Today in Politics, Bulletin 471. 10/1/26

… Renee Good’s partner and family have filed two lawsuits stemming from her death - one against at the ICE agent who shot her and a several senior Trump admin officials, the other against the federal government. From the lawsuit:

• “In terms of investigating fraud and terror funding, Operation Metro Surge accomplished nothing—because investigating such crimes was not its true aim. Instead, Operation Metro Surge was designed to be a violent and discriminatory campaign targeted at Minnesotans on the basis of race and national origin.

• The campaign produced two dead Americans, a third person shot, a fourth dead in Texas detention, and more than $200 million in economic damage to a single city. 22. Renee was one those casualties. She was killed on a public street, while doing what thousands of her neighbors were doing that winter: watching masked, armed men terrorizing her community and refusing to look away.

• Without conducting any inquiry or investigation, the federal govt immediately blamed Renee for her own death and absolved Jonathan Ross of all responsibility. Within hours, Defendant Noem told reporters that Renee had committed an act of domestic terrorism: ‘Domestic acts of terrorism like this will not stand.’ DHS’s Asst for Public Affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, called Renee a ‘violent rioter’ who ‘weaponized her vehicle.’

• Without basis, the President called her a ‘professional agitator’ who ‘violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer.’ The VP said she was ‘brainwashed,’ a ‘victim of left-wing ideology,’ and that her death was ‘a tragedy of her own making.’ Defendant Bovino said the shooter ‘had no clue that that was going to happen, but he was put into that violent situation and reacted when a 4,000-pound missile came right at him.’

• As the federal govt branded Renee a terrorist and declared that Ross had done nothing wrong, it moved to hide the evidence of what actually occurred on Portland Ave. On the morning of the shooting, the FBI and the MBCA agreed to a joint investigation, as is standard in officer involved deaths.

• By that evening the US Attorney had reversed course; BCA investigators were excluded from the interviews at the Whipple Federal Bldg, denied the names of the officers involved, and cut off from the vehicle and its contents, the shell casings, and the firearm. Renee and Becca’s car was removed from the scene before local investigators could process it.

• The Deputy AG, Todd Blanche, announced: ‘We investigate when it’s appropriate to investigate. And that is not the case here. So no, we are not investigating.’ Numerous federal prosecutors resigned, and an FBI agent resigned after being pressured to abandon a civil rights inquiry into Ross in favor of an investigation of Becca instead.

• Congress enacted 42 U.S.C. §§ 1985(3) and 1986 in 1871 to address precisely this scenario: the acts of individuals who ride the public roads with their faces covered, to strip a despised group of the equal protection of the laws, and conspiracies to accomplish the same.

• Section 1985(3) reaches conspiracies, including those in which private and governmental actors act together, and it separately reaches those who ‘go in disguise on the highway or on the premises of another’ for the purpose of depriving a protected class of equal protection. Both branches are pleaded here.

• Plaintiff Brent Ganger is Renee Good’s brother and the trustee appointed by the Minnesota District Court for the Fourth Judicial District to bring claims on behalf of her next of kin. He sues on behalf of her 3 children (ages 15, 12, and 6 at the time of her death), her parents, and her siblings.”

… MS NOW: “As they prepared for the testimony of former special counsel Jack Smith, Republican staff on the Senate Judiciary Committee gave Sen. Eric Schmitt a warning: The texts they had obtained from DOJ - which Schmitt suggested was proof Smith had colluded with a GA state prosecutor - were ‘unvetted’.

… Schmitt used the texts anyway. DOJ shared materials with GOP staff on the Judiciary Committee ahead of Smith’s hearing. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley’s team assembled a memo about key info for the hearing. But Grassley’s staff did not include the texts in the memo.

… Grassley also did not share the texts with Democratic senators before the hearing. That omission deepened Democratic suspicion that congressional Republicans and the Trump admin were working together to undermine or trap Smith. Judiciary staff, however, explicitly warned Schmitt’s team that the texts were unvetted and that it was their responsibility to verify the info.”

… Turns out another big “deal” that Trump and Howard Lutnick announced with much fanfare to influence Alaska voters in the senate race isn’t actually a deal after all. I feel like we’ve done this before. A few dozen times.

