This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 256.

… A firestorm erupted this weekend over whether the US’s 28 point “peace plan” to end the war in Ukraine came directly from the Russians. If you read these Bulletins, since the plan was first revealed in Axios, I have cited various sources who said it appeared to be something that came directly from the Kremlin that was translated into English and adopted by the US. What made it even worse was that Trump demanded Ukraine accept the surrender plan by this Thur.

… Reuters: “US officials and lawmakers are increasingly concerned about a meeting last month in which representatives of the Trump admin met with Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian envoy who is under US sanctions, to draft a plan to end the war in Ukraine. The meeting took place in Miami at the end of Oct and included special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Dmitriev, who leads the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

… “Dmitriev, who is blacklisted by the US via sanctions, flew to the US at the end of Oct. He held meetings at the Faena Hotel in Miami, including with Rep. Anna Luna. In Russian state videos and images from the meeting, Luna is seen accepting a box of chocolates with Putin’s face on it. The Faena Hotel is owned by Len Blavatnik, whose company works closely with Witkoff’s.”

… “Senior officials inside the NSC and State Dept said they weren’t briefed on the meeting and were unaware of what transpired or how the plan was drafted. Dmitriev has a history of meeting with Trump officials and allies in off-book meetings. He met with Erik Prince in the Seychelles in 2017 to discuss US-Russia relations and worked with a Kushner friend to develop a plan to reset ties between the countries.”

… Russian propagandist Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) then posted: “A strong deal is on the table for Ukrainians — and we need to get it done. This war must end. Russia has signaled it’s ready to come to the table, and the US supports a path to peace. Trump’s peace deal is the only path forward to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. This is the way. Take the deal, Zelensky.”

… Kyiv Post: “The foreign-policy unpredictability of the Trump admin reached a new apex this weekend, setting off an unprecedented messaging confrontation between Marco Rubio and a bipartisan bloc of US Senators over a proposal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. The immediate flashpoint: a leaked 28-point draft, reportedly crafted by Kremlin intermediaries and without Kyiv’s participation. This provenance instantly set the stage for a political firestorm.”

… “The document presents a harsh ultimatum to Ukraine: surrender large swaths of territory – including areas of the eastern Donbas region currently under Ukrainian control – drastically reduce the size of its armed forces, and constitutionally abandon any hope of joining NATO. The crisis exploded Sat after key US Senators attending the Halifax Intl Security Forum publicly recounted a private call with Rubio, who was en route to Geneva for talks on the plan.”

… Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD): “Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon. I think he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our reps. It is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan. It is a proposal that was received. And we did not release it. It was leaked. It was not released by our members or our reps. It even looked more like it was written in Russian to begin with.”

… That is not what was reported by Axios, and Rubio later denied what Rounds said and claimed it IS the proposal of the US and did not come from the Russians. Rubio posted on X: “The peace proposal was authored by the US. It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”

… I call bullshit.

… Anton LaGuardia, foreign policy correspondent for The Economist: “State Dept is backpedalling on Rubio’s backpedal. If for a moment you thought the grown-ups were back in charge, think again. We’re still in the circus. ‘Unbelievable,’ mutters one disbelieving senator.”

… Yaroslav Trofimov, foreign policy correspondent for WSJ: “Foreign nations now have to deal with rival factions of the US govt who keep major policy initiatives secret from each other and some of which work with foreign powers as the succession battle for 2028 begins, is how one diplomat put it.”

… Speigel investigative journalist Christo Grozev: “I happened to see an early version of the ‘peace plan’, about 6 months ago. It was a purely Russian concept and was nearly identical to what we see today (certainly the 50/50 Russian assets + EU investment in Ukraine reconstruction was there).”

… Garry Kasparov: “Incompetence and confusion, handing a major portfolio of state responsibility to Trump’s personal business partner. Privatized deals behind closed doors, away from the public eye and interest: the Putin model.”

… Sen. Angus King (I-ME) compared it to British PM Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 appeasement of Hitler. King: “It rewards aggression. This is pure and simple. There’s no ethical, legal, moral, political justification for Russia claiming eastern Ukraine.”

… Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH): “I have made it clear that I believe this is a Russian proposal. I hope that tomorrow’s negotiations in Geneva focus on a real framework that guarantees an outcome benefiting Ukraine rather than Russia. Any real peace plan must be sustainable and backed by Ukraine’s government and its people. And it should be developed in full consideration and consultation with our allies.”

… Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): “Some people better get fired on Monday for the gross buffoonery we just witnessed over the last 4 days. This hurt our country and undermined our alliances, and encouraged our adversaries.”

… Polish PM Donald Tusk: “Together with the leaders of Europe, Canada and Japan, we have declared our readiness to work on the 28-point plan despite some reservations. However, before we start our work, it would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created.”

… Jurgen Nauditt: “Trump’s ‘28-point peace plan’ turns out to be a Russian fake that went viral through skillful manipulation. Kirill Dmitriev (a top Russian official, ‘K.’) drafts the plan and leaks it to Axios before it is officially discussed in the US – as a PR move to put pressure on Kyiv. Witkoff is only briefed afterward for hours to lend the plan ‘weight.’ His accidental tweet (‘He must have gotten this from K.’) reveals the Russian origin and exposes the leak.”

… Nauditt is noting that when the story first broke, Witkoff gave the game away when he mistakenly responded to Ravid’s story with a post he then quickly deleted, that was likely supposed to be a DM to someone: “He must have got this (document) from K.”

… “The WH, State Dept, and other agencies are caught off guard; sanctions continue. Trump remains silent, then takes over and praises the plan as ‘his’ plan. An ultimatum (approval by Nov 27 or loss of US aid) fuels panic. Europe is engaged in heated debate, Trump backtracks slightly, but the damage is done: global uncertainty about Ukraine’s future, culminating in a summit in Switzerland on Nov 23.”

… “The plan rewards Russia’s aggression (e.g., territorial claims, refusal to join NATO) and threatens to divide Western unity. The escalation is no accident, but rather the result of errors and manipulation. Primarily responsible: Kirill Dmitriev: As architect and source of the leak, he is the central puppet master – a Russian PR coup that allowed the plan to ‘take on a life of its own’ before the US vote.”

… Axios reporter Barak Ravid, who broke the story for Axios, was also under fire after it appears that his source for the story was Dmitriev. That was not disclosed in his story, and if he got a report from a Kremlin operative and published it as the US plan without confirmation from any US official, that is a VERY bad look for Ravid and Axios.

… Ukraine war correspondent Jimmy Rushton: “Barak Ravid and Axios have quite a few questions to answer right now. They sit right at the heart of a major Russian active measures operation. This is exactly what my contacts at the US State Dept told me two days ago - nobody had seen the document: nobody was even aware that it EXISTED until it was reported by Axios.”

… Michael Weiss, a journalist who covers Russia: “Did 3 US Senators mishear or misrepresent what Rubio told them? Why did Rubio say this and give them permission to talk, or was the permission a misunderstanding too? If Rubio is trying to blow up this plan while negotiating it on behalf of the US, what does that say about the seriousness of this plan? Where is the US intel community on this? Has Ratcliffe weighed in on this doc and its provenance? Did journalists know Dmitriev was recording his conversations with them, as he now says he was? How do they feel about that?

… Trump then posted this: “UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA. THE USA CONTINUES TO SELL MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF WEAPONS TO NATO, FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UKRAINE (CROOKED JOE GAVE EVERYTHING, FREE, FREE, FREE, INCLUDING “BIG” MONEY!).”

… National security reporter Mark Toth: “Team Trump is not reading the room, let alone the Russians. Putin is playing a divide and conquer game and the WH is falling for it. This post is a 100% win for Russia. Trump slams Ukraine. He attacks Europe (thus dividing Washington from NATO as Dmitriev intended).

… Rep. Don Bacon: “Trump’s plan to force Ukraine to give up more territory, to cut its Army by more than half, to never join NATO nor let foreign troops in its territory is an abomination. Freedom loving Americans must tell the President that we reject the worst appeasement seen since 1938. The Russians said they respected Ukraine’s sovereignty and boundaries in 1994. What makes Trump think we can now trust Putin? This agreement weakens Ukraine and leaves them vulnerable to new Russian invasions in the years to come.”

… Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “Putin has spent the entire year trying to play Trump for a fool. If Admin officials are more concerned with appeasing Putin than securing real peace, then the President ought to find new advisors. Rewarding Russian butchery would be disastrous to America’s interests. This so-called ‘peace plan’ has real problems, and I am highly skeptical it will achieve peace. Ukraine should not be forced to give up its lands to one of the world’s most flagrant war criminals in Putin. Any suggestion that we can pursue arms control with a serial liar and killer like Putin should be treated with great skepticism.”

… Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA): “The following facts must be emphasized when assessing any proposed peace agreement: Putin has never once kept a single promise that he has made regarding Ukraine. Not once. Ever. And he’s not about to start now. Any agreement that requires any element of trust placed in Putin’s ‘promise’ is not worth the paper it is written on.”

… “There are only two enforceable security guarantees: 1) NATO Article 5, or 2) a treaty that is passed by Congress. Anything outside of this is just a Budapest Memorandum 2.0 — a completely unenforceable and empty promise that led to the invasion of Ukraine, and will lead to the future dismantling of Ukraine. Any ‘forced reduction’ of the Ukrainian military means future increased pressure, risk, and danger to the European, NATO, and US military.”

… “Any official recognition of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory as ‘Russian territory,’ and any official prohibition of Ukraine from being free to decide what alliances to join, would, for the first time in American history, create a brand new precedent of officially rewarding a dictator for invading a sovereign nation, and officially punishing a victim nation that was wrongfully invaded. What a terrible precedent to set. What a terrible message to send.”

We make the entire Weekend Bulletins available to free subscribers while during the week about the first third of the daily Bulletins are available. Thank you to everyone who reads, shares and subscribes to my work. If you missed the last one, you can find it here.

With that said, let me give you a content warning. The last item of this Bulletin includes a very sexually explicit text sent by RFK Jr. to reporter Olivia Nuzzi, who he was having a sexting affair with while he was running for president. You can read it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

… AOC told Forbes she questions Trump’s mental state after he posted that Dems should be executed for treason: “It’s not just shocking. It’s not just offensive. It’s bizarre. It is erratic. It’s volatile, and I think it indicates a mental state that we should all be questioning right now.”

… Trump made two more deranged posts about it at midnight on Sat: “THE TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT THEY SAID WAS OK. IT WASN’T, AND NEVER WILL BE! IT WAS SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL, AND SEDITION IS A MAJOR CRIME. THERE CAN BE NO OTHER INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THEY SAID!”

… “MANY GREAT LEGAL SCHOLARS AGREE THAT THE DEMOCRAT TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS, AS PRESIDENT, HAVE COMMITTED A CRIME OF SERIOUS PROPORTION!”

… Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) on CBS: “The message he sent a couple days ago was he declared that loyalty to the Constitution is now punishable by death. Those are serious words coming from the president. He’s trying to intimidate us. But I’m not going to be intimidated.”

… Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) on CBS: “We wanted to start a conversation about the dangerous rhetoric this president is using and threats he’s made to use our military in an unlawful way. Q - Specifically what? Crow: Send troops into Chicago, into polling stations, kill terrorists’ families, shoot peaceful protesters ...”

… Crow: “It’s also so telling that when members of Congress simply remind service members of the Constitution and their duty to obey the law that he cannot handle that and he resorts to threats of violence and arrest and execution. That tells you everything you need to know about Trump’s respect for the constitution and the rule of law and actually underscores our point.”

… JD Vance: “If the president hasn’t issued illegal orders, then members of Congress telling the military to defy the president is by definition illegal.”

… JD will never be confused for a legal scholar.

… NBC’s Sahil Kapur spotted Kristi Noem and Kash Patel on Saturday enjoying more taxpayer-funded travel and entertainment: “DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel are here in Las Vegas for tonight’s F1 race. Getting a tour of the paddock and checking out this LEGO car.”

… Rep. Marge Greene (R-GA): “TIME claims ‘sources’ told them I’m running for President in 2028, which means this is a complete lie and they made it up because they can’t even quote the names of the people who they claim said it. That’s not journalism, it’s called lying. I’m not running for President and never said I wanted to and have only laughed about it when anyone would mention it. I would never do it.”

… Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) was asked on CNN about Marge Greene resigning: “Honestly, I was like, you got to be kidding. You’re on the other side of the president for one week and you can’t take the heat? Imagine what it is to sit in my shoes. Marjorie has been an instigator of a lot of this hate that we see as it relates to the MAGA movement. It’s just interesting that I don’t know if she really fully understood how bad she was making it for other people, and now that they’re doing it to her, why is it that everyone else is able to stand and you can’t?”

… Daily Beast: “Elon Musk’s social media site X has rolled out a new feature in an effort to increase transparency—and unwittingly revealed that many of the site’s top MAGA influencers are actually foreign actors. The new ‘About This Account’ feature allows others to see where an account is based, when they joined the platform, how often they have changed their username, and how they downloaded the X app.”

