Cockburn’s Diary

Mood inside Fox ‘ebullient’ after Dominion settlement This week’s biggest surprise was Tuesday’s last-ditch $787 million settlement of the Dominion v. Fox News lawsuit. Despite the eye-watering payout, Fox sources tell Cockburn that the mood internally at the network was “ebullient.” This is perhaps unsurprising, given how Fox’s foes were slavering at the prospect of Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity et al being hauled before the court. Also Cockburn understands that Fox will only end up shelling out around half of the settlement fee, due to insurance liability coverage. Plus, the payout is tax deductible: what a bargain! Cockburn guesses we’ll have to wait for the next trial of the century...

Welcome back, Cocaine Mitch! Cockburn reported Thursday that three top Republican senators — John Barrasso, John Cornyn and John Thune — had been “actively reaching out” to other GOP senators ahead of a possible leadership vote, “including the sixteen who voted to delay the leadership election earlier this year.” Shortly after publication, Leader McConnell tweeted, “I am looking forward to returning to the Senate on Monday.” And in an emphatic response to his Senate colleagues’ machinations, McConnell returned to the Capitol on Friday afternoon, for the first time in over a month. https://twitter.

Dylly dilly! Conservatives have been dumping out their Bud Lights lately — or in Kid Rock's case, shooting them —over the beer giant's decision to enter into a brand partnership with trans TikTokker Dylan Mulvaney. Higher-ups at Anheuser-Busch are thought to have been caught flat-footed by the scandal and resulting boycott and are fearful of potential financial ramifications. Could Mulvaney's other corporate partners be next? They include Nike, MAC Cosmetics, Ulta Beauty, the Qatari-owned Plaza Hotel and, most bizarrely considering Dylan's lack of a womb, Tampax... The Little Mermaid (she/her) Disney’s new live-action remake of The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey is going even more PC.

Who to copy: #Resistance TikTok, Matt Walsh or Ivanka? Donald Trump has been indicted — and you have to post an opinion about it. Cockburn is sorry, he doesn't make the rules. Need inspiration? Well, if you're too online, in late middle-age and elated about the possibility of Drumpf in the slammer, why not crib from TikTokker @wepickld and shoot a video of you cracking open your "porn star hush money" bottle of Champagne? https://twitter.com/NormOrnstein/status/1641623539764674560 On the other hand, if you're outraged at the maligning of President Trump at the hands of Soros-funded DA Alvin Bragg, you can do as the Daily Wire's Matt Walsh did, borrow from the Northern Irish Unionists and cry "NO SURRENDER." https://twitter.

Sinema abandons ActBlue Arizona maverick Kyrsten Sinema has been ruffling feathers this week, after taking a scalpel to the caucus lunches she used to have to attend while a Democrat. “Old dudes are eating Jell-O, everyone is talking about how great they are,” the independent senator told a group of GOP lobbyists today, according to Politico magazine. “The Northerners and the Westerners put cool whip on their Jell-O, and the Southerners put cottage cheese.” A moderate Democratic colleague told the same reporter that Sinema is "the biggest egomaniac in the Senate." Some honor! Further proving her independent streak, Sinema has finally changed payment processors, from ActBlue to Anedot, a competitor used mostly by independents and Republicans.

Is the GOP turning on DeSantis? Senate Republicans are annoyed that Florida governor Ron DeSantis parroted Donald Trump's quasi-isolationist take on the Russia-Ukraine war, a congressional insider tells Cockburn. The establishment GOP is apparently worried that the party's shift to a more nationalistic foreign policy could isolate the wealthy East Coast donor base, which is largely supportive of sending aid and weaponry to Ukraine. DeSantis's comments came in response to a query from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who is trying to get all potential 2024 presidential candidates to go on-the-record with their stance on the conflict.

Texas showdown Democratic congressman Colin Allred is mulling a run against Senator Ted Cruz, Cockburn has learned. No major Democratic candidates have announced yet, with the Castro twins, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and, of course, Beto O’Rourke considered to be names in the mixer. Allred, a former NFL linebacker and civil rights attorney, represents a Dallas district in the House and could steal a march on the field by jumping in early… Hung up on Hunter Cockburn got word from the newsroom of a popular New York tabloid this week, whose staff extensively covered the Hunter Biden laptop story.

