March 25, 2025

IT’S ALMOST AS THOUGH THEY WERE JUICING THE NUMBERS TO HELP GET HARRIS ELECTED:

Posted at 2:47 pm by Stephen Green 150

THIS MIGHT LEAVE A MARK: I’m not privy to all the facts here, so I won’t pre-judge it. But I’ll tell you this: Former RNC Chief of Staff Chris LaCivita is suing The Daily Beast for defamation, and he is being represented by Harmeet Dhillon’s firm.

I’d take this very seriously, given (1) the DB’s track record of (IMHO, of course) irresponsible gossip-mongering and a “mission” to insult Trump and people living in “flyover states”; and (2) Dhillon is a certified bad@ss.

Your mileage may vary, take only as directed, and if condition persists see a doctor.

Posted at 2:35 pm by Charles Glasser 26

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT JEFFREY GOLDBERG ACCIDENTALLY BEING ADDED TO A NATIONAL SECURITY CHAT:

According to the White House, the chat, which was started to discuss then-incoming attacks on the Houthis in Yemen, did exist. Goldberg was inadvertently added to it by National Security Advisor Michael Waltz — or someone on his behalf. President Donald Trump has since given Waltz a vote of confidence, saying that he has “learned a lesson.”

What’s not clear is whether any actual “war plans” or other classified information were disclosed, which is the heart of Goldberg’s contention. The White House is disputing his claim, and given his background, no one should be taking his word for it.

With that said, it was no doubt an unforced error to add Goldberg to the chat. The contact name used was “JG,” with Waltz (or his staffer) possibly mistaking it for administration official Jamieson Greer. Given how much the Trump administration has been targeted over the years with leaks, all of us would be forgiven for believing that Goldberg’s being a saved contact for any administration official is problematic. I’m not suggesting that Waltz did anything purposeful here. I truly believe this was an accident, but I am suggesting that he has no business ever being in contact with someone like Jeffrey Goldberg.

Indeed: Here’s What the Media Won’t Tell You About the Atlantic Hit Piece.

“There is a dispute over whether the term ‘war plans’ is being exaggerated,” [CNN’s Scott] Jennings noted, undercutting the central premise of the Atlantic report.

This is a significant issue. Goldberg has a history of publishing bogus hit pieces against Donald Trump.

In 2020, The Atlantic published a report claiming that Trump didn’t want to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018 because the troops there who died in battle were “losers” and “suckers.” The article was quickly debunked after it was first published, and Goldberg even admitted that the story may have been wrong. Weather reports confirmed that Trump’s visit to the cemetery was canceled due to weather conditions.

During the 2024 election, Goldberg was responsible for another bogus hit piece against Trump that claimed Trump got angry at the bill for a deceased soldier’s funeral that he offered to pay for back in 2020, which reportedly cost $60,000. The story was clearly bogus, and other journalists had been pitched the same story but could tell it wasn’t legit and didn’t run it.

Goldberg has repeatedly sacrificed his credibility and the credibility of The Atlantic to push false narratives to undermine Trump. His track record of dishonest reporting speaks for itself, making skepticism not just reasonable but necessary. Given how eagerly the mainstream media rushed to declare the Steele dossier legitimate — only for it to be exposed as a sham — there’s every reason to doubt Goldberg’s framing of this story.

While legacy media fixates on process stories and supposed scandals, the bottom line remains clear: The Trump administration took decisive action to protect American interests, while its critics scramble to fabricate controversy.

As Ben Shapiro tweeted in October about Goldberg, “Barack Obama’s favorite stenographer is nothing if not predictable.”

As is the rest of the left’s response:

More here: Tulsi Gabbard Just Denied Democrats the ‘Signalgate’ Narrative They So Desperately Wanted. “[D]espite Warner’s posturing, he did not get the “gotcha” moment he sought. If there was no sensitive or classified information shared in that chat, then this whole thing amounts to a silly mistake that caused no harm to national security.”

Posted at 2:22 pm by Ed Driscoll 125

“BACK-TO-BACK” LAUNCHES IS THE 21ST CENTURY I’D BEEN HOPING FOR: NRO expands spy satellite network with back-to-back SpaceX launches. “‘Over the past two years, NRO has launched more than 150 satellites, creating the largest and most capable government constellation on orbit in our nation’s history,’ the NRO said in a statement. ‘Continuing with this momentum, 2025 is set to be another dynamic year, with approximately one dozen NRO launches scheduled.'”

Posted at 1:45 pm by Stephen Green 51

NIHILISTIC NEWSOM: Does Gavin Newsom believe in anything?

Gavin Newsom’s new podcast reveals not only a media-savvy politico seeking more exposure to a bigger audience. It also reflects a concerted drive by the onetime self-anointed leader of the #Resistance to reinvent himself as the unique progressive breaking through to MAGA World, as evidenced by his decision to invite Right-wing firebrands like Charlie Kirk, Michael Savage, and Steve Bannon as his initial guests.

This shift away from liberal orthodoxy has shocked Newsom’s long-time progressive allies, who see it as an act of treachery. Yet if they had been paying attention to Newsom’s career — above all, his willingness to morph into whatever identity best serves his quest for power — this wouldn’t be so surprising.

Conservatives, too, will discover that Newsom isn’t a tool of the progressive Left, or a typical California progressives with “communistic” policies, as one conservative outlet described them. On the contrary, Newsom, unlike his predecessor, Jerry Brown, has been a committed, shameless sniffer of political winds throughout his career.

Exit quote: “Of course, things may change in response to Trumpian overreach. The 45th and 47th president might just make progressivism great again. If that comes to pass, the Governor’s moderate rhetoric will no doubt change. In being willing to bend to any prevailing trend, at least, Newsom is almost perfectly consistent.”

Posted at 1:35 pm by Ed Driscoll 102

21st CENTURY QUESTIONS: Who Owns Your DNA Now?

23andMe’s vast repository of user data, amassed through years of saliva-based ancestry testing, lies at the mercy of its own self-imposed guidelines rather than robust federal oversight.

The company’s 2023 data breach, which exposed sensitive details like genetic predispositions and ancestry reports for nearly 7 million users, underscored the sheer volume of personal information it holds. For the millions who entrusted their DNA to 23andMe, the assumption might have been that such intimate data enjoys the ironclad protections of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a law designed to shield sensitive health information from unauthorized disclosure. Yet, 23andMe operates outside HIPAA’s reach, leaving it tethered only to its own privacy policies — rules it can rewrite at will.

This regulatory gap casts a long shadow over the company’s future, especially as it teeters on the brink of a sale following its bankruptcy filing. A patchwork of inconsistent state privacy laws, coupled with the absence of a cohesive federal framework, means that the genetic profiles of 15 million Americans could be up for grabs.

Related: 23andMe files for bankruptcy, Anne Wojcicki steps down as CEO.

Posted at 1:22 pm by Ed Driscoll 55

THERE’S GOLDBERG SIGNAL SCANDAL. AND THE BIDEN PERJURY SCANDAL: Techno Fog makes effective use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) even though it often entails unacceptable costs and delays. But those factors can be overcome, as is seen in today’s Substack column detailing the lies told by Joe Biden in the Robert Hur investigation of the now-former president’s possession of classified documents.

Posted at 1:09 pm by Mark Tapscott 27