… “Upon rollout, rival factions began to inspect just where their online adversaries were really based on the combative social platform—with dozens of major MAGA and right-wing influencer accounts revealed to be originating from overseas. Dozens of major accounts masquerading as ‘America First’ or ‘MAGA’ proponents have been identified as originating in places like Russia, India, and Nigeria.

… “In one example, the account MAGANationX—with its nearly 400,000 followers and a bio reading ‘Patriot Voice for We The People’—is actually based in Eastern Europe. An Ivanka Trump fan account, IvankaNews, has 1 million followers and frequently posts about the dangers of Islam, the threat of illegal immigration and support for Trump. That account is based in Nigeria.”

… People: “After Usha Vance was spotted out without her wedding ring on, rumors about her marriage to JD Vance began to swirl. The second lady visited Camp Lejeune, a military training facility, alongside Melania Trump. Usha did not wear her wedding ring during the appearance, and after photos of the outing were published, rumors of trouble in her marriage to the VP picked up steam on social media.”

… “Amid the speculation, a spokesperson for the second lady - who is very private and rarely speaks with press - addressed the ringless appearance in a statement to PEOPLE. The spokesperson said that Usha is ‘a mother of three young children, who does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths, and forgets her ring sometimes.’”

… Miami Herald investigative journalist Julie K. Brown, who has covered the Epstein case for many years: “There is a lot of confusion on what constitutes ‘the Epstein files.’ So let me explain:

1. First, there are the DOJ/FBI federal criminal case files. This is what Congress voted to release this past week.

2. A small subset included with the DOJ files are the federal grand jury files. This is the evidence federal prosecutors present to a grand jury in order to get an indictment. It is a very small percentage of the files.

3. The Oversight Committee Epstein files: these are they files that Congress obtained from Epstein’s estate by issuing a subpoena. They include Epstein’s calendars, emails and other documents that have been dripping out over they past few months.

4. Epstein Civil Case files: Dozens of civil lawsuits were filed against Epstein, Maxwell, Epstein’s estate, Epstein’s banks and the FBI, mostly by victims. As these cases are litigated, a lot of discovery was produced implicating various people and institutions in Epstein’s crimes.

5. Two of the civil cases, one filed against Maxwell by victim Virginia Giuffre, and the other filed against the FBI, produced an extraordinary amount of evidence we have already seen: plane logs, message pads, emails, etc. The Miami Herald (Brown v. Maxwell) has been responsible for the bulk of the unsealing in the Maxwell/Giuffre case, which is still ongoing. Several names in this case remain sealed, and we don’t know why. (They are not victims’ names, but John and Jane Doe names.)

6. Despite the release and unsealing of portions of these civil case files, many of the documents remain sealed or redacted. Media organizations, such as the Miami Herald, NNT, WSJ and some TV networks, have filed requests to unseal more documents. This is a painstaking process and it is SLOW. These are the documents that require a judge’s ruling or a panel of judges to rule upon.

7. Treasury Dept/IRS Epstein files: Sen. Ron Wyden has been in the forefront of seeking access to Epstein’s financial records. However, he has not received support from Republicans on this front. These files are important because they show how Epstein made his money.

8. CIA files (if they exist): There has long been speculation that Epstein worked in intelligence. Release of these files, if they exist, would show to what extent he was involved in intelligence which would perhaps also explain why he managed to get away with his crimes for so long.

9. FAA records: Epstein had two jets and flew around the world. He was, after 2008, a convicted sex offender. Did anyone ever check to see whether he was bringing in women and girls from other countries? Not all his plane logs have been made public, and while the FAA does not hold Epstein’s plane logs they do have records on where he flew. DHS should also have records on his passengers when he arrived from overseas. (Last I asked for them, they were fully redacted.)

10. Last but not least: Remember that not all the claims against Epstein and his associates were filed in court. Many of them were also settled through quiet agreements that may never be known. I know of several.

… The Republican front-runner to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff (R-GA) is now under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Politico: “Ethics Committee is reviewing allegations against Collins and his chief of staff, Brandon Phillips. It’s not immediately clear what allegations the two men are facing. The committee said in its announcement that it would publicly share ‘its course of action in this matter on or before Jan 5, 2026.’”

… “The Daily Mail, though, published a report in July alleging that Phillips had hired a romantic interest to work in Collins’ office; however, the woman was often absent from work. POLITICO reported in 2022 that Phillips was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty for allegedly kicking a dog.”

