11.6.26

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Welcome to the reading of the New York Times for Friday,
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November 6, 2026. As a reminder, Radio Eye is a
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reading service intended for people who are blind or have
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other disabilities that makes it difficult to read printed material.
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Your reader for today is Blanca Michael Ward. We begin
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with Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day. Quantum, quantum. an adjective
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spelled Q-U-O-N-D-A-M, what it means. Quantum is an adjective that
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means former or sometime. Example, many people were surprised to
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learn that the quantum professor has since become a dancer.
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Merriam-Webster's word of the day, quantum. We continued with the
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New York Times bestsellers in... combined print and e-book nonfiction.
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In first place, three weeks on the list, In the
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Shadow of Eight by Colin Gosselin with Allie Kingsley Baker,
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a dark tell-all by one of the sextuplets from the
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reality TV series John and Kate, plus eight. In second place,
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new this week, Princes and Thieves by Matthew Cole, an
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account of the financial and political alliances between Jared Kushner,
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Eric Prince, Mohammed bin Zayed, and Mohammed bin Salman. In
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third place, also new this week, and I will tell
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you mine, by Sophia Bush, the actress, activist, and host
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of the Work in Progress with Sophia Bush podcast, shares
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stories from her life and career. In fourth place, five
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weeks on the list, The American Way of Killing by
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Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell examines why there are so many homicides
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in the United States and what stops us from fixing
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this issue. And in fifth place, four weeks on the list,
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Blockers by Michael Lewis, the author of The Fifth Risk,
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tells the story of President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency
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through the lens of six public servants. We continue with
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the New York Times bestsellers in combined print and e-book fiction.
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In first place, New This Week, A Court of Splintered
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Harmony by Sarah J. Moss, the sixth book in the
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Court of Thorns and Roses series. former alliances must be
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restored to fight the threat of Cochet and the deathless.
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In second place, also new this week, The Hollow by
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Michael Connolly, the 21st book in the Harry Bosch series.
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Bosch investigates the facility where he was a ward of
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the state in his youth. In third place, five weeks
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on the list, Threshing Day by Rebecca Yaros. Thirteen short
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stories set in the Empyrean world in which cadets compete
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to earn the bond of a dragon. In fourth place,
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48 weeks on the list, Theo of Golden by Alan Lovey.
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A man travels to a small southern town where he
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purchases pencil drawings of local residents and exchanges them for stories.
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And in fifth place, five weeks on the list, The
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French Illusion by John Grisham. When a couple is kidnapped
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during a honeymoon trip in the French countryside, a young
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lawyer is used as part of a CIA operation. We
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continue with today's headlines from the front page of the
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New York Times. Trump team saw collapse coming days before
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the vote, and popularity of war and president was too
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much to overcome. DOJ steps up criminal probe of court league.
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80-cent pouch saves mother's life in childbirth. African women often
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risk bleeding out. News analysis. Capital sweep. may gift lift
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to moderates. Rahman elected mayor of L.A. in win for left.
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We begin with this story. I have seen the enemy,
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and it is us, inside Team Trump's historic collapse. This
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was written by Shane Goldmacher, Jonathan Swan, and Maggie Haberman.
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Six days before the election, more than two dozen of
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President Trump's top strategists logged on to a private video call.
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The mood was grim. The discussion began with talk of cyanide.
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Do you want the white pill first or the black
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pill first, asked Tony Fabricio, the president's chief pollster. Tim Saller,
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one of the Republican Party's top data consultants, laid out
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two scenarios. In the first, the $ 400 million MAGA Incorporated
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super PAC was reaching the voters that it had wanted
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and expected to vote. That's the optimistic scenario, he said.
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The other was a wipeout. I'm getting my affairs in order,
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James Blair, who left the White House to oversee the
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president's midterm strategy, said to laughter, according to four people
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on the call. I suggest everybody else do the same.
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For roughly 30 minutes, the call ran on gallows humor,
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funeral arrangements, prison food, presidential pardons, even a brief riff
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on fleeing the country. At least Bibi won. He'll protect us, Mr.
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Blair said sarcastically of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
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whose country had voted the day before. Mr. Netanyahu's bloc
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fell short of a majority, and his party soon claimed
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the election had been stolen. Maybe we could get asylum
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in Israel, Mr. Fabricio said. Collapse at the polls. The
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scope of the Republican wreckage would become clear a week later.
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Democrats stormed to a huge House majority and won control
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of the Senate, a remarkable feat powered by victories in
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Republican strongholds, Kansas, South Carolina, Texas, that few could have
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imagined a year ago. The account of the Republican Party's
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collapse is based on interviews with more than 70 people,
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among them lawmakers, political strategists, party leaders, pollsters, White House officials,
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and congressional aides. who were directly involved in the midterm elections,
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many of whom were granted anonymity to describe private conversations
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and decisions. The scale of the defeat was far from inevitable.
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Republicans had record fundraising, the world's richest man, a favorable
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Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance, and a demoralized, unpopular opposition.
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In the Senate, They had a map that required Democrats
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to compete in states they hadn't won in decades. And
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in the House, the Trump team demolished the tradition of
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redrawing congressional lines only once a decade in order to
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carve up new districts to help the GOP bolster its
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narrow majority. What Republicans could not overcome was a president
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who lost the public's trust on the economy and so
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much more. And what they had not counted on was
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an unpopular war in the Middle East, one that would
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close the Strait of Hormuz and push gas prices past
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$ 4 a gallon that would rage all the way through
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the election. And Democrats... were ready this time to seize
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on the GOP stumbles. A stark warning on the Iran war.
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The slide deck that Mr. Blair had circulated over the
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summer to officials in the West Wing was stark. One
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slide linked Republicans' polling numbers to an Iran war timeline.
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It showed how the Democratic advantage had ballooned during active
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hostilities in shrunk during talks over a memorandum of understanding,
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and then spiked again when the ceasefire collapsed. By the
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end of July, Democrats had a ten-point edge on the
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congressional ballot. The bottom line was hard to miss. It
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was in highlighter yellow. Republicans could still conceivably win the
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House if Democrats had only a four-point edge, But that
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won't happen without an extended ceasefire or moves open and
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gas prices falling, the slide warned. A final result approaching
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D plus 10 would likely cost us the Senate. The
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results on Tuesday were even worse. Mr. Trump's party is
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on track to lose the national popular congressional vote by
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about 13 points, according to estimates by the New York Times.
