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Former special counsel Jack Smith told the Senate that he found proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump committed serious crimes. The federal government has spent at least $1.7 million on taxpayer-funded television ads promoting the president just weeks before the midterms. The State Department awarded a $50,000 contract to a company with Kremlin ties. And ICE raids in deep-red states are costing the meatpacking industry millions and forcing Republicans to come up with uncomfortable excuses.
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He would be in prison right now if the justice system moved as fast as he moved those documents.
Former special counsel Jack Smith told the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday that his investigation produced evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt” Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election and illegally hoard national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago club.
Smith was appointed in 2022 to investigate Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents after he left office. He got indictments from grand juries in two separate federal districts, but the cases were dropped after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
Smith testified Trump stored top-secret national security documents in a bathroom and a ballroom where gatherings were held. His team determined that Trump held onto the documents not out of carelessness, but to advance his own business interests.
Smith has wanted to testify before Congress for months but has been blocked by Republicans. He spent eight hours behind closed doors before the House Judiciary Committee in December, but Tuesday’s hearing was his first appearance before the Senate in open session.
Why would a self-described billionaire spend his own money when yours is right there?
The Trump administration has produced three taxpayer-funded television ads touting the president less than 40 days before the November midterm elections, costing at least $1.7 million in public funds so far, according to AdImpact, which tracks media spending.
The latest ad is nearly the same as one Trump put up on Truth Social in 2023 when he was running for president. Both versions show Trump walking down a black and white hallway, promising to destroy the deep state and drain the swamp. The only change is the disclaimer that says “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”
Top Democratic appropriators have sent a letter to the administration demanding that the ads be pulled and that the sources of funding be disclosed. In a letter to the White House, they said the ads are “most certainly” violating the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which prohibits taxpayer dollars from being used for government propaganda.
Even Republicans have condemned the ads, with Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina telling reporters, “I hate it. It feels like Viktor Orbán talking to the Hungarian people. There’s no place for that sort of thing.”
Russia didn’t even have to hack us this time.
The State Department awarded a $50,000 contract to a company called Oxygen Forensics on August 28, the same day a whistleblower exposed the company as a front for Russian ownership. The company had sold phone hacking software to federal agencies for years and it’s not clear how much of that technology was compromised.
The Justice Department announced last week that Oxygen Forensics CEO Lee Reiber and Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov had been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to an indictment, the company was owned and controlled by five Russian nationals, including Davydov, through a holding company in Cyprus.
The company allegedly concealed its Russian ownership after the U.S. imposed additional sanctions on Russia in early 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine. Reiber was named CEO and references to Russian ownership were scrubbed from the company’s public filings.
The company’s products have been used by the Defense Department, Secret Service, National Computer Forensics Institute, Homeland Security Investigations, and the DHS Office of the Inspector General. Data from federal procurement indicates the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb could have also been compromised.
The leopards are done eating faces and have moved on to beef.
ICE raids have shut down meatpacking plants in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, making workers too afraid to show up for work. The shutdowns have already cost the industry millions of dollars in lost revenue, prompting major cattle industry groups to publicly call on the administration to stop.
Scarlett Mabinger of the Kansas Livestock Association said multiple meatpacking plants in southwest Kansas had to shut down after workers spotted federal immigration officers in their communities and stopped coming in. Those plants usually process thousands of cattle a day, and the animals had to be sent back to feedlots at the owners’ expense.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed ICE officers were in Kansas but said they were not conducting worksite raids. Secretary Markwayne Mullin said they were targeting “heinous criminals,” despite federal data indicating more than half of those arrested in July had no criminal convictions or pending charges.
In the last election, voters in the affected Kansas counties supported Trump by more than 65 percent. Senator Roger Marshall, a Republican facing a tough midterm race, and fellow Republican Jerry Moran have both called on the administration to work with local officials. Neither has used the word “wrong.”
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** Utah State Representative Charged With Fraud, Resigns Immediately.** State Rep. Trevor Lee of Utah was charged Monday with multiple counts of fraud and forgery after investigators said he fabricated his income and forged the signature of a former employer to obtain a $1 million home loan. Lee told one company he would return $93,000 in cash advances by securing them a government contract with Hill Air Force Base, and submitted an offer letter from another company with a $190,000 salary he said would never be paid. He told investigators the documents were fake and resigned from his seat immediately after charges were filed.
California Governor Signs Law Allowing Residents to Sue ICE and Border Patrol. On Monday, Governor Newsom signed SB 747 into law, allowing Californians to sue federal officers in civil court if their constitutional rights are violated. The No Kings Act became effective immediately upon signing and is retroactive to incidents dating back to March 1, 2025. It closes a legal loophole created by the Supreme Court’s narrowing of so-called Bivens actions, which had granted federal officers de facto immunity for willful violations of constitutional rights. California is now one of four states to pass some version of the proposal, representing over 70 million Americans in total.
Mamdani Opens Jobs NYC Center to Connect New Yorkers With Public Service Careers. Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Monday the opening of the Jobs NYC Center, a new walk-in hub at 2 Lafayette St. in Manhattan that will connect New Yorkers with careers in city government. Small Business Services and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services developed the center, turning a long-vacant city-owned space into a home for career services, job fairs, Civil Service exam information, and networking events. Mamdani said in a statement that the path to public service should not be difficult to navigate, and that every New Yorker deserves a real shot at a good job. Walk-in hours begin Oct. 5.
Second Appeals Court Rules That Kalshi’s Sports Bets Are Not Federally Protected. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Friday unanimously ruled that sports event contracts offered by prediction market platform Kalshi are not “swaps” under federal commodities law and are instead subject to state gambling laws. This is the second appellate court to side with the states in the ongoing legal fight over prediction markets, joining the Ninth Circuit, which ruled similarly last month on Nevada’s ability to regulate the platform. Kalshi has said its products are complicated financial instruments regulated only by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission but the court found a wager on whether a quarterback throws a touchdown is not a complex economic swap.
