to a candidate. But political committees like Friends of Byron Donalds can take unlimited donations as long as they disclose them. That is the loophole Griffin is driving a truck through.

The result is a Republican campaign floating on mega-checks. According to an OpenSecrets analysis, Donalds has raised $148.8 million. About $48.4 million of it came from just 17 contributions of more than $1 million each.

A Tightening Race

Griffin’s latest check comes as Donalds’ lead shrinks. A University of North Florida poll taken Oct. 12 to 19 has Donalds at 49% and Jolly at 47%. That is inside the margin of error. In July, the same pollster had Donalds up by five.

Even worse for the Republican, Jolly leads by 16 points among independents, and 11% of registered Republicans say they will vote for him. Florida has not elected a Democratic governor in 32 years. Suddenly the billionaires are nervous.

Griffin Is Buying Up Florida Politics

Griffin moved Citadel’s headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022. Since then he has shattered Florida’s fundraising records. The Miami Herald reports he has put at least $22 million into Florida state elections this year alone.

That includes $3 million for Republican state Senate campaigns, $3 million for Republican state House campaigns and $1 million to Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier’s political committee. One man. One party. Every level of state government.

He’s Not the Only Billionaire

Griffin tops the committee’s donor list, but he has company. Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass has given $7.5 million. Private prison and immigration detention giant GEO Group has given $3.5 million, including $1 million on Oct. 8.

Jason Garcia has reported that these checks “come with strings.” Jolly’s committee has billionaire donors too, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. But OpenSecrets found Donalds still holds a $33.3 million cash edge heading into the final week.

What Donalds Says

Donalds has defended the money. Asked about Griffin’s first $10 million on WJCT’s “First Coast Connect”, he called campaign financing a matter of free speech.

“I’m not bought and paid for by anybody,” Donalds said. He argued that donors like Griffin back him only after vetting his vision for Florida, not to buy policy.

The Bottom Line

When a Republican’s lead starts slipping, the billionaires show up with checkbooks. Ken Griffin has now handed $15 million to Byron Donalds’ operation, more than any other donor, in a race that is suddenly a coin flip. Donalds swears he is not bought. Florida voters get to decide on Nov. 3 whether $15 million from one hedge fund king buys a governor.

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Sources: Friends of Byron Donalds contribution list; Miami Herald; NBC News (Matt Dixon); Jason Garcia, Seeking Rents; OpenSecrets; University of North Florida poll via WLRN and WPBF; WJCT (Anne Schindler) via WUSF.

Republican Sen. Darline Graham has cashed $21,000 in checks from billionaires tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s world. The money came from Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, his wife Christine, and banking mogul Charles Schwab. Federal regulators flagged the checks as possibly over the legal limit. And it all landed weeks before she started running for a full term in South Carolina.

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The Checks

Graham’s own campaign filings with the FEC show the money. Schwab gave $7,000 on July 31. Stephen and Christine Schwarzman gave $7,000 each on Aug. 4. All three gifts were routed through WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform.

That is $21,000 from three of the richest people in America. Graham was appointed to the seat this summer after her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, died. She had barely unpacked before the billionaire money started rolling in.

Schwarzman and the Epstein Club

Schwarzman runs Blackstone, one of the biggest private equity firms on Earth. He was an early member of the Core Club, an exclusive Manhattan club where Epstein was a founding member with deep ties to the owners. Sean Combs, now in prison, was also a member.

Schwarzman’s name shows up 23 times in the Epstein files the Justice Department released, according to reporting cited by American Journal News. To be clear, Schwarzman has not been accused of any crime. Appearing in the files is not proof of wrongdoing. But it is exactly the kind of company a Republican senator should be asked about.

Schwab’s $27.7 Million Wire

Charles Schwab’s company has its own Epstein problem. In the 10 days before Epstein’s 2019 arrest, the brokerage wired about $27.7 million on his behalf to a realtor in Morocco. Epstein was trying to buy a palace in Marrakesh. One transfer went out from an account that did not have enough money in it.

Morocco has no extradition treaty with the United States. The firm did flag the payments to Treasury regulators in July 2019. There is no reporting that Schwab himself handled the account. But his company moved the money, and now his money is moving to a Republican senator.

The FEC Flag

On Aug. 17, the Federal Election Commission sent Graham’s campaign a letter flagging “apparent excessive” contributions. All three $7,000 checks were on the list. Individuals can give a candidate $3,500 per election, so each check was double the limit.

Graham’s campaign says it handled it. Its treasurer told the FEC on Sept. 21 that every flagged check was reattributed or redesignated within the legal 60-day window. That is allowed under FEC rules. It does not change who wrote the checks.

Trump’s Pick

Graham is running with the full backing of Donald Trump. She was front and center at his rally in Pendleton, South Carolina, on Oct. 21. Trump’s own past with Epstein is laid out in the Epstein files, along with ties to people in his inner circle.

Democrats are already pouncing. A spokesperson for American Bridge 21st Century called Graham’s donations “abhorrent but not surprising in the least.” The group says her loyalty lies with the billionaire class, not South Carolina.

A Race on a Knife’s Edge

Graham faces Democrat Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, on Nov. 3. A Trafalgar Group poll taken Oct. 16-18 has Graham at 48.6% to Andrews at 45.6%. That is a three-point race in a state Trump won by 18.

A Democratic-aligned Impact Research poll has Andrews ahead, 45% to 44%. The same poll finds Graham underwater, with 52% of voters viewing her unfavorably. In a race this close, every Republican vulnerability matters.

The Bottom Line

Darline Graham has been a senator for about three months, and she already has billionaires from Epstein’s orbit writing her checks twice the legal limit. Her campaign shuffled the paperwork. The question South Carolina voters should ask is simple: why are these the people paying for her campaign?

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Sources: American Journal News (Jesse Valentine); FEC filings for Darline for Senate; The Wall Street Journal (Rachel Louise Ensign, Joshua Chaffin); Reuters (Naomi Rovnick, Brad Heath, Nivedita Balu); PBS NewsHour; Trafalgar Group; Impact Research; American Bridge 21st Century.

Donald Trump’s State Department has been asking career diplomats up for promotion a question no nonpartisan civil servant should ever hear: who did you vote for? According to six current and former State officials, the agency asked some foreign service officers about their votes in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Officials made clear that only Trump voters would be eligible. Any donation to a Democrat would be disqualifying.

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A Loyalty Test for the Diplomatic Corps

The questions targeted mid-to-upper level foreign service roles, the career diplomats who run embassies and carry out American policy abroad. Three of the six sources had spoken directly with people who were asked.

Candidates were also told their campaign donation histories would be checked. A donation to Democrats would end their shot at promotion. These are not political appointees. They are permanent, career staff who are supposed to serve every president the same way.

Federal Law Bans This

This is not a gray area. Federal law bars personnel actions based on political affiliation across the career civil service. The whole point is to stop a president from turning the government into a reward system for his supporters.

