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Collins Corruption Shakes Up Maine Senate Race – The Wednesday AM Quickie 9/23/26

By Corey Pein —

Good news: adorable baby Sea Turtles will soon be born on the beaches of Southern California for the first time. Bad news: it's because of global warming. - Corey

https://www.majorsparkmusic.com/

Kill The Truth is the new album by Major Spark

(Available everywhere on 10/2/26) 

“A stirring amalgam of garage rock, power pop, psychedelia, and synth-drenched textural soundscapes.”  – Music Existence

“[Major Spark] strikes the spirit of the underground.” – CLASH

“Refreshed and rich indie-rock sound.” – The Big Takeover

“Major Spark will take you on a wild ride through the world of music. Armed with a fleet of sensational influences…the band is a transmogrifier of sound.” – New Noise Magazine

“Pure, unfiltered rock ‘n’ roll alchemy.” – Indie Band Guru

"Kill the Truth is highly critical of the current US federal government, but we do not want to cede patriotism to those who support the current administration. There are many amazing people, places and events scattered across the United States, and we want to celebrate the beautiful things that make us unique - and reclaim the flag for the artists, thinkers, athletes, and those on the fringes of society.” - Mark Goodman Major Spark

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THE BIG NEWS

It Isn't Just Susan Collins' Corruption Scandal

This news couldn't have broke at a worse time for Republicans, who are at risk of losing control of the Senate in the November midterm elections. Yesterday ProPublica and the New York Times reported that the FBI was investigating Maine Sen. Susan Collins, whose advisor, Scott Reed, was negotiating large bribes from a Hawaiian defense contractor, Navatak. I say "was" investigating because top officials at the FBI last year shut down the probe, which began under the Biden administration.

According to ProPublica, Reed, who led Collins' super PAC, solicited a $500,000 "donation" from Navatek executives, which was to be illegally diverted through a shell company because government contractors are banned from making political contributions. There was a clear quid pro quo – Collins was to "guarantee tens of millions of dollars in additional federal funding" for the donor company. A Reed subordinate later wrote to a Navatek lobbyist asking for an executive's number, because Collins wanted to personally thank that executive, Martin Kao, who wound up in federal prison.

In response to the reports, Collins' office yesterday denied wrongdoing and tried to cast doubt on the story, saying it was based on the word of a convicted criminal. But as ProPublica reports, despite Kao's "credibility issues," by the end of 2024, FBI investigators "had enough evidence to pursue a sweeping bribery probe that could ensnare top lawmakers of both political parties." So Collins was not the only member of Congress on the take. The story ends with a coverup, as the felonious Trump returned to power and decreed that when it comes to public bribery, anything goes.

"This is corruption of the highest order," says Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson. "Susan Collins delivered millions in taxpayer dollars for a corrupt donor bankrolling her campaign, and then Donald Trump helped her cover it up. No wonder she voted with him 96 percent of the time and has rubberstamped his agenda to hurt Maine. Susan Collins doesn't care that we're losing our health care, that ICE is killing people on the streets, and that we've been dragged into a pointless war — as long as her donors get their contracts and her coffers get filled. We deserve answers about every contract and every conversation that Collins and her team facilitated on the backs of taxpayers. The jig is up."

UN General Assembly: Mamdani Denounces Netanyahu, Who Responds with Hate Speech

  • Trump Threatens to 'Annihilate the Islamic Republic' Before 'Very Good Meeting' with Iranian Delegates "Possibly not since Khrushchev, the late Soviet leader, brandished his shoe and allegedly banged it on a desk in 1960 in protest at a fellow delegate’s speech has the annual gathering witnessed such a display of bellicosity from a superpower leader." via the Associated Press and the Guardian.
  • Greenland Will Host to New US Military Bases in Greenland Under Deal Denmark Cut with Trump "For Naaja Nathanielsen, a member of the Danish Parliament and part of Greenland's left-leaning pro-independent party, the most significant part of the agreement is the signature page: For the first time, Greenland, alongside Denmark, is a direct signatory of a legally binding international agreement." via the New York Times and Politico.
  • Is Canada the New Leader of the Free World? "Partners are working with Canada because Canada's predictable, reliable and principled in a world that's anything but," Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in New York yesterday. via the AP, Politico, and the Guardian.
  • Cuban Delegation Walks Out in Protest of Trump's Aggression Meanwhile, leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is confronting the fascist failson Flávio Bolsonaro in his bid for reelection, warned that "we are once again ⁠witnessing external interference in electoral processes." via NBC News and the AP.

JD Vance Brags About Shrinking Obamacare Rolls By 760,000 

What Vice Bootlicker JD Vance lacks in personal charm, he makes up for with a perverse lust for inflicting harm. Yesterday he boasted to reporters at the White House about the regime's latest offense: denying health insurance under the Affordable Care Act to 760,000 people they claim were "fraudulently enrolled" or possibly nonexistent "phantoms." Jason Levitis, a former Obama administration official who helped craft the ACA, calls the regime move "chaotic" and tells the Washington Post that people are likely to wrongly lose coverage in the purge of the rolls. "Families need coverage they can afford and count on when they get sick," says Brad Woodhouse of Protect Our Care "Vance's task force won’t accomplish that."

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • Supreme Court Takes Up Missouri GOP Gerrymander for a Third Time Meanwhile in Michigan, former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris made a joint appearance with Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, her first of the midterm campaign season. via the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and NBC News.
  • ICE Agent Who Shot Man in Texas Was Not Wearing Body Camera Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro says he will visit Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, who is recovering in federal detention, to "check on his condition and demand his release." via NBC News, the AP, and the Austin American-Statesman.
  • Incel 'Looksmaxxer' Clavicular, aka Braden Peters, Charged with Raping a 17-Year-Old Meanwhile in the United Kingdom, another right-wing streamer, Daniel Thomas, slashed a dinghy carrying a migrant rescue worker as it crossed the English Channel, shouting "This is England." via the New York Times, the Bulwark, and the Guardian.
  • Republican Senator Calls for Investigation of Don Jr.'s Gift from Russian Oligarch "A toaster is a wedding gift," Utah Sen. John Curtis says. "A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else. Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign relationships. We should not unplug it now." via the New York Times and NBC News.

SOME NUMBER

450,000

That's how many people climate scientists estimate will die due to heat from the looming "super El Niño" over the next six months, the Guardian reports. Experts tell the Associated Press that the record-breaking weather pattern "may cause severe drought in Asia and other extreme weather across the world, threatening food security for millions of people."

ON THE SHOW TODAY

9/23: The guests will be Nancy J. Altman, president of Social Security Works, discussing her book, "The Road to Medicare for All: A Call for Action"; and Yotam Marom, organizer, facilitator and author of "For Louder Days: Reaching Beyond a Politics of Powerlessness," discussing the 15th anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

This Is Awkward...

Remind me never to play poker with the stone-faced Zohran Mamdani.

Lauren Boebert Addresses Claims of Sex With Multiple Staffers

"I am going to continue serving Colorado's fourth district."

PARTING WORDS

"Hinson broke the dam."

-- An anonymous Republican operative, speaking to Politico about Iowa Senate nominee Ashley Hinson, who called for an end to Donald Trump's Iran war this week. Michigan Senate nominee Mike Rogers spoke against the war hours after Hinson, and yesterday incumbent Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio, among others, followed suit, saying "the war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices." For all the talk, "Husted does not plan to support the Democratic-led war powers resolution when it comes up for a vote in the Senate this week."

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