Today in Politics, Bulletin 432. 8/3/26
… Trump is reportedly considering firing DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro after she dropped the Reflecting Pool vandalism charges against David Hearn. He called a press conference today in the Oval Office where he ranted, raved, and repeatedly denounced Pirro, saying that she “folded like an umbrella” and “choked.”
… CNN: “Trump is considering removing Jeanine Pirro over a DOJ conclusion that problems with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool stemmed from a flawed renovation rather than vandalism. The president is ‘furious’ with Pirro, one of the sources said, telling CNN that he fumed about her all weekend. They added that based on his criticisms of her, they find it ‘highly likely she’s removed from her job.’”
… The other source, a senior admin official, said Trump was “blindsided” by Pirro’s court filing: “The president did not know beforehand that she was going to do that.”
… From Trump’s press conference:
“On Jeanine, frankly I think she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened. I guess she choked.
"Jeanine Pirro made a mistake. It was vandalism."
“I am very disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella.”
“We have photographs or tapes like moving cameras where people are on the side cutting it with a box knife. There was vandalism. Number one, look at the grass where they used an ingredient that we know very well what it is. I'm not gonna say the name because people get ideas.”
"There's a tape that's out there that I posted on Truth where you have people leaning over the side. The weakest part 'cause of the flexibility. You know it moves. It's very complicated. It moves. And the softest part has to be flexible. And that's the stuff you can cut."
Q: “This is at least the 5th time you turned off airstrikes against Iran since April. What’s your message to your American people about what has changed this time? Trump: I think we're going to maybe get something, but I want to give him every last chance before decapitation. It’s very tough to do what what we had planned, still plan. We'll see what happens. But it's a very very tough thing to do. I'm very proud of the fact that I will give people a chance. This is a big move, to do an attack that big on a country. I'd rather not do it.”
Q - “Will you call for Max Miller to resign? Trump: I’m going to let the families figure that out. It’s just accusations.”
Q - “Are there other avenues you could have supporters get paid potentially if it’s not the anti-weaponization fund? Trump: Who are you with? Q: MS NOW, sir. Trump: Who? Q: MS NOW. Trump: What a terrible show that is. They have the worst people on that show.”
“I know Europe better than anybody. Better than the people that run it. Any country with windmills is a loser.”
Q - “Why is the US intervening to support the Japanese yen at this time? Trump: Japan’s been very good to us, with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor.”
… NBC’s Tom Winter: “The answer to this question is mathematic. Japan owns $1.143 Trillion in US debt, according to the US Treasury. So if Japan needed to defend its currency without the US buying Yen it would almost certainly sell its US debt. That would lead to a rise in the interest rates.”
… Politico: “Another of Trump’s Cabinet secretaries is on the rocks — but this time, the surge of displeasure is swelling from the right. Influential MAGA voices say DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin is too quick to please ambitious Democrats and far too conciliatory in his tone when describing a pillar mission of the dept that’s equally critical for the movement.”
… “Rage boiled over on X Sat after Mullin spoke about immigration reform at the National Governors Assn Summer Meeting in OK City. Drawing a distinction between immigrants pursuing legal status and those who aren’t, he called for changes to employment visa programs to address labor shortages.”
… Mullin sustained a barrage of attacks from the likes of Laura Loomer, Robby Starbuck, Nick Sortor, Tomi Lahren, and former Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino. MAGA podcaster Jake Posobiec: “There is a growing wave among MAGA to find a DHS secretary who puts deportations first.”
… The new MAGA conventional wisdom: Mullin is weak on immigration. That has some Trump allies pushing for a less-diplomatic choice for the job: Bill Pulte. Steve Bannon: “MAGA wants Trump to detail ‘Pitbull’ Pulte to DHS. Mullin is the wrong guy at the wrong time for the wrong job - a time when we need focus on ‘mass deportations,’ we get an amnesty advocate.”
… The House Ethics Committee made a formal finding that Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) sexually harassed young female staffers after a lengthy investigation and recommended that he be censured by the House. Statement from the committee:
“The Committee concluded there was substantial reason to believe Rep. Edwards violated House Rules related to sexual harassment and hostile workplaces. Although he disagrees with the Committee’s findings, Rep. Edwards agreed to waive certain procedural steps, after reviewing a draft of the report several days prior, allowing the Committee to recommend a House- level sanction in relation to his conduct.”
“The Committee therefore has recommended that the House adopt the Report, and with it, a censure of Rep. Edwards for the conduct described therein. The Committee intends to bring a privileged resolution for consideration and vote by the full House.”
… Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis agreed to vote to confirm Todd Blanche as AG after he entered into a sham agreement on the slush fund. Todd Blanche’s new order rescinds the fund - but leaves the May 19 IRS immunity settlement intact.
… Brett Meiselas: “The problem is that the documents Blanche released don’t actually do what the senators say they do. The centerpiece of Sunday’s announcement isn’t an amended settlement agreement. It isn’t a renegotiated contract. It isn’t a new agreement signed by all of the parties. Instead, it consists of two unilateral DOJ documents: an order ‘rescinding’ the Anti-Weaponization Fund and a memorandum explaining how the Dept now says it interprets the May 19 settlement.”
… “As always, read the fine print. The settlement agreement itself—the legally operative document—contains its own modification clause. It states that the agreement ‘may be modified only with the written agreement of the Parties.’ Sunday night’s package contains no such written agreement.”
