David Dayen
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David Dayen
@ddayen.bsky.social
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Executive editor, The American Prospect. Author, Chain of Title and Monopolized. Tips at ddayen-at-prospect-dot-org or Signal at ddayen.90
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 4d
You can see our entire series on The Business of Sports at
prospect.org/sports. More to come in the days ahead!
Sports - The American Prospect
prospect.org
Reposted by David Dayen
marisakabas.bsky.social
Breaking — Will Lewis out at the Washington Post. He just sent this email to staff (shared with me by staffer):
All - after two years of transformation at The Washington Post, now is the right time for me to step aside. I want to thank Jeff Bezos for his support and leadership throughout my tenure as CEO and Publisher. The institution could not have a better owner. During my tenure, difficult decisions have been taken in order to ensure the sustainable future of The Post so it can for many years ahead publish high-quality nonpartisan news to millions of customers each day. With gratitude, Will
February 7, 2026 at 10:47 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
In a Democratic club meeting, LA Mayor Karen Bass pronounced herself "flabbergasted" by Nithya Raman's entry into the mayor's race. "I’ve worked closely with Nithya, helped her gain the Democratic endorsement, helped her clear an encampment in her district," she said. "I am going to fight."
February 7, 2026 at 8:22 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
Pretty big deal in Los Angeles as Nithya Raman jumps into the mayor's race at the deadline. She's one to watch. Good to see some actual competition in our typically top-down local politics.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u...
Rising Progressive Star Shakes Up Race for Los Angeles Mayor
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:59 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
Some weekend Prospect here from Thomas Riley on PBS Kids, hit by the elimination of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and cuts to Ready To Learn grants from the Department of Education.
prospect.org/2026/02/07/t...
It’s a Dreary Day in the Neighborhood - The American Prospect
It’s a Dreary Day in the Neighborhood: PBS Kids is feeling the effects of funding cuts—and so will the rest of the children’s media landscape.
prospect.org
February 7, 2026 at 5:48 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
What's the model for daily news now that rich benefactors have manifestly not safeguarded journalism? Bob Kuttner looks to The Guardian nonprofit trust as a path forward.
prospect.org/2026/02/06/p...
After The Washington Post - The American Prospect
What will it take to preserve a great newspaper in the nation’s capital, and to sustain independent daily journalism generally?
prospect.org
February 6, 2026 at 10:49 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
NEWS: Three Illinois Democratic congressional candidates being boosted by dark-money Super PAC ads that are shells for AIPAC also share 100s of donors who previously funded AIPAC. Many donations were sent to the same candidates for the same amounts on the same day.
From @ryangrim.bsky.social and me.
AIPAC Coordinates Donors in Illinois House Primaries - The American Prospect
Three Democratic candidates are benefiting from dark-money super PACs, and they share hundreds of donors who have previously given to AIPAC and its subsidiaries.
prospect.org
February 6, 2026 at 5:27 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
Got a good one coming out shortly...
February 6, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by David Dayen
rodger.bsky.social
oh I'm sure everybody will listen to this request
International Olympic Committee Asks Fans to Not Boo JD Vance at the Opening Ceremony
The U.S. delegation will be led by the Vice President and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
www.townandcountrymag.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:51 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
This was the subject of an entire book by Tom Standage about the mechanical Turk chess-playing "machine." (There was a little guy inside) www.goodreads.com/book/show/15...
February 6, 2026 at 3:47 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
Sure bitcoin is crashing, but at least we completely separated it from the broader financial system during the Biden administration and those guardrails haven't been taken down at al-- I'm sorry I'm getting some news
www.forbes.com/sites/tonyae...
Trump’s 401(k) Bitcoin Order: What It Means For Retirement Portfolios
Trump’s executive order makes bitcoin eligible for 401(k) plans, reshaping retirement investing. Experts debate if it’s true progress or a risky repeat of the 1929 crash.
www.forbes.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:06 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
This was the last Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Critic A.A. Dowd reflected on the end of an era for Sundance and for independent film in general, in a time of fewer projects, fewer studios, and shorter theatrical windows.
Great reporting:
prospect.org/2026/02/06/s...
Sundance Is Over. Long Live Sundance. - The American Prospect
Will there be life after Utah (and Robert Redford) for America’s biggest film festival?
prospect.org
February 6, 2026 at 2:59 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
Bad Bunny, fresh off the Grammys, takes the giant stage of the Super Bowl halftime show this weekend. The NFL assures that there won't be a political message, but Bad Bunny is inherently political: his music is a reflection of Puerto Rico's colonial state and recent tragedies, James Baratta writes:
Bad Bunny Bowl - The American Prospect
Fresh off Grammy glory, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny is set to perform on America’s biggest stage. It’s shaping up to be Puerto Rico’s moon-landing moment.
prospect.org
February 6, 2026 at 2:44 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
One of my favorite pieces from our sports issue is out today.
