Jen is your typical ideologically-biased pundit who is obsessed with all things Trump. She says the things her audience wants to hear and rarely (if ever) receives any pushback on her narrative of the day. They are a dime a dozen and also exist in the conservative media sphere.
I subscribe to ProPublica. Also to Democracy Docket, Protect Democracy, Civil Discourse, Paul Krugman, Heather Cox Richardson, Strength In Numbers, Margaret Sullivan's American Crisis, and of course, The Contrarian. Most of these excellent news sources charge only a few bucks per month.
Now that the legacy media has mostly been bought and/or cowed into platitudes, the sources that you mention have become the only responsible sources of journalism. You might want to add Dan Rather to your reading list. Yes, he'still reporting, as he's done for decades.
Pshah, that's what PAC's are for! Don't those rich people know, they give minimal cash to the candidate, then MAXIMUM DARK MONEY to the PAC's?
The entire suite of laughable "protections" that are supposed to prevent the PAC's and Super PAC's and the like from conspiring with the candidates don't work. And I believe that was by design. They were always meant to be a way to launder money for the candidates.
That's a one dimensional view. Every government contract is supposedly audited. The donors can be investigated. If they benefit via quid go pro government contracts, they stand to lose criminally and financially. My favorite scenario was Abscam. My former congressman was sent to the big house over "Koreagate".
If they have government contracts, IGs should be on the job.
The first thing Trump did was to eliminate IGs who were investigating government contractors like Musk and Bezos. To paraphrase my ol pappy, who was a lifetime prosecutor, the donations could be the tits in the wringer.
On re-reading my comment I see my sarcasm tag was left off. My bad.
I completely agree with your first post. Public scrutiny AND internal IG's with real power are both necessary since we know that all politicians are merely human and the temptations to corruption can be huge.
Folks should also be looking into how her husban's business has profited from her time in office. She's as crooked as a dog's hind leg! And read closely...the contract was for RESEARCH. The company got the contract but produced NOTHING! Even the folks in Bath got NOTHING through this self dealing. What we've learned is that there are ALL KINDS OF LOOPHOLES for this kind of thing to happen. No wonder bills are filled with pages of legal gobbledygook! Vote GOP candidates OUT!
"The secretive, close relationship between the son of a sitting U.S. President and a member of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s inner circle raises serious national security and public corruption concerns"
See? This is truly a matter of national security, unlike the ballroom and the Arc de Tr(i)ump(h) (with apologies to France for this spelling).
“…Without ProPublica’s work, neither of these corruption stories would have come to light. Its undaunted, unbiased, and unrelenting effort to expose wrongdoing and shine a bright light on public and private corruption deserves Americans’ deep gratitude. The outlet is a national treasure.”
A subscription to ProPublica is a contribution to the fight for democracy and motivation for other media outlets to join the fight against corruption and the theft of our tax dollars.
Something is very wrong when the person who invaded Ukraine with no justification whatsoever and has spent four-plus years committing war crimes there, not to mention waging hybrid warfare against our NATO allies, is invited to a major economic summit as if he were a normal head of state or government.
Agree, Anne. Yesterday on the Meidas Defense Ukraine Update hosted by Ken Harbaugh, guest Andrea Chalupa from Gaslit Nation said the following:
“Far too many world leaders and societies in the West normalized Putin, legitimized Putin, when the man is a mass-murdering thug and Russia is a mafia state.”
Looking at YOU, Donald Trump! Shame on you for cozying up to your master Putin, while Ukraine burns and its people suffer.
Please. Do some research. We couped Ukraine in 2014 to install an anti Russian president, who then set up artillery batteries and attacked the states in Ukraine with Russian populations. Putin tolerated this for 7 years, 14,000 dead. Then, Ukraine was invited to join NATO. Putin said, over and over and over, that is the red line. We (NATO) went ahead anyway, and THEN Putin invaded.
Russia and Ukraine worked out a peace deal two months later, which Boris Johnson told Zelensky not to sign. And the war goes on.
