Russian researcher’s mystery death could be ‘far worse’ than the plague, former senior Trump official warns

2026-10-06T14:39:14-04:00 / Fox News

A Soviet bioweapons defector told Marshall Billingslea about an antibiotic-resistant plague from the same facility

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

Published October 6, 2026 2:39pm EDT

Russia DOWNPLAYS fears of plague outbreak

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump administration is monitoring a potential plague outbreak in Russia after a laboratory worker reportedly died from pneumonia following reports of a broken test tube containing a deadly pathogen.

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The unexplained death of a researcher at a Russian anti-plague institute has one former senior U.S. arms official warning it could be ‘far worse’ than the bacteria that caused the Black Death.

Marshall Billingslea, who served as President Donald Trump’s special presidential envoy for arms control, said a top Soviet bioweapons defector told him decades ago about secret work on antibiotic-resistant plague at the same facility where the recent plague-related death occurred.

“This may not be just ‘the plague.’ It may be far worse,” Billingslea wrote on X.

He spent much of the 1990s working on proliferation and arms control issues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — and during that time worked with Ken Alibek, the former No. 2 official in the Soviet biological weapons program who defected to the U.S.

BIOWEAPON THREAT EXPOSED AS ANTHROPIC SOUNDS ALARM ON FOREIGN ACTORS PLOTTING VIRUS EXPERIMENTS

A view of the Medical Assistance and Rescue Centre, an infectious diseases hospital, in the town of Shelekhov in the Irkutsk region, Russia, October 5, 2026.(Reuters)

“He claimed that they had engineered a strain of plague that was antibiotic-resistant & that they had worked on plague chimeras (fusing 2 or more pathogens),” Billingslea wrote of Alibek.

“He specifically called out Irkutsk for being involved in the BW program,” he added.

Billingslea’s warning comes after a 28-year-old employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East died last week from what Russian authorities have described as pneumonia of undetermined origin.

Russia has not said the woman died of plague and said testing found no microorganisms in her body linked to her work.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that Russian officials told the agency no plague or other high-threat pathogen had been detected among her close contacts, though they are still awaiting confirmation of what caused her fatal pneumonia.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT SCIENTIST’S ACCIDENTAL DEATH RAISES QUESTIONS AS PROBE INTO MISSING SCIENTISTS GROWS

About 60% of the woman’s identified contacts have been tested so far, according to Russian authorities, with two cases of COVID-19 and two rhinovirus infections detected — but no other infectious disease pathogens.

Still, the unexplained death at a facility that works with dangerous pathogens has drawn scrutiny from biosecurity experts — including questions about why the cause remains unknown.

Workers in protective uniforms conduct testing in Russia amid heightened precautions following the death of an employee at a Siberian anti-plague research institute.(Khuvsguliinungu.mn/e2w)

Kevin Esvelt, an MIT professor who studies biological security and catastrophic pandemic risks, said Russia’s latest explanation suggests the researcher did not die from plague while leaving unanswered what killed her.

“If we take the Russian authorities at their word, it is not plague,” Esvelt wrote Tuesday.

“But untargeted research-grade sequencing reliably identifies pathogens, and people seldom die of pneumonia without pathogens, let alone 28-year-olds,” he added. “It would be surprising if they did not know the cause.”

Esvelt cautioned that more alarming explanations remain hypothetical.

“The concerning possibility is still only a possibility,” he wrote.

The questions surrounding the death come against the backdrop of the Soviet Union’s documented history of secretly developing biological weapons, including weaponized plague, and U.S. assessments that elements of that program continued after the Soviet collapse.

In its 2025 arms control compliance report, the State Department assessed that Russia maintains an offensive biological warfare program in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention and that the Soviet program was “absorbed, not dismantled” after the Soviet collapse.

The department said the program “has continued and evolved” under the Russian Federation and that Moscow continues activities prohibited under the convention. Russia has repeatedly denied maintaining an offensive biological weapons program.

The U.S. assessment does not establish any connection between Russia’s biological weapons program and the researcher’s death in Irkutsk, and no such connection has been confirmed.

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Darya Shipilova, 28, an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, died after developing pneumonia of an unknown cause, prompting quarantines and heightened health precautions in the region. Russian authorities say testing has found no evidence her illness was linked to pathogens she worked with.(East2West news)

The Soviet program Billingslea referenced was one of the world’s largest clandestine biological weapons efforts. Alibek, born Kanatjan Alibekov, rose to become the first deputy chief of Biopreparat, the ostensibly civilian network that formed a major part of the Soviet biological weapons apparatus, before defecting to the United States in 1992.

After his defection, Alibek provided U.S. officials with extensive information about the scale and capabilities of the Soviet program. He described Soviet scientists working to weaponize pathogens including plague and developing strains designed to withstand antibiotics.

His claims about some aspects of the Soviet program have faced scrutiny over the years, making independent documentation particularly important. But the existence and enormous scale of the Soviet biological weapons effort — conducted despite Moscow’s 1975 ratification of the Biological Weapons Convention — is well established.

The Irkutsk institute says it was founded in 1934 as a scientific and operational center for combating plague. Its mission later expanded to other highly dangerous diseases, including cholera and anthrax, and it describes itself today as a research and anti-epidemic facility responsible for helping protect the region from infectious disease.

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The Trump administration has said it is closely monitoring the situation and pressed Moscow for greater transparency about what happened.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that while travel between the U.S. and Russia remains limited, an infectious disease could quickly spread beyond Russia’s borders.

“If something like that gets out, it could quickly spread,” Rubio said.

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President Donald Trump said the U.S. would offer assistance to Russia if needed.

“I hate to see them having it,” Trump told reporters Monday. “It’s a rough disease.”

A Republican in a district Kamala Harris won could give Democrats a run for their money

2026-10-06T17:02:15.389Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/06/politics/new-york-battleground-mike-lawler-cait-conley

Mike Lawler is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress this election cycle, one of only three representing a district that Kamala Harris won in2024.

