THE WAKEUP: In a week in which Donald Trump ended the career of a Senate Republican, members of his party are outraged over the establishment of the Justice Department fund to compensate people who believe they were victims of “lawfare” under the Biden Justice Department.

  “So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops?” said Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky. “Utterly stupid, morally wrong — take your pick.”

  North Carolina Sen. Tom Tillis called the fund “a payout pot for punks.”

  Trump sued the federal government, which he runs, and settled his $10 billion lawsuit with the acting attorney general, who serves at the President’s pleasure. Trump was granted immunity from IRS action along with establishment of the compensation fund for his political allies in legal trouble.

  The fund was established on the notion that Trump allies subjected to legal action are victims of “lawfare.”

  Democrats are appalled. “Is it possible on May 21, 2026, Republicans finally found an ethical bridge too far?” asked Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat.

  In another sign that Trump’s grip on Congress may be loosening,  House Republicans yesterday canceled a vote to direct President Trump to withdraw US forces from Iran or get approval from Congress to continue the war. They realized that they didn’t have the votes to defeat the bill.

 JUST FOR THE FUND OF IT: Former proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced ‌to 22 years for seditious conspiracy following his leadership in the January 6^th insurrection, is prominent among the people who say they will apply for compensation from the Justice Department’s new fund. 

  Tarrio said he believes he should qualify for two to five million dollars. “I’m not greedy,” he said. “But my life was all fucked up because of this.”

  Tarrio was found guilty at trial of planning and directing the breach of the Capitol on January 6^th, 2020, to prevent the peaceful transition of power to Joe Biden. He was pardoned by Trump.

  Also saying he will seek money is “My Pillow” founder Mike Lindell, who claims his company suffered $400 million in damages because of government weaponization and election-integrity investigations. Court judgements against Lindell have awarded millions of dollars in damages to voting companies who said they were libeled by Lindell’s false claims of election fraud.  

  The sum of the Justice Department fund is $1,776 billion …  a supposedly patriotic figure for the country’s 250^th anniversary. Trump suggested the fund may be too small. “You’re talking about peanuts,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “It destroyed the lives of many, many people.”

THE WAR ROOM: Iran has been talking to the  Gulf state of Oman about establishing fees for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz in defiance of  the Trump administration’s warnings against demands for payment. 

  Gulf states are losing fortunes while Trump is unable to bring the Iran conflict to a resolution, which he has repeatedly said would be a matter of only days or weeks starting February 28^th. Iran has declared that passage through the Strait of Hormuz will require cooperation with its newly-created Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

INFINITE SCROLL:

— The President was crowing on social media yesterday that the Energy and Commerce Committee voted to make Daylight Savings Time permanent. “This is so important in that Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change their Clocks,” Trump said. “Many of these Clocks are located in Towers, and the cost of renting, or using, Heavy Equipment to do this twice a year is prohibitive!”

THE SHOOTING GALLERY: Police in San Diego were alerted to one of  the teenagers who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego more than a year ago and took action to prevent what happened anyway.

  A police officer wrote in a January 2025 protective order regarding Caleb Vazquez that, “Child was involved in suspicious behavior idolizing nazis and mass shooters.”  Police then obtained an order to confiscate 26 pistols, rifles, and shotguns from Vazquez’s father, Marco Vazquez. 

   The older Vazquez said that he was aware of his son’s inclinations and had put him in therapy.

  Caleb Vazquez, 18, and Cain Clark, 17, killed three people at the mosque on Tuesday then took their own lives minutes later in their car.

THE OBIT PAGE: Racing driver Kyle Busch, the winner of the most NSCAR races in history, died at age 41 after a brief and unexplained illness.

  A driver with skill and swagger, Busch won 234 NASCAR national series races.

  The Athletic reports that Busch was ill two weeks ago while racing at Watkins Glen in New York. He asked to meet with a doctor after the race ended. Asked by The Athletic last week about whether he was feeling better Busch said, “I’m still not great. The cough was pretty substantial last week.”

  Busch was admitted to a hospital this week and died. He leaves his wife, 11-year-old son, and 4-year-old daughter. 

BELOW THE FOLD: Stephen Colbert had them laughing until the end last night as he closed out “The Late Show, cancelled by CBS.  He said, “I realized pretty soon in this job that our job over here was different. We were here to feel the news with you, and I don’t know about you, but I sure have felt it.”

  CBS said they cancelled Colbert for financial reasons … maybe … but also because Donald Trump can’t take a joke.

  Trump posted on his Truth Social, “Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk.” 

  Name a moment when Donald Trump made you laugh.