WORD IS BONDI

Trump is plotting to use the murder of Charlie Kirk as an opportunity to launch a crackdown on his political opponents, while his officials reportedly scrub evidence of right-wing violence that doesn’t fit his narrative.

• President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies are sure they want to crack down on somebody. But who? That part remains oddly vague. They’re railing against what they portray as a shadowy left-wing network that’s supposedly funding violence, in the wake of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk’s murder. But in typically chaotic Trumpy style, they’re spinning wildly… and tossing out some downright half-baked ideas.

• Take Attorney General Pam Bondi, who can’t seem to get her story straight. On Monday, Bondi vowed that her Department of Justice would “target” anyone who uses “hate speech.” Liberals objected, and lawyers pointed to the First Amendment’s free speech protections. Even MAGA-aligned figures protested. “There is no law against saying hateful things, and there shouldn’t be,” wrote right-wing activist and frequent sayer of hateful things Matt Walsh. Today Bondi walked it back, clarifying that the DOJ would only target speech that calls for violence.

• But Bondi’s boss didn’t get the memo. Today, Trump threatened a reporter who asked him about conservatives’ critiques of Bondi’s threat. “We’ll probably go after people like you,” the leader of the free world shot back. “You have a lot of hate in your heart.” (Again, even if true, having a hateful heart is not, technically speaking, a criminal offense!)

• All of this comes after Vice President JD Vance and Trump henchman Stephen Miller took over Kirk’s podcast Monday (hosted from the White House) to declare that liberal-leaning NGO’s and non-profits should be seen as terrorist organizations so they can be targeted and dismantled. And yet it’s still not clear exactly what they’re planning.

• Trump and his allies are pushing a narrative that only lefties use violence. Meanwhile, Trump’s DOJ quietly removed a study showing white supremacist and far-right violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism” in the country, 404 Media reported.

Amid all this rising tension, prosecutors charged Kirk’s alleged killer with a capital offense.

• Utah prosecutors charged Tyler Robinson, 22, with seven counts, including aggravated murder. Jeff Gray, the Utah County Attorney, said he would seek the death penalty. Prosecutors said they’d recovered Robinson’s DNA from several items, including the murder weapon, shell casings, a towel, and the trigger of the gun.

• Prosecutors cited Robinson’s mother, who claimed the young man had recently grown more political and allegedly “started to lean more to the left.” That view has been disputed by Robinson’s friends, however, who told the journalist Ken Klippenstein that the suspect’s family didn’t understand him, and that he was “generally apolitical for the most part.”

• The filing details text messages Robinson allegedly sent to his roommate and romantic partner, described by prosecutors as an individual transitioning from male to female. Robinson allegedly wrote of Kirk: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out.” But prosecutors didn’t specify which views, exactly, Robinson found hateful.

Trump and his MAGA pals aren’t waiting for any of these details to be cleared up. They’re moving on their critics, as quickly as they can.

WHAT ELSE?

Israel began its offensive to occupy Gaza City, sending thousands of residents fleeing as it executed what the government calls its final push to eradicate 2,000 to 3,000 Hamas fighters still in the city. The Associated Press reported at least 69 Palestinians were killed during the beginning of the operation. “Gaza is burning,” Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said as the operation began.

The UN Human Rights Council accused Israel of genocide Tuesday. The commission’s report accuses Israel of committing four of five identifiable genocidal acts as defined by the “Genocide Convention” of 1948. They include killing Palestinians and inflicting bodily and mental anguish on them. Chris Sidoti, one of three commission members, said Israelis had been “ruthlessly manipulated” by Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his “cronies” since the October 7 attack. Israel called the report “distorted and false.”

FBI Director Kash Patel made a contentious appearance on Capitol Hill, where he made a fresh attempt to evade fallout in the widening Jeffrey Epstein scandal… by throwing someone else under the bus. Patel told senators that former federal prosecutor Alex Acosta’s narrow investigation and charges against Jeffrey Epstein in 2006 were the “original sin” of the whole affair. Acosta’s penance for that sin? Being promoted to Donald Trump’s cabinet as Labor Secretary in 2017!

Donald Trump continued his attacks on media organizations with a new $15 billion defamation suit against the New York Times and four of its reporters. Trump’s complaint alleges the Times and its journos deliberately wrote stories and books undermining his many successes in an attempt to hurt his presidential campaign. The suit is, of course, baseless. Then again, outlets like CBS and ABC both paid Trump millions to settle baseless claims. So why not!

A New York judge threw out state terrorism and first-degree murder charges against Luigi Mangioni, who is accused of last year’s murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson. The judge said the charges lacked sufficient evidence, though Mangione is still charged with second-degree murder and more than a dozen other charges in state and federal courts.

Actor Sundance Film Festival founder, and “World’s Sexiest Man” Robert Redford died at age 89, his publicist announced. Redford starred in 1970’s classics like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and also political classics like “All the President’s Men” (where he played Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, along with Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein) and “The Candidate”. They’re great films, so honor Redford this weekend and see ‘em!

Light at the End of the Email…

Mexico is trying to rally the public against “nacro” drug traffickers in a way that would make “American Idol” proud: A new televised song contest. Contests sing “Anti-corridos,” designed to flip the mythologizing “narcororrido” genre on its head.

The oldest mummies (and, therefore, the spookiest) actually come from ancient China, according to researchers. If your anti-mummy defenses are trained toward Egypt this Halloween, we regret to inform you your flank is exposed.

Pop a bottle, but only when it’s safe, please! Costco recalled Kirkland-brand prosecco sold over the spring and summer across 12 Midwestern states, warning they can shatter even when they’re not being handled. We like to think they’re just spontaneously celebrating.