Thursday, October 22, 2026

The Snapshot

Thursday, October 22, 2026.  Chump's DESPERATION TOUR gets more desperate, JD Vance argues on behalf of pedos to defend the indefensible, New Mexico gets closer to holding the powerful accountable for Jeffrey Epstein's actions, Chump is attempting once again to do away with FEMA, the many enemies Priss Pot Hegseth has made are willing to come forward and testify if Democrats retake the House, and much more. 




With 12 days left until November 3rd, when midterm voting ends, Chump continues his DESPERATION TOUR ignoring the low turnout and the lack of upward movement in the polls.  Joe Sommerlad (INDEPENDENT) reports: 

President Donald Trump’s decision to hit the road to campaign ahead of November’s midterms has been met with a mixed reception from political strategists, with some wishing he would keep a lower profile.

“He should stick to the White House; he should just stay there,” a frustrated GOP operative in Georgia told The Washington Sun after Trump’s visit to Dalton last week. “All he’s doing is hurting Republicans.”

Conversely, a rival Democrat from the Peach State, gloating over the president’s divisive presence, told the same outlet: “If Trump could come to Georgia every week, we’d invite him.”

Another Democrat reached the same conclusion after watching the president’s speech in Park City, Kansas, Monday, at which he was heckled by protesters: “If Trump wants to stay in Kansas for the next two weeks, I wouldn’t mind!”

The president has been mired in dire approval ratings for months thanks to the ongoing affordability crisis and his unpopular Iran war, which have conspired to leave the public deeply frustrated over his failure to lower inflation and deliver the “golden age” he once promised.

The latest pre-midterms poll from Reuters/Ipsos put Trump on just 31 percent, a record low for either of his two terms that CNN data analyst Harry Enten described as “a five-alarm Trumpster fire.”

Shay Bottomley (NATIONAL SECURITY JOURNAL) points out, "The GOP has only two weeks to win over supporters reluctant to vote for Republican candidates.  Progress so far has been minimal, with the deficit to the Democrats remaining large and Election Day just under a fortnight away."  As Chump goes about his DESPERATATION TOUR, he leaves whole generations behind.  Matthew Rozsa (ALTERNET) reports: 
 
President Donald Trump has traditionally performed far better among older voters than younger ones, and now at least one pollster is seeing evidence of this disaffection in the president's own policies.

"Gen X and elder Millennials in shambles," said pollster Frank Luntz on Tuesday. 


The young voters who upended expectations by shifting 21 points toward President Trump and the Republicans in 2024 aren’t done surprising the country just yet. In a sign of just how badly Trump’s party has fumbled its historic gains with Gen Z, a new batch of swing state polls shows America’s youngest voters deserting the party in record numbers.  
Gen Z’s 50 million eligible voters now back Democrats by an eye-popping 30-point margin. That easily beats 2020, when Joe Biden won young voters by 25 points. It approaches Barack Obama’s record-setting 34-point margin in 2008. Their political realignment could prove decisive in states like Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed (D) is locked in a tight race with former House Intelligence Chair Mike Rogers (R), and in swing districts across the country.  
Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. Despite promising young people economic prosperity, Republican mismanagement has instead delivered the worst job market for new graduates since the pandemic.


Chump destroyed the economy.  That's all there is to it.  The economy was recovering under Joe Biden.  Then came Chump with his tariffs and his war on Iran and war on immigrants and our economy tanked and it continues to tank.  It doesn't bother Chump, doesn't bother him one bit.  But imagine you are a young person looking for a job in this economy and you better believe you would be bothered. 


As Iran war-induced Energy shocks continue to hit American consumers, GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan says the excess dollars spent on Gas by Americans could buy hundreds of thousands of houses.
In a post on the social media platform X on Tuesday, De Haan highlighted the growing strain on household budgets due to higher prices at the pump. According to the analyst, Americans spent an extra $138.8 billion on gasoline and diesel since March 1.
“That’s roughly the same as buying 337,897 homes at the median US home price of $410,700,” he said, adding that the houses could accommodate a population of 845,000 to 860,000 people, which is comparable to the entire resident population of Indianapolis, Indiana.



