https://www.washingtonsun.com/national National en-US Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:21:06 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/technology/flock-camera-company-federal-lobbying-ai-surveillance Taylor Giorno The company is facing scrutiny over its surveillance technology, which is used by law enforcement across the country. Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:21:06 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/technology/flock-camera-company-federal-lobbying-ai-surveillance Flock Safety hired two new lobbying firms and significantly increased its federal lobbying spending in recent months as backlash to its AI-powered vehicle-surveillance technology boiled over.

Flock spent $360,000 lobbying federal lawmakers and regulators from the beginning of July through the end of September, up from $210,000 during the same period in 2025, according to new disclosures filed this week under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.

In mid-August, the company also hired a team of Democratic lobbyists at Invariant and others from the boutique Republican lobbying firm Off Hill Strategies.

Invariant reported receiving $90,000 through the end of September to “educate policymakers about the use of public safety technology,” and Off Hill Strategies received $50,000 to lobby on “appropriate federal guardrails for ALPR technology.”

The company is facing increasing scrutiny from Congress for its extensive data collection system and misuse by law enforcement that’s led in some cases to false accusations.

A Flock spokesperson said the company backs further regulations.

“For more than four years, Flock has been at the table with policymakers supporting stronger regulations around the use of license plate reader technology,” Paris Lewbel, a spokesperson for Flock, wrote in a statement to The Washington Sun. “We believe in thoughtful, bipartisan legislation that puts strong privacy, transparency, and accountability measures in place.”

Dozens of cities and counties across the country, including Arlington County, Virginia, have paused or canceled contracts with Flock since July, according to the advocacy group DeFlock the USA.

At a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing last month, Chair Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) and other lawmakers called for legislation to place guardrails on the technology and expressed frustration that executives at Flock and other companies had not accepted the committee’s invitations to testify.

The addition of Invariant and Off Hill Strategies to Flock’s lobbying roster bolstered its existing influence operation. Flock hired its first federal lobbying firms, BGR Government Affairs and Mercury Public Affairs, in December 2024, just before Trump took office, and spent $840,000 on federal lobbying in 2025.

BGR reported receiving $90,000 to “provide strategic counsel and advocate on issues related to public safety and security” with Congress, the White House, the Justice Department and the Department of Transportation. Mercury Public Affairs reported receiving $120,000 to lobby Congress and the White House Office of Administration on safety and security issues.

Flock also paid Modern Fortis $10,000 to lobby the Justice Department on “utilization of LPR cameras,” the lobbying firm recently reported. Carlough Solutions reported receiving $20,000 to lobby the House specifically on issues related to public safety and security in the fiscal year 2027 appropriations bill.

“Engaging with federal lawmakers is a natural extension of that commitment, and we will continue to support efforts to establish clear, meaningful safeguards for public safety technology,” Lewbel said in the statement.]]> https://www.washingtonsun.com/legal/supreme-court-justice-kagan-warns-rulings-polarization The Associated Press The liberal-leaning justice said both political parties are "in a race to the bottom" with partisan gerrymanders. Wed, 21 Oct 2026 02:00:40 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/legal/supreme-court-justice-kagan-warns-rulings-polarization By Lindsay Whitehurst

Justice Elena Kagan on Tuesday said voting and elections decisions from her conservative Supreme Court colleagues have helped make the country more politically polarized and less democratic.

In a speech two weeks before the pivotal midterm elections for control of Congress, the liberal-leaning justice sharply criticized how the majority’s rulings have affected the nation’s political environment.

“The court has kind of blinded itself to the very deleterious effect of their rulings on how the political system works and has created a democracy that does not work as well as it should,” she said during a talk before students and professors at Catholic University's law school in Washington, D.C.

She blasted rulings that weakened the Voting Rights Act and campaign finance regulations while opening the door for more partisan gerrymandering. She dissented from those decisions.

“Over the last couple of years especially, both political parties have been engaged in a race to the bottom in terms of doing these partisan gerrymanders, … making what I think is unfortunately a too polarized country even more so,” she said. “The people of America look around and think that all this money chasing all these political candidates is a nightmare, and they're right.”

The court’s majority, for its part, said in a 2019 ruling that courts drawing voting districts for maximum advantage is a political dispute and federal courts can’t step in. Conservatives have separately ruled that key campaign finance regulations violate the freedom of speech. This year, the court further narrowed protections in the Voting Rights Act, which had helped increase minority representation.

That helped feed a redistricting frenzy touched off by President Donald Trump, who is trying to hold on to the Republicans' slim House majorities in the November election.