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It is shaping up to be the worst loss in
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a half century since the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.
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Even before the polls had closed, Mr. Trump had begun
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to ruminate on what might have been. If we never
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went into Iran, what do you think would happen in
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the midterms, the president had asked privately, according to a
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person who spoke to him. An unchecked second term. What
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made the war such a potent force is that it
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told a simple story for voters. As a candidate, Mr.
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Trump had promised no new wars. He started a new war.
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He promised lower prices. Gas prices soared and inflation rose.
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The story of the GOP midterm implosion was not only
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a story of broken promises, It was also a story
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of radical overreach. After Mr. Trump came back from pariah
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status after January 6, 2021, some advisors believed he had
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convinced himself that the rules of politics had been suspended
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for him alone. That illusion was obliterated on Tuesday night.
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Over nearly two years, Hubris had become the governing philosophy
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of Mr. Trump's second presidency. There was a seemingly endless
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string of investigative pieces revealing that Mr. Trump, his family,
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and their close associates had used the presidency to enrich
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themselves brazenly. Those reports began to resonate with voters. An
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early October poll from Fox News revealed showed corruption as
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the top voter concern. Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, said,
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The president only acts in the best interest of the
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American people. There are no conflicts of interest. In 2025, Mr.
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Trump began a trade war with the entire world, the
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pain of which was still being felt more than a
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year later on farms all over the suddenly competitive states
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of Kansas, Texas, and Iowa. Throughout it all, the president
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flashed indifference to the struggles of Americans that his policies
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had exacerbated. Soaring gas prices? A small price to pay, Mr.
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Trump insisted. Some members of his team grew exasperated as Mr.
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Trump spoke seemingly more about his new ballroom than the border,
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golf courses than grocery prices. interior decorations than inflation. On
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the eve of the midterms, he focused his closing pitch
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on his refurbishment of the reflecting pool on the National Mall,
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joking that he was considering renaming it for himself rather
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than Abraham Lincoln. Unlike in the past, Democrats mostly ignored
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the daily Trump distractions and sought to connect corruption to costs.
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They also told a story of a government focused on
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elites while average people struggled, from Jeffrey Epstein's protective associates
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to the president's $ 2. 2 billion in personal profits. In the House,
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Democrats quickly and unexpectedly countered Mr. Trump's redistricting push and
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pursued strong candidates deep into red territory to spread the map.
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In the Senate, they found a series of blue-chip recruits
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who put one's unthinkable states into play. In the final
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frenzied weeks of the campaign, Republicans were redirecting cash from
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the usual swing states of North Carolina and Georgia to
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try to shore up traditional strongholds in South Carolina and
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even Mississippi. The war in Iran, said Representative Hakeem Jeffries
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of New York, the Democratic leader and now the Speaker-in-Waiting,
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helped supercharge the contrast between the two parties. Republicans had
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tried to frame the midterms as a choice between common
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sense and crazy, relentlessly attacking the rising Democratic Socialist wing
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of the left. Yet, Mr. Trump's own pollster's final survey,
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taken two weeks before the election, showed that while both
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the MAGA Republican brand and Democratic Socialists were unpopular with voters,
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MAGA carried more baggage. When Republicans who were not planning
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to cast ballots were asked what it would take to
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earn back their vote, their top two answers were ending
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the war and addressing inflation. On that final call before
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Election Day, Mr. Trump's advisers were both clear-eyed and cynical
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about the state of the race, referring at one point
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to a Trump ally who ran for governor of Minnesota
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and demanded a recount in his primary despite losing in
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a landslide. Look, it's fine, Mr. Blair told the group acerbically.
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I think we'll just pull a Mike Lindell and demand
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a recount, regardless of how many points we're down. Alex Pfeiffer,
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a spokesman for the MAGA Incorporated Super PAC, said that
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the group's sober and clear-eyed view of the political environment
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led to investing in house races Republicans are leading in,
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in Maine, Florida, Tennessee, New York, and Texas. The people
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peddling these made-up quotes and false gossip not only demean
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and belittle the historic and generous investment by the president
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into the party's midterm effort, but they also slander the
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hard work of the many who contributed to this effort,
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he said in a statement. They are cowards and losers.
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A White House official said, who declined to speak on
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the record, said in response to the reporting for this article,
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President Trump was not on the ballot and it's proven
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that Trump voters show up when he is on the ballot.
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Candidate quality matters and President Trump did a better job
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promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the
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candidates did themselves. The official repeated that the president who
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acknowledged earlier on Wednesday that the war affected the midterms,
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had over and over again said Iran can't procure a
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nuclear weapon. The Anti-Recruiter While Senator Chuck Schumer of New York,
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the Democratic leader, painstakingly recruited top-tier Senate candidates, Mr. Trump
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took a series of steps that endangered the Republican majority.
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After Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa flirted with opposing Mr.
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Trump's most controversial nominees and Senator Tom Tillis of North
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Carolina voted against his signature tax and spending bill, Mr.
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Trump's allies threatened to end their careers. Both decided to retire,
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creating vulnerable open seats that had been held by Republicans.
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In North Carolina, Mr. Trump cleared the field for Michael Whatley,
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a former lobbyist and Republican National Committee chairman, who proved
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a lackluster candidate and lost to Roy Cooper, the state's
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popular Democratic former governor. After Senator Lindsey Graham of South
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Carolina died in July, Mr. Trump supported tapping his sister, Darlene,
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to not just replace him, temporarily, but also to run
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for a full six-year term. In doing so, he elevated
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an inexperienced candidate with no fundraising base, and she went
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on to lose in a state that had not elected
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a Democrat to the Senate since 1998. But no candidate
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proved more costly to the party than Ken Paxton's the
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scandal-ridden Texas Attorney General. Mr. Trump endorsed him over Senator
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John Cornyn, the Republican incumbent, ignoring a year of warnings
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that Mr. Paxton would put the seat in jeopardy. Republicans
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were ultimately forced to spend close to $ 300 million in Texas,
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money that could have gone to shore up candidates in
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other states. Mr. Paxton lost by $ 12 On another recent call,
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the Trump team mocked the haplessness of some of the
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Republicans they were trying to elect. I have seen the enemy, Mr.
