‘ICE-ing the midterms.’ Popular Information turns a spotlight on Heather Honey, the Department of Homeland Security’s “Deputy Assistant Secretary for Election Integrity”—a job that didn’t exist under previous administrations.
■ She’s the longtime election denier leading what The New York Times (gift link) reports is the Trump administration’s ramped-up investigation of groups registering voters—as it “promotes doubts about the integrity of the voting system.”
■ Two lawsuits—one from the nonpartisan Common Cause, the other from the Democratic National Committee—challenge Trump’s use of taxpayer cash to fund Republican campaign ads.
■ Answer with care: The FCC is weighing a conservative group’s request to relax rules on political robocalls—including those with voices generated by artificial intelligence.
■ Evan Hurst at Wonkette: “Name a Senate race, we’ll show you how Republicans are f*cking it up.”
■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: Two-and-a-half weeks ahead of the election, CBS News will gift Vice President Vance a one-man “town hall” show …
■ … as meanwhile, CNN’s Brian Stelter reports, Fox News is tuning out Donald Trump himself.
‘Very Soviet.’ For What It’s Worth law blogger Jack Leyhane: “There are no races at all” for Cook County judicial races—because there’s only one candidate for every vacancy.
■ But, he notes, sitting judges do still face retention votes …
■ … which is another reason to consult the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.
‘Big Fat Greek Bribery Scandal.’ The Bulwark says The Wall Street Journal’s revelation of shady business by Donald Trump Jr.’s former girlfriend and ex-Fox News star Kimberly Guilfoyle ahead of her confirmation as ambassador to Greece “is shocking, damning, and—by now—chump change.”
■ Departing for Greece, Secretary of State Rubio refused to comment.
■ Investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein exposes Rubio’s diplomatic cable detailing “far-left” speech that’ll keep people from entering the U.S.
Nice Work If You Can Get It Dept. The Washington Post (free link): Now that the U.S. largely controls Venezuela’s oil industry, ex-Trump administration officials are cashing in there.
■ The U.S. has formally charged Venezuela’s ex-president with torture.
‘All of this—all of it!—could have been avoided.’ USA Today columnist Rex Huppke: “Trump’s Iran war is costing us. Voters can make the GOP pay.”
■ The Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last: Maine’s Susan Collins—ostensibly a “reasonable” Republican—is “the living worst.”
■ Count columnist Eric Zorn among those willing to give the president a pass on that Iran-attacking-California babble: “What was dismaying was not that Trump stumbled badly over his thoughts … but that when his MAGA audience heard ‘Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego,’ they cheered and applauded.”
‘Our only hope is that President Trump is prepared for it.’ But, reflecting on reports of pneumonic plague in Russia, The Daily Show’s Michael Kosta concedes, “Let’s be honest, that’s not really his strength.”
■ Measles are on the rise nationwide, although not as much in Illinois as elsewhere—yet.
■ A new customs rule stands to jack up prices for U.S. residents who’ve been buying cheap prescription drugs from Canada.
■ The AP: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s embrace of AI tech is befuddling his allies and medical experts alike.
Obama Workers United. That’s the banner under which dozens of employees at the Obama Foundation and the Obama Presidential Center are organizing to form a union.
■ Their letter to colleagues: “Amidst increasing workloads we have seen our benefits rolled back and support from leadership to be minimal.”
Marathon maze. Street closings have begun ahead of Sunday’s Chicago Marathon …
■ … with more to follow Saturday and Sunday.
Whither local CBS TV channels? Now that the network’s been mashed together with all the other outlets in the Skydance/Paramount/Warner Bros. merger, media industry analyst Tim Hanlon says he expects the conglomerate to become “a net seller of stations.”
■ Wonkette’s Brooke Binkowski fears the Skydance merger “will become sentient and kill us all.”
■ Eric Zorn on the Portland Trailblazers’ revocation of a job offer to a 29-year-old sportscaster after discovery of the guy’s racist, misogynistic tweets … when he was 15: “There should be a statute of limitations on punishment for offensive words and deeds, as there is for most actual crimes.”
‘Do you have a good local newspaper?’ Former USA Today editor-in-chief Ken Paulson, now director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University, poses six questions to help you decide …
■ … including “If the paper makes an error, does it prominently and quickly correct it?”
■ These should do it: Tribune political endorsements and Laura Washington’s column.
■ If a Square link doesn’t work for you for any reason, please holler. Corrections and suggestions are always welcome here.
■ Mike Braden made this edition better.