This may be Ron DeSantis’ plan to beat Trump, but there’s a glaring problem with it according to @SykesCharlie. bit.ly/3ze6Ysc Sykes also has a warning that he shares on The New Abnormal politics podcast: Trump wants us to know he’s “more dangerous” than ever and definitely not changing a thing. bit.ly/3ze6Ysc

Despite the balloon bombshell, the real enemy is hiding inside the gates, The Daily Beast columnist @djrothkopf tells The New Abnormal podcast.
trib.al/CMEujD0 Rothkopf points to Donald Trump and the party around him “that are aligned with our enemies and support movements within our country that will attack our system of government.”
trib.al/CMEujD0

EXCLUSIVE: Gawker’s revival lasted just 18 months before being put out to pasture last week by Bustle Digital Group CEO Bryan Goldberg. Confider can reveal he had an unofficial list of pals the site was not allowed to cover and it included The Chainsmokers trib.al/JLVfcdm According to three people with knowledge of the matter, Goldberg made it known that Karlie Kloss and The Chainsmokers (a terrible DJ duo—don’t worry about it) were three of his friends whom Gawker writers should avoid in their coverage. trib.al/JLVfcdm

EXCLUSIVE: After his “brutal” court battle with Kevin Spacey, 'Rent' star Anthony Rapp speaks candidly to @TimTeeman about supporting Spacey’s U.K. accusers, his “rage” at Spacey’s “despicable” lawyers, his growing family and more. trib.al/LuI8nxU Amid the intensity of his $40 million civil lawsuit against Kevin Spacey, Anthony Rapp was concealing a happy secret; he and his partner Ken Ithiphol were expecting a baby: "A light shining at the end of all of it." trib.al/LuI8nxU

George Santos’ campaign reports are such a mess that he can’t find anyone to help him untangle them. bit.ly/3wxLZPR Chaos followed a blitz of amended Federal Election Commission filings on Tuesday, which among other things included a change in the source of Santos’ loans, which the campaign previously attributed to his “personal funds.” bit.ly/3wxLZPR

A power struggle has begun playing out among George Santos’s staff, Puck reporter @tina_nguyen tells Fever Dreams podcast co-hosts @WillSommer and @KELLYWEILL. bit.ly/4010Oba The struggle is “between [new hire, far-right “fixer” and longtime Steve Bannon ally, Vish Burra,] and other staffers whose entire deal was like, ‘All right, we’re just gonna put our heads down and hope this passes over,’” Nguyen said. bit.ly/4010Oba

If the news that Kevin McCarthy put George Santos on the Committee of Science made you laugh, and then cry, you aren’t alone. But New Abnormal pod co-host @andylevy has a theory for why. bit.ly/3kGSVHT “I also love that he’s on like the small business committee, too, which… just change the name to the Small Grifters Committee,” Andy tells co-host @DeeTwoCents. bit.ly/3kGSVHT

EXCLUSIVE: Famed statistics guru and writer Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight is on the “chopping block,” Confider has learned, as ABC News looks to cut costs. trib.al/173DmK2 The oft-combative Silver, who has come under renewed scrutiny for his site’s polling selections, now faces an uncertain future as news division boss Kim Godwin reviews the publication, which has never turned a profit. trib.al/173DmK2

This year is going to be death by a thousand lashes for the former president, says @MaryLTrump, who joins the latest episode of The New Abnormal podcast to share some predictions regarding her uncle’s fate. bit.ly/3GbikjJ Despite heartening developments over the past year, however, close watchers of her uncle’s legal troubles shouldn’t get ahead of themselves, says Trump. bit.ly/3GbikjJ

In a candid interview with @TimTeeman about her life and work, @eddieizzard revealed she was planning another bid to become a Labour MP in the U.K, and was looking for another Northern constituency: “I plan to keep fighting away." trib.al/Ot4jfry Izzard told @TimTeeman about her evolving experience of being trans: “When I came out I was considered a non-person. It was toxic. It felt like people did not feel I should have the right to be a citizen. I just keep pushing forward." trib.al/Ot4jfry

In a wide-ranging profile interview, Audra McDonald (@AudraEqualityMc) told @TimTeeman there was still “work to be done” around racism on Broadway.

