Good morning. Cloudy with a high around 50 and rain after 5 PM. Rain continues overnight, with a low near 41. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
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I can’t stop listening to:
French Cassettes, “Utah.” This sharp San Francisco band plays Songbyrd tonight with Dim Wizard.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I’ve made a playlist on Spotify and on Apple Music of my daily music recommendations this year.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Epstein, Epstein, Epstein: Support ballooned among Republicans in Congress for a discharge petition that would direct the US government to release its files on the disgraced, deceased financier Jeffery Epstein—a former pal of President Trump—after Trump reversed course and said he supported it. The House will vote on the measure today, and this thing could even pass the Senate. (Politico) The President doesn’t need Congress to order him to release the files—he could do it right now. (NYT) He says he’ll sign the bill directing him to do what he could do right now. (ABC News) Trump “got tired of me winning,” US Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky said, explaining his success with the discharge petition. (Politico) Or, to put it another way, Trump “started leading the parade before he could be run over by it.” (Punchbowl News) Larry Summers said he was “deeply ashamed” of his emails with Epstein that surfaced in the latest tranche of documents and said he would “be stepping back from public commitments.” (Harvard Crimson) Trump growled, “Quiet. Quiet, Piggy,” at a female reporter over the weekend when she asked whether anything incriminating were in the emails. (People)
Completely unrelated developments: Trump blamed former President Biden for inflation at a meeting of McDonald’s franchise owners, telling them they were “damn lucky that I won that election.” (Politico) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered an interesting new theory about high beef prices: immigrants bringing sick cows across the border, he suggested, were responsible. The Treasury Department declined to elaborate on this explanation, which doesn’t appear to take into account the arguably greater effects of Trump’s tariffs. (NYT) Trump claimed Americans will get $2,000 tariff dividend checks next year, though Bessent threw some lukewarm water on the idea. (Axios)
D’oh! J: Trump may have erred in his choice of his former personal attorney Lindsey Halligan to carry out the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey, which he directed—publicly, by mistake—Attorney General Pam Bondi, another of his former attorneys, to pursue. A federal magistrate blasted Halligan’s errors in presenting the case to a grand jury, saying her screwups “raise genuine issues of misconduct.” (NYT) The judge identified a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” in his blistering ruling about grand jury materials in the case. (AP) Prosecutors could appeal the decision to US District Judge Michael Nachmanoff—full disclosure: We were in a play together in middle school, though I strongly suspect he doesn’t remember me because he was the lead and my role required me to say one word, twice, a parallel I’m trying not to dwell on—who is overseeing the case. (Politico) Meanwhile: Jason Reding Quiñones flunked out of a “boot camp” for prosecutors in Florida’s Southern District seven years ago. Today, he’s leading the administration’s investigations into Obama administration officials. (Washington Post)
The war on cities: Trump’s immigration crackdown will spread from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Raleigh today. (Axios) Might be a good day to follow Superchunk on Bluesky. (Superchunk/Bluesky) People in Charlotte are perplexed about why their city, like Raleigh, a blue island in a red state, is being targeted. (CNN) Administration officials say they’re planning raids on Spanish-language churches in Massachusetts during the holidays. (This Week in Worcester) Raids by ICE and CBP in Chicago yielded “a shockingly small number [of arrests] for a huge, expensive weeks-long operation.” (Doomsday Scenario) Meanwhile: Trump brought back a policy that would “deny permanent residency to lawfully present immigrants who use Medicaid or other food and housing assistance programs.” (Politico) The administration sued California over a new law that requires federal agents to show their faces while working. (AP) ICE has a new app, “powered by both Motorola Solutions and Thomson Reuters,” that allows its agents to track vehicles anywhere in the US. (404 Media)
