A representative dialog showing why I oppose twitter/tweets, online for everybody, is this.

Nicolle Wallace interviewing and sharing commentary with Heather Cox Richardson about now and the future:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCa6CmuQqNY&t=58s

While in agreement with the bulk of their discussion, others who might be less aligned still must admit that this is more worthwhile than a tweet about some high-strung ditz endorsing Mike Rogers. Where the only mystery or deep thought would be how did that ditz get to where anyone attributed gravitas to what she did or said. A tweet war over that endorsement is about all it deserves.

 

 

Hello Donald J. Trump. You have friends who like your never ending warfare, with cause to see it drag on. And on. And on.

 AJ reporting -

How US oil firms profit $130bn from Iran war as household bills surge

As energy from the Gulf and Russia take a hit, American oil and gas firms are the big gainers. The biggest losers: consumers around the world

 By Federica Marsi -- Published On 2 Nov 20262 Nov 2026

United States oil companies have earned more than $130bn in profits during the war on Iran, even as consumers pay much higher prices for key commodities, amid fears that US President Donald Trump may renew fighting after midterm elections.

The estimate, released by The New York Times, is a conservative evaluation based on the performance of 51 large US oil and gas companies in the six months from April through September. By contrast, in the same period in 2025 – when the prices of oil were lower prior to the launch of the US-Israel war on Iran – they collectively earned less than $47bn.

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• list 3 of 3More than 50 million votes cast in US midterm elections: What does it mean?

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But the gains come as burgeoning living costs are crushing consumers. Americans have spent an extra $150bn on petrol and diesel since the war on Iran began on February 28, according to an analysis by Brown University’s Climate Solutions Lab, which amounts to more than $1,150 per household.

The disparity has fuelled a political debate over who gains and who pays the price for the war. Responding to Trump, Democratic Representative Jim McGovern wrote on X: “We’re not making a ‘freaking fortune,’ we’re PAYING a ‘freaking fortune’.”

US Big Oil in position to profit where others lose

Naser al-Tamimi, a fellow at the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in Milan, Italy, said US energy companies have benefitted from the war in different ways. “Crude producers gain from higher oil prices, while refiners capture exceptional margins as diesel and other fuel supplies tighten,” he said.

Additionally, “damage to Middle Eastern and Russian refineries, disrupted Strait of Hormuz shipments, and sanctions-related trade frictions have intensified shortages”, while “relatively secure US facilities and access to discounted crude strengthen these gains”.

ExxonMobil and Chevron, the biggest US oil companies, on Friday reported profits of between $10bn and $15bn. While the gains are considerable, The New York Times found they generally remained below 2022 levels, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused oil prices to soar to roughly $100 a barrel and raised natural gas prices, compared with the current average of $90 from April through September.

[...] 

Continued pressure over cost of living

Analysts warned of continued volatility until a durable political settlement between the US and Iran is reached. Oil prices dropped briefly in the summer after a memorandum of understanding was signed in June, but prices quickly soared again when talks broke down.

A more recent escalation in fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has further compounded the crisis: the Bab al-Mandeb strait that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, which Saudi Arabia uses to export oil, is now also a theatre of war.

“In the short term, windfall profits will only strengthen oil company balance sheets and shareholder returns,” Miller said. “However, the big profits come with a major caveat. That’s because over the longer term, high oil prices risk harming economic growth prospects and could even contribute towards the outbreak of a recession, which would in turn be likely to lead to reduced demand for oil” and accelerate the transition to renewable energy.

Florence Schmit, senior energy strategist at Rabobank’s global economics and markets team in London, said it was likely that the prices of key energy products would remain high given the uncertainty about the duration of the war in Iran.

“Prices in all markets that have an exposure to this global supply shock – which includes the US – will face high prices also next year, and consumers will continue to feel this price pressure unless governments step in,” Schmit told Al Jazeera.

The item continues, and earlier this graphic was part of the post -

 Dylan, early in his career, sang, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."

You don't. So, are you happy with this war, or ready to vote Dem to have a better chance of ending the grotesque profiteering? It may drag on, but it may not. We shall see.

A hypothetical. When there is a bit of public bleating about "FRAUD!" can there be such a thing as a fraudulent war? One premised by public decree one way, but done to achieve a different outcome, from another direction? And if there can be, is there one, now since Feburary? A "four week" war? 

And, who'd do such a thing? Who'd be that sneaky? Over barrels of oil?

UPDATE: Sophistry. 

 FURTHER: A trillion dollar fraud war - an oil war disguised as a security threat war that can hit a trillion if lasting long enough -  dwarfs anything that any Minnesota Somali community rump groups may have committed, as a welfare fraud. War fraud has a lot of death and destruction to it. Welfare fraud just means an unduly inattentive bureaucrat or three asleep at the switch. No loss of life, no destruction. No Hegseth.

AJ reports on a Republican write-in effort in South Carolina.

 It is more against Donald Trump, than against Darlene Graham.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/2/write-in-ralph-south-carolina-republicans-challenge-trumps-senate-pick 

 

 

Abdul El Sayed needs to win the Michigan Senate race and nothing else happening there should matter. He is a Dem and he is a progressive. [UPDATED]

There's stuff happening (e.g., Dem's staff resigns as she 'sells her soul' to endorse swing state MAGA Senate candidate + Sanders feuds with AIPAC over last-minute Rogers donations). AIPAC has a lot of money, and buys what it can for political advantage. 

Days ago, Times of Israel published -

Michigan GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers said to ask AIPAC not to campaign on his behalf

As pro-Israel lobby group becomes increasingly unpopular across US politics, Axios says aides for Rogers warned its involvement would be detrimental to defeating Abdul El-Sayed

By ToI Staff and Agencies 22 August 2026

 

That is like your money is green and welcome, but you're toxic. Not a position of power, but the money has bought something, presumably. Something that had its price and terms, which the money met. 