Max Stier of the Partnership for Public Service called it an “appalling and flagrant disregard of federal law.” He compared it to the spoils system of the 19th century, when government jobs were handed out as political favors.

The State Department’s Shifting Story

Before and right after the story ran, the State Department declined to address the voting questions at all. A spokesperson instead talked up fidelity, which the department said meant carrying out the president’s foreign policy vision, not partisan behavior.

Seven hours after the story was published and widely shared, the department added a new statement. It rejected what it called the “absurd premise” that anyone was asked about political affiliation, and said the administration rewards merit over seniority. It still did not directly address the officials’ accounts.

Part of a Bigger Purge

This did not come out of nowhere. Last July the department added a fidelity section to foreign service performance reviews, grading employees on how completely they align with current administration goals. In January the diplomats’ union warned that a new evaluation form would undermine merit-based promotions and said it would file an unfair labor practice charge.

The department has shed nearly a quarter of its workforce through layoffs and buyouts. Veteran diplomats have been pushed out of senior jobs. The administration had already tried making federal job applicants write essays about their favorite Trump policies, then replaced those questions under court order.

Former Ambassadors Are Furious

Career diplomats who served Republican and Democratic presidents alike lit up social media. Steven Pifer, a former ambassador to Ukraine, said he spent 27 years carrying out policies of presidents he did and did not vote for, and called the move “outrageous.”

Luis Moreno, a former ambassador to Jamaica who joined under Ronald Reagan, said nobody ever asked how he voted. His verdict: the administration wants political hacks, not professionals. Former Rep. Tom Malinowski, once a diplomat himself, argued the questioning also violates the Hatch Act.

Democrats Are Investigating

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said her committee has been tracking claims that the Trump administration makes political affiliation a factor in hiring. She said these national security jobs should go to people with experience and ability, not political loyalty.

Shaheen said Democrats are working with the House and other committees to investigate. With Republicans running both chambers, they cannot force answers yet. Sen. Andy Kim, a former State Department official, put it bluntly: this move is about serving Trump.

The Bottom Line

America’s diplomats are supposed to represent the whole country, not one man. Asking them who they voted for, and promoting only the right answer, is how you build a foreign service loyal to Trump instead of to the Constitution. Republicans who claim to care about the rule of law should be the first to demand answers.

Sources: The Washington Sun (Eric Katz, Anna Kramer), 2paragraphs (Lucy Strathmore), American Foreign Service Association.

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Three men say the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham paid them for sex while he was in Congress. The most disturbing account comes from a man named Kelvin, who says he was 17 when Graham hired him in Arizona in 2001. He says Graham suspected his age, made him say it out loud, and went ahead anyway. The accounts are in The Lindsey Graham Files, a new documentary from Swamp Watch, and the film’s home is lindseyfiles.com.

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Three Men, 14 Years, One Republican

The 33-minute film centers on three men. Corey says Graham paid him $1,500 for a night at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington in November 2015. Jesse says Graham hired him at the Beacon Hotel in 2012. Kelvin’s account goes back to 2001, when Graham was still a Republican congressman.

All three describe secret, paid encounters with cash handed over on the spot. These are allegations. Graham was never charged with a crime, and he died in July, so he cannot respond.

The Arizona Night

Kelvin says Graham contacted him through an escort site and said another client had recommended him. Graham told him he was in town for a buddy’s big event. The film ties that trip to the “Three Amigos” circle of John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Graham, and McCain’s July 4 gatherings near Sedona.

Kelvin says Graham got a good look at him and stopped. He says Graham asked, “You’re 17, aren’t you?” Kelvin insisted he was 18. Graham asked his birth year, did the math, and concluded he was 17. Kelvin says Graham kept going anyway, and he left with $120.

“For the Camera”

Kelvin says Graham made him stand and state his age and escort name out loud. He believes Graham said it was for the camera, then insisted nothing was being recorded.

Kelvin says he spotted a blinking red light to his left, and Graham told him to stop looking at it. If a tape existed, a sitting Republican lawmaker created the one thing that could end his career. Who else knew? Who else had a copy?

The Receipts Line Up

Swamp Watch also released an evidence packet. It cannot prove what happened behind closed doors, but it places each man and Graham in the same city on the same days. On November 9, 2015, Corey’s Lyft receipt shows him riding from the airport to his DC hotel. That day, Graham voted on the Senate floor. Corey’s escort profile advertised “Visiting DC Nov. 9-12.”

Jesse’s train ticket puts him in Washington October 3 to 5, 2012, and campaign records list Graham as an honorary host at a DC fundraiser for Todd Akin on October 3. Jesse’s bus tickets cover January 27 to 31, 2014. Graham sat in an Armed Services hearing on January 28 and voted on the next two days.

For Kelvin, a July 2001 Arizona Republic story names Graham among McCain’s holiday guests near Sedona. Archived 2001 ads listed Kelvin as 18 and 19, though the packet notes those were advertised ages, not verified birth dates.

Paying Them in Private, Voting Against Them in Public

Corey says his father choked him and threw him out of the house for being gay. Eight months later, the film notes, Graham voted to advance a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

In 2022, Graham voted against the Respect for Marriage Act. The film says he voted against federal hate crime protections in 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2009, including the Matthew Shepard Act. South Carolina remains one of only two states with no hate crime law. Asked about the rumors in 2018, Graham said, “I’m not gay.”

A Senator Anyone Could Squeeze

A senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee allegedly paid for secret sex for over a decade. One voice in the film says he believes Trump “had something on Lindsey.” That is opinion, not proof. But it would explain Graham’s turn from Trump critic to Trump’s loudest defender.

One of the men calls it a national security problem: a politician hiding something can be pressured by whoever knows. Corey says Graham told him, “I needed that.” South Carolina voters never got a say in what Graham needed, or who was holding it over him.

Darline Got the Seat, Not the Answers

Graham’s sister Darline was appointed to his seat and is now running to keep it. Asked by a reporter about the escort allegations, she said, “I’m not even gonna entertain that question.” In a debate, asked about Taiwan, she admitted she isn’t informed on national security.

One of the men says there is no way Darline didn’t know. That is his opinion, and she has not responded to it. She is running on her brother’s legacy while refusing to answer a single question about it.

The Bottom Line

Three men. Fourteen years of alleged secret payments. All while Lindsey Graham voted against the very people he was allegedly paying. He can’t answer for it now. Darline Graham can, and she is asking South Carolina for his seat without saying a word. See the film and the receipts at lindseyfiles.com, and follow Swamp Watch’s reporting at swampwatch.co.

Sources: The Lindsey Graham Files (Swamp Watch, 2026) and its evidence packet; U.S. Senate roll call records; The Arizona Republic (Chip Scutari); Roll Call (Kate Ackley).

