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Maybe D.C. politicians got a little too comfortable ahead of November’s midterm elections. As a city known for its deep blue base, the real nail-biter election took place in the June primaries where two sitting councilmembers—Janeese Lewis George and Robert White—emerged victorious in their prospective races: As it stands today, Lewis George is our presumptive next Mayor, and White, the Democratic candidate for D.C. delegate to Congress, is all but certain to be the replacement for retiring delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.
What wrench could possibly be thrown into these best-laid plans?
Turns out an obscure law from 1970 happens to be a pretty big wrench. Yesterday, City Cast DC reported that White “could be ineligible for election as the District’s congressional delegate unless he resigns his D.C. Council seat before” Nov. 3. Under that 56-year-old provision, a delegate cannot hold another paid public office on Election Day.
“This isn’t new to me. We’ve had a legal theory on this for quite some time,” White told the Washington Sun after City Cast wrote that he “only belatedly became aware of the provision.”
With less than a week to go before Election Day, White is considering two options. Several unnamed councilmembers tell City Cast that White is looking into changing the law—which is written into both D.C. and U.S. code. If local lawmakers have the ability, the Council would need to conduct a special meeting, pass emergency legislation (which requires a supermajority vote), and then Mayor Muriel Bowser would need to sign the proposed legislation into law.
White’s other option is to resign from his At-Large Council seat by Tuesday. At best, he’d lose two months’ salary before he’d presumably step into the delegate office in January. He told the Sun that his team is waiting on additional clarity before sharing a final plan.
Files ahead: The House Judiciary Committee’s new 53-page report says convicted felon and President Donald Trump was “an active participant in Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of young women in the mid-to-late 1990s.” The report mentions 11 women—five of whom say Trump either raped or sexually assaulted them (two were 13 or 14 years old at the time)—and contains one new allegation against Trump: a former Miss Switzerland says he raped her during a beauty pageant in 1993. It also details inconsistent, and sometimes inaccurate, public statements Trump has made about his relationship with Epstein. A White House spokesperson says the report is politically motivated. Minus five points for the allegations but plus one point for pushing for a special counsel to investigate. -4 [Miami Herald]
Jury’s out: A federal grand jury rejected an attempt by the DOJ to indict Cassidy Hutchinson, former White House aide to former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, for her 2022 testimony about what happened during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The DOJ’s inability to secure an indictment is its latest failed attempt to prosecute one of Trump’s political enemies. Plus one point for justice. +1 [Post]
Foreign services: According to Matthew Cole’s forthcoming book, Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East, Jared Kushner was allegedly paid $50 million by the United Arab Emirates to get former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson fired. Cole claims that Tillerson was friendly with Qatar, so the Saudis and UAE urged the White House to get rid of him. Kushner denies the allegations. Recent reports from Vanity Fair and Mother Jones detail the extent to which Kushner is reportedly working for leaders of UAE, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, and not the American people. Minus two points for these allegations. -2 [New Republic, New Republic, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair]
Conservative bias: Lifelong conservative and former DHS chief of staff Miles Taylor says the second Trump administration is tied to at least $377 billion in corruption in his new, free documentary CORRUPTIONLAND. Taylor reviewed public money, private benefits, and financial transactions in 100 cases of wrongdoing, examining court filings, records, congressional documents, and news items. According to his findings, most tax dollars have been misused, mismanaged, or put toward punishing Trump’s enemies. Plus one point for exposing corruption. +1 [Defiance, Raw Story]
Five people killed: On Tuesday, the U.S. military killed five people when it struck a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific. This brings the total to more than 240 people killed in 70 similar attacks since January 2025. The administration says the people and boats were involved in trafficking but it hasn’t provided evidence. Legal experts suggest the attacks could amount to extrajudicial killings because they’ve targeted civilians who don’t pose an immediate threat to the U.S. Minus five points, one for each human being. -5 [Guardian]
Buck’s Fishing & Camping opened a cozy 20-seat wine bar next door. Buck’s Wine Bar is only consistently open on Saturdays so far, but you can keep up with their Instagram for other open days. [Washingtonian]
My dream collab: Bread Alley created exclusive hard rolls for subs and Italian loaves for purchase at 100-year-old Italian market A. Litteri. [PoPville]
The great Hüller plays a smart woman who suffers through tragedy and indignities in the new historical drama from Paweł Pawlikowski.
Two years after the Go-Go Vote initiative launched, organizers are still using the music as a vehicle for voter education. Over the weekend, the Go-Go Museum, local leaders, and representatives from the National Women’s Foundation helped H.D. Woodson High School celebrate homecoming with the theme “GO-GO VOTE: My Voice Matters, Your Voice Matters.” [Informer]
Prince George’s County is one step closer to getting its own personal Sphere. Yesterday, eight of the 11 county councilmembers voted to authorize up to $215 million in “special-obligation bonds” to help finance the proposed 6,000-seat venue and surrounding complex at National Harbor. At yesterday’s news conference, County Executive Aisha Braveboy noted that the Sphere could bring $63 million annually in tax revenue, a boon to the county after losing Six Flags last fall and the Commanders’ imminent return to D.C. [NBC4, WJLA]
Where Dave Thomas Circle once stood, now sits Mamie “Peanut” Johnson Plaza, resplendent with a red curveball sculpture. The revamped intersection at Florida and New York Avenues honors longtime Washingtonian and Sibley hospital nurse Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, who also happened to be the first woman pitcher in the Negro Leagues. As for the traffic? District Department of Transportation Director Sharon Kershbaum says the new intersection “just works better.” [NBC4]