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Blair told the group a week earlier, and it is us, Mr.
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Fabricio replied, in many places. The Democrats' Playbook In May 2025, Mr.
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Schumer arrived at Wildflower Farms, an upscale resort in New
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York's Hudson Valley, for a secretive retreat with donors and
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party officials. He desperately needed to expand the Senate map.
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At the Wildflower Retreat, James Tallarico, a youthful-looking state legislator
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in Texas, had delivered a five-minute speech for the assembled
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crowd on the importance of storytelling in campaigns. Mr. Schumer
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was smitten. He told at least two attendees afterward that
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he wanted to get Mr. Tallarico to run for the Senate.
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To win control of the Senate, Democrats needed to hold
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all of their seats and flip at least four, including
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in states that Mr. Trump won handedly in 2024. Mr.
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Schumer spent months wooing Mr. Cooper and took at least
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three trips to Ohio to coax former Senator Sherrod Brown,
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who had lost in 2024, but had a populist brand
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that matched the country's mood. If you retire and we
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lose the majority by one vote, you won't enjoy your retirement, Mr.
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Schumer recalled telling Mr. Brown, 73. Both ran and won.
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In the House, where Democrats had fallen three seats short
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in 2024, recruiters went hunting in districts Mr. Trump had
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carried by 10 points or more, betting early that the
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emboldened president would overreach. An election post-mortem by the Democratic
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House Majority PAC, circulated in April 2025, found two... found
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two factors stood out among the party's stronger 2024 candidates
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being perceived as moderate and focusing on the economy. If
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we wanted to compete deeper in red districts, we needed
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to find candidates who are not immediately off-putting, said Mike Smith,
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the PAC's president. They set about recruiting candidates with distinctive
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biographies military veterans, doctors, farmers, a smokejumper, a Tejano music star,
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just about anyone who didn't scream professional politician. Redistricting wars. Mr. Trump, meanwhile,
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was trying to redraw the House battlefield itself. In the
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spring of 2025, Mr. Blair, then his deputy chief of staff,
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brought the president a plan to redraw congressional maps mid-decade
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to make seats safer for Republicans. The gerrymandering push started
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in Texas and soon spread to other Republican-led states. When Mr.
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Jeffries first heard about the Texas gambit, he turned to
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his advisors in disbelief and declared, You've got to be
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effing kidding me. He flew to Texas to urge state
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legislators to take a stand, and many Democrats fled the
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state to slow down the legislative process. But the Trump-inspired
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play went through, and Republicans carved themselves out five new
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seats that Mr. Trump would have carried by double digits
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in 2024, seemingly enough to withstand even a dip in
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support in the midterms. Democrats fought back, California voters approved
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Governor Gavin Newsom's plan to create five new seats favoring Democrats,
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and Virginia voters approved a map creating another four, though
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the state Supreme Court later struck it down. From the start, Mr.
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Blair was cocksure about his redistricting plan, and he and
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the president dismissed Republicans who worried about the maneuver backfiring.
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But by April 2026, Democrats had good reason to believe
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that they had neutralized the threat by redrawing districts in
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several blue states. Mr. Jeffries held a celebratory news conference
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featuring a poster with the faces of Mr. Trump and Mr.
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Blair and an anonymous quote that had appeared in an
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article about redistricting in the Times. Maximum warfare everywhere. all
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the time. When Mr. Blair saw the poster, he texted
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one of Mr. Jefferson's top aides, Gideon Bragan, can you
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send a copy of this to my office? Instead, it
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remained inside House Democratic headquarters through Election Day when a
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blue tidal wave washed over even many of the districts
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drawn to favor Republicans. The unforced errors As 2026 began,
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the administration's immigration enforcement surge turned violent in Minneapolis when
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two protesters were shot and killed by federal agents. Both
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killings were captured on video. Mr. Trump told advisers he
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didn't like how the videos looked. Susie Wiles, the White
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House chief of staff, had spent months privately trying to
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steer him away from the hardline immigration approach favored by
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Stephen Miller, the president's top policy advisor. Soon after Minneapolis,
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Democrats' internal polls showed the party taking the edge on
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immigration for the first time. What had been one of Mr.
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Trump's perennial strengths was for a period his top liability,
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according to one of the president's senior strategists. Then, about
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five weeks after the second shooting, Mr. Trump took the
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country to war in Iran. Mr. Blair at first shared
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his boss's optimism that the war would be a quick success.
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He reassured skeptical colleagues that the conflict would not be
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the political disaster some feared because some Defense Department officials
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had assured the White House it would be resolved rapidly.
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But the president's four- to six-week timeline stretched into months.
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In public, Mr. Trump crowed about a decisive military triumph.
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In private, advisers briefed him on the closure of the
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Strait of Hormuz, spiking prices of gas and fertilizer, and
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an alarming depletion of American weaponry. Mr. Fabricio's focus groups
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in March, about two weeks into the conflict, showed that
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voters did not understand why the president had started the war.
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they saw a broken promise that was making life more expensive.
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Former allies on the anti-war right, including Tucker Carlson and
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the former Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, were now in
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open rebellion. Mr. Trump knew the war was draining his support,
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according to advisers, but for a brief moment it seemed
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he had found himself a way out of the mess.
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By mid-June, Vice President J.D. Vance had negotiated a memorandum
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of understanding with Iran, and the Trump political team exhaled. Mr.
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Fabricio's first poll of the proposal found that voters aware
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of the deal favored it by 41 percentage points, and
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67 percent thought it would bring down gas prices. But
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the Iranians kept flexing their leverage, and the arrangement began
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to fray. and GOP Iran hawks, including Senator Ted Cruz
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of Texas, pressed Mr. Trump to keep the pressure on Tehran.
