Richard Tofel

Delighted (and surprised) to report that today's column is already the most-viewed in the five years of Second Rough Draft.

Republicans Toil to Avoid Saying ‘War’ as Iran Conflict Widens

79 years later, and six months late, the Trumpers learn why Truman was smart to call it the Department of Defense
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/u...

Somewhat surprising that Trump would want to give Kevin Stitt, one of his least favorite Republican governors, the chance to fill a senate seat, even if only for five months.

How can that possibly be legal absent a congressional declaration of war?

As the circumstances surrounding the US sinking of the Iranian ship become clearer, it seems the White House position is that we are now at liberty to kill any uniformed Iranian forces, even if unarmed, at great distance from the theater of operations and posing no threat. 1/2

Learning from the Press Forward Infrastructure Proposals: A Conversation with Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro On picking winners, letting things die and the need for consolidation of both newsrooms and intermediaries

Forthcoming report on Press Forward infrastructure proposals raises critical questions about nonprofit journalism. This week’s Second Rough Draft newsletter

open.substack.com/pub/dicktofe...

This is the date of
Jefferson’s “we are all republicans, we are all democrats”
Lincoln’s “with malice toward none”
FDR’s only fearing “fear itself”
and of
Pete Hegseth attacking the press for reporting on war deaths

Kristi Noem Misled Congress About Top Aide’s Role in DHS Contracts Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Noem denied that Corey Lewandowski had any role in approving contracts. But internal DHS records and interviews with current and former agency staffer...

The latest installment in the Shame of the Senate: Noem lied under oath yesterday about her boyfriend and the Republican majority will do nothing about it.
www.propublica.org/article/kris...

Will we protect Iranians who take to the streets or not? This is the only one of these questions to which the answer seems clear. And the answer is that, as with a few months ago, we will not.

Trump and Netanyahu call on the Iranian people to revolt, while sources quietly pass the word that the new effective leader is someone with whom we hope to make a nuclear deal.
Are we seeking regime change or not?
Would we now accept the Obama deal by another name or not? 1/2

The tech bro’s stood by when Trump and his cabinet goons came for international relief aid, public broadcasting, great universities, law firms, political opponents, peaceful protesters, late night comedy, broadcast news and public health.
Now they are starting to figure out that no one is safe.

Life after broadcast: What mission-driven media must become as audiences and funding move on - Editor and Publisher As audiences and funding drift away from traditional broadcast models, Tom Davidson argues that the real challenge facing public media — and legacy outlets of every kind — is not survival, but reinven...

Thanks so much to Tom Davidson for this excellent piece and very kind shout out
www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/life...

The First Couple of a Dysfunctional DHS A forthcoming book reveals new details about Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski.

Only thing really new I see in this piece is an old fashioned blind gossip item that someone on the White House staff is currently involved in adultery.
That seems pretty gratuitous, and also off-putting: if newsworthy, tell us the facts; if not, why publish?
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

I am sure you aren’t. But don’t the responses trouble you, even so?

Thinking About the Fragility of a Free Press Why our values may be less universal than we assume— and what to do about it

Why support for a free press may be less than we think— and what to do about it. This week’s Second Rough Draft newsletter

open.substack.com/pub/dicktofe...

Hilton Head victim is at center of Jeffrey Epstein storm. DOJ denies missteps. A Hilton Head, SC victim is the subject of swirling controversy about the Justice Department not releasing several documents concerning Jeffrey Epstein.

Marilyn Thompson is a former leader of the WaPo investigative team, a Pulitzer-winning editor, former newspaper editor in Lexington, KY, once So. Carolina journalist of the year and a vet of the NYT, LAT and ProPublica.
Has she found the Epstein smoking gun?
www.postandcourier.com/news/hilton-...

The point on Mandelson is more obtuse, but still repugnant.
Leaking secret, market-moving info to a market player who keeps giving you money in various forms seems a pretty serious crime. In any rule of law country.
UK is actually setting an example here that one day the US might again emulate.

Opinion | Even Contemptible Men Don’t Deserve Mob Justice Ex-Prince Andrew, once a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, falls victim to a trans-Atlantic moral panic.

If you’ve wondered why so many WSJ alums were sorry the author of this piece ever ran the paper, just read this.
Andrew’s sin: that he’s boring and dumb. And the assertion is that there is no evidence that he committed a sex crime, when there is ample such evidence. 1/
www.wsj.com/opinion/even...

Friday-Trump announces 10% tariffs
Saturday- increases them to 15%, with sources noting that 10% level undermines deals already reached. Tuesday- tariffs go into effect, but only at 10%. Work on 15% still underway; White House says they will take effect soon.
Resulting uncertainty wreaks havoc.

Exclusive: Storied, faceless, and stubbornly profitable: The Economist braces for change A publication famed for its brilliant, monolithic anonymity faces a moment of intense individualization and personalization.

Not a positive sign for anything when the median consumer ages 10 years over a period of just 11 years.
www.semafor.com/article/02/2...

Delaying $100 billion plus in refunds of taxes Trump illegally levied will also create uncertainty for those importers, while immediately increasing federal deficit projections, and thus interest rates.

Of all the nonsense Trump spewed yesterday about tariffs, the biggest was that we now have certainty.
In fact, his now 15% temporary levy will freeze all imports that can be postponed.
And that his latest statutory vehicles don’t permit constant adjustment will trigger enormous uncertainty.

The Court clearly ruled that the emergency tariffs were illegally imposed. Hard to imagine even what the argument is for not eventually refunding all the money illegally collected.
The Court’s silence today on remedies wouldn’t seem to affect that.

We now know why the tariff decision was delayed: the Trump appointees were fighting among themselves on their shiny, new “major questions” doctrine:
Gorsuch takes it seriously.
Barrett is having serious second thoughts.
Kavanaugh would discard it when politically inconvenient.

Epstein accountability:
UK royalty
UK government
Norwegian government
Goldman Sachs
Paul Weiss
Hyatt Hotels

No accountability:
Trump
Trump cabinet (Lutnick lies to Congress)
Trump Justice Department

Thinking Through the Hardest Business Problem in American Journalism Today The missing element in many news deserts is money

another banger @dicktofel.bsky.social newsletter on the hardest journalism problem to solve: money. open.substack.com/pub/dicktofe...

With the revelations that @theatlantic.com measles piece was first posted with no editor’s note and that it a PR rep initially said the story was true, the editors there need to acknowledge that this was mishandled.
The failure was not with the writer, but with editors.

Thinking Through the Hardest Business Problem in American Journalism Today The missing element in many news deserts is money

We shouldn’t look away from the difficulty of bringing local news to places with less money. This week’s Second Rough Draft newsletter

open.substack.com/pub/dicktofe...

Noem's use of Coast Guard resources strains her relationship with the military branch, sources say Some early decisions by the homeland security secretary, including to divert Coast Guard resources from a search-and-rescue mission to the deportation of immigrants, set the tone early.

When Kristi Noem’s heated blankie was found to have been left behind, her “aide” told the Coast Guard pilot to turn the plane around and fetch it. When the pilot refused, the “aide” said the pilot was fired. NBC has three witnesses.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...