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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 2h

The latest example of Trump administration policy overlapping with Trump family business:

President Trump is pushing pharmaceutical companies to sell their medicines directly to consumers.

His son Don Jr. is on the board of a co. that facilitates those sales.

Trump Wants to Overhaul Drug Sales. A Company Tied to His Son Stands to Benefit.

The family members of President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are poised to benefit from efforts to remake the pharmaceutical industry.

www.wsj.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 18h

This story is excerpted from my new book, which comes out next week & is available for preorder: www.amazon.com/Devils-Advoc...

Devils' Advocates: The Hidden Story of Rudy Giuliani, Hunter Biden, and the Washington Insiders on the Payrolls of Corrupt Foreign Interests

Amazon.com: Devils' Advocates: The Hidden Story of Rudy Giuliani, Hunter Biden, and the Washington Insiders on the Payrolls of Corrupt Foreign Interests: 9780063341210: Vogel, Kenneth P.: Books

www.amazon.com

Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 18h

Diddy is not the only rapper openly seeking a Trump pardon.

Torence Hatch Jr., a/k/a Boosie BadAzz, has hired the convicted felons Jack Burkman & Jacob Wohl to lobby for a pardon for a firearms charge on which he is to be sentenced in November. lda.senate.gov/filings/publ...

h/t @legistorm.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 19h

NEW: In 2017, Hunter Biden pursued a deal to sell land around the US Embassy in Romania, & possibly the land on which the embassy sat, to a joint venture that included a Chinese government-linked company.

The venture, & the Chinese company, collapsed before the deal went anywhere.

Hunter Biden Pursued a Deal to Sell Land Around the U.S. Embassy in Romania

www.nytimes.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 7d

Quite the postcard received by the federal judge considering a challenge to Trump's threats to deport noncitizens for pro-Palestinian protests.

The judge (a Reagan appointee) nonetheless ruled today that the threats infringed on protestors' 1st Amendment rights. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 7d

Former Trump campaign manager Brad @Parscale last month signed a $1.5M/month contract to implement a social media campaign targeting Gen Z audiences on behalf of the Israeli government. efile.fara.gov/docs/7649-Ex...

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 7d

If Trump didn't have the power of the WH behind him, YouTube would not have settled, Trump's lawyer acknowledged.

“If he hadn’t been re-elected, we’d be in court forever,” said John Coale. “Then the president gets re-elected & things look a lot better.”

YouTube Settles Trump Lawsuit Over Account Suspension for $24.5 Million

www.nytimes.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 7d

YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5M to settle the lawsuit Trump brought in response to being suspended from the platform after Jan. 6.

Most of the $ will go to the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall & is earmarked for the construction of a WH ballroom.

Exclusive | YouTube to Pay $24.5 Million to Settle Lawsuit Brought by Trump

The Google subsidiary is the final Big Tech company to resolve a trio of personal lawsuits that Donald Trump filed against social-media platforms.

www.wsj.com

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Reposted by Ken Vogel

Commonwealth Club World Affairs @cwclub.bsky.social · 8d

The place to be in October—from a Blue Angels party to speakers like Steven Pinker, @joycewhitevance.bsky.social @maryroach.bsky.social Gretchen Whitmer @kenvogel.bsky.social @timbl.bsky.social @brewster.kahle.org Shaka Senghor @ebakerwhite.bsky.social & more

commonwealthclub.org/events

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 8d

Feels like this story could be written about the Mets every few years:

How the Mets lost their groove: Inside baseball’s biggest collapse.

How the Mets lost their groove: Inside baseball’s biggest collapse

Talented, yes, but this year's Mets lacked sizzle. They were MLB's only team never to mount a ninth-inning comeback.

www.nytimes.com

Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 8d

The CEO of the GOP-aligned dark money hub Donors Trust (which has routed $2B to Heritage, Turning Point USA & other orgs) is cautioning Trump against targeting Soros/Open Society & other Dem-aligned foundations.

Such targeting “is antithetical to philanthropic freedom," says Lawson Bader.

Conservative Philanthropy CEO to Trump: Don’t Attack Liberal Nonprofits

Any revenge by the Trump administration against liberal foundations and other groups “is going to come back to haunt us,” Lawson Bader of DonorsTrust tells @gekaminsky.

www.thefp.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 9d

The Eagles are getting so good at blocking field goals/punts that the NFL will probably start pushing to outlaw it.