But in a year when political headwinds seem to be blowing in Democrats’ favor, combat veteran and Biden administration alum Cait Conley may still be facing an uphill battle to oust the two-term incumbent from his seat in New York’s Hudson Valley.

While active registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the 17th District by more than 70,000, according to the New York State Board of Elections, Lawler has shown crossover appeal as he has sought to highlight his bipartisan bona fides and willingness to break with President Donald Trump. That includes several endorsements from across the aisle, including Maine Rep. Jared Golden and local Democratic politicians.

Senior Republicans feel confident in Lawler’s ability to maintain his seat, and House GOP leaders believe that he is one of their strongest battleground candidates and can defy the national environment.

In a sign of the high stakes, the showdown has become one of the most expensive House races in the country, with Republicans and Democrats funneling more than $40 million cumulatively into ads tying Lawler to Trump and scrutinizing Conley’s connections to AI companies.

But Conley still believes she can flip the seat, which could prove consequential as Democrats look to retake the House for Trump’s final two years in power.

“The energy that we are feeling in every corner of this district is incredible,” she told CNN during a campaign event on Sunday. “Where people are recognizing the stakes of this November and how this is a fight for working families who are getting screwed by the policies of this administration, enabled by Mike Lawler.”

‘A long and deep history of really aggressive retail politics’

Conley, however, is still introducing herself to voters as a first-time candidate, while Lawler benefits from nearly four years of incumbency and the ensuing name recognition.

In recent months, she’s tried to excite voters by campaigning with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigiegand Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and highlighting endorsements from former Rep. Gabby Giffords and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will also join her on the campaign trail in the coming weeks, according to Jeffries spokesperson Justin Chermol.

National Democrats are also invested in the race, with an operative for House Democrats calling the seat a top priority for the party. House Majority PAC, the super PAC linked to Jeffries, has already spent over $1.8 million in cable advertising in the race so far with further reservations in the New York City media market, HMP communications director CJ Warnke said.

But what it could come down to, Democratic strategist Doug Forand says, is face time with voters.

“Her challenge is to continue to work the retail side of it, you know, and that district has a long and deep history of really aggressive retail politics,” he said.

Linda, a Bedford resident who voted for Harris in 2024, is still on the fence about voting in this year’s midterm election. “Other than the governors, I don’t know enough about the other people running yet,” she told CNN. But she said that her grandson, who is a Republican, is supporting Conley. “He just likes what he knows about her,” she added.

Mt. Kisco resident and small business owner Steve Nadler, who also supported Harris in the last presidential election, feels similarly. “I’ll definitely do my own research prior to submitting a vote,” he said.

Lawler, for his part, says he hasn’t been bothered by national attention on the race and is confident he can keep the seat.

“I think the work I’ve done has put the spotlight on this race,” he said during a stop in Pleasantville, New York. “Ultimately, I don’t feel any uphill battle or additional pressure from it, I live for this.”

Despite Trump’s deep unpopularity, Lawler’s local relationships and pitch as a moderate Republican willing to work across the aisle still appear to hold sway with voters.

While cost of living was a top concern for voters who spoke with CNN, few Republicans seemed to fault the Trump ally for it, despite Conley’s efforts to tie them together.

“It’s a little hard when you’re a widow, you’re on Social Security, you’re retired. You know, I spend all my money paying bills,” said 77-year-old Susan Sciascia of Pleasantville. While she feels the strain on her finances, she plans to vote for Lawler next month and says he understands what Americans are experiencing.

“He’s a family man. He’s got kids. He’s got a wife. He’s in it too.” Sciascia added. “He knows what he’s going through, so he knows what we’re going through.”

Conley has also made affordability a central focus in her campaign, but national Democrats want her to push on this issue harder in her messaging in the final weeks of the campaign, a high-ranking aide told CNN.

While Lawler has sought to highlight areas where he’s willing to break with Trump, such as in negotiations on state and local taxes, he’s also worked to tie Conley, who is running as a moderate, to the further left contingencies within her own party.

During a debate last week, Lawler accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and staunch critic of Israel’s government, of antisemitism, and demanded Conley denounce him.

Conley said she condemned antisemitism from anyone and noted that she has disagreements with some democratic socialists within her party, before turning the subject to Trump’s impacts on the district.

But just a train ride away from New York City, the 17th District has a large Jewish population and the Democratic Party’s ongoing debate over Israel could play a role in the House race.

Lawler has highlighted the endorsements of two local Democratic Jewish officials, New Castle Town Councilwoman Ally Chemtob and Montebello Deputy Mayor Stacy Caridi, who cited the congressman’s efforts to fight antisemitism.

“My support for Mike is personal, because when I look beyond party labels to someone I know and trust, I see someone who cares about the safety and well-being of my children,” Chemtob said in a campaign press release.

Conley, however, has stressed her support for Israel and said that she would have voted against cutting military aid to the country.

Asked if she wants Mamdani, or another New York City progressive, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to join her on the campaign trail this fall, Conley told CNN, “Right now, I’m just focused on voters getting to know me and meeting them everywhere that they are.”

That focus was on display on an overcast Sunday last weekend, as she spoke to volunteers armed with lawn signs at a canvassing event in Armonk, New York, and acknowledged the tightness of the race.

“I promise you this is going to be a fight where every door knocked, every call made, every vote is going to matter, and it is a fight that I know I can win, but I cannot win alone,” Conley said.

CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere and Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.

Top Democrat is investigating Jared Kushner’s financial investments after CNN report

2026-10-06T18:39:19.390Z / CNN

A top Democratic lawmaker is seeking information on Jared Kushner’s financial investments following a CNN investigation last week that found his private equity firm is the largest shareholder in an Israeli company backing businesses involved in Israel’s military campaigns.

Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, sent Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, a letter on Monday saying Democrats on the committee were “investigating the unprecedented and dangerous ways in which President Trump and his family have profited directly from their access to power.

“…I request detailed information about your business dealings in the Middle East to understand whether your significant financial gains have come at the cost of Americans’ safety and security, ” the California representative wrote.