Still, Kagan said it's unfair to say the majority reflexively supports the president. She pointed to key areas where the court has pushed back against Trump, including tariffs, birthright citizenship and mail ballots.
]]> https://www.washingtonsun.com/influence/donald-trump-maga-hats-merchandise-prices Nicole Belcastro It’s costing more to look and smell like Donald Trump. Tue, 20 Oct 2026 09:37:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/influence/donald-trump-maga-hats-merchandise-prices The economy is reeling from inflation, tariffs, and a war in Iran that’s made it more expensive to fill your gas tank, fridge and closet.

The Trump economy is also affecting Trump merch: The cost of Make America Great Again hats and several other Trump-themed items have spiked as well.

A Washington Sun review of dozens of Trump products, sold across several digital storefronts operated by the president’s political committees and private business ventures, revealed notable price hikes for several popular products.

Trump’s iconic red hat embroidered with “Make America Great Again” sold for $25 on DonaldJTrump.com when Trump first ran for president in 2015.
Trump.MAGA.hat (2251x1501, AR: 1.50)Just before Trump left the White House, the price of official MAGA hats had inched up to $30, The Washington Sun found through a WayBack Machine capture on January 6, 2021.

Today’s version for sale on the Trump Organization’s online storefront retails for $55 — a 120% increase from the cap’s 2015 price. The U.S. inflation rate rose 41% over the same time period, according to the Federal Reserve.

Trump’s political website, which sells “official Trump merchandise,” is offering the same hat for $40.

MAGA hats have been a particularly notable profit driver for Trump’s business and political operations: Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, said Trump’s 2016 campaign sold up to $80,000 a day worth of MAGA hats. In 2024, Trump officials told The Independent the campaign had shipped more than 2 million MAGA hats since the start of 2023.

Smelling Trumpesque also costs more than it used to: Trump’s “Victory 47” perfume has risen in price twice since February 2024, for a total increase of $150.

The “sophisticated” and “subtly feminine” perfume cost $99 when it debuted on the Trump Sneakers website, before it was redesigned and repriced to feature a miniature Trump atop the bottle for $199.

Now, “Victory 47” costs $249 — or buy two and save $100 — and features a slightly larger miniature Trump. The fragrance’s promise to capture “confidence, beauty, and unstoppable determination” remains the same.
Trump.Fragrances (2294x1878, AR: 1.22)Another set of Trump offerings — gold and silver medallions featuring the president’s face — fluctuate by the minute. The retail price changes appear tied to the spot prices of silver and gold, meaning they can increase or decrease by tens or even hundreds of dollars in a matter of weeks. Gold bullion prices remain near historic highs, while silver remains above historic averages.

The White House directed the Sun’s questions to the Trump Organization, which didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Trump has regularly denied he personally profits from elected office.

A higher merch price tag is irrelevant to most Trump supporters, who will pay any price to signal “allegiance to somebody who they think is tough, somebody who they think says the types of things that other people aren't willing to say,” said Todd Belt, a professor of political management at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

MAGA supporters’ willingness to spend almost anything for Trump-related products helps the president fuel his extensive political apparatus while also personally profiting. Trump’s estimated personal income hit $2.2 billion during 2025, according to The New York Times.

Bruce Newman, a marketing professor for DePaul University’s Driehaus College of Business, says Trump has marketed himself as a brand starting from his time in real estate through his transition to television, and finally, to his time in the White House. Newman believes the president dons the MAGA cap to appear young, strong and confident. “It’s kind of like a baby hanging onto a blanket for a reason of security,” he said.
Trump.bears (8640x5760, AR: 1.50)Both Newman and Belt said they believe customers purchase Trump merchandise to feel like they’re part of a club. This need, they said, overrides concerns they may have about the rising cost of food, gasoline, housing and other necessities.

Nevertheless, Belt calls the Trump merch price increases “tone-deaf,” especially given higher demand during an election cycle where affordability is a top concern for 84% of voters, according to the Pew Research Center.The prices of some prominent Trump products have remained steady since he returned to the White House last year.

Those include golf and pickleball clothing collections, a “Golden Age” candle, chocolate bars wrapped to look like Trump engraved gold bars and treats packaged in clear plastic bags topped with “Trump Sweets” stickers.
Trump.God.Bless.The.USA.Bible (7855x5237, AR: 1.50)Trump also licenses his name to peddle products, most notably the “God Bless the USA” bible. The president has encouraged those looking to “Make America Pray Again” to purchase the bibles, which he co-markets with country musician Lee Greenwood.

The original “God Bless the USA” bible has consistently sold for $59.99, while an edition to that bible called “The Day God Intervened” has sold for $69.99. But newer, pricier bibles are now on sale, including the $74.99 “Camo Edition,” the $99.99 “Platinum Edition” and the $99.99 “America 250 Edition.”
Trump.MAGA.hat.graphic (1308x1150, AR: 1.14)No presidential family has profited off the presidency as much as Trump’s family, Forbes reported.
Trump.Medallion (1316x786, AR: 1.67)Connecting customers to Trump-related history is a prevalent marketing strategy in his second-term selling.

