THE LATEST

Kash Patel’s “payback squad”: Inside the FBI is a team of agents willing to pursue political targets set by Donald Trump’s administration. They are tasked with building cases similar to the recent criminal prosecution(s) of former bureau Director James Comey. They’re colloquially known as the “payback squad,” NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery reports, but one of Jose’s multiple bureau sources for the story said the moniker is likely a reference to an effort associated with the Director’s Advisory Team that Patel set up last year.

What they’re up to: The team is building criminal cases that seek to charge former top government officials with a “grand conspiracy” against Trump, Jose writes. They expect their work to soon result in an indictment of former CIA Director John Brennan.

Names to know: The Director’s Advisory Team includes former FBI agent John Eckenrode, who previously worked on the high-profile special counsel investigation led by the prosecutor John Durham. Sources tell Jose that members of the team, including Eckenrode, have discussed the progress of the investigation into Brennan with federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and Joseph diGenova, the Trump loyalist attorney who is now a “special counselor to the attorney general.”

It’s another sign of how different this FBI is. In recent years, the bureau has strived to appear independent from the White House and distant from politics in general. (This effort has gone poorly as often as it has gone well.) Under Patel, the FBI is happy to be publicly and vocally part of the MAGA project.

From China: The president is expected to touchdown in a Beijing in just under two hours, kicking off two days of conversation and competition between him and his Chinese counterpart.

Do the people of China know the American president is visiting? It depends on who you ask. Those who watch state TV certainly do, they told Jasmine in the five floor mall commonly referred to as Silk Market, where mostly foreigners go to haggle fiercely over fine silks and fake designer bags.

“America’s boss is coming,” a woman who owned a silk shop told Jasmine. Everyone who knew of the visit only learned of it when the Chinese government announced it, a sign that people in China often only hear things when Xi Jinping decides to say it out loud.

“For me I like,” Trump and his visit, a man who owned a tea farm told Jasmine over a few cups of tea. “But China? 50-50. Everything in China is 50-50.”

As both Trump and Xi will vie to project their respective country’s dominance and cut good deals, one sign of the times was clear. While the tea farm owners could speak little English, both spoke near fluent Russian.

Trump‘s Truths. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met Air Force One during a refill in Alaska to board the (metaphorical) train to China, joining the likes of Elon Musk and Tim Cook. Trump, Truth Social-ing through the flight, said that he would be asking Xi to open up China to this slew of business leaders on board as his first request – notably not Iran.

Open tabs: South Carolina Republicans block plan to eliminate Clyburn’s House seat (WaPo); Longtime ICE official David Venturella chosen to head agency (NBC); Republicans Score Another Gerrymandering Win in Missouri (NOTUS); Amazon staff use AI tool for unnecessary tasks to inflate usage scores (FT)

From Nebraska

Blue dot drama: The race for the Democratic nomination in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, also known as the place everyone hears about every four years for the presidential election, was too close to call early Wednesday. First-time candidate Denise Powell had a slight edge over Nebraska state legislator John Cavanaugh with 89% of votes counted. The winner will face Republican nominee Brinker Harding, an Omaha City Council member, in the general. The district incumbent, moderate Republican Rep. Don Bacon, is leaving Congress after this term, and the contest to replace him is expected to be competitive.

The national story is less about how the district plays in 2026 than about how it plays in 2028. Nebraska has long granted 2nd District voters their own electoral vote — a system that has recently favored Democrats in the overall red state. But a growing number of Republicans want to change that policy and award all of the state’s electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis like most states do. Supporters of the status quo worry that if Cavanaugh leaves the state Legislature, it puts Republicans one step closer to making that change.

From the Hill

First on NOTUS: Can Congress be trained out of sex scandals? Lawmakers behaving badly — or, you know, criminally — has been a running theme of the year. Both parties have had high-profile House resignations after ugly allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior. Republican Rep. Kat Cammack and Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, the chairs of their parties’ respective women’s caucuses, have an idea: an anti-sexual harassment task force to overhaul how the House handles sexual misconduct allegations, including boosting the anti-harassment training members take each year.

NOTUS’ Oriana González and Dave Levinthal have the first look at this plan, as well as a deep dive into what the training looks like now.

“Weak,” “perfunctory,” “pathetic” and “a joke” are just some of the words used to describe the currently mandated harassment training in Congress by staffers who have participated in it.

From a possible future

2027 Democratic dreams, AI regulation edition: Some Democrats are feeling pretty good about taking the majority in at least one chamber of Congress after the midterms, and think they can use the opportunity to refashion the party into the one Taking AI Seriously, NOTUS’ Samuel Larreal reports.

Reality: Democrats are still arguing with each other over what to say about the technology. “It’s very clear that there’s a lot of momentum around figuring out how Congress could wrap its arms around AI in a way that protects consumers but also allows AI to develop and compete with China,” a senior House Democratic aide plugged in on AI issues told Sam. “But I don’t know that we’ve figured out quite where we’re going.”

ON NOTUS PODCAST

From your favorite podcast app: Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, says the conflict with Iran is “stuck” and he expects more Republicans to join his resolutions to limit the Trump administration’s actions. “The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and they don’t have a plan. Or, if they do have a plan, they’re not executing the plan at this point,” Kelly told NOTUS’ Igor Bobic on today’s episode of On NOTUS. The astronaut-turned-senator also talked about a potential presidential bid and his thoughts on aliens.

NEW ON NOTUS

Curious stock activity in Texas: Republican Rep. Chip Roy is an outspoken advocate for banning congressional stock trading. So it was a little bizarre when on Monday he disclosed that his wife had bought between $5 million and $25 million worth of Atlas Energy Solutions stock.

NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal called Roy, who said that a “significant clerical error” caused the confusion. Roy said his wife received a stock grant worth $100,000 to $250,000 from the company, where she works, and that it vests over three years. The congressman, who is running for attorney general in Texas, has since amended his disclosure.

More: Trump Posted a Fake Quote Attributed to Sen. John Kennedy, by Emily Kennard

Top EPA Official Bought Oil, Gas and Power Plant Stocks — Then Quickly Dumped Them, by Dave Levinthal

NOT US

• Thomas Massie Has Always Been a Pain in the Ass, by Stephanie Mencimer for Mother Jones
• As Republicans carve up Black districts, Democrats pivot to a new midterm message, by Andrew Howard for Politico
• How Jack Schlossberg Became the Clout Candidate for a Certain NYC Social Set, by Andrew Zucker for Vanity Fair

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The newsletter was produced by Kelly Poe, Brett Bachman and Andrew Burton. Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/AP.