The letter is yet another sign that House Democrats are poised to investigate President Donald Trump’s family members’ business dealings overseas and in the US, should they retake the majority in the midterm elections this fall.

An attorney for Kushner dismissed Garcia’s criticisms and sought to draw attention to the congressman’s own holdings in investments scrutinized in CNN’s report on Kushner – Phoenix Financial, an Israeli financial services firm which counts Affinity Partners as its biggest investor, and Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer.

“Rep. Garcia’s letter is a masterclass in irony: A member of Congress questioning a private citizen for having an interest in the same stock in which the member also holds an interest,” the attorney said in a statement to CNN. “Jared has no role in deciding what Phoenix buys or sells. But if that doesn’t matter to Rep. Garcia, he should begin by investigating himself.”

Garcia’s most recent disclosure forms indicate his pension plans are managed through the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and California State Teachers Retirement System. Both plans hold stock in Phoenix Financials or Elbit Systems.

A spokesperson for Garcia said Kushner’s attorney was trying to “deflect” from his client’s own conduct, adding the congressman does not trade stocks and, like the millions of other public employees in the pension plan, does not have any control over the fund and cannot opt out.

Kushner “makes millions with no accountability all while he travels the Middle East on behalf of his father in law,” said Sara Guerrero, Garcia’s spokesperson.

“The apparent conflict of interest between Affinity Partners’ investments and your work in the Middle East, and in particular the potential for corrupt dealmaking given those competing interests, demands congressional oversight and accountability,” Garcia’s letter stated.

CNN’s investigation raised questions about potential conflicts of interest between Kushner’s volunteer role as a peace envoy to the Middle East, and his firm’s financial investments. Kushner’s attorney did not address his client’s role as a negotiator on behalf of the Trump administration.

As part of the review into Kushner’s financial holdings, CNN used Israeli financial transparency laws to trace investments made by Phoenix Financial, a Tel Aviv-based firm that Kushner’s Affinity Partners doubled its stake in last year, shortly before Trump returned to the Oval Office. CNN’s reporting specifically excluded Phoenix’s investments through retirement accounts and focused on insurance holdings instead.

Those records, which include only some of Phoenix’s holdings, show Phoenix has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into Elbit Systems. Phoenix also holds stakes in at least eight other companies providing equipment for the Israeli military ranging from drones and warships to demolition machinery, CNN found.

All nine companies identified by CNN saw their stock value climb last year, with many stating the war in Gaza had driven demand for their businesses.

Affinity doesn’t directly hold a stake in the nine companies CNN identified – but it does stand to reap rewards when Phoenix makes a profit. Kushner described Phoenix as Affinity’s “best investment” in September 2025.

CNN found no indication that Kushner’s actions as a diplomat directly affected the investments reviewed. Kushner’s attorney told CNN his client has “never participated in or directed Phoenix’s decisions” on where to invest.

A day after CNN’s reporting, Kushner posted a rare response on X, calling CNN’s story “deeply misleading.” Kushner did not point to any inaccuracies in the piece in his post.

“Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together and pursue peace. That work is too important,” Kushner wrote on X.

Garcia referenced Kushner’s social media post, writing “despite your denial of improper behavior, the fact remains that you have been allowed to hold a position of enormous power and responsibility, exempt from financial disclosure requirements and outside oversight.”

In addition to CNN’s report, the New York Times published a story detailing additional “intermingling” between Kushner’s volunteer diplomatic role and his businesses, as it related to the war in Ukraine.

US talks with Russia to end that war have expanded to include a multibillion-dollar deal selling oil assets from one of Russia’s biggest energy companies to a group of investors with ties to Steve Witkoff and Kushner, the two main negotiators for the Trump administration, according to the Times.

A spokeswoman for Witkoff told the Times he “has no conflict of interest or financial stake in this matter” and said his work for the US administration is undertaken “at his own expense.”

Kushner’s attorney did not respond to CNN’s inquiry about this reporting.

Garcia and other Democrats have for years demanded answers from the White House and Trump’s family about concerns over “apparent influence peddling and quid pro quo deals” and whether foreign money is being used “to buy access to the President and influence American policy.”

In March, Garcia and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden specifically requested information from the White House about Affinity Partners’ fundraising in the Middle East – Kushner secured a $2 billion investment for his firm from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in 2021— in light of Kushner’s government work.

Neither Kushner nor Affinity Partners responded to the congressmen’s earlier request.

Tracing Kushner’s company’s links to a firm with stakes in Israeli weapon suppliers
4:53 • Source: CNN

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the main investigative committee in the House but the minority party requests from lawmakers on the committee are voluntary and can be ignored without legal consequences. Subpoenas can only be authorized by the committee chair or by committee vote. If the balance of power shifts as a result of the midterm elections in November, Democrats would be able to open an official investigation.

After Republicans won the House in 2023, the Oversight Committee, the Judiciary Committee and the Ways and Means Committee opened similar investigations into Hunter Biden’s business dealings overseas and alleged he was profiting from his father’s presidency.

This story was updated with additional details from Garcia’s letter and further context on his holdings.

https://www.cnn.com/

Liberal justices look for ‘escape hatch’ as high-stakes climate case lands at Supreme Court, experts say

Supreme Court climate case could open oil companies to lawsuits nationwide or end without resolving the broader legal fight

October 6, 2026 2:19pm EDT / Fox News

By Elaine Mallon, Fox News

AGs warn Supreme Court climate lawsuit could unleash nationwide ‘carbon tax’

Utah and Alabama attorneys general warn Colorado’s climate case could drive up costs nationwide, while former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee argues Americans harmed by climate change deserve their day in court.

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Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor’s repeated questions concerning whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear a high-profile climate case that could expose oil companies to lawsuits across the country steered conservative lawyers to believe that the liberal justices are seeking an “off-ramp.”

“The fact that they kept going back to trying to create a jurisdictional problem tells me they don’t feel confident that they have the votes in this space,” Carrie Severino, president of JCN, a conservative judicial group, told Fox News Digital. “Jackson and Sotomayor were looking for an escape hatch.”

