Monday's Final Word

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Help me, information, more than that I cannot add, only that I miss her and all the tabs we had ...

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Ed: There are only a couple of reasons for not releasing the text. Either it hasn't been finalized, which means there isn't really an agreement, or the text will end up raising more questions than answers. 

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NRO: It was discouraging to see that Trump told the New York Times that on the nuclear front, he would support allowing Iran to enrich uranium for “non-military purposes.” This is a far cry from his position going into the war of zero enrichment and his boasts that all enriched uranium would leave Iran. In reality, low-level enriched uranium could be further enriched to military grade. This also leaves unanswered the question of Iran’s ballistic missile program and its threats to regional stability through its funding of terrorist proxies. All told, there is the possibility that Trump would return the U.S. to Obama’s failed Iran deal that Trump rightfully tore up in his first term, which would have all the makings of a humiliation after all of the president’s tough talk.

Of course, it’s possible that the MOU is much less than is being described by either party — effectively, an extension of the cease-fire that suspends the embargo in exchange for an opening of the Strait of Hormuz, while punting on the thornier issues to the 60-day negotiation period.

The only way to clarify which it is, however, is to just release the text that was agreed to. 

Ed: Again, there's a case to be made for keeping it private, but only if the language is still under negotiation. That also would explain why Trump is saying "Friday" for a full release. I suspect that's the real issue, or that the MOU doesn't actually commit either side to anything more except the second round of talks. 

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Ed: Oh, we've seen this before. It's pretty much what happened with the JCPOA, although that process took place under different circumstances. We didn't have an acutely active military conflict with Iran at that time, so more of this could be discussed publicly. However, the Obama White House played similar games when it came to what commitments had been made and the staging of benefits for Iran. 

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Axios: CIA Director John Ratcliffe told President Trump and other senior officials that intelligence gathered by U.S. intelligence agencies raised serious doubts about Iran's willingness to make the nuclear concessions the U.S. is seeking in any final deal, according to three sources familiar with those discussions.

Friction point: Ratcliffe isn't the only skeptic in Trump's top team. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have both expressed concerns and raised questions about the deal in internal discussions, while Vice President Vance and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner advocated for it, according to two of the sources.

Ed: Time will tell who's correct, and the CIA has been wrong before, sometimes spectacularly. However, this does explain why Vance has suddenly taken such a public role over the last few days, and Rubio has retreated to the background. I mentioned this to a few people today, and while it's subtle, they had also noticed the changed dynamic. 

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Ed: It's one thing to keep the MOU from the media. If Trump isn't sharing it with the Gang of Eight, especially Republicans in those leadership positions, it looks very ... dodgy. 

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WSJ: California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the Justice Department was investigating him and his wife, accusing President Trump of urging the probe to get back at a political enemy.

Newsom, a Democrat, said in a social-media video that federal agents had been questioning family, friends and former aides in recent days, “digging through years and years of random documents.” He described the investigation into him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, as politically motivated.

“Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets,” Newsom said in the video. “He’s coming after me because I’m considering running for president.”

Newsom didn’t elaborate further on the nature of the investigation but alleged that Trump was trying to get to him by going after his wife. Siebel Newsom is a documentary filmmaker and founder of The Representation Project, an advocacy group that uses film to challenge gender stereotypes.

Ed: Golly, what a precedent to set, using the Department of Justice to attack a potential presidential election opponent! That hasn't happened since ... 2022-4, actually. If that's really what's happening, it's a bad thing to do. However, I wouldn't put it past Newsom to mischaracterize an investigation in order to pre-spin it, either. Keeping my powder dry on this one for now. 

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Ed: Or maybe not. Newsom's spinning like a top. 

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Mediaite: CNN’s Paula Reid pumped the brakes on Monday after California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) took to social media to call himself a victim of President Donald Trump’s revenge tour. ...