In Texas, Chump's experienced a lot slippage.  Alfredo Corchado and Dudley Althaus (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS) report:

Less than two weeks before a pivotal midterm election, Bobby Pulido appears poised to flip the 15th Congressional District seat in this heavily Latino district where Trump dominated in 2024.
The poll - commissioned by the San Antonio Express-News, El Pais and the nonprofit Puente News Collaborative - found that likely voters favor Pulido 51% to 44% over Republican Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz.
Among Latino likely voters, the gap widens, with about 57% for Pulido, compared with 40% for De La Cruz. The Latino population accounts for about 82% of 15th District residents and 65% of its likely voters. 

Early voting is taking place across the country and, in Texas and other areas, record numbers of citizens are turning out to vote.  S.E. Cupp (TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY) notes:

In states all over the country, including where we’re watching hotly contested Senate races, voters are smashing early voting records — which means they’re more motivated and enthusiastic than ever before in a midterm cycle.
While we don’t know who, exactly, these early voters are, it’s hard to imagine that in this environment, with the president’s approval numbers in the gutter, with the economy in such a terrible state, and with no end to the Iran war in sight, that these people are running out to the polls to vote for…two more years of this.


The midterm elections are less than two weeks away. It sure looks like voters are ready to finally punish Republicans for elevating devotion to Trump above every interest or need of America and Americans. Even so, no matter what happens this November, barring a well-timed coronary event or some other form of seemingly divine intervention, Trump is going to remain president for the next two years, the Republican majority on the Supreme Court is going to continue letting him do whatever he wants (I won’t flatter them by calling them “conservatives,” because they’re not), and the remaining Republicans in Congress will still glaze him for every increasingly ill-conceived decision.

But for now, Chump's DESPERATION TOUR continues.  







In one of his many desperation moves, Chump threatened military families.  It took place Tuesday as the tour pulled into North Carolina.  Marita Vlachou (HUFFINGTON POST) reports:


During an appearance in North Carolina, President Donald Trump said he would order the U.S. government to settle any outstanding claims from people exposed to contaminated drinking water while living or working at Camp Lejeune, but only if his party maintains control of Congress following the November midterm elections.
“If we win the House and the Senate, I am directing the Department of Justice to settle all remaining legitimate claims as soon as possible and get it off the books and get it finished,” Trump said.
“If we don’t win, there’s no money. If we do win, you’re getting it, and it’s going to be finally over with that nightmare that’s been going on for so many years,” he continued.

That is an abuse of the office.  That is threatening people who are entitled to payments that they won't get them if they don't vote for him.  "So many years"?  I think members of the House and Senate's veterans affairs committee know about "so many years."  They worked forever to get us to the point where the victims and survivors could receive monetary compensation. 

My remarks will focus on one exposure issue that is very personal to me – the contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune in my home state of North Carolina.　 I know we’ll hear from several witnesses about this issue, but I’d also like to acknowledge two former Marines, Jerry, who is here today, and David Briscoe, who could not be here.　 They both lived on Camp Lejeune during the years the water was contaminated and have their own painful stories.

David, who lived on Camp Lejeune in the 1980s, was later diagnosed with cancer of the hard palate and underwent treatment that reduced his ability to eat, speak, and work. Jerry’s daughter, who was born on Camp Lejeune in 1975, was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of six and, tragically, died three years later.　　 Jerry, I commend your personal strength in the face of such tragedy and appreciate you being here.

Unfortunately, Jerry’s and David’s heart-wrenching stories are not unique for veterans who served on Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987.　 The residents of Camp Lejeune didn’t know it at the time, but the water they were drinking, cooking with, and bathing in contained harmful chemicals – including TCE, PCE, benzene, and vinyl chloride -- which are known or probable human carcinogens.

Some of them are now living with rare cancers, like one of our witnesses today, Mike Partain.　 He is the son of a Marine, a former resident of Camp Lejeune, and one of over 20 former Lejeune residents diagnosed with rare male breast cancer at an unusually young age – he was just 39 years old. This condition usually strikes less than 2,000 men each year in the U.S. and most are over age 55.