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The deal fell apart and the war dragged on. My
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Money Mr. Trump never stopped raising money after the 2024 election,
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assembling a roughly $ 400 million war chest that he made
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clear to advisers he saw as my money. By August,
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with the election less than 100 days away, Republican Senate
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strategists still had no clarity on where Team Trump would spend.
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One described being shocked at how ill-prepared they were. A
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Trump advisor said a plan existed but could not be
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shared because the president had not approved it. Some days, Mr.
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Trump told advisors privately, We've got to win. Anything we
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got to do. On others, he sounded as if he
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couldn't care less. It says something very nice about me
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that they just can't win without me, he told aides. Mr.
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Blair and others had to make the case to the
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president to sign off on the spending. Mr. Trump withheld
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his approval until the end of the summer. The delay
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was costly. Ad prologue, soar as elections near. One week
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in mid-October on a single station in Anchorage, the Trump
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super PAC paid nearly four times as much money as
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the leading Democratic super PAC did to air roughly 70%
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fewer commercials, because it had not reserved the time well
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in advance. The Democratic group paid $ 2, 700 for a commercial
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on the local evening news. Mr. Trump's super PAC paid $ 30, 000
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for the same slot. Typically, endangered lawmakers distance themselves from
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an unpopular president in midterm elections. Team Trump wanted to
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do the opposite. We have taken that old construct and
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flipped it on its head, said Chris LaCivita, co-manager of Mr.
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Trump's 2024 campaign. Thus, the first modern midterm convention was born,
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a two-day celebration of the president in Dallas in September
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that few members of his party had wanted. During his
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convention speech, Mr. Trump rolled out a splashy new proposal
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to send $ 5, 000 to every American adult, but only if
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Republicans won. Almost no one knew it was coming, including
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his senior political advisors, the Speaker, and the Senate Majority Leader.
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The idea had not even been pulled before Mr. Trump
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said it, and when a similar proposal was tested, Mr.
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Trump's team found It did little to move voters toward Republicans.
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Some of the president's own advisers cringed at the giveaway,
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with one describing it as a naked effort to bribe
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people for their votes. The convention did bring one piece
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of good news, money. On the first day, Elon Musk
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sent $ 75 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC,
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led by allies of the Senate Majority Leader John Thune
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of South Dakota. It was one of the largest single
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contributions in American history. At the convention, Mr. Paxton made
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his way into the fun suite where Alex Latcham, the
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Super PAC's executive director, made a somewhat cryptic remark to him.
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You're going to be happy tomorrow. The ads were about
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to begin. Mr. Musk would spend more than $ 450 million
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to aid Republicans in the midterms, much of it in
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Texas to try to save Mr. Paxton. The super PAC
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he funded spent tens of billions on ads attacking the
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Democratic nominee, Mr. Tallarico, for his support of transgender rights,
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mirroring a line of attack that the Trump team had
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used effectively in 2024. In other races, The focus on
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transgender ads became a point of disagreement between officials at
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the Senate Leadership Fund and Mr. Trump's operation, which argued
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that the 2026 election was fundamentally about the economy and
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that running ads on other topics would be less effective.
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Senate GOP strategists saw economic messages falling flat in the
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current political environment in some states. The fight to save
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the Senate was hampered by party leadership that could barely
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work together. Mr. Trump and Senate GOP leaders, Mr. Thune
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among them, never grew close. The president endorsed Mr. Paxton
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over their objections, and when Trump advisors met with officials
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from the top Republican super PAC at Camp David in
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March 2026 to plan for the midterms, no one from
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the National Republican Senatorial Committee was invited. The Collapse In
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late August, Julie Mertz, the top strategist at the Democratic
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Congressional Campaign Committee, gathered her team and pulled up a
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slide estimating a 35% chance of a blue wave. It's
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our job, she recalls saying, to hand down as many
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surfboards as possible. Committee officials made the party's most vulnerable
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incumbents an unusual offer. Instead of spending millions defending them,
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the party would move the money into deeper red territory
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and poll their seats to see if they needed the
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resources back. Most agreed, freeing up around $ 10 million to
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expand the map. Not long after the Republican convention in Dallas,
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diesel prices hit all-time highs. In the Senate, it got
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so bad for the GOP that by early October, Republicans
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were ordering up polls in seemingly unthinkable states like South
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Dakota and Idaho. A month before the election, the Senate
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Leadership Fund pulled ads from North Carolina that ceding the
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state to redirect money to Kansas, then South Carolina, and
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eventually Mississippi, a state Mr. Trump had carried by nearly
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23 points two years ago. Battleground Mississippi, Mr. Trump's advisors
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called it mockingly on a call. In the House, the
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deterioration was perhaps worse. At one point, Top officials with
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the Congressional Leadership Fund and Mr. Trump's super PACs had
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decided to give up trying to flip Representative Henry Cuellar's
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South Texas seat, only to realize that Speaker Mike Johnson
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was set to be in the district the day the
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ads were going to come off the air. They delayed
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the announcement for a day to spare Mr. Johnson an
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embarrassing episode. Mr. Quayot won re-election in a landslide. In
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the end, the map shifted so far left that House
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Republicans who polled more than 100 seats could not keep up.
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It surprised even some leading Democrats. At a September dinner,
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Rahm Emanuel, who ran the House Democrats' campaign in the
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2006 wave, asked the party's top recruits How much Mr.
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Trump had won their districts by. When Zach Dembo, a
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military veteran and former federal prosecutor running in Kentucky's 6th District,
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said 15 points, Mr. Emanuel looked at him in disbelief. Mr.
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Dembo won. The last Sunday before Election Day, Mr. Jeffries
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arranged for a symbolic final stop to a battleground district.
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He went to Alabama, where Republicans had redrawn Representative Shamari
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Figuer's district to favor their party after a Supreme Court
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decision weakened the Voting Rights Act. It was important to
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go there, Mr. Jeffrey said, because he was facing a
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renewed effort to subject the African-American community to Jim Crow-like tactics.
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It's fair to say that Shamari and I both felt
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the weight of history, given the fact that the civil
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rights movement led by Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and so
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many others began in the very place where we were
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ending this all-important 2026 campaign, Mr. Jeffrey said. Mr. Figures
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won his race on Tuesday. On the way to the airport, Mr.
