Ken Vogel

Admit It. Gavin Newsom Is the 2028 Front-runner. For years, Democrats and pundits have rolled their eyes at Gavin Newsom. But he’s positioned better than anyone else for the future of politics.

JMart anoints Gavin Newsom the 2028 Democratic presidential front runner:

There may not be a modern political figure who was simultaneously so well-positioned to be the nominee & so doubted by the smart set since Joe Biden in 2020.

While Asian Immigrants Work, Burglars Target Their Homes

This is devious:

Across the U.S., burglary rings run by Colombian nationals & others have stolen millions of dollars from the homes of first generation Asian small business owners who work long-but-predictable hours & are believed to be more likely to keep large amounts of money at home.

Ponzi Schemer Who Got Trump Clemency Faces 50 Years in New Fraud A convicted Ponzi schemer whose 24-year prison term was commuted by President Donald Trump in 2021 was sentenced to another 37 years behind bars for stealing $44 million from investors after he was re...

In 2021, Trump commuted the 24-year sentence of Ponzi schemer Eliyahu Weinstein.

In 2023, Weinstein was charged with a new fraud.

On Friday, he was sentenced to 37 years by a judge who chastised him for squandered his 2nd chance, & called him "a predator that has stolen investors’ life savings."

My suspicion is you probably would be less inclined to falsely accuse women of having "shriveled, elderly, drug addled penises currently inserted in" them, if you had to do so under your name. Very brave!

If you feel so strongly about your scurrilous ad hominems, you should put your name on your account.

After you post something like this, do you feel good about yourself?

Ah so I am seeking access to Olivia?

Am I an access journalist?

Olivia Nuzzi Did It All for Love

RFK Jr. still uses psychedelics, & even smoked DMT, a powerful drug on which people are known to have what feel like near-death experiences, he told Olivia Nuzzi.

That’s just one of the revelations in her forthcoming book “American Canto.”

(I preordered)

Zelensky’s Image Is Stained as Corruption Inquiry Shakes His Inner Circle

Volodymyr Zelensky ran for president of Ukraine on an anti-corruption platform.

But investigators say a criminal organization led by one his business partners siphoned & laundered $100m from the country’s publicly owned nuclear power company & engaged in other fraud & financial crimes.

Join me next Wednesday 11/19 when I speak at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York on my book on China, #AtTheEdgeOfEmpire. It won the Baifang Schell Book Prize from the Asia Society and was a finalist for the Orwell Prize. Ticket info: www.eventbrite.com/e/moca-talks...

How Pakistan’s Spending Blitz Helped Win Over Trump and Flip U.S. Policy

Pakistan had a rocky relationship with Trump.

Then it signed lobbying contracts worth millions with his ex-business partners & his ex-bodyguard/aide Keith Schiller.

After that, it got tariff relief & a rare White House lunch for its top military leader with Trump.

Trump Administration Live Updates: House to Take Up Bill to End Shutdown

In a letter received Wednesday, Trump formally asked Israel's president Isaac Herzog to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu.

It is not clear whether Herzog, who serves in a largely ceremonial post, could legally issue the pardon before Netanyahu is convicted.

How Trump Has Exploited Pardons and Clemency to Reward Allies and Supporters The president’s second term has brought a flood of clemency for allies and donors — as well as felons, like him, who were convicted of financial wrongdoing.

Of the roughly 1,600 people who have gotten pardoned by Trump in his 2nd term, only 10 had filed petitions to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, & even within that small group, some did not appear to meet the Justice Department’s standards & requirements for identifying & vetting worthy recipients.

Their son is a pharmacist in the state as well & was on the board of pharmacy at one point. (I’m a pharmacist in TN).

Trump Pardons the Husband of a Republican Congressional Ally

NEW: Trump pardons the husband of GOP Rep. Diana Harshbarger.

Bob Harshbarger pleaded guilty to fraud & distributing kidney drugs from China that weren't FDA approved.

His wife was an officer in the company, but claimed she wasn't involved.

