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Billionaire Ken Griffin Has Spent $40 Million To Keep The Senate Red, But Snubs Trump's Favorite Texan

Ken Griffin has put roughly $40 million into Republican midterm efforts this year and could double that by November, according to the Wall Street Journal. The money runs through nearly every competitive Senate race in the country - except for one... Ken Paxton's run for a seat in Texas, which won't see a dime of it.

According to the report, the Citadel founder has no plans to help the Texas Republican nominee - the candidate President Trump pushed onto the ballot by helping end John Cornyn's Senate career. The Journal notes that donors rarely broadcast who they're refusing to fund. When one does - a day before super PACs file their quarterly reports, and eight days before Senate Majority Leader John Thune headlines a Washington fundraiser for Paxton - it's fair to assume other donors are meant to hear it.

The refusal lands in the middle of an argument Republicans have been having since late May, sometimes privately and increasingly on the record: who pays for the candidates Trump forced on the party? The president's own political action committee, MAGA Inc., was sitting on roughly $382 million as of last month, the Boston Globe reported, and hasn't said what the money is for. Cornyn, asked about funding the man who beat him, told Semafor: "I think he can spend his money."

Where Ken Is Spending

Griffin's biggest check this cycle, $10 million, went to the Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with Thune, according to the Journal. He gave $2.5 million apiece to groups backing Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, and $1.5 million to one supporting Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa's open-seat race. The Cook Political Report rates Alaska and Maine as tossups, while Iowa leans Republican - a state Trump carried by double digits in 2024. On the House side, he gave $5 million in May to the Congressional Leadership Fund and $5.5 million split between two other groups, including one that backs veterans running as Republicans. "I am able to fully fund these races because of his steady investment cycle over cycle," said Chris Winkelman, the Congressional Leadership Fund's president.

The people familiar with his giving told the Journal that Griffin is focused on the Senate because six-year terms give his money the longest reach into the party's future after Trump, whose term ends in January 2029. A senator elected this fall serves until January 2033. Whoever wins the White House in 2028 will be confirmed, funded and investigated by the class Griffin is paying to elect right now.

He has already said which 2028 candidate he'd rather see. At the Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley on July 8, interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Griffin to pick between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance in a hypothetical primary. Griffin said he'd be "predisposed" toward Rubio, whose 2016 campaign he backed with $5 million to a supporting super PAC, Axios reported. (The Journal notes the question offered only those two names.) According to Revenge, Axios reporter Alex Isenstadt's book on the 2024 campaign, Griffin urged Trump not to put Vance on the ticket at all. Vance has said he'll decide on a presidential run after the midterms.

Griffin's distance from Trump goes back years. Worth an estimated $50 billion-plus, he was the country's fifth-biggest political donor in 2024, giving $108 million by OpenSecrets' count - about 37 percent of what top donor Elon Musk spent that cycle - and none of it went to Trump, whose campaigns he has never funded. He spent $5 million that cycle keeping Nikki Haley's primary bid alive. He voted for Trump - "not with a smile on my face," he said afterward - gave $1 million to the inaugural committee, and has since praised the administration's border enforcement while criticizing its tariffs and its pressure on the Federal Reserve. If his giving doubles as projected, Griffin would join the cycle's top tier of donors, which a New York Times analysis this spring put at Andreessen Horowitz ($115.5 million), George Soros ($102.9 million) and Elon Musk ($85 million).

Then There's Texas

Paxton, the state attorney general, launched his challenge in April 2025, and Senate Republican leadership spent heavily to stop him. Cornyn and his allies put more than $90 million into the primary, according to the Texas Tribune, including $11 million from One Nation, the nonprofit arm of Thune's political operation; pro-Cornyn groups outspent Paxton's side by roughly nine to one. Cornyn finished a point ahead in the March 3 first round but short of a majority. A week before the runoff, Trump endorsed Paxton, calling him "a true MAGA warrior." Cornyn became the first Republican senator in Texas history to lose his party's nomination, in a spring when Trump-backed challengers also took out Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky.

Democratic nominee James Talarico, an Austin state representative, had raised more than $40 million through his primary and took in $600,000 in the two hours after Paxton won, his campaign said. Paxton had raised $7.6 million and had $2.3 million left as of early May, per FEC records cited by NBC News. Republican operatives told the network that holding the state, with its roughly 20 media markets, could cost outside groups $100 million. Meanwhile, anti-Paxton Republicans handed Democrats their script: a 2023 impeachment on corruption charges by the Republican-led Texas House (the state Senate acquitted him) and years of legal and ethics controversies besides.

