SINCERETALK

President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi not because she did her job poorly (although she did), but because she was insufficiently corrupt. At least that is the claim made by expert legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin , who wrote for The New York Times on Thursday that Trump fired Bondi for a “bad” reason, namely her failure to effectively abuse her office to prosecute his political enemies. In September he blasted her publicly for failing to get convictions against former F.B.I. director James Comey, Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, and The Daily Mail reported that Thursday he was also upset she notified Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), with whom she has a friendly relationship, about an impending investigation into his alleged relationship with an accused Chinese spy. The Daily Mail also reported that Bondi "begged" to keep her job in a "dramatic" scene in the White House. “The fact that Ms. Bondi has failed in these abu...

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports a Republican-aligned financial services firm agreed Wednesday to repay $6.7 million to more than 40 investors who lost money in the collapse of politically connected First Liberty Building & Loan. The payoff is tied to a widening investigation into a conservative group that created a massive Ponzi scheme primarily afflicting Republican donors. First Liberty Building & Loan’s restitution agreement is merely one facet of the “$140 million … scheme that defrauded some 300 investors overall,” reports AJC. “A recent court filing now contends First Liberty raised about $156 million from investors.” First Liberty once courted conservative-leaning investors and touted its ability to “say yes to borrowers when the big banks said no,” but it shut down last June and took investors’ money with it. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission soon stepped in, filing a lawsuit accusing the company of operating an investment scheme. State agency p...

American Conservative Managing Editor Jude Russo has no patience for President Donald Trump or his lieutenants proposing endless U.S. intervention in Iran for the foreseeable future. He also has no love for their deft use of labels to deny the obvious. “Let’s all give a hand for Marco Rubio, secretary of state, favored champion of the White House, and all-around cretinous worm,” said Russo . “The Amazing Plastic Man — the adjective refers to his flexible principles, not his increasingly inflexible face — was hitting the airwaves this Monday morning to articulate the latest version of what the Trump administration regards as its war aims. Excuse me, military operation aims; President Donald Trump has figured out the One Weird Trick around constitutional checks on executive war powers. You just have to use the right words!” “Well, the war is — this operation, okay — and that’s what this is — is about very specific objectives,” Rubio told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. Rubio was ther...

President Donald Trump is in a state of political “free fall,” argued an expert on Tuesday, but that does not mean Democrats are poised to capitalize on it. “Donald Trump is in trouble,” wrote Time Magazine senior correspondent Philip Elliott . “Poll after poll show him posting his worst numbers yet. Record crowds took to the streets this weekend in the single largest day of political protest in the nation’s 250-year history. His Department of Homeland Security remains shuttered because his allies in the Republican-led Congress cannot sort out a spending plan. Construction projects like a West Wing ballroom and proposed Miami skyscraper of a presidential library are roundly mocked. Gas prices seem to be coasting toward $5 a gallon, consumer confidence is in freefall, and the joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran remains deeply unpopular.” Yet despite these theoretical advantages, Elliott warned that Democrats could “stumble” in trying to retake the Senate and House of Representatives...

President Donald Trump is acting like a man who does not believe it matters whether what he does hurts his party in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, according to a recent report. "Fourteen months into a second term defined by the president's heightened ambition and a dearth of dissenting voices, Trump remains in what can only be defined as YOLO mode,” wrote Politico journalists Alex Gangitano, Eli Stokols, and Megan Messerly on Monday . “But the lack of restraint from an executive who won't have to face voters again has put his party in danger of losing the House and possibly the Senate too." On Iran, Gangitano, Stokols and Messerly pointed out that Trump’s handling of the conflict is disliked by roughly six out of ten voters, and yet he is still proceeding undeterred. As a result Trump's "unconventional approach could make his fears about a Democratic-controlled Congress in the final two years of his term something of a self-fulfilling prophecy....

Homeland Security staffers are not done attacking their disgraced ex-boss, Kristi Noem. Speaking with The Daily Beast for a new report, "top officials" revealed that they were driven "to extremes" to try and hide their conversations from the former secretary, revealing that an overtly "toxic" environment led many to fear they were being watched. According to "one experienced staffer," Noem and her informal lieutenant, Corey Lewandowski, created the "most toxic" work environment they had ever experienced at DHS's headquarters in Washington, D.C., riddled with "distrust, abuse, and corruption." Because of this, sources revealed how "top ICE bosses" took extreme measures "to mask their private discussions, amid fears they were being monitored." These measures involved the use of a high-tech "sound machine" gadget, which the outlet likened to a piece of espionage out of a James Bond film. ...