 

Those agitators need a slap-down. This is the election contest for it to happen. Reform will be set back if the money wins. Michigan will be a beacon for the nation, either way, and progressives know how the light should shine.

 

UPDATE: JTA has a balanced coverage item online.

 

FURTHER: AJ covers the situation.

 

Stevems does not come across as an entirely stable person. It is surprising she made the Michigan Dem primary a close race. Her allegiance seems more to genocide than to needs of the people in our nation. 

 

Rogers takes what he gets. Trump is solidly behind Rogers and has expressed joy over Stevens' action.

 

FURTHER: The Guardian covers the situation. 

 

FURTHER: The Hill, in part - 

Israel has been the center of attention in the days leading up to the midterm elections where El-Sayed has maintained a critical stance throughout.

The Senate race between El-Sayed and his GOP opponent Mike Rogers has been intense with a recent CNN poll showing 49 percent of respondents leaning toward the Democrat and 42 percent toward the Republican. Nonpartisan election forecaster Decision Desk HQ leans heavily in favor of El-Sayed, giving him a 74 percent chance of winning.

This latest Michigan development should not draw attention from the positions on issues. Rogers in the Trump camp, El Sayed focusing on healthcare, cost of living, and related issues. With his view in general being progressive, rather than establishment Dem.

FURTHER: This tweet appears to be the video ad that Stevens got her drawers in a bind over. It's theme is money the federal government gives Israel is taxpayer money that could go here. That taxpayers have not voted to approve as a U.S. of A. valid expense. 

Posed as it is, it stands against money given Israel for Israeli ethnic cleansing and war making. Readers should view it and judge it. Is Stevens' reaction to it over the top, or valid in kind and degree? Does Stevens' action seem extreme and self-centered? She lost the primary. The issue of Israeli conduct and the U.S. funding it in part, during both Biden's term and by Trump, is a real thing that will not go away. 

What should U.S. of A. policy be?

FURTHER; This tweet, of Stevens and Rogers. Generally Crabgrass is unimpressed with tweets. Too brief, too shallow, too strident, and distracting from more measured reporting. But it appears this Michigan thing is now tweet poisoned.

FURTHER: Try search =  reactions nationwide to Stevens endorsing rogers in michigan

One item that search returned to Crabgrass: https://www.ms.now/news/haley-stevens-mike-rogers-abdul-el-sayed-michigan-senate-race 

From the source, you can tell its likely direction. However, it did feature an embedded video interview of El Sayed, in which he basically said, So what? This race is about where I am on issues and what I'd hope to accomplish in the Senate. A Democrat vs a Trump Republican, what I've done and will do.

The Stevens endorsement of Rogers is a fact. It deserves some attention, but the basic question is El Sayed vs Rogers, and not who else is doing stuff. Michigan will vote, and we will see.

 

 

Politico: "Space Force scrambles as Musk’s SpaceX retires its major rocket. Other rocket-makers have faced delays getting their vehicles up and running, leaving the Pentagon in a bind. "

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/22/space-force-spacex-rocket-musk-01131131 

The Crabgrass headline gives the item's own headline. In part -

SpaceX is by far the dominant player in the rocket business and indispensable to the military, dwarfing competitors and accounting for 85% of U.S. launches in 2025. The company is phasing out its Falcon 9 rocket to make way for Starship, a massive new vehicle that SpaceX says will be more efficient and profitable, but which many military satellites aren’t designed to fit.

The situation leaves the Space Force in a launch crunch that could affect the military’s ability to put its advanced satellites in orbit — and on time. The Pentagon has few alternatives to ferry its equipment, and SpaceX’s competitors are likely years away from being able to offer comparable services.

“Everybody’s having problems, so the Space Force is freaking out a little bit about launch,” said one former Space Force official, who, like others, was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.

It also highlights the scale of Musk’s company’s footprint and the way its business decisions can affect the security of countries including the United States. From the battlefield in Ukraine, where Kyiv is dependent on his Starlink satellite internet service, to cutting-edge artificial intelligence and SpaceX’s stranglehold over the pathways to orbit, the world’s first trillionaire has a direct hand in the technology that will shape the future.

The Space Force recently tried to book rides for three future satellite missions, but SpaceX declined to offer its services, according to two people familiar with the missions. No other rocket companies offered to take them either, the people said.

A top official at the Space Force downplayed the problem about finding rockets to launch military satellites.

“I wouldn’t say there [are] missions I’m worried about being able to fly; I would say we’re working through the right way to support those customers,” said Brig. Gen. Eric Zarybnisky, the Space Force’s acting portfolio acquisition executive for space access.

But Zarybnisky acknowledged growing pains for the government and space industry as demand for rockets increases. “Temporarily, there are some things we’ll need to work through, again, as we get new providers flying,” he said.

There is more detail in the original, again, here. 

 

 

Homeland Security Dept. is buying Boston Dynamics' robot dogs. Some BD employees have officially objected.

 https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/10/boston-dynamics-employees-want-to-block-sale-of-robot-dogs-to-ice/

 

In a 10/28/2026 overly long sophistry filing in the Fraud of the Century case DOJ begs a circuit court to overturn the sanctions they earned against themselves in putting a collusive case into a federal court - the $1.776 billion slush fund for Jan 6 offenders thing Trump tried to get away with but with the Court seeing through the egregious fraud. No real case or controversy. Just a stinker Trump cooked up from whole cloth. Todd Blanche dutifully going along instead of showing a spine.

 Trumpian putzery got what it deserved, and over 60 pages filed by DOJ assertinng otherwise is just fluff.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca11.97154/gov.uscourts.ca11.97154.89.0.pdf 

That link is to the court filing from whichever hat Trump filed it from, plaintiff or defendant, he being both in the sham. 

MSN republished an analytical text, here, titled Legal and factual errors: DOJ asks 11th Circuit to undo sanctions issued over Trump's failed effort to secure anti-weaponization fund

 That item stated in part:

The U.S. Department of Justice wants a federal court of appeals to unwind sanctions issued by a lower court over the Trump administration's failed gambit to collect $1.776 billion from taxpayers for President Donald Trump's planned "anti-weaponization fund."

