Julian Mark

Bettors wagered $54 million on Khamenei’s death. Now they’re not getting paid. Kalshi, a prediction market site, has sparked outrage after freezing $54 million in bets on the death of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, citing a rule against profiting from death.

New: I talked to the traders who bet Khamenei would die.

One, an Israeli ex-pat, would've won $63,000 before Kalshi froze the bet: “I was booking my trip to Courchevel.”

“American commercial immorality on steroids," @chrismurphyct.bsky.social told me

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Supreme Court weighs whether smoking weed can eliminate your right to a gun The issue before the court is whether the law meets a strict Second Amendment standard that any gun restriction must be consistent with the “Nation’s historical tradition.”

The Supreme Court is reviewing the constitutionality of a law barring regular users of controlled substances from owning guns.

Supreme Court sides with parents in legal battle over notification for trans students At issue is a California law prohibiting school policies that require employees to report students’ sexual orientation and gender identity to parents.

On emergency basis, SCOTUS conservatives upend California polities around parent notification for trans students. The justices said Christian parents were likely to succeed on their religious freedom and "parental rights" claims.

Supreme Court weighs whether smoking weed can eliminate your right to a gun The issue before the court is whether the law meets a strict Second Amendment standard that any gun restriction must be consistent with the “Nation’s historical tradition.”

SCOTUS talked A LOT about drugs today -- and not just weed. Lots of hypotheticals about Ambien of all things, but also references to ayahuasca (!!). Some justices seemed unconvinced that taking a weed gummy a few times a week is enough to take someone's gun away. We'll see.

Fun discussion about ayahuasca at the Supreme Court today.

Justice Elena Kagan pretty accurately described its effects.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett had never heard of it.

“Is that real?” She asked

The Trump admin is asking SCOTUS to intervene in a case that could end the TPS status of 6,100 Syrians. So far, SCOTUS has sided with DHS on similar requests -- and will probably grant this one. Decision could come in a few weeks. www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?...

SCOTUS unanimously ruled against Geo Group today. The justices said the company, which runs ICE detention centers, must live with a ruling that it's NOT immune from a lawsuit alleging the company put detainees to work for $1 a day.

More background here: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Handing defeats to Trump, Supreme Court signals potential course change A pair of rulings on tariffs and National Guard deployment mark the justices’ first major decisions against the president. More may be coming.

The Supreme Court signed off on nearly every policy of President Trump, but in a sharp reversal, the justices struck down his sweeping tariffs.

The rulings and argument could start a new and fraught era of relations between a president and justices.

Here's who the Washington Post just laid off.

I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.

Elizabeth Hughes: There is a path for Pittsburgh to save its newspaper As publisher of The Inquirer, I believe that our own experience over the past decade offers a template for success.

some (rare) good news for the journalism industry: The Philadelphia Inquirer is profitable
www.inquirer.com/opinion/comm...

X says Grok account will stop undressing women. I just tested the standalone Grok app, which immediately complied with my request to undress a photo of me. This is illegal, according to the legal experts I spoke with.

“The reports of F.B.I. agents raiding the home of a journalist and seizing her electronic devices are deeply concerning and portray a stark threat to free press rights in this country. Actions like this inevitably impede reporters’ ability to gather news in the public interest and as a result make the government less accountable. Reporting and newsgathering enjoy protection under the U.S. Constitution. Law enforcement intimidation like this imperils the transparency provided by independent media.” - David McCraw, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel

Trump’s pardons wipe out payments to defrauded victims In addition to clearing prison sentences, the president’s clemency actions have erased millions in restitution payments.

At least 20 people who have received clemency from President Trump so far this year were also forgiven of financial penalties totaling tens of millions of dollars.

Some of these offenders owed money to real-life victims of fraud.

Supreme Court tells state to reconsider screening child victim from defendant The placement of a screen to shield a child-abuse victim in court might violate the constitutional right of a defendant to face their accuser, high court says.

Screens are often used to shield child sex-abuse victims when they testify, but that can conflict with a defendant’s constitutional rights, the Supreme Court noted Monday.

MAGA lobbying firms are booming. This is where their money goes. Business is booming for MAGA-aligned lobbyists in Washington.

Money is pouring into MAGA lobbying firms amid a record surge in spending. Ballard Partners, which once employed Susie Wiles and AG Bondi, has become the most sought after shop for inroads into Trump’s orbit. W/ @federicacocco more here on where how that money is being spent: wapo.st/4nixqrd

Discrimination cases unravel as Trump scraps core civil rights tenet The administration is dismissing cases and unwinding settlements built on "disparate impact," which holds that even neutral policies can lead to biased outcomes.