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Jeffries made an unpublicized stop at the Freedom Monument Sculpture
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Park that remembers the history of enslaved people in America.
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In January, Mr. Jeffries is now set to become the
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first black speaker in American history. We continue with this story.
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On the Democrats' agenda, investigations of Trump, and his family.
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This was written by Ben Protas, Michael Gold, and Andrew Duran.
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A $ 1. 4 billion cryptocurrency windfall. Well-timed stock trades. A wedding
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after party bankrolled by a Kremlin-connected businessman. For nearly two years,
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congressional Democrats were powerless to probe these potential scandals and
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conflicts looming over President Trump and his family businesses. But
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after pulling off a landslide midterm election victory that amounted
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to a sweeping rebuke of the president, they will soon
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00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:12.039
seize control of Congress, and with it, the power to
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00:39:12.199 --> 00:39:19.320
open investigations, hold hearings, and issue subpoenas. Representative Robert Garcia,
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00:39:19.380 --> 00:39:23.969
the California Democrat, poised to chair the House Oversight Committee,
466
00:39:24.599 --> 00:39:28.829
summed up the thread succinctly in a statement late Tuesday.
467
00:39:29.739 --> 00:39:34.760
Lawyer up. In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Garcia said
468
00:39:35.199 --> 00:39:38.420
that his warning was meant chiefly for people at the
469
00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:43.730
White House who engaged in corruption and enriched themselves. The
470
00:39:43.789 --> 00:39:47.949
Trump crime family is the top of our investigative priorities,
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00:39:48.190 --> 00:39:54.179
he said. Subpoenas, though, do not guarantee a fruitful investigation.
472
00:39:55.010 --> 00:39:58.789
Some of the president's business associates and allies are expected
473
00:39:58.849 --> 00:40:01.949
to fight some of the subpoenas in court, which could
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00:40:02.010 --> 00:40:06.590
become a lengthy process. And even if the Democrats shed
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00:40:06.690 --> 00:40:11.190
new light on money-making ventures, there is no indication that
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00:40:11.230 --> 00:40:16.300
the Trump family violated the law potentially complicating any effort
477
00:40:16.360 --> 00:40:22.480
to pursue impeachment proceedings against the president. Still, Mr. Garcia
478
00:40:22.599 --> 00:40:27.670
and other congressional leaders believe they will find a target-rich environment.
479
00:40:28.690 --> 00:40:32.849
After winning back the White House two years ago, Mr.
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00:40:32.909 --> 00:40:38.469
Trump abandoned his first-term pledge to rein in his family's dealmaking,
481
00:40:39.090 --> 00:40:43.650
enabling new ventures that enrich the president, his sons, and
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00:40:43.769 --> 00:40:48.710
some of his advisors. He shrugged off concerns about conflicts
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00:40:48.769 --> 00:40:53.010
of interest, contending that he found out that nobody cared.
484
00:40:53.760 --> 00:40:57.320
He turned out to be wrong. An AP exit poll
485
00:40:57.400 --> 00:41:01.219
found that government corruption was a crucial issue for many
486
00:41:01.300 --> 00:41:06.019
voters and that roughly seven in ten voters said Congress
487
00:41:06.099 --> 00:41:10.320
was doing not enough to provide checks and balances on
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00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:15.579
the presidency. In the House, the Oversight and Judiciary Committees
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00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:20.300
will lead the investigative efforts which will not be limited
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00:41:20.610 --> 00:41:25.250
to the Trump family business. Senator Maggie Hassan, the New
491
00:41:25.289 --> 00:41:29.250
Hampshire Democrat in line to chair the Homeland Security and
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00:41:29.309 --> 00:41:34.969
Governmental Affairs Committee, is expected to conduct her own investigations
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00:41:35.289 --> 00:41:39.030
as well. We need to zero in quickly on the
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00:41:39.110 --> 00:41:44.309
forms of systemic pay-to-play corruption that are destroying the rule
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00:41:44.349 --> 00:41:48.110
of law and have cost the public huge amounts of money,
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00:41:48.650 --> 00:41:53.440
Representative Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat expected to lead the
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00:41:53.480 --> 00:41:58.579
House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. Here are some
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00:41:58.760 --> 00:42:05.860
of the main issues that Democrats are expected to investigate. Crypto. Mr.
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00:42:05.940 --> 00:42:11.059
Trump's financial returns have multiplied during his second term largely
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00:42:11.179 --> 00:42:15.659
thanks to his crypto businesses. Those ventures pulled in at
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00:42:15.739 --> 00:42:21.199
least $ 1. 4 billion in revenue last year, a windfall that
502
00:42:21.300 --> 00:42:28.489
posed unparalleled potential conflicts of interest. Congressional investigators will most
503
00:42:28.570 --> 00:42:33.369
likely focus on the Trump family's main crypto company, World
504
00:42:33.570 --> 00:42:38.610
Liberty Financial. Last year, an investment firm tied to the
505
00:42:38.730 --> 00:42:43.210
United Arab Emirates bought a huge stake in world's liberty.