The Supreme Court began its new term Monday, hearing its first oral arguments for Suncor v. Boulder, in which they will rule on whether state tort laws can be used to seek damages from oil companies for climate change, even when the alleged harms are occurring outside the state or continent. The justices will also rule on whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear this case now, as the case is still before the Colorado Supreme Court.

The case before the high court is in an unusual procedural posture, meaning the justices could resolve it without ever reaching the blockbuster state-versus-federal power fight at its center. That dispute centers on whether Colorado can use its own laws to seek damages for alleged harms caused by emissions from other states or whether it’s an issue for the federal government and Congress to regulate.

Climate activist protesters gather outside the Supreme Court before oral arguments for Suncor v. Boulder on Oct. 5, 2025.(Elaine Mallon/Fox News Digital)

SUPREME COURT BEGINS NEW TERM WITH HIGH-PROFILE LOOK AT CLEAN AIR AND FEDERAL AUTHORITY

“The questions by Jackson and Sotomayor trying to say it would be premature for the court to issue an opinion are simply the liberal justices trying to find an off-ramp for the case because they are afraid they will be outvoted on the main issue: does federal law such as the Clean Air Act preempt all state claims like those asserted here,” Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow with Advancing American Freedom, told Fox News Digital.

While questioning Suncor attorney Kannon Shanmugam, Jackson suggested the dispute may have reached the Supreme Court too soon, calling it “premature from the standpoint of this court exercising its jurisdiction.”

She also repeatedly questioned why the court couldn’t wait to hear the case, saying the court doesn’t “have the whole set of facts” and that the court doesn’t “really know enough to be confident” that the theories posed are applicable.

“It feels to me like the defendants … are bringing it back to federal court before the state courts have really had a chance to sort out who is the source, what is their allegation with respect to how this causation is happening,” Jackson told Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris, who argued in support of Suncor.

Meanwhile, Sotomayor refused to drop her line of questioning on jurisdiction with Shanmugam, proposing that the Supreme Court send the case back to the Colorado Supreme Court.

“If we’re unsure of your characterization, because there’s certainly a number of amici brief who disagree with that characterization, shouldn’t we be certifying this question to the Colorado court instead of us deciding it? We have to be sure of our jurisdiction before we take it,” Sotomayor said.

Republican Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall told Fox News Digital it was clear that the liberal justices were trying to cast doubt on whether they have jurisdiction.

Climate activists gather outside the Supreme Court for oral arguments for Suncor v. Boulder on Oct. 5, 2026.(Elaine Mallon/Fox News Digital)

SUPREME COURT CAN RESTORE SANITY AND STOP THE LEFT’S RADICAL CLIMATE AGENDA

“Well, I think you saw both Justice Jackson and Justice Sotomayor try to find an out for this court, basically saying the court doesn’t have jurisdiction at this stage of the case to be able to make a final ruling. I think that you saw the advocates on behalf of Suncor be able to distinguish that.”

If the Supreme Court declines to reach the federalism issue, the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling allowing Boulder’s state-law claims to proceed would remain in place, leaving the broader question of how far states can use tort law to pursue climate claims against energy companies unresolved.

Chief Justice John Roberts pressed Boulder attorney Kevin Russell on whether a Boulder win could trigger similar lawsuits nationwide. Russell said there are legal limits, but acknowledged to Justice Clarence Thomas that Boulder’s theory could allow other fossil-fuel businesses to be sued.

“The chief justice and the court do not like issuing rulings with no limiting principles, rulings that could open up unlimited litigation and claims. Kannon Shanmugam, the lawyer for Suncor, emphasized this again at the very end of the oral argument when he pointed out that there are not only 90,000 political jurisdictions that could sue, but individuals could also sue claiming damages from global warming,” von Spakovsky said.

“And he also pointed out something the conservative majority frowns upon: that Boulder is trying to resolve a major policy issue in the courts instead of in the legislative branches,” von Spakovsky continued.

Conservative lawyers believe that Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor are seeking an “off-ramp.”(Getty Images)

SUPREME COURT KICKS OFF NEW TERM WITH FRESH QUESTIONS OVER ITS LEGITIMACY AND ITS FUTURE

Supporters of Suncor say the lawsuits could “bankrupt” oil companies and cause the price for consumers to go up.

“It’s to basically create a carbon tax on both producers and emitters across the country, which would include, by the way, my cattlemen in Alabama producing beef for our country, those that are creating concrete to be able to build structures and be able to grow our economy,” Marshall told Fox News. “They ultimately want to bankrupt that industry to have their preferred climate change policies be in play.”

“They’re literally addressing behavior that takes place all over the world,” Utah Attorney General Derek Brown told Fox News Digital. “They want to regulate not just what happens in Colorado, but what happens in my state of Utah or in Saudi Arabia. That’s not the way the system works. So, really, this case comes down to one main issue and that is who gets to decide things like energy policy. And ultimately, under our system, it should be Congress.”

Meanwhile, Boulder alleged ExxonMobil and Suncor knew for decades about the climate risks associated with fossil fuels but misled the public about those risks. The communities estimate that taxpayers could face more than $100 million in costs to adapt to climate-related impacts, including wildfires, drought and damage to roads and other infrastructure.

Former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat and longtime advocate for aggressive action on climate change, argued those costs are already being felt by communities across the country.

“As governor, I’ve worked with so many families who’ve lost their homes,” Inslee told Fox News Digital. “So many communities have essentially burned down, and they ought to be able to have a day in court to hear the evidence, to determine whether the lies of the oil and gas industry legitimately, they make it so that they’re held accountable.”

The complaint pointed to a 1977 internal memo from ExxonMobil that circulated among the company’s highest-level managers. The memo reported that “current scientific opinion overwhelmingly favors” that fossil fuels contribute to the rise in CO2 emissions.