With the purchase of a Trump-themed digital trading card, for example, buyers will receive a swatch of Trump’s “Knockout Suit” — the navy blue suit he wore during the June 2024 debate against then-President Joe Biden, who ended his reelection bid a month later.

“That's trying to get all the sales you can before you leave office. Donald Trump knows that his political career is on the clock, and he's going to try to get as much out of it financially as he possibly can,” Belt said.]]> https://www.washingtonsun.com/legal/nicolas-maduro-denies-new-charges-torture-prisoners-venezuela Jose Pagliery The former Venezuelan leader's attempt at a courtroom speech was cut short by a judge. Thu, 15 Oct 2026 17:34:07 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/legal/nicolas-maduro-denies-new-charges-torture-prisoners-venezuela NEW YORK — Former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Thursday formally repudiated the latest round of criminal charges alleging he directed the torture of prisoners, attempting a speech in a Manhattan courtroom that was cut short by a federal judge.

Asked whether he would plead guilty or not guilty, Maduro, speaking in Spanish, stood up and denounced what he called “false accusations and false testimony against me.”

“I reject this document in its entirety,” Maduro continued, until U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein interrupted him and said he would interpret the response as “not guilty.”

The former Venezuelan first lady, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, who faces similar charges, took a more cordial approach when asked by the court. Asked whether she read the indictment, she responded, “Yes, thank you.”“I am completely innocent. I am not guilty,” she declared.

The couple was indicted again last week when federal prosecutors with the Southern District of New York laid out new accusations that the Maduros oversaw from afar the torture of more than half a dozen Venezuelan dissidents, government officials and even an American tourist who was caught crossing the border years ago. Maduro in court said he had read a Spanish translation of the superseding indictment yesterday.

On Thursday, the judge acknowledged that the new criminal charges make the case more complex and pushed back the trial by two weeks to June 14.

The Maduros, who were taken from their home in Caracas in January by armed commandos during an American military operation, are attempting to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that they are immune from U.S. courts as foreign heads of state. They have described their arrest as an illegal abduction. The operation was part of the Trump administration’s attempts to strengthen its influence in South America and has resulted in an international deal to secure oil rights that have been described by geopolitical experts as an increasingly aggressive policy of foreign resource extraction.

The hearing, which started half an hour late at 11:34 a.m., lasted roughly 30 minutes. Most of it was dominated by silence as the 92-year-old judge quietly leafed through paperwork to decide on a new schedule.

Maduro walked into the courtroom wearing a heavily wrinkled tan prison uniform, waving to the spectators in the public gallery as he said, “Buenas tardes a todos.” He adjusted his turtleshell glasses as he sat down and put on black headphones that broadcast a live translation of the court proceeding. His signature thick, dark mustache was now gray and neatly trimmed.

Two U.S. marshals standing in black jackets flanked Maduro as he sat at the defense table with his lawyers.

During the prolonged silence, Maduro turned to his left to pass a message through several lawyers along to his wife, who smiled and nodded in response. Every time one of his lawyers spoke to him over his shoulder, he covered up the microphone at his table with his left hand.

Maduro’s defense attorney, Barry Pollack, told the judge that the pace of the case is “very aggressive” but “realistic” given the complex nature of the recent indictment — which includes extensive descriptions of the way Maduro allegedly approved the capture and mistreatment of perceived political enemies.

Both sides agreed to return to court for oral arguments on pending motions on the morning of Dec. 17.]]> https://www.washingtonsun.com/defense/soldiers-fort-hood-nidal-mikal-hasan-pete-hegseth-livestream-firing-squad-execution Michelle Del Rey At least six soldiers are planning to file for preliminary religious exemptions, a nonprofit leader told The Sun. More are expected to follow. Fri, 09 Oct 2026 20:34:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/defense/soldiers-fort-hood-nidal-mikal-hasan-pete-hegseth-livestream-firing-squad-execution Some soldiers are already panicking about the possibility of being asked or even forced to participate in the firing squad execution of Nidal Mikal Hasan, according to a religious freedom organization that advises U.S. military members.

Hasan, who killed 13 people during a mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, in a spectacle that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week would be livestreamed publicly by the Trump administration.

“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it,” Hegseth told the conservative television network Real America’s Voice News on Thursday. “People need to understand there are serious consequences for these types of things.”

Just a day later, Michael L. Weinstein, the founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, told The Washington Sun that he had spoken to six soldiers who are already looking to file for preliminary religious exemptions that would prevent them from being selected for the firing squad. He said that he anticipates between 120 and 180 service members to file accommodation requests in the coming weeks.

The MRFF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the religious freedom of service members and advocates for them when military policies or practices may infringe on their beliefs.