506
00:42:43.869 --> 00:42:47.750
Four months later, the Emiratis struck a deal with the
507
00:42:47.809 --> 00:42:52.929
Trump administration over the objections of some national security officials
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00:42:53.460 --> 00:42:58.840
for the export of valuable computer chips. Mr. Trump also
509
00:42:58.940 --> 00:43:02.500
collected hundreds of millions of dollars from sales of his
510
00:43:02.559 --> 00:43:07.469
Strump meme coin, a type of cryptocurrency that is typically
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00:43:07.570 --> 00:43:11.980
treated like a collectible. and world liberty sale of its
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00:43:12.179 --> 00:43:17.510
own digital tokens. The buyers included foreign entities and businesses
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00:43:17.929 --> 00:43:24.889
seeking relief from the Trump administration. Donald Trump Jr. The
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00:43:24.969 --> 00:43:29.389
activities of the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., are
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00:43:29.469 --> 00:43:34.730
another top priority for Democrats. Mr. Trump Jr. has not
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00:43:34.829 --> 00:43:39.550
made things easy for himself. He allowed a Russian businessman
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00:43:39.619 --> 00:43:43.309
with ties to the Kremlin to pay hundreds of thousands
518
00:43:43.369 --> 00:43:46.909
of dollars to help finance his wedding after-party in the
519
00:43:46.969 --> 00:43:53.309
Bahamas this year, drawing outrage from congressional Democrats. The president
520
00:43:53.369 --> 00:43:58.360
has said that his son repaid the businessman, Umar Kravlev,
521
00:43:58.820 --> 00:44:04.780
but Mr. Garcia has flagged it as an investigative target. Mr. Raskin,
522
00:44:05.119 --> 00:44:11.530
has also begun investigating 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm
523
00:44:11.760 --> 00:44:15.849
where Donald Trump Jr. is a senior partner. Several of
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00:44:15.889 --> 00:44:20.849
the companies that 1789 has invested in have received government
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00:44:20.929 --> 00:44:26.650
funding while others benefited from Trump's policies. In a statement,
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00:44:27.090 --> 00:44:30.619
a spokesman for Donald Trump Jr. said, that he is
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00:44:30.679 --> 00:44:34.300
a private citizen who holds no position in government and
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00:44:34.360 --> 00:44:39.590
has broken no laws. The statement added that Mr. Trump Jr.
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00:44:39.670 --> 00:44:45.289
has never sought to influence government policy or official decision-making
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00:44:45.349 --> 00:44:49.190
for the benefit of his personal business interests and has
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00:44:49.429 --> 00:44:55.199
every right to pursue lawful and legitimate business and investment opportunities.
532
00:44:56.480 --> 00:45:02.840
Jared Kushner Jared Kushner, a son-in-law of the president, is
533
00:45:03.059 --> 00:45:08.030
also on the Democrats' radar. Mr. Kushner is not a
534
00:45:08.090 --> 00:45:12.389
formal member of Mr. Trump's government, but he has operated
535
00:45:12.610 --> 00:45:17.409
as a top envoy in negotiations to resolve President Trump's
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00:45:17.530 --> 00:45:22.090
war with Iran and Russia's war in Ukraine. Mr. Raskin
537
00:45:22.110 --> 00:45:26.380
has called for Mr. Kushner to recuse himself from those negotiations.
538
00:45:26.949 --> 00:45:33.050
partly citing potential conflicts arising from Mr. Kushner's private equity firm,
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00:45:33.469 --> 00:45:38.679
Affinity Partners, which has received investments from foreign nations that
540
00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:44.480
have a stake in those conflicts. Partisan politics aside, no
541
00:45:44.599 --> 00:45:48.320
one has ever pointed to a specific legal or ethical
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00:45:48.380 --> 00:45:53.630
guideline that Jared or Affinity has violated. Chad Mizell, an
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00:45:53.690 --> 00:45:57.949
attorney for Mr. Kushner, said in a statement on Wednesday.
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00:45:59.150 --> 00:46:04.190
The Trump Organization. Unlike his first term, when the Trump
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00:46:04.250 --> 00:46:08.329
family real estate business swore off all new foreign deals,
546
00:46:08.809 --> 00:46:13.590
the president imposed few restrictions on deal-making in his second term.
547
00:46:14.449 --> 00:46:18.050
That omission opened the door for the Trump Organization to
548
00:46:18.110 --> 00:46:23.760
announce new international property deals in Qatar and Saudi Arabia,
549
00:46:24.300 --> 00:46:29.230
among others, licensing the family name in exchange for payments.
550
00:46:29.929 --> 00:46:34.969
There is no indication that the Trump Organization linked these
551
00:46:35.050 --> 00:46:39.090
deals to foreign policy, and although real estate projects are
552
00:46:39.130 --> 00:46:43.829
potentially lucrative for the company, they represent a small fraction
553
00:46:43.869 --> 00:46:47.510
of what the President earned last year, meaning they will
554
00:46:47.570 --> 00:46:53.440
likely draw less scrutiny. Stock Trading In the first three
555
00:46:53.519 --> 00:46:58.039
months of this year, President Trump's brokerage accounts placed more
556
00:46:58.099 --> 00:47:02.739
than 3,600 trades, and some of those trades appeared to
557
00:47:02.800 --> 00:47:08.579
be well-timed. In February, nine days after Mr. Trump's account
558
00:47:08.780 --> 00:47:12.980
executed a purchase of more than $ 1 million in Dell stock,
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00:47:13.559 --> 00:47:17.389
the president praised the company and its founder, Michael Dell,
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00:47:17.949 --> 00:47:23.880
at an event in Georgia. The Pentagon later announced a $ 9. 7
561
00:47:23.679 --> 00:47:30.050
billion contract with Dell. There's no indication that the contract
562
00:47:30.130 --> 00:47:33.429
was related to the president's stake in the company, and
563
00:47:33.469 --> 00:47:38.809
the trade represented a small fraction of his overall investment portfolio.
564
00:47:39.469 --> 00:47:43.210
The Trump Organization has said that the president and his
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00:47:43.269 --> 00:47:46.969
family have no ability to direct the trading of all
566
00:47:46.989 --> 00:47:52.369
of which is controlled by outside brokerage firms. Democrats, nonetheless,
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00:47:52.949 --> 00:47:58.269
seized on the timing. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat
568
00:47:58.369 --> 00:48:02.570
in line to lead the Banking Committee, has previously pushed
569
00:48:02.750 --> 00:48:11.000
for an investigation into Mr. Trump's trades. IRS Immunity Democrats
570
00:48:11.639 --> 00:48:16.159
might also examine the protection Mr. Trump's own administration provided
571
00:48:16.219 --> 00:48:21.489
him from Internal Revenue Service scrutiny. In a stunning order
572
00:48:21.570 --> 00:48:27.369
this spring, then-Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told the IRS
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00:48:27.469 --> 00:48:32.269
to halt any ongoing investigations into Mr. Trump, two of
574
00:48:32.349 --> 00:48:37.110
his sons, and their businesses. Mr. Blanche's order also barred
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00:48:37.329 --> 00:48:41.170
the IRS from starting any new audits of the tax
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00:48:41.210 --> 00:48:46.909
returns that the Trumps had, at that point, already filed. Historically,
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00:48:47.429 --> 00:48:52.130
the IRS has audited the sitting president's tax returns every
578
00:48:52.190 --> 00:48:55.869
year as a way to signal that even the occupant
579
00:48:55.929 --> 00:48:58.929
of the Oval Office has to comply with the nation's
580
00:48:59.010 --> 00:49:05.190
tax laws. A congressional investigation would most likely focus on
581
00:49:05.250 --> 00:49:09.920
the circumstances and legality of the Justice Department granting Mr.