In a 64-page appellate brief, DOJ official R. Trent McCotter complains that the sanctions issued in the case are "unprecedented" and "based on a bevy of clear legal and factual errors."

In January, Trump filed his original lawsuit against the IRS. By May, the case was closed — on the plaintiff's own request — with the 45th and 47th president opting instead for a publicly subsidized fund earmarked for pro-Trump stalwarts and others similarly situated.

[...] In July, Williams found the president's attorneys filed a "non-adversarial, collusive" lawsuit to "manipulate the judicial process" and improperly force the IRS into a settlement that "had no viable basis in law or fact." In turn, the court put Trump and his legal team on the hook for attorneys fees of nonparty amici who opposed the lawsuit.

Now, the DOJ is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to reverse the sanctions order — which the agency claims is "riddled with legal and factual errors" — and reassign the case to a different judge.

"To start, the District Court's theory—that Plaintiffs brought this litigation 'to provide cover for a collusive settlement'—makes no sense," the brief reads. [...] 

To hear the government tell it, "[m]uch of" the district court's order "consists of an incorrect analysis" that concluded the parties "were not sufficiently adverse" for constitutional jurisdiction.

The brief argues that Williams "brushed aside the facts" that Trump sued in his personal capacity but not his official capacity.

The government also says the fact that the anti-weaponization fund did not ultimately materialize works against the sanctions.

[...] The DOJ goes on to say that even "if there were anything to" the "collusion theory," sanctions would not have been proper.

Here, the government takes issue with a gag order that bars the IRS and Treasury Department "from referring to the purported" settlement "or using, offering, admitting, or citing any of its provisions in any judicial, administrative, regulatory, arbitration, or any other official proceeding as evidence of" a settlement.

"The IRS and Treasury never represented anything to (or otherwise took action in) the District Court," the appellate brief continues. "The court identified no authority to sanction them anyway—least of all in the form of a gag order—for entering a private settlement, which is a decision committed to agency discretion by law. There is none. The District Court's Order is unsupportable and must be reversed."

In light of what the government views as an "extraordinary" order that "cannot stand," the DOJ wants Williams off the case, accusing the judge of "seemingly intentionally" violating the rules of civil procedure "for the purpose of inflicting political damage on Executive Branch officials."

The thing seems so outrageous as to cite to a known idiot: 

The DOJ quotes Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican representing Ohio, to argue that Williams' order "appears to be an abuse of judicial authority and motivated by partisan animus" and that the court "unnecessarily maligned Attorney General Blanche."

Blanche earned the scorn he got and Jim Jordan saying otherwise is worth a bucket of shit. 

"The District Court's actions have rightfully already given rise to the view among reasonable members of the public that the District Court was acting in an improper political manner," the brief argues. "This Court need not conclude that the District Court's actions were improperly motivated, but rather only that reasonable members of the public would view them that way."

Crabgrass has reasonable readers who are members of the public, and doubts any single one of them thinks the sanctions wrong. It was a bullshit move by Trump and he deserves all the scorn imaginable for doing such a dumb thing, while Blanche proved himself bereft of good judgment by not saying no to taking a part in the fraud.

(Crabgrass may have "opposition" readers who contend the sanctions were wrong, but that position is unreasonable and stinking of unfettered bias. The reasonable readers agree with me.) 

Imagine Minnesota with a Republican AG. Who'd be there to question the ICE bailing out of the two nationwide private prison enterprises, giving away inflated amounts for used, or fallow shut-down facilities.?

 Crabgrass doing search = keith ellison ice buying private prisons at inflated prices turned up two local media outlet reports on Ellison highlighting for the nation that something greatly suspect was going on. (Crabghrass cannot reasonably envision any such fiscal oversight from a Republican AG. Minnesota has its Trump appointed U.S. Attorney, where nothing of the private prison price inflation scandal has been mentioned. Not a peep.)

There is -

MN AG Keith Ellison says Congress should investigate Federal Government’s purchase of Appleton Prison

Fargo, ND, USA / The Mighty 790 KFGO | KFGO -- Nate Coen -- Oct 30, 2026

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO) – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is calling on congress to investigate the Federal Government’s $495 million purchase of an out-of-service prison in Appleton, Minnesota.

Ellison says around a year and a half ago the company that owned the prison, CoreCivic, offered to sell it to the state of Minnesota for $75 million. In August, the Federal Government bought the prison for nearly half a billion dollars with plans to operate it as an ICE detention center.

Minnesota Corrections Commissioner Paul schnell turned down the offer to buy the prison in May of 2025, he says the federal governments payment of over six-times the price of $75 million is unexplainable.

Ellison says that CoreCivic and it’s CEO have donated ‘significant amounts’ to President Trump in the past.

Ellison says he’s asking the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees and the House Oversight Committee to investigate why the Federal Government paid over half a billion for the prison.

That is local coverage from Fargo, ND. At the same time, there is MN local coverage.

Minnesota AG Keith Ellison calls on Congress to investigate Dept. of Homeland Security after KARE 11's report on prison sale

KARE 11 obtained records showing that CoreCivic offered to sell the private prison for $75 million last year, before ICE purchased it for $495.6 million.

 In August, DHS purchased the Prairie Correctional Facility from CoreCivic, Inc., to use it as a detention center for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). KARE 11 obtained records showing that CoreCivic offered to sell the private prison for $75 million last year, before ICE eventually purchased it for $495.6 million.  

The price difference is more than taxpayers are estimated to have lost in Minnesota’s much-publicized Feeding Our Future fraud scandal. 

“I’m calling on House and Senate Homeland Security Committees, and the House Oversight Committee, to immediately begin investigating why Trump paid almost half a billion to a Trump donor for a prison worth just $75 million," Ellison said in a press release. "Trump scamming taxpayers out of almost half a billion dollars is outrageous, especially at a time when Trump’s tariffs and war in Iran are already raising prices for Minnesotans.”