NATO wants this war, to weaken Russia, and to try out all their toys, and especially to feed the military-industrial complex that makes all the Western fat cats so very, very rich. That is why both parties in the US favor war all the time, while 80% of Americans want peace.
Like Propublica, we need our news organizations. We need organizations that will report accurate but also honest information. What we don’t want is organizations being run by a single source that wants to strip 1st Amendment rights from news media, which is what we will get if that Merger with the Ellison’s and Paramount goes through.
Yesterdays NYTimes details ways that Russia bypasses sanctions with shell companies that rely in part on cryptocurrencies. It seems reasonable that Trump family crypto business and gifts from pPuin's insiders to Trump Jr, may have an additional twist.
Three cheers for Sen. John Curtis! I had no idea principled Republicans still existed in today's world. And John Cornyn! Let more and more join in because if they can't see the corruption at the highest levels, they are willfully covering their eyes and ears.
I just wish Curtis hadn't dragged Hunter Biden into this. Hunter had NO conflicts of interest involving his access to insider government information. It got especially absurd when they grilled him about selling his paintings!
Jennifer Rubin is a national treasure! Thanks for your great work in keeping us all informed.
I second both of those statements!
Jen is your typical ideologically-biased pundit who is obsessed with all things Trump. She says the things her audience wants to hear and rarely (if ever) receives any pushback on her narrative of the day. They are a dime a dozen and also exist in the conservative media sphere.
I’d suggest she’s many things but typical doesn’t come to mind.
Maybe she doesn't receive pushback because what she alleges is indefensible.
I’m not sure if “indefensible” is the correct word for your argument.
"Senator Collins! When did you stop taking bribes from defense contractors?"
I subscribe to ProPublica. Also to Democracy Docket, Protect Democracy, Civil Discourse, Paul Krugman, Heather Cox Richardson, Strength In Numbers, Margaret Sullivan's American Crisis, and of course, The Contrarian. Most of these excellent news sources charge only a few bucks per month.
Worth the quality and fact-based reporting.
Now that the legacy media has mostly been bought and/or cowed into platitudes, the sources that you mention have become the only responsible sources of journalism. You might want to add Dan Rather to your reading list. Yes, he'still reporting, as he's done for decades.
Can we even call them defense contractors if they didn't produce anything useful for our government?
Parasites?
The Trump administration and Republicans in general: Corruption is in their DNA.
All candidates should be scrutinized. The media is not up to the task.
Candidates for federal office are supposed to file financial statements and their donors are supposed to be disclosed.
E.G. https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/S6ME00159/.
https://mainemorningstar.com/2026/06/12/nearly-100-billionaires-and-their-spouses-have-donated-to-reelect-susan-collins/
Every one of the 100 billionaire donors to Susan Collins should be scrutinized .
Pshah, that's what PAC's are for! Don't those rich people know, they give minimal cash to the candidate, then MAXIMUM DARK MONEY to the PAC's?
The entire suite of laughable "protections" that are supposed to prevent the PAC's and Super PAC's and the like from conspiring with the candidates don't work. And I believe that was by design. They were always meant to be a way to launder money for the candidates.
That's a one dimensional view. Every government contract is supposedly audited. The donors can be investigated. If they benefit via quid go pro government contracts, they stand to lose criminally and financially. My favorite scenario was Abscam. My former congressman was sent to the big house over "Koreagate".
If they have government contracts, IGs should be on the job.
The first thing Trump did was to eliminate IGs who were investigating government contractors like Musk and Bezos. To paraphrase my ol pappy, who was a lifetime prosecutor, the donations could be the tits in the wringer.
On re-reading my comment I see my sarcasm tag was left off. My bad.
I completely agree with your first post. Public scrutiny AND internal IG's with real power are both necessary since we know that all politicians are merely human and the temptations to corruption can be huge.
Senator Collins is said to be “deeply concerned” and is confident that a prolonged period of pearl clutching will resolve the issue.
Some called her "Our Lady of the Furrowed Brow." I love that!
Lol. Thanks for the smile with my morning coffee! We all need it!
