“Ryan Walters, the Republican superintendent of schools in Oklahoma, instructed schools across the state to observe a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk on Tuesday,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Walters, a conservative who has sought to align with President Trump’s policies, has often waded into contentious national issues in his role. How and whether to honor Mr. Kirk has quickly become one of them.”
If you’re back at school, send an email from your student email and I’ll give you a link to become a Political Wire member at a significant discount.
“Two men in Zambia have been handed two-year prison sentences with hard labor after being found guilty of plotting to assassinate the country’s president through witchcraft,” The Independent reports.
“The Zambian and Mozambican nationals were convicted last week under a colonial-era witchcraft statute.”
“A court determined they possessed various charms, including a live chameleon, an animal tail, and a dozen bottles of concoctions. These items were reportedly intended to cast a fatal spell on President Hakainde Hichilema.”
President Trump claimed his personal brand is worth $100 billion in his $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times.
The man who told police he shot Charlie Kirk is being charged with possessing child pornography, TMZ reports.
After his arrest, George Zinn admitted he did not shoot Kirk and told officers he pretended to be the shooter “so the real suspect could get away.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) will visit the Granite State on October 7, holding multiple events to help Democrats at the municipal and state levels, WMUR reports.
Eric Trump announced his book Under Siege: My Family’s Fight to Save Our Nation will be published on September 5, and will give an “unfiltered look at the highs and lows of life in the Trump world,” USA Today reports.
“President Trump said on Tuesday that Republicans would host a rare midterm convention ahead of the elections next year, the results of which will serve as a referendum on the first two years of his term and determine whether his party maintains control of Congress,” the New York Times reports.
“The top Democrats in Congress on Tuesday said they opposed Republicans’ stopgap spending plan to fund the government past a Sept. 30 deadline, increasing the chances of a shutdown within weeks,” the New York Times reports.
“Their decision to reject the GOP plan reflected rising anger among Democrats on Capitol Hill at President Trump’s policies and his moves to circumvent Congress. It also came amid intense pressure from liberal activists who were enraged earlier this year when Democratic senators allowed a similar bill to advance and kept government funding flowing.”
“House Republicans voted in near lockstep Tuesday to again cede congressional power over tariffs to President Donald Trump,” Politico reports.
“The yearslong feud between longtime political rivals Adam Schiff and Kash Patel reached a fever pitch Tuesday afternoon, complete with a shouting match that briefly derailed an ongoing Senate Judiciary Committee hearing,” Politico reports.
“The confrontation occurred when Schiff, a Democratic senator from California, questioned Patel, the FBI director, about the Justice Department’s decision to move Ghislaine Maxwell — an associate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — to a lower security prison facility.”
Charles C.W. Cooke: “It has not been a good 24 hours for Pam Bondi, the attorney general of the United States. Yesterday, on the Katie Miller Podcast, Bondi said: ‘We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.'”
“Actually, she won’t. She won’t ‘target’ or ‘go after’ anyone for ‘hate speech,’ because, legally, there is no such thing as ‘hate speech’ in the United States, and because, as a government employee, she is bound by the First Amendment. And if she tries it anyway? The Supreme Court will side against her, 9-0.”
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) progressive members are growing increasingly agitated at him for not yet endorsing Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race,” Axios reports.
“What began as a local issue could have broader implications for Jeffries’ leadership.”
Newly leaked social media messages from suspected assassin Tyler Robinson tell a very different story than you’ve heard from government officials, Ken Klippenstein reports.
He wasn’t a Groyper. But he also wasn’t Antifa.
“The 22-year-old Utahn accused of fatally shooting conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University last week now faces aggravated murder charges — and prosecutors indicate that, if he’s convicted, they will seek his death,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
“Prosecutors specifically charged Tyler James Robinson on Tuesday with seven offenses: aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony; two counts of obstruction of justice, second-degree felonies; two counts of tampering with a witness, third-degree felonies; and a misdemeanor count of violence offense committed in the presence of a child, according to charging documents.”
The Washington Post reports Robinson sent a text message after the shooting to his roommate, saying: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
And the Associated Press says Robinson “left a note under a keyboard saying he planned to kill Kirk and confessed after the shooting.”
The Economist: “Bolsonaro still holds considerable influence over Brazilian politics. If he were to endorse a candidate for the presidential elections next year, that person would be all but guaranteed to make it to the run-off vote against Lula in October 2026.”
“In exchange, Mr. Bolsonaro is likely to seek a presidential pardon should that person win.”
“In the moments after Charlie Kirk was killed, a 71-year-old man yelled to police officers that he was the shooter, but he later explained that he had falsely confessed in order to help the real assassin escape,” the New York Times reports.
“The man, a political gadfly named George Zinn, was arrested on suspicion of obstruction of justice, a felony, with the police saying that he had delayed investigators’ hunt for the actual perpetrator.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