Poll: Harry and Meghan’s record unpopularity Prince Harry has been ostracized this week after getting the boot from daddy. King Charles reportedly let his son and daughter-in-law know that they had to vacate their belongings from Frogmore Cottage with four chilling words, which were that the royal residence was now "needed for someone else.” Good job the whining pair have found sanctuary across the Pond, right? Wrong. Harry’s popularity in the US has sunk forty-eight points since December and his wife Meghan's has dropped forty points, giving them net approval ratings of minus ten for the duke and minus seventeen for the duchess, according to polling by Redfield & Wilton for Newsweek.

Tim Scott’s campaign preppers Rumors are flying that South Carolina senator Tim Scott is on track to announce his candidacy for president in 2024. The senator was in Iowa this week — and a tipster has provided Cockburn with more fuel for the fire. Scott's Senate campaign started adding conservative media folks to their supporters' email list this week, as journalists received messages welcoming them to the "team" they never signed up for. [caption id="attachment_45816" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Senator Tim Scott campaign email (Screenshot obtained by The Spectator)[/caption] The forced sign-ups seemingly occurred the same day Scott gave a sweeping speech in Des Moines, in the first caucus state in the Republican primary.

White House correspondents behaving badly Getting President Biden to answer to the press is hard enough. His handlers in the administration make it even tougher. And now it seems journalists are linking arms with them to help the aging president out. Tamara Keith, current head of the White House Correspondents’ Association and its apparent hall monitor, chastised her colleagues in an email a tipster passed to Cockburn about “decorum.” (Cockburn, you will be shocked to hear, is not a WHCA member and so is at liberty) Keith took umbrage when “at least three journalists continued loudly shouting” over a reporter, “making it impossible for the president to hear and answer the question. It didn’t reflect well on our profession.

Biden’s pornbrained FCC nominee One of President Joe Biden’s most embattled nominees for the powerful Federal Communications Commission was a staunch supporter of Ugly George, New York City’s “Cult Porno King,” and his right to showcase naked women on cable channels he leased, Cockburn has learned. Gigi Sohn is a lawyer by trade — and her past legal activism suggests that she’ll take a lax approach towards the never-ending influx of sexually explicit content on TV. Back in 1995, the Associated Press reported that Sohn “lamented” a court decision that upheld a law designed to limit people like Ugly George’s ability to air sexually explicit content during daytime hours.

Hammer time Cockburn hears that Jamie Kirchick, the New York Times bestselling author and sometime Speccie writer, has scored an exclusive interview with Armie Hammer, the disgraced Call Me By Your Name star that just might be a cannibal, out this weekend in Graydon Carter's Air Mail. Cockburn wonders whether the meet was over dinner — and if so, who was on the menu… Will CPAC be wack? We are just a month away from CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, which in the Trump era was one of the highlights of Cockburn's year (as you can see from his previous coverage). But buzz ahead of the flagship conservative conference this year has been muted — and right now the line-up lacks the dazzle of previous years, though it does, of course, include President Trump.

The Washington Post’s revolving door People are losing their jobs in all sorts of industries — but chances are the layoffs you’ve heard about most in recent weeks are in finance, tech or the media. Squeakiest wheel and all that. This week brought news that the Washington Post was cutting twenty newsroom jobs and shuttering its gaming vertical. Also out at the Post: Margaret Sullivan, who has left to sign as a columnist for the Guardian. It's not all departures at One Franklin Square though: executive editor Sally Buzbee has signed up a slew of names for the Opinion desk, including conservatives Jim Geraghty and Ramesh Ponnuru from National Review and disaffected liberal Ruy Teixeira.

We need to deep-clean the halls of Congress January is a month for shedding the pounds — and the latest fitness fad for Capitol Hill reporters is chasing around disgraced congressman George Santos. In a show of collegiality, the staffers of other representatives have been alerting the press to Santos's whereabouts. Take deputy chief of staff Aaron Fritschner, whose boss Representative Don Beyer, a Democrat from Virginia, shares a hallway with Santos. "I've done it twice now," he told Politico's Huddle newsletter. "I'm gonna keep on doing it for as long as he's there. And it seems like he's not going anywhere." Cockburn is delighted that Fritschner has found a fun new hobby to plug the hole left by his last one: explaining why Don Beyer is inadvertently employing Chinese spies.