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“Their own scientists knew that their product was dangerous, that it was going to cause more fires. And they knew this for decades, 1967, their own scientists told them it could be catastrophic, so they knew about it, they lied about it,” Inslee said. “Now it’s an American right to be in court. Nobody should bar an American from their day in court.”

Elaine Mallon is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business covering national politics.

Ex-CIA official found with gold bars admits to sprawling scheme, agrees to forfeit $194 million

2026-10-06 15:23 EDT / CBS News

By Stefan Becket Managing Editor, Digital Politics
Stefan Becket is a managing editor of politics for CBSNews.com. Stefan has covered national politics for more than a decade and helps oversee a team covering the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court, immigration and federal law enforcement.

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Caitlin Yilek Politics Reporter
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

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Updated on: October 6, 2026 / 3:25 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A former CIA official who was found with $40 million in gold bars in his home in May pleaded guilty on Tuesday, admitting he invented fake classified programs to divert nearly $200 million in government money that he used to buy Florida mansions and gold.

David Rush entered a guilty plea on a single count of wire fraud during a hearing in federal court in Virginia.

As part of his plea agreement, Rush agreed to forfeit at least $194 million, including 298 gold bars, two BMWs, 35 luxury watches and four luxury homes in Florida. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

In a filing known as a criminal information detailing the allegations Rush admitted to, prosecutors said he invented a fake classified program to steer $145 million in government funds through a front company, using the money to purchase the homes in Florida that he intended to resell for profit. Separately, he “fabricated a separate purported sensitive government activity to justify the acquisition of gold bars,” prosecutors said.

“Although the real estate and gold acquisitions involved different transactions and intermediaries, they were executions of the same overarching scheme — RUSH created false classified authorities, directed and approved the associated expenditures, caused contractors and subcontractors to carry out the transactions, and thereafter exercised possession or control over the acquired assets,” the filing said.

Prosecutors said Rush had access to “highly sensitive and classified government programs,” although the filing does not name the CIA as his former employer. The spy agency and FBI said previously that the investigation began when the CIA referred the matter to the bureau. In the affidavit supporting the original criminal complaint against him, he was described as a “former Senior Executive Service level employee” at a government agency in eastern Virginia.

The document said Rush caused an unidentified contractor known as Company 1 to transfer about $145 million to a holding company set up at his direction. He then instructed employees at that company and a subcontractor to route that money to a holding company that he controlled, and used the funds to purchase four properties in Palm Beach and Hobe Sound, Florida.

Rush was arrested in May. FBI agents found the gold bars, $2 million in cash and luxury watches when executing a search warrant at his home. Prosecutors said Tuesday that the holding company had about $38.6 million left in its account.

Gold bars and stacks of cash seized during a search of David Rush’s home. Justice Department

The gold bars were purchased after Rush told the unnamed contractors “that he was working on a Top-Secret project in which he had to deliver high-value commodities to unnamed individuals,” the information said. One of the contractors wired $45 million to the holding company in January, a transaction that forms the basis of the wire fraud charge.

Rush was originally charged with one count of stealing public money, with investigators saying he had provided false information about his education and military service on his government application, and fraudulently took military leave after his service ended.

In June, a federal judge ordered Rush to remain in custody as the case proceeded, determining that he posed a severe flight risk.

At his detention hearing, government lawyers called Rush a “master manipulator” who lied to his neighbors about being a pilot, lied to his co-workers and leveraged his “access to seniority.” A Justice Department lawyer said Rush “cannot be trusted” and is “fully willing and able to skirt the rules.”

Callie Teitelbaum contributed to this report.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/fbi-finds-millions-gold-bars-watches-cash-former-cia-officials-home/

FBI says it found millions in gold bars, watches, cash in former CIA official’s home

(01:07)

The biggest signs that Trump and the GOP are panicking about the midterms

2026-10-06T18:48:45.613Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/06/politics/trump-republicans-midterms-panic

Republicans have had reason to worry about the 2026 midterm elections for a while now.

But there are growing signs that their fears are spilling over into panic — and that the GOP, including President Donald Trump, senses things could get really bad.

That doesn’t mean things will turn out that way. And there are plenty of examples of parties overzealously slamming the panic button late in the campaign.

But the Trump-era GOP has generally been a rather sanguine political party, and what we’ve seen in recent days and weeks is anything but.

Trump has insisted Republicans will do well and that the many polls suggesting otherwise are wrong. But his actions increasingly point in a different direction:

• On Monday, he pulled a rare 180 on his highly controversial government-funded political ads, saying they would now be paid for with super PAC funds.
• Over the weekend, he started encouraging Republicans to vote by mail, after previously claiming that method was riddled with fraud.
• He’s repeatedly lashed out, including dropping the f-word on a Time magazine interviewer last week and angrily defending his poll numbers to a CNN reporter on Monday.
• He has taken to blaming the GOP’s problems on poor messaging (although not from himself).
• He’s spent time campaigning in a series of very red states: Alabama (which he won by 31 points in 2024), Oklahoma (Trump +34) and Nebraska (Trump +20) — the last of which he visited on Monday.
• And on Monday night, he attacked the Democratic Senate nominee in another state that shouldn’t be on the map: South Carolina (Trump +18). He used an anti-transgender slur to go after Democrat Annie Andrews, who’s giving Sen. Darline Graham — whose appointment Trump pushed for — a tougher-than-expected race.

The GOP was already playing defense in five states Trump won by between 11 and 16 points, with the most recent addition being Kansas — a state Trump won by 16 points two years ago and that hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since 1932.

But adding Nebraska and especially South Carolina to the mix is particularly striking.

And in case you thought Trump’s comments about South Carolina weren’t strategic, the GOP is sending $5 million to the Palmetto State to shore up Graham. Trump allies have also told CNN they are worried about the senator’s polling.

One of the most telling signs of broader GOP panic? Republicans feeling compelled to distance themselves from Trump even in these red areas — whether calling for an end to the Iran war, overhauling their websites to erase mentions of the president, or declining to campaign with Trump.

