Washington Reporter Why Secretary Markwayne Mullin is making America safer,
Republicans want answers from Mikie Sherrill on voter fraud, Rep. Julia
Letlow’s plans to tackle China in the Senate, and more! Why Secretary Markwayne
Mullin is making America safer, Republicans want answers from Mikie Sherrill on
voter fraud, Rep. Julia Letlow’s plans to tackle China in the Senate, and more!
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July 28th, 2026




Special Note
This has been a monumental year for the Washington Reporter. We interviewed
President Trump multipletimes
<[link removed]>, we were nominated
<[link removed]>
for a Cronkite Prize, and we broke major campaign news including that Platner
was leaving the race.

We’re proud to announce another major milestone.

One of the nation's top investigative journalists, Tayte Christensen, is
joining the Washington Reporter. Tayte's work has appeared in leading national
publications, and her reporting on Graham Platner helped expose his debauchery
that led to his downfall.

Tayte's investigative reporting will make our newsroom even stronger and help
us continue delivering the serious, unbiased reporting that our readers respect.

-Brian Colas, CEO
In This Edition

[1] INTERVIEW: Keith Krach on President Trump’s successful AI push, and what
“victory” looks like against China
[2] Heard on the Hill
[3] EDITORIAL: Secretary Markwayne Mullin is making America safer and stronger
[4] EXCLUSIVE: SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Investigative journalist Tayte Christensen
joins Washington Reporter
[5] EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans want Gov. Mikie Sherrill to answer for her
“alarming announcement” on noncitizens voting in New Jersey
[6] EXCLUSIVE: As the Senate considers CFPB nominee, mobile billboard calls to
protect open banking
[7] EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Julia Letlow vows to continue crackdown on illegal Chinese
vapes in the Senate
[8] SCOOP: “She knows exactly what he’s going through”: Kamala Harris backing
Troy Jackson resurfaces 2024 problems for Democrats
[9] OPINIONATED: T.W. Arrighi on Sen. Lindsey Graham’s legacy, Kayleigh Kozak
on keeping children safe, andPat Hogan on why Trump is right to challenge Spain

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1 INTERVIEW Keith Krach on President Trump’s successful AI push, and what
“victory” looks like against China By: Matthew Foldi One year ago, President
Donald Trump rolled out his AI Action Plan, which focuses on the three pillars
of innovation, infrastructure, and international diplomacy and security. At the
core of Trump’s plan is the need to ensure American dominance in the field over
adversaries like China.

The AI Action Plan also builds off of the successes that Trump had in
technology innovation during his first term; Keith Krach was at the forefront
of many of those decisions in his role as Under Secretary of State for Economic
Growth, Energy, and the Environment in the Department of State. Krach most
recently served as the CEO of Freedom 250, which led many of the nationwide
celebrations of America’s independence.

In an interview with the Washington Reporter, Krach explained that “the
architecture of the AI Action Plan is right, and President Trump’s
administration has moved from strategy into execution.”