Nick Adams doesn’t write his own tweets Heartbreaking news from the social media world: a spy tells Cockburn that Nick Adams, the Trump surrogate, author and self-proclaimed “Alpha Male,” hires a communications firm to write most of his tweets. He may not, therefore, be the author behind classics such as "Joe Biden has never been to a Hooters." Adams's entire “Alpha Male” persona is a highly effective troll job that has led his account to reach massive engagement levels. Adams recently made headlines for getting into a Twitter war with former professional golfer Paige Spiranac after he said slow female golfers should only be allowed to play par-three courses. Cockburn wonders what "alpha male" would intentionally alienate Spirinac and what she calls her “fantastic milkers.

The state of Tate Shiny-headed influencer Andrew Tate dominated the headlines over Christmas after being detained in Romania as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation. Of course Cockburn believes in the concept of "innocent until proven guilty." But he is at pains to point out that many facets of Tate's lifestyle come across as rather sinister. Cockburn was recently approached by a former acquaintance of Tate’s, who wanted to recount going for a meeting at his Bucharest property. Naturally Cockburn couldn't confirm every detail, but the account nonetheless paints an interesting picture: Walking into his house was like walking into an IKEA showroom from 2011. We went down this dirt path to get to it on the outskirts of Bucharest.

Shopping Kyrsten Sinema style Kyrsten Sinema has been honing her independent streak during her time in Washington — a noted departure from the progressive activism of her youth. The Arizona senator who left the Democrats last week has filed paperwork to run as an Independent in 2024, a reflection of her state’s purple values. At the same time, Sinema seems to have developed quite an entrepreneurial side hustle. Slate’s Christina Cauterucci discovered that Congress’s most ostentatious dresser has been hawking old clothes on Facebook Marketplace. The user is currently hawking — among other things — a $215 cycling ensemble, a $25 trucker hat, and a $150 stainless steel watch with a silicone strap.

Afua Hirsch sells out Cockburn is reeling today after a heavy night, but it was the only thing he could do to make him forget the three hours of Whinge and Ginge that he had to watch at 3 a.m. The Harry & Meghan Netflix documentary wasn’t exactly enlightening: just a rehash of their previous groans of injustice. Although Meghan did go out of her way this time to make fun of Haz’s dear old granny, by doing an overexaggerated curtsy which made even her hapless husband look uncomfortable. https://twitter.com/chrisshipitv/status/1600845696751800321 There were new faces in the mix though, rather than the classic hagiographers. One of the journalists commentating was British journalist Afua Hirsch. Cockburn asked around... and it turns out that Hirsch isn’t exactly, er, well-liked.

Yeezy come, Yeezy go Kanye West has been permanently suspended from Twitter just one month after his account being locked. Elon Musk tweeted that Ye had “violated our rule against incitement to violence", after he posted a series of erratic tweets — including a symbol combining a swastika and a Jewish star. Now a London tattoo parlor is offering free removals for anyone with a Yeezy tattoo. They’ve nicknamed the campaign “Yeezy come, Yeezy go.” https://twitter.com/mattxiv/status/1598509785225347074?s=46&t=jeqhEGKEQaVSEdSE9A5F4Q Blind item: which far-right pundit is a ‘twink Ernst Röhm?’ Which virulently anti-homosexual far-right figure, who's recently been making headlines, doth protest too much?

NRSC OOO The National Republican Senate Committee has found itself under the microscope lately as the post-election finger-pointing intensifies. They have faced calls for a review of the GOP campaign arm's spending, after chairman Senator Rick Scott blamed "unauthorized and improper bonuses" awarded to staff. Cockburn can’t help but wonder if the NRSC would be better prepared for this flurry of bad press had they not let their comms staff work remotely all summer... *** Holmes’s new sidekick Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced Theranos founder, has got herself a fanboy.