On Monday, the Houston Chronicle reported that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott won’t appear with Trump when the president visits San Antonio this week. Abbott’s campaign blamed scheduling conflicts, but these are the kinds of events GOP candidates would never have missed once upon a time, especially in a red state.

And indeed, many of the worst signs for the GOP are emanating from Texas.

There’s the awkward ad from Senate nominee Ken Paxton’s estranged wife (who has accused him of infidelity) in which she encourages people to vote Republican. There are the leaked audio clips in which Paxton is heard complaining about Trump and the national GOP hurting his campaign. And on Monday, GOP state Rep. Briscoe Cain posted on X: “If the election were held tomorrow, all state wide races go blue.”

Just to underscore how stunning that would be, Democrats haven’t won any statewide race in Texas since 1994. And this isn’t some moderate Republican spouting off; this is a MAGA lawmaker who tried to help overturn the results of the 2020 election for Trump.

None of this means the GOP is doomed. While there are enough signs in the polling to cause the party to worry, Democrats’ path to the Senate majority still goes through those double-digit Trump states. That’s a high bar to clear.

And, we’ve seen before how parties can spend late money in lower-tier races that don’t wind up being particularly close. Back in 2020, Democrats spent some real money in Kansas, and the GOP sent money to bolster South Carolina; Republicans wound up winning those states by 11 and 10 points, respectively. Even some Democrats are pretty circumspect about their chances in South Carolina this year.

But the increased desperation ahead of November 3 means it could be a long four weeks for the GOP.

ABC asks federal judge to block FCC’s early license review, citing retaliation by Trump administration

2026-10-06 3:26 PM EDT / CBS News

By Imani Agbionu

An attorney for Disney’s ABC asked a federal judge on Tuesday to block the Federal Communications Commission from conducting an early review of the network’s broadcast licenses, saying the regulatory proceeding was initiated to retaliate against ABC over content that offended the Trump administration.

During a roughly two-hour hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., ABC argued that comments from President Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr laid bare the true reasons behind why the regulatory agency took the unprecedented step in April of ordering eight television stations owned by ABC and its parent company to submit renewal applications for their broadcast licenses years ahead of schedule.

Those licenses were originally scheduled for renewal between 2028 and 2031.

“They are retaliating with their government power to stop ABC from exercising their protected First Amendment speech,” said Beth Wilkinson, an attorney for the company.

Wilkinson at one point used the French Revolution to illustrate the FCC’s actions, arguing the agency was effectively forcing the broadcast company to sit with its “head on a guillotine” while it awaits a decision about the licenses.

As the process plays out, she said, the regulatory action is having an immediate chilling effect on how ABC makes editorial decisions. Some of those decisions could in turn lead the FCC to “give us the corporate death penalty and take away our licenses,” she said.

In her remarks, she highlighted a speech that Mr. Trump made at the White House in July, in which he chastised ABC and NBC for not broadcasting the speech and called for their licenses to be revoked. Those remarks, she said, represented a “direct threat” to her client.

“People may not like some of ABC’s coverage and the president is entitled to it, but the public has the right to be exposed to different speech and viewpoints,” she said.

The Justice Department, which is defending the FCC, has argued that the agency’s decision in April to order an early license review was triggered by Disney’s failure to adequately respond to an ongoing investigation into the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

ABC “refused to adequately respond” to the FCC’s anti-discrimination probe, said Dimitar Georgiev-Remme, one of the Justice Department’s attorneys representing the FCC in the case. “The commission decided to look for information that it needed by calling for early renewal of plaintiffs’ broadcast license.”

Tuesday’s legal arguments centered primarily on whether Disney and ABC have legal authority to challenge the FCC’s early license renewal process in the district court.

The Justice Department argues that the regulatory process that governs license renewals would require a company to appeal an FCC order to the full commission. After that, any adverse decision can only be heard by a federal appellate court — and not a U.S. district court.

ABC, however, alleges that the type of retaliatory conduct it is facing in this case falls outside the scope of the regulatory appeals process prescribed by Congress, and this is the only way the company can seek relief to address the immediate harm it is facing.

In one such example of harm, Wilkinson said the network has changed the ways in which it covers political topics, noting that the talk show “The View” has changed how it selects the clips it uses in the show.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, a longstanding critic of Trump, also separately posted his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on YouTube rather than airing it with the network, she added.

Wilkinson said that even if the company had sought to appeal the April decision to initiate an early license renewal, the commission has the power to sit on the matter indefinitely.

She also noted that if the FCC ultimately decides to renew the licenses at the end of the process, ABC will have no effective legal remedy to address the harm it has suffered.

U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, a Biden appointee, at times appeared skeptical at the government’s claim that the FCC initiated the early license renewal process in order to get more information for its anti-discrimination investigation.

When she asked the Justice Department what other legal tools it has at its disposal to compel ABC to provide the requested data, Georgiev-Remme could not provide an immediate answer, prompting the judge to ask the government to file a brief addressing her question by Oct. 9.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/disney-and-abc-sue-fcc-over-early-license-renewals-arguing-first/

Inside Disney and ABC’s First Amendment rights as they sue FCC over early license renewal

(03:29)

Republican in toss-up seat says Trump’s ‘policies and his agenda are going to be on the ballot’

1:19 PM EDT, Tue October 6, 2026 / CNN

By Manu Raju, CNN

Republican in toss-up seat says Trump’s ‘policies and his agenda are going to be on the ballot’

Inside Politics

Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie joins Manu Raju on his reelection campaign in Pennsylvania, where his race is among the most competitive in the country. When asked about President Trump’s repeated pleas for voters to pretend he’s on the ballot, Rep. Mackenzie says, “we need Republicans to see that he is going to be on the ballot in the sense that his policies and his agenda are going to be on the ballot.”