… Reuters: “South Korea says it will only begin reviewing the Alaska LNG project, in a contrast with the WH, which announced the project as part of a $350 billion investment package. Seoul says ‘no decision has been made’ on whether to invest or on the size of any investment.

… South Korea’s industry minister also expressed regret to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, saying the WH announcement went beyond what had been agreed.”

… CNN: “A CNN investigation has found that while Jared Kushner acted as a key Middle East peace negotiator, his private equity firm held the largest stake in an Israeli company backing businesses tied to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, including its largest arms manufacturer.”

… I have my not-shocked face on.

… “At the same time Kushner has acted as a key negotiator in the war in Gaza, his private equity company, Affinity Partners, has held the largest stake in an Israeli firm backing businesses involved in Israel’s military campaigns.”

… It hasn’t changed yet.

… “Kushner has skirted deeper scrutiny of this potential conflict of interest by acting as a ‘volunteer’ envoy, rather than accepting a government job that would require him to disclose his finances.”

… Bypass conflict of interest laws to use a government appointment to acquire vast person wealth? Nah, not Jared.

… Trump gave a crazy interview for a lengthy TIME story out today: “With so much at stake—for the country and the world, for his party and his own power—Trump can seem curiously preoccupied. During a 75-minute Oval Office interview with TIME, he was discursive and grievance-fueled, veering from the crises of his presidency to resentments old and emerging.

… He said he regretted appointing Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, after they ruled against him on tariffs, mail ballots, and birthright citizenship. ‘I gave them the position of a lifetime, and they voted against me often.’

… On his expectation of fealty, he was unapologetic: ‘I do like loyalty, yeah.’ Again and again, he returned to the condition of the WH itself, complaining that his predecessors had left the building in disrepair and deriding Barack Obama as someone who ‘doesn’t know if something’s dirty or clean.’”

• Q - “Would you rule out declaring a state of emergency in the lead up to the midterms unless there’s widespread violence in the streets? Trump: I don’t rule anything out or in. We’ll see. You mean the Insurrection Act? TIME: Yeah. Trump: No, I’ve never used it. I could use it. A lot of people think I should use it sometimes.”

• Trump: “Did you see the story about my uncle? TIME: The one who taught at MIT? Trump: I have the highest of IQs. I have the highest. You know, my uncle was at MIT for 41 years and I believe in genetics.”

• “If I weren’t president, Saudi Arabia wouldn’t be here right now. Neither would Israel. They’d be wiped off the face of the planet.”

• Q - “Last week, you said you might annihilate Iran. That was the word you used.
  Trump: Yeah, I would do that. It’s possible. TIME: How can the president of peace be calling for the annihilation of an entire people? Trump: Because by annihilating Iran, we’ve created peace in the world. With Iran, I don’t think you could ever have peace.”

• Q - “Your polls have never been lower. Trump: They’re fake numbers. I would beat anybody running today by 20 points. Your numbers that you have are fake. The pollsters are corrupt. They’re almost as corrupt as the writers.”

… In a new AP poll, Trump’s job approval rating fell to 31%, while 69% disapprove. These were his approval ratings by issue:

• The economy: 26%

• Cost of living: 17%

• Iran: 28%

• Trade negotiations: 38%

• AI: 31%

• Immigration: 39%

• Border security: 48%

… Punchbowl: “House Majority PAC and House Majority Forward - House Democrats’ chief outside groups - raised a staggering $230 million in Q3 in their best quarter ever. This is a huge boon for Dems as they strive for the House majority amid an avalanche of spending from GOP groups. Donors are clearly signaling they believe Democrats have a very strong chance of winning the majority come Election Day.”

… Reuters: “The Democratic wave is crashing hardest in states Trump won by wide margins, though Republicans are also significantly underperforming in GA and NC, where Trump won by 2 and 3 percentage points, respectively. The volume of unexpectedly competitive states could scramble the final stretch of the campaign cycle as top officials assess where to spend their war chests.”

… Political science professor David Hopkins: “Not only is there a swing away from the Republican Party compared to 2024, but the swing actually seems to be somewhat bigger in red America than in blue America, and that’s putting these states that Trump won easily very much into play.”