A new breed of financiers targets young athletes, typically Spanish-speaking, offering sketchy contracts with up-front money in exchange for a large cut of future earnings. Several players have sued. @carterd.bsky.social reports:
Circling Sharks - The American Prospect
A look inside the athlete-finance industry, which resembles predatory lending—and worse
prospect.org
February 6, 2026 at 2:20 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
Analilia Mejia's apparent win in NJ tonight doesn't happen without the "county line" ballot, which benefited establishment-chosen candidates by as much as 38 points according to one study.
Thank @andykimnj.bsky.social & many dedicated activists for beating the political machine. Process matters!
Andy Kim vs. the Machine - The American Prospect
Today on TAP: Kim files suit against the ‘unjust and undemocratic’ New Jersey county line, while winning Democratic convention votes to cut into Tammy Murphy’s advantage.
prospect.org
February 6, 2026 at 4:55 AM
ddayen.bsky.social
I spent all day grinding on another election/big money story, stop by @prospect.org tomorrow and read it!
February 6, 2026 at 4:46 AM
ddayen.bsky.social
😉
ddayen.bsky.social David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 3d
A special election primary tomorrow for Mikie Sherrill's old seat in Congress has drawn AIPAC's first spending of 2026—against a candidate they once supported. It may end up boosting the main progressive in the race.
The shifting, possibly diminishing role of big money in primaries, from me:
Big Money Is Back - The American Prospect
The 2026 primaries will likely see even bigger levels of corporate and issue-based PAC spending. But there may be diminishing returns on these investments.
prospect.org
February 6, 2026 at 4:40 AM
Reposted by David Dayen
analiliafornj.bsky.social
February 6, 2026 at 3:38 AM
ddayen.bsky.social
And actually, it's an even BIGGER disaster, as Analilia Mejia, the most progressive candidate in the race, may have stunned the field. I am shocked but not that shocked, because I called it today:
AIPAC is seemingly seeking to boost the relatively conservative Way, who has also received outside support from the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association (placed by the same firm as the anti-Malinowski ads from UDP) and a shadowy group with no donor information. (There’s a pro-Gill and anti-Malinowski PAC out there as well.) But given the anti-ICE message in the ads, the beneficiary could be Mejia. Way and Gill are messaging against ICE in their communications, but Mejia is clearly the most aggressive on the issue, leading chants to abolish ICE at a recent rally and holding ICE Watch trainings during her campaign. Mejia also happens to be the candidate who is the most critical of the Israeli government and the genocide in Gaza. Malinowski caught AIPAC’s ire for daring to say that foreign military aid to Israel should not be completely unconditional; he worked in President Obama’s State Department and is a more mainstream Democrat on foreign affairs. But stepping even slightly out of AIPAC’s rigid lines on Israel is enough to get a money cannon pointed at you, even as Mejia is the kind of candidate AIPAC typically spends heavily against. As Jay Michaelson points out in the Forward, if you’re anti-ICE and you see AIPAC’s anti-Malinowski ads, you may gravitate to the most anti-ICE candidate. If you don’t like AIPAC’s big-money attempts to dictate elections, you might gravitate to the most vociferous candidate on the destruction of Gaza. Those are the same candidate: Mejia. “The irony would be rich: AIPAC defeats a supporter of Israel, and puts another Squad member in the House instead,” Michaelson wrote. “Talk about instant karma.” Mejia told the Prospect in an interview that she denounced the anti-Malinowski ads immediately, while expressing confusion about AIPAC attacking someone who once had earned their support. “This is the most recent episode of The Leopard Ate My Face,” Mejia said. “I’ll quote Tom, what is desired is blind absolute submission … Until our representatives aren’t dancing for these dark-money interests, the people will not actually control their own government.”
February 6, 2026 at 4:23 AM
ddayen.bsky.social
Wow, a disaster for AIPAC, which targeted Malinowski directly with ads and stealthily tried to boost Tahesha Way (who got a late DMFI endorsement). Their target ends up winning, the most progressive candidate in the race (Mejia) finishes second, and Way is nowhere.
February 6, 2026 at 2:09 AM
ddayen.bsky.social
The latest episode of Organized Money is out. Trump has rushed tens of billions to ICE, and DOJ/FBI has prioritized immigration enforcement. What does this shift mean for prosecuting white-collar crime? We talk to Richard Powers, a former top antitrust division official.
prospect.org/2026/02/05/o...
Organized Money: White Collar Crime Enforcement in the Age of ICE - The American Prospect
White collar crime enforcement at the Department of Justice in the age of ICE.
prospect.org
February 5, 2026 at 7:40 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
DOGE isn't really gone, it's just become the way that the Office of Management and Budget operates, writes our friends at @revolvingdoordc.bsky.social.