Although a number of studies have suggested a possible link between the water at Camp Lejeune and these types of conditions, we still don’t have an answer about what made Jerry’s daughter, or Mike, or David sick or what has caused other former Lejeune residents to become ill.　

The government’s role in scientific discovery is clear. Camp Lejeune was designated by the EPA as a National Priority List site.　 Under Title 42 of the US Code, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is conducting a number of studies of the Camp Lejeune contamination.　 These studies include sophisticated computer modeling and future mortality and health surveys.　 It would have been valuable to have ATSDR here so that they could respond to testimony being given by our witnesses and answer questions from this Committee. Mr. Chairman, in order to strike a balance of scientific opinion on this important issue, I ask that ATSDR’s official response to the National Research Council’s report on Camp Lejeune be included in the record.

We have an obligation to figure out how much of these dangerous chemicals veterans and their families were exposed to at Camp Lejeune and what impact these exposures have had on their health. For these patriots who have endured unbearable heartache and suffering, they deserve no less than our best efforts to provide them with answers about why they are sick.　 Also, we must make sure that the claims these families have pending are not prematurely denied by the government before science has had the opportunity to provide more answers.

But, while we wait for the science, we must deal with the fact that many of these exposed veterans and their families continue to suffer from devastating conditions.　 It is simply not right for us to continue to tell our veterans and their families to just wait for another study.　 They have already waited two decades.　 We owe them much more than that.


Who said that?  Former US Senator Richard Burr who worked on that issue for decades.  And there was nothing in the hearings he participated in where he or any other Senate Veterans Affairs Committee member tied the compensation into who someone voted for. 


President Donald Trump drew swift condemnation from critics after making a promise to ailing families that came with a political string attached.

On Tuesday, Trump vowed that his administration would settle outstanding claims from people sickened by toxic water at Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps base in North Carolina, but only if Republicans prevail in both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
[. . .]
Critics wasted little time tearing into the remarks.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) accused Trump of playing politics with the health of his state's residents. "Real leaders fight for the people, not for power," Stein wrote. "To condition doing the right thing by sick North Carolinians on who wins the election is foul."
HuffPost senior White House correspondent S.V. Dáte boiled the president's message down to a single word. "Extortion," he fired back.
Political scientist Norman Ornstein was equally blunt, branding Trump a "thug."
Washington Post reporter Dan Merica, who has chronicled the struggles of affected families, highlighted the human cost. "Camp Lejeune veterans and their families have been pleading for help for years. Their stories are heartbreaking," Merica argued, before noting that Trump was tying aid for those families to his party's performance at the ballot box.

Chump is losing support from farmers ahead of the midterms so he announces money to come.  Some see Chump's promise of an $8 billion aid package to farmers as a bribe.  If it is a bribe, it's an ineffective one in a number of ways.  First, Sarah Holzmann (BARCHART) reports:

The U.S. agricultural sector is buckling under a record $605 billion in total debt, a staggering figure that renders the Trump administration's newly announced $8 billion bailout package — covering barely 1.3% of outstanding farm obligations — more symbolic than structural in its relief.
The bailout represents the latest in a series of emergency interventions for American farmers, yet the gap between the scale of the crisis and the size of the response has never been wider, arriving as producers simultaneously contend with surging diesel prices, elevated borrowing costs, and a geopolitical landscape that has upended both energy and export markets.

Second, there's no money for Chump to give.  Nick Hilden (ALTERNET) reports:

On Tuesday, a new report revealed that President Donald Trump doesn’t have the cash to pay the $8 billion his administration had only hours earlier promised to farmers suffering under high diesel prices. According to Politico, the fund the administration would use doesn’t have enough to cover the payments, meaning Congress will have to approve a funding package, which won’t happen until after the midterms, if at all.
“Republicans locked in tight races this November are desperately hoping the Trump administration’s last-minute gambit to send farmers $8 billion in taxpayer money will work,” explains Politico. “The move comes as White House officials have scrambled to address anger in farm states from Republicans. Trump’s decisions to import more foreign beef, his tariff regime and high fuel costs amid the Iran war have riled already strained farmers and ranchers — a key GOP voting bloc.” But according to sources close to the plan who spoke with Politico on condition of anonymity, “Farmers won’t know how much money to expect for several more weeks. Even then, if approved, they won’t receive the payments until late November or early December at the earliest.”
That may be too late to help top Republicans who are banking on the announcement to stem GOP bleeding in farm states — especially in the Midwest, where Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), GOP Senate nominee Ashley Hinson in Iowa, and GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers in Michigan have been floundering. 

