Good evening. I’m John Byrne, in for British Chris. Before we get started, take a second to tap the ❤️ and restack this newsletter. This is the best way to help our independent reporting break through to reach the people who need it most.
Today, a seven-term Republican congresswoman from Missouri is clinging to a razor-thin one-point lead, and a source within Donald Trump’s White House told Raw America that the president is scrambling to save her. A Republican senator tried to hit former Special Counsel Jack Smith with a gotcha question and ended up faceplanting in full view of the public. A former Trump campaign official is now predicting members of his administration will get hit with subpoenas over the taxpayer-funded ads the president reportedly helped produce. And Marco Rubio’s State Department reportedly awarded a contract to a company despite having direct knowledge that the company had Russian ties.
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Exclusive: Panicking Trump Fears Longtime GOP Congresswoman in ‘Deep Trouble’
President Donald Trump is reportedly panicking after a recent poll showed that Republican Congresswoman Ann Wagner of Missouri — a reliable Trump ally running for her 8th term in the House of Representatives — is in danger of losing her reelection bid to Democratic newcomer and military veteran Fred Wellman. One Republican source working closely with the White House admitted that Trump fears Wagner is in “deep trouble,” Raw America can reveal.
The poll of 565 likely 2026 election voters was conducted by Remington Research Group between September 14 and September 15. According to the survey, Wagner is leading by just one point in a district Trump won by nearly eight points in 2024. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.1 percent, meaning Wellman is effectively neck-and-neck with Wagner. The incumbent congresswoman also has a favorability rating of just 34 percent, while 12 percent of respondents remain undecided. Wellman told Raw America White House correspondent Brian Karem that the poll “speaks volumes.”
“We can definitely win this in the undecided vote,” Wellman said. “What does it say that 12 percent of the voters are undecided about you after serving for 14 years?”
Wagner is one of the highest-ranking House Republicans, and was previously the vice-ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She currently sits on the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees, having served since 2013. She’s also known as a stalwart Trump ally who has consistently refused to break with the president even when it comes to his unpopular tariffs and his war with Iran.
Trump praised Wagner in an August 3 post to his Truth Social platform, writing that Wagner was “doing an incredible job representing the amazing people of Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District!” He added that the congresswoman “has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election.” Raw America’s GOP source confided that Trump is “aware of what’s going on” with her race and is “working on it.”
Respondents told Remington that they viewed Wagner as “out of touch” and “absent” in her district, while others described her as “useless.” Wellman said constituents he’s spoken with “never see her.”
“We have worked hard for a year to build a coalition that represents the entire district that is demanding change, representation, and help,” Wellman said. “Ann Wagner has done nothing to improve the lives of her constituents and refuses to even meet with them.”
“All I hear every day while I’m in the district meeting with voters is they are absolutely panicked about skyrocketing costs [and] disgusted by the outrageous corruption and chaos in Washington D.C.,” he added.
Wellman — who was born and raised in Kirkwood, Missouri — served as a U.S. Army aviator in Iraq after attending West Point. During the Covid-19 pandemic Wellman helped build and lead a Special Operations medical team in New York City’s Presbyterian Ryan F. Larkin Field Hospital. He later served as Executive Director of the Lincoln Project.
The biggest obstacle Wellman currently faces in the district is his lack of name recognition among voters. He’s attempting to fix that by raising more than $1.2 million, which he’s pouring into both campaign ads and staff throughout the district.
“She’s spending her money on attack ads against me,” Wellman said. “I think she’s spent as much as $3 million now against my $1.2 million.”
While the GOP was apparently blindsided by the latest poll, Wellman’s efforts have also mostly been without the assistance of the Democratic party.
“I think they’ll pay attention now,” Wellman explained.
Wagner’s campaign did not return Raw America’s multiple requests for comment.
GOP Senator Publicly Humiliated After Calling Jack Smith a ‘Dirtbag’
Republican Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri thought he caught former Special Counsel Jack Smith in a gotcha moment during a Tuesday Judiciary Committee. He ended up falling flat on his face.