For the full investigation, click here.

Two things are demonstrated. Without local media with sufficient resources to investigate or cover local suspicious activity, a reliance on national outlets to report things might fail to get relevant news to the public. The second thing, with a Democratic Party AG, the call for investigation by federal authorities got sounded. If Ellison is not reelected, if a Republican gets into Minnesota's Attorney General office, the watchdog function would be neglected over any Republican misdeeds. If Trump is afoot, Minnesota, indeed every state, should have an AG who is not compromised by Party loyalties to Trump. 

A Trump skeptic is needed to assure Trump and hiss underlings do not get away with waste, fraud or abuse.  Indeed, even the appearance of impropriety deserves fiscal oversight to avoid waste.

And, yes, this is a site favoring Democratic Party candidates in general. But beyond that, the argument holds. State AG's of the other party than the one currently in power in Washington will be the watchdogs needed, whereas State AGs of the DC leadership party might look the other way, or simply not see as keen a watchdog duty over their own party's shenanigans in DC. 

BOTTOM LINE: We need Keith Ellison to be reelected this November as Minnesots's Attorney General, to keep a balance that has proven sound in this recent attention to ICE channeling free money to operations which seem grossly overepaid for assets. 

______________UPDATE______________

 You can ask your favorite chatbot, or search online = how widespread is ICE overpaying for private prison sites

Crabgrass did that. NPR reported :

And those arrested with no criminal record rose by over 2,000 percent since Trump took office. That’s according to a report last month from the American Immigration Council. That’s a non-partisan non-profit focused on immigrant rights.

But for private companies invested in the administration’s agenda, that human cost has meant a hefty pay check. The private prison companies CoreCivic and The GEO Group have both reported $2 billion, or a 13 percent increase, in revenue in 2025. The two contractors opened nine new detention centers for ICE use. 

PrisonLegalNews reported: 

Private prison titan The GEO Group handed over $1.4 million to President Donald Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., just days after securing federal detention contracts worth $165 million annually.

Campaign finance filings reveal that GEO Group subsidiary GEO Reentry Services donated $1 million to MAGA Inc. on July 16, 2026, exactly three days after announcing an $85 million annual contract to run a 1,188-bed facility in Hudson, Colorado for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On July 31, the company funneled another $413,000 to the PAC, two days after landing an $80 million annual deal for another 1,320-bed site it will operate for ICE in Winton, North Carolina.

Despite White House officials claiming contract awards are not affected by political money, the timing exposes the blatant pay-to-play dynamics governing the mass deportation pipeline. GEO Group’s net income soared to $254.3 million amid the administration’s crackdown, up from $31.9 million in 2024. Company founder George Zoley boasted to investors that this expansion represents the largest surge of new business in the company’s history.

The grift extends deeper into government oversight: David Venturella, a former GEO executive, was appointed to run ICE on an acting basis this year. Meanwhile, facilities managed by GEO Group face severe allegations of substandard conditions, including a detainee hunger strike at Delaney Hall in New Jersey.

As GEO lines its pockets off locking humans in cages, its millions buy direct access to an administration eager to monetize the justice system, proving once again that in the private prison industry, human suffering is merely a channel for political kickbacks.  

https://www.analystnews.org/posts/american-private-prison-executives-are-reveling-in-profiting-off-ice-arrests reports:

During a second-quarter earnings call in August, an executive with the GEO Group ticked off a list of the private prison company’s accomplishments so far this year. These included securing contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for expanded immigrant detention centers in New Jersey, Michigan, Georgia, and California; working to convert six facilities—most of them former prisons—into ICE detention sites; and making moves to cash in on detention operations at military sites.

“All of these efforts are aimed at placing our company in the best competitive position possible to pursue what we continue to believe are unprecedented growth opportunities,” George Zoley, the executive chair of the GEO Group board, told investors and other stakeholders attending the Aug. 6 call, according to audio and call transcripts from the online investment research website, Seeking Alpha.

Executives at CoreCivic, another major for-profit prison company, were equally upbeat in their earnings call that same month.

“Our business is perfectly aligned with the demands of this moment,” CEO Damon Hininger said on the Aug. 7 call. “We are in an unprecedented environment with rapid increases in federal detention populations nationwide and a continuing need for solutions we provide.”

In some sense, the cheerfulness was not surprising. The day after President Donald Trump was elected to his second term, shares for GEO Group and CoreCivic jumped by double digits.

It is not some "woke" fluffy speculation that something's up. It is firm factual reporting. Investigations and answers are needed. Shoult the expected "blue wave" result from midterm elections, resultant inquiry can be expected., With media outlets already on the story, we can guess what well funded Congressional investigations might uncover. It is shameful that private prison commerce even exists in the nation, and now it seems there is mischief afoot at large fiscal cost to taxpayers.

___________FURTHER UPDATE___________

The issue is not a new one. The Lever has posted back in March of this year about private prisons and ICE use of same for detention overflow. The pattern of ICE using Big Beautful Bill windfall money to overpay for private facilities is newer; in that the BBB had to have been passed in order to provide the slush money for the mischief. An image of pigs at a trough could be added, but the mind's image should suffice.

Yahoo News carries a published item about the over-payment for the Appleton private prison, by the Trump administration.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/ice-paid-private-prison-firm-190044965.html  -- in part:

The Minnesota Department of Corrections confirmed Friday that former owner CoreCivic said it was willing to sell the former Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton to the state for $75 million last May.

CoreCivic turned around and sold the 1,600-bed facility to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for $495.6 million in August, with plans to use it as a detention center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees.

Swift County assessed the property's total market value at $14.75 million in 2026.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is now calling on Congress to investigate the federal government's "massive $420 million overpayment" to CoreCivic using taxpayer money.

