Slushy Intel

The insurrectionist slush fund has been canceled, but maybe there's another way Trump can compensate his homegrown terrorists.

During congressional testimony, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that Donald Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund, which his J6 insurrectionists/terrorists could have applied for, is dead. In the Oval Office today, Donald Trump said that he doesn't know if it's dead. He is lying.

The one thing that we do know for sure is that the immunity for Trump and his family from IRS audits is still alive and well. But more on that tomorrow.

The slush fund was not popular, even with Republicans, with one calling it “stupid on stilts.” Another unpopular thing, even with Republicans, is the appointment of Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence. Pulte is currently the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

When asked if he has concerns that Pulte would “weaponize” the position, given the role he has played during Trump’s second term in digging into mortgage records to see whether Trump’s political adversaries have committed fraud, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said: “We don’t need a weaponized DNI; we need professionals there.”

Senator Mark Warner said, “Americans have already seen Mr. Pulte use the powers of his office at the Federal Housing Finance Agency to pursue the president’s grievances and lend credibility to dubious prosecutions of President Trump’s perceived political opponents. Elevating him to oversee the Intelligence Community makes clear that this president is not looking for an intelligence leader who will follow the facts or speak truth to power, but rather someone who will be willing to shape intelligence around the president’s wishes, regardless of the cost to the American people.”

They are right to be concerned, as Pulte has used his position at the FHFA to go after Trump's perceived enemies, and he had his last Director of National Intelligence seize ballots in Georgia to advance his election. Seizing ballots is not something a DNI does.

Pulte has used his position at the FHFA to question whether some Democrats properly followed the law in taking out mortgages, including Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Senator Adam Schiff.

And even if Pulte intended to be a legitimate DNI, and not another appointed lackey going after Trump's enemies, like Todd Blanche, Pam Bondi, Tulsi Gabbard, etc., he's not qualified for the job.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, called Pulte’s appointment “interesting,” and said, “Obviously, there was some controversy, I guess, about Gabbard, but I think with her position previously in the Congress and also with the military, she had a level of background that you would say, ‘OK, I understand that.’ I’m not so sure that he does.”

Senator John Cornyn, who is a lame duck after being defeated in a primary, after Trump endorsed the corrupt Ken Paxton, said that he sees “no evidence of any qualifications for that job” from Pulte.

Republican senator John Hoeven said, “I just have to learn more about his background and so forth and how that relates to national security issues.”

Trump said, “William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago. During this period, he will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Congratulations to Director Pulte!”

Before joining the Trump regime, Pulte worked in homebuilding and investment banking, but not in law enforcement, the military, or intelligence. He may not even have a security clearance.

Pulte is as experienced and qualified to be the new DNI as Vanilla Ice, who has hosted a TV show for over a decade about flipping houses.

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Creative note: I wrote two ideas this morning, and I spent a couple of hours going back and forth trying to choose between them. I really like the other one, but I felt like this one was better for today. You may see the runner-up tomorrow. And after writing this idea, I kept rewriting it, trying to find the right wording for it. Around 1:30 PM, I gave up, had lunch, took a nap, then got back to work. I finally finished the cartoon around 6 PM.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

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