Today in Politics, Bulletin 118. 4/25/25

… Serial fraudster George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison today for his role in defrauding donors and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations on lavish personal expenses. The former Republican Rep. was expelled from Congress in 2023.

… NYT: “He covered his face and was sobbing as the sentence was read. Judge Seybert said she did not believe Santos had shown remorse or contrition.”

… Last night before his sentencing, Santos went on Matt Gaetz’s show on OAN to talk about doing time in prison: “I plan to serve the entirely of any sentence in solitary confinement because I fear for my safety. It is definitely not an easy task.”

… He also offered a 67% discount on his Cameos this week as a “going out of business” sale to his fans. This was one of his previous Cameos when they were $500 each.

… Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested by the FBI today for allegedly obstructing justice by helping a migrant avoid arrest by ICE. Director Kash Patel: "The FBI arrested Judge Dugan on charges of obstruction - after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week. We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected fed agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject - an illegal alien -to evade arrest."

… Judge Dugan reportedly allowed Ruiz, who had a court date in her courtroom, to enter the jury room which had a back door which allowed him to exit the building as ICE agents were entering. He was apprehended after a short foot chase outside.

… AG Pam Bondi: "What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me. They are deranged. We are sending a very strong message today - we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you."

… In a new interview with TIME, Trump claimed that China’s President Xi has called him to try and make a trade deal:

TIME: Will you call President Xi if he doesn’t call you?

TRUMP: No.

TIME: You won’t?

TRUMP: Nope.

TIME: Has he called you yet?

TRUMP: Yep.

TIME: When did he call you?

TRUMP: He's called.

… As Trump was boarding AF1 to fly to Rome today for the Pope’s funeral, he was asked about this claim that he spoke to Xi about a trade deal. REPORTER: You said you have spoken to President Xi. When did that happen? China says it hasn't happened. TRUMP: “I spoke to him numerous times. So, we're leaving and going to Rome. It's going to be very interesting.” Bye.

… Gov. Gavin Newsom was asked by MeidasTouch to give his take on Trump’s false claims that he’s negotiating with China: “Well, I saw a meme of Xi reading The Art of the Deal and laughing. I think that summed everything up. I mean, here’s Trump negotiating against himself.”

… “The impact of this is outsized in my state. I’ve got the Port of Long Beach—40% of the goods that move through this country come through LA and Long Beach—and it’s starting to dry up. There’s a significant decline in cargo coming into the US. This is the #1 manufacturing state in America. It’s the #1 state in terms of direct foreign investment and two-way trade. We dominate in every economic category. So I just pray that we can get a deal with China because of its outsized influence. I’ll just make one simple point - as a guy with 4 young kids: 80% of the toys that are supposed to be coming in the ports right now for the holidays come from China.”

… CNBC: “Amazon merchants are hiking prices for everything from diaper bags and refrigerator magnets to charm necklaces and other top-selling items as they confront higher import costs. E-commerce software company SmartScout tracked 930 products on Amazon that have seen increased prices since April 9, with an average jump of 29%. The price hikes affect a range of categories, including clothing, jewelry, household items, office supplies, electronics and toys.

… “The trade war with China has threatened to upend sellers on Amazon’s third-party marketplace, which accounts for about 60% of the company’s online sales. Many merchants are based in China or rely on the world’s second-largest economy to source and assemble their products.”

… Trump was asked about Peter Navarro’s pledge 14 days ago that they would make 90 trade deals in 90 days:

Trump: I’ve made 200 deals.

TIME: You’ve made 200 deals?

Trump: 100%.

TIME: I’m just curious, why don’t you announce these deals that you’ve solidified?

Trump: I would say, over the next 3-4 weeks.

… Usually he says “2 weeks” when things are never going to happen. This is so bad he’s saying 3-4.

… Treasury Sec Scott Bessent and Trump both announced that they expect their first trade deal to be with S. Korea. Univ. of Michigan’s Justin Wolfers explained on CBS why this is another Trump PR scam: “We already have a free trade agreement with Korea! We’ve had one for nearly 20 years. Almost all trade with the US and Korea is tariff free. There’s nothing more you can do, so of course they are going to sign an agreement. But this agreement would only paper over the problems that the Trump admin has created.”

… South China Morning Post reported that Chinese importers have canceled 12,030 metric tons of American pork. Dexter Roberts with the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub says they are doing this specifically to hurt Trump voters: “This is a targeted response from China to hurt parts of the US that are red. People are very aware of this and very worried. One bad year and you might be mortgaging the farm.”

… The National Pork Producers Council: “China’s duties on US imports have raised the effective tariff rate on pork shipments to 172%. US pork producers remain at the tip of the spear with China tariffs. The new tariffs make it impossible for American pork producers to compete in that market”.

… China bought $125 million in US pork last year.

