ICYMI: RAND PAUL RELEASES DOCUMENTS ON INTERCEPTED COVID RESEARCH MATERIALS:

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has released another batch of documents related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest records show that U.S. officials intercepted undeclared biological materials tied to a U.S.–China coronavirus research network as early as 2018, likely in an attempt to avoid international tensions and regulatory scrutiny, Paul said.

The documents, which include a Department of Homeland Security intelligence report, primarily focus on a network centered around University of Minnesota virologist Fang Li.

The released documents also include pages from “Tony’s Diary:”

Privately, in his diaries, Doctor Fauci admitted he no longer believed the wet market was the origin of covid. A week later, he convenes a call with 12 scientists, and only two of them think it's definitely animal spillover.

Publicly, he comes out against lab leak and presses… https://t.co/OUc88vmIqv

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) July 26, 2026

As Jim Geraghty writes, “For the entirety of 2020 and long after, the ‘it started in a wet market’ view was the respectable one. Believing that somebody at the Wuhan Institute of Virology hadn’t been careful one day and had gotten accidentally infected with a virus that had gained a function or two during its time in the lab made you a crazy conspiracy theorist. In fact, the lab leak theory was evidence of your racism. And now — in July 2026! — we learn that Fauci himself had dismissed the wet market as a potential source at the end of January 2020.”

Then there’s an incredible juxtaposition by Fauci of new deaths and new WaPo profiles:

Fauci's diary entry for May 21, 2020 is one of the most grotesque documents you will ever read. It opens with the mounting Covid death toll and people dying across the country, then abruptly pivots into an extended exercise in self-congratulation about his newfound fame. How was… pic.twitter.com/IMpCWerfTR

— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) July 25, 2026

Alyssa Farah, now an employee of ABC News, makes an appearance in “Tony’s Diary:”

Apparently while working at the White House, Alyssa was moonlighting as guest booker for CNN: pic.twitter.com/XHjq1inCXz

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 26, 2026

(Originally posted yesterday, by Ed, but too important to risk losing it in the weekend.)

THE NEEDS OF THE PARTY ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE, COMRADE:

1996. Bill Clinton campaign ad hypes his hardline immigration record:

Doubled border agents!
Signed law protecting US workers from illegals!
Record deportations!
Dole doesn't want to jail illegals!

Run this ad today, and you'd be smeared as a far right xenophobic bigot by the… pic.twitter.com/E6h7eTCvdl

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) July 26, 2026

LIMITED TIME DEAL: Anti-Aging Face Moisturizer with Retinol, Collagen & Hyaluronic Acid. #CommissionEarned

MAINE MESS: There’s Not A ‘Ha Ha’ Big Enough.

Remember how Democrats pushed rapey commie Nazi Senate candidate Graham Platner off the ballot not because he was a rapey commie Nazi, but because polls showed him losing to RINO Susan Collins in November?

Well, the “we don’t need no stinking voters” nominating committee has picked his replacement. Tiny problem: he may not be eligible to run.

Ineligibility only becomes a problem for Democrats if it also turns out that Troy Jackson has sexually assaulted one too many women who aren’t Republicans.

TAKE A HIKE, MARK: You’re Kidding, Right: Mark Sanford Announces Bid For Lindsey Graham’s Senate Seat.

ISLAM RECOGNIZES NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RELIGIOUS AND THE POLITICAL:

“Don’t politicize” means don’t blame the politicians that were instrumental in creating this act of terrorism.

— Sue Ellena (@Sue_ellena) July 26, 2026

#JOURNALISM: Mark Judge: Questions for Tom Rosenstiel and the Students at the Philip Merrill School of Journalism.

ROBERT SPENCER, ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Is Zohran Mamdani Mentally Ill? “Ah, of course. Claiming that obvious Islamic jihadis are mentally ill is the common practice of authorities in Europe, and we have seen it in the U.S. as well. Officials don’t want to acknowledge the reality of Islamic jihad, as that would raise uncomfortable questions about why they’re doing so little (if anything) to stop the jihadis, and so they pretend that each and every violent Muslim screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ is mentally ill.”

THEY HAVE THEIR PRINCIPLES. AND IF THOSE BECOME INCONVENIENT, THEY HAVE OTHERS.

It is incredible how far the Democratic Party has moved politically. Just listen to @BarackObama on immigration 20 years ago. @HillaryClinton spoke similarly back then.

The question of course is why. The answer I believe is not a change in fundamental views, but rather a… https://t.co/T8zj27wzVr

— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) July 26, 2026

THE LIFE YOU SAVE MIGHT BE YOUR OWN:  Washington State Republican and