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 10d

Trump's targeting of Soros/Open Society could backfire, both sides predict:

Democrats expect OSF has the legal standing &💰to beat any charges & become the Harvard of philanthropy.

Republicans worry that their nonprofits will be investigated the next time Democrats are in the White House.

Trump’s Targeting of Soros Foundations Elicits Fear and Defiance on Left

www.nytimes.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 11d

I get emails

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 11d

NEW: Responding to a @nytimes.com report that the Trump Justice Department is planning to investigate the Open Society Foundations, @alexsoros.bsky.social said the massive left-leaning philanthropy did nothing wrong & would only stop its work "over my dead body."

Trump’s Targeting of Soros Foundations Sparks Fear and Defiance on Left

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Ken Vogel

AmblerRick 🇺🇸 @amblerrick.bsky.social · 11d

Happy birthday to Amber’s own Bobby Shantz. We celebrated today with a proclamation from the mayor.

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 14d

NEW: In 2018, Paul Atkins was paid $1,450/hour by Devon Archer's defense team as it fought charges that Archer defrauded victims out of $60m.

Last week, the Atkins-led Securities & Exchange Commission dismissed a case that could have recouped the victims' money.

The SEC says Atkins recused himself

The S.E.C. Dropped a Complaint Against Its Chairman’s Former Client

www.nytimes.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 15d

Glenn Howerton, sporting a Four Seasons Total Landscaping shirt while tailgating outside the Linc.

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 16d

The Swamp, Undrained:

▶️ Ballard Partners has lobbied for 10 clients this year with the Justice Dept, which is headed by a former Ballard lobbyist, AG Pam Bondi.

▶️ BGR Group has lobbied for 19 clients with the Transportation Dept, which is headed by a former BGR lobbyist, Secretary Sean Duffy.

Here’s what happens when big-time lobbyists become big-name Trump officials

Attorney General Pam Bondi, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles were lobbyists in their past lives. Their former firms are reaping the benefits.

www.politico.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 17d

FWIW: Cava’s harissa & tzatziki are 🤤

Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 17d

The $50k in cash paid by undercover FBI agents to Tom Homan was inside a bag from the fast casual restaurant chain Cava, the @nytimes.com reports.

The sting grew out of a long-running counterintelligence investigation that had not been targeting Homan.

Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash

www.nytimes.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 17d

The $50k in cash paid by undercover FBI agents to Tom Homan was inside a bag from the fast casual restaurant chain Cava, the @nytimes.com reports.

The sting grew out of a long-running counterintelligence investigation that had not been targeting Homan.

Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash

www.nytimes.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 17d

Exactly one year ago today, Tom Homan was secretly recorded on camera accepting $50k in cash from undercover FBI agents posing as contractors, after Homan indicated he would help them win contracts for them once he was in office.

The investigation stalled under Trump, per this stunning MSNBC report

Tom Homan was investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. Trump's DOJ shut it down.

The FBI and Justice officials closed the investigation, which a Justice Department appointee had called a “deep state” probe in early 2025.

www.msnbc.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 18d

Ted Cruz rebukes FCC chair Brendan Carr over his ABC/Kimmel threat:

“That’s right out of ‘Goodfellas.’”

“If the government gets in the business of saying … ‘we’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like,’ that will end up bad for conservatives.”

Ted Cruz says FCC chair sounded like a mafia boss in threats against ABC over Jimmy Kimmel

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says FCC chairman Brendan Carr sounded more like an organized crime boss than a federal regulator when he threatened to yank ABC’s license...

www.dallasnews.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 19d

NEW: The SEC quietly dismissed complaints against 3 people who were granted clemency by Trump for frauds that collectively bilked victims out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now, Devon Archer, Trevor Milton & Carlos Watson won't have to pay any money that could be used to make victims whole.

The S.E.C. Drops Efforts to Recoup Funds From Trump Clemency Recipients

www.nytimes.com

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Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 19d

Kathleen Hackett co-wrote 2 books on Maine houses that extol her “reverence for the land.”

*Her family repeatedly asked an elderly neighbor to chop down trees blocking their view of Penobscot Bay, but the neighbor refused.

**Now, Hackett's husband is accused of killing the trees by poisoning.

Did a Brooklyn Couple Kill a Neighbor’s Trees for a Better View in Maine?

www.nytimes.com

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