“When the Kentucky senator returned to Capitol Hill in September after a three-month, health-related absence, his campaign committee had nearly $7.4 million waiting for him.”

“But McConnell, who no longer has use for the money since he opted not to run for an eighth term, opted not to spread his wealth to any Republican Party committee or candidate campaign.”

“Legal counsel for the parties notified a federal judge in Texas that they’d struck an agreement to end the dual class-action suits Thursday. Terms of the settlements are not public and still require court approval.”

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted George in April, as the Iran war was underway.”

“Yes, Trump’s October preëlection surprise is that he’s finally decided to begin openly helping Vladimir Putin in Russia’s war of conquest against Ukraine.”

“Adding to the complications: The embattled Republican lawmaker from Ohio is almost $2 million deep in campaign debt, to himself.”

Said Vance: “If somebody’s selling access to the White House, that’s disgusting and despicable and they should suffer consequences.”

“The officials said ‌leaders at the Defense Department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed.”

“That 2019 demand, detailed by three former immigration officials, struck staffers at the time as a highly unusual effort to wield federal power to dig up compromising material on a prominent critic of President Donald Trump and sitting member of Congress.”

“In the span of a week, Trump has trashed years of energy sanctions on the Kremlin, pressured Kyiv to quit bombing Russian oil refineries and suggested Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy was an illegitimate leader — echoing Moscow’s propaganda. At one point, Ukraine also lost full access to the Elon Musk-owned Starlink system, leaving it hobbled on the battlefield.”

— Speaker Mike Johnson, quoted by Punchbowl News.

“Outside early-voting sites last week, some of those Democratic-leaning voters who once backed Collins said they were now supporting the Democrat in the race, former state Sen. Troy Jackson.”

“Asked whether the U.S. president had ordered restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Starshield, the official said Thursday no such request was ever made by the president.”

“Zacharia said President Donald Trump called unexpectedly on Oct. 7, as she was getting ready to take her 5-year-old son on a field trip. She flew to Washington the next day, met Trump and accepted the position Friday, returned to California on Saturday to pack and was back in D.C. to start the job Monday.”

Said Zacharia: “He asked me to be in office on Monday, and Monday I showed up.”

“SLF then transferred identical amounts to Texas PAC, the super PAC backing Ken Paxton. So the mystery is over – if it was ever a mystery to begin with: Musk is behind the Republican money bomb in Texas.”

“The video was the first substantial move the mayor — who boosted his own profile during last year’s mayoral campaign with playful, grabby short-form social media content — has made for Hochul’s re-election bid.”