Senate Republicans support the $1.8 billion slush fund and political hack Bill Pulte for DNI
June 5, 2026
Note: This newsletter was researched, drafted, and (audio) recorded while on a trans-Atlantic flight with a painfully slow and inconsistent internet connection. I appreciate your understanding for any uptick in the usual number of errors and the quality of the audio.
In a despicable act of cowardice and contempt for the American people, Senate Republicans defeated a Democratic attempt to block Trump’s $1.8 billion thug fund. Although wannabe Attorney General Todd Blanche claims that the DOJ will not proceed with the fund, Trump has not confirmed Blanche’s commitment. Given the ambiguity, the only rational path forward is to pass a law blocking the effort to steal $1.8 billion from the Treasury to “compensate” convicted insurrectionists, cop beaters, and child molesters.
No matter what happens, every congressional Republican now owns the thug fund. Even if it is not resurrected from hell, they have sided with Trump in one of his most odious acts as president. If Trump does bring the fund back, they will own every payment to every convicted cop beater, child molester, Capitol Building defecator, and repeat offender arrested after Trump pardoned them on the first day of his second term. See The Jan. 6 Pardons: How Many Clemency Recipients Have Faced Other Charges? | Lawfare.
Per Lawfare,
At least 97 of the more than 1,500 individuals granted clemency by President Trump for their roles in the January 6 Capitol attack have been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of crimes separate from Jan. 6 since their participation in the Jan. 6 riot. [¶]
At least 14, meanwhile, have been charged with sex crimes or crimes related to child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and at least six have faced domestic violence charges. Others have faced charges for physical assaults, illegal firearms possession, or other violent crimes. At least 20 have been charged with driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs or public intoxication.
Although three vulnerable Republican Senators tried to escape the stain of Trump’s thug fund by voting for the Democratic amendment (Susan Collins (Maine), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), and John Husted (Ohio), the damage is done.
It is now the official policy of congressional Republicans that it is unnecessary to prevent the theft of $1.8 billion from the Treasury for the benefit of convicted criminals because we can trust Trump not to proceed with the plan that he called “a beautiful thing” on Wednesday.
While it is not clear how this reprehensible debacle will unfold, it is a massive political miscalculation by congressional Republicans. They have missed the moment and misread the anger of the American people who are struggling to pay for gas, groceries, and rent while the former leader of the Proud Boys is looking for “tens of millions” in compensation because he was indicted, tried, and then convicted of seditious conspiracy by a jury of his peers. See Ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio tells PBS News he believes he’s owed tens of millions from DOJ fund | PBS News.
We must be relentless in reminding Americans that Trump and the Republicans in Congress are attempting to steal $1.8 billion of your tax dollars to reward insurrectionists for seeking to end democracy in America.
Trump says DNI Acting Director Bill Pulte will look at “rigged elections.”
Trump sparked outrage by naming Bill Pulte as the Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The DNI is the president’s principal national security advisor tasked with synthesizing intelligence gathered by 18 agencies. Pulte has no intelligence background. He is an investment fund manager who used his position at the Federal Housing Finance Administration to unlawfully snoop through mortgage applications of Trump’s political enemies, which Pulte then unlawfully disclosed to Trump-friendly prosecutors in the DOJ.
Lest anyone believed that Trump was appointing Pulte to advise regarding intelligence, Trump said on Thursday that Pulte “may find out some things about the rigged elections, etc., etc.”
Trump claimed on Wednesday that he was looking for other candidates to replace Tulsi Gabbard and that Pulte’s acting status would be temporary. That backtrack was a sop meant to mollify Senate Republicans who beat their breasts in false outrage over Pulte’s appointment. See Trump says Bill Pulte won’t be director of national intelligence permanently - CBS News.
Every day of every week of every year, bad actors plan threats against the United States. Because of the hard work of the US intelligence community, most of those threats are thwarted. But under Bill Pulte’s direction, the intelligence community will be looking for “11,780 votes” in Georgia to prove that Trump won the 2020 election. God help us all if something gets overlooked because Trump’s madness has infected the US intelligence community.
[Update: Republicans blocked a Democratic amendment to the reconciliation bill that would have disqualified Pulte from serving as Acting DNI. Republicans are placing Trump’s pathetic need for revenge ahead of the safety of all Americans. The Hill, Sens. Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski vote to bar Pulte from serving as temporary DNI.]
Opportunities for Reader Engagement
De-Ice Citizens Bank
I received this note from reader Eileen Ryan of Indivisible, Watertown, MA:
Dear Robert Hubbell,
I am a member of the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition. We have organized a National Day of Action against Citizens Bank for Saturday, June 6th. Some actions are planned for other days between June 5th and June 13th. We would be grateful if you could amplify our message in your newsletter. All the information about our campaign is below.
We now have over 120 protests registered for our June 6 De-ICE Citizens Bank National Day of Action, at least 50 more than our March coordinated action! We are showing Citizens, the press, and the public that we are only growing stronger. There is still time to:
Find a branch without a protest and lead one: https://www.mobilize.us/deicecitizens/c/massmobilizationday/event/create/
OR find a standout to join near you: mobilize.us/deicecitizens/
At your actions, please amplify the stories of people protesting deplorable conditions inside detention facilities run by Citizens-financed GEO Group through hunger and labor strikes in NJ, PA, MI, and CA, and the connections to Citizens Bank, as filmmaker Julie Cohen and her husband, journalist Paul Barrett, do in this clip on Democracy Now and in this op-ed in NJ.com.
Quilt for Democracy
We’re Having a Quilting Bee! The Quilt for Democracy Project was launched several months ago to create a community quilt that celebrates the many faces, voices, and values of democracy. To date, we’ve received over 200 squares from people across the country. We are so grateful for their expressions of what democracy means to the m. . . but this is just the beginning.
We warmly invite those who live in the LA area to attend our first quilting bee! Together, we’ll design and make quilt tops that offer a way to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday and our dreams for democracy’s future.
No quilting experience is needed. Beginners, artists, activists and the quilting-curious are all welcome!
When: Saturday, June 20, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Where: Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA.
Space is limited. RSVP to quiltfordemocracy@gmail.com for more details.
Concluding Thoughts
After fighting internet outages for the last hour, I am going to declare victory and sign off.
The takeaway from today: Even when faced with cratering favorability ratings and widespread public backlash, congressional Republicans can’t make a clean break from Trump on the most corrupt, depraved efforts of his presidency.
We must convert their cluelessness and cowardice into a wave election so overwhelming that it will be incontestable—even by the likes of unrepentant hatchet men Todd Blanche and Bill Pulte.
Stay strong! Talk to you tomorrow!
Pro-democracy protest photos
Send to rbhubbell@gmail.com. Include city and state.
Greenfield, MA.
Wear orange on June 5 as a poignant reminder of all we have lost. On June 5, National Gun Violence Awareness Day, we will #WearOrange to call attention to our nation’s preventable gun violence crisis, which takes nearly 47,000 lives every single year. Learn how you can get involved 🍊➡️ wearorange.org
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June 4, 2026. Prospect Park Bridge Brigade “REJECTING KINGS SINCE 1776”. Thursday mornings 7:30-8:30
Seymour Ave. Footbridge over I-94, Minneapolis, MN.
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Attached are photos of last Thursday’s 46thweekly Nashoba Indivisible overpass event in Bolton, MA (April 9). Nashoba Indivisible represents the towns of Bolton, Clinton, Harvard, Lancaster, Sterling, and Stow Massachusetts.
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Attached: photos courtesy of Dave Otto, from today’s Third ACT DMV action at the first NCPC hearing about the Arch, Washington DC.
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Rise and Resist New York, NY weekly immigration vigil. Photos sent by Jerry Goralnick.
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West L.A. freeway brigade - June 4, 2026. Join us on Thursday mornings 7:30 to 9:00 AM, Palms Blvd overpass over 405 frwy. Celebrated the one year anniversary of West L.A. Freeway Brigade resistance!
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Sacramento, CA.
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Rise and Resist weekly immigration vigil in NYC today
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South Boulder County Indivisible VB, Louisville/Superior CO
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Pasadena, CA June 4, 2026
This is just one of so many issues.
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Newton, MA.
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#HartfordVisibilityBrigade on a sunny morning getting the messages out! Everyone honking this am! 6/4
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Attached is a group photo of Capital Area Indivisible taken after our silent protest on Memorial Bridge, Augusta, Maine on May 28, 2026.
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Fairfield, CT Merritt Parkway morning commute.
To make it fit we shortened your catchphrase, “This ends when enough of us say no!” We received so many honks and flashing lights Wednesday morning, one of the best responses ever!
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In response to Howard L.'s question, Jill and I will be in Scotland for 8 days. We visited Scotland last year for 3 days and loved it. Jill's 70th Birthday is in early June and when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said, "Tea at Balmoral Castle." So, we are having tea at Balmoral Castle two days before her birthday. (The King denied our request to open the castle to visitors on her birthday, so we took the nearest date available.) We will stay in Edinburgh and take day trips hosted by a tour guide / private driver we met last year.
I will be writing off-cycle, my reports may miss important events-- like the refusal of Republican Senators to override the filibuster to pass the SAVE Act. While that has been the expected / predicted outcome for a year, this was the moment of truth. And it was significanct for what it says about Republcian confidence in their party's future. They need the flibuster to survive. Overriding the filibuster on voting legislation would mean the end of their minority stranglehold on purple states.
But . . . their refusal to override the filibuster today to pass the SAVE Act also means they believe that Democrats won't have the guts to override the filibuster to pass the John Lewis Freedom to Vote Act and the National Redistricting Reform Act. If we don't have the courage to do that, we are unworthy of our democracy.
So even “stupid and immoral, take your pick” McConnell voted for raiding the US Treasury? What a parade of obscene cowardice.