That history, the people familiar with Griffin's giving told the Journal, is why he's staying out.

The $10 million question

There's a catch to Griffin's ghosting of Paxton - The Senate Leadership Fund hasn't ruled Texas out. If the group goes in this fall, Griffin's $10 million goes in with it; money doesn't stay in labeled jars. So either "no plans to help Paxton" has some give in it, or the leadership PAC's most prominent donor has effectively told it where not to spend. Neither Griffin's office nor Latcham has answered that question on the record.

The backdrop: Republicans hold the Senate 53-47, Democrats need to net four seats, and Griffin's side of the ledger has strengthened without him lifting a finger. In Maine, Democrat Graham Platner - who won the June 9 primary with about 70 percent of the vote - formally quit the race July 10 over a sexual assault allegation he denies, leaving the party to pick a replacement at a 601-delegate convention on July 25, two days ahead of the ballot deadline. Collins, backed by Griffin's $2.5 million and $42 million in SLF reservations, currently has no opponent at all.

The quarterly filings land Wednesday, and the Paxton fundraiser is a week later.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/14/2026 - 14:45

Sheriff Says Somali Youth Gangs Are Running Wild In Minneapolis

Authored by Joe Schaeffer via Liberty Nation,

A Minneapolis sheriff has triggered an uncomfortable conversation by saying out loud what you are not supposed to talk about in Minnesota. "Out of control" gangs of Somali youths are terrorizing the city, and the mayhem is poised to get worse.

(Photo by Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher released a livestream video on July 6 decrying widespread violence by Somali gang members over the Fourth of July weekend. He also took the opportunity to criticize media outlets in the Twin Cities and the state for refusing to cover the problem.

Fletcher "stated that the Somali gangs are responsible for at least 14 murders in the last two years as well as over 100 shootings - many of them at high-profile events like graduations and the State Fair. Fletcher also said in his promo video that he heard from a Minneapolis police officer who said that 20 percent of their homicides are now Somalis," local news site Alpha News reports.

The situation is blowing up right in front of the public eye.

'It's All About Ego for 99% of It'

"Investigators say Somali gang violence is growing quickly and now spans the metro [area], with 12 Somali gangs tracked from Minneapolis and St. Paul to St. Cloud, Apple Valley and Burnsville. Most of the violence involves guns, according to the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office," Fox-9 TV in Minneapolis reports. "Authorities say the gangs are still young and growing, with about 300 people involved right now."

Ramsey County Deputy Ben Seidel said the Somali youth gangs don't operate like traditional inner-city gangs in the sense of being motivated by money. "From what I've seen... it's all about showboating. It's all about ego for 99% of it. They aren't selling narcotics. It's all about just gloating," Seidel states in the video.

There's a history to Somali gang violence in Minneapolis that explains the seeming novelty of these officers' remarks. In blue-dominated Minnesota, criticizing the Somali community in any way is immediately defined as racist. The "R card" has been so weaponized in the state that health-care fraud was allowed to flourish for years, which may have cost American taxpayers up to $9 billion.

There is nothing new about Somali gangs in Minnesota. They have been identified as a growing problem for 20 years or more. And it has never sounded like child's play. Every few years, the issue is ventilated, only to recede amid de rigueur pressure from "anti-racist" organizations and personalities.

The City of Minneapolis commissioned a study in 2007 after a series of robberies by Somali teens in 2005. As Minnesota Public Radio detailed at the time:

"The report's author, consultant Shukri Adan, presented her findings to members of the city council.

"Adan says at first it was thought the Somali youth were involved in loosely organized groups of 'troublemakers.' However, Adan says as these young people ended up in jail, they met established gang members and learned from them how to organize.

"'They're very sophisticated and they've adapted some of that into the Somali gang structure. But for the Somali gangs that I've identified, they were specifically Somalis and all their membership were Somalis, even though they had associations with other gangs.'"

Yet leftist MPR made sure to point out that "[t]he report says gang activity is relatively small. Statistics from the Minnesota Gang Strike Force identifies 52 Somali gang members - less than one percent of all known gang members in Minnesota."

Three years later, the Somali youth had moved on to serious organized criminal activity.

Somali Gangs Trafficking African American Girls

A "federal indictment unsealed in November [2010] in Tennessee charges 29 people with crimes from sex trafficking to credit card fraud to witness intimidation. It said the accused were members or associates of three Somali gangs - often acting as one larger gang - bent on forcing girls into prostitution for their own profit," the Associated Press reported in 2011. The gangs were trafficking girls from Minneapolis to Nashville and Columbus, Ohio - three cities with significant Somali populations.