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Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan has spent years begging Big Tech to build data centers in Alaska. What he doesn’t put in the pitch: his family’s multibillion-dollar company sells data centers the products they’re built with. And Sullivan holds up to $5 million of its stock, according to new reporting from The Alaska Current.

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Alaska’s Data Center Salesman

Sullivan isn’t shy about it. In his address to the Alaska Legislature this year, he took credit for the Air Force putting out a request to host data centers on military land in Alaska, saying he’d been “pitching this to everybody in the country who will listen.”

At a May 2025 Senate Commerce hearing, he made the pitch directly to OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Microsoft’s Brad Smith. Cold weather, gas, land, water. “Come on up,” he told them.

He sells it as thousands of good-paying jobs and a steady stream of money for the state.

The Family Business

The company is RPM International, the Ohio coatings giant best known for Rust-Oleum. It reported $7.9 billion in sales in its last fiscal year. It’s publicly traded, but it’s a Sullivan family operation: the senator’s brother Frank Sullivan is its chairman and CEO.

RPM’s stock is the senator’s single largest holding. The Alaska Current reports he holds up to $5 million in shares, a big reason his wealth has tripled since he took office.

Data Centers Are Good Business for RPM

RPM owns several companies that make specialized coatings and building materials for big data center builds. On the company’s July earnings call, Frank Sullivan said its Fibergrate unit does “a really nice chunk of business in data centers.”

He also pointed to Euclid Chemical, which supplies concrete admixtures, and Carboline, which makes fireproofing and anti-corrosion coatings for structural steel. RPM’s investor relations chief told analysts data centers are clearly at the top of the company’s list of new growth categories.

To be fair to the numbers: RPM says data centers are only about 1% to 2% of its total business right now. But it’s the fastest-growing piece, and the senator selling Alaska to the industry is the CEO’s brother.

Not His First Stock Problem

Sullivan was flagged in 2022 for violating the STOCK Act by reporting trades late. The Alaska Current found he has also made several well-timed sales of RPM stock.

One came on Feb. 27, 2020, after closed-door COVID briefings and about two weeks before the pandemic crushed the market. RPM shares then fell by about a third. Two other sales landed shortly before weak RPM earnings reports.

Sullivan has blamed late filings on his stock managers not telling him about trades in time. None of this has led to charges.

Alaskans Get the Noise

The Air Force has offered land at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Clear Space Force Station and Eielson Air Force Base for private AI data centers. Neighbors near Eielson are worried about water use, heat on permafrost, power bills and nonstop noise.

One resident told Alaska’s News Source living near one is “like having a vacuum cleaner on 24 hours a day.”

And the promised jobs? Research from Brookings suggests data centers create fewer jobs than backers claim, with little wage gain for local workers.

What’s at Stake

Sullivan is in the fight of his career. He finished seven points behind Democrat Mary Peltola in the August primary, and a new Data for Progress poll has Peltola ahead 51% to 49% in the final ranked-choice round.

Peltola and independent House candidate Bill Hill want tougher data center rules, including more public input and protections for energy bills. Sullivan says data centers will bring jobs and revenue to Alaska. His campaign has not publicly responded to the report.

The Bottom Line

Dan Sullivan keeps telling Alaskans data centers are a gift to the state. He never mentions they’re also good for his brother’s company and his own stock portfolio. Alaskans get the noise and the power bills. The Sullivans get the business.

Sources: The Alaska Current (Matt Acuña Buxton); RPM International Q4 2026 earnings call transcript and FY26 fact sheet; Senate Commerce Committee hearing transcript; Alaska’s News Source (KTUU); Business Insider; Brookings; Data for Progress.

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Republican Mike Rogers wants Democratic votes so badly he's hiding in their column. A Rogers-branded flyer now circulating in Michigan calls itself a "Pro-Democracy, Anti-Extremism Voter Guide". It lists Rogers for Senate right under Democrat Jocelyn Benson for governor. No party labels anywhere.

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The Flyer

The card carries the red-and-white Mike Rogers for U.S. Senate logo at the top. Below it sits a ballot cheat sheet for Tuesday, November 3, built to look like the kind of guide Democratic groups hand out every cycle.

The lineup: Benson for governor. Rogers for U.S. Senate. Jeremy Moss for the 11th Congressional District. Noah Arbit for the 20th State House District. Paul Brown and Michael Schostak for University of Michigan regent.

A photo of the flyer posted by GOP Ls has racked up nearly 400,000 views on X since Monday.

Spot the Republican

Benson is the Democratic nominee for governor. Moss and Arbit are Democrats, and Brown is the incumbent Democratic regent. Schostak is one of the two Republican regent nominees.

Rogers is the Republican nominee, a former GOP congressman who spoke at this year's Republican National Convention. His real opponent, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, appears nowhere on the card.

Moss, whose name is printed right under Rogers, has said he will never agree with Rogers' election denial or his backing of ICE.

His Own Website Gives the Game Away

This isn't a one-off. The official Rogers for Senate site has a page telling voters they can vote a straight Democratic ticket and still pick Rogers "without spoiling your ballot."

The instructions are simple. Fill in the Democratic straight-ticket box. Then find the Senate race and mark Mike Rogers. The page is paid for by Rogers for Senate.

Put the website and the flyer side by side and the strategy is obvious. Rogers isn't trying to win Democrats over to Republican ideas. He's trying to sneak onto their ballot.

The "Democrats for Rogers" Machine

Rogers launched a "Democrats for Rogers" coalition in a Detroit front yard in August. A Drop Site News review found that several of its faces aren't Democrats at all. Its super PAC treasurer, state Rep. Karen Whitsett, formally left the Democratic Party this year.

The money tells the same story. The super PAC running ads under the Democrats for Mike Rogers name has spent more than $4 million, and its first FEC filing shows cash from two Republican-aligned PACs, including $50,000 from a pro-Rogers group.

A Progress Michigan spokesperson called the whole operation astroturf.

Who Paid for It?

The photo making the rounds doesn't show the flyer's paid-for disclaimer, so it isn't clear yet whether it came from the Rogers campaign itself or from an allied group like Democrats for Mike Rogers.

Either way, it carries his logo, and it matches the pitch on his own website word for word: vote Democrat, then vote Rogers.

What Rogers Says

Rogers says El-Sayed is too extreme and that Democrats are crossing over to him. At his Detroit launch he told the crowd, "I'm not asking you to be a Republican."

He has not offered polling to back up claims of a Democratic shift, according to Fox News coverage of a recent appearance. His campaign has not publicly responded to criticism of the flyer.

The Bottom Line

If Mike Rogers were proud of being a Republican, he would put it on his flyer. Instead he's dressing up as a Democrat and hoping Michigan voters don't read the fine print.

Sources: GOP Ls on X (flyer photo); Rogers for Senate website; Drop Site News (Tom Perkins); Truthout (Ali Harb); Michigan Advance; The Michigan Daily; Fox News (Sophia Compton).