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[Reid:] We are told that there are several investigations into people associated with the California governor. These are being run out of a U.S. Attorney’s office in California, including one investigation into the governor’s wife for potential tax-related crimes. Now we are also-, we also know from public reporting, public happenings, that Newsom’s former chief of staff pleaded guilty to three charges related to a scheme to steal campaign money from the former secretary of health and human services. That is a case that has been widely reported. We are told, though, that the Justice Department, the political appointees here in the Justice Department in Washington were not involved in the origins of this investigation. This was all, we are told, prompted by a whistleblower report in 2025. 

Ed: That's different from what Housely reported, but it's possible that there are multiple probes taking place at the same time. It doesn't appear that Trump officials are linked to either.

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Ed: What in the world ...? The Left controls the entire entertainment industry, and this was the best they could do to counterprogram against a UFC event at the White House? 

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NY Post via AOL: "A girl at my old highschool [sic] tried jumping from a window because her cousin died the day before," the post's caption read. These students saved her. I have hope."

An account belonging to the Nazi-tattoo sporting Maine Senate candidate wasn't sympathetic.

"Someone clearly isn't trying hard enough," a commenter using the name P-Hustle — Platner's screen name on the platform — wrote in response.

In another newly-unearthed Reddit post, Platner — who had an account on the messaging app Kik which featured a half-naked photo of himself — joked about expressing his gratitude for porn stars in military fashion.

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"Thank you for your cervix," he posted in 2021 in response to a user who said that adult entertainers should be thanked for their service like veterans.

Ed: Does anyone bother to vet people before recruiting them? Given the rest of the reveals about Platner – so far – this is relatively minor. And speaking of minor, has anyone identified Platner's Kik pen pals yet? I suspect that's the next shoe to drop, but it may come after the deadline for Platner to withdraw. That's four weeks from now. 

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Ed: "Waingro" is a reference to the 1995 Michael Mann film "Heat," and ... it fits. To be fair, it started up again at the NYT just before Primary Day, but that's because the NYT's "catch and kill" strategy on domestic-violence claims on Platner got disrupted when more than one media outlet ended up with the story. 

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Variety: Anne Schedeen, who played the matriarch of a suburban family hiding a cuddly alien on “ALF,” died at age 77, her family announced Sunday on Facebook.

In a statement, Schedeen’s family wrote “She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of creative energy, whip smart humor, delight in her family, adoration for little dogs, burning hatred for Trump, passion for second-hand thrifting, and love for a good story. We are bereft without her. We loved her so so much, as did all who met her.”

Ed: If you're writing an obituary that includes "burning hatred" for a political figure, you really need to touch grass. RIP to Schadeen, of course, but pray for a family who cheapened her obituary to score a cheap political point and reduced her to a bumper sticker. 

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Ed: Amen. 

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Fox News: Concern is mounting that taxpayers could be left holding the bag if the Obama Presidential Center runs into financial trouble, as the foundation behind it has yet to establish a promised $470 million safety net to guard against a public bailout.

The scrutiny comes as a Fox News Digital investigation found multiple contractors and subcontractors claiming losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions on the project, with some alleging they remain locked in payment disputes and face financial ruin just days before the center's grand opening.

Under its agreement with the city, the Obama Foundation pledged to create the fund, known as an endowment, as part of its 99-year deal to take control of the publicly owned 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park for a one-time payment of just $10.

Fox News Digital previously reported that the foundation had deposited just $1 million into the reserve fund in 2021 and that the balance remained largely unchanged in its most recent publicly available filings.

Ed: Are we kidding here? The Obamas cashed out to the nine-figure level when they left the White House with a Netflix production deal, and both of them got eight figures each in book deals. Are they about to stiff Chicago and Illinois for one of the ugliest presidential libraries, if not easily the worst? Read on to see how costs "ballooned" after construction started. It might be the California high-speed rail of presidential libraries.

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Ed: Exactly. The whole cause-month schtick is growing old, and has been for decades. Seinfeld did an episode on forced performative speech in the 1990s ... 

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Ed: Who knew Seinfeld was conservative?

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Ed: And that ain't no coincidence. 

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Saturday's lyric: "I Want Candy" by the Bow Wows.

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