The service members expressed concerns about being part of what Weinstein called a “grotesque public spectacle” and fear that participating in the execution would violate the biblical commandment against murder. Two of the six service members are Catholic and four are Protestant.

“They feel they’re being used and manipulated,” Weinstein said. “Like chess pieces on a board.”

“Four have had preliminary indication that they are potentially vulnerable to be qualified to be on the firing squad,” Weinstein added, though he did not elaborate on what that indication was.

An execution order signed Monday by Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle directed Hasan be put to death by firing squad on Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. Central Time. The order, issued after President Donald Trump approved Hasan’s death sentence on Oct. 2, designated the commandant of the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth as the execution officer.

The order cites Army Regulation 190-55, which governs military executions but does not specify how soldiers will be selected for the firing squad, whether their participation will be voluntary or how their identities will be protected. It also makes no mention of livestreaming the execution.

Soldiers ordered to participate in the execution would have little legal recourse to refuse, according to Steven Lepper, a retired Air Force major general and former deputy judge advocate general of the Air Force.

Although military regulations recognize conscientious objectors who oppose war in all its forms, they do not provide a comparable exemption for service members who object to a particular assignment, he said.

“This is one of those situations … that could be classified as lawful but awful,” Lepper said. “If a soldier is ordered to participate in a firing squad, there being no specific legal prohibitions against it, it would probably be considered a lawful order and one which the soldier has a duty to follow.”

Cynthia Smith, an Army spokesperson, could not provide further details about the selection of soldiers, the logistics of the broadcast or whether any legal objections had been filed.

None of the soldiers who spoke with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation claimed they’d actively been tapped to serve on the execution team.

As a precaution, however, Weinstein advised each of the soldiers to file the exemption requests, which would need to be reviewed by a chaplain and approved by a commanding general.

If their requests are denied, he’s advised them to file formal complaints against their commanders. Weinstein emphasized that being ordered to serve as part of a firing squad is consistent with laws governing military executions, but the public nature of a livestreamed event changes the stakes for participants.

He said one soldier told him: “I do not want my children or my family watching me pull a trigger.”

Several soldiers argued the public nature of the killing would violate a basic tenet of Christianity that prohibits sinning in pride.

It’s unclear how many soldiers would be a part of the execution team. South Carolina, which legalized firing squad executions in 2021, has used a crew of three shooters, all with live rounds, to kill death row inmates.

The Pentagon has not released details of the logistics and did not respond to a detailed series of questions or a request for comment from The Sun.

While lawful, Lepper warned that livestreaming Hasan’s execution could inflame extremists and turn him into a martyr. Lepper noted that the United States has long condemned public executions in other countries, raising questions about the precedent the Pentagon would set.

“Why would anyone want to inflame the passions of an enemy that we’re currently fighting?” he asked. “Why would we want to inflame the passions of the Muslim world by making Hassan a martyr?”

Weinstein agreed, saying, “This is his dream.”

”This will be viewed as an execution of Islam,” he said. “How could he possibly be martyred any better?”

Moreover, Weinstein said troops have questioned whether Hegseth is using the execution as a political ploy ahead of the midterms.

Weinstein said hundreds of soldiers have reached out to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to share their concerns about the defense secretary’s acerbic leadership style and relentless focus on culture war issues.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have spoken out against Hegseth’s decision to livestream the execution — one of the rare issues where Republicans have spoken out against the Trump administration and publicly called for a reversal.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) excoriated the decision in an X post: “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America.”

While speaking to reporters on Friday, Vice President JD Vance said he didn’t expect the livestream to actually take place — adding that even if it does, he plans not to watch.

“I see these announcements. I don't know that that's actually going to happen,” Vance told reporters Friday. “If it’s ultimately livestreamed, I’m not gonna be watching it.”]]> https://www.washingtonsun.com/national/ruben-gallego-ro-khanna-democrats-men-symposium Sam Fortier C-SPAN, panels and polling: Two days of “making space for men” at a conference in Washington. Tue, 06 Oct 2026 09:13:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/national/ruben-gallego-ro-khanna-democrats-men-symposium Look, politicians have tried to meet young men where they are for years and years.

Shock-jockin’, pickup-truckin’, trend-hoppin’ or video-game-streamin’ — they’re willing to do almost anything to reach them, even if it means pretending to know ball (because let’s face it, they do not). So when the political class again looked out and wondered where the young men were and how to get them to vote, the consultants knew just what to do: go to a conference.

The second annual Symposium on Young American Men took place in late September in a bright penthouse near Union Station in Washington. The top sponsors of the event were fraternities. A few panels were broadcast live on C-SPAN. Organizations tabling outside gave away baby-blue buttons (“Gender Equality for Men”), magazines featuring women in lingerie (“the conservative Cosmo”) and sheets stuffed with charts and data tables (“12 Areas of Male Disadvantage”).