… Former Fox reporter now right-wing indy journalist Breanna Morello: I was enthusiastic for Kash Patel and Dan Bongino to be nominated to the FBI. I’ve given both guys a fair shake by reaching out to their communications team for comment—prior to running my stories. They rarely respond. When they do respond, the statements lack substance.”

… Zohran Mamdani was on Meet the Press: Q - Do you think that Trump is a fascist? Mamdani: That’s something that I’ve said in the past. I say it today. Q - You’ve called him a despot. Do you still believe Trump is a threat to the democracy? Mamdani: Everything that I’ve said in the past, I continue to believe. Q - How do you square working with someone who you still think is a threat to the democracy? Mamdani: I think working for the people of NYC demands that you work with everyone and anyone—and that you always look to find those areas of agreement while not overlooking the places of disagreement.”

… Welker: “If Democrats win the midterms, do you want to see Leader Jeffries become the Speaker of the House? Mamdani: Yes.”

… Treasury Sec Scott Bessent said that people suffering from inflation should just move: “You know the best way to bring your inflation rate down? Move from a blue state to a red state. Blue state inflation is half a percent higher.”

… Q - “Which parts of the economy do you believe have dipped into recession?
Bessent: Clearly housing has been struggling. Interest rate sensitive sectors have been in a recession. Q - Is the entire country at risk of recession? Bessent: No. I am very confident about 2026.”

… WH Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett blames Biden, blames the Fed, and blames the shutdown for their failing economic policy: “The only thing is that we’re gonna see a lot of whining from left-wing critics of the president about the 4th quarter, because our estimate is the shutdown cost more than we expected at the beginning. We think the economic effect might be to cut economic growth about in half in Q4.”

… Q - “Trump posted yesterday, ‘I have just gotten the higher poll numbers of my political career.’ I don’t know what poll numbers he’s referring to. Is Trump only getting the most positively skewed polling info? Hassett: As you know, I’m not the poll expert but the people that are are briefing the president all the time.”

… Q - “Right before the election, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from NYC if Mamdani were elected. Was that just bluster? He doesn’t mean it? Hassett: Well, it feels like he doesn’t mean it now.”

… Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) was on CNN: Q - You were the deciding vote that allowed RFK Jr to ascend to the role of Health Secretary. Did you give him too much credit? Cassidy: The fact is the scientific community agrees that vaccines are safe. That’s all I can say.” Q - Dr Cassidy, RFK Jr lied to you. Cassidy: First let me say what’s most important - vaccines are safe.”

… Cassidy: “I know it’s titillating, but I think we need to move beyond the titillation.
Host: This isn’t about titillation. This is about the fact that you are the chairman of the Health Committee and you voted to confirm somebody that by all accounts is actually making America less healthy.”

… Host: “RFK Jr, according to his own family, is causing real damage to the health of the US. You don’t seem willing to criticize him by name at all unlike members of his family. Cassidy: Clearly you want me to be on the record saying something negative. Of course it makes news if Republicans fight each other. Host: I don’t even know that he’s a Republican. Cassidy: Whatever. I’m all about, how do we make America healthy?”

… NY Post: “RFK Jr. once texted disgraced journalist and alleged ex-flame Olivia Nuzzi about a lewd sex-act, according to her jilted ex-fiancé. Ryan Lizza claimed he learned about ‘felching’ only after combing through the salacious text messages and raunchy ‘poems’ written to Nuzzi from RFK Jr. Felching is the term used for when one sexual partner sucks semen out of another partner’s anus or vagina following unprotected penetrative sex, according to NIH, which RFK Jr. leads as part of his top role at HHS.”

… “Felching was referred to in a bombshell confessional article from former Politico journalist Ryan Lizza who detailed one raunchy poem written to his ex-fiance Olivia Nuzzi by alleged horn-dog RFK Jr:

“Yr open mouth awaiting my harvest. I mean to squeeze your cheeks to force open your mouth. I’ll hold your nose as you look yp at me to encourage you to swallow. Don’t spill a drop. I am a river You are my canyon. I mean to flow through you. I mean to subdue and tame you. My Love.”

… The irony of this is that RFK Jr’s previous wife committed suicide, which occurred a period of time after she found his diary detailing affairs with 37 different women in very explicit detail. Now Lizza got to read these from RFK Jr to his fiancee.