"Donald Trump is the most corrupt president in living memory, and even for him, this is shocking," Ellison said in a statement Friday. "I'm calling on House and Senate Homeland Security Committees, and the House Oversight Committee, to immediately begin investigating why Trump paid almost half a billion to a Trump donor for a prison worth just $75 million. Trump scamming taxpayers out of almost half a billion dollars is outrageous, especially at a time when Trump's tariffs and war in Iran are already raising prices for Minnesotans."

[...] CoreCivic told KARE 11 that "the federal government ultimately determined the sale price following its assessment process."

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith questioned the seemingly inflated sale price in a social media post Friday.

"So we're supposed to believe there's no money for health care, but there's enough money for ICE to spend nearly $500 million buying an abandoned private prison in MN that was originally offered for sale at $75 million just last year? If that sounds like taxpayers are getting ripped off, it's because you are."

At the direction of now-former CoreCivic CEO Patrick D. Swindle, the private prison company donated $500,000 to President Donald Trump's 2025 inaugural committee and contributed $1.77 million towards lobbying for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which enabled Homeland Security to buy the detention centers.

Ask yourself, what is at all wrong in a Senator saying, "So we're supposed to believe there's no money for health care, but there's enough money for ICE to spend nearly $500 million buying an abandoned private prison in MN that was originally offered for sale at $75 million just last year? If that sounds like taxpayers are getting ripped off, it's because you are." 

Say to yourself, Nothing is wrong with telling the truth. Which is what Tina Smith did. As did Ellison.

UPDATE: Personnel revolving door worries are documented at https://thedetentionfiles.org/the-evidence/ 

When the door revolves, and money is bled, wtf is being done by these people?

 

An Oct 30, 2026 Guardian report says a poll showed citizens worry about corruption as a major problem in the nation.

Government corruption a top issue for US midterm voters, exclusive poll finds

Harris poll for Guardian finds 76% believe officials care more about self-enrichment than helping everyday Americans

The item begins -

Nearly nine out of 10 Americans said that government corruption, as defined as elected officials putting their own or their donors’ financial interests ahead of the public’s, is a problem, according to the survey.

Three-quarters (76%) of voters said that elected officials care more about enriching themselves than improving the economy for ordinary people. Voters were more likely to say that government corruption (65%) is more concerning than corporate power (29%). Just under 10% said that neither concerns them.

The rising cost of living is still expected to drive the election, with 36% of voters saying it is the single most important issue to how they plan to vote in the midterms. But in a slate of other issues including immigration, housing costs, abortion, crime and safety and AI, corruption was the next top issue.

The results come after nearly two years of Donald Trump’s second term, where the president has both figuratively and literally reshaped Washington.

There is this chart early in the report:

The Guardian item is detailed, beyond the initial excerpting, so read it all.

Voter fraudsters to be prosecuted in Minnesota.

 https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/28/right-wing-influencer-james-okeefe-charged-with-voter-fraud-after-impersonating-registered-voters/  the item beginning:

Right-wing influencers James O’Keefe and Cam Higby have been charged by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty for unlawful voting and identity theft after they pulled a dress-up stunt during the Aug. 11 statewide primary election, unsuccessfully trying to show that Minnesota’s defense against voter fraud is insufficient.

The men posted videos in August in which they went into different Minnesota polling places to attempt to register to vote using Minnesota’s vouching process, through which a registered voter can confirm up to eight voters’ addresses so that they can also be registered to vote. The two donned clothes traditionally worn by Muslims — Higby wore a niqab, a garment traditionally worn by Muslim women — and put on fake foreign accents.

The men used names of registered voters, some deceased, to begin the vouching process, Moriarty said at a Wednesday press conference. They stopped short of signing an oath under penalty of perjury, which Moriarty said is a major deterrent against people misusing the vouching option.

Still, Moriarty’s office is charging the two for violating a state law that forbids people from misrepresenting their identities when applying for a ballot, because the application is a “multi-step process” that they began, Moriarty said.

The charges come less than a week away from Minnesota’s Nov. 3 general election.

In recent months, Minnesota has faced heightened federal scrutiny regarding its elections. In September, federal prosecutors charged 10 people with illegally voting or registering to vote in Minnesota elections. Moriarty said she’s unaware of any federal investigation into O’Keefe and Higby’s voting registration attempt.

When assholes pull shit like that, a prosecutor chewing their asses is good news, or seems so, to Crabgrass. James O'Keefe should grow up. 

 

Republican dog and pony show in St Cloud, MN, had Bessent saying a question about a reported $420 million over-payment for a shuttered CoreCivic private prison in terms of waste & abuse was a waste of his time. No shit. Really. He said that. About $420 million. [UPDATED]

 https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/10/30/trump-officials-travel-to-st-cloud-to-announce-arrests-of-allegedly-fraudulent-medicaid-providers/ reporting:

During the press conference, KARE 11’s Lou Raguse asked about the station’s recent reporting on a lucrative deal secured by CoreCivic, the private prison company, which sold its Appleton, Minn., facility to the federal government for hundreds of millions more than what the company had hoped to get from the state.

“If the administration has declared war on waste and fraud, could you explain the $420 million overpayment for a prison in Appleton, Minnesota when the company offered it to the state of Minnesota for $75 million?”

Bessent: “Yeah, I don’t know anything about that. What we are here to do is to prosecute criminal fraud. And any question like that that deflects away from it, I think is a waste of our time.”

Scott Bessent, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, listens while other members of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud speak during a press conference discussing advancements in what the department calls the War on Fraud Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 in St. Cloud, Minnesota. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

There is additional reporting - 

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/kare-11-investigates-private-prison-was-on-sale-for-75-million-ice-paid-495-million/89-4b28b6c7-8823-42b3-9f70-95a78f714e18  tells more.

Title: 

KARE 11 Investigates: Private prison was on sale for $75 million; ICE paid $495 million

Did an ICE prison overpayment cost taxpayers more than they lost from fraud in Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future scandal?

 

Additional Prison Sales 

The Minnesota prison was just one of a series of sales CoreCivic made to the federal government this year.  