 

 
Let's move over to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.  Anna Skinner  (NEWSWEEK) reports: 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan will get the death he “deserves” at his public execution come December.

Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others in a 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. President Donald Trump has approved his execution by firing squad for December 3. The Army has scheduled the execution for 1 p.m. at Fort Hood.

The attack arrived during the peak of the global “War on Terrorism” initiative and investigators concluded that Hasan was motivated by Islamic extremist beliefs. They cite his pre-attack email exchanges with Anwar al-Awlaki, the al-Qaeda-linked cleric who later praised the massacre, as well as Hasan’s own statements. During his court-martial, Hasan said he had acted in defense of the Taliban, describing himself as having “switched sides.”

Hegseth made the statement on Tuesday when traveling to Ohio and Wisconsin as part of his Arsenal of Freedom tour. They are the first public comments Hegseth has made since Trump rejected his plans to livestream Hasan’s public execution.

“I agree with the president, we spoke about it at length, positively,” Hegseth said on Tuesday when asked by a reporter if he was disappointed that the execution wouldn’t be livestreamed. “We both, you know, recognize that death by firing squad is what Nidal Hasan, a terrorist, a traitor, deserves. He will get that. The families will observe it. And the point is there’s a deterrent effect to that also, which follows through whether it’s livestreamed or not. So, I fully support the president’s approach.”

Stiff upper lip, Priss Pot, don't let them see you cry.  Maybe Chump will let you live stream the next execution.  And if that doesn't do the trick, just remember that you met with Netanyahu this week and no doubt laughed about how they wouldn't drag either of you before The Hague for your War Crimes. 

Amy Anderson (OOTWD) reminds US House Rep Thomas Massie has called for Hegseth to be impeached:

On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The 34 page resolution says Hegseth has been "engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization."
Massie said Hegseth is "abusing the power of his office," and that Congress had "exhausted every other remedy to make things right."
Articles one to three are about the War Powers Resolution, a 1973 law that limits how long a president can keep troops in combat without approval from Congress.
Massie says Hegseth helped start and continue the fight with Iran without a declaration of war or a law allowing it.

When Congress returns after the midterms, Speaker of the Closet Mike Johnson will have to let a vote take place on the articles of impeachment.  Johnson, last month, sent the House home early to avoid a vote being taken.  After the midterms, it might get worse for Priss Pot if the Democrats retake the House.  Benedict Smith (TELEGRAPH OF LONDON) reports: 

Current and former Pentagon officials are set to “spill their guts” to Congress about Pete Hegseth, sources have said.
Democrats are preparing to investigate the US defence secretary if they regain control of the House after November’s midterms, and have already made contact with potential whistleblowers, The Telegraph can reveal.
They plan to subpoena Mr Hegseth’s inner circle and rake over controversies from his tenure, such as “Signalgate”, when he accidentally leaked US military plans to a journalist.
With the help of informants, they hope to force embarrassing disclosures from his time at the Pentagon, which would either build an impeachment case against him or provoke Donald Trump into dismissing him.
Sources said the defence secretary is vulnerable because he has committed a string of costly blunders in office while isolating himself from potential allies.
“There’s going to be a lot of people that are going to very quietly go to the chair of the armed [services] committee and are going to spill their guts, provide them with everything they can and leak everything they can,” said a well-connected source.
“It’ll be horrendous. It’ll be consistent embarrassment.”



Priss Pot Pete is only one member of Chump's cabinet.  Thomas Frank (POLITICO) reports on another:

The Trump administration’s disaster chief told state officials Tuesday they must increase their financial reserves and emergency capabilities to handle most disasters on their own, without federal help.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Cameron Hamilton gave unprecedented detail at a conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, about the administration’s long-planned shift of disaster responsibilities to states.