Over two days, intellectuals and elected leaders discussed the issues fueling the “crisis among young men” — education, the economy, mental health and lack of community. A pollster laid out new data: Young male voters are back up for grabs! Pay attention to them!

Young men probably won’t play a huge role in the midterm elections, several political operatives said, because they are, as a group, a relatively small and unreliable voting bloc. But they could have outsize influence in a bigger election with smaller margins.

President Donald Trump made massive gains among young men in 2024 — a 15-point swing from 2020 — because they believed he would improve the economy and their job prospects, according to a Tufts University analysis.

But those gains have disappeared, according to a new Cygnal poll released alongside the symposium. More young men now view the GOP unfavorably (49%) than favorably (40%), and among those who say they’re determined to vote, Democrats have a sizable lead (57% to 40%).

Now, Vice President JD Vance is embracing a 22-year-old evangelical with over a million followers on young men’s favorite internet platform (YouTube). And every Democrat potentially vying for the 2028 nomination is trying to do something:

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has enacted male-friendly policies; Maryland Gov. Wes Moore cozied up to sports teams; and Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Andy Beshear of Kentucky did podcasts with thought leaders such as the author Richard V. Reeves and NYU professor Scott Galloway on the struggles facing men and boys.

And Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) stopped by the symposium to discuss jobs and “making space for men.”

“Back in the day, I was like the only one,” Gallego said of Democrats concerned about young male voters. “Now it seems everyone every week is coming up with a new position, new idea, which is great.”

Republicans lost their 2024 gains among young men because the economy didn’t get better and the Trump administration’s foreign policy approach in Iran and Venezuela has been unpopular, in part because it has raised gas prices, according to lead Cygnal pollster Alex Tarascio.

During focus groups, Tarascio showed older Republicans data on the systemic problems facing younger Americans.

“They'll say, ‘Totally, I see this, this is real,’” he said. Sometimes, their own children had delayed moving out of the house or having kids because it was too expensive. But at some point in every conversation, Tarascio said, they would revert to the avocado-toast ideology: “Well, you know, they just need to save their money a little bit more, and then they can afford a downpayment.”

The older Republican set didn’t “actually believe things are worse now,” he said.

The conversations reminded Tarascio of another finding: Even young men who identify as Republican believe the federal government should do more to help young people.

“For the Republican Party, they're going to have an awakening at some point as these older, small-government ideological people die and the new cohort comes up,” he said.

But just saying the right words to appeal to men isn’t enough, according to Ellen Carmichael, whose firm, The Lafayette Company, organized the event. She argued some Democrats trying to appeal to young men come off as phony — like when a New York Times analysis found they were swearing a lot more.

“The right should not take them for granted, and the left should not condescend or cosplay,” she said. “Who's actually going to meaningfully care about these people as human beings?”

Everyone broadly agreed that young men need help: They are lonely, feel purposeless and often believe they don’t have the power to change it. Gallego extolled the virtues of fraternities — he was in Sigma Chi at Harvard — as a haven for young men, and he co-sponsored a bill to prevent colleges and universities from penalizing or restricting students involved in single-sex social organizations.

“Setting up the environment where these men can meet and talk is important,” he said.

A week after the symposium, young men were back at the center of the news cycle. A former Cornell University student filed a lawsuit alleging she was gang-raped by members of the Chi Phi fraternity in 2024 and that the university failed to protect her. The Lafayette Company, which represents a variety of men’s groups and fraternities, has since signed on to do media relations work for the national Chi Phi organization. Chi Phi said in a statement that it moved quickly to expel those at Cornell “suspected of betraying the values of our brotherhood.”

Khanna was one of the few 2028 contenders to weigh in publicly on the case thus far, posting a video on social media decrying a “crisis of misogyny.” In a statement to The Washington Sun, Gallego called the alleged events at Cornell “horrific.”

“Women should feel safe on campus whether in class, at the dining hall, or at a party — no ‘if’s, ‘and’s’ or ‘buts’ about it,” he said.

Gallego, 46, was at the symposium last fall, when it was just a one-day event, and criticized members of his own party for underappreciating the value of having a father in a child’s life (he grew up without a dad) and said the broad application of the term “toxic masculinity” has “gone too far.” He championed a bill he co-sponsored that would create an Office of Men’s Health.

“It caused some controversy with former newscasters,” Gallego said, referring to online criticism from Katie Couric. “But it’s important.”

The moderator, political journalist Ben Jacobs, prodded Gallego to directly address Couric.

“Sen. Gallego, I know you said that you’re championing men’s health because you want to be a good father,” Couric had said of his legislation. “But I think one of the best ways to show up for your family is to ensure your daughter and wife have access to the same quality of care and information and research as you and your sons.”