… “Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority and entered the political cycle with a favorable map to maintain control of the chamber for the final two years of Trump’s presidency. But less than 5 weeks out from Election Day, polling shows Democrats are competitive in 10 states Trump won by double digits in 2024: OH, AK, IA, TX, FL, KS, NE, MS, SC and KY.

… OH, AK, IA and TX have largely been viewed as Senate battlegrounds this cycle, but the political environment is so poor for Republicans that Democrat Adam Hamilton is narrowly leading Sen. Roger Marshall in recent polls in KS, which Trump won by 16 percentage points.

… Democratic candidates Angie Nixon of FL and Annie Andrews of SC are running neck and neck against Republican incumbents in recent polls, which show Democratic-aligned candidates in NE, MS and KY trailing by single digits. Trump carried those states by margins ranging from 13 in FL to 31 in KY.”

… Republican talk-radio host Erick Erickson: “I do think Republicans are going to lose OH. The polling in OH for the GOP is pretty bleak. You have the white nationalists who don’t want to support Vivek Ramaswamy for governor. You have the Max Miller situation that is actually dragging down the ticket.”

… WaPo: “The last time a Democrat won a Senate race in MS, the party’s candidate this year, Scott Colom, hadn’t been born. Now Colom, the DA for several counties in northeast MS, has top Democratic officials and donors increasingly hopeful that he could pull off the inconceivable and use this year’s poor political environment for Republicans to win a Senate race that just a few months ago was nowhere to be found on the party’s 2026 plans.

… Colom’s campaign against Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) remains a long shot for the party, especially because Democrats are not as flush with campaign cash as they were in past elections and face a growing list of expensive targets in the fight to take back the Senate.

… Trump won MS by 23 points in 2024. The last time a Democrat won a Senate race in the state was in 1982. And some Democrats, when asked about Senate campaigns in the state, recalled when former congressman Mike Espy spurred excitement in 2020 only to lose to Hyde-Smith by 10 points.

… But Colom and other top Democrats argue this year is different. Trump is suffering from approval ratings at or near record lows in polls as voter anger grows over the war with Iran he began and rising prices he promised to control. Colom and others argue that an invigorated Democratic base and depressed Republican electorate in the state could lead to the unexpected.

… Colom argues that Democrats have struggled in MS because they haven’t tried and that the party has been stuck in a vicious cycle: They are scared away by large Republican victories and decline to put real resources into the state, he says, so Republicans’ hold on power only grows.

… Sen. Chuck Schumer recently has taken an interest in Colom’s campaign, directing some of the party’s top donors to give to Colom and signaling support for a race that was not on Democrats’ map earlier this year. The DSCC has not followed suit. While committee spokesperson Maeve Coyle called Colom ‘a strong candidate’ who has ‘put Cindy Hyde-Smith on notice,’ the committee had yet to put money toward the race.”

… Semafor: “Democrats are feeling newly optimistic about TX, even in deep-red seats. Polls show Democratic candidates running surprisingly competitively in the 9th and the 10th Congressional Districts. In the 10th, Democrat Caitlin Rourk is polling at 41% to Republican Chris Gober’s 48%, with Trump’s favorability underwater at 50% unfavorable and 47% favorable.

… Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico is also statistically tied with Republican Ken Paxton in the district, which Trump won by 22 points in 2024. And in the 9th District (also handily carried by Trump), Democrat Leticia Gutierrez is trailing Republican Alex Mealer by 6 points, with Trump’s favorability negative and the Senate race statistically tied.”

… AP: “When TX AG Ken Paxton launched his campaign for Senate last year, he skipped the local pageantry. Instead, he announced his plans on Fox, cleared his calendar and booked a hotel in Augusta, GA, during the storied Masters golf tournament, a trip that cost TX taxpayers at least $25,000.

… Since assuming office in 2015, Paxton left about 730 workdays blank on his official calendars and took over 275 out-of-state trips to places such as the CA wine country, Caribbean resorts and European tourism hot spots. The travel cost TX taxpayers a minimum of $1.9 million to cover expenses charged by his security detail.”