582
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.460
Trump this protection, which came after Mr. Trump sued the
583
00:49:14.599 --> 00:49:19.440
IRS over the leak of his tax returns. Other targets
584
00:49:20.360 --> 00:49:24.619
The Trump family is hardly the only area of interest.
585
00:49:25.320 --> 00:49:29.019
Democrats made it clear during the campaign that they plan
586
00:49:29.059 --> 00:49:33.500
to use their newfound congressional oversight powers to look at
587
00:49:33.579 --> 00:49:39.750
corruption allegations across the Trump administration. Mr. Garcia has said
588
00:49:39.789 --> 00:49:45.090
he plans to investigate corporate corruption, including looking at whether
589
00:49:45.150 --> 00:49:48.829
donors to projects such as the White House Ballroom may
590
00:49:48.869 --> 00:49:54.110
have leveraged their contributions to benefit from Trump administration decisions
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00:49:54.530 --> 00:49:59.090
or government contracts. He also plans to continue the House's
592
00:49:59.170 --> 00:50:05.050
investigation into the government's handling of its criminal case against Mr. Epstein,
593
00:50:05.510 --> 00:50:09.610
who died in prison in 2019. and his potential links
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00:50:09.670 --> 00:50:14.949
to Mr. Trump. Mr. Garcia has pushed to subpoena Mr. Blanche,
595
00:50:15.250 --> 00:50:18.969
who oversaw the release of the Epstein files, a move
596
00:50:19.269 --> 00:50:24.949
that Republicans have resisted. Mr. Raskin also has vowed to
597
00:50:25.050 --> 00:50:30.030
investigate the lucrative pardon industry that has sprung up around
598
00:50:30.070 --> 00:50:37.039
the Trump administration. Ms. Hassan said she planned to investigate
599
00:50:37.099 --> 00:50:42.139
the Trump administration's use of no-bid contracts to donors and
600
00:50:42.320 --> 00:50:47.510
other allies of the president. Several deals, including a lucrative
601
00:50:47.610 --> 00:50:52.349
contract for deportation planes that was approved under Kristi Noem's
602
00:50:52.449 --> 00:50:58.070
tenure as Homeland Security Secretary, have come under intense scrutiny.
603
00:50:59.199 --> 00:51:03.510
House lawmakers plan to scrutinize top officials involved in the
604
00:51:03.590 --> 00:51:10.250
administration's immigration agenda, including Stephen Miller, a top White House aide,
605
00:51:10.909 --> 00:51:15.489
Tom Homan, Mr. Trump's border czar, and Mark Wayne Mullen,
606
00:51:15.809 --> 00:51:20.449
the Homeland Security Secretary, according to a person with knowledge
607
00:51:20.690 --> 00:51:26.150
of the discussions. In both the House and Senate, Democrats
608
00:51:26.250 --> 00:51:30.250
will also seek to use their subpoena power to investigate
609
00:51:30.329 --> 00:51:36.019
the killings of Americans by federal immigration officers, including two
610
00:51:36.139 --> 00:51:40.719
shootings in Minneapolis at the beginning of the year. As
611
00:51:40.800 --> 00:51:43.699
they sought to make the war in Iran a focus
612
00:51:43.840 --> 00:51:49.969
of their campaigns, Democrats also signal plans to investigate Defense
613
00:51:50.230 --> 00:51:56.380
Secretary Pete Hegseth who is already facing an impeachment effort.
614
00:51:57.219 --> 00:52:01.400
So far, Democratic leaders have demurred when discussing an impeachment
615
00:52:01.519 --> 00:52:06.119
effort against the president, with many lawmakers wary after their
616
00:52:06.179 --> 00:52:09.860
two efforts to remove him from office in his first
617
00:52:09.940 --> 00:52:22.849
term came up short. We continue with this story. Catherine
618
00:52:22.949 --> 00:52:26.980
Clark could be the House Majority Leader. Who is she?
619
00:52:27.639 --> 00:52:33.760
This was written by Annie Carney. Representative Catherine M. Clark
620
00:52:33.800 --> 00:52:37.840
of Massachusetts, the number two House Democrat, is set to
621
00:52:37.909 --> 00:52:41.929
become the Majority Leader in January after her party won
622
00:52:42.010 --> 00:52:47.929
control of the chamber. Ms. Clark, 63, a quiet, progressive
623
00:52:48.050 --> 00:52:51.949
power player in Congress, would make history as the first
624
00:52:52.090 --> 00:52:56.530
woman to hold that role, though Representative Nancy Pelosi broke
625
00:52:56.570 --> 00:53:00.670
a higher glass ceiling in 2007 when she became the
626
00:53:00.710 --> 00:53:06.489
first woman to be Speaker. I feel a weight of responsibility, Ms.
627
00:53:06.550 --> 00:53:10.360
Clark said in an interview this week. It's the women's
628
00:53:10.420 --> 00:53:14.360
voices from traveling across my district and the country that
629
00:53:14.440 --> 00:53:21.929
really haunt me. Described by friends, as similar in ideology
630
00:53:22.090 --> 00:53:27.329
and temperament to Senator Elizabeth Warren, also of Massachusetts. Ms.