… “There are no signatures from Donald Trump. None from Donald Trump Jr. None from Eric Trump. None from the Trump Org. None from any of the other parties whose signatures would ordinarily be required to amend the contract. The agreement that governs the parties’ rights remains exactly where it was before Blanche’s announcement. What changed is DOJ’s characterization of it. That is a significant difference.”
… “A party to a contract can announce how it currently interprets an agreement. That does not rewrite the agreement itself. Sunday’s memorandum reflects the Dept’s present legal position, but it does not replace the language the parties actually signed. If Blanche truly intended to modify the settlement, the obvious vehicle would have been an amended settlement executed by every party, exactly as the agreement itself requires. Instead, DOJ released a memorandum.”
… “The same pattern appears in the handling of the slush fund. Blanche rescinded the order establishing the fund, allowing supporters to claim the issue had been resolved. But rescinding one administrative order does not eliminate the authority that created it. Nothing in Sunday’s documents prevents a future AG—or Blanche himself, if confirmed—from issuing another order establishing a substantially similar fund.”
… “In other words, the mechanism survives even if this particular order does not. The ‘rescinding’ of the order is essentially worthless and can be undone in an instant. Tillis and Cornyn, in fact, got nothing they actually demanded. At the end of the day, it’s all theater.”
… MS NOW legal analyst Lisa Rubin: “In their statement, Sens. Cornyn and Tillis refer to this one pager as a ‘binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury.’ But this isn’t an order nor does it bind anyone.”
… Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA): “This supposed ‘deal’ doesn’t prevent payouts to violent insurrectionists in the future. It doesn’t prevent the admin from bringing the slush fund back from the dead next week or using DOJ’s Judgment Fund for the same illicit purpose. It leaves in place a tax-immunity deal that could help Trump skip taxes on the $2.3 billion he made last year, and still leaves it vague who and what is covered.”
… “Todd Blanche says he stands by his testimony from before our committee last month. Under oath, he pledged to provide Congress with assistance on a bill to make the death of Trump’s slush fund enforceable by law. No such assistance has been forthcoming. The Judiciary Committee and its members should not settle for less than the Acting AG following through on his promise of helping to write this into statute.”
… Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA): “This agreement is full of loopholes. Nothing here stops DOJ from using taxpayer money to pay off January 6th insurrectionists. And it leaves the IRS shield protecting Trump and his family from past audits fully intact. Blanche has always been Trump’s personal lawyer — and this ‘deal’ proves he’s unfit to serve as AG. Congress must pass my legislation to permanently ban any payouts to J6ers.”
… Politico’s Josh Gerstein: “Cornyn seems to have caved on his earlier complaint that the Trump v. IRS settlement agreement could only be modified by written agreement of the parties. There’s no indication that the Trump parties (POTUS, DJT Jr., Eric & Trump Org) have issued such a modification. What’s more the waiver of all tax claims the govt might have against POTUS, Don Jr., Eric and the Trump Org seems unaffected by this deal.”
… “Cornyn seems to have caved on his earlier complaint that the Trump v. IRS settlement agreement could only be modified by written agreement of the parties. There’s no indication that the Trump parties (POTUS, DJT Jr., Eric & Trump Org) have issued such a modification.”
… All Rise News’ Adam Klasfeld: “There wasn’t a ‘deal’ between Blanche and the holdouts. Blanche didn’t retreat an inch from the bounties and tax amnesty. He gave two departing senators plausible deniability to capitulate. During Blanche’s confirmation hearing, Cornyn made absolutely clear anything short of modifying the purported settlement itself was empty rhetoric. This changes nothing about the ‘payouts for punks’ and Trump tax amnesty that Cornyn criticized - and he knows it.”
… Univ. of NC law professor Carissa Byrne Hessick: “Others might have a different impression, but I see nothing in Blanche’s letter that would prevent him from reviving the fund the moment that he is confirmed. Sen. Cornyn is a former state AG and judge on the TX Supreme Court judge, so I imagine he is aware of this as well.”
… “If Blanche were to actually issue a ‘a binding written document’ that limited the scope of the settlement, he could file something in the litigation about the settlement itself. (He’s refused the judge’s request in that case to file a declaration under oath to that effect.) I’d really love to see someone ask Sens. Cornyn and Tillis what makes Blanche’s statement ‘binding’.”
Thank you for all your submissions to Ask the Editor. I answered 6 questions (1 bonus) on the show which should be out later tonight:
What is your take on the deal between Cornyn/Tillis and Todd Blanche?
Talk about the Max Miller situation and the different standards that Republicans and Democrats have for their candidates and elected officials.
Does the Democratic nominee Brian Poindexter have any chance to beat Miller?
There has been speculation that Trump had the Resolute Desk moved to Mar-a-Lago and replaced it with a replica in the Oval Office. Is there any truth to that?
How will the drama between Jeanine Pirro, Trump and Burgum play out?
Bonus question - is Natalie Harp a govt employee paid by the taxpayers and what is her salary?
If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin recapping the entire weekend, you can find it here.
… Hormuz Report: “A source close to Iranian officials says Tehran has documented a pattern of oil market manipulation tied to Axios reports and Trump admin insiders, including evidence of a $9 billion insider trading operation linked to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. Some of the documented timeline from the $9 billion insider profit:
Between April and May 2026, a series of suspiciously timed trades in oil futures markets preceded major Iran war announcements—each tied to reporting by Axios.
On March 23, approximately $500–580 million in shorts were placed 15 minutes before Trump announced he was postponing strikes on Iran. Oil dropped.
On April 7, roughly $950–960 million in shorts were placed hours before Trump