“The plan correctly treats AI as a full ecosystem, with action on innovation,
data-center permitting, power and grid capacity, cybersecurity, full-stack AI
exports, and adoption across the national-security enterprise,” Krach
explained. “Now,” however, “comes the harder phase: delivery. Projects must
move from announcements to operating systems. America needs faster permits,
more reliable power, secure semiconductor capacity, a larger technical
workforce, strong protection for models and data, and allied deployments that
are commercially successful. I would also put a public scorecard behind the
plan — milestones for infrastructure, energy, talent, security, adoption, and
international partnerships. We will not win the AI race with a document. We
will win by building, deploying, and exporting the mosttrusted and capable
ecosystem in the world
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.” Finish Reading →
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2 HEARD ON THE HILL Heard on the Hill THANKS FOR READING: Rep. Chris Pappas
(D., N.H.)cited <[link removed]> the
Washington Reporter in one of his latest fundraising emails, showing that he is
tied in polling with former Sen. John Sununu (R., N.H.). ABOLISH THE SENATE?:
Francesca Hong, the Democratic Socialist, running for Governor of Wisconsin,
posted in 2021 that she wants to “abolish the Senate.” Now that she is running
against Rep. Tom Tiffany (R., Wis.), she is claiming that she never said that.
“Direct quote from Hong’s campaign to Fox News,” Tiffany posted. “‘Rep. Hong
has never called for abolishing the U.S. Senate. Tiffany cannot produce a
single statement where she did, because it doesn’t exist.’ Apparently, they
forgot about this post,” he wrote, linking to her 2021 tweet. DISCLOSURE
PROBLEMS: Abdul El-Sayed finally released his financial disclosures; among the
interesting finds in the Democratic Senate candidate’s disclosures are that he
is invested in the Growth Fund, which boasts on its website that it invests in
accordance to “Islamic principles.” DEAR DIARY: In Anthony Fauci’s diary, he
made his feelings towards Alexa Henning, then working in the Trump White House,
clear. “I believe that the mole who does not like me is Alexa, the Comms
person,” Fauci wrote during the onset of the coronavirus. NEW JOB: Ashley Juhn
is Sen. John Boozman’s (R., Ark.) new press secretary. She was a longtime
communications director for Rep. Bob Latta (R., Ohio) beforehand. OFFICE
OPENING: Nick Adams, President Donald Trump’s Special Presidential Envoy for
American Tourism, Exceptionalism, and Values, had an office opening featuring
Grace Newton, Hannah Eddins, World Cup sensation Freddy and his friends, Logan
Luse, James Rosen, Assistant Secretary Cate Dillon, Assistant Secretary
Aristidis Kourkomelis, Colleen Smith, Tim Gowa, Rob Placek, Jared Borg, William
Poplawski, John Guido, Grace Hasler, Michael Oved, Erik Hansen, Maria
Giannopoulos, Gray Harker, Bryn McCarthy, Kate Sliney, Julianna Rak, Katie
Albert, Natalie Allison, Phillip Linderman, John McNally, Mark Fuller, Nathan
Worcester, Madelina Kilroy, Cathy He, Shawn Bloch, Grace Newcombe, Kaitlyn
Evans, Gurtej Narang, Jan Jekielek, Ari Neugeboren, Mary Lieb, Stewart Verdery,
Kate Miller, and Jenny Kefauver. CONGRATULAZIONI!: The National Italian
American Foundation (NIAF) hosted A Celebration of Italian Americans in Public
Service, featuring a special Jefferson-Mazzei-themed dinner at i Ricchi
inspired by the cuisine of eighteenth-century Tuscany and colonial Virginia.
The evening celebrated the enduring cultural exchange between Italy and America
that helped shape the nation’s history. Andrew Giuliani, executive director of
the White House Task Force on the 2026 FIFA World Cup was presented an award
for his national success on the FIFA World Cup. In true Italian fashion,
Giuliani delivered an impassioned speech reflecting on his vision for the 2026
FIFA World Cup and how he persuaded President Donald Trump to embrace the
opportunity: “I told him I believed this would be the largest platform that he
had over our 250th birthday to show off American exceptionalism, and then the
hope and promise of not just America over the next 250 years but the freedoms
that we have here in the United States of America.” The evening brought
together leaders from government, diplomacy, and the Italian American
community, including NIAF President and CEO, Robert V. Allegrini, Paul
Ingrassia, Anthony O’Boyle, Andrew Giuliani, Marina Golovkina, Lorenzo Riboni,
Marissa and Grayson Quay, Marisela Ramirez, and more. BIG GREEK WEDDING:
Alexandra Veletsis, the Director of the White House Visitor’s Office and Matt
Guarino, a Market Risk Manager at Capital One, tied the knot in Mykonos,
Greece. Several Trump 45 alums joined the happy couple for the festivities,
including Kellyanne Conway, Alexa Henning, John and Carolina Horstman, Vu
Ritchie, Catherine Brady, Meg McCann, Tim and Holly Pataki, and Tom Joannou.
WHCD TAKE 2.0: Ahead of the second White House Correspondents Dinner, British
Ambassador Sir Christian Turner hosted a reception to kick off the festivities.
Those spotted included Victoria Garrastacho, Jenna Cooper, Calli Cooper, Edgar
Barrios, Chris Russo, Katie Pavlich, T.W. Arrighi, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R.,
N.Y.), Sean Cairncross, Kellyanne Conway, Patrick Witt, Chris Klomp, Alex
Flemister, State Rep. Michael Echols, James Van Den Berg, Mike Caswell, Senay
Bulbul, Rima al Sabah, Tom Cibrowski, Nancy Cordes, Jonathan Karl, Margaret
Brennan, Jacqui Heinrich, Andrea Mitchell, Wolf Blitzer, Nick Bilton, Jennifer
Griffin, Katelyn Bledsoe, Colin Moneymaker, Shawn McCreesh, Josh Dawsey, Tyler
Pager, Sumi Somaskanda, Leigh Ann Caldwell, Sally Quinn, Michael Beschloss,
Adrienne Arsht, Henry Jackson, Mackie Rich, Sophie Schaffler, Erica Arbetter,
Jasmine Wright, Jeff Mason, Marisa Schultz, Maggie Eastland, Cat Zakrzewski,
James Walker, and Doug Heye. Share This →
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3 EDITORIAL Secretary Markwayne Mullin is making America safer and stronger
By: Washington Reporter Editors One of the best decisions President Trump has
made in his second term was selecting Markwayne Mullin to lead the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS). Just look at DHS’s record since Secretary Mullin
took over to get a clear picture of how he has already made America safer with
his calm, steady leadership.

First off, DHS is one of the most toughest jobs in the Administration.
Secretary Mullin oversees border security, immigration enforcement,
counterterrorism, cybersecurity, the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, and
dozens of other responsibilities that touch nearly every aspect of national
security. And he oversees these functions as the Democratic party and the
institutional left has declared war on immigration enforcement with literally
thousands of lawsuits directed against the government.

To do this role well requires someone who can make decisions, manage a
massive organization, and never lose sight of the department’s core mission of
security.

Secretary Mullin has done exactly that. Finish Reading →
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4 EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Investigative journalist Tayte Christensen
joins Washington Reporter By: Washington Reporter Editors The Washington
Reporter is proud to announce that investigative journalist Tayte Christensen
has joined our newsroom as a special guest reporter, marking another major
milestone as we continue our rapid growth.

Tayte is a highly-accomplished and published
<[link removed]> writer and
investigativejournalist
<[link removed]>
whose work has appeared inTownhall, the Washington Examiner, and the Daily
Caller. She is a native of Bentonville, Ark., and a graduate of Hillsdale
College.

Tayte joins our fast-growing team. We are hiring additional roles for both
reporting and business development. If you are interested in working with us,
email your resume to [email protected].

Look for Tayte’s stories to appear soon at the Washington Reporter. Finish
Reading →
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5 EXCLUSIVE House Republicans want Gov. Mikie Sherrill to answer for her
“alarming announcement” on noncitizens voting in New Jersey By: Matthew Foldi
Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D., N.J.) recently admitted that her state has thousands
of noncitizens on its voter rolls — and that several hundred even voted. While
Sherrill was quick to lay the blame at the feet of her predecessor, Gov. Phil
Murphy (D., N.J.), Republicans in Congress want her to answer for the failures.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R., N.J.), Sherrill’s fellow New Jerseyan, led a letter
alongside 18 of his colleagues to Sherrill, asking for answers about New
Jersey’s “alarming announcement that a failure within the New Jersey Motor
Vehicle Commission’s voter-registration system improperly added approximately
6,600 noncitizens to the State’s voter rolls and enabled roughly 400 of those
individuals to cast ballots in elections.” The effort was obtained exclusively
by theWashington Reporter.

“According to information released by your administration, these individuals
expressly answered ‘no’ when asked whether they were United States citizens
while applying for driver’s licenses or identification cards,” the GOP
lawmakers wrote. “Despite those answers, a software failure reportedly
transmitted their information for voter registration between June 2023 and June
2024. This was not a minor clerical discrepancy. It was a catastrophic
breakdown of the most basic safeguard in our election system: ensuring that
only eligible American citizens are registered and permitted to vote. How do
you know this was just a software glitch and not a nefarious act?”

Van Drew and his colleagues, Reps. Chris Smith (R., N.J.), Randy Fine (R.,
Fla.), Nicole Malliotakis (R., N.Y.), Tony Wied (R., Wis.), Mike Lawler (R.,
N.Y.), Abe Hamadeh (R., Ariz.), Pete Stauber (R., Minn.), Claudia Tenney (R.,
N.Y.), Nick Langworthy (R., N.Y.), Ben Cline (R., Va.), Eli Crane (R., Ariz.),
Clay Fuller (R., Ga.), Max Miller (R., Ohio), August Pfluger (R., Texas), Dan
Meuser (R., Pa.), Tom Tiffany (R., Wis.), Stephanie Bice (R., Okla.), and Tim
Moore (R., N.C.), want Sherrill to respond by August 21 to a series of their
questions. Finish Reading →
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6 EXCLUSIVE As the Senate considers CFPB nominee, mobile billboard calls to
protect open banking By: Matthew Foldi As the Senate Banking Committee held a
confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump‘s nominee to lead the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a watchdog rented a mobile billboard that
drove around Washington, D.C. to make the case for the importance of open
banking.

One of the first priorities of the CFPB and its likely new chairman, Brian
Johnson, will be finalizing Rule 1033 — commonly known as the Open Banking Rule
— which theWashington Reporter has covered extensively
<[link removed]>
throughout its deliberation.

The watchdog group Save Our States, which previously launched
BanksVsAmerica.com <[link removed]> to highlight how big banks were
“attempting to destroy President Trump’s affordability agenda, as well as his
plans for innovation and crypto expansion by demanding the ability to ration
data and add new hidden fees for online transactions,” positioned a mobile
billboard <[link removed]> on
Capitol Hill to mark the hearing and remind Johnson and the CFPB about the
importance of protecting Open Banking; Save Our States’s billboard was obtained
exclusively by theWashington Reporter.

