Democrats have officially criminalized good manners—next up, a subpoena for saying ‘bless you’ after a sneeze.

Democrats’ New Scandal: Saying “Hello” Is a Crime Now

Only in Washington state could a polite handshake become front-page scandal fodder. Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank met briefly—five minutes, tops—with the new ICE director back in April. No secret deals, no backroom plots. Just a “Hi, I’m Keith,” and a quick tour of the facility. But to the Attorney General’s office and their media allies, this casual greeting is apparently the crime of the century.

The Tacoma News Tribune dutifully reported that the AG’s office filed a sweeping public disclosure request, demanding every piece of communication Swank’s office has ever had with ICE, CBP, or U.S. Marshals. Translation: a fishing expedition, hoping to dig up anything—anything at all—that could be spun into proof he violated Washington’s ridiculous “Keep Washington Working Act” (which is really just the “Keep Illegal Criminals Here Act”). Swank himself put it plainly: they’re looking for a way to come after him, not for transparency.

Let’s be clear—nothing came out of this meeting. No agreements, no operations, no commitments. Sheriff Swank even emphasized he won’t jeopardize his deputies by crossing the AG’s sanctuary-state rules, no matter how much he’d like to take it to the Supreme Court. Yet Democrats are determined to turn a routine hello into a political weapon.

This is the left’s playbook on repeat: demonize law enforcement who dare cooperate with federal immigration officials, smear them with bogus investigations, and protect dangerous sanctuary policies at all costs. Sheriff Swank’s “crime” was being courteous to federal partners. Meanwhile, the Attorney General is wasting taxpayer dollars playing politics instead of addressing Washington’s real problems—crime, homelessness, and an exodus of families who are tired of this nonsense.

So yes, Democrats have reached peak absurdity: shaking hands is now a scandal. Read more at Seattle Red.

Ethics for Thee, Not for Me

Washington Democrats’ “independent” ethics system is looking more like an insider’s club designed to protect their own. Executive Ethics Board Director Kate Reynolds investigated a complaint against Solicitor General Noah Purcell—her own boss’s right-hand man—and then conveniently cleared him. When a complaint was later filed against Reynolds herself for refusing to recuse, the Board chair quickly swooped in to say she acted “appropriately.” Translation: nothing to see here, move along.

The supposed firewall between the Attorney General’s Office and the Ethics Board? A joke. Reynolds technically “reports” to both Purcell and the Board, and her staff are funded by the AGO. That’s not independence—it’s a built-in conflict of interest. Yet somehow, this setup allows the same people to judge complaints against their supervisors and then pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

Meanwhile, regular state employees get hammered for browsing Zillow, Netflix, or TikTok on their work computers, but the Executive Director can dismiss cases that involve her own chain of command without consequence. As Bob Scales, the man filing these complaints, put it: if Reynolds were caught shopping online at work, the Board would throw the book at her. But shielding her boss and her boss’s boss? Totally fine.

This isn’t ethics—it’s political protection dressed up in bureaucratic jargon. The Democrats’ system isn’t designed to hold power accountable. It’s designed to protect it. Read more at Center Square.

Democrats Let Forests Burn While Blocking Real Solutions

Year after year, Washington and Oregon choke on wildfire smoke while millions of acres of federal forests sit in crisis. Overgrown, unhealthy forests are fueling catastrophic fires, yet federal agencies—hamstrung by endless red tape, weak funding, and Democrat-driven regulations like NEPA—can’t keep pace. As one expert put it, the work “isn’t keeping up with photosynthesis.”

There is a way forward: the Good Neighbor Authority (GNA). This tool lets states partner with the feds to speed up thinning, controlled burns, and timber harvests. It works—Idaho, for example, is using revenue from harvests to fund ongoing projects. Even President Trump recognized its potential, directing federal agencies to expand GNA and cut delays that leave forests and rural communities at risk.

But progress is moving far too slowly. Tribes often lack the resources to use GNA effectively. States struggle to find markets for the low-value timber that comes from treatments. And instead of funding real forest health work through capital budgets or cutting regulatory barriers, Democrats would rather push costly climate schemes that do nothing to prevent wildfires.

The Washington Policy Center has a detailed new report on how to fix this broken system, expand the use of GNA, and finally start managing forests responsibly. If you’re tired of smoke-filled summers and billions wasted on preventable disasters, it’s worth the read. Check out WPC’s full study here.

UPDATE: Blowing Cover for Clout

Update: Brandi Kruse reports the scandal just got uglier—Councilmember Sarah Perry’s alleged doxxing didn’t even target ICE. The people staying at the hotel were Washington State Patrol troopers in town for training. That means Perry’s actions endangered her own state’s law enforcement. The real question now: Governor Bob Ferguson, how do you explain a member of your party putting your troopers in harm’s way?

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