Calling all Phans! 🖤 Nominations are NOW OPEN for the 27th annual @whatsonstage awards! #WOSAwards# In celebration of our 40th year, nominate #PhantomLondon# for BEST WEST END SHOW 👉

Welcoming our new cast members to the Opéra Populaire from 23 November. 🖤 Kimberly Blake is Carlotta Giudicelli Kate Graham is Madame Giry Luke Kempner is Monsieur André Ashley Gilmour returns as Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny (from 9 November) #PhantomLondon#

𝐂𝐍𝐍'𝐒 𝐕𝐀𝐍 𝐉𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐉𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐓 𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐕 CNN’s panel was supposed to deliver sober election-night analysis. Instead, viewers got Van Jones grinning ear to ear over Democratic wins and declaring, “𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘺? 𝘐’𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺.” Jones rattled off his reasons: “𝘞𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴, 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦.” Fair enough — a win is a win, and Democrats are entitled to celebrate a good night. That’s where a normal segment would have ended. 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳,” he said. Then he reached for a comparison no cable news host should reach for on live national television. “𝘈𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘰𝘰𝘭-𝘈𝘪𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺,” Jones said, straight-faced, to a national audience. 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 — it’s the 1978 massacre where cult leader Jim Jones m∗rdered more than 900 of his own followers, over 300 of them children, with cyanide-laced punch. Jones wasn’t finished: “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘰𝘰𝘭-𝘈𝘪𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺... 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵, 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴.” This is the same network that spends its days lecturing the country about “dehumanizing rhetoric.” 𝐎𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐓𝐕, one of its top anchors told tens of millions of Republican voters they’re on their way to a cyanide-poisoning massacre — and grinned while he said it. CNN didn’t cut away, didn’t push back, didn’t apologize. 𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞. For the network that polices everyone else’s words, this was just Tuesday night. 𝐕𝐚𝐧 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬-𝐦∗𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭’𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐬 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲.

𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐘 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐖𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄 — 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 Chuck Schumer spent months trying to put Troy Jackson in the United States Senate. He took the meeting after Jackson’s own campaign made clear it didn’t want the national party’s help, then told reporters, 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦. It worked. Jackson is Maine’s new senator, and Democrats just got the majority Schumer has been chasing for years. So Fox News asked Maine’s newest senator-elect the obvious follow-up: would he vote to make Chuck Schumer the Senate Majority Leader? 𝘕𝘰, Jackson said, flat, no hedge, before the panel back in studio even finished rolling the tape. He didn’t pretend otherwise. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, Jackson said. 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. Translate that out of senator-speak: 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭, 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, just told the country on camera that he’s 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 for the job Schumer has wanted back since Republicans took it from him. Fox’s own panel didn’t pretend to be surprised either. They called it a brewing civil war between the party’s “normy” wing and the DSA bloc that, in their words, had a really good night. 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. He got his majority back. Whether he gets to lead it is now somebody else’s decision. 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.

𝐈𝐋𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐀 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌 𝐁𝐘 𝟔𝟎 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐒 — 𝐀𝐒 𝐅𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐁𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐑 Tuesday was a brutal night for Republicans almost everywhere. It wasn't brutal in Minnesota's 5th District. 𝐈𝐥𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐦𝐚𝐫 cruised to re-election over veteran state trooper John Nagel, 𝟕𝟔.𝟓% 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟔%, even as the Trump administration builds an immigration fraud case aimed at stripping her citizenship and deporting her. Since 2016, the FBI and Homeland Security have investigated whether Omar legally married one of her own siblings, 𝘈𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘕𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘌𝘭𝘮𝘪, to get him a green card — while she was still filing joint tax returns with a different man, 𝘈𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘪, whom she'd entered an Islamic marriage with back in 2002. Federal prosecutors have reportedly started referring to her in court filings as “𝘐𝘭𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘕𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘌𝘭𝘮𝘪” — what sources told the 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵 is her real name. On October 12, Homeland Security Investigations agents took the rare step of executing a search warrant on Omar's Washington, DC home less than 30 days before the election — making a covert federal probe into a sitting congresswoman suddenly, publicly real. Investigators are also looking at whether Omar or her father lied about her birthdate to obtain citizenship in 2000, and whether she and her consultant husband understated their net worth on financial disclosures. Omar's response to the raid was to call it political targeting: ““𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥.”” Her Republican challenger ran explicitly on the district's own fraud scandals — one of her former campaign staffers already pleaded guilty to laundering money from a program meant to feed hungry kids. ““𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘵𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯,”” Nagel said after his primary win. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐞-𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞. Source: New York Post

𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐂𝐈𝐑𝐂𝐔𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐈𝐔 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐏-𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝟏𝟐 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 On Election Day afternoon, the Ninth Circuit's full 11-judge en banc panel voted 6-5 to let the Trump administration keep demanding that California and Washington State set aside suspected noncitizen ballots. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli didn't wait to spike the football, writing on X that 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴. 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴. He added: 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳. It took three reversals in twelve hours to get there. A three-judge panel first lifted a district judge's restrictions on the DOJ. Then the full court voted to rehear the case en banc, wiping that ruling out. Hours later, the 11-judge panel restored it anyway, 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥. Chief Judge Mary Murguia, who pushed for the rehearing, dissented — insisting the Justice Department's request to flag illegal ballots amounted to voter intimidation. The fight is over roughly 20,000 California ballots and more than 400 in Washington State that the DOJ flagged as potentially cast by noncitizens — people the government says registered and voted, in some cases more than once, while in the country illegally. States already sequester ballots routinely for signature mismatches and provisional review. The DOJ simply asked them to do the same here until citizenship could be verified. That wasn't good enough for 𝐒𝐄𝐈𝐔, 𝐀𝐅𝐒𝐂𝐌𝐄, 𝐋𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐂 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐀𝐀𝐂𝐏, who sued to brand the request itself as "unlawfully intimidating, threatening, or coercive." The Ninth Circuit's majority wasn't buying it, ruling the executive branch — not a coalition of unions — gets to call the ball on enforcing citizenship law at the ballot box. It's the same fight playing out in the DOJ's broader Operation Protect the Vote, which has already charged 28 green-card holders across California, including a Long Beach woman and a La Puente man accused of lying about their voting history on naturalization paperwork. The restrictions stay paused while the appeal plays out, and SEIU's allies can keep fighting in court. But on the day it mattered most, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐧 — 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩-𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐭.

𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐈𝐀, 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑, 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐒: “𝐋𝐀𝐖𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐔𝐏” 𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 Democrats hadn’t even finished celebrating before CNN was asking the question Washington is now bracing for: how much energy will the new majorities spend on oversight and investigations? CNN’s congressional reporter said the answer is already showing up on social media. She called it “𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬” arriving as the results were still coming in, and said it 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 “𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧.” Her first example was Rep. Robert Garcia, the current ranking member of the House Oversight Committee and, in CNN’s words, the incoming chairman. Per CNN, he posted two words in all caps: “𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘱.” That is the man in line to hold the gavel and the subpoena pen on the committee with the widest reach in Congress. His message, on the night the majority flipped, wasn’t about prices, jobs, or the border. It was about 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲. CNN walked through Democrats’ own posts as examples of what is on their minds. Voters were told this election was about their kitchen tables. The people they just empowered are already talking about subpoenas, and your tax dollars will fund every hearing. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬.

𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐀 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 $𝟐𝟕 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 — 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐀𝐗 𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐖𝐀𝐘 On election night, California’s proposed 5% wealth tax on billionaires was trailing in the vote count — and the billionaires it was built to hit had already made their move. Fox News flagged the list on-air: Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, and director Steven Spielberg had all shifted their residency out of the state before the January 1, 2026 cutoff that would have triggered the bill. Kalanick didn’t hide why the timing mattered. 𝘖𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 18, 𝘐 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴, he confirmed — fourteen days before the deadline that would have made him a California taxpayer on a slice of his own fortune for the very first time. Forbes put a number on what walked out the door with them: $𝟐𝟕 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞, gone before a single ballot was cast. Page alone accounted for roughly $13 billion of that total and Brin another $12 billion — money Sacramento had already built into its spending plans. And now the tax itself is coming up short anyway. The same billionaire class it targeted poured more than $𝟑𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 into defeating it, and as results rolled in Tuesday night, the measure was trailing after leading comfortably just a month and a half earlier. California tried to squeeze its richest residents and walked away with the worst of both outcomes — the money already left, and the tax built to replace it may not even survive the count. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 $𝟐𝟕 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐱 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐚𝐱 — 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐨𝐮𝐭-𝐨𝐟-𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞.