BOARDROOM POKER

Public Citizen, an advocacy group working from FEC and OpenSecrets data through the second quarter, counts $646 million in corporate political spending, 40% above 2024 and triple the 2022 midterms. Crypto leads at $206 million, online betting adds $76 million, and Big Tech, AI and data centers add $62 million: 53% of the total. MAGA Inc. now sits at $401 million, with Gemini giving $10 million and Reynolds American $5 million this quarter. Koch Inc. put $20 million into Americans for Prosperity. The Campaign Legal Center alleges that Tamarack Aspen Inc., which gave $6.7 million to a PAC that spent against Rep. Thomas Massie, is a shell hiding the real donors. Public Citizen says the totals likely undercount.

Bloomberg Law reports the SEC dropped its civil cases against Ozy Media's Carlos Watson, Nikola's Trevor Milton and venture capitalist Devon Archer after Trump granted clemency, with no penalties and no money back to harmed investors. Watson's commutation wiped out about $37 million in restitution after a judge called his dishonesty "exceptional." Milton is now pursuing a $70 million claim in Nikola's bankruptcy based on his pardon. Defendants pardoned or commuted in this term had been ordered to pay a combined $176 million in restitution and fines. Former pardon attorney Liz Oyer: "In many cases, the SEC is just giving up on seeking civil penalties in cases where pardons have been granted."

A report from the Democratic minority of the Joint Economic Committee says pharmaceutical holdings in Trump's accounts grew from a reported maximum of $1.7 million in 2024 to as much as $56.2 million by the end of 2025, including up to $39.1 million in companies that benefited from Medicare negotiation exemptions in the 2025 tax law. It lists purchases of up to $950,000 on July 1, 2025, the day the Senate passed the bill. The White House says a third party manages the portfolio and that Trump and his family have no ability to direct it. Separately, his 2025 disclosure shows about $1.2 billion in crypto revenue, while the meme coin business that took in more than $600 million watched its coin fall from a $74 peak to about $1.68 by June. Bloomberg counts about 28,700 trades in 17 months. Ethics lawyer Richard Painter: "I believe that that is a huge problem." Federal conflict law, 18 U.S.C. 208, exempts the president and vice president.

Paramount Skydance has completed its roughly $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. David Ellison is chairman and CEO, Mark Thompson stays at CNN and Bari Weiss at CBS News. The settlement requires a five-member News Editorial Independence Board within 180 days of closing, appointed by Skydance's board, which Ellison chairs, with no requirement to publish findings. Larry Ellison gave about $45 million to a nonprofit backing Trump's 2024 campaign, and Saudi, Qatari and Emirati sovereign funds hold indirect, non-voting stakes. Ellison has pledged CNN and CBS will be "completely editorially independent." Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation: "A Paramount-appointed editorial independence board for CNN and CBS is worthless."

The Iran war is nearly eight months old and 21 U.S. service members have died, according to the Pentagon. Exxon posted $14.5 billion in second-quarter earnings, its best quarter in four years. Chevron posted $12 billion, its best in six. Shell posted nearly $10 billion, more than double a year earlier. As of October 16, AAA put regular gas at $4.33 and diesel at $6.33. Trump himself said the companies were "making too much money based on a shortage" and "I'm not happy about it."

The administration collected $166 billion in emergency tariffs before the Supreme Court struck them down in February. By August 4, companies had received at least $100 billion back. Walmart expects up to $10.2 billion, Apple reportedly received $2.2 billion, Target may be eligible for up to $2.2 billion and Amazon took in $600 million in the second quarter. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's August 7 letters asked them to pass refunds on to customers, citing estimates that American families ended up paying about 95% of the tariffs. New Section 301 tariffs are already in place, and already in court.

October's cuts: Netflix about 1,000 jobs (6%), its largest round since 2022; HubSpot about 660 (7%), whose CEO said the cuts were "not driven by AI-related efficiencies"; Amazon fewer than 1,000, announced during Prime Big Deal Days; Flock Safety 270 through buyouts. Meanwhile the machine bill is coming due. Gartner projects $7 trillion in AI infrastructure spending through 2030 against no more than $3.6 trillion in revenue. About a third of AI capital spending is debt-funded, yet global AI debt issuance fell from $113 billion in June to $23 billion in September, per the Financial Times. JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon confirmed the bank is tightening credit standards, and an AI cloud provider, Firmus, shelved an IPO that sought a valuation above $30 billion.

In Georgia on October 13, Rep. Mike Collins called Sen. Jon Ossoff "a globe-trotting trust fund kid" and framed the race as "Georgia and Georgetown"; Ossoff called Collins a "puppet" of Trump and pressed him on a House ethics investigation Collins dismissed as a "nothingburger." In Maine, Troy Jackson told Sen. Susan Collins to "shut up" after a protester disrupted their final debate. In Alaska, Mary Peltola drew mockery for reading from notecards, and Sen. Dan Sullivan posted, "You can't cue-card your way through the Senate." The petty cash is just as loud: Trump mocked Ossoff's $2,887 makeup artist, and a Republican challenger is attacking a Democrat's $4,338 tab for cookies, wine and beer. Fox News rates Alaska and Maine as toss-ups, with both chambers in play and Republicans defending them.