1:37 • Source: CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/06/politics/video/gop-rep-ryan-mackenzie-pa-midterms-ip

NYT columnist thrashed online for suggesting Trump is to blame for alleged Cornell gang rape

Michelle Cottle faced fierce backlash after critics noted the alleged 2024 incident occurred under Joe Biden’s presidency

October 6, 2026 9:17am EDT / Fox News

By Peter D’Abrosca Fox News

New York Times columnists links Trump to alleged Cornell sexual assault case

The New York Times is under fire after one its columnists suggested that President Donald Trump is responsible for creating culture that led to an alleged sexual assault against woman at Cornell University by seven men. (Credit: ABC News – Oct. 4)

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The New York Times is under fire after one of its columnists suggested that President Donald Trump is responsible for creating the culture that led to an alleged sexual assault against a woman at Cornell University by seven men.

“What this is, is it’s a fundamental disrespect for women,” columnist Michelle Cottle said on ABC News on Sunday. “You can’t send those messages no matter how drunk you are as a frat boy without having some kind of misunderstanding about what women are there for and whether this is a real person you’re dealing with.”

“And that, I think, starts, you know — we can go to the president for this one,” Cottle went on. “I mean, we are in a moment in this culture where the glorification of being thuggish and swaggering and mistreating women is kind of making you a cool kid.”

CORNELL PRESIDENT SAYS UNIVERSITY ‘MUST DO BETTER’ ON HANDLING OF SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS

The New York Times building is seen on May 6, 2026, in New York City.(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

A woman identified as Jane Doe in court records has filed a civil lawsuit against seven men she alleges gang-raped her during a ketamine- and alcohol-induced incident at Cornell University in 2024. Former President Joe Biden occupied the White House at that time.

The men have denied wrongdoing, with some saying the sex was consensual, and others saying they didn’t participate. No charges have been filed.

AOC’S DRAMATIC RETELLING OF CORNELL RAPE ALLEGATIONS COLLIDES WITH COMPLAINT DETAILS

The backlash to Cottle’s comments was fierce, especially among those pointing out that the incident happened when Biden was president, including Fox News contributor Joe Concha.

“This happened in 2024 when Biden was President. Did she not know that?” another X user asked.

“Latest edition of ‘Trump turned me into a newt!’ brought to you by a very very smart person,” said CNN contributor Scott Jennings.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for a Women’s History Month event in the East Room of the White House on March 12, 2026, in Washington, D.C.(Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

“Media and pundits fall all over themselves trying to make everything and anything about Donald Trump. It’s embarrassing and so incredibly lazy,” said Tricia McLaughlin, former assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security.

“This take is SO far beyond delusional that you can’t even see sanity from here…” said conservative commentator John Ziegler.

“Of course, it’s Trump’s fault,” said the Media Research Center, which first posted the clip.

ATTORNEY FOR ACCUSED CORNELL STUDENT CALLS ON LETITIA JAMES TO STEP ASIDE OVER PRIOR COMMENTS

Trump has commented on the case, which is now being investigated by longtime foe New York Attorney General Letitia James, who in 2022 filed a civil fraud lawsuit against him. Trump in 2024 was found liable for fraud and ordered to pay more than $350 million, but the penalty was overturned on appeal.

Former President Joe Biden.(AP Photo/Manuel Ceneta)

Asked about James being appointed to investigate the alleged gang rape, Trump launched into an attack on the state attorney general.

“Well, Letitia James is a corrupt person,” Trump said. “She’s totally corrupt, and I can’t imagine it — I feel badly for whoever she’s looking at because they won’t get a fair shake. Letitia James is a corrupt person.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to The New York Times and the White House for comment.

Peter D’Abrosca is a politics reporter at Fox News Digital.

Fox News Power Rankings: The biggest surprises come after October

Republicans field strong Senate candidates in blue states while solid red states see closer-than-expected margins

2026-10-06T09:00:04-04:00 / Fox News

By Rémy Numa Fox News

Published October 6, 2026 9:00am EDT

Fox News Power Rankings: Senate, House ‘up for grabs’

‘America’s Newsroom’ co-anchor Bill Hemmer breaks down new Fox News Power Rankings showing six Senate toss-up states and 17 House toss-up seats ahead of the midterm elections. Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove joins to analyze Democratic Socialists of America candidate influence on party leadership and outline advertising cost differences between campaign organizations and super PACs.

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Four weeks out from the election, and for most Americans, it’s time for football, foliage and flannel. For politics watchers, all eyes are on an October surprise.

They’ve been game-changers before. In 2008, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which ushered in the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, was a turning point in John McCain’s presidential campaign. He was even with Barack Obama when the news broke, then trailed in every survey after. He lost the popular vote by seven points.

Surprises have come from home and abroad. In 1980, it was President Jimmy Carter’s inability to resolve the Iranian hostage crisis. Eight years earlier, it was President Richard Nixon’s announcement that “peace was at hand” in Vietnam.

Some have more impact than others. It’s not clear that news about George W. Bush’s DUI changed much about the 2000 election, nor that James Comey’s letter to Congress about Hillary Clinton’s email server was the decider in President Trump’s 2016 win.

Still, these surprises all have one thing in common: they happened in presidential years.

EXPLOSIVE SLEEPER ISSUE COULD FUEL MIDTERM SHAKEUPS, TOP REPUBLICAN PREDICTS: ‘YOU’RE GONNA SEE SURPRISES’

Fox News Power Rankings on competitive races.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

It’s not as though we don’t get breaking news during the last month of a midterm cycle. Take 2018, when the GOP warned about a migrant caravan, Brett Kavanaugh sought a seat on the Supreme Court, and a gunman opened fire at a Pittsburgh synagogue.

But that was the exception, not the rule. For the most part, midterm October surprises affect individual races, not the overall trajectory of a party.

In the last midterm, for example, Herschel Walker faced damaging allegations about paying for former girlfriends’ abortions, while in Florida, the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian gave Gov. Ron DeSantis the opportunity to show Floridians that he could be trusted to handle a crisis.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: FOR THE DEMOCRATS, WHERE COULD IT POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

Fox News Power Rankings on national state of play.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

Voters haven’t changed their minds about Trump or the party they’d prefer to elect to the House for several months now, so local stories like these are the ones to watch in the final weeks of the campaign.

