Heather Cox Richardson June 4, 2026June 3, 2026 PRIDE It’s June. Chris Gallant, running to flip NY-1 blue, here tells that part of his story (90 seconds). OSSOFF Such a contrast with Mike Johnson (140 seconds). PULTE Charlie Sykes: On Tuesday we learned that the Pentagon has hired a convicted January 6 rioter for a sensitive counterterrorism job. . . . That story was overshadowed by Trump’s appointment of MAGA-loyalist Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence. But the two stories are related, because, as Derek Thompson wrote, they are an indication that we have entered “Late-stage Kakistocracy” — the “phase of democratic decline where the regime starts running out of people who will work for it, and so the folks who aren’t qualified for their current positions are promoted to even larger positions for which they are even more unqualified.” Under the law that established the DNI, appointees are required to have “extensive national security expertise.” Pulte, who heads up the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has none. He has no background in either intelligence or law enforcement. . . . [But] Pulte has the one qualification that Trump is now demanding: As he scrapes the bottom of his barrel, the president is looking for appointees ready and willing to abuse the powers of government to punish his enemies. In Pulte — as in Todd Blanche and Ken Paxton — he has found the whole package. Pulte proved his willingness to use his position to help Trump target NY AG Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff and others. Nothing has come of the cases, but it was the malice that counted. Now he gets to use the resources of the nation’s intelligence community to pursue that agenda. HCR I could listen to historian Heather Cox Richardson all day — and will, if and when my application is approved. (I’ve applied for 4 extra hours in every 28-hour day that no one else gets but me.) But I did find 50 minutes Tuesday to listen to this one. If you do, I think you may find yourself subscribing to her channel, as more than a million of us have. EPSTEIN Any news?