… CNN pollster Harry Enten: “Congratulations to Ken Paxton! You are the least popular Texas Senate GOP nominee this century. No one was even in the negative, and you’re at -16.”

… Enten then pointed out that Paxton can’t call on Trump to bail him out in Texas by campaigning with him since he’s has the lowest approval rating in Texas of any Republican president this century right now.

Yesterday was my weekly podcast Uncovered where we do a deep dive into the top stories of the week. We talked about Eric Schmitt’s conspiracy theory going down in flames, Fox’s propaganda machine, Trump’s AI and China Summits, Sarah Huckabee Sanders gets attacked by MAGA for being racist against white people, Taxpayer funded ads, Scavino’s party video at the State Dinner, Russell Brand making rape jokes with Dr. Oz, and lots more!

Link to the show is here.

… WaPo: “Carl Runefelt, a crypto-focused streamer known as ‘the Moon,’ has 2.2 million followers on TikTok but doesn’t follow politics, so he was excited the first time he heard a major politician talk about bitcoin on the world stage. He bought some extra bitcoin to celebrate the first pro-crypto US president and also bought a little of the president’s own token.

… Now the value of those $TRUMP coins has crashed, the US crypto reserve Trump promised hasn’t amounted to much, and the enthusiasm for Trump in comments and message boards has turned into disappointment and animosity.”

… Runefelt: “Trump was the hero in crypto, like, a couple of years ago, and now it’s like the exact opposite. Crypto already has a branding of ‘it’s just a bunch of scams and scammers,’ and this didn’t help because now even the top guy did the same thing that people hate.”

… “Now, as dissatisfaction grows with Trump’s economic performance, questions about how he and his family profit from the presidency have taken on more bite. Some of the loudest complaints are coming from young, male crypto enthusiasts who were initially energized by candidate Trump’s embrace of the industry - and now are better equipped than the avg voter to understand the ventures that earned the president $1.4 billion last year.

… Trump won 43% of 18-29-year-olds in 2024 polls. Last month, his approval rating with voters under 30 dropped to 19% in a Fox poll, which found 63% saying they would vote for a Democrat for Congress.

… Washington Sun: “The crypto firm that runs Trump’s meme coin is promising to hold ‘the most exclusive dinner in the world,’ raising new ethics concerns about the president’s personal financial entanglements. In a new page on its website, GetTrumpMemes.com, the crypto firm promises invitations to ‘an evening with 3 Legends and President Donald J. Trump’ for the 185 largest holders of the Trump Coin.

… The top 29 purchasers will be invited to an additional ‘VIP Reception with YOUR FAVORITE PRESIDENT,’ while the 4 biggest will also receive an 18-karat Trump-branded gold watch. The winners will be chosen based on a formula that seems designed in part to increase sales of $TRUMP in the next two months.

… Trump’s meme coin has been the most lucrative of the multiple crypto products tied to the president. The president has earned $635 million from this venture since it started in 2025, as part of the $1.4 billion he has disclosed as having earned from business ventures through last year. Purchasers of Trump’s crypto products have lost an estimated $4.7 billion combined thus far.”

… WaPo: “The Trump admin bought advertising space on both CNN and MS NOW, running taxpayer-funded ads promoting Trump, even as the president barred both cable networks from the WH grounds - bans that have been paused by a federal judge.

… The WH in recent days began running 3 ads that it calls ‘public service announcements,’ which Democrats and former ethics officials have claimed could violate government ethics laws because of their political nature. For 2 of the 3 ads in the campaign, the admin has bought ad space on CNN and MS NOW in local markets.

… The Trump admin has spent at least $2.87 million running the 3 ads. The Trump admin made the bulk of its ad spend on CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC and Fox - where it has bought thousands of ad placements in the past week. But the inclusion of MS NOW, on which it bought 38 ads, and CNN, where it bought 10 ads, are notable because of Trump’s ongoing battle to bar the networks from the WH.”

… This story infuriated me. While their hosts and guest are saying these ads are illegal and a theft of taxpayer dollars, CNN and MS NOW is taking the taxpayer money and running the ads. Unbelievable. That pretty much sums up the state of corporate media in America today.