Besides, the biggest surprises come after October.

Democrats are playing more defense than they’d like

For what still looks like a good – maybe great – year for the Democrats, the party is playing defense in some unexpected places.

DAVID MARCUS: IN DEEP BLUE MINNESOTA A RED DAWN MAY BE RISING AHEAD OF THE MIDTERMS

Fox News Power Rankings on states that could surprise Democrats.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

That starts with Minnesota, where Republicans have a star candidate in Michele Tafoya. The former NFL sideline reporter has been up and down the state with a message to “stop the fraud” if elected to the Senate. That’s been a hot issue in the state, and it’s allowed her to target the Democrat, Peggy Flanagan, who currently serves as lieutenant governor.

Then there’s New Hampshire, another state where Democrats are in the driver’s seat thanks to this political environment, but where the GOP has a favorable match up. Former U.S. Senator John E. Sununu is back on the ballot this year against Chris Pappas, who seems to have had trouble animating his voters.

Even Oregon’s gubernatorial race is competitive this year.

Solid Republican states could have closer-than-expected margins

Meanwhile, Republicans are spending money in surprising places.

REPUBLICANS FACE BRUTAL MIDTERM HEADWINDS. SIX FORCES COULD HELP THEM DEFY HISTORY.

Fox News Power Rankings on states that could surprise Republicans.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

In Arkansas, Sen. Tom Cotton has thrown $13.6 million at his reelection bid, outspending his Democratic opponent Hallie Schoffner 65 to 1. Cotton may have ambitions beyond his current role in the Senate, but in 2020, his spending fell short of $1 million.

Idahoans got a letter in the mail from Vice President Vance last month warning them that Democrats could “pour millions of dollars” into independent challenger Todd Achilles; Vance called it an “urgent national race.”

Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith has been running ads attacking her Democratic challenger Scott Colom in recent weeks, calling him a “failed prosecutor” with a “chilling” record on crime; that state has seen $5 million in ad spending so far this year.

FOX NEWS POLL: IT’S A LONE STAR SENATE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN TALARICO AND PAXTON

Fox News Power Rankings on Florida.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

And Florida is full of election surprises. In 2018, Rick Scott won his Senate race by 0.1 percentage points while DeSantis won his by 0.4 points. Two years later, the presidential race was decided by just 3.4 points.

Nebraska and South Dakota could be closer-than-expected for Republicans as well.

In this week’s Power Rankings, one Carolina gets more competitive while another drifts away from the GOP, and Democrats get nervous about a governor’s race in Oregon.

Senate: Shifts in North and South Carolina make it eight battlegrounds

The math is the same in the Senate. Each party has 47 seats to their name, leaving six toss-up races to determine control.

Fox News Power Rankings on Senate forecast.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

Those are Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas, which all look close in the flurry of surveys released by pollsters last week.

Fox News Power Rankings on Senate forecast.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

Two other races are highly competitive: New Hampshire (Lean D) and Kansas (Lean R).

On the polling alone, these look more like toss-up states: surveys released last week have the Democrat ahead by only five points in New Hampshire, and the Kansas race dead even. It’s the partisan makeup of these states that keeps them at “lean.”

North Carolina is less competitive than it was two weeks ago. Fox News confirmed on Friday that the Senate Leadership Fund, a powerful Super PAC aligned with Republican leadership, was pulling resources from the state. Earlier, Sen. Tim Scott left it off a list of states where Republicans were focusing spending.

GOP nominee Michael Whatley is running as strong a race as he can there, and the margin will probably be tighter than polls currently have it. But the Democrat, Roy Cooper, is also a strong candidate, and he has had double-digit leads in multiple surveys.

North Carolina moves from Lean D to Likely D.

Fox News Power Rankings on Senate shifts.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

Nearby South Carolina is getting more competitive. Darline Graham, appointed to the Senate after the death of her brother, Lindsey, is reportedly getting more help on the campaign trail from President Trump.

There are lingering questions about Graham’s ability to turn out a broad spectrum of Republican voters against a Democratic candidate who, like her counterparts in Kansas and Nebraska, is pushing hard on the price of diesel.

The state moves from Solid R to Likely R.

Fox News Power Rankings on Senate forecast.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

Governor: Oregon is a battleground; keep an eye on Florida and Vermont

Fox News Power Rankings on gubernatorial forecast.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

Four years ago, Oregonians sent Tina Kotek to the governor’s mansion for the first time, and it hasn’t gone smoothly.

Kotek faces four issues all at once in this campaign, as outlined in local reports and on the trail: a housing crisis, poor education outcomes, higher city crime rates than in neighboring states, and like other incumbents, she flip-flopped on data centers.

A lethargic debate performance last week didn’t help matters.

Drazan has lost this race before, and this time, won’t get help from a third-party candidate who drew votes from the Democrat. But this time around, she has created more distance both from Trump and conversations about abortion, which she calls a “settled issue.”

Democrats have every reason to hold on to this state in November, but it’s going to be tougher than the party wants. Oregon moves from Likely D to Lean D.

Fox News Power Rankings on gubernatorial shifts.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

Elsewhere, two states are becoming more competitive for Democrats, beginning with Florida.

The Sunshine State is the home of the “MAGA” movement, and Rep. Byron Donalds easily locked up the Republican nomination in August. But he has stumbled, at times, on the campaign trail, and Hispanic voters continue to express frustration with this economy. Florida moves from Solid R to Likely R.

And in Vermont, longtime incumbent Republican Phil Scott might have raised an eyebrow at a new poll from the University of New Hampshire showing his Democratic opponent, Amanda Janoo, up six points against Scott, 49% to 43%.

Fox News Power Rankings on gubernatorial forecast.(Remy Numa/Fox News)

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Scott keeps winning elections comfortably in Vermont, but the party label could be a bigger problem this cycle. The Green Mountain State also moves from Solid R to Likely R.

Rémy Numa is the lead political affairs specialist for Fox News Channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @remynuma.