The ‘FOIA Lady’ Just Caught Up With Fauci’s Top Adviser
Plus: Comey gets indicted again over seashells, the FBI raids 22 Minnesota daycares, the FCC yanks Disney’s license review, and King Charles takes a shot at the East Wing renovation.
It’s Wednesday,
I had a meltdown in my stories yesterday over the price of blinds. My office window is east-facing, and the sun is blinding in the morning. But my Instagram friend came through with some recommendations, so hopefully in the very near future, my retinas will be grateful for the assistance.
I’ll keep you updated.
Also, ICYMI
He Wasn’t Crazy. That’s the Problem.
Cole Tomas Allen’s manifesto opened with apologies. Not the hit list. The apologies. To his parents for lying about an “interview.” To his students for saying he had a personal emergency. To the hotel workers who handled his luggage. To the people he traveled next to.
In today’s Brief:
Fauci’s right hand just got indicted on five counts. Wuhan grant, personal Gmail, wine subplot.
Comey got indicted again. This time over a beach photo of seashells.
FBI raids 22 Minnesota daycares. Walz tries to take credit. Kash Patel says no.
The FCC pulled Disney’s ABC license renewals forward by three years. Kimmel still won’t apologize.
King Charles addressed Congress, then roasted the East Wing demolition over dinner.
Quick Rundown: a Cuba war-powers fight, the Trump passport, a Special Forces sergeant’s $400K Polymarket bet, and DeSantis’s redistricting math.
Let’s get into the news!
The ‘FOIA Lady’ Just Caught Up With Fauci’s Top Adviser
Dr. David Morens, 78, served as senior adviser inside Fauci’s NIAID office from 2006 to 2022. On Tuesday, a federal grand jury indicted him on five counts: conspiracy, destruction of federal records, concealment of records, and aiding and abetting.
It’s the first criminal indictment alleging a COVID-era cover-up. The DOJ’s claim: Morens and two unindicted co-conspirators (House records identify one as EcoHealth Alliance president Peter Daszak) agreed in writing to route pandemic communications through Morens’s personal Gmail to dodge FOIA. The grant at the center: “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence,” subgranted to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. NIH terminated it in April 2020 over lab-leak concerns. Morens and the co-conspirators allegedly worked to restore the funding and counter the lab-leak narrative.
There’s a wine subplot. Daszak allegedly sent two bottles in June 2020 thanking Morens for “behind-the-scenes shenanigans in my battle against your bosses boss, his boss, and the ultimate boss on the hill.” Morens then allegedly authored a medical-journal commentary arguing for natural origins, which prosecutors call the act he performed to “deserve” the gift.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, took a victory lap: “We caught Dr. Morens red-handed as he boasted in emails about how the ‘FOIA lady’ coached him on how to hide records and cover-up information.”
Fauci himself is untouchable. Biden preemptively pardoned him on the way out in January. Whatever happened at the top of NIAID, the case lands on the adviser.
Reminder: Every parent who got called a conspiracy theorist for asking about Wuhan, gain-of-function, or Fauci’s emails just got receipts. Five years late and one pardon short. But receipts.
Comey Got Indicted Again. Over Seashells.
A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina indicted James Comey on two counts Tuesday: threatening to kill the president and transmitting that threat across state lines. The “threat” is a beach photo from May 2025 showing seashells arranged to spell “86 47.” Comey deleted it the same day, said he hadn’t realized people read the numbers as violent, and called it a “totally innocent” political message.
Acting AG Todd Blanche announced it:
The first Comey indictment, in September for allegedly lying to Congress, was dismissed in November after the prosecutor was found to have been unlawfully appointed. Pam Bondi was ousted as AG earlier this month; Blanche took over.
Comey posted a Substack video: “I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid. So let’s go.” His lawyer, Patrick Fitzgerald, said they’ll contest the charges and “vindicate Mr. Comey and the First Amendment.” Both counts carry up to 10 years.
I will not pretend Comey is sympathetic. The man leaked memos through a friend and gave inconsistent testimony. But the indictment hangs on whether “a reasonable recipient” would read seashells as a kill threat. That’s a thin reed, but also a lot of people have been literally gunning for the president.
Walz Wants Credit for the FBI Raids He Once Called “White Supremacy”
The FBI hit 22 Minnesota locations Tuesday, most of them daycares tied to the Somali-American community. The infamous “Quality Learing Center” (misspelled sign, 95 state violations) was on the list. Agents used a battering ram on at least one site. The Trump administration estimates Minnesota fraud at $19 billion.