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Republican Sen. Darline Graham is getting badly outraised in South Carolina. So the cavalry showed up. Since early September, outside groups have spent about $6.6 million to keep her in the Senate. A big chunk of it traces back to a group that doesn't have to name its donors.

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$6.6 Million to the Rescue

Outside groups have spent some $4.5 million attacking Democrat Annie Andrews since early September. Another $2.1 million went to ads boosting Graham.

Most of it came from Security Is Strength PAC, a Graham-aligned super PAC that raised just over $4.5 million last quarter. Some also came from a PAC tied to Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso, who endorsed her.

Add it all up and Graham's side has outspent Andrews by roughly $3 million over the last several weeks, according to a Post and Courier analysis.

Her Own Campaign Is Running on Fumes

Strip away the outside help and Graham's campaign looks weak. She raised $1.5 million in the third quarter and had just under $610,000 in the bank on Sept. 30. Only about half came from individual donors.

Andrews raised about $9.4 million over the same three months. She had more than $2.3 million left to spend.

That's more than six times what the sitting Republican senator pulled in. With two weeks to go, Graham is leaning on super PACs to carry her.

Follow the Dark Money

Much of the super PAC's money is secretly sourced from a nonprofit called American Jobs and Security. The Post and Courier says it has long been associated with Darline's brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. Nonprofits like it don't have to disclose their donors.

Federal filings show the nonprofit sent the super PAC $1.3 million in just two weeks this summer, in four checks between July 21 and Aug. 5.

The donors who are named include billionaire hedge funder Paul Singer and well-connected South Carolina businessmen, several giving hundreds of thousands of dollars each.

Andrews Is Funded by Voters

About 95 percent of Andrews' money came from individuals, with donors spread across the country.

She has outside help too. Democratic-aligned groups have spent about $1.7 million on positive ads for her and close to $2.9 million attacking Graham.

But the gap is clear. Andrews is powered by regular donors. Graham is powered by super PACs and a nonprofit that keeps its funders hidden.

Ads About Anything but Your Wallet

So what is all that Republican money buying? In the past week, Republicans spent $132,500 on TV ads focused on LGBTQ+ issues. They spent just $24,000 on the economy.

Andrews has hammered that. She says Republicans fall back on culture war attacks when they have no plan for gas prices, grocery bills or rural hospital closures.

Meanwhile the race is tight. A Republican-aligned Trafalgar poll released Monday has Graham up just 49% to 46%.

Tough on China, Except at Home

Graham has campaigned on cracking down on Beijing. She says America must "stop depending on Communist China for things America can make ourselves."

But The Washington Post found her husband, Larry Nordone, works for two South Carolina companies that rely on Chinese manufacturing. More than 97 percent of one company's shipping containers since 2013 appear to come from China.

Her campaign says he has no ownership stake in either business. There's no evidence Graham had any role in their purchasing decisions.

What Graham Says

Graham says the money is flowing the other way. On Sean Hannity's show, she claimed Democrats are pouring money in and said "Hollywood is backing her."

Her team says she had less time to raise money because of the August primaries. It says $347,000 of what she raised in July went to beating fellow Republicans, not Democrats.

The Bottom Line

Andrews is winning the race for real donors by a mile. So Republicans are trying to buy the seat back with super PAC cash, a big share of it routed through a nonprofit that hides who's paying. If Darline Graham can't raise the money herself, South Carolina should ask who's really bankrolling her. Election Day is November 3.

Sources: Post and Courier (Nick Reynolds); The Washington Post, via Arkansas Public Advocate; Federal Election Commission filings; Political Wire.

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In May, Elon Musk gave $500,000 to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's reelection campaign. Within about three months, Abbott had signed off on $1.66 billion in school tax breaks for Musk's Terafab chip plant. That one deal is more than half of everything the program has ever handed out. Now Abbott wants a fourth term.

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The $500,000 Check

Musk's $500,000 donation hit Abbott's campaign in May. He sent the same amount to Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Texas has no limit on individual donations in most statewide races. So a trillionaire can drop a six-figure check on the governor, and it's perfectly legal.

And that's pocket change for Musk. He has sent more than $276 million to Republican groups and his own super PAC since July, according to New York Times figures.

Then Came the Tax Breaks

Terafab is a massive chip factory SpaceX plans to build in rural Grimes County, with xAI and Tesla. In July, two local school districts approved $1.66 billion in property tax breaks for it on 5-2 votes. Under state law, the deal also needed Abbott's approval.

He gave it. By July 21, Abbott had submitted his approval to the state comptroller, while his office ignored repeated requests for comment. The final agreements were signed on August 21, about three months after Musk's check.

On top of that, Abbott's office handed SpaceX a $30 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant. That's a pot of money the governor controls himself.

Half the Program, One Man

The Republican Legislature created the JETI tax break program in 2023 to lure big industrial projects. It replaced an older program that was phased out after complaints that it hurt public schools.

Musk's Terafab deal alone is more than half of the $2.2 billion JETI has awarded since. One man's company is getting more than every other project combined.

And these are school tax breaks. The state pays the districts back for the lost revenue. That means Texas taxpayers cover the bill.

$1.66 Billion for 80 Jobs

SpaceX says it could invest up to $119 billion. But to keep the breaks, Terafab only has to create just 80 jobs. That's more than $20 million in tax breaks for every required job.

SpaceX played hardball to get the deal. A company rep told a school hearing that without the breaks, "we're actively looking at locations in other states" like Arizona.

Local parents pushed back. One mom asked the board how it could let Musk's company skip paying while the plant floods the rural district with new students.

This relationship goes back years. Abbott has told the story of Musk calling him during a Valentine's Day dinner with his wife, the night before SpaceX filed to leave Delaware for Texas. Musk wanted to know if Abbott would "have his back." Abbott says he told him 100 percent.

Abbott then pushed a brand new business court system into existence, with judges he appoints. Musk has since moved Tesla, X, and the rest of his companies to Texas.

What Abbott Says

Abbott's campaign has said its donations are publicly disclosed and legal under Texas law. His office says Musk has invested more than $11.6 billion in Texas and is set to create over 22,000 jobs.

There's no evidence the donation was tied to the deal, and no one has been accused of breaking the law. But the timing is hard to ignore.

The Choice in November

Democrat Gina Hinojosa, Abbott's opponent, says she would end corporate welfare and put that money toward lowering property taxes. She also wants to review Musk's incentives to make sure he's actually delivering the jobs.

Musk seems to have noticed. Canvassers for his America PAC in Texas are reportedly being told to target Hinojosa at the door.

Musk wrote Abbott a $500,000 check. Abbott signed off on $1.66 billion in breaks, paid for with Texas school tax money, for a plant that only has to create 80 jobs. That's the Republican deal in Texas: the trillionaire gets the tax break, and you get the bill. Election Day is November 3.