“Every state must have the appropriate financial reserves” and other abilities “to ensure that recovery efforts can start immediately and not necessarily be held up simply because of the federal [disaster] declaration process,” Hamilton said, according to a recording of his remarks obtained by POLITICO.

“A future that I hope we would shoot for is one where we wouldn’t require as many disasters because the capability of states is so high and so substantial,” Hamilton added, referring to presidential authorizations of federal disaster aid.

Chump tried to kill FEMA last year.  Now he's trying to wipe it out slowly like he's doing to the Dept of Education.  


Though never a member of his Cabinet,  Alina Habba was a favorite of Chump's as evidenced by his repeated attempts to make her a federal attorney over New Jersey.  Yesterday's snapshot noted:


Last night on MS NOW, Jen Psaki noted a NEW YORK TIMES report about Habba.





Julio Herrera Velutini really wanted a pardon.

A billionaire banker from a prominent Venezuelan family, Mr. Herrera faced felony bribery charges in the United States and struck an unusually lenient plea deal in August 2025 for a misdemeanor campaign finance violation. But he felt that reduced charge was still a stain on his record.

So Mr. Herrera deployed his lawyer, Christopher M. Kise, the former Florida solicitor general who was on Mr. Trump’s personal legal team, to help with a plea for clemency. His 27-year-old daughter, Isabela Herrera, who is an American citizen, donated $3.5 million to a super PAC tied to Mr. Trump. But as of last fall, the pardon remained elusive.

Then the Herrera family hired Alina Habba, who had been one of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyers and at the time was an adviser at the Justice Department. They offered her $10 million a year for four years along with a range of bonuses. In total, including bonuses, she was guaranteed more than $50 million over four years, according to interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times.

Under the agreement, Ms. Habba would become general counsel at Concord Partners, a company that Ms. Herrera set up in late October 2025 in Florida. The company has no public profile and its business remains unclear even to some people associated with the Herrera business empire. Ms. Habba finalized her deal days after the company was registered, while she was still serving as U.S. attorney in New Jersey.

She formally began her work for Concord Partners on Jan. 1. Weeks later, Mr. Trump granted Mr. Herrera a full and unconditional pardon.





Alina Habba, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, is pushing back hard on a New York Times report about her work for the family of a billionaire who was seeking a pardon. She blamed the paper, the “radical left” and the calendar.
The Times reported Tuesday that the family of Venezuelan billionaire Julio Herrera gave Habba a deal worth $50 million while he was trying to win a pardon from the Trump administration. Habba had served as an adviser to the attorney general and briefly led the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey before federal courts ruled she was serving unlawfully.
Habba, who now goes by her married name, Alina Mildon, answered on X with a sarcastic “Big Scoop.”
“After leaving public service, I’ve gone back to doing what I have done for my entire career: being a lawyer,” she wrote.
She said the Times had already credited “another capable attorney for what he successfully did without me and took credit for.” She called any suggestion that her employment “had anything to do with securing a pardon” “false and defamatory.” She also said the work had been “vetted and disclosed to the D.O.J.”

Last week, Alina was in the news for accusing former Chump official Ric Grenfell of corruption.  Lindsey Granger (THE HILL) provides an update:

People close to the president keep being accused of trading money for access — it seems that in this administration, proximity to power has becoming a currency of its own.  
Axios broke this story, reporting that the White House is investigating allegations involving former Kennedy Center director Ric Grenell, Trump adviser Alina Habba and her husband, Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon.  
Here’s what’s being alleged and what we still don’t know.  
According to Axios, Habba told President Trump that Grenell directed her husband to send $17.6 million to a Texas defense and security company, with approximately $5.6 million supposedly earmarked for the Kennedy Center. A text message provided to the White House allegedly promised Mildon VIP events and access to administration officials, including the president, in connection with arranging a donation.  
That is a serious allegation. There is a financial record reportedly showing a transfer to the company. But Axios also reported that the money came from Congo’s finance ministry, rather than directly from Mildon’s personal account as initially suggested. The relationship between that payment, a purported Congo software deal and the Kennedy Center donation, remains unclear.  