“It’s not worth it,” Gallego said a couple times, turning the discussion back to the importance of male mentors and improving the economy for working-class families.

“The real buying power of the working man has declined tremendously over the last 40 years,” he said, comparing it to the downward trend of the average life expectancy of men. “Unless we change how men and women are paid, where they’re actually going to be able to make a living, spend time with their families and not be so stressed out all the time … then this will continue to happen.”

And then there was Khanna, 50, who said the way to win young men was actually about the economy.

“No war, no aid to Israel and actually caring about jobs here and communities here,” Khanna said of his pitch to young men. “We [need to] have a good jobs agenda so that young men have good jobs.”

Khanna, one of the most progressive members of his party, sat next to Grover Norquist, 69, a longtime anti-tax conservative activist, on a panel. It was the closest thing to a cage match you can get in downtown D.C. — well, besides the actual cage match held on the White House lawn. They sparred over whether the government should intervene to help rural communities abandoned by corporations before turning to whether taxes inhibit job creation.

California is “stealing” money from billionaires through higher property tax rates, Norquist said, which would “begin to hollow out” Silicon Valley.

“One-third of the wealth is in my district — literally of the country,” Khanna fired back, rattling off statistics and name-checking a couple famous AI executives. “The question is: Who is this country going to work for?”

“I used to live in Massachusetts, and that’s the attitude we had about Polaroid, which is now bankrupt,” Norquist said.

As Khanna left the stage, a man with white hair rushed up. He applauded one of Khanna’s old bills, introduced but never passed, to help reindustrialize the nation. The man urged Khanna to keep fighting, to keep pushing his ideas, because he believed those jobs were the future.

The way men were, he said, was the way men could be again.
]]> https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/disgraced-former-house-speaker-dennis-hastert-dies-republican-illinois The Associated Press The Illinois congressman, who was speaker from 1999 until 2007, died of natural causes at his home. Mon, 05 Oct 2026 13:49:26 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/disgraced-former-house-speaker-dennis-hastert-dies-republican-illinois By Michael Tarm and Herbert G. McCann

CHICAGO (AP) — Dennis Hastert, the nation’s longest-serving Republican House speaker, who helped turn much of President George W. Bush’s agenda into law before his own political legacy was forever fouled by allegations that he molested high school athletes when he was a wrestling coach, died over the weekend, a coroner said Monday. He was 84.

Hastert, who was speaker from 1999 until 2007, died of natural causes at his home, according to Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Purcell.

When he was sentenced in 2016 to more than a year behind bars, the former history teacher became one of the highest-ranking American politicians ever ordered to prison.

In the late 1990s, Hastert was a little-known Illinois lawmaker with a reputation for congeniality that had helped him ascend the ranks of congressional leaders. When Newt Gingrich lost support because of ethics violations and the GOP’s poor showing in an election, Republicans elected Hastert to succeed him. In his first weeks on the job, he presided over the House while the Senate conducted Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial.

After the GOP reclaimed the White House, Hastert took much of what Bush proposed and steered it to passage, including massive tax cuts and a measure that amounted to a huge expansion of prescription drug benefits — the biggest change in Medicare in decades.

His legacy was suddenly thrown into doubt in 2015, when he was accused of evading banking regulations as part of a plan to pay hush money to conceal unspecified "prior misconduct." Nearly a year later, prosecutors filed papers that described what media reports had suggested for months: Hastert’s misconduct involved the sexual abuse of teenage boys on his wrestling team in the small town of Yorkville, west of Chicago.

During a 16-year coaching career, he led his team to a state championship and was named national coach of the year in 1976. But behind the accolades, prosecutors said, Hastert sexually abused at least four team members from 1965 to 1981.

The person Hastert was paying, identified in court papers only as Individual A, said the abuse occurred in a motel room when he was 14 on the way home from wrestling camp. Hastert allegedly touched other wrestlers in a locker room after saying he would give them massages. Two wrestlers said Hastert performed sex acts on them.

Prosecutors also described a recliner where Hastert often sat in the locker room with a direct view of the stalls where the boys showered.

Hastert agreed to plead guilty to evading banking laws. In all, he paid more than $1.7 million out of $3.5 million that he had promised to Individual A, sometimes in lump sums of $100,000 cash.

At the sentencing hearing where he received 15 months behind bars, the visibly angry judge called Hastert a “serial child molester.” A former wrestler struggled with his emotions as he told the court about his “dark secret” from adolescence.

In his own statement, Hastert said he was “deeply ashamed” and admitted that he "mistreated” some of his athletes. But he never referred directly to sexual abuse.

The public knew nothing about Hastert’s past when Republicans lost seats in the 1998 midterm elections. Hastert confronted Gingrich about dissatisfaction in the GOP ranks, saying it was unlikely Gingrich could hold his post, Hastert wrote in "Speaker: Lessons from 40 Years in Coaching and Politics."