Sources: Houston Chronicle (Benjamin Wermund); Austin American-Statesman; KBTX; Houston Business Journal via KHOU; E&E News by POLITICO (Mike Lee); Office of the Texas Governor.

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Late Friday night, Donald Trump signed an executive order waiving the new sanctions and tariffs on Russia that Congress passed by huge bipartisan margins. They were set to take effect Sunday. Now they won't. Putin's team is celebrating, and even Republican senators are calling it a betrayal.

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The Law Trump Signed Last Month

The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act was built to choke off the oil money funding Putin's war in Ukraine. It ordered a 500 percent tariff on Russian goods and up to 100 percent tariffs on the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas, like China and India.

It was named for the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who pushed it for over a year before his death in July. The Senate passed it 86 to 11. The House passed it 262 to 159. Trump signed it into law on September 18.

Gutted Two Days Before the Deadline

The order technically sets the tariff rates, then turns right around and waives every one of them. It also waives a key set of the law's sanctions. The waivers stay in place until administration officials decide otherwise, with no end date.

The White House said the move was "in the national interests of the United States." The order keeps older Russia sanctions in place, and Trump has argued that easing up on Russian energy will bring down fuel prices. It also means China and India face no fresh pressure for bankrolling Moscow.

Even REPUBLICANS Are Furious

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis called it "beyond irresponsible" and accused the administration of "capitulating to a Russian dictator who illegally invaded Ukraine." He said Trump should end the Iran war if he wants lower gas prices.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn wrote simply: "Lindsey would be appalled." Republican Rep. Don Bacon said "the president is prolonging the war, not ending it."

Notice the pattern. Tillis, Cornyn and Bacon are all on their way out of Congress. The Republicans still facing voters are mostly quiet.

The Kremlin Is Celebrating

Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the suspension "an important and truly historic moment." When the Kremlin is throwing you a parade, something has gone very wrong.

Ukraine's President Zelensky called it a sanctions blackout that rewards Putin and encourages more attacks. He also warned it won't stop here: "Sanctions will be lifted after gas." It came as Russia keeps pounding Ukraine's power grid heading into winter.

The Diesel Deal Came First

This didn't come out of nowhere. One week ago, Trump announced a deal with Putin to buy Russian diesel, and Treasury suspended sanctions on Russian diesel exports to make it happen.

The payoff for Americans is tiny. The whole deal equals about 10 days of U.S. diesel demand. Diesel prices have shot up almost 70 percent since Trump's war in Iran began in February. Russia gets a lifeline. Truckers and farmers get crumbs.

Congress Has Left Town

Lawmakers are on recess until after Election Day, so no quick fix is coming. Rep. Gregory Meeks has filed a bill to block the diesel deal. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Trump is "thumbing his nose at Congress's direction" and urged Congress to reverse it.

And the Republican now holding Graham's seat? His sister, Sen. Darline Graham, co-sponsored the bill and has campaigned on it. She has yet to criticize Trump for gutting it.

The Bottom Line

Congress voted overwhelmingly to make Putin pay for his war. Trump signed it, waited a month, then quietly erased it on a Friday night. The Kremlin cheers, Ukraine bleeds, and most Republicans say nothing. Remember that on November 3.

Sources: Associated Press via PBS News (Lisa Mascaro); CBS News; CNBC; NBC News; Axios; BBC; White House executive order; Congress.gov.

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Julio Herrera Velutini was a banker facing federal bribery charges. His daughter pledged $2.5 million to Trump's White House ballroom. A few months later, Trump pardoned him.

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That is one of the findings from a secret internal donor spreadsheet obtained by the Washington Post. It lists $333 million in private money behind Trump's ballroom, and the Republican White House never wanted you to see it.

The Bribery Case

In 2022, the Justice Department charged Herrera Velutini with bribery. Prosecutors said he helped fund the campaign of Puerto Rico's then-governor in exchange for removing a regulator who was investigating his bank.

The former governor, Wanda Vazquez Garced, and a political consultant were charged too. The banker owned Bancredito International Bank & Trust, the bank at the center of the case.

These were serious federal charges. Then the money started moving.

The $3.5 Million to MAGA Inc.

After Trump won in 2024, the banker's daughter, Isabela Herrera, gave $3.5 million to MAGA Inc., Trump's super PAC, between December 2024 and July 2025.

She was about 25 years old. Her only previous political donation on record was $20 to Pete Buttigieg in 2020.

The watchdog group Campaign Legal Center filed an FEC complaint alleging she was acting as a stand-in for her father. It says it never got a response. The FEC declined to comment.

The Charges Shrink

In August 2025, the bribery charges were reduced to a misdemeanor in a plea deal.

The deal came after meetings at Justice Department headquarters that included Christopher Kise, one of the banker's lawyers. Kise is also one of Trump's own top lawyers from his classified documents and New York fraud cases.

One million dollars of the daughter's MAGA Inc. money arrived 37 days after that plea deal.

Then Came the Ballroom

On September 23, 2025, one month after the plea deal, Isabela Herrera pledged $2.5 million to Trump's ballroom. That pledge was never disclosed until now.

The records show she paid a first installment of $835,000 on October 14, 2025. Her second payment was due this October.

Add it up. That is $6 million from one family into Trump's political machine and his pet construction project.

The Pardon

In January 2026, Trump pardoned Herrera Velutini. He also pardoned the former governor and the consultant.

The White House claimed the prosecutions were politically motivated. After the pardon, the banker's lawyer said his client was deeply grateful to Trump.

Neither the banker nor his daughter answered the Washington Post's questions. No one has been charged over the donations, and the Post's records do not prove the money bought the pardon.

Not the Only One

The spreadsheet shows a pattern. Dish chairman Charles Ergen pledged $25 million after meeting Trump and his FCC chair, and the FCC later dropped an investigation into his company.

Salesforce and ServiceNow pledged millions around the time they landed big federal contracts. Donors deny any connection, and at least $77 million came from people who asked to stay anonymous.

The White House would not discuss individual gifts. A spokesman dismissed the reporting as "fake conflicts of interest" and vowed to hunt down whoever leaked the list.

The Bottom Line

A man facing bribery charges watched his family pour $6 million into Trump's super PAC and ballroom, then walked away with a pardon. Republicans spent years screaming about corruption. This is what it looks like when it happens in the open.

Sources: The Washington Post (investigative reporter Sarah Blaskey), as reported by EFE, El Nuevo Dia, and The Independent; DOJ pardon warrant.

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Donald Trump introduced Katie Zacharia to America as an attorney. She has called herself a lawyer on TV for more than a year. Now the Wall Street Journal reports that the new White House press secretary took the California bar exam in 2011 and failed it.

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No state has a record of licensing her. Her first week on the job has turned into a week of explaining a résumé.

"When I Moved to China"

It started on Tuesday. Standing next to Trump, Zacharia was asked which state she passed the bar in. Trump turned to her and asked, "Which state?" Her answer, according to the BBC, was "When I moved to China."

That answer made things worse. China only licenses its own citizens to practice law. Foreigners can work at Chinese firms, but they cannot sit for the national bar or practice in court.

A Chinese law expert at the University of Wisconsin told Snopes there was no possibility she ever passed China's bar exam.

The Bar Exam She Didn't Pass

Late Wednesday, the Journal reported that Zacharia sat for the California bar after finishing law school at Pepperdine in 2011. She did not pass. The paper cited a person with direct knowledge, who said she took the test while planning a wedding and a move to China.

Zacharia has not publicly confirmed or denied the report. She now says she misheard Tuesday's question over the noise of Marine One and thought she was asked where she went after law school.

No License Anywhere

Reuters searched for her and found no record of Zacharia being admitted to the bar in any state or in Washington, D.C. Snopes checked lawyer directories in all 50 states plus D.C. and came up empty too.

The State Bar of California, where she lives, told Newsweek it has no record of her ever being licensed under her married or maiden name.

Lawyer, Attorney, General Counsel

Zacharia earned a law degree from Pepperdine in 2011, the university confirmed. She told the New York Times that Pepperdine's president advised her she could call herself a lawyer, but not an attorney.

Trump didn't get the memo. His announcement called her an attorney. Her LinkedIn lists her as general counsel at Fix California, a group founded by Trump ally Ric Grenell. Grenell told Reuters her work there included "leading the outside counsel, who were our lawyers."

Now a Watchdog Wants Answers

On Wednesday, Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the State Bar of California. It also went to her local district attorney and to D.C.'s lawyer discipline office.

California law makes it a misdemeanor to hold yourself out as entitled to practice law without a license. The penalty is up to a year in county jail or a $1,000 fine. The group's director said calling yourself a lawyer without a license there "isn't puffery; it's a crime."

The complaint asks for an investigation. Zacharia has not been charged with anything.

The White House Response

Zacharia says she "practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials," but has not said which credentials. Communications director Steven Cheung called her uniquely qualified and "whip smart" and attacked the watchdog as a leftist group.

Trump's Republican White House has not produced a single document showing she was ever licensed to practice law. Her first briefing lasted under 15 minutes and took questions from three reporters.

The Bottom Line

The job is to tell Americans the truth from the White House podium. Trump's new spokesperson couldn't give a straight answer about her own résumé, and the Republican administration's answer is name-calling instead of a license number.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal (via Forbes, Siladitya Ray); Reuters (Trevor Hunnicutt, Karen Sloan, Joe Cash); BBC (Sareen Habeshian); NBC News (Megan Brand, Monica Alba, Lauren Zola); Snopes; Newsweek; Mediaite; The Hill; The Independent.

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Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton rang in 2025 on a luxury balcony in Dubai, watching fireworks over the Burj Khalifa. Next to him, according to a video obtained by The Wall Street Journal, were two Americans who had been indicted on federal fraud charges and had not come home to face them.

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One of those men had given Paxton $190,000. The Texas attorney general, the state's top law enforcement officer, has not explained what he was doing there.

A Balcony, Fireworks and Two Fugitives

The 37-second clip shows Paxton and his girlfriend, Tracy Duhon, watching the midnight fireworks with Anosh Ahmed and Sameer Suhail. Another guest filmed it. Details of the gathering also appear in court filings, according to the Journal.

Paxton was still married when the video was shot. He was there with a woman who wasn't his wife, celebrating with men wanted by the U.S. Justice Department.

Accused of Looting a Chicago Hospital

Federal prosecutors in Illinois indicted Ahmed and Suhail in July 2024. They are accused of embezzling more than $15 million from Loretto Hospital, a taxpayer-funded hospital on Chicago's West Side, where Ahmed was the chief financial officer.

Prosecutors say the pair paid hospital money to shell vendors for goods and services that were never delivered. Ahmed faces a separate fraud case tied to at least $195 million in government payments for bogus Covid-19 tests.

Both men have pleaded not guilty. Neither has been convicted.

$190,000 From an Indicted Donor

Campaign finance records reviewed by the Journal show Ahmed gave Paxton $190,000. That includes $25,000 sent just days after he was indicted.

State records published by Transparency USA date that check to July 15, 2024, three days after the Justice Department announced the charges. Less than six months later, the Republican attorney general was partying with him overseas.

How the Fugitives Got Caught

Ahmed and Suhail had left the country before the charges came down. Suhail settled in Dubai and opened a plastic surgery clinic. Ahmed was arrested in Serbia in November 2025 on an international Red Notice.

Suhail's lawyer says civil matters in Dubai kept him from traveling and that he returned voluntarily. Ahmed's lawyers have blamed family health issues for his delay. Ahmed is in custody. Suhail is out on a $5 million bond with home confinement.

Paxton's Answer: He's the Victim

Paxton's campaign did not deny the trip or explain it. Senior adviser Nick Maddux instead compared him to Trump, saying Paxton has been "politically persecuted for years."

That is the same line Paxton has used through his securities fraud indictment, his impeachment and his divorce. It does not answer the question: why was Texas's top cop celebrating with indicted fugitives who bankrolled him?

One Week Before Early Voting

The video lands a week before early voting starts in Texas. Polls show Paxton locked in a dead heat with Democrat James Talarico, who has hammered him over his jet-setting lifestyle.

Talarico's response was short. Even at a party full of fugitives, he said, Paxton is "still the sketchiest guy in the room."

The Bottom Line

Ken Paxton wants Texans to send him to the U.S. Senate. He spent New Year's in Dubai with his girlfriend and two men running from federal fraud charges, one of whom had handed him $190,000. Texas's top law enforcement officer partied with fugitives instead of turning them in, and his campaign's only answer is that he is the real victim. Voters get their say starting next week.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal (Elizabeth Findell), via FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, Newsweek, Mediaite and The New Republic; KSAT (Zaria Oates).

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The Trump administration spent about $19 million in taxpayer money on TV ads starring Donald Trump, weeks before the midterms. That number comes from the administration's own sworn court filing.

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And the White House says Trump has no plans to pay any of it back.

$20 Million Pulled From Border Money

Last month, the White House budget office took $20 million from U.S. Customs and Border Protection for what it called "OBBBA commemorative events." That is Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill.

The money went to TV airtime instead. A Homeland Security official swore in court that an ad firm bought spots through Oct. 11 at a cost of roughly $19 million.

Money Congress set aside for the border ended up buying Trump wall-to-wall airtime on CBS, CNN, Fox News and more.

These Are Campaign Ads in Disguise

The White House made at least 13 campaign-style spots. One was a straight replay of a 2024 Trump campaign ad. Others push his messaging on communism, Iran and the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

CNN reported Trump personally helped pick the imagery. At least one ad came from a pro-Trump meme group.

