Sunday comments and a reader poll.
September 21, 2025
This short note opens the Sunday Comment section.
Although I usually do not send a newsletter on Sunday, a few items of note deserve attention.
Reader Poll: When was the last time you accepted $50,000 cash in a bag?
The DOJ has announced that it is closing its investigation into Border Czar Tom Homan. When the FBI was engaged in an investigation not targeting Tom Homan, undercover agents ended up giving Homan $50,000 in cash in a grocery bag in exchange for a promise from Homan that he would direct border security contracts to the undercover agents posing as businessmen. See NYTimes, Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash. (Accessible to all.)
In announcing that the investigation was being closed, FBI Director Kash Patel suggested that the investigation was a baseless waste of taxpayer dollars. Per the NYTimes,
Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said in a statement on Saturday that the investigation “was subjected to a full review by F.B.I. agents and Justice Department prosecutors. They found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing.”
They added that the Justice Department “must remain focused on real threats to the American people, not baseless investigations. As a result, the investigation has been closed.”
Kash Patel’s statement raises the obvious question, “Who among us hasn’t accepted the occasional grocery bag containing $50,000 cash in exchange for promises of federal contracts?”
So, as you post comments on other items of note, let us know the last time you accepted $50,000 in cash in a grocery bag. And don’t forget to tell us how much you paid in federal taxes on that $50,000. I can’t wait for the hilarious anecdotes of seemingly criminal behavior that have completely innocent explanations!
Trump accidentally publicly posts a “private” Truth Social to Attorney General Pam Bondi
And who among us has not mistakenly sent a private communication to a “reply to all” list that contains several million people? Trump did so on Saturday by publicly posting a Truth Social comment that was apparently meant as a private communication to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Here is a screenshot of the now-deleted post:
Don’t you hate it when your private commands to the Attorney General to bring politically motivated prosecutions are posted to a public forum?
Without getting into details, Trump’s meddling in DOJ decisions on whether to bring charges is one of the most corrupt acts a president can undertake. The release of the above note effectively ensures that Letitia James and Adam Schiff can have charges against them dismissed due to selective prosecution.
Paper Clip Protest
I received several dozen emails forwarding copies of Joyce Vance’s column, Paper Clip Protest, Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance.
Joyce Vance explains,
Norwegian teachers and students wore paper clips to signal their opposition to Nazi occupation. They attached them to their lapels and wore them as jewelry, a symbol of solidarity binding them together as paper clips did with papers. It was a quiet act of defiance, expressing that Norwegians remained united against Nazi rule.
Read Joyce’s column about a protest effort started by E. Jean Carroll!
Saturday livestream
My Saturday livestream is here: Hubbell livestream 9/20.
Daily Dose of Perspective
I had to give those undercover agents credit for asking me if I wanted the big bribe bucks in paper or plastic. Of course I chose paper, being the environmentist that I am.
Robert, your messaging the past several days has been inspiring. As you said, people are finally waking up. "it's getting personal now." Power to the people. Thanks for what you do.