… Politico: “Facing his toughest election challenge in years, GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has blanketed southeast PA with attacks on his Democratic opponent - many of them citing what appear to be independent local news reports. These ads and 5 others all cite headlines from Patch, a ‘hyperlocal’ news org that has garnered hefty audiences in some communities.

… Each of the articles cited carry the byline of Dave Sommers, a man with close ties to Fitzpatrick and a checkered history with law enforcement. As recently as 2022, Brian Fitzpatrick’s campaign paid Sommers $500 for ‘office setup services’. That year, Sommers was charged with stealing an election sign that expressed support for a GOP primary challenger, Alex Entin.

… Sommers also attended Fitzpatrick’s June wedding.

… Sommers drew headlines of his own after he was prosecuted for trafficking in protected turtles. Prosecutors alleged he made more than $500,000 over 6 years selling diamondback terrapins online, running afoul of state and fed conservation laws. Sommers was handed a 6-month prison sentence in 2019, along with 6 months of house arrest and a $250,000 fine.

… Sommers opened a more recent chapter as a Patch contributor, posting 8 articles dating back to late Feb. They all attack Democrat Bob Harvie, slamming him for being ‘divisive,’ ‘arrogant’ and a ‘hack.’ They feature messaging consistent with the Fitzpatrick campaign, including an Aug. 27 post that accuses Harvie of wanting ‘more data centers in Bucks County.’”

… CNBC: “US Treasury yields hit their highest level in more than two decades on Thursday as a global bond sell-off deepened. The 10-year Treasury yield breached a level last seen in April 2002, rising 4 basis points to 5.3338%. The figure is key to rates for mortgage borrowing, auto loans and credit card debt.

… The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond jumped 3 basis points to 5.6702%, its highest level since July 2002. The 2-year yield was 2 basis points higher at 4.91%.”

… NY Post: “If you’re planning to cash out in FL, you might want to pack your patience. FL is the single worst place in the country to sell a home right now. FL sits at the bottom of the barrel with a staggering 206,508 homes up for grabs, the biggest glut of any state. The typical property there lingers for 73 days before a buyer bites, and bidding wars have all but vanished.”

… Pete Hegseth gave a deranged Christian nationalist speech to officers at the US Marine Corps base in Quantico, VA:

• “The ideological clowns are out. The patriotic cowboys are in with testosterone testing on top.”

• "Today, at my direction, I'm establishing the Office of Religious Affairs. It will report straight to the top - a direct line to the secretary. As Psalm 33:12 extolls us, blessed is the nation in which God is the Lord."

… Jacob Bacharach: “Incredibly funny Psalm to choose since it immediately goes on to say: ‘No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.’”

• “With the sentiment of the 6th chapter of the book of Isaiah, Lord, here I am. Send me. Send me to fight the redcoats. Send me to fight the communists. Send me to fight the Islamists. Send me.”

• “We’re placing spiritual health at the same level as physical health. Our dept is, you might say, putting on the full armor of God. Because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual. God is good. Evil is not. And America's military must understand the difference.”

• “Our colleges and universities have become anti-American DEI worshiping woke factories. We need students of Western civilization in the pillars of our republic. Leaders who understand the faith of Jerusalem, the philosophy of Athens, the power of Rome. To meet this critical need, we're partnering with a new crop of premier higher ed institutions. Including Liberty Univ. and Hillsdale College.”

• “We are leveraging a unique source of American advantage, one our adversaries do not have. An effort led by America's best minds to study the future of warfare. It will be co-led by three of our nation's best minds: Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich.”

… None of those 3 ever served in the military. Palmer Luckey is Matt Gaetz’s brother-in-law.

• “Americans want to serve when they are led by strong patriots, not by weak weirdos.”

• “A free press is of course important. But partisan activism that intentionally smears the troops and the historic mission that they're undertaking is fundamentally anti-American. It's treason.”

• “Our so-called press makes Iranian state media look reasonable. Our media's shameful lust for political retribution blinds them to the consequences of reckless so-called reporting. So-called journalists juiced up on Trump derangement syndrome think they're fighting against our president, but they're really undermining our war fighters.”