For decades, the fed’l gov’t used data analysis - known as disparate impact - to ferret out discrimination, winning cases and reaching settlements in housing, education, policing and more. Now the Trump admin is unwinding those cases. w/
@julez.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Analysis | Trump’s move to fire Democrats puts FTC’s independence in doubt The firing of Democrats, bound to face legal review, poses uncharted challenges to the agency’s role as a business and tech watchdog.

Former FTC officials say Trump's brazen firing of both Democrats on the commission is a bid to crush dissent that, if allowed to stand, could cost the agency its legitimacy. One called it "a big gift to corporate lawbreakers."

Gift link to today's Tech Brief: wapo.st/4hoPPzU w/ @julez.bsky.social

Trump officials start gutting civil rights offices, as part of DOGE’s secret plan Legal experts said that unwinding a civil rights-era bulwark designed to safeguard employees’ rights removes a crucial check on institutional power.

The gutting of a longstanding civil rights bulwark in the federal government has begun. In the 60s, civil rights reforms began with the federal government. Six decades later, so is their dismantling w/ @hannahnatanson.bsky.social and @danielleabril.bsky.social

wapo.st/43aVQg1

My colleagues and I have been working to break news + write stories holding powerful people accountable.

These are the top stories on our homepage right now, one of which I worked on.

Our newsroom work is continuing.

No one has ever told me what to write. If that changes, I’d speak out and leave.

Link to Signal blocked by X.

X is blocking links to @signal.org, now widely used to discuss / report on Washington.

Same technique (flagging as 'potentially harmful') that X has used to block / throttle Bluesky, Instagram, NYT, Reuters & Substack.

When Twitter derailed links to Hunter Biden story, Musk called it "tyranny."

Musk’s DOGE seeks access to personal taxpayer data, raising alarm at IRS Musk’s DOGE seeks access to personal taxpayer data at IRS

🚨 SCOOP: DOGE is seeking personal taxpayer data at IRS, sources tell me. 🚨

Trump admin is pushing IRS to agree to an MOU that would give DOGE access to granular data on every taxpayer, business and nonprofit in the country.

It was the deadliest workplace in America. So why didn’t safety regulators shut it down? OSHA issued over 180 citations and millions in fines to this Alabama sawmill, the deadliest workplace in America, but the mayhem didn’t stop.

Phenix Lumber was the deadliest workplace in America over the past five years. OSHA inspectors issued them more than 100 safety violations and millions in fines. Yet deaths and injuries continued.

I obtained documents revealing DOGE’s private plans to soon eliminate at least hundreds of government workers and offices they somehow tag as related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Help us keep doing this kind of reporting: message me on Signal at (202) 580-5477.
wapo.st/4jVWqEd

Trump administration moves to drop transgender discrimination cases The EEOC, citing executive orders targeting gender identity, is aiming to dismiss half a dozen cases, marking a reversal in U.S. civil rights enforcement.

NEW: Over the last few days, the Trump administration has moved to drop cases the EEOC had brought on behalf of transgender workers, some who allege they were groped at work and referred to as "it."

wapo.st/4b0Yc2S

Records show how DOGE planned Trump’s DEI purge — and who gets fired next A DOGE team plans to fire federal workers who are not in DEI roles and employees in offices that protect equal rights, internal documents show.

Here’s the full scope of DOGE’s purge of federal DEI and civil rights office workers: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Layoffs to hit IRS as DOGE targets tax collections Several people briefed on the matter said cuts to the IRS cuts numbering in the thousands. One target is tax collections.

🚨NEWS: Massive layoffs are about to hit the IRS -- around 10,000 employees -- potentially in the middle of filing season.

Of particular interest to the DOGE: Cutting IRS enforcement capabilities.

-- with @jeffstein.bsky.social + Hannah Natanson

Clerked for Justice Scalia, member of the Federalist Society, picked by Trump administration last month

SCOOP: Elon Musk’s DOGE is feeding sensitive federal data from the Education Department into AI to target cuts.

DOGE was also responsible for placing 100+ non-DEI employees on leave for DEI www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Elon Musk's Takeover Is Causing Rifts in Donald Trump's Inner Circle “He’s getting too big for his britches,” says one Trump world source.

NEW: A half dozen Trump loyalists in and around the admin have told WIRED there’s a fissure emerging between Musk and Trump camps, following Musk’s DOGE takeover.

By @jakelahut.writes.news: