Today in Politics, Bulletin 384. 5/21/26
… AOC had this incredible exchange today in a committee hearing with EPA Administrator for Water Quality, Jessica Kramer:
AOC: I want to ask you if you are aware of data center construction’s impact on drinking water quality?
Kramer: I am aware.
AOC: What are some of the things you are seeing and hearing?
Kramer: One of the biggest concerns is water availability.
AOC: Anything about water quality?
Kramer: I’m not aware of that.
AOC: Are you aware of any complaints that have been made about water quality issues?
Kramer: I am not.
AOC: A few weeks ago when Congress was in recess, I visited Morgan County, GA, where Meta is building a massive data center campus. They are clear-cutting forests. They are using explosive blasting. Families in the area are reporting it is destroying their water quality. They now rely on bottled water. I have a jar right here. This is the current drinking water after Meta began data center construction in the community. These families have to ship water to their house to cook and bathe. Are you going to investigate water quality issues?
Kramer: I will look into that when I get back to the office.
AOC: The Admin is fast-tracking construction of AI data centers. Are there any mandates requiring these data centers to do water quality testing?
Kramer: I’m not aware of that.
… Todd Blanche held a closed-door meeting today with Republican Senators on Capitol Hill to address their concerns that he has made it more difficult to hold on to their majority with his $1.8 billion illegal slush fund to enrich J6 criminals and Trump loyalists with taxpayer money. The meeting reportedly did not go well with several senators leaving irate.
… Punchbowl: “The nearly 2-hour meeting with Blanche and Senate Republicans was incredibly hostile, per multiple attendees. As many as 25 GOP senators spoke (this is very rare for these meetings), all in opposition to weaponization fund. R’s pitched specific ideas such as dictating how the 5 commissioners are chosen and not allowing people convicted of violence against cops to be eligible for a payout.”
… “The Senate will go home until June, leaving the reconciliation bill unfinished. Thune just told senators in the room. All because of the DOJ weaponization fund.
House is expected to follow suit soon.”
… Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) to Politico: “I believe that there are people in the WH who couldn’t care less about what happens in Nov. And that goes to show you how stupid they are, because if they don’t get Republicans reelected, they’re going to create the most miserable two years of this president’s life.”
… Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA): “People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the President and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability.”
… Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to Semafor: “So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong – Take your pick.”
… Sen. Susan Collins (R-NC) to CNN: “I do not support the weaponization fund as it has been described. I do not believe individuals that were convicted of violence against police officers on Jan. 6 should be entitled to reimbursement of their legal fees.”
… NOTUS: “Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) walked out of GOP lunch declining to comment.”
… Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): “The WH dropped a bomb in the middle of a pretty well planned out reconciliation bill to help deliver on one of President Trump's priorities. Nobody held back.”
… Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): “There was a spirited discussion. I think it’s unprecedented to see a settlement between two parties that seem to be the same person.”
… NOTUS: “Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) says he wasn’t satisfied by Todd Blanche’s explanation about the DOJ settlement fund.”
… Punchbowl: “Text from a GOP senator just now: ‘Our majority is melting down before our eyes.’”
… Tillis to Spectrum News: “I think it’s stupid on stilts. It will put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned, now we’re gonna pay them for that!? That’s absurd. The American people are going to reject this. This is tyranny.”
… Politico: “A bipartisan House effort is afoot to kill the $1.8 billion fund created by DOJ that could pay allies of Trump. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) have drafted text and are taking steps to unveil the legislation soon. Fitzpatrick said he’s waiting to hear back from DOJ regarding a list of questions he sent Blanche seeking more info about who will be able to access the fund.”
… “Speaker Mike Johnson would be unlikely to bring the Fitzpatrick-Suozzi legislation to the House floor, but Fitzpatrick has been involved in multiple efforts this Congress to use discharge petitions to pass bipartisan bills over GOP leaders’ objections.”
… Trump called Mike Johnson to an emergency meeting in the Oval Office to discuss the issue, but it didn’t happen. Meidas Capitol Hill reporter Pablo Manriquez: “Four aides familiar with the cancelled WH meeting today tell me Mike Johnson refused to attend. Might be the first time Speaker Johnson has told Trump no.”
… A Johnson aide denied this report.
… Reuters: “Since Trump’s admin announced the creation of a $1.7 billion fund for Americans deemed to be victims of political ‘weaponization,’ J6 Capitol riot defendants and other Trump allies have scrambled to figure out how to get their share. Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys leader sentenced to 22 years for seditious conspiracy, said he planned to apply to the fund, assuming he could get $2-5 million.”
Tarrio: “I’m not greedy. But my life was all fucked up because of this.”
Peter Ticktin, an attorney representing more than 400 January 6 defendants, said $1.8 billion isn’t going to be enough: “People lost multi-million dollar businesses while they were locked up. I don’t think the DOJ is ready for us yet.”
Trump: “You’re talking about peanuts. It destroyed the lives of many, many people.”