Does she need more pearls at this point?
Folks should also be looking into how her husban's business has profited from her time in office. She's as crooked as a dog's hind leg! And read closely...the contract was for RESEARCH. The company got the contract but produced NOTHING! Even the folks in Bath got NOTHING through this self dealing. What we've learned is that there are ALL KINDS OF LOOPHOLES for this kind of thing to happen. No wonder bills are filled with pages of legal gobbledygook! Vote GOP candidates OUT!
While at it, give the tax code a good housecleaning. Try a rewrite in clear speech; remove the legalese, loopholes and gobbledygook.
Yes!
"The secretive, close relationship between the son of a sitting U.S. President and a member of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s inner circle raises serious national security and public corruption concerns"
See? This is truly a matter of national security, unlike the ballroom and the Arc de Tr(i)ump(h) (with apologies to France for this spelling).
Ms Rubin summarizes:
“…Without ProPublica’s work, neither of these corruption stories would have come to light. Its undaunted, unbiased, and unrelenting effort to expose wrongdoing and shine a bright light on public and private corruption deserves Americans’ deep gratitude. The outlet is a national treasure.”
A subscription to ProPublica is a contribution to the fight for democracy and motivation for other media outlets to join the fight against corruption and the theft of our tax dollars.
And they are happy to take one-time donations as well as monthly subscribed donations. If you'd rather not commit to a longer term payment.
https://give.propublica.org/campaign/777802/donate
And Trump just invited Putin to his golf resort. They are thick as thieves and are both.
Something is very wrong when the person who invaded Ukraine with no justification whatsoever and has spent four-plus years committing war crimes there, not to mention waging hybrid warfare against our NATO allies, is invited to a major economic summit as if he were a normal head of state or government.
Agree, Anne. Yesterday on the Meidas Defense Ukraine Update hosted by Ken Harbaugh, guest Andrea Chalupa from Gaslit Nation said the following:
“Far too many world leaders and societies in the West normalized Putin, legitimized Putin, when the man is a mass-murdering thug and Russia is a mafia state.”
Looking at YOU, Donald Trump! Shame on you for cozying up to your master Putin, while Ukraine burns and its people suffer.
Please. Do some research. We couped Ukraine in 2014 to install an anti Russian president, who then set up artillery batteries and attacked the states in Ukraine with Russian populations. Putin tolerated this for 7 years, 14,000 dead. Then, Ukraine was invited to join NATO. Putin said, over and over and over, that is the red line. We (NATO) went ahead anyway, and THEN Putin invaded.
Russia and Ukraine worked out a peace deal two months later, which Boris Johnson told Zelensky not to sign. And the war goes on.
NATO wants this war, to weaken Russia, and to try out all their toys, and especially to feed the military-industrial complex that makes all the Western fat cats so very, very rich. That is why both parties in the US favor war all the time, while 80% of Americans want peace.
Ms Jennifer thank you for always giving us a concise and complete report. You are doing an amazing job.
And Susan's corrupt company isn't even in Maine. What must the locals think?
Let’s all get behind Troy Jackson—the elites don’t like him but I do.
Like Propublica, we need our news organizations. We need organizations that will report accurate but also honest information. What we don’t want is organizations being run by a single source that wants to strip 1st Amendment rights from news media, which is what we will get if that Merger with the Ellison’s and Paramount goes through.
Yesterdays NYTimes details ways that Russia bypasses sanctions with shell companies that rely in part on cryptocurrencies. It seems reasonable that Trump family crypto business and gifts from pPuin's insiders to Trump Jr, may have an additional twist.
Three cheers for Sen. John Curtis! I had no idea principled Republicans still existed in today's world. And John Cornyn! Let more and more join in because if they can't see the corruption at the highest levels, they are willfully covering their eyes and ears.
I just wish Curtis hadn't dragged Hunter Biden into this. Hunter had NO conflicts of interest involving his access to insider government information. It got especially absurd when they grilled him about selling his paintings!
Thank you ProPublica!!
Great article 🙏