The WH says the pardon was not related to his last name

Rudy Giuliani, Jan. 17, 2021:

“I do not need a pardon. I don’t commit crimes."

D.C. plastic surgeons see surge in "Mar‑a‑Lago face" requests from Trump insiders "[They] want to look like they had something done."

MAR-A-LAGO FACE:

Washington, DC plastic surgeons are accustomed to clients who don't want it to be obvious they've had work done.

But people who swept into town under Trump 2.0 are asking for "a more done look, like that Mar-a-Lago face," one plastic surgeon told @axios.com.

“I’d love to have your job someday,” Trump tells the Fox NFL crew broadcasting the Commanders vs Lions game.

2 Major League Baseball Pitchers Are Charged in Gambling Investigation

In their sophisticated lobbying campaign to legalize sports betting, the professional leagues & gambling companies argued that legalization would REDUCE the risk of corruption by bringing the industry into the light.

That…does not seem to have happened.

The cowboy lobbyist who refused to represent ‘disgusting’ Andrew Robert Stryk takes a long draw on his cigar and, as the smoke wafts into the Virginia sky past the brim of his Stetson, he explains why he turned down Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s desperate request fo...

The Trump-tied lobbyist Robert Stryk is working to lift US sanctions on Putin crony Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec, which supplies arms to Russia's army.

"I don’t put a moral or ethical judgment on any of it," Stryk, whose father emigrated from Ukraine, tells the @telegraphnews.bsky.social.

Trump has pardoned Troy Lake, according to Senator Lummis.

Lake, who owned a diesel servicing company, had pleaded guilty to disabling emissions controls on hundreds of heavy-duty commercial trucks.

A study showed that it caused increases in carbon monoxide & pollutants known to cause lung cancer.

YouTube video by Ken Vogel Executive Branch, the private club owned by Donald Trump Jr & associates, does not welcome reporters

I recently stopped by Executive Branch (the private club owned by Don Jr. & associates) to record footage for a program on the blurry line between Trump's administration & his family's business.

I was not welcomed.

"Trump's Big Business" will air on Nov 10 at 7pm CET on the Pro7 network in Germany

Trump Pardons Ex-Officer Convicted in a Chinese Government Plot

SCOOP: Trump is pardoning Michael McMahon, a retired NYC cop convicted of acting as an unregistered Chinese agent in a plot to intimidate a Chinese family in NJ.

Prosecutors said it was part of a CCP effort to control Chinese nationals around the world.

The WH says McMahon was tricked into it.

Antisemitism Task Force Severs Ties With the Heritage Foundation

NEW: The National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism has severed ties with the Heritage Foundation, adding to the tumult at the venerable conservative think tank & underscoring a deepening rift on the right between Israel supporters & America Firsters.

The Steve Schmidt-co-founded dark money group @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social has plastered these posters on a downtown DC construction site.

Before denouncing AIPAC, Moulton sought group’s endorsement for Senate campaign, source says Moulton turned against the group when it was unable to guarantee him an endorsement upon the launch of his Senate campaign, a source told JI

Before making public denunciations and rejections of AIPAC an early pillar of his primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Seth Moulton spent months seeking a promise that the group would endorse him upon the announcement of his campaign.

Trump Advisers Were Paid Over $1.6 Million by the Albanian Opposition

NEW: Trump advisers Chris LaCivita, Paul Manafort & Tony Fabrizio were paid a total of nearly $1.7 million over the course of less than 4 months by the party of the Albanian opposition leader Sali Berisha, who is sanctioned by the State Department for "significant corruption."

Donors to Trump’s Ballroom Are Asked Why They Chose to Remain Incognito

NEW: Donors to Trump's ballroom are asked by @blumenthal.senate.gov why they chose to shield their identities & "what promises may have been or may yet be made in exchange for what presumably will be substantial contributions."

Fact-Checking Trump’s Claim About SNAP and Partisanship

Trump on Friday characterized a lapse in SNAP funding as a problem that would hurt “largely Democrats.”

In fact, though, millions of people who rely on food stamps reside in Republican states & districts, Linda Qiu reports.