Schmitt’s staff held up a poster board of text messages the senator alleged was proof that Smith secretly met with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Atlanta in February of 2024 to coordinate with her on prosecuting Trump, insisting that Smith attended an Atlanta Hawks game. Schmitt accused Smith of committing perjury and called him a “total dirtbag.”
Smith did attend a basketball game that day, though it was the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s team playing the Maryland Terrapins in College Park, Maryland. Smith testified that he remembered going to see current WNBA star Caitlin Clark play when she still attended the University of Iowa, and that the U.S. Marshals Service was there with him.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota pointed out the error, telling Schmitt: “you got your teams wrong.” She told her GOP colleague he should try to get his facts straight before calling someone else a “dirtbag.” Schmitt responded that Klobuchar was trying to “rehabilitate the witness,” though Klobuchar called on Schmitt to apologize to Smith.
Despite Schmitt and other Republicans hammering him and accusing him of a politically motivated prosecution, Smith held his ground. He told the committee he’d bring the same case against any party’s former president, and that he refuses to be be silenced by Trump’s threats.
You can’t count on news outlets owned by pro-Trump billionaires to give you the full truth of what’s happening in Washington. But you can count on Raw America, because we don’t answer to a wealthy owner. We answer to you. If that matters to you, help keep this work going.
Former Trump Campaign Official Says White House Likely to Be Investigated Over Taxpayer-Funded Ads
The president is also now taking heat from his own party over multiple taxpayer-funded ads running on TV aimed at promoting Trump and his policies. And if Democrats retake Congress, one of Trump’s former campaign officials says it’s a near-certainty that White House staffers will be subpoenaed over the ads.
CNN reports that Trump “personally drove” the creative process over the three ads, including playing a hands-on role in selecting the specific footage and imagery used in each spot. The White House’s video team produced the ads, and several members of Trump’s own political operation told CNN they were caught off guard by the ads and had no idea about them before they ran on national TV.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune was careful in how he spoke about the ads, saying that while he liked the message behind them, he didn’t approve of taxpayers paying the bill. Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote on social media that the ads may constitute felony theft of government property for campaign purposes. He added there are also Hatch Act violations to be investigated for any federal employees involved in the process
Raskin would have the power to subpoena White House officials if Democrats win back control of the House in November. The former Trump campaign official called the ads “dumb, dumb, dumb beyond belief” and predicted subpoenas for everyone who had knowledge of them. The White House defended the ads as “public service announcements” and compared the to past ad campaigns for Medicare enrollment and Covid-19 vaccines, despite those campaign not having any partisan undertone.
Marco Rubio Knowingly Awarded State Department Contract to Firm with Russian Ties
Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly awarded a $50,000 federal contract to a company called Oxygen Forensics on the very same day that company sued a whistleblower for exposing its alleged ownership by Russian nationals.
The Justice Department last week charged Oxygen Forensics CEO Lee Reiber and Russian citizen Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Federal prosecutors say the scheme involved Russian nationals secretly controlled the company through a holding company based in Cyprus, and that its phone hacking software was also of Russian origin.
According to the Daily Beast’s PunchUp Substack, the government knew about the allegations by at least August 28, when the company sued former employee Max Weissberg for going public with his whistleblower complaint. Federal procurement data obtained by PunchUp shows the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb, Croatia, awarded the State Department contract to Oxygen Forensics that very day.
The Justice Department’s criminal complaint alleges that the Pentagon, the Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations and other agencies all had knowledge of the company’s scheme. Back in 2023, Reiber allegedly warned his Russian partners that a journalist’s questions about their ties to Russia “could destroy” a pending federal contract.
Don’t Let the Billionaires Win
The small group of oligarchs swallowing up cable networks and newspapers believe that their bottomless resources should grant them the power to be the sole deciders of what you get to know. Independent journalism that isn’t compromised by billionaire money is the only answer.
Whether they succeed is entirely up to readers like you.
I’m John Byrne. Thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting independent journalism. If you haven’t yet, hit the ❤️ and click the restack button so we can reach the readers who really need these stories.
Thanks for great reporting. We can't pay everyone that is good. I am not a millionaire.
More great reporting John! DJT and the GOP seem to be tripping all over themselves today. If only they would do something for the country and stop focusing on themselves! :-)