“The civil case against seven Cornell fraternity men was a media spectacle from Day 1, thanks to the shrewd actions of the accuser’s attorneys — and the circus is only getting crazier. That means a near-zero chance of fairness for the accused when the case goes to trial, unless the court shuts down the theatrics pronto. The lawsuit springing from the actions of eight college kids boasts an all-star cast of legal titans: Thomas Giuffra, who’s lawyering for the female accuser, has raked in millions representing women who accused Harvey Weinstein and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of sexual assault. Mark Geragos, who has represented Combs, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Hunter Biden, is appearing on TMZ, acting as what Giuffra calls a ‘shadow member’ of Doe’s team. These big-shot lawyers are on the case because deep-pocketed Cornell University is also one of the defendants.” (10/20/26)
“The Department of Justice’s inspector general has declined to investigate the handling of the criminal case against a former Olympian cleared of accusations that he intentionally damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to a letter Wednesday from the man’s lawyers. The internal watchdog told David Hearn’s lawyers that the allegations of professional misconduct that they made fall outside its jurisdiction and are instead within the purview of the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, according to the letter, which urges Inspector General Don R. Berthiaume to reconsider the decision. ‘Given the substantial public attention devoted to this matter, and the significant questions raised concerning the conduct of federal officials, declining independent review would risk undermining public confidence in the Department’s ability to police its own conduct. Such a result would be inconsistent with the purposes for which Congress established the OIG and would be a betrayal of its mission,’ the letter says.” (10/21/26)
“Russia is ‘ready in principle’ to resume talks with the US and Ukraine on ending the conflict, Vladimir Putin’s top aide has said. Yuri Ushakov was speaking after Putin met US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in the Russian city of St Petersburg. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and his European allies have been pressing Moscow for an immediate resumption of the talks suspended in February, and Ushakov said a new round could be held next month. Russia has for months refused talks as it believes it is winning on the battlefield with Ukraine facing an acute shortage of interceptors against deadly Russian missile attacks. Witkoff went to St Petersburg after meeting Zelensky as well as the leaders of Norway and Finland in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on Monday.” (10/21/26)
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen & Maureen Tkacik
“Four months ago, a Kansas-based private equity mogul named Dan Tasset posted on LinkedIn about his admiration for a trusted representative in Congress. ‘I’ve known Senator Roger Marshall for many years and have long appreciated his willingness to engage thoughtfully on healthcare policy issues impacting physicians, patients, and independent care delivery’, Tasset wrote. He mentioned that Sen. Marshall recently met with an administrator from an ambulatory surgical center (ASC) who aimed to improve the Medicare reimbursement system. Tasset’s private equity firm, Nueterra, owns that surgical center, and he and his employee were promoting a bill that would make ASCs more attractive to patients.” (10/21/26)
“There are two ways of looking at the midterms, now less than three weeks away: One is as a simple referendum on the issues and politicians of the day. The other involves a far deeper conflict of visions (as Thomas Sowell puts it): socialism versus capitalism, intrusive versus limited government, and the destruction of time-honored institutions and traditions versus their preservation and renewal. Rarely in American history have the two parties been so far apart or the choice between them so stark. In brief, Islamist-sympathizing socialism is on the ballot against free-market capitalism and American exceptionalism. The new Islamist-allied socialist Democratic Party is confident, largely because the party holding the White House has increased its share of House seats in a midterm election only three times since 1900. Each of those exceptions arose under unusual circumstances.” (10/20/26)
“Paris is burning. So is much of France and other places across Europe. What was billed as a ‘student protest’ was soon overrun with communist and Palestinian flags (but I repeat myself), Arafat doilies draped over heads and shoulders, and ‘newly arrived’ Muslims from across the Mediterranean Sea. Unless schools are very different in France, I don’t think we’re dealing with students here. It is, as it is every single time you find violence, the radical left. Crazy, evil leftists willing to blindly throw bricks at police, loot stores, pummel anyone deemed impure and to do it all with a sense of superiority.” (10/20/26)
“‘This historic fraud happened under her watch, and suddenly, she’s looking out for Medicaid and SNAP? Sell it to someone else, Peggy.’ With this debate response to Minnesota Democratic Senate nominee Peggy Flanagan’s protestations of concern over access to benefits for the very poor, Republican nominee for Senate Michele Tafoya sealed her status as ‘rookie of the year’ in American politics. A longtime NFL broadcast professional, Tafoya demonstrated decades of quick on-camera thinking in her debate last week with Flanagan and combined it with a deft slash at Flanagan’s greatest vulnerability: Flanagan’s apprenticeship as lieutenant governor to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during the tidal wave of fraud that swept across Minnesota after COVID-era ‘look-the-other-way’ policies became a feature, not a bug, in Minnesota’s vast system of ‘safety net’ programs.” [editor’s note: At the moment, Flanagan seems to be polling ahead of Tafoya, but not by a lot. It will be about turnout – TLK] (10/20/26)
“Californians have been told for months or even years: Noncitizen voting is as mythical as Bigfoot. Well, we just had a few sightings. As the California Post reported, federal authorities on Monday charged 28 foreign nationals with alleged election-related crimes, including illegally registering to vote and, in some cases, casting votes in past elections. The feds called ‘Operation Protect the Vote’ the largest voter fraud bust in state history. And it underscores a basic truth in California: Fraud of all kinds has run amok for years; it needs to end; and state voters in November would do well to support Prop. 39, the Voter ID act — to help ensure that at least part of it does.” [editor’s note: Prosecutors claim 21 of those charged voted illegally. So slightly fewer than one one-millionth of registered California voters -TLK] (10/19/26)
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Kyiv is once again receiving early warnings from its partners following recent Russian missile attacks that he said occurred without enough notice. For at least a week, the Ukrainian leader has said that his country’s military has not received early warnings about ballistic missiles aimed at the capital. He said such intelligence saves lives by allowing alerts to the public and giving military units time to try to intercept the missiles. Zelenskyy said the change happened after talks with his American counterparts, including a phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier in the day. ‘We are thankful that intelligence works now, and I’m speaking about early warning, which is very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians, because we can hear when ballistic is coming,’ Zelenskyy said on a visit to Norway. ‘So we are thankful to American side now that it works.'” (10/20/26)
“Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI] has added schoolyard taunts to his call to pack the Supreme Court with an instant liberal majority. Last week, Whitehouse denounced former President Joe Biden and other Democrats for being ‘too chicken’ to pack the Court and, in the view of many of us, destroy the institution that has been critical to the success of this Republic for 250 years. The Lever’s David Sirota, a former speechwriter and adviser to Bernie Sanders, set the table for Whitehouse by asking him about how the public can join the resistance to the Court, which is ‘enabling an anti-democratic project.'” (10/20/26)