They started airing in late September. Right as Republicans head into a brutal midterm.

Trump Won't Pay It Back

After bipartisan backlash, Trump posted on Oct. 5 that he would cover future ads himself with money raised for his super PAC, MAGA Inc.

But the White House quickly clarified that the post was not about reimbursement. Asked directly if he would repay taxpayers, Trump said: "We'll decide."

A White House spokesperson later said Trump does not plan to reimburse the government. Six days after his promise, the taxpayer-funded ads were still on the air.

Even Republicans Couldn't Defend It

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, said the ads should not be paid for with taxpayer dollars.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer demanded the money be returned and called for a full investigation. He also warned that shifting the ads to a super PAC could be illegal coordination.

Legal experts flagged a federal ban on using appropriated money for "publicity or propaganda." Common Cause and the Democratic National Committee both sued.

A Federal Judge Pulled the Plug

On Sunday night, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon ordered the administration to cancel every remaining ad, including spots set to air that same evening.

In her temporary restraining order, she found the challengers are likely to win on the merits. The order bars new ad buys for two weeks.

The Justice Department argued the case was moot because the ads were ending anyway. The judge rejected that.

The White House Calls It a PSA

The administration insists these are routine public service announcements, like past ads for Medicare or vaccines. Trump said they were "for the spirit of our country", not for Republican candidates.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin dodged on refunds on CBS, saying he is all for ads that brag about America.

Public service announcements don't usually star the president a month before an election.

The Bottom Line

Trump took $19 million meant for the border and spent it making himself look good on TV before the midterms. Now his White House says taxpayers will never see that money again. It took a federal judge to make him stop. Republicans run on cutting waste. This is what waste looks like.

Sources: AP (Ali Swenson, Seung Min Kim), CNN, ABC News (Mariam Khan), CBS News, Politico and the court's Oct. 11 order in Common Cause v. DHS.

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Republican Sen. Roger Marshall's 2020 campaign ordered cookies, cupcakes and brownies from a brand-new Kansas bakery for his primary night party. Then it never paid the $678.75 bill.

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For six years. Marshall only paid up on Saturday, after the baker's post went viral and his Senate seat started looking shaky.

A Small Business Left Holding the Bill

Holly Thomas owns Holly's Sweet Treats in Hutchinson. In 2020, during COVID, Marshall's campaign ordered 150 custom sugar cookies with his name frosted in blue and yellow, plus cupcakes and fudge brownies.

The invoice was due Sept. 2, 2020. Thomas says she spent nearly a year calling and emailing the campaign for payment. Nobody called back. Nobody paid.

Every dollar mattered to her new business, she wrote. "Six years later, I haven't forgotten." That, she said, is why Marshall will never get her vote.

Paid Only After It Went Viral

Thomas posted the unpaid invoice on Facebook on Thursday. By Saturday, Marshall was on X posting a receipt for $1,300.

He called it "repaid the bill from 2020, double." It was not quite double. Double $678.75 is $1,357.50, as The New York Times noted.

Six years of silence, then a payment within 48 hours of bad press. In a toss-up race, a month before Election Day.

Meanwhile, He Sued 700 of His Patients

Here is why this stings. Before Congress, Marshall was an OB-GYN in Great Bend. A New York Times investigation found he and his practice sued more than 700 former patients over unpaid bills between 1998 and 2019.

Some of those bills were as small as $101. Many were smaller than the cookie bill his own campaign ignored for six years.

His lawyers garnished paychecks and bank accounts. Some collection cases dragged on for over a decade, into his time in Congress.

81 Patients Arrested

Court records show Marshall's attorneys repeatedly asked judges for arrest warrants when patients missed court dates. Eighty-one patients were arrested, with debts as low as $114.

Meischa Zimmerman was arrested three times over a $3,596 bill from her 2009 delivery. The first time, in 2011, she was eight months pregnant and home with her 2-year-old.

Bond money posted by arrested patients was turned over to Marshall by court order.

18% Interest, the Highest in Kansas

Marshall says his collection methods were "very common." The Kansas City Star checked. Of roughly 150 Kansas medical practices whose court records it reviewed, Marshall's 18% annual interest rate was by far the highest.

In a sample of 35 practices that sued patients, none charged more than 10% before a default. Interest helped some patients' bills double. Zimmerman's grew past $7,000.

What Marshall Says

On the bakery, Marshall said his team had no idea how the bill was missed and apologized once they learned of it. Thomas has said the order was placed by a campaign staffer.

On his patients, Marshall's campaign says judges issue warrants, not doctors, and that his hospital provided millions in uncompensated care. His lawyers sent a defamation letter over a Democratic ad featuring Zimmerman, saying she was arrested for missing court, not a payment.

A Senate Seat on the Line

Marshall faces Democrat Rev. Adam Hamilton, who says Marshall must explain why he had patients arrested and jailed over tiny debts. Hamilton's campaign pointed out the cookie bill was bigger than debts Marshall sued patients over.

The race is a dead heat in deep-red Kansas. Hamilton led 48 to 45 in a recent YouGov poll, and the NYT/Siena poll had it essentially tied. Election Day is November 3.

The Bottom Line

Republican Roger Marshall had pregnant patients hauled off in handcuffs over bills smaller than the cookie order his own campaign stiffed a struggling small business on for six years. One set of rules for working Kansans, another for Roger Marshall. He only found his checkbook when the cameras showed up. Kansans can settle this bill on November 3.

Sources: KAKE, The Hill, The New York Times (Sarah Kliff), The Kansas City Star, KCUR, KWCH, The Independent and YouGov.

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Republican Ken Paxton has taken nearly 1,000 trips with a taxpayer-funded state police security detail since becoming Texas attorney general in 2015. The bill so far: $3.3 million.

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A new ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation could tie only 138 of those trips, and $553,000 of that cost, to state business. Paxton is now the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, and early voting starts October 19.

Suspended From Office, So He Hit the Road

In the summer of 2023, Paxton was impeached on charges of abusing his office and suspended for more than three months. He was barred from doing any official business.

So he traveled. Paxton took at least 17 trips during the suspension, including to the resort towns of Park City, Utah, and Vail, Colorado. State police went with him every time, costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars for trips that had nothing to do with his job.

He also visited Broken Bow, Oklahoma, where he owns a $1.5 million vacation lodge, and a Utah town near the golf resort where he later bought four condos. The Republican-led Texas Senate acquitted him on the impeachment charges.

Just 1 in 6 Trips Had a Business Purpose

Reporters reviewed security logs, receipts and Paxton's daily calendars obtained through public records requests. Only about one trip in six had a listed business purpose. More than 800 trips had none.

It is getting worse. Last year, just five of Paxton's 91 trips with the detail had a business purpose listed. Forty-one were outside Texas.