… Then Hegseth posted on X: “No fatties. No trannies. No beardos. No weirdoes. No wimps. No radicals - JUST WARRIORS.”

… One social media user responded that Hegseth’s post was the same as his Grindr bio.

… Politico: “The Trump admin is excluding several major allies from a gathering of NATO members next month - after previous threats to deploy a ‘naughty and nice list’ against governments that have run afoul of the president’s priorities.

… The planned meeting in Poland, which Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has spearheaded, is essentially a working group focused on NATO’s future. But many of the countries who didn’t receive an invite - such as the UK, France and the Baltic countries - are big defense spenders and play key roles in the alliance, leaving their diplomats wondering why they’re being frozen out.

… They question whether the admin is playing favorites in a way that could further splinter an alliance already struggling with increasing Russian aggression and depleted weapons stockpiles. They question whether the admin is playing favorites in a way that could further splinter an alliance already struggling with increasing Russian aggression and depleted weapons stockpiles.”

… Reuters: The Trump admin is pressing Germany and France to release diesel from emergency stocks or face a potential US export ban. The two countries hold more than a third of the EU’s strategic diesel reserves. One source says the US has asked the EU to release 120 million barrels over 6 months - more than 40% of its emergency diesel/gas and oil stocks.

… After draining our strategic reserve, Trump is now demanding that EU countries do it too.

… Politico: “The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the legality of ICE’s mandatory detention policy, weighing in on an issue that has been overwhelmingly rejected by district and appeals courts but has nevertheless roiled the justice system nationwide.”

… Immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick: “One of the most important immigration cases in a generation. The Trump admin claims a 1996 law mandated the detention of millions without a right to seek bond, yet no one noticed until 2025. A victory would greenlight mass detention at levels not seen since Japanese internment.

… I am less negative on this one than the third-country removals case, given that nearly every federal court in the country has weighed in on the issue and the vast majority have ruled against the Trump admin. But this court isn’t bound by any of that.”

… Washington Sun: “DOD has spent over $49 million since Oct 2025 feeding National Guard members posted in DC It could spend another $20 million by the end of the year. The money was spent on catered ‘breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight meals’ for National Guard members deployed to DC by Trump.

… It’s the latest figure ratcheting up the estimated price tag on the Guard’s presence in DC, which has spurred protests from residents and DC Council members and ongoing litigation from the city’s AG. What started as a deployment of 800 troops expanded as of early August to 4,630 troops, and will continue through the remainder of Trump’s term.

… The cost of activating, deploying and compensating 1,000 troops to a city would be $18-21 million a month. The federal govt recently announced it would spend $292 million housing troops in 2,000 ‘apartment-style lodging units’ around the city through June 2027.”

… Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) to reporter Eric Michael Garcia on Trump’s press conference with tech oligarchs where he said that AI companies should regulate themselves: “The first family is so heavily invested in the industry, the conflicts are so immense, and the president's judgment is so poor that the American people are rightly concerned that Trump has neither the capacity nor the incentive to protect them from the risks arising from this technology.”

… Public Citizen: “This week, Big Tech executives met with Trump for a meeting about the threats posed by AI. The meeting produced a nonbinding agreement among the tech leaders to adopt unenforceable, self-regulatory standards. A new analysis has revealed that the CEOs that gathered for the WH meeting donated more than $227 million to Trump’s SuperPAC and various Trump pet projects over the past two years.”

… Public Citizen president Robert Weissman: “Big Tech executives have effectively bought themselves a seat at the AI regulatory table. Actually, they have bought the table. As a result, as public anxieties about AI risks – to children, political integrity, jobs, the environment – skyrocket, and as revelations mount of AI company failures to impose adequate safeguards on their own technologies, the Trump admin delivers meaningless agreements that impose no restraints on the out-of-control tech oligarchs.”

… “The $227 million total includes made or pledged campaign contributions in support of Trump, WH ballroom and inaugural donations and settlements agreed that benefit Trump. The data includes donations by individuals, spouses, and affiliated corporations.”

… A judge DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE the DOJ’s Reflecting Pool vandalism case against former Olympian David Hearn, warning that leaving the door open could expose him to a “meritless, politically motivated prosecution” and what would “objectively” be harassment.