Trent England, the Executive Director of Save Our States, explained to the
Reporter why his campaign is important to American consumers. “Adding new tolls
and rationing to banking data directly conflicts with President Trump’s goal to
make the U.S. the innovation capital of the world, which is the path to
financial freedom and opportunity for all Americans,” England explained. “I’m
optimistic that a swift confirmation for Brian Johnson will let CFPB finalize
an open banking rule that stops any new fees or limits and keeps American
consumers in charge of their own banking.” Finish Reading →
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7 EXCLUSIVE Rep. Julia Letlow vows to continue crackdown on illegal Chinese
vapes in the Senate By: Washington Reporter Editors Rep. Julia Letlow (R.,
La.), who is poised to become a leading conservative in the U.S. Senate, says
combating the flood of illegal Chinese-made vaping products will remain one of
her top priorities if elected.

In a recent interview
<[link removed]>
with theWashington Reporter, Letlow said she plans to continue the work she
began in the House to crack down on illicit vape products that she argues
threaten children, undercut American businesses, and expose weaknesses at the
nation’s borders.

“I’ve fought to crack down on illegal Chinese-made vapes because they’re
targeting our children, undermining American businesses, and too often entering
our country illegally,” Letlow told theReporter’s Matthew Foldi. “That’s a
public health issue, a border security issue, and a national security issue.
I’ll continue leading that fight in the U.S. Senate and work to keep these
dangerous products out of our communities.”

Letlow has been one of Congress’ most outspoken advocates for stronger
enforcement against illegal vaping products manufactured in China. She has
introduced
<[link removed]>
legislation aimed at strengthening enforcement and has repeatedly warned that
bad actors are exploiting gaps in federal oversight to flood the U.S. market
with unauthorized products. Finish Reading →
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8 SCOOP “She knows exactly what he’s going through”: Kamala Harris backing
Troy Jackson resurfaces 2024 problems for Democrats By: Matthew Foldi The
Democrats’ Maine nightmare is starting to look a lot like 2024, and that bodes
poorly for their new Senate nominee, Troy Jackson.

In the span of a few days, Jackson went from a failed gubernatorial candidate
to the Democrats’ sudden Senate nominee after Graham Platner’s campaign fully
imploded. Despite Platner’s historically high vote count in the primary, and
his success in forcing Gov. Janet Mills (D., Maine) into early retirement,
Democrats wanted him out of the race once it became clear that he was unlikely
to beat Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) in November.

The problem was that Platner had already clinched the nomination. However,
Democrats had an escape valve they immediately activated, and Platner withdrew
just hours before it was too late to replace him.

Following several hastily-organized debates that gave Republicans even more
ad fodder, Jackson became the prohibitive favorite to win the several hundred
votes needed to replace Platner in November. Finish Reading →
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9 OPINIONATED
Op-Ed: T.W. Arrighi: The world will miss my friend and former boss, Lindsey
Graham By: T.W. Arrighi This is not an obituary in any traditional sense.
There are scores of family, friends, staffers, colleagues, and constituents who
knew Senator Lindsey Graham a lot longer, and a lot better than I did. This is
just one former staffer’s attempt at making sense of the shocking loss of a man
who had a major impact on his life and career, and who didn’t fully grasp that
impact until the first tear left his eye last Sunday morning.

Among the hundreds of texts, DMs, calls and comments I have received and read
following Lindsey’s passing, one sentiment followed many of their condolences:
“I had no idea…” Finish Reading →
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Op-Ed: Kayleigh Kozak: Does your state protect your family from sexual
predators? By: Kayleigh Kozak Most Americans believe the sex offender registry
tells them exactly what potential threats live in their neighborhood. Parents
use it before buying a home, choosing a school, or letting their children play
outside, trusting that it provides a complete picture of potential danger.

It doesn’t. Finish Reading →
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Op-Ed: Pat Hogan: Trump is right to question Spain, and Crescent Dunes shows
why By: Pat Hogan President Donald Trump recently made it clear that he is fed
up with Spain. After Spain refused to stand firmly with the United States and
Israel against Iran and continued to fall short of its NATO commitments,
President Trump said he wanted “nothing to do with Spain,” and called for
cutting off trade.

Most Americans saw those headlines as another foreign policy dispute.

But I immediately thought of Spain’s participation in one of the greatest
frauds ever perpetrated against the American taxpayer. And the outrage that
Spain has never paid us back.

Finish Reading →
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