“There needs to be more education and outreach not just to diverse audiences but the white audience." trib.al/L0cN4Wm Audra McDonald told @TimTeeman she's "never been able to wrap my head around" her record-breaking six Tony Awards: “If I win a Tony or don’t, I gotta go and do my job.” trib.al/L0cN4Wm

What do veteran comedians think of when they hear the term “cancel culture?” Turns out, a whole lot.

The New Abnormal host @andylevy has recently asked several comics this question — including @pattonoswalt, @AndyRichter, @PFTompkins, and @DannyZuker.

thedailybeast.com/patton-oswalt-… “Trust me, apologizing is really difficult," said Patton Oswalt.

"Apologizing is something that insecure people really can’t do. It’s terrifying for them.”

thedailybeast.com/patton-oswalt-…

EXCLUSIVE: Bradley Wendt, the police chief of Adair, Iowa, is holding out hope that being criminally charged with lying to the feds while selling machine guns for a profit—allegations he denies—might not be the career setback it looks like. trib.al/Vt4iTvT Wendt was placed on leave in September after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms raided his office and his two gun stores. trib.al/Vt4iTvT

A journalist who went through Mark Meadows’ texts during the 2020 election is dishing the dirt on what he found. bit.ly/3V4AY2b “There’s just a ton of different people in there,” @hunterw, reporter for Talking Points Memo, told host @andylevy on this week’s episode of political podcast, The New Abnormal. bit.ly/3V4AY2b

An indictment against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried revealed an array of serious charges against the crypto boy-king for billions of dollars in high-profile financial crimes, but the very last count opens a new mystery. bit.ly/3uSKpap U.S. Attorney Damian Williams alleged that Bankman-Fried, 30, parlayed “tens of millions of dollars” stolen from his clients into a side career as one of the most prolific political financiers in the country. bit.ly/3uSKpap

Two reporters who were kicked out of the New York Republican Club's annual gala last week—made infamous this year after Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bombastic Jan. 6 speech—have a lot to say about the experience. bit.ly/3FOddqN Southern Poverty Law Center’s @hannahgais and @MichaelEHayden registered under their own names and said they made a plan going in “that we would not lie about who we were.” bit.ly/3FOddqN

Sam Bankman-Fried has been charged by the SEC with defrauding investors in his FTX cryptocurrency exchange, following his arrest on criminal charges filed by the Justice Department.
thedailybeast.com/sam-bankman-fr… The SEC’s civil complaint has accused Bankman-Fried of running a years-long fraud to divert FTX customers’ funds to a sister investment company, Alameda Research.

“We allege that Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception."

thedailybeast.com/sam-bankman-fr…

EXCLUSIVE: The fallout from last week’s walkout at The New York Times continues with staffers telling Confider they believe management will dig in when both sides return to the bargaining table Tuesday. trib.al/MoVs71d The signs for last week’s dramatic walkout were apparent over the last few months, according to notes of an explosive meeting obtained and reviewed by Confider. trib.al/MoVs71d

BREAKING | Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed Trump v. United States, the former president’s battle against the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate, for lack of jurisdiction.

trib.al/yl6qBcZ Monday’s order noted that all deadlines are terminated, future hearings are canceled, and pending legal arguments are “denied as moot.”

Gone is the legal reasoning Judge Cannon gave for coming to Trump’s defense.
thedailybeast.com/judge-aileen-c…

Ron DeSantis’ war on public education is taking over school districts in Florida. A school board member there came on The New Abnormal podcast to share just how bad it is.

“His false narrative has grown so many legs people are genuinely believing it.” bit.ly/3HnJ1E0 In 2020, @JenkinsBrevard, a Democrat, unseated the Republican school board member who would go on to create Moms for Liberty. She then endured a harrowing harassment campaign that included false allegations she was a Nazi and a pedophile. bit.ly/3HnJ1E0

Multiple news and tech outlets—and even some Republicans—panned the Hunter Biden laptop story as overhyped and ultimately empty. And, it turns out, FEC Republicans would appear to agree. bit.ly/3BHLcyX Agency investigators, acting on a complaint from the Republican National Committee, took up the issue as it pertains to campaign finance law—whether Twitter’s actions constituted an unlawful in-kind contribution to the Biden campaign. bit.ly/3BHLcyX