… Fox Business host Stuart Varney: Has the president's policies thus far brought any new manufacturing jobs to your district? Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI): “The number one thing that the president is bringing to our state and specifically my district is hope.”

… Trump was pressed by TIME on his broken promise to end war in Ukraine 24 hours after he took office: “Well, I said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, because to make a point, and you know, it gets, of course, twisted by the fake news. Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest.”

… I watched him say it hundreds of times. Posted the video clips. At no time was he joking - he was assuring voters that he would stop the war immediately if they elected him. Besides, Trump doesn’t joke. About anything. He lied, and now he’s lying about the lie.

… Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was back in Moscow again today to meet with his good friend Putin. As usual, he inexplicably went alone to the meeting with Putin and his top advisors. He did not attend the talks in London with the leaders of Ukraine, for some unknown reason since he’s supposed to be our chief negotiator.

… Fox Chief Nat Sec Correspondent Jennifer Griffin: “Where are the subject matter experts with Witkoff? Putin, the KGB officer, is laughing. Meanwhile the instability at the Pentagon is not helping project strength during these delicate negotiations. There is still no confirmed NSA (Cyber Command) director after Hegseth fired Gen Hauck and his deputy for no reason, not even a nominee yet for the person overseeing the crown jewel of US intelligence and SIGINT, which might come into handy when you are negotiating with Putin and Xi.”

… Alex Marquardt, CNN’s Chief Nat Sec Correspondent: “Yet again, Witkoff meets with Putin with no other senior US officials. While Putin has two of his closest aides. This is the 4th Witkoff-Putin meeting this year and Witkoff doesn't appear to have taken a senior diplomat/intel/expert with him to any of them.”

… Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA): “I’VE SEEN ENOUGH KILLING OF INNOCENT UKRAINIAN women and children. President Trump please put the toughest of sanctions on Putin. You ought to see from clear evidence that he is playing America as a patsy.”

… Trump sees that. Because he is the patsy.

… Yaroslav Moskalik, Dep. Chief of Operations Directorate of the Russian army, was assassinated by a car bomb in Moscow today. Russian state media: “According to available data, the explosion occurred as a result of the detonation of a homemade explosive device filled with destructive elements.”

… Telegraph: “Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service has been known to target high-profile military officers on Russian soil. In December, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection troops, was killed outside an apartment building when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter exploded.”

… Former CIA Agent Marc Polymeropoulos on the car bomb: “No surprise. As the US disengages, meaning has less influence, Ukrainian intel no doubt will feel more emboldened to conduct such ops. No more US intel finger wagging not to do it. And given the US betrayal, I don’t blame them one bit. The little Mossad will be unleashed.”

… Trump issued his 5th warning to Putin yesterday on Truth Social to stop bombing Ukraine (Vladimir, STOP!). Russia responded last night by bombing Ukraine. 3 people were killed and 10 injured in a Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad early this morning.

… CNN followed up reporting by Fox on the debacle in Yemen, that Trump and Pete Hegseth have been hyping as a great success: “In the month since the US launched a major military campaign targeting the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, the militants have successfully shot down at least 7 multi-million-dollar American drones, hindering the US’ ability to move into ‘phase two’ of the operation.”

… “The US was hoping to achieve air superiority over Yemen within 30 days and degrade Houthi air defense systems enough to begin a new phase focusing on ramping up intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance of senior Houthi leaders in order to target and kill them. But the platforms best suited to conduct that persistent effort, the MQ9 Reaper drones, keep getting shot down.”

… “Over the last 6 weeks, the Houthis have launched 77 one-way attack drones, 30 cruise missiles, 24 medium-range ballistic missiles, and 23 surface-to-air missiles either at US forces, into the Red Sea, or at Israel. The intelligence community has also assessed in recent days that over nearly 6 weeks of US bombing, the Houthis’ ability and intent to keep lobbing missiles at US and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and at Israel is little changed.”

… WSJ reported that DHS Sec Kristi Noem has inundated the HQ building of Customs and Border Patrol in DC with over a dozen action photos of herself in various outfits out in the field with agents. Many of these photo ops have subjected Noem to ridicule from both the right and the left. After Noem was asked about it by a sneering Laura Ingraham on Fox two weeks ago, she stopped doing them. But she has the photos all over DHS buildings. This is one hanging in the halls:

I will be serving as a judge for a “no rules” chowder competition here in Maine tomorrow. It’s a difficult task, but I have always been willing to serve my country in a variety of different ways. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. I will be back with the Weekend Bulletin on Sunday night!

… The Trump admin was forced to reverse course and restore the student visas of thousands of foreign students who had minor legal infractions and cases that had been previously dismissed. Over 104 separate lawsuits had been filed and were pending when this latest in a long line of policy reversals was announced. Over 50 judges in 23 different states had already issued temporary injunctions blocking the