NOTE: Miles is out of pocket today, so today’s issue is for Members only. Thank you for being a Member of DEFIANCE and refusing to let democracy die on our watch!
KENNEDY’S VACCINE CATASTROPHE. Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak is the largest in the country in three decades, having passed 1,004 cases across 39 counties, with 198 hospitalized and five dead, including two infants. So what’s Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., up to this week? Announcing a new NIH clinic for suspected vaccine injuries. But others are fighting his health-threatening agenda. A coalition of Democratic-led states is suing to undo the CDC’s January decision to drop seven vaccines from the routine schedule. And on Tuesday, the 1st Circuit heard arguments on Judge Brian Murphy’s ruling blocking 13 Kennedy appointees to the vaccine advisory panel, whom he found “distinctly unqualified.” Stay tuned.
ANOTHER CONFLICT FOR KUSHNER. No stranger to conflicts of interest, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, is the largest shareholder in Phoenix Financial, which has invested at least $265 million in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest defense contractor. Why does it matter? Because Kushner has been heavily involved in negotiations to end the war in Gaza. While Kushner calls the story “deeply misleading,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has asked Affinity for details on its Middle East dealings, citing “an apparent conflict of interest.”
A SKETCHY DEAL MADE AT THE END. In Kristi Noem’s last few hours as Homeland Security secretary, her department bought five aircraft from Daedalus Aviation for more than $300 million. The deal looks pretty suspicious. Six aviation experts told The New York Times the prices ran millions above market value for the aging planes, which largely sat idle. And here’s the kicker: Daedalus chair William Walters gave $10,000 to a PAC supporting Noem in 2024. Noem has called the reporting “libelous” and demanded a retraction, but she didn’t dispute those prices.
ICE’S ABUSES CONTINUE. According to ProPublica, more than 500 U.S. citizens have been detained by immigration agents under this administration. More than 100 were held after agents questioned their citizenship, nearly all of them people of color. At least 70 were children or teens, and about a dozen citizens were deported. As one a naturalized citizen who was detained (and voted for Donald Trump) said, “ICE isn’t looking for criminals. They’re looking for Latinos.” Meanwhile, ICE officers are now asking the immigrants they arrest whether they’ve ever voted illegally, part of a pre-election push to root out alleged voter fraud. An internal ICE email says that starting Oct. 1, anyone who admits to it gets asked how they voted too.
IS DYED DIESEL DEAD IN THE WATER? In an attempt to ease skyrocketing diesel prices, Trump signed an executive order this week allowing anyone buy tax-exempt “red dye” diesel, which is normally limited to off-road farm use. The IRS won’t penalize highway use through year-end, and the White House claims truckers will save over $100 a fill-up. But energy experts are skeptical. GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan says, “Taxes aren’t the problem, supply is.” The order could also push up prices for the farmers who already depend on dyed diesel.
DEFIANCE IN THE COURTS. Disney is suing to stop FCC Chair Brendan Carr from fast-tracking license reviews for all eight ABC-owned stations years ahead of schedule. Likening the case to censorship, Mark Fowler, a Reagan-era FCC chair, says, “What Carr is doing is unconstitutional… The First Amendment is very plain in its wording and its meaning.” Meanwhile, lawyers for ex-Olympian David Hearn, who was falsely charged with vandalizing the Reflecting Pool this summer before the government dropped the case, are calling on the DOJ and Interior Department inspectors general to investigate, citing “an indictment obtained through unusual haste and a prosecution shaped from the outset by political pressure.” And finally, Judge Kathleen Cardone halted border wall construction across a 500-mile stretch of West Texas, including Big Bend National Park. Congratulations to our defiant friends who fought it tooth and nail.
DEFIANCE DAILY
In case you missed it, last night’s episode of DEFIANCE Daily is below. Catch our next episode on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 5 pm ET.
TRACK THE TRUMP-EPSTEIN READING ROOM & BOOKMOBILE
The Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile has left Manhattan and is heading north. Next stop: Manchester, New Hampshire, on Friday, October 9. Meanwhile, the Reading Room will be on display tomorrow through Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.
Plan a future visit and share with others. Check out the tour schedule and RSVP HERE.
THE ANT HILL IS OUR MEMBERS-ONLY CORNER OF THE COLONY, WHERE “DEFY ANTS” GET MORE THAN JUST THE NEWSLETTER.
IF YOU’RE ALREADY A DEFIANCE MEMBER, THEN MARCH RIGHT IN. IF NOT, SIGN UP HERE, SO YOU DON’T MISS A THING.