prospect.org/2026/02/05/d...
DOGE Lives On Through Russell Vought
Trump’s White House OMB director has quietly institutionalized the government demolition agenda set in motion by Elon Musk’s wrecking crew.
prospect.org
February 5, 2026 at 3:43 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
The latest from our special issue on sports: Moe Tkacik on youth sports and private equity.
There's a fascinating history here: a private equity-installed CEO who tried to save a youth sports empire, and learned about the epidemic of frauds and grifts along the way.
prospect.org/2026/02/05/f...
The Roots of the Youth Sports Gold Rush
Steve Griffin got in on the ground floor with the John D. Rockefeller of youth sports. The climb out of the basement taught him that finance and kids’ sports are a toxic mix.
prospect.org
February 5, 2026 at 2:54 PM
ddayen.bsky.social
At least he'll have the total destruction of his powerful law firm to look back fondly on
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...
Brad Karp Resigns as Paul Weiss Chairman Amid Epstein Fallout
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:20 AM
ddayen.bsky.social
Jeffries/Schumer put out a new joint list of 10 demands in exchange for DHS funding. New asks here includes protecting sensitive locations, ending Kavanaugh stops, requiring cooperation with state investigations, basic detention standards, no surveillance of observers.
But no cuts to OBBBA surge $
Targeted Enforcement – DHS officers cannot enter private property without a judicial warrant. End indiscriminate arrests and improve warrant procedures and standards. Require verification that a person is not a U.S. citizen before holding them in immigration detention. No Masks – Prohibit ICE and immigration enforcement agents from wearing face coverings. Require ID – Require DHS officers conducting immigration enforcement to display their agency, unique ID number and last name. Require them to verbalize their ID number and last name if asked. Protect Sensitive Locations – Prohibit funds from being used to conduct enforcement near sensitive locations, including medical facilities, schools, child-care facilities, churches, polling places, courts, etc. Stop Racial Profiling – Prohibit DHS officers from conducting stops, questioning and searches based on an individual’s presence at certain locations, their job, their spoken language and accent or their race and ethnicity. Uphold Use of Force Standards – Place into law a reasonable use of force policy, expand training and require certification of officers. In the case of an incident, the officer must be removed from the field until an investigation is conducted. Ensure State and Local Coordination and Oversight – Preserve the ability of State and local jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute potential crimes and use of excessive force incidents. Require that evidence is preserved and shared with jurisdictions. Require the consent of States and localities to conduct large-scale operations outside of targeted immigration enforcement. Build Safeguards into the System – Make clear that all buildings where people are detained must abide by the same basic detention standards that require immediate access to a person’s attorney to prevent citizen arrests or detention. Allow states to sue DHS for violations of all requirements. Prohibit limitations on Member visits to ICE facilities regardless of how those facilities are funded. Body Cameras for Accountability, Not Tracking – Require use of body-worn cameras when interacting with the public and mandate requirements for the storage and access of footage. Prohibit tracking, creating or maintaining databases of individuals participating in First Amendment activities. No Paramilitary Police – Regulate and standardize the type of uniforms and equipment DHS officers carry during enforcement operations to bring them in line with civil enforcement.
February 5, 2026 at 3:15 AM
ddayen.bsky.social
AIPAC cash has popped up in the race to replace Robin Kelly in IL-02. "Affordable Chicago Now" is a SuperPAC that just organized a week ago and hasn't identified any of its donors. The PAC is supporting Donna Miller, whose donors are primarily AIPAC donors. Robert Peters' campaign emails:
AIPAC donors also funded nearly 85% of Miller’s campaign fundraising haul in the fourth quarter of 2025. “Between MAGA money, AIPAC donors and shady dark money super PACs, it’s clear that right wing forces are playing games with the Democratic primary election,” said Matthew Fisch, campaign manager for Robert Peters for Congress. “Every time you see an ad for Donna Miller on TV, you should know that pro-Trump, right wing forces paid for it. Why? Because they believe Miller is their best investment to advance their agenda to wreak havoc on our communities.” Miller’s fourth quarter Federal Election Commission report, filed Saturday night, revealed that a shocking percentage came from donors who have a history of giving to Donald Trump or AIPAC. Miller, a Cook County Commissioner, reported raising nearly $39,000.00 from Trump donors in the fourth quarter. A full listing of those donors is available here. She also reported raising at least $875,350.92 in the fourth quarter (83% of her total) from donors who have given to AIPAC or its affiliated super PAC, the United Democracy Project, since 2023. A full listing of those donors is available here. This represents a massive spike in fundraising for Miller, who prior to this quarter, had reported raising only $242.494.02. During the previous quarter, Miller reported only $250 from a single Trump donor, and $750 from a single AIPAC donor.
February 4, 2026 at 5:01 PM