"Well, I'll make them support me," he quoted Gingrich saying of the GOP rebels. Told that was unlikely, Gingrich asked Hastert what to do.

"Do what you have to do," he replied. The next day, Gingrich stepped down as speaker and left the House.

Hastert’s path to the speaker’s office was cleared when Louisiana Rep. Bob Livingston, who was considered a lock to replace Gingrich as speaker, resigned after acknowledging several extramarital affairs.

In January 1999, Hastert broke with tradition by delivering his acceptance speech from the House floor and by allowing Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat, to briefly preside over the day's proceedings.

"Solutions to problems cannot be found in a pool of bitterness," Hastert said in his speech. "They can be found in an environment in which we trust one another's word, where we generate heat and passion, but where we recognize that each member is equally important to our overall mission of improving the life of the American people."

Hastert was aware of the personal pitfalls of holding the powerful position.

"You know, in this business, especially in a job like this, you can get your head someplace where it shouldn't be," Hastert said in a 1999 interview with The Associated Press. "But you come back home, and you're home. You're back where you've always been, and your feet are back on the ground."

He was generally viewed as a friendly, even-tempered lawmaker. His wrestling experience followed him to Washington, with GOP colleagues often calling him "coach.”

Hastert said he lacked the appetite for higher office.

As the recount of the 2000 presidential election dragged on, Hastert’s aides briefed him on the possibility that he might become acting president in the event of an Electoral College deadlock.

"I really didn't want to be president, temporary or otherwise," he wrote in his book. But he decided that he would not pass the office to the constitutional officer next in line if an Electoral College deadlock extended beyond Inauguration Day. In the end, the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling ended the recount, and Bush moved into the White House.

Hastert’s journey to Congress from his boyhood farm appeared to be the result of fate and luck.

In 1980, he finished third in an Illinois House primary. But the incumbent became fatally ill, and GOP leaders chose Hastert to take his place on the November ballot, where he won in a traditional GOP stronghold.

Hastert became a congressional candidate in 1986, when local Republican leaders put him on the primary ballot, replacing freshman Rep. John Grotberg, who was battling cancer. Hastert went on to beat the Democrat with 52 percent of the vote, his smallest margin of victory in a congressional race.

In Washington, Hastert served quietly in House leadership, working closely with Gingrich and then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay after Republicans took control in 1995. Several years later, DeLay was the force driving Clinton’s impeachment and was simply too toxic to seek the speaker’s chair.

Hastert’s tenure was marked by a shift of power from committee chairmen to GOP leaders, fealty to the Bush administration and an explosion of congressional pet projects known as earmarks. Democrats fumed that he weakened the ethics process that ensnared DeLay, who left Congress under a cloud of criminal charges in 2006.

Hastert became wealthy largely through a complex web of transactions that coincided with one of his own highway earmarks increasing the value of land he had purchased in his district.

He was forced to step down as speaker in 2007, when Democrats gained control of the House, and he resigned his seat later that year. In 2008, he joined the Washington lobbying firm of Dickstein Shapiro as a senior adviser, specializing in government law and strategy.

Born in Aurora, Illinois, Hastert earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Wheaton College in 1964 and a master’s in education from Northern Illinois University in 1967.

In 2007, Wheaton named its newly created public policy center the J. Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government and Public Policy. After Hastert’s indictment, the school removed his name in 2015. Other organizations abandoned associations with Hastert, and his portrait was removed from a hallway outside the House chamber.

Hastert lived his entire life in Chicago's suburbs, primarily in the Yorkville area. While growing up, he helped his father with the family feed business.

Survivors include his wife, Jean, and two adult sons.]]> https://www.washingtonsun.com/national/fbi-director-kash-patel-engaged-country-singer-girlfriend-alexis-wilkins The Associated Press The pair have been dating since before Patel took over as head of the FBI in 2025. Mon, 05 Oct 2026 12:38:19 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/national/fbi-director-kash-patel-engaged-country-singer-girlfriend-alexis-wilkins FBI Director Kash Patel is engaged to his country singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, the pair announced in a post to X on Sunday evening.

Wilkins, 27, posted a black-and-white photo of herself standing with Patel, 46, flashing her hand in front of them to show off her ring with the caption, “Went and got the law involved.” The two have been dating since before Patel took over as head of the FBI in 2025, when she attended his swearing in.

The country singer and political commentator released her debut album in 2023. Wilkins has been affiliated with conservative groups and writes on her website that she “honors country tradition while adding relevance and current commentary.”

Patel, who reposted Wilkin's photo, has faced criticism for traveling on government aircraft on trips that have no known or apparent law enforcement purpose, including using an FBI jet to fly to State College, Pennsylvania, for a pro wrestling event where Wilkins performed the national anthem. Photos posted to social media by Wilkins afterward showed the couple smiling while she held an oversized golden championship belt.

