Good afternoon, everyone. We have a political earthquake to cover. Newly released audio reveals Steve Witkoff, one of Trump’s closest aides and his handpicked peace envoy, actively coaching senior Kremlin officials on how Vladimir Putin should push Trump into accepting a Russia-favored Ukraine peace deal. This is an extraordinary breach of protocol and comes at the very moment Trump has aligned himself with the 28-point plan shaped around Moscow’s demands, raising profound questions about who is truly steering U.S. foreign policy.

I am also tracking the nationwide “Mass Blackout” beginning today, an unprecedented economic protest aimed squarely at major retailers and corporate power. It intentionally exempts small businesses, including independent newsrooms like mine. If you value this reporting, please consider subscribing. As we head into the holidays, I want to say sincerely: your support gives me the privilege of doing the work I love every single day. Thank you.

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Here’s what you missed:

  • Bloomberg reports that Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov in an Oct. 14 call how Vladimir Putin should pitch a joint Ukraine peace plan to Trump, including arranging a Trump-Putin call and using the Gaza deal as a model ahead of Zelenskiy’s visit to the White House.
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  • Trump’s overriding priority in Ukraine peace talks is to end the war quickly, with no firm red lines and openness to major Ukrainian concessions, prompting criticism from some Republicans and concern in Europe, even as U.S. officials keep revising his proposal from an initial 28-point plan to a 19-point version amid tense negotiations with Kyiv and Moscow.
  • CNN reports that Trump officials are discussing potential Cabinet shakeups after the president’s one-year mark in his second term—possibly affecting the Homeland Security and Energy departments—though no decisions are made and changes wouldn’t occur until early next year; the White House denies the report, insisting Trump is satisfied with his Cabinet, while the context recalls high-profile departures during his first administration.
  • Reports from MS Now say Trump is considering firing FBI Director Kash Patel amid growing frustration over accusations that he misused bureau resources—including using a government jet and SWAT agents for his girlfriend’s security—as well as internal clashes and ill-timed public posts, though the White House publicly defends Patel and says he remains a key member of the administration.
  • The FBI is seeking to interview six Democratic lawmakers after Trump accused them of “seditious behavior” for releasing a video urging military and intelligence personnel not to follow illegal orders — a move the lawmakers call an intimidation tactic enabled by a weakened DOJ oversight structure, as they vow to keep speaking out and defend constitutional principles.
  • Four Democratic House members who appeared in a video urging troops to refuse illegal orders say the FBI has sought interviews with them, accusing Trump of using the bureau to intimidate them as they insist they will uphold their constitutional oath and “not be bullied.”
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  • The Washington Post is reporting that the Trump EPA is abandoning its defense of a Biden-era rule that tightened limits on deadly fine-particle pollution, arguing the agency lacked authority even as scientists warn the rollback will mean dirtier air and more premature deaths, and environmental groups accuse the administration of siding with polluters over public health.
  • A coalition of grassroots groups has begun a weeklong “Mass Blackout,” asking Americans to withdraw from major economic activity from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2, avoiding online and in-store shopping (except small businesses), streaming, travel, and restaurant spending to protest corporate power, political corruption, and the Trump administration.
  • Organizers chose the peak shopping week of Black Friday and Cyber Monday to maximize visibility, urging people to “support small, local businesses only” and pay in cash if they must spend. While similar boycotts have had limited impact on overall sales, leaders say the goal is to show collective power, model unity across movements, and push back against what they describe as a political system captured by corporate interests.
  • Legal experts say Trump may have unintentionally issued a sweeping federal pardon for any US citizen who committed voter-related crimes in 2020, because the language in his pardon for Rudy Giuliani and other fake-elector participants broadly covers anyone whose “supporting, voting, or advocating” conduct related to slates of presidential electors. Defense lawyers for Matthew Alan Laiss—accused of casting ballots in both Pennsylvania and Florida for Trump—argue this wording shields him from prosecution, a claim scholars say is plausible given how imprecise and expansive the pardon is.
  • The Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed that Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, a critic of Covid vaccines and an ally of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, has been appointed principal deputy director of the CDC, a powerful role that has drawn concern from public health experts given his vaccine skepticism, lack of board certification in family medicine, and past moves to halt mass vaccination campaigns.
  • According to NBC, Manhattan prosecutors will retry Pedro Hernandez after his 2017 conviction for the 1979 kidnapping and killing of 6-year-old Etan Patz was overturned because an appeals court found the trial judge gave flawed instructions to jurors.
  • Twenty state attorneys general and two governors sued the Trump administration over major cuts and new ideological conditions placed on HUD’s Continuum of Care homelessness program, arguing the shifts from permanent to transitional housing and restrictions on LGBTQ-inclusive organizations are unlawful and could put up to 170,000 people at risk of losing stable housing.
  • Virginia police are searching for missing high school football coach Travis Turner, who is now a fugitive wanted on 10 charges involving child pornography and computer solicitation of a minor, as investigators continue the case and his undefeated team moves forward in the playoffs without him.
  • Brazil’s supreme court has ordered former president Jair Bolsonaro to begin serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup to stop Lula from taking office, with Bolsonaro and several ex-military and political allies now headed to prison as his influence wanes and only small groups of supporters protest.
  • D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser announced she will not seek a fourth term, saying she’ll finish her tenure in 2027 after a turbulent year marked by Trump’s federal takeover of the city’s police force and National Guard deployments, while defending her approach as pragmatic under legal constraints and celebrating her decade of service.

    • See you in the morning.

    — Aaron