Then came the X post that aged poorly inside an hour:
Same Walz who four months ago called federal scrutiny of Somali-owned businesses “vile, racist lies and slander.”
FBI Director Kash Patel was not having it:
Walz dropped his reelection bid in January. The fraud he waved off as a smear keeps producing federal indictments. Asking for a friend: when does the press stop letting this man rebrand?
Disney’s License Renewal Just Got Yanked Forward by Three Years
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr ordered Disney to file early renewal applications for eight ABC-owned stations. The previous window was 2028 through 2031. Disney now has 30 days. The official rationale is a DEI investigation from March 2025. The unofficial rationale is Jimmy Kimmel.
Kimmel did a parody bit on Thursday of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. He looked at Melania and said, "Our First Lady is here. Mrs. Trump… you have a glow like an expectant widow." This is after Trump has faced two assassination attempts.
Two days later, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen rushed the Washington Hilton checkpoint with a shotgun, a handgun, and several knives, charged with attempting to assassinate the president.
Melania did not let it sit:
Kimmel doubled down Monday, “It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80.” He apologized for nothing.
Carr’s letter doesn’t mention Kimmel by name, but the timing is difficult to ignore.
King Charles, a British Remodel, and the HMS Trump
Only the second British monarch ever to address Congress (his mother was first, in 1991), Charles spent 30 minutes Tuesday on US-UK relations, NATO, Ukraine, and climate. Both sides stood for the line about executive limits.
A George Washington reenactor (Texas pastor Mark Collins) watched from the gallery as a guest of Rep. Michael Cloud.
Rep. Michael Cloud @RepMichaelCloud Who better to attend King Charles III’s address to Congress than the man who led us to independence? Thank you, General George Washington.
Then came the state dinner. Charles looked around the construction zone and threw a soft jab at the East Wing remodel:
CSPAN @cspan King Charles III at White House State Dinner: “I cannot help noticing the ‘readjustments’ to the East Wing, Mr. President…we British, of course, made our own small attempt at real estate redevelopment of the White House in 1814.”
But the big question is, what do you give the man who has everything and is President of the United States?
A bell. Off the HMS Trump, a Royal Navy submarine that ran the Pacific, engraved with Trump’s name and 1944. Charles handed it over with: “May this stand as a testimony to our nation’s shared history and shining future. And should you ever need to get hold of us, just give us a ring.”
Diplomatic dad joke of the year.
And because I know you will ask. The HMS Trump was a Royal Navy T-class submarine named as part of a predetermined wartime naming pattern, not for Donald Trump. The name was simply one of the “T” names chosen for that class of boats.
The big question is, will this bell make an appearance in the Oval Office? My money is on the mantel.
First Lady Highlights
Quick Rundown
Senate Republicans blocked Kaine’s Cuba war-powers vote. Rick Scott called it “moot.” Kaine pointed to the Trump oil blockade and said the US would call that an act of war if the tables were turned. Trump in March: “We may stop by Cuba after we’re finished.” Quiet story. Give it a minute.
Trump’s face is going on a passport. Limited-edition America250 booklet with Trump’s portrait and signature over the Declaration of Independence. Washington Passport Agency only, no extra fee. The man is becoming his own gift shop.
Special Forces master sergeant pleads not guilty to a $400K Polymarket payout. Gannon Van Dyke, 38, of Fort Bragg, placed $33,000 in bets last December that Maduro would soon be out. He helped plan the January 3 raid that captured him. First DOJ insider-trading case against a prediction-market trade.
DeSantis dropped a Florida congressional map that adds four GOP seats. Hakeem Jeffries said Florida Republicans should “F around and find out.” DeSantis offered to fly Jeffries down personally: “I’ll put you up in the Florida governor’s mansion. We will take you fishing.” Map wars are now national.
Let’s Talk About It
The Morens indictment is the first criminal accountability for the COVID-era cover-up. With Fauci pardoned and other co-conspirators still unnamed, what does real accountability actually look like from here?
Lightning round: Do you carry the Trump-face passport on principle, refuse it on principle, or just see what the customs agent in Paris does? I need a new passport. Should I get one?
See you Friday. Stay nosy.
The Brief publishes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Forward to someone who needs to understand what’s actually happening.