Wilkins also made headlines as a performer at President Donald Trump's Great American State Fair on the National Mall as part of America 250, as other artists pulled out of the event after finding out it was not a non-partisan celebration.
]]> https://www.washingtonsun.com/national/tennessees-prison-chief-resign-christa-pike The Associated Press Gov. Bill Lee announced the planned departure Saturday, after Wednesday's botched attempt to execute Christa Pike. Sat, 03 Oct 2026 15:40:42 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/national/tennessees-prison-chief-resign-christa-pike NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The head of Tennessee’s prison system is resigning after the failed execution of Christa Pike, Gov. Bill Lee announced Saturday.

Lee said that Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will step down this month.

Strada said in a statement that stepping aside “is in the best interests” of the state as an independent review is carried out to determine why Pike’s execution failed Wednesday.

Pike was placed on a ventilator and remained unconscious in a hospital, her attorneys said in a court filing Friday.

Hospital staff, her lawyers said, were working to save Pike’s life and as of late Thursday were trying to clear the two doses of the drug that the state uses to execute prisoners.

The stunning failure in Tennessee’s execution chamber on Wednesday has left both sides of the death penalty debate demanding answers. Lee has ordered an independent review.

Pike’s attorneys said they believed problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream.

“Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms. Pike’s body,” they wrote in the court filing.

Pike was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in a jealous rage. She later became one of the youngest women to be sent to death row.]]> https://www.washingtonsun.com/national/kathy-hochul-special-prosecutor-rape-allegations-cornell The New York governor said law enforcement “failed” the woman. Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:16:17 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/national/kathy-hochul-special-prosecutor-rape-allegations-cornell By Michael R. Sisak

NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that the woman who accused members of a Cornell University fraternity of gang rape was “failed” by people obligated to protect her, including police and the county prosecutor.

Hochul’s claim came during a news conference in which she gave details on her decision to turn the case over to a special prosecutor, the state Attorney General Letitia James.

The governor said she made the decision after learning “troubling details” about how authorities have handled the woman’s claims thus far, including that the district attorney closed the case without having anyone interview the victim or anyone else involved in the alleged attack.

“In what world does the district attorney not even interview her, or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript?” Hochul said. “This woman, this young woman, had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable. And then at every turn, she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her.”

She also assailed the Cornell University Police Department for not fully conveying the woman’s story to prosecutors.

“After this young woman came forward, she spoke to the police. She sat for hours and told them exactly what happened to her. And according to new reports, she could not have been clearer that she was 100% confident that she had been raped," the governor said. "Yet, shockingly, those words never made it into the account that the Cornell police sent to prosecutors.”

Hochul said Thursday that she appointed James to oversee the case because she had lost faith in the local district attorney’s ability to handle it.

The investigation initially was closed without charges in 2024.

Last month, the woman filed a lawsuit and Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten reopened the investigation. He has since been bombarded by criticism that he abandoned the original investigation too quickly.

The attorney general will oversee the investigation and, if warranted, present evidence to a grand jury, Hochul said.

“The young woman at the center of this case deserves to know that every fact will be examined and justice pursued," she said in a statement Thursday.

Van Houten didn't immediately respond to Thursday messages seeking comment.

The case has roiled the Ivy League campus and raised questions about its response and the larger issue of how sexual assaults are handled on college campuses.

The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, told campus police in November of 2024 that she was sexually assaulted, then discussed it with the university’s internal investigators as part of Cornell’s disciplinary process.

The lawsuit against seven fraternity brothers, the university, the Chi Phi fraternity and others alleges that she was plied with drugs and alcohol, then subjected to sexual acts by a group of men while she was partially or entirely incapacitated. One of the men sent a social media message to other fraternity members alerting them to what was happening, and inviting people to take part, according to the lawsuit.

Lawyers for two of the men she is suing have denied they participated in a sexual assault. One said his client hadn’t touched the woman. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the other men or their representatives have been unsuccessful.

New York governors have turned to attorneys general to oversee important cases in the past.

In 2018, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed then-Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas as a special prosecutor to investigate Eric Schneiderman, who resigned as New York attorney general after women accused him of violent slapping, choking and other abuse.

In 2021, James oversaw a non-criminal investigation into sexual harassment allegations against then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, leading to his resignation. Cuomo initially tried to choose who would lead the investigation into the allegations. He then allowed James to choose two independent attorneys to lead it instead.

James’ office also handles other criminal work and has the power under state law to investigate every death involving law enforcement in the state. But, typically, she can’t initiate criminal investigations without a referral from a local district attorney, the governor or a state agency, or an appointment like the one Hochul made Thursday.]]>