Aaron Blacke (CNN) does an analysis of the corruption allegations -- some of the corruption allegations -- in the Chump administration. 

Chump's always been corrupt and always been attracted to the corruption in others.  His former roll dog Jeffrey Epstein may have died in a jail cell back in 2019 but he remains in the news.  Kaanita Iyer and MJ Lee (CNN) report:

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against two of Jeffrey Epstein’s closest advisers, accusing them of having “facilitated and concealed” Epstein’s crimes.

The advisers, Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn, have faced scrutiny over their ties to the late sex offender since the Justice Department released files related to Epstein late last year.

Indyke, a longtime Epstein employee and attorney, and Kahn, Epstein’s longtime accountant, are the co-executors of Epstein’s estate. Earlier this year, Torrez’s office began investigating the property Epstein owned in the state, known as Zorro Ranch, after allegations about it were included in files.

The two advisers have denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.

Torrez said during a news conference on Wednesday that the civil lawsuit aims to prevent Indyke and Kahn from getting any money from Epstein’s trust. CNN has previously reported that as part of Epstein’s will, Indyke was left with $50 million and Kahn was left $25 million.


Chump and Vance have pedo problems.  Both hang around with a number of pedos and they defend them.  Ford McCracken (THE HILL) reports:

Vice President Vance criticized the response by some Republicans to a campaign ad for Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R), saying he is “disgusted” by those in his party who pushed back on the video.
“I have to admit that I'm a little bit disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States of America,” Vance said at a fraud task force press conference Wednesday.
The ad features the mother of Ramaswamy’s Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, who accuses Acton of being a “liar” and saying “my daughter needs help.”
Acton’s brother released a statement and a competing video hours later saying that he and Acton have been estranged from their mother for years because she stayed married to the man who sexually abused Acton at a young age. Acton was removed from her mother's care at the age of 12, something unmentioned in the Ramaswamy ad.

He's disgusted by people criticizing Ramaswamy.  He's okay with Ramawamy giving a pedo enabler -- Deborah Acton, the candidate's mother -- a platform.  And let's not call Deborah a pedo enabler, she's a pedo herself.  She let her husband attack Amy Acton.  Assault her.  And when it went to court and the stepfather was found guilty, he split and Deborah split with him.  She'd rather be with him than with Amy and her brother.  So she's not just a pedo enabler, Deborah is a pedo herself. 

Amy Acton was victimized as a child.  She's a survivor.  But Ramaswamy wants to give a platform to the voice of the predator.  And JD doesn't want anyone objecting to that.

So, yes, that makes JD a pedo enabler as well. 






If you're late to the story, you can refer to Rebecca's "shame on ramaswamy and donna arthur" and Trina's "One-Pot Spinach Beef Soup in the Kitchen."  Madison E. Goldberg (PEOPLE) reports:

Acton responded to the ad in a Facebook post on Tuesday, expanding on her previous allegations of abuse by her stepfather and claiming that her “birth mother did nothing to protect me” from the abuse.
“Growing up in Youngstown, my brother Phil and I endured abuse, hunger, and neglect — even spending one winter homeless living in a tent. We were often kept in a dark basement, were frequent-fliers with child protective services, and lived in fear of our birth mother’s violent and erratic temper,” she wrote. “Between the ages of 10 and 12, I was sexually abused by her husband, while my birth mother did nothing to protect me. I’ve always known that she was deeply sick and unwell, and it’s sad to see Vivek Ramaswamy exploit her all for his own political gain.”
In the post, Acton said that she has no relationship with Arthur and hasn’t seen her in decades following a trial in which she says Arthur’s late husband was arrested and charged with rape in 1978.
“I haven’t seen my birth mother since that day in 1978,” Acton’s post continued. “She and her husband fled the state and he was declared a fugitive. I know what it feels like to be a child who is hungry, frightened, and uncertain of what tomorrow will bring. I know what it means to feel powerless and to depend on the courage and compassion of others to find a way forward.”
Stearns’ brother, Phil, echoed his sister’s remarks in his own statement.
“It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,” Phil said on Tuesday. “After he was arrested and Amy and I were removed from their custody, our birth mother stayed married to Amy’s rapist until he died. This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core - a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”

Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

“The culture of overcharging within the defense industry that has driven this
behavior has come with significant costs to both readiness and the American taxpayer.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) sent a bipartisan letter to Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg requesting the Department to hold defense contractors accountable and enforce the Pentagon’s August 18 directive on Supplier Cost and Pricing Transparency. 