Administration perambulation: David Richardson resigned as the head of FEMA yesterday. Richardson was famously incommunicado during floods in Texas this past July. (Washington Post) The World Health Organization could revoke the US’s “status as a nation that has eliminated measles” following sustained outbreaks in the West. (NYT) Trump might send US troops to Venezuela. (Washington Post) Administration official Paul Ingrassia—remember him?—intervened on behalf of Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate during a federal investigation of their electronic devices that followed their arrival in the US from Romania, where they faced “allegations of sex trafficking women in three countries.” (ProPublica) The UN Security Council approved the administration’s plan to end the war in Gaza. (Washington Post) Police in Florida say Andrew Paul Johnson, a January 6 rioter Trump pardoned, “dangled the prospect” that children he is accused of sexually assaulting could receive money from reparations that Trump has floated. (The Intercept) New York’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, wants a meeting with Trump. (NBC News) Lubbock, Texas, must remove its Buddy Holly–inspired crosswalk as part of the same administration rule that caused DC’s Black Lives Matter Plaza to be eliminated. (NYT)
Get into the holiday spirit—ready or not, by Daniella Byck:
An interesting consequence of working on seasonal stories for a print magazine is that I’m constantly living in the spirit of a season…months before it’s actually happening. This means dreaming up beach vacations while wearing a coat or thinking about colorful foliage as mosquitos bite my sweaty ankles. And the winter holidays? I’ve been listening to Christmas music since September in an attempt to get in the festive mindset. To be honest, I’m usually pretty sick of a season or holiday by the time we actually get there, which makes me feel oddly out of step with the rest of society and a little Grinch-like come December.But this year, I’ve noticed the Christmas creep has begun earlier than expected, bringing all of you closer to my state of temporal dissidence. Thanksgiving was once the divider between fall and holly jolly season, but that bastion has collapsed. Mariah Carey has defrosted, and she cannot be stopped!
You can already shop for gifts at Christmas markets, from the DC Holiday Market in Dupont Circle to Lucketts Holiday House in Leesburg. No need to wait for temperatures to drop before gliding on an outdoor ice rink: Reston Town Center is already welcoming skaters, and the rink at Washington Harbour opens this weekend, with views of the Georgetown waterfront. My personal favorite tradition is strolling through a light display, and there are currently options there, too. The Ice and Lights Winter Village in Cameron Run Regional Park has photo-ready installations such as a giant wreath and walk-through tree (ice skating opens after Thanksgiving), and there’s a half a mile of nature-themed bulbs at Meadowlark’s Winter Walk of Lights in Vienna. For those who are not fans of the holidays, you’re welcome to skip ahead and join me in my current time of year. I hope you prefer candy hearts and romance, because I’ve already moved on to Valentine’s Day.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• We tried the Omni Shoreham’s $1,964 Beatles “experience.”
• Get ready for this year’s holiday bars and pop-ups.
• Colorful watches—including a few in Mocha Mousse—are this year’s luxury trend.
Local news links:
• Do you have a few moments for some elite DC journalism insanity? Why am I even asking. Here’s an excerpt from Olivia Nuzzi‘s new book about her purported online fling with RFK Jr. (Vanity Fair) and former partner Ryan Lizza‘s account, which has a final sentence that is…huh. (Telos News)
• The Phillips Collection plans to sell works by Georgia O’Keeffe and Georges Seurat to help pay for commissions of new work. (Washington Post)
• The National Science Foundation has found a new home in Alexandria’s Carlyle neighborhood after the administration booted it from its previous home to move HUD in. (ALXnow)
• DC issued 601 marriage licenses during the shutdown. (Martin Austermuhle/Bluesky)
• The Key Bridge replacement in Baltimore will cost twice as much as anticipated and take longer to build. (NBC4 Washington)
• Washington met new Nats manager Blake Butera yesterday. (Washington Post)
• Thieves in Northern Virginia got an ATM to “spew cash like they hit the jackpot on a slot machine.” (NBC4 Washington)
• Looks like Georgetown will get a Uniqlo. (UrbanTurf)
• DC officials placed a lien on the Line Hotel’s owners, saying they owe more than half a million dollars in personal property taxes. They say they’re dealing with it. (WBJ)
Tuesday’s event picks:
• Digable Planets are at the Lincoln Theatre.
• “Hadestown” opens at National Theatre.
• Get ready for “Wicked: For Good” via trivia at Alamo Drafthouse DC.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
