Cockburn gossip round-up

Jann Wenner: my feelings don’t care about your facts Sometimes it takes a dishonest newspaper to put a lying magazine in its place.   On Friday, the New York Times published an interview with Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner — and the Gray Lady did not hold back. Interviewer David Marchese asked Wenner to defend the magazine’s now discredited University of Virginia rape story, accusing the publication of putting a “juicy story” ahead of the truth.   Wenner was not all too concerned with the accusations. “The University of Virginia story was not a failure of intent, or an attempt to be loose with the facts.

Mad Joe Manchin yells at journos Senator Joe Manchin is furious — and he’s letting reporters know. Sources close to the West Virginia senator tell Cockburn that Manchin is fuming over a recent article in Fox News giving credit to House Republicans, and not Manchin, for the approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The new major pipeline could help Manchin politically as he faces a perilous path to reelection next year. “Manchin is furiously calling reporters himself to push back on it,” according to a West Virginia source, despite that “the truth is that he played a relatively minor role in finally getting MVP done.

Senator Joe Manchin is eyeing the presidency... of West Virginia University, multiple Mountain State sources tell Cockburn. While Manchin hasn’t publicly expressed interest in the job, the stars may be aligning perfectly for him. Charleston political circles have been abuzz with the rumors of his interest for weeks now.  Seventy-five-year-old Manchin will be weighing all options that don’t entail a near-certain defeat at the ballot box in West Virginia next year, meaning a near-certain defeat at the national ballot box with a quixotic third party presidential campaign is unlikely. The presidency of WVU, which Manchin attended on a football scholarship before an injury derailed his career, makes a lot of sense for both parties.

Has FreedomWorks gone FreedomWoke? FreedomWorks has gone FreedomWoke? That’s the charge of a new campaign by Berman and Co, which says the Koch-funded group’s new COO, Marty Irby, has a history of working with radical animal rights groups with close connections to PETA... and Democrats. FreedomWorks, meanwhile, is a grassroots organization that advocates for free markets, personal liberty and lower taxes.Cockburn notes that Irby’s biography on the FreedomWorks website leaves out these details, instead listing only his lobbyist and consulting work with Republicans. According to his LinkedIn, the last time he worked directly for a member of the GOP was between late 2013 and early 2016, when he served as a communications director for Representative Ed Whitfield.

You’d think Fox Corporation would be sick of lawsuits by now — but there’s life in the old dog yet. The company has sent a letter to Media Matters for America, after the left-wing watchdog spent the week drip-feeding what they’ve brazenly titled “FOXLEAKS.” So far the “scoops” consist of... Tucker Carlson cracking a few jokes between segments.Fox lawyers write that the footage was “unlawfully obtained.” This has ruined Cockburn’s chances of winning $5, because he was sure Fox were the leakers. Cockburn’s second guess was Abby Grossberg, the former Tucker booker suing her old bosses for maintaining a toxic work environment — but a source familiar with the show says they don’t think it’s Abby.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sources: Trump 2024 team forming After Axios’s report that Trump is set to announce a 2024 run on November 14 — and his own tease at yesterday’s rally — sources tell Cockburn that the campaign team is firming up. As Cockburn reported last week, Chris LaCivita is being strongly considered for campaign manager. Cockburn also hears that Michael Glassner, who was the COO of Trump 2020, will return, along with advisor Boris Epshteyn and Steve Bannon associate Alexandra Preate. Epshteyn is said to be particularly close to Trump and has advised him on major legal issues. Carl Higbie is also said to be under consideration for a high-level role. Trump is supposedly already making calls about jobs in his future administration. Time to update your résumés!

James Corden’s bad attitude So apparently before the past few days, no one in the US knew that James Corden was a total douchebag. Cockburn has lost track of whether the comedian is currently banned or unbanned from Balthazar restaurant in NYC for being rude to staff, but it’s not the first time he’s had to grovel for forgiveness. When filming for the Christmas special of Gavin and Stacey — the British sitcom about two families written by Corden and Ruth Jones that launched him to stardom — Corden apparently acted so appallingly to the cast that Jones made him drive to her house to apologize to her and the cast for his “awful twattish behavior,” a source tells Cockburn. *** Is a Trump 2024 campaign team forming?

Cockburn has just posted bail, after some post-AA meeting cocktails got out of hand yesterday afternoon. He apologizes for the tardiness of his Friday gossip column. Hopefully the contents make up for it... The ungrammatical WHCA The White House Correspondents' Association has been busy this week. Preparing for midterms, you ask? Not quite. Their members have been focusing on making the language of their by-laws gender-neutral. (They/them as a singular, etc.) Eighty-two percent of the membership voted to change the language, and it will take effect January next year. Way to go, guys. Super important. *** Tim Ryan’s nightmares In Ohio, the internal numbers are terrible for Tim Ryan. Cockburn has heard that some Ryan staffers believe he hasn't been sleeping.