Trump SELLING pardons for $50M?

On Tuesday, Trump and JD Vance stood in the Oval Office to unveil a $25 million “Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program.” Tips go to fraud.gov, and payouts top out at $30,000.

Trump said the rewards work out to a 1% commission on the fraud a tip uncovers, and that he’d personally decide who gets paid.

“I will be the arbitrator of all these decisions,” he said. “It’ll be a binding arbitration.”

The guest of honor was Nick Shirley, the 24-year-old right-wing YouTuber whose viral video accused Minnesota Somali daycares of fraud. State inspectors found those centers operating as expected. The White House planned to hand him a $10,000 check anyway.

Then The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg asked why a whistleblower would take Trump’s deal when the False Claims Act, on the books since 1863, pays 10 to 25%.

“I don’t know who the hell you are, but you better be careful,” Trump said.

When Feinberg followed up about Trump’s plans for the East Potomac golf course, Trump cut him off. “Quiet. Quiet!” he said. “What’s wrong with you? Are you a sick person?”

The way his voice changed in that moment had many talking online, basically people saying he sounds like an abuser.

Hours later, the White House’s Rapid Response account called Feinberg a slur aimed at people with Down syndrome. October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month.

“I was doing my job, and I’ll be right back at it tomorrow,” Feinberg said.

All this came a day after a video showed Trump on the White House helipad waving and saluting at no one. A second angle shows him dragging his right leg on the way to Marine One.

He spent four years telling you Joe Biden was too confused to do the job.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Venezuelan billionaire Julio Herrera Velutini was angling for a pardon when a company tied to his family hired Alina Habba as its general counsel.

The pay was $10 million a year for four years, plus bonuses. That’s more than $50 million guaranteed. The average Fortune 500 general counsel makes about $580,000.

At the time, Habba was a senior adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi, with an office at the Justice Department. She started the new job January 1.

Weeks later, Trump gave Herrera a full and unconditional pardon.

Herrera had been charged in 2022 over an alleged plot to bribe Puerto Rico’s governor. He ended up pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor. His daughter gave $3.5 million to MAGA Inc., Trump’s super PAC.

The company paying Habba “has no public profile,” the Times reported, and what it does is unclear.

Habba says “any insinuation” that the job had anything to do with a pardon “is false.” The White House says she played no role.

Last Saturday, JD Vance told a CBS town hall that selling access to the White House is “disgusting and despicable.”

We’re waiting on the consequences.

Many parents blamed themselves, or their kids, for the hours lost to the feed. But legal claims allege social media companies built in psychological triggers on purpose: intermittent rewards, endless scrolling, toxic social comparison, and recommendation engines that pull kids into content rabbit holes.

Now families are filing legal claims against platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

You may be eligible if:

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The Trump administration is preparing to seize the wages, tax refunds and Social Security checks of nearly 10 million Americans in default on their student loans. Just not before November 3.

Five sources told the Washington Sun that Treasury is moving to hire private debt collectors, possibly as soon as next month. Those plans are unlikely to be announced before Election Day.

“It would be politically insane to do this before the midterms,” one source said.

Treasury staff had already warned their bosses that a lot of the people getting hit are Trump voters. “This is not who you think it is. The demographics are not good for us,” one source said, describing the message.

Asked about the plan, the Education Department said, “We don’t respond to fishing expeditions.”

Back in January, the administration paused wage garnishment as the White House rolled out its midterm affordability push, Bloomberg reported.

Affordability, apparently, expires on Election Day.

Amy Acton, the Democrat running for governor of Ohio, has talked openly about growing up poor and being sexually abused by her stepfather.

This week, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign confirmed a new ad starring Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur.

“She is a liar. She lies about her past,” Arthur says in the ad. “She says she grew up living in a tent. None of that is true.”

Records show Austintown police arrested Arthur’s husband, Cledith Arthur, in 1978 for the rape of a 12-year-old girl. He skipped court, was declared a fugitive, and died in 2004 without facing trial. Donna Arthur stayed married to him until he died.

Acton’s brother, Phillip Stearns, said the ad shows Ramaswamy is “a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”

Even Republicans couldn’t stomach it. “I hate this ad,” Meghan McCain wrote. Reason’s Robby Soave called it “sick stuff.”

Ramaswamy’s campaign called Acton “a serial fabulist.” It also told the Statehouse News Bureau it put $4 million behind the ad because it tested well with “persuadable” voters.

It tested well.

On October 14, without warning, Starlink started capping how fast Ukrainian military hardware could move and stay connected. The cap was about 100 mph, and it left many of Ukraine’s drones useless.

At the time, Musk wrote that “any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”

Reuters then reported that the order came from within the White House. A Ukrainian official told Axios, “When we ask the White House, they say it is Elon.”

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk gave the order himself, citing U.S. officials and three people familiar with it. Once the backlash hit, SpaceX went to the White House looking for a shared message that the two had coordinated.

Officials disagree on whether Trump knew ahead of time. On Monday, Trump said he didn’t know who was responsible but “would like to find out.”

Zelensky says the restrictions are still in place.

Now Trump knows.

At a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Tuesday, Trump made veterans and families sickened by Camp Lejeune’s contaminated water an offer.

“If we win the House and Senate, I am directing the Department of Justice to settle all remaining legitimate claims,” he said.

“If we don’t win, there’s no money. If we do win, you’re getting it.”

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein wasn’t having it. “Real leaders fight for the people, not for power,” he wrote. “To condition doing the right thing by sick North Carolinians on who wins the election is foul.”

The same day, Trump announced he’ll spend more than $400 million helping Republicans win.

We’d call that a shakedown of sick veterans.

Michael Bloomberg has given Democrats about $80 million since September, the New York Times reported Tuesday. At least $50 million is going to House races.

That includes $16 million to House Majority PAC, $24 million to Everytown for Gun Safety, and $2.5 million to the super PAC backing James Talarico in Texas. His team says about $10 million more is coming.

“The difference between 221 and 230, in terms of the House majority, really matters,” Bloomberg adviser Howard Wolfson told the Times.

James Carville sees it differently. On Bill Kristol’s Bulwark podcast, he said he’d rather Republicans keep the House by five seats than see Democrats win it by five, because then “they’re hostage to the DSA.”

Carville said Hakeem Jeffries “cannot move. There’s no place for him to go.” A 225-seat Democratic majority, he said, would be a “nightmare.”

Democratic socialists want Medicare for All. Republicans just told Camp Lejeune families they get paid only if the GOP wins. Carville would apparently take his chances with the second group.

Bloomberg, who calls himself a centrist, is spending $80 million to make the majority bigger. We’ll take his math.