“Former Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to answer questions about President Donald Trump’s role in the Justice Department’s release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, invoking privilege during her interview with the House Oversight Committee,” ABC News reports.
Graham Platner Denies Hurting Ex-Girlfriend
New York Times: “Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, appeared Thursday night in his first interview since a New York Times report about his treatment of several women he had dated, denying one woman’s account that he had physically harmed her and saying he would not drop out of the race.”
Who Is Cutting $1 Million Checks to MAGA Inc?
CNN: “The evidence is circumstantial, but the list is long. Supporters who have business with the federal government clearly see utility in contributing large amounts to President Donald Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc.”
“At least four of the five $1 million-plus donors to MAGA Inc. also have federal contracts or policy they’re trying to influence with the Trump administration, according to the most recent legally required monthly donor disclosure filing with the Federal Election Commission. But there are numerous other donors to MAGA Inc., which has raised more than $340 million, seeking to influence the administration during Trump’s second term.”
U.S.-Iran Talks at a Standstill
Bloomberg: “There was no sign of progress in ceasefire talks between the US and Iran after the worst burst of violence in weeks and Tehran-backed Hezbollah rejected a US-brokered truce in Lebanon.”
Trump Plans to Attend Game 3 of NBA Finals
President Trump said Thursday that he is planning to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs on Monday at Madison Square Garden, CNN reports.
Trump Plans Promenade from Lincoln Memorial to Potomac
President Trump said Thursday that a new walkway will be built connecting the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, to the Potomac River, CNN reports.
Said Trump:” We’re going to call it the promenade. They want to call it the Trump Promenade. But I don’t know if I want to do that. But it’s going to be beautiful.”
Quote of the Day
“I haven’t waded into that primary.”
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), speaking to reporters about Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D).
The Democratic Trust Deficit
Dan Pfeiffer: “Jill Biden’s reemergence and her admission that she was lying to all of us in 2024 is emblematic of a much larger problem that still plagues the Democratic Party with implications for 2026, 2028 and beyond.”
“The broken trust that comes from the President and most of the party telling the public not to believe their eyes when it comes to Biden’s age, and that they were silly to think that an 82-year-old shouldn’t run for reelection.”
“The party’s approach to Biden’s age was part of a broader pattern. They told voters that inflation wasn’t real, that a genocide wasn’t happening in Gaza, and that they had a plan to win when they never did.”
“Working to rebuild that trust needs to be at the center of the Democratic Party’s strategy.”
The Races That Made the Senate Majority
Kyle Kondik: “Over the course of the last three election cycles—including each of the most recent elections for all 100 Senate seats—just 29 of the 100 races were decided by less than 10 points.”
“That is still a higher percentage of at least somewhat competitive elections than we generally see each cycle in the House.”
“Despite being in the minority, Democrats have won more of the truly close races than Republicans have, and it’s something they likely will need to continue to do in both 2026 and into the future given the overall GOP skew of the Senate map.”
Some Who Dated Platner Recall ‘Unsettling’ Behavior
Several women who once dated Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) described him “as a fun and caring partner, and saying they felt safe with him. Some remain friends with him to this day, years after their relationships ended,” the New York Times reports.
“But in extensive conversations over the past two months, three other women who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner offered a far more complicated assessment, describing volatile and ‘toxic’ relationships that were unsettling and at times emotionally wrenching.”
“Mr. Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful.”
Trump Says Pulte Won’t Be Permanent
President Trump said that Bill Pulte will only serve as national intelligence director on an acting basis, adding that he is interviewing permanent candidates for the position, Bloomberg reports.
Said Trump: “He’s not going to be permanent, because, you know, I don’t think he’d want to be permanent.”
Trump Says He Could Meet Iran’s Supreme Leader
President Trump on Thursday said he would be “honored” to meet Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, CNBC reports.
Said Trump: “If we make a deal, it’s possible that I would meet. I’d be okay with that.”
Planning Commission Votes to Advance Trump’s Arch
New York Times: “A federal planning commission on Thursday advanced President Trump’s plan to build a 250-foot arch in Washington, even after receiving overwhelming public opposition to the project.”
“The National Capital Planning Commission, which is led by allies of Mr. Trump, received nearly 1,700 public comments about the proposed triumphal arch, almost all of which opposed it. Staff at the commission also raised several issues about the plan, including whether the structure could disrupt flight patterns or violate laws restricting the height of buildings in the nation’s capital.”
Mystery People Keep Emerging From NYC Manholes
Washington Post: “Surveillance video from his shop shows one of the men prying open the heavy steel manhole cover, as a car that seems to be accompanying them sits nearby with its headlights pointed their direction. The trio soon slipped out of sight, into the bowels of the city.”
“That May 5 encounter marked the first in at least three recent incidents in which groups of people have been captured on camera climbing into — and out of — parts of the city’s sprawling sewer system.”
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Maine Has a Graham Platner Problem
Shannon Mullen: “We don’t know what Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, wrote in his sexually explicit texts with women other than his wife—six, according to his campaign; a dozen, according to an ex-aide—but do we need to?”
“The glaring question that the texts pose to voters about the presumptive Democratic nominee at this point in a pivotal midterm race is: Are we really going to do this again?”
Russia’s Elite Is Souring on Ukraine War
Wall Street Journal: “Russia’s inability to break through the stalemate in Ukraine is becoming so evident that significant voices in the Russian establishment have publicly started to call for an end to the conflict.”
“The big question is whether President Vladimir Putin will acknowledge this reality and abandon his aspiration to extinguish Ukrainian independence.”
Republicans Rocked by Trump’s Midterm Approach
NewsNation: “Republicans hoping to keep control of Congress in a tough election year have been thrown off-balance by President Trump’s focus on foreign policy, pet projects, and statements dismissing the importance of the midterms and cost-of-living issues.”
