• Bolton’s secret documents: Last month, FBI agents executed search warrants on Donald Trump’s former national security advisor, John Bolton, at his home and his downtown office. It has now been revealed through court filings that the FBI seized a number of documents marked as classified, with some apparently related to weapons of mass destruction. Reportedly, none of the documents marked “secret” and “classified” were taken from Bolton’s home; however, a number of electronic devices were. In 2020, the DOJ launched an investigation into Bolton regarding the possible leaking of classified information tied to his book, The Room Where It Happened. The Biden administration subsequently shut it down. The FBI appears to be investigating whether Bolton violated the Espionage Act.

• DOJ looks into possible Comey perjury: Reports indicate that the DOJ is currently considering the possibility of filing charges against disgraced former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly lying to Congress regarding his knowledge of FBI leaks to the media prior to his 2017 firing. In 2020, during a Senate hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz questioned Comey regarding the authorization of leaks to the media, which he denied. But it turns out that he did have knowledge of it. Donald Trump has pressed for action to be taken to hold former government officials accountable for seeking to impeach him during his first term, telling reporters, “If they’re not guilty, that’s fine. If they are guilty, or if they should be judged, they should be judged. And we have to do it now.” The deadline for the DOJ to file charges against Comey is next Tuesday.

• OMB plans to use a possible government shutdown to achieve mass layoffs: Discretionary funding will lapse on October 1, and the Office of Budget and Management has issued a memo ahead of the end of the fiscal year that ups the ante for a possible government shutdown. In the memo, agencies are instructed to develop reduction-in-force (RIF) plans for a possible shutdown that target positions inconsistent with Trump’s priorities. This is a departure from other government shutdowns, during which employees were furloughed and reinstated once funding was secured. This memo is a tactic to pressure Democrats into passing the clean funding bill advanced by the Republican Party. Clean funding bills are usually a boon to the party not in power, but Democrats are insistent on securing funding for expiring ObamaCare subsidies.

• Judge rules Trump broke law firing IGs: U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ruled on Wednesday that Donald Trump violated the law when he fired several inspectors general just days after taking office in January. Trump removed IGs from the Departments of Labor, Energy, State, Commerce, Interior, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development. In 2022, Congress passed the Inspector General Act, requiring the president to notify Congress and give a valid reason prior to the removal of any federal agency IGs, which Trump did not do. The law was directly aimed at Trump, given the action he took during his first term to remove an IG. Despite the ruling, however, Reyes said she was powerless to reinstate the fired IGs. “They deserved better from their government,” she wrote. “They still do. Unfortunately, this court cannot provide plaintiffs more.”

• “Hey, fascist! Catch!” flyers posted around Georgetown U: Posters were put up around Georgetown University’s campus this week featuring the phrase “Hey, fascist! Catch!” in large letters. That phrase was also engraved on a bullet by Charlie Kirk’s assassin. The John Brown Club, which is not an official Georgetown student organization, describes itself on the flyer as “the only political group that celebrates when Nazi’s [sic] die.” Following public outcry, the flyers were removed by Georgetown administrators. Education Secretary Linda McMahon thanked the public for bringing the posters to her attention and emphasized that violent rhetoric on college campuses must have consequences.

• U.S. intercepts Russian warplanes flying near Alaska: Two Russian Tu-95s and two Su-35s entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday, which prompted a response from NORAD. An E-3, four F-16s, and four KC-135 tankers responded and made the intercept and identification of the Russian aircraft. The Alaskan ADIZ is international airspace, and the Russians never entered sovereign American or Canadian airspace. NORAD describes this action by Russia as a regular occurrence that is not considered a threat. Still, this action comes on the heels of Russian violations of European airspace in the last month, most recently in Estonia.

• California solar plant shuttering: A $2.2 billion solar plant, completed in 2014 and subsidized by U.S. taxpayers via the Energy Department under Barack Obama, has announced that it will shut down operations next year due to failing to meet efficient energy production needs. The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, located in California’s Mojave Desert, was initially billed as a forward-looking green energy power plant. However, despite the hype, the plant’s technology is already outdated and too expensive, and ironically requires natural gas to maintain its operation. Spread across five square miles, the facility utilizes thousands of mirrors computerized to move to reflect sunlight onto three 459-foot central towers, where the sun’s heat is absorbed and converted into energy. Notably, the facility is far from environmentally friendly, as it is notorious for killing more than 6,000 birds a year.

• New gene therapy is the first successful treatment of Huntington’s disease: Huntington’s disease relentlessly kills brain cells and is invariably fatal over the long term. Treatment has so far been limited to supportive care until UniQure released trial data of its new gene therapy. The trial involving 29 patients has not yet been fully peer-reviewed, but the initial data indicate an average 75% slowing in the progression of the disease. The treatment involves 12-18 hours of neurosurgery and introduces DNA to brain cells that prohibits the development of the mutant huntingtin protein, which kills neurons. Since brain cells are not replaced in the same way as other cells in the body, the treatment is expected to last for life. UniQure plans to launch the drug in the U.S. in 2026 if it can secure a license. More than 40,000 Americans suffer from Huntington’s.

Headlines

• U.S. GDP grew stronger than estimated in second quarter (WSJ)

• ICE ramps up security at facilities nationwide after Dallas attack (Newsweek)

• Female cartel member busted for running baby-trafficking, organ-harvesting rings (NY Post)

• Apple TV+ postpones “The Savant” in wake of Charlie Kirk assassination (Hollywood Reporter)

• California high school girls’ volleyball team with male athlete sees eighth forfeit (Fox Sports)

• Former French president Sarkozy jailed for five years (Newsweek)

• Humor: Kamala does speaking tour to remind nation why Trump is president (Babylon Bee)

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