Noah Shachtman

If you're a member of the Democratic gerontocracy, the chances of you catching a primary challenger just went up 1000%.

I was at a comedy club in Manhattan last night.

Comedian: Where you from?

Audience member: Texas!

Comedian: Oh! Here for an abortion?

in retrospect, one of the funniest headlines of all time

I don't mean to sound hysterical but there are some pretty clear historical examples of "force the urban-dwellers to the farms," and none of them are great.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com

Brooke Rollins on farm laborers: "There will be no amnesty. The mass deportations continue, but in a strategic way. And we move the workforce toward automation and 100% American participation, which with 34 million able-bodied on Medicaid we should be able to do fairly quickly."

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It's such a relief to know that the mayor is spending every waking moment looking out for the people of New York.

Sassoon is no leftie. She clerked for *Scalia*.

Jennie Coughlin @jenniecoughlin.bsky.social

Danielle R. Sassoon, Manhattan’s acting U.S. attorney, resigned on Thursday rather than obey a Justice Department order that she drop a corruption case against New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, that she had championed, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Manhattan’s Federal Prosecutor Quits After Adams Case Is Ordered Dropped (Gift Article)

Danielle R. Sassoon, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, quit after the Justice Department told her to withdraw corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams.

Not only do we stand by our reporting. Madison Square Garden’s ridiculous lawsuit actually confirms it, noting the company did, in fact, track the sexual orientation of LGBTQIA celebrities in its talent database.

WIRED @wired.com

A statement from WIRED leadership.

NEW: The FBI's biggest, most important field office has been reprioritized to a single task: redacting the Jeffrey Epstein files.

By me in @vanityfair.com...

www.vanityfair.com/news/story/e...

“Ludicrous” Situation: Epstein Case Review Takes Over FBI’s New York Office

The bureau’s New York field office normally chases drug dealers and spies. Right now, according to multiple sources, priority one is redacting the sex trafficker’s case files.

WHOA. One of Eric Adams' former police commissioners just filed a lawsuit accusing him of running the NYPD like a "racketeering enterprise."

Holy shit. The Justice Department's inspector general "received, but did not act upon, a potentially explosive set of allegations" against Emil Bove "for more than two months."

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/u...

Unnoticed Whistle-Blower Document Alarms Justice Department Veterans

So let me get this straight ...

1. US bombs Iran
2. Oil price goes up a bit, benefitting Russia's petrostate
3. Russia gives Iran targeting info
4. Oil price shoots WAY up
5. US unsanctions Russian oil

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com

Bessent: "We may unsanction other Russian oil"

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Whoa. This is big. "The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now." www.reuters.com/world/middle...

US Navy tells shipping industry Hormuz escorts not possible for now

The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since ​the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high f...

I'm not sure I've ever seen so many layers in a single tweet.

More than that. "The FBI ***recorded*** Tom Homan taking the money "after indicating he could help the agents — who were posing as business executives — win government contracts in a second Trump administration."

Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social

Tom Homan was investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. Trump's DOJ shut it down. The FBI and Justice officials closed the investigation, which a Justice Department appointee had called a “deep state” probe in early 2025. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/t...

Tom Homan was investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. Trump's DOJ shut it down.

The FBI and Justice officials closed the investigation, which a Justice Department appointee had called a “deep state” probe in early 2025.

Watching these Grammys, you have to wonder if perhaps the Silicon Valley bros made a classic VC mistake and went all-in on reactionary politics right before the bottom dropped out.

Hesgeth used his personal phone to log into a 4th-tier sports betting site -- and to relay real-time information about U.S. airstrikes.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/u...

Hegseth’s Personal Phone Use Created Vulnerabilities, Analysts Say

The phone number used in the Signal chat could also be found in a variety of places, including on social media and a fantasy sports site.

i love comic books

Marco Rubio's BFF is an accused foreign agent and money launderer. His trial is about to start — and Rubio is on the witness list.

My @vanityfair.com story on the legal bomb that's poised to go off in Trumpland.

www.vanityfair.com/news/story/m...

Marco Rubio’s Florida Bestie Is an Accused ‘Foreign Agent’ Set to Go on Trial— With Rubio On the Witness List

David Rivera and Rubio bought a house in Tallahassee when they were coming up together in Florida politics. But he’s been a headache for the secretary of state ever since, and now he could be one for ...

Michael Wolff tried to buy New York Mag — with money from Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein.

So Wolff didn't just have a reporter-source relationship with Epstein. Nor was Wolff his informal PR adviser. They saw each other as potential business partners.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Blurred lines: how Michael Wolff aspired to be part of elite circles he wrote about

The writer who features prominently in newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails has achieved extraordinary access but faced questions about his journalistic ethics

I thought this line was particularly telling, and not just for New Yorkers:

“I never used to be as far left as a Bernie [Sanders], but those are the only people who are looking out for us,” said Anita Hennessey, a 61-year-old child care worker.

Chris Sommerfeldt @c-sommerfeldt.bsky.social

Spent a couple of weekends with Zohran Mamdani on the campaign trail. Come for one of Mamdani's canvassers calling him "our generation's Fiorello La Guardia." Stay for a retiree stopping him in the street to grill him on the viability of his tax plan. www.nydailynews.com/2025/05/31/z...

Zohran Mamdani’s surprising surge fueled by pocketbook promises, social media savvy

To the surprise of many in New York’s political establishment, Mamdani, 33, has leap-frogged other more-established candidates to become the leading progressive running in the June 24 NYC may…

The CEO of Cloudflare -- the company that keeps so much of the Internet running -- is looking at the idea of blocking all AI crawlers, like they were malicious traffic.

If it happens, it'd be a massive, massive deal for tech and media.

fortune.com/2025/02/04/m...

Can this tech billionaire save the media from an AI apocalypse?

He thinks the entire internet could be at risk if he doesn't act fast.

This is:

(a) correct;

(b) a demonstration of Van Hollen's political skills, which are stronger than most of us realized;

(c) a sign to other politicians that bold action will bring outsized attention, as it has with Booker and AOC.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com

Van Hollen details why he thinks the government of El Salvador is making a huge mistake in turning itself into a concentration camp for Trump

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Look, if you're going to bend the knee ... just bend the knee. Don't say you're tying your shoe.

Whoa whoa whoa. WSJ reports that Trump *personally* pushed the Justice Department to settle its antitrust case with Live Nation.

Several sources for my NYT column speculated this was the case. The Journal says it's a fact.

www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Noah Shachtman @noahshachtman.bsky.social

Kid Rock posted after the election that he and AG Pam Bondi were going to "whoop ass" on the companies ripping off music fans. Bondi's DOJ just sold those fans out. And Kid Rock is baffled. My latest in @nytopinion.nytimes.com ... www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/o...

Opinion | The Trump Administration Just Gave Live Nation the Gift of a Lifetime