On the same day CoreCivic announced the Minnesota sale, the company also sold its facility in Kansas for $238 million.  

A month earlier, records show CoreCivic sold two prisons in California for a combined $1.5 billion. 

The total bill for taxpayers for the four prisons: more than $2.2 billion.

In addition to profiting from the prison sales, CoreCivic has federal contracts which pay the company to operate the facilities.  

At the Minnesota facility alone, CoreCivic estimates that it will earn approximately $75 million a year once the prison reaches full capacity. 

Spending Questions

Federal auditors are raising questions about ICE’s prison-buying spree. 

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently found ICE’s detention facility purchases have “the potential to result in waste” because “ICE has not assessed the long-term affordability of owning these facilities.”

Credit: KARE 11

U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan gorup, raises questions about ICE’s prison-buying spree.

The headline from the GAO’s September report reads: “Urgent Planning Needed to Avoid Further Waste of Taxpayer Dollars.” 

In addition to questioning the prison purchases, the GAO also criticized ICE’s decision in early 2026 to spend $1.07 billion to buy 11 warehouses. ICE said it planned to convert them into detention centers - but quickly reversed course. By June, ICE was telling investigators it planned to sell seven of the 11 warehouses.  

But, by then, the GAO found that ICE had spent over $20 million on costs it can't recover, such as utilities, security, and other services. 

Unanswered Questions  

Last week, KARE 11 asked Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for an interview about his department’s decision to buy the vacant Minnesota private prison. 

We wanted to know how the federal government determined that taxpayers should pay more than six times the price CoreCivic had been asking for the Appleton facility - $495.6 million instead of the $75 million offer it made to Minnesota a year ago. 

To date, Mullin’s office has not responded. 

And further reporting - 

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/waste-of-our-time-trump-administration-officials-respond-to-kare-11-investigation-into-prison-sale/89-06700a38-fe80-408d-88e8-0d1f5b9fc4cf 

That item titled: 

'Waste of our time' | Trump administration officials respond to KARE 11 investigation into prison sale

 If there seems a disconnect between "Waste of our time" and Waste of taxpayer money per CoreCivic making out like multimillion dollar bandits, remember, it's Trump's people, and we all know what that means. And JD ducked out of the dog and pony thing, sending lowerlings. 

When ICE wastes tons of taxpayer money it is money out the door just as if a Medicaid fraudster had done something illegal. The only difference is the amount of wasted taxpayer money.

This entire fraud thing is a smokescreen for having nothing else to say while $470 billion has ben wasted on a war Hegseth and Bibi appear to have lost. Prices skyrocket, and dog - pony is not quite an answer. 

______________UPDATE____________

The dog and pony show is on YouTube, and it's a big time yawn until 38:45 in the thing, when the question of waste and abuse per ICE buying private prisons for inflated amounts is characterized by Bessant as "a waste of our time." They went to St. Cloud, did their dog-pony, and then the big time waste and abuse was dismissed by an insultingly dissmssive "waste of time" put down. A put down that only sharpened focus on the question and the extreme waste and abuse it entailed. JD sure looks smart for bailing on that thing that was boring in the main, and then went splat at the Q & A tail.

The backdrop said, "The Vice President's Fraud Task Force" but JD had the gile to bail.

 _____________FURTHER UPDATE_______________

For a plain vanilla summary of events at the dog - pony show:

https://www.twincities.com/2026/10/30/fbi-director-patel-treasury-secretary-bessent-detail-war-on-fraud/

Crabgrass seemed to find more items online about the dismissal of the overpayment issue of multimillion dollar purchases of two firm's private prisons being bigger news than the event itself. However, the vanilla PiPress link is given in fairness to those conducting the event, such as it was.

 

 

The drama concerning the presently secret search warrant to search and steal stuff from Congresswoman Omar's home. WTF is DOJ doing, and should it immediately be stopped?

 Crabgrass started after seeing a few online things, with search = Judge James Boasberg assigned to Ihlen omar search warrant case

One returned item = https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74972777/in-re-in-the-matter-of-the-search-warrant-of-ilhan-omars-washington-dc/  --- a seemingly interesting place to start trying to make sense of DOJ opposition to making the search warrant public. The warrant and all related court papers filed in the course of attaining the warrant, and how it may have been conditioned and limited by the issuing magistate.

Related:  https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74969873/in-re-application-of-the-new-york-times-company-in-the-matter-of-rep-ilhan/  --- This one is for NYTimes access, the earlier link was for Judicial Watch, each wanting papers to be made public.

Several other access requests were made, all are consolidated, and as of Oct 29, 2026, the damned thing is still non-public, the DOJ doing a stall. With that opinion of Crabgrass, the documents speak for themselves.

RAW STORY: 

DOJ begs judge to hide Dem raid warrant that's not 'fully executed' until after midterms

By: David Edwards Oct 21, 2026

 and ---

Judge demands answers on Ilhan Omar raid after DOJ says it's not 'fully executed' yet

By: David Edwards Oct 22, 2026

 and ---

DOJ reveals Ilhan Omar charges still undecided in ‘complex’ probe as it pleads for secrecy

By: Bennito L. Kelty Oct 28, 2026

 

Raw Story has published extended coverage, the above three items being representative.

 

WaPo ---

Justice Department seeks to keep Ilhan Omar search warrant under seal for now

A coalition of news organizations, including The Washington Post, is pushing to unseal the warrant authorizing the Oct. 12 search of the congresswoman’s home.

October 28, 2026 at 12:30 p.m. EDTOctober 28, 2026

 

A helpful narrative report by CNN from mid-month: 

Exclusive: Judge limited Justice Department access to Rep. Ilhan Omar’s records in sprawling immigration fraud probe

By Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, Jake Tapper

 

With those sources to review, Crabgrass readers know what Crabgrass knows --- that the government is playing cute and the judiciary has cut some slack, but the claims of still executing the search warrant; with it all dropped on the eve of the election; JD and Stephen Miller mentioned as actors; that stuff leaves a miasma of disingenuousness among the activists pushing against Congress Repesentative Omar.