His office's records show no business reason for trips to 17 countries, including Aruba, Costa Rica, Italy, Greece, Malta and South Africa.

Trips That Lined Up With Real Estate Deals

Some of the travel overlapped with places where Paxton or his family trust later bought property. He went to Lahaina, Hawaii, for a 2021 conference. Four months later, his trust bought an oceanview lot there for $410,000. It is now assessed at $1.2 million.

He has made 24 trips to Utah, where the trust owns five properties, and 53 trips to Florida, where he and the trust own two houses and a townhome. Only two of the Florida trips had a documented business purpose.

A recent analysis by the same newsrooms found Paxton owns or co-owns 15 properties worth about $11 million. He earns about $153,000 a year as attorney general and has not explained how his wealth grew so fast.

The Masters, Napa and 730 Blank Workdays

This comes a week after an Associated Press review found Paxton left about 730 workdays blank on his official calendars and took over 275 out-of-state trips. Right after launching his Senate run, he booked a hotel in Augusta, Georgia, during the Masters golf tournament. Taxpayers paid at least $25,000.

He has taken more than 25 trips to California at a public cost of over $175,000, including Napa Valley wine country visits. This is the same Republican who attacks his opponent as a California liberal. On a podcast he admitted, "I don't like to admit that I go to California."

What Paxton Says

Paxton did not answer detailed questions from either news organization. His office said he faces security threats because of his work against cartels and violent criminals, and that his calendar does not capture calls and briefings that fill his days.

Asked to provide records showing any of the undocumented trips were official business, neither Paxton nor his office did. His Senate campaign declined to comment to the AP.

A Senate Seat on the Line

Paxton beat Sen. John Cornyn in a Republican primary runoff in May. He now faces Democrat James Talarico, who has hammered him over luxury travel, including spending July 4 in Great Britain.

The race is close. Talarico has led most September and October polls, including a YouGov survey showing him up 50 to 44. A UMass Lowell poll this week had them tied at 45. Election Day is November 3.

The Bottom Line

Ken Paxton wants a promotion to the U.S. Senate after turning a state police detail into a $3.3 million travel perk. Ski towns, beach houses, the Masters and wine country, all with Texas taxpayers covering his security, and only 1 in 6 trips tied to the job he was elected to do. Texans get to decide on November 3 whether this Republican has earned a bigger expense account.

Sources: ProPublica and The Texas Tribune (Zach Despart), the Associated Press (Brian Slodysko and Jesse Bedayn), USA Today, and UMass Lowell/YouGov.

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Republican Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio took the maximum $3,500 donation from billionaire Les Wexner on July 3, 2025. Wexner is the retail mogul an FBI document listed as a possible co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein.

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Ten weeks later, Husted voted to kill an amendment that would have forced the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. Now, with early voting underway, Ohio voters are getting their say.

The Check, Then the Vote

Federal records show Wexner gave Husted's Senate campaign $3,500 in July 2025, the most one person can give per election. On September 10, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer offered an amendment to the defense bill that would have directed the Attorney General to make the Epstein documents public.

Republicans moved to table it, which kills it without a straight up or down vote. The motion passed 51 to 49. Husted voted with the Republican majority. Only two Republicans, Josh Hawley and Rand Paul, joined every Democrat in voting to keep the amendment alive.

At the time, Donald Trump opposed the Justice Department releasing the files. Husted stuck with Trump.

Who Is Les Wexner?

Wexner is the billionaire behind The Limited and Victoria's Secret. Epstein managed his personal finances for more than a decade in the 1990s and early 2000s. An August 2019 internal FBI document, unredacted this February, listed Wexner among eight possible co-conspirators, alongside Ghislaine Maxwell. Another FBI email from that month said there was limited evidence of his involvement.

Wexner has never been charged with a crime. His representatives say a federal prosecutor told his lawyers in 2019 that he was neither a co-conspirator nor a target. In a February deposition to the House Oversight Committee, he said he was conned by Epstein and denied any knowledge of his crimes.

Two Decades of Wexner Money

The July check was not a one-off. Wexner has steered about $116,000 toward Husted since 2001, according to campaign finance records first reported by TiffinOhio. That is more than he has given any other sitting member of Congress, per Sherrod Brown's campaign.

Roughly $80,000 went straight to Husted's own campaigns. The rest, about $37,000, went to Gov. Mike DeWine's campaigns and transition fund while Husted was his running mate, the Morning Journal found.

Wexner also wrote $250,000 in checks to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2025, the Senate GOP's campaign arm. FEC records date them to October 28, weeks after the tabling vote.

Then Trump Flipped, and So Did Republicans

In November 2025, public pressure and a bipartisan House push forced Trump to reverse course. The Epstein Files Transparency Act then cleared the Senate on November 19 by unanimous consent, with no recorded vote.

Husted did not object, and his campaign now calls that his real vote on the issue. But earlier that same month he had again voiced opposition to releasing the files, according to Ohio Democrats. He got on board only once his party's leader did.

The Charity Move Only Goes So Far

After the Wexner name was unredacted in February and Brown went on the attack, Husted announced he would give Wexner's money to charity. His campaign says it gave $34,300 to Freedom a la Cart, a Columbus anti-trafficking group.

That leaves about $45,600 of Wexner's direct contributions that Husted has not matched. His campaign says that money was spent in past cycles. Yet his old state account held more than $6.1 million as of June 30, money that sits largely idle because it cannot move to a federal race.

Ohio Voters Are Watching

Husted, appointed to JD Vance's old seat in January 2025, faces Democrat Sherrod Brown on November 3. Brown has run at least three TV ads hitting Husted over the Wexner money, and a traveling exhibit of the Justice Department's Epstein records was scheduled to reach Ohio this week.

The race is a dead heat. Brown leads by 3.5 points in the Crosstab polling average, while a co/efficient poll taken October 5 and 6 had Husted up a single point. Back in February, a heckler at a Norwalk coffee shop called Husted a pedophile protector.

What Husted and Wexner Say

Husted spokeswoman Amy Natoce called the September vote procedural and said "there has only been one vote" that counts, the November bill. The campaign also points out that Wexner's wife, Abigail, and others named in the files gave to Brown. Brown never took money from Les Wexner himself, FEC records show.

Wexner testified under oath that he never asked Husted or anyone else to block the files. In a statement to Congress, he said, "I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide."

The Bottom Line

Jon Husted pocketed the maximum check from a man the FBI once listed as a possible Epstein co-conspirator, then voted to keep the files buried until Trump gave Republicans permission to stop. He gave some of the money away only after he got caught. Ohio voters can decide on November 3 whether that is good enough.

Sources: The New Republic (Edith Olmsted), TiffinOhio, NOTUS, NBC News, the Morning Journal, the Associated Press via WOSU, Ohio Democratic Party, Crosstab, FEC records and the U.S. Senate roll call.

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