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Happy Tuesday! How much would you pay for an unopened pack of American Spirit cigarettes the late Kurt Cobain left behind at a rehab clinic? If the answer is somewhere north of $1,700, here’s your chance! Entertain it!
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
- British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday dismissed Suella Braverman—who was serving as home secretary overseeing national security, law enforcement, and immigration—in an unexpected cabinet shuffle, replacing her with the current foreign secretary, James Cleverly. Sunak then tapped former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron to replace Cleverly as Britain’s top diplomat. To accept this position, Cameron—who is not currently serving in Parliament—was named a life peer, allowing him to serve in the United Kingdom’s House of Lords.
- The Department of Defense on Monday released the identities of the five soldiers killed in a helicopter accident during a training mission on Friday over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The five servicemen were members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment based in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but Pentagon officials noted there are “no indications of hostile activity.”
- The nine justices of the Supreme Court released a code of conduct on Monday in light of renewed scrutiny over ethics questions. The 14-page document lays out what might be grounds for disqualification from hearing a case—including personal bias or prejudice as it relates to the disputed facts of the case, involvement with the case at a previous stage, or a financial stake in the outcome of the case. “For the most part these rules and principles are not new,” the justices wrote, adding that “the absence of a code, however, has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the justices of this court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules.” The code does not include an enforcement mechanism for the standards it sets.
- Republicans on the House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas on Monday to several current and former White House aides as part of their investigation into President Joe Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. Former White House counsel Dana Remus is among the five aides called to testify as part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry into Biden. Oversight Chairman James Comer claims his committee has evidence Biden aides began searching the president’s Penn Biden Center offices—where the first documents were found—two years before aides said they first found the papers. Biden was interviewed last month as part of special counsel Robert Hur’s ongoing investigation into his handling of classified documents.
- The House of Representatives voted Monday night to table a resolution brought by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to immediately impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. In a 209 to 201 vote, eight Republicans joined all present Democrats to refer the matter to the Homeland Security Committee, which has already launched an impeachment inquiry over Mayorkas’ handling of the southern border.
- Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter, Naomi Biden, opened fire Sunday night on three individuals trying to break into an unmarked Secret Service SUV in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. “During this encounter, a federal agent discharged a service weapon and it is believed no one was struck,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement released after the incident. “The offenders immediately fled the scene in a red vehicle and a regional lookout was issued to supporting units.” The incident comes as car thefts are up 98 percent over the last year in D.C.—there’s not yet any indication the perpetrators knew the car belonged to the Secret Service.
- Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia announced Monday she is running for governor of the state, opting not to run for reelection for her tightly contested House seat in 2024. Spanberger—who formerly worked for the CIA—is the first candidate of either party in the gubernatorial race, which will be held in 2025. The current governor—Glenn Youngkin, a Republican—cannot run for a second consecutive term.
The Escalating Proxy Conflict with Iran
On October 25, American troops stationed at the Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq were targeted in a drone attack launched by Iranian-backed militia groups. One drone, laden with explosives, lodged in a barracks but did not detonate. Had it exploded, American military personnel likely would have died. “They are aiming to kill,” a U.S. defense official told the Wall Street Journal, “We have just been lucky.”
The attack was just one of dozens perpetrated against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria by Iranian proxy groups over the last month, presumably in response to American involvement in Israel’s war against Hamas. At least 56 service members have thus far been injured in the attacks, according to Pentagon officials, with 25 sustaining traumatic brain injuries. ...
As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. Our full 1,443-word story on rising tensions between the United States and Iran is available in the members-only version of TMD.
Worth Your Time
- It’s been a big year for the “aliens are real” crowd—but is physicist Sean Kirkpatrick, the outgoing head of the Pentagon’s UFO-identifying unit, among their number? “Sean Kirkpatrick set up an entire system for collecting data, waded through hundreds of reported UFO sightings and batted down whistleblower claims that the government covered up a program to reverse-engineer alien craft,” Lara Seligman wrote in a story for Politico. “And don’t forget the Chinese spy balloon episode. The Pentagon has a real interest in deciphering the sharp rise in unidentified crafts spotted by military pilots; if these aren’t aliens, they could be foreign adversaries posing incredibly new threats.” To cut to the chase: Are aliens real? “That is a great question. I love that question,” Kirkpatrick said in an interview. “Number one, the best thing that could come out of this job is to prove that there are aliens, right? Because if we don’t prove there are aliens, then what we’re finding is evidence of other people doing stuff in our backyard. And that’s not good. Two, from a scientific perspective: The scientific community will agree that it is statistically invalid to believe that there is not life out in the universe, as vast as the universe is and the number of galaxies and solar systems and planets. So part of what we’ve been trying to do, and part of what I will continue to do until I’m done, is raise the level of the conversation. Let me explain. If you are talking with NASA or the European Space Agency, and you’re talking about looking for life out in the universe, it is a very objective, very scientifically sound discussion and discourse. As that discussion gets closer to the solar system, somewhere around Mars, it turns into science fiction. And then as you get even closer to Earth, and you cross into Earth’s atmosphere, it becomes conspiracy theory.”
Presented Without Comment
Mediaite: Trump Spox Responds to Firestorm Over Trump Calling His Enemies “Vermin” With a Vow to “Crush Their Existence”
Toeing the Company Line
- It’s Tuesday, which means Dispatch Live (🔒) returns tonight at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT! The team will discuss the news of the week and, of course, take plenty of viewer questions! Keep an eye out for an email later today with information on how to tune in.
- In the newsletters: Kevin filed a dispatch from a Texas Nationalist Movement meeting in Waco, the Dispatch Politics team covered the aftermath of the GOP’s electoral defeats last week, and Nick argued (🔒) we need to take Trump seriously.
- On the podcasts: Declan sits down with Jonathan Karl of ABC News on The Dispatch Podcast to discuss his new Trump book, Sarah re-airs Bari Weiss’ Federalist Society lecture (on the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7 attacks) on Advisory Opinions, and Jonah inaugurates his “Ask Me Anything” podcast on The Skiff (🔒).
- On the site: Drucker posits that Trump’s GOP opponents have no answer for him, Charlotte explains what calls for a ceasefire in Gaza ignore, Stirewalt explores Sen. Joe Manchin’s retirement and potential No Labels bid, and Scott Winship breaks down the latest child poverty numbers.
James Scimecca is the editorial partnerships manager at The Dispatch, and is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2023, he served as the director of communications at the Empire Center for Public Policy. When James is not busy generating shareholder revenue, he can usually be found running along the Potomac River, cooking up a new recipe, or scoping out a new karaoke bar.
Mary Trimble is a former editor of The Morning Dispatch.
Grayson Logue is a staff writer for The Dispatch and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the company in 2023, he worked in political risk consulting, helping advise Fortune 50 companies. He was also an assistant editor at Providence Magazine and is a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh, pursuing a Master’s degree in history. When Grayson is not writing pieces for the website, he is probably working hard to reduce the number of balls he loses on the golf course.
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