631
00:53:27.389 --> 00:53:30.130
Clark is set to be the most liberal member on
632
00:53:30.190 --> 00:53:35.059
House Democrats' leadership team next year. The majority leader is
633
00:53:35.139 --> 00:53:39.159
responsible for setting the schedule, but Ms. Clark has also
634
00:53:39.239 --> 00:53:42.119
come to be known in her caucus as a master
635
00:53:42.260 --> 00:53:46.199
of member management, keeping up with the needs and issues,
636
00:53:46.320 --> 00:53:51.590
both personal and political. of Democratic lawmakers. Here is what
637
00:53:51.690 --> 00:53:55.289
you need to know about Ms. Clark. She built her
638
00:53:55.369 --> 00:54:01.440
pace of power among women. Unlike Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the
639
00:54:01.500 --> 00:54:04.739
New York Democrat who is poised to be Speaker and
640
00:54:04.800 --> 00:54:07.619
who has been viewed as a rising star since he
641
00:54:07.780 --> 00:54:12.730
entered state politics, Ms. Clark's path was not always obvious.
642
00:54:13.420 --> 00:54:16.860
A lawyer by training, Ms. Clark first became involved in
643
00:54:16.929 --> 00:54:21.190
politics when she joined her school committee to advocate all-day
644
00:54:21.250 --> 00:54:25.550
kindergarten for her children. She served in the state legislature
645
00:54:25.630 --> 00:54:30.539
before she was elected to Congress in 2013. In Washington,
646
00:54:30.619 --> 00:54:34.539
she quietly built a base of support, starting with the
647
00:54:34.619 --> 00:54:39.039
female lawmakers who lived in her apartment building near the capitals.
648
00:54:39.889 --> 00:54:43.670
One of the first roles in leadership was recruitment, recalled
649
00:54:43.750 --> 00:54:48.449
Representative Grace Meng, Democrat of New York, a close friend
650
00:54:48.510 --> 00:54:52.030
who lives in the building. I'd see her spend countless
651
00:54:52.170 --> 00:54:58.099
hours counseling candidates, especially women candidates, and slowly people realized
652
00:54:58.239 --> 00:55:03.579
what a leader she was. In the role of minority whip, Ms.
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00:55:03.639 --> 00:55:06.639
Clark has gained the trust of members across the caucus
654
00:55:06.760 --> 00:55:10.739
who said her mantra was simple, You vote your district
655
00:55:10.889 --> 00:55:14.480
every time. You just let me know how you're going
656
00:55:14.539 --> 00:55:19.000
to vote. She also brings an attentive eye and parental
657
00:55:19.159 --> 00:55:22.739
energy to the job. She takes care of us in
658
00:55:22.860 --> 00:55:28.579
so many ways, said Representative Latifa Simon, a progressive Democrat
659
00:55:28.599 --> 00:55:32.300
from California. I remember her telling me in the hall
660
00:55:32.659 --> 00:55:36.139
that my jacket was a little wrinkly, she said. We'll
661
00:55:36.179 --> 00:55:41.929
steam it for you. and her style has engendered loyalty. Ms. Simon,
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00:55:42.260 --> 00:55:46.400
who lost her husband to leukemia in 2014, said Ms.
663
00:55:46.460 --> 00:55:50.179
Clark requested to visit a children's hospital in her district
664
00:55:50.239 --> 00:55:55.619
in Oakland to highlight the Trump administration's canceling clinical trials
665
00:55:55.679 --> 00:56:02.250
for cancer patients. I thought, I'll follow you anywhere, she said. Ms. Warren,
666
00:56:02.469 --> 00:56:05.469
another close friend, who said the two often catch up
667
00:56:05.510 --> 00:56:08.889
at the JetBlue terminal on their way to and from Washington,
668
00:56:09.369 --> 00:56:13.320
said of Ms. Clark, She's on my speed dial, and
669
00:56:13.389 --> 00:56:17.340
I hope I'm on hers. She is further to the
670
00:56:17.440 --> 00:56:21.920
left on Israel than Hakeem Jeffries. Speaking at an event
671
00:56:22.019 --> 00:56:26.489
in her district last year hosted by a Quaker organization, Ms.
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00:56:26.550 --> 00:56:30.670
Clark described Israel's actions in Gaza as a genocide when
673
00:56:30.750 --> 00:56:35.590
she encouraged people to take action on political issues, including
674
00:56:36.050 --> 00:56:41.239
stopping the starvation and genocide and destruction in Gaza. That
675
00:56:41.320 --> 00:56:45.159
made her the most senior Democrat in leadership to use
676
00:56:45.239 --> 00:56:50.019
the term, which she then abruptly retracted. Ms. Clark said
677
00:56:50.059 --> 00:56:53.440
in a statement that she had repeated the word genocide
678
00:56:53.519 --> 00:56:57.010
in response to a question and stated, I am not
679
00:56:57.070 --> 00:57:02.860
accusing Israel of genocide. Still, Ms. Clark is notably further
680
00:57:02.900 --> 00:57:06.920
to the left on Israel than Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a
681
00:57:06.980 --> 00:57:11.039
longtime supporter of the Jewish state, who represents one of
682
00:57:11.079 --> 00:57:14.750
the largest Jewish communities in the country and is in
683
00:57:14.829 --> 00:57:19.449
line to become Speaker. In July, when the House voted
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00:57:19.630 --> 00:57:23.820
on a Republican measure to eliminate U.S. aid to Israel, Mr.
685
00:57:23.880 --> 00:57:28.429
Jeffries opposed it while Ms. Clark voted in favor. Ms.
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00:57:28.449 --> 00:57:31.219
Clark said at the time that she supported the measure,
687
00:57:31.739 --> 00:57:35.380
not because I agree with the entirety of the amendment
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00:57:35.659 --> 00:57:40.639
or the GOP's cynical motivations for its consideration, but because
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00:57:40.860 --> 00:57:46.190
I believe we must change course. This concludes the reading
690
00:57:46.230 --> 00:57:49.050
of the New York Times for today. Your reader has
691
00:57:49.110 --> 00:57:53.360
been Blanca Michael Ward. If you have any questions, comments,
692
00:57:53.519 --> 00:57:57.880
or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
693
00:57:57.960 --> 00:58:04.400
us at 859-422-6390. Thank you for listening, and now please
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00:58:04.420 --> 00:58:07.710
stay tuned for continued programming on Radio Eye.