COTTON VS. DEEP STATE: Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), the Chair of the Senate’s Intelligence Committee, warned Americans against trusting “not real intelligence” that has been reported about countries ranging from Russia to Iran to China. Cotton prioritizes intelligence “from spies or signals intelligence. So when deep staters selectively leak things to the liberal media that confirms all their timid, dovish, down-on-America prejudices, I suggest you take it with a grain of salt.”
NO NAKBA HERE: Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.), who is urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate anti-Semitic protests in New York City, criticized Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s commemoration of the so-called “Nakba Day,” which laments when a series of Arab armies failed to destroy Israel. “‘Nakba’ is Arabic for catastrophe,” Scott wrote. “The only catastrophe here is a mayor of New York who lets antisemitic mobs run wild to terrorize law-abiding Jewish New Yorkers while he spreads anti-Israel propaganda.”
BIG MONEY INCOMING: An anti-Israel super PAC, American Priorities, announced plans to spend $2 million backing Adam Hamawy in an open House race. The Washington Free Beacon’s Jon Levine reported that Hamawy “maintained a yearslong friendship with terrorist mastermind Omar Abdel-Rahman — otherwise known as the ‘Blind Sheikh.’”
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: Claire Valdez, a Democratic Socialist running for Congress with support from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, sat for an interview with a host who referred to Jews as a “demonic ethnicity,” Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reported.
PICK A SIDE: Allies of President Donald Trump’s energy agenda tell the Washington Reporter that Gov. Jeff Landry (R., La.) and Attorney General Liz Murrill can’t work hand in glove with trial lawyers and Sierra Club while also trying to argue that they’re supportive of President Trump’s energy policies. “Louisiana politicians need to pick a side,” one energy expert told the Reporter. Energy advocates are concerned that Louisiana lawfare could jeopardize Trump’s affordability agenda, as the Reporter has previously covered.
SWITCHING CHAMBERS: Miranda Dabney is the new Deputy Communications Director for Sen. Alan Armstrong (R., Okla.). Dabney is a veteran of Oklahoma politics, having spent years working for Reps. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.) and Tom Cole (R., Okla.). Dabney was most recently the Communications Director for the Cole-led Appropriations Committee and has served as the president of the Republican Communications Association (RCA).
RSC BIRTHDAYS: Happy birthdays to both Calli Cooper and to Lyssa Bell, who keep the Republican Study Committee (RSC) up and running!
BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA: Calli Cooper hosted a VIP-filled 30th birthday party over the weekend. Among those spotted were Brent Cooper, Isabel Brown, Katie Pavlich, Gavy Friedson, Marisela Ramirez, Tim Young, Lyssa Bell, Will Mascaro, Blake Kernen, JR Kennelly, Alexa Henning, Amber Duke, Kate Constantini, Liz Wills, Abby Jackson, Charli Huddleston, Alex Blair, Will Garrett, Casey Hood, Caroline Campisi, and Lexi Lach.