Mike Lindell said he is going to file a claim for $400 million: “It cost the brand and MyPillow $400 million. It’s horrific that our own govt can do this. It will be a blessing to get my employees made whole who are stockholders in MyPillow.”
Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer/fixer told NBC he is planning to apply for a payout: “My understanding is that there actually is no formal application that exists. You do it via letter to DOJ, and I have drafted that letter. I’m on my third rendition of it. I wanted it to be perfect.”
Brandon Fellows to CNN: “The number I’ve put in is for $30 million. According to ChatGPT, I’m in the top 3-5% tier of how strong a case I have. How I rationalize people getting paid for J6 is because the govt set it up, and on top of that they stole the election.”
Rachel Powell to CNN: “We endured a lot. Our lives are still not the same. I don’t know what kind of price you can put on that.”
Convicted J6 rioter Dominic Box: “I can’t even find a job answering the phone at a motorcycle dealership. I can’t find a way to support myself right now. I lost my career. I look forward to financial compensation. I need it.”
2020 fake elector Meshawn Maddock: “The announcement was an emotional relief. I was debanked. I faced the real possibility of prison time. The trauma to my 3 kids and the thought of being separated from my grandchildren – it took a lot out of us.”
Sarah Radovanovitch: “We lost everything over J6. My husband, Jay Johnston, is an actor and comedian with a career spanning over three decades. He was fired from Bob’s Burgers and several other ongoing projects. Friends disappeared. He went from working in Hollywood for decades to doing handyman jobs just to survive. It’s time for restitution so victims are made whole, not given token settlements.”
J6er Luke Hoffman’s wife Kari: “There must be accountability for what was done to so many American families. Until justice is truly served, we will never fully be home again - and our nation will never fully heal. The damage done did not end with prison sentences or media headlines. Families like ours are still living with the consequences every single day. Pay the J6ers.”
Jacob Chansely (QAnon Shaman) told CNN he will not be putting in a claim because he is filing a $40 trillion lawsuit and is representing himself.
… Todd Blanche on CNN: Q - “Wouldn’t the average taxpayer be upset their tax dollars are going to these people? Blanche: What American would say that is terrible? I do think the American people want their taxpayer dollars spent on things like that. I do not think the American people have issues with that. To the contrary, I think they do want their tax dollars spent on things like that.”
… Q - “Would you be okay with people who were convicted of hurting police, getting taxpayer money? Blanche: Just to be clear, people that hurt police get money all the time.”
… The next guest was Rep. Fitzpatrick: Q - “Do you agree with Blanche that this is how Americans want their taxpayer dollars to be spent? Fitzpatrick: I do not. Half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. I am going to do everything I can to fight it.”
… The Independent on Blanche giving Trump IRS immunity: “The govt will be ‘forever barred and precluded’ from pursuing IRS-related claims against Trump, his family, or his businesses. The settlement shields the president from a potentially damaging ruling that could have cost him more than $100 million. The ruling could have stemmed from the IRS’ audit of Trump, which he has long cited as the reason he did not release his tax returns.”
… “It remains unclear where that audit stood recently, though Eric Trump said it was still active in 2024. The audit centered on a nearly $73 million tax refund Trump claimed around 2010. Trump justified the refund by reporting steep business losses, largely tied to two ventures: his casino holdings and his Chicago skyscraper. The IRS contended that Trump improperly claimed the same losses twice for the Chicago tower, where he reported losses of up to $651 million.”
… Blanche on CNN: “The fact that the IRS is settling a case and not moving forward with an audit is not unusual. My job is to do the right thing. It’s to do the right thing, no matter who is on the other side. And the fact that it was President Trump and his sons and his company played no role in my decision except to do the right thing.”
… US attorney for SDNY Jay Clayton on CNBC: “I don’t think we’re gonna be talking about this issue in a week because the American people are gonna say, ‘Look, they leaked his tax returns, they tried to destroy him. Okay, we resolved that.’”
… Good luck with that.
Today was a very heavy news day with the theme of the day Trump corruption that has become so blatant, obscene and obvious that even Republicans in Congress are waking up to the fact that it could cost many of them their seats. I can tell you that I have chronicled every single example of corruption (several hundred) from Day 1 in these Bulletins and will continue to do so every day.
We talked quite a bit about it and more on my weekly podcast Uncovered yesterday. If you missed it, you can find it here.
… Meanwhile, Trump held an Oval Office press conference today to unveil his new plan to lower the price of groceries - deregulating refrigeration systems for grocery stores. Naturally, he quickly got bored with that topic and riffed on a variety of other things:
“From day one, they said ‘affordability’. It’s a word. They’re good at words. But I’m good at words too. But they hit me with affordability. They hit me with egg prices.”
Q: “With many Americans concerned about affordability ahead of the midterms, there is some backlash among Senate Republicans to some of the other priorities, the ballroom and the anti-weaponization fund. Are you losing control of the Senate? Trump: I really don't know. I can tell you, I only do what's right.”
Q: “What if Congress doesn't sign off on the ballroom money? Trump: Then the