 

That pair, JD and Miller, if you feel trustful toward them, you have a worldview different from Crabgrass. 

___________ UPDATE_____________

That pair, JD and Miller, on the eve of Halloween are like give one a chainsaw and the other a hockey mask and make a horror film staring the pair. Opinions can differ.  Crabgrass sees giant bullshit piles, which may be an illusion, but they certainly look real. Trump and his people are Halloween naturals.

AP: "Trump says he cares for Americans. They think he’s more focused on his wealth, an AP-NORC poll finds"

 https://apnews.com/article/ethics-trump-family-crypto-conflicts-poll-1222b8ee41ccff5b23dcd41efdac34ff

The item speaks for itself. Grifter in Chief, some might say.

 

Another one let into the nation who does not belong here. Wrongful immigration into that Miami rightwing immigrant swamp nest. Young Bosonaro.

 AP: Defeated presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his family land in Miami after fleeing Brazil

MIAMI (AP) — Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his family arrived in Miami on Wednesday after he refused to concede the election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and fled the country.

In a circuitous journey, Bolsonaro left for Argentina on Tuesday with his wife and two daughters, then traveled to Ecuador, according to Argentine officials and flight data. The 45-year-old senator, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, visited the White House in May, and the Trump administration approved U.S. visas for him and his family this week.

Bolsonaro’s father, Jair Bolsonaro, also fled to Florida after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula before returning to Brazil three months later.

Flávio Bolsonaro is under investigation by Brazil’s Supreme Court, accused of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. The court ordered him to hand over his regular and diplomatic passports by noon Tuesday. It remained unclear whether he complied, but allies said late Tuesday he also has an Italian passport.

On Wednesday, Bolsonaro issued his first comments on his flight in a statement on X, in which he called himself the victim of electoral fraud and political persecution, and again asked for the annulment of the Lula–Alckmin ticket.

“I want to tell not only my 60 million voters but also the Brazilian people as a whole that I am the president-elect, and that the criminals who stole Brazil’s election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny,” he said. In a later version of the letter, Bolsonaro swapped the term “president-elect” for “leader.”

We don't need that shit. Give me more Somalis, fewer Bolsonaros. I'd take that trade anytime. Well, Crabgrass gets overruled and trumped; the item continuing:

Trump has said Bolsonaro is welcome in the U.S., calling him and his family “fine people.”

“The election was really strange, and I thought it was terrible,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Tuesday. Earlier, Trump also said, without evidence, that the election was “rigged.”

When asked about Bolsonaro’s assertion on Wednesday that he was the “rightful president-elect of Brazil” — a term the defeated candidate later softened to “leader of Brazil” — the U.S. president said he would not comment. Instead, Trump said he has given Bolsonaro a “pass” to come into the country.

“I won’t get involved,” Trump said, before repeating his claim that the election was “very strange.”

Leaders around the world and the Organization of American States have endorsed the result and congratulated Lula, who was reelected by a margin of about 4.4 million votes in the second and final round.

The U.S. has imposed double-digit sanctions on Brazil, which boasts Latin America’s largest economy. Lula has championed Brazil’s long tradition of nonalignment, cultivating ties with competing powers. His government has deepened trade ties with China and sought greater global influence through BRICS, a group of emerging economies.

Bolsonaro visited his father, who is under house arrest, before leaving Brazil

Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered the defeated candidate to surrender his Brazilian passports Monday. In a video, he said he received the order outside the home where his father is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for his attempted coup following his 2022 election loss to Lula.

A Brazilian diplomat, who was not authorized to speak about the matter publicly, told The Associated Press that Bolsonaro used an Italian passport to enter Argentina and that Brazilians leaving the country via a land border are not scrutinized by Brazilian authorities.

The diplomat said Brazil’s federal police were not monitoring Bolsonaro when he left his home in Brasilia because the Supreme Court had not issued a warrant for his arrest.

Flávio Bolsonaro said in a video Monday that he was attempting to organize opposition to the election results among his congressional colleagues. His eight-year term as a senator expires Jan. 31, 2027. His Liberal Party released a statement saying it accepted the election results.

Brazil’s Supreme Court is investigating Bolsonaro for allegedly using a sports betting company to launder fraudulent deductions from government pensions paid to senior citizens. In a separate case, he is accused of accepting millions of dollars from a disgraced banker. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing.

Where's Stephen Miller's deportation of criminal immigrants? Some third world country might take this guy and family. Since others are being sent out that way, turn that dude's private jet away too. It's only fair and balanced to ship out the Florida overflow. But then --- Stephen Miller never said boo about those with money vs those not wanted. He should be asked about Bolsonaro, although it already went over Miller's pay grade. Lula suggested stay and defend yourself against allegations but, not to be, apparently.

 

Hegseth in firing mode, not firing live ammo, firing people, at the Pentagon - often highly placed ones.

 Try search = Hegseth fires the Pentagon’s top military planner even as Trump considers new Iran strikes

That search will get multiple return items about the latest firing, in the last few days.

Then, try search = Hegseth fires brett sylvia laura loomer

So, Petey does not only take his marching orders from Trump. He tracks Laura Loomer, presumably because Trump tracks Laura Loomer. Or there may be a direct line of authority, Loomer to Petey. Without any Trump intermediation needed. Who knows?

  

 

In a lawsuit filed 10/22/2026 Greenberg filed a shareholder derivitive lawsuit against Trump, Trump's family crypto venture, Scott Bessent, and others. The lawsuit asserts damage and harm to Circle, a stablecoin competitor of Trump's opperation, with Greenberg litigating on behalf of the harmed crypto competitor.

 See: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75002506/greenberg-v-trump/

Specifically the 70p complaint, absent attachments, is online in pdf form, here. As other filings are added to the court file they will be listed and some may be posted as pdf items.