For decades, defense contractors have taken advantage of the Pentagon’s inability to prevent price gouging. The Department notoriously paid $436 for hammers and $640 for toilet seats in the 1980s. More recently, Boeing charged the Air Force a nearly 8,000% markup on lavatory soap dispensers. 

“The culture of overcharging within the defense industry that has driven this behavior has come with significant costs to both readiness and the American taxpayer,” wrote the senators.

In August 2026, the Department issued a new directive on “Supplier Cost and Pricing Transparency” to improve access to contractors’ cost and pricing data and help the Pentagon’s contracting officers negotiate fair prices. The senators welcomed the effort but raised concerns that a key gap in the policy – applying a $10 million threshold for obtaining certified cost and pricing data – could leave the Department without access to critical information for more than 60 percent of its contracts. They urged the Pentagon to apply its new directive to lower-value contracts and use its existing authority to make contractors ineligible for awards when they refuse to provide requested data.

They also urged the Department to support Senator Warren’s bipartisan Stop Price Gouging in the Military Act as well as their Transparency in Contract Pricing Act in the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Both bills would better arm contracting officers with statutory backing during negotiations, improve pricing transparency, and ensure taxpayers get a fair deal. 

“To ensure our understanding of how this directive ‘resets the Department’s expectations regarding supplier cost and pricing information,’ and how it will gain transparency through ‘modern information technology and current business best practices,’ we seek to clarify how the Department will gain such data from refusing companies, conduct consistent oversight, and hold non-compliant companies accountable,” concluded the senators.

The senators requested answers to their questions by November 3, 2026, to inform legislation aimed at strengthening pricing transparency, preventing contractor abuse, and protecting taxpayer dollars.

Senator Warren has long led bipartisan efforts to crack down on defense contractor price gouging and protect taxpayers:

  • In July 2026, she pressed Deputy Defense Secretary Feinberg on conflicts of interest related to companies bidding on the major Golden Dome missile defense program.
  • In June 2026, she further pressed DoD on the potential conflicts of interest surrounding lucrative DoD loans and deals following reporting that the White House allegedly intervened to secure an OSC loan to a Trump Jr. company. 
  • In March 2026, after DoD failed to answer most questions in her January letter, she pressed DoD and OSC on the processes in place to ensure DoD contracts and loans are awarded fairly to companies.
  • In January 2026, she raised concerns about DoD and OSC handing out loans and contracts to companies with ties to the Trump family.
  • In September 2025, she introduced the Transparency in Contract Pricing Act of 2025 to root out price gouging by military contractors. 
  • In March 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) wrote to Deputy Defense Secretary Nominee Stephen Feinberg, urging him to recuse himself from all matters related to Ligado Networks. Mr. Feinberg’s private equity firm, Cerberus Capital Management, is heavily invested in Ligado, which has a pending $39 billion lawsuit against the Department of Defense (DoD) over highly sought-after telecommunications spectrum space that the military has said is “essential for its various satellite communications, radars and navigation systems” usage.
  • In September 2023, she called for further transparency surrounding DoD’s OSC and how it is interpreting ethics restrictions.
  • In June 2023, she reintroduced the Stop Price Gouging the Military Actto address widespread price gouging in the military.
  • In June 2023, she reintroduced the Department of Defense Ethics and Anti-Corruption Act to strengthen ethics laws in DoD contracts.  
  • On May 25, 2023, Senators Warren, Sanders, Braun, and Grassley sent a letter to DoD urging an investigation into contractor price gouging.
  • On May 25, 2023, Senator Warren and Representative John Garamendi sent letters to DoD, Boeing, and TransDigm on companies’ refusal to provide cost or pricing data.

###




The following sites updated:





Posted by at