If you get value from this newsletter, please consider making a voluntary contribution to support my work. You can contribute ANY amount you wish via any of the following routes: * Buy me a cocktail (at Palm Beach prices….), tax and server tip included, by clicking here. * Buy me a cup of coffee (or a month’s worth) by clicking here. Or use one of these methods: * Check. send a simple email to markhalperintalk@gmail.com and ask where you can send a piece of paper. • PayPal. markhalperinnyc@gmail.com • Venmo. Mark-Halperin-4 (telephone number ends in x3226) • Zelle. markhalperinnyc@gmail.com Remember: There are no ads, sponsors, investors, staff, or corporate backers with the Wide World of News. It is just me doing this, seven days a week. To become a voluntary paid subscriber, click this blue button and sign up to be a monthly or annual subscriber – or, if you are feeling super generous, a Founding Member: Thank you for your support! Mark **** TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP TRUMPThose of us who thought that unfolding events related to Mar-a-Lago would be at the top of the news stack every moment until Election Day turned out to be wrong. But, oh, today, we were right. Nothing that has happened in the last 24 hours (or will happen in the next 24 hours or 24 days) will change these three realities, which “we” were right about long ago: 1. Donald Trump improperly took government documents to his home/club, improperly handled classified information, engaged in an effort to improperly refuse formal requests to return the documents, likely engaged in an illegal effort to obstruct justice, and lied about it all. 2. Merrick Garland has to decide whether it is right for America to indict Trump for all this, not whether the facts demonstrate the law was broken. 3. Executive branch officials (DOJ and FBI) have engaged and will continue to engage in authorized leaks about this case to the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal to further their interests. In this latest twist, the Post and Times had sequential exclusives. The Post went first:
Now we go into Rumsfeld mode. KNOWN KNOWNS* Between the Mar-a-Lago news and the 1/6 hearing, the Dominant Media will be all Trump from now through and beyond primetime cable. * The name “Walt Nauta” will be googled a lot today. * This, from the Washington Post, is very true:
* These tweets sum of up the view of Blue Twitter perfectly: ![]() Between this ⬇️and the testimony of Alex Cannon (to name just two recent developments) Trump's MAL goose is cooked. As I have oft said, the issue is no longer the proof, but DOJ's will. Trump worker told FBI about moving MAL boxes on Trump's orders ![]() Astonishing level of evidence. That would convince jurors. Witnesses have told federal investigators: After subpoena for classified docs, "Trump told people to move boxes to his residence at the property"! "Corroborated by the security-camera footage"! ![]() This increases the chance of Trump being indicted after the upcoming election unless Garland is dead set against it. My Washington Post subscription allows me to share access to great journalism. Check out this gift article, at no cost to you. Read here: * This was so predictable, as in “shocking but not surprising”: * The timing of these “leaks” is neither a coincidence nor random. * The 1/6 investigative and production team teed up today’s session to stoke massive media interest; it has been well rehearsed; it will be treated as a blockbuster by the Dominant Media. The Washington Post has the best details on what you can expect from the hearing. * This sentence from the Wall Street Journal belongs in a time capsule:
* KNOWN UNKNOWNS* Is “it” Walt Nauta or not? The New York Times responded to having to eat the Washington Post’s dust by going one big step further:
* What has the interaction between Donald Trump and Walt Nauta been? * What is Trump’s attitude toward Nauta? * If it wasn’t Nauta who the Washington Post referenced, who is it? * What is the precise motives of those putting out this information now? * Is this coming from DOJ, FBI, or Trump World? * What will be the lede of the 1/6 hearing? **** MIDTERM ESSENTIAL READINGThere is a clear sense in the politico-media world that the midterms are now on a trajectory for something substantially bigger than a Red trickle (although still not a tsunami). Meaning, the betting currently is that the floor on House Republican pickups is closer to 20 than 10, and maybe above 20. And the betting is now that Republicans will take the Senate majority. This overall view is reinforced by both anecdotal evidence and data. At the top of the anecdotal heap is a Democratic president who normally considers Altoona to be far enough is spending time 3,000 miles from DC in Oregon.
Some data from the Associated Press:
With Ron Johnson looking solidified in Wisconsin, and the bottom not dropping out for Herschel Walker, Republicans could end up +1 or +2, or even +3 in the Senate, which would, given the flow of expectations, be a big blow to the White House and the last two years of Biden’s term. As for the House, Karl Rove says Speaker Pelosi is bluffing, Henry Olsen says the campaign spending patterns suggest a big Red year, and Tom Edsall explores worries that Democrats are going to underperform with Hispanic voters. ![]() Four weeks out from the November election, here's how the general independent expenditures stand in the party-targeted House and US Senate races as of this morning. * Part II of Al Giordano’s 2022 Midterms Almanac is out. The veteran political reporter profiles 37 swing-district US House races, offering insight into the ground-level dynamics “to help readers more accurately measure in what races you can make a difference by participating in democracy (it’s not a spectator sport!) with 30 days to go until Election Day.” The newsletter goes to donors of $80 to the nonprofit Fund for Authentic Journalism in the same calendar year — and Giordano (who Vanity Fair described in 2008 as “the prophet of the Obama paradigm shift”) is generously offering 37.5% off to Wide World of News readers at a discount price of $50. Subscribers will also receive, prior to Election Day, Giordano’s midterm election projections; in 2018 he accurately projected the Democratic pickup of exactly 40 House seats. Readers can make use of the discount via this link and will be sent same day delivery of the 2022 Midterms Almanac, Parts I and II. * The New York Times looks at how some Republican candidates are talking out of both sides of their mouths about Donald Trump – which could account for the Mar-a-Lago “leaks” and the timing of the 1/6 hearing. * How worried are Democrats about immigration as an issue? You will want to read twin New York Post stories, one on what Nancy Pelosi said on Manhattan, and this:
**** ESSENTIAL READING/VIEWING* So much for Washington pushing back on the Saudis any time soon with the whip hand:
* The Wall Street Journal profiles the man investigating Hunter Biden,David Weiss, Delaware’s top federal prosecutor. * Dear citizens of Blue America: If you want to understand the Red mindset, read these tweets not with anger but with an opoen mind: You’re a free subscriber to Wide World of News. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |

