The litigation since its filing has been widely reported. For links reporting the litigation, try search = greenberg crypto lawsuit against trump

Crabgrass' first learning of the lawsuit was per MSN reporting, here;  with the OaklandPress carrying a non-paywall posting of what apparently was the first report, by Bloomberg.

The Bloomberg item OP carried noted:

Donald Trump and World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency venture he co-founded with his sons, were sued by a shareholder in a rival crypto firm over claims the president illegally profited from his office in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Benjamin Greenberg, a shareholder in Circle Internet Group Inc., claims illegal competition from World Liberty has harmed him and other Circle investors financially.

The suit claims Trump violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause, a provision of the U.S. Constitution that bars presidents from taking payments from foreign governments without the approval of Congress, in two World Liberty transactions with the United Arab Emirates.

“This action is about the President of the United States corruptly profiting from more than $2 billion in payments from a foreign government in direct violation of the Constitution,” Greenberg said in a complaint filed Thursday in federal court in Washington. “No president in American history has profited from his office so brazenly.”

Trump reported $1.4 billion in earnings related to his crypto ventures, including World Liberty, last year. The revelation drew a backlash from Democrats in Congress and has been blamed in part for the failure of the Clarity Act, which was supposed to establish market-structure rules for the crypto industry.

According to Greenberg, the sale of a 49% stake in World Liberty for $500 million to an investment vehicle backed by a member of UAE’s ruling family and the purchase by Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund of World Liberty’s stablecoin to fund a $2 billion transaction were against U.S. law.

Greenberg filed his so-called derivative complaint as an individual Circle shareholder seeking to recover damages on the company’s behalf. He claims shareholders were financially harmed by World Liberty, which competes with Circle in the stablecoin market.

“This lawsuit was filed by an individual shareholder, not by Circle,” a company spokesperson said in response to the suit. “Circle did not initiate, direct, authorize, or participate in the filing.”

A World Liberty spokesperson said the claims are “without merit.”

“World Liberty Financial is compliant with all U.S. laws and regulations,” David Wachsman said in a statement. “No one at World Liberty Financial works for the U.S. government.”

The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case follows several legal challenges filed against Trump in his first presidential term, which ended in 2021, claiming violations of the Emoluments Clause, and criticism that he improperly profited from the presidency. None of the suits were successful in recovering money from the president, nor forcing him to stop business practices they claimed were unconstitutional.

Trump and his sons co-founded World Liberty months before the 2024 election. The company issued two tokens, WLFI and stablecoin USD1. The stablecoin was used last year by Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund to purchase a $2 billion stake in Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange.

The stablecoin currently has a market cap of about $4 billion, per tracker CoinGecko.

 World Liberty is already embroiled in a legal battle with billionaire Justin Sun, who accused the company of illegally freezing his WLFI tokens and extortion. World Liberty in turn sued him for defamation.

The suit against Trump and World Liberty seeks an order blocking the president from violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause, as well as disgorgement of illegal profits and unspecified damages.

The case is Greenberg v. Trump, 26-cv-03686, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

©2026 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LL

Crabgrass is unaware of whether Emmer has any substantial crypto investments while being an avid cryoto booster, but whether a portfolio item or not, Emmer does get spending money for the campaign to put out those glossy 8 x 10 mailers which for a while really swung on Trump coat tails but recently fail to mention Trump. Crypto contributions into politics and politicians have been an investment out of that questionable bloc into more traditional politician trading. Or so it seems.

The MSN item adds:

“No president in American history has profited from his office so brazenly,” alleges the federal civil complaint from J. Benjamin Greenberg, a Circle Internet Group shareholder and former employee, according to CNBC. Circle Internet Group is a publicly traded American crypto company that directly competes with World Liberty Financial.

When Nick Pinto saw Trump had launched a meme coin in January 2025, he quickly invested $7,000. He later upped that investment to $480,000 so that he could gain entry to a dinner at Trump’s Virginia club.

The meme coin, however, is down 72% in the last year. With this in mind, a friend of Pinto’s eventually convinced him to sell most of his position in the Trump coin, but Pinto still suffered losses of $250,000.

“This is something that the Trump family kind of came up with out of the blue,” Pinto told Forbes, referring to the advice that his friend, a fellow Trump investor, shared with him. “And there’s not really a way for us to predict the future of the coin or what their plans for it are.”

Trump Media investors aren’t happy either

Trump’s meme coin isn’t the only one of the president’s business ventures that’s struggled, as Trump Media & Technology Group shares have lost about 61% of their value in the past year.

Many of the retail investors who sunk their savings into those ventures — often as a sign of loyalty to Trump — have seen the money vanish right as economic volatility began to spike. And they’re not happy with the president, or the members of his inner circle.

“We’re just poor cattle to them,” Chad Nedohin, who was once the unofficial captain of Trump Media’s shareholders, told Forbes. “He doesn’t care about anyone.”

Nedohin is one of many investors who are vocally criticizing Trump and his business ventures. Another, Vadim Fistikan, invested $205,000 in Trump Media in the days, weeks and months after it went public. He invested the money he and his family had planned to use to buy a waterfront property in Florida.

Today, that investment is worth just $30,000. When he voiced his frustrations on Truth Social, Fistikan (a three-time Trump voter) was lambasted by Trump supporters on the social media site.

“I’m like, ‘Hey, this is a scam,’” he posted, according to Forbes. “And a lot of people were like, ‘No, you’re just a Trump hater.’ I’m like, ‘No. I was on board since day one. … I’m now broke. Pretty much my whole life savings [was] in this one stock. This is the greatest theft, con job he has ever done.”

With files from Chase Kell.

"Hey, this is a scam," is something many thought from the start, and were not putting any of their real money into a fool's errand. I say that, as a Trump skeptic, not a Trump hater. Like, who could hate P.T. Barnum saying a sucker is born every minute.

Emmer is touting crypto, but not taking in anybody's money by selling crypto investments. Surely the Blockchain Caucus membership has helped Tom finance and run campaigns, but he's not activly selling anything beyond his pretty face and political chops, such as each is.