The article featured a harrowing account of the brutalization of a 12-year-old girl. And there was a further revelation that the professional "anti-racists" would rather you not hear about.

"The indictment details several instances in which young Somali or African American girls were taken from place to place and forced to engage in sex acts with multiple people. One girl was under 13 when she was first prostituted. Another girl was 18 when she was raped by multiple men in a hotel room," the AP reported in November 2010.

Whereas much of the violence perpetrated by Somali youth gangs is targeted at their fellow East African immigrant communities, underage native-born American black girls were among those being sexually exploited by this ring, as well. Where was the outrage from the Congressional Black Caucus?

Just as with MPR, the AP seemed to downplay the number of Somali gang members in 2011. "There are seven Somali gangs in Minneapolis, and a total of about 200 documented Somali gang members and associates, [Minneapolis police officer and Somali community liaison Jeanine Brudenell] said - about 10 percent of the roughly 2,100 documented active gang members in the Minneapolis Police Department's system. The gang members are a small fraction of the Somali population," the AP stressed.

Fast forward to 2026 and we're up to 300 gang members (and who knows how many more yet to be identified?). Even Sheriff Fletcher, while calling out the problem nobody wants to talk about, treads carefully.

"Fletcher was careful not to castigate the entire Somali community or even all of their youth in his comments," Alpha News noted of the livestream video. "Rather, he said that the violence is stemming from a small number of misguided, mostly male youth, which he later clarified is about 300 young people participating in about 12 gangs across the metro [area] and Minnesota."

There's one final element we should emphasize. As Somalis moved en masse to states like Minnesota, they retained their fiercely held tribal identities.

"[C]lan rivalry is often the most important reason for gang violence" within the Somali community, Viktor Marsai at the Center for Immigration Studies wrote in March. "Clan violence is fueled not only in the offline space. More and more Somali TikTokers and Youtubers are using online platforms to glorify their own clan tradition and savage rival groups. In many cases, tens of thousands of people are following these accounts and add hundreds of comments. The inflammatory effects spill over from the online... these influencers utilize their clout to support violence in their country of residence and in Somalia."

Americans may not be able to comprehend the meaning behind what Deputy Seidel refers to as "showboating" among Somali gang members. How much of this comes from lingering clan identification dating back to the old country? How much is fueled by a foreign culture wholly incompatible with the American way of life?

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/14/2026 - 14:25

The Senior Citizens League just announced their COLA projection — and it's a boost for seniors.

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Back in December, after months of speculation about his future on the air, the radio titan signed a new contract that would give him more "flexibility."

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Watch: Yet Another Shocking Video Of UK's Two-Tier Policing Drops

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

Fresh footage from Northern Ireland captures police sprinting past a group of knife- and stick-wielding feral youths to cuff a local man who had grabbed a stick to protect the native women and children in his street.

The scene in Dungannon underscores a now-familiar pattern: authorities appear quicker to restrain locals standing up for their communities than to neutralise imported threats.

The video, shared widely on X, shows a large group of youths described as "foreigners" arriving armed in a Protestant area of the town. One man, who also appears to be of foreign descent, picks up a stick in response. A police officer runs straight past the armed mob and detains the defender instead.

A large group of foreigners armed with knives and sticks show up at the protestant area of Dungannon in Northern Ireland.

A police officer runs past them to arrest a local man who had picked up a stick to defend his community.

Two-tier policing... pic.twitter.com/SXlix63Pkz

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 14, 2026

Official police accounts confirm serious disorder in the area yesterday evening.

District Commander Superintendent Peter Stevenson stated: "At approximately 7.45pm police received a report of altercation involving approximately 10 men armed with knives and bats at a property in the Killyman Road area. The men smashed the windows and caused damage to the front door of a property. Officers attended and a 32-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. Two other men, aged 32 and 35, were arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. They remain in police custody at this time."

The Superintendent continued, "At approximately 11pm, officers on patrol came across a large group of males gathered in the Newell Road area. Further reports had also been received of a number of males in the area carrying knives and bats. One man had been assaulted and sustained cuts to his hands and face. He attended hospital for treatment for his injuries. An 18-year old man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence. He remains in police custody."

DUP MLA Deborah Erskine voiced growing local frustration: "There is no place for violence, intimidation or criminality on the streets of Dungannon. Criminality is criminality, regardless of who is involved or which section of the community they come from. It must be called out and condemned consistently."

"There can be no selective condemnation when it comes to lawlessness and public disorder," Erskine continued, adding "People have a right to feel safe in their own homes and neighbourhoods, and any allegations of violence or intimidation must be thoroughly investigated. Too often, when residents raise such legitimate concerns, or when I raise those concerns in the Assembly Chamber, elements of the Assembly are quick to dismiss them with accusations of racism or bigotry."

"That approach does nothing to solve problems or build community confidence. It is time for people to listen to genuine concerns, stop applying labels, and start taking meaningful action," Erskine further urged.

Dungannon hosts a substantial migrant population, including a large East Timorese community drawn to local meat-processing plants, making up a significant share of the town's non-national residents.

Social media reports tied to the footage describe the armed group as foreigners, many from East Timor, turning up in a Protestant area, while some official framing casts the clashes as internal community matters.

These foreigners are mostly from East Timor, by the way.

What the fuck are people from East Timor doing in Northern Ireland? They shouldn't even know NI exists let alone be in the country.

— Haribo (@kerrso94) July 14, 2026

Regardless, the video evidence reveals the two-tier reality on the ground: the defender gets the cuffs while the knife-and-stick mob receives the pass.

This latest episode fits a lengthening list of migrant-linked violence and uneven policing responses across Northern Ireland. Last month, north Belfast saw a brutal street attack in which an African migrant repeatedly stabbed and attempted to saw off a victim's head with a Stanley knife-style blade.

Bystanders had to drag the attacker off and beat him back until police arrived. The victim suffered life-altering injuries. Official and media descriptions initially softened the horror to a generic "stabbing incident," sparking fury over downplaying and delayed accountability.

Patterns of sex crimes and grooming scandals in parts of Northern Ireland have also continually triggered nights of anti-immigration unrest, with locals expressing fury at perceived failures to protect communities or deport offenders. The same complaints of selective enforcement keep surfacing.

The Dungannon footage now joins a wider catalogue of two-tier policing examples stretching across the United Kingdom. In one recent case, officers were captured shielding three black aggressors who had assaulted a white British teenager in Birmingham, then manhandling and swearing at the victim while forcing him into a police vehicle the wrong way. Bystanders trying to explain the situation were ignored as more officers piled in.

Other documented incidents include South Yorkshire Police officers using batons, shoves and Tasers on teenage girls during dispersal operations, with the force later admitting the clip looked "nothing short of shocking."

Separate footage showed officers manhandling a five-year-old boy, smashing a man's head into a bollard before dragging him, and slamming an elderly woman, Siobhan Whyte, to the ground during protests linked to the murder of her daughter by an illegal migrant.

A 50-year-old military veteran was struck with riot shields and kicked in the head multiple times while sitting on a wall filming.

The inquest into the death of 18-year-old Henry Nowak continues to examine whether police handcuffing contributed to his fate after he was stabbed five times in Southampton. Reports indicated officers initially focused on restraining the victim rather than immediately addressing his wounds, while the attacker was not promptly secured.

Bodycam and witness accounts have raised questions about training priorities that appear to emphasize ideological considerations over straightforward protection of the vulnerable.

These cases share a common thread: native residents or victims frequently encounter swift, heavy-handed intervention, while threats tied to mass migration and certain imported communities receive softer or delayed responses until public outrage forces attention.

Bodycam footage and civilian videos repeatedly contradict official narratives that downplay risks or deflect criticism by labeling concerns as bigotry. The result is eroding public trust, with communities left feeling that law enforcement operates under different rules depending on who is involved.

Northern Ireland's recent history shows what happens when these pressures build without resolution. Local people have watched graphic attacks, heard excuses, and seen footage of defenders being targeted while armed groups operate with apparent impunity. The same dynamic now plays out in towns like Dungannon, where long-standing Protestant areas face new tensions from rapid demographic change and selective policing.

Britain's experiment with open borders and ideological policing has produced predictable outcomes: rising disorder, native communities on the defensive, and officers caught between political directives and the basic duty to protect everyone equally.

The Dungannon video is not an isolated clip. It is the latest confirmation that two-tier standards are actively undermining safety and consent on the streets.

The solution is straightforward. Policing must return to equal application of the law, without regard to background, migration status, or political fashion. Communities deserve the right to defend themselves when authorities hesitate, and they deserve officers who prioritise stopping armed threats over everyday people trying to defend their families.

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Tyler Durden Tue, 07/14/2026 - 14:05

The grieving mom of an 18-year-old honor roll student who drowned in a Texas lake claimed Tuesday that cops hung up on her as she pleaded for help — as she branded two teens with her son at the time “Wolves in sheep’s clothing.” Tameca Erving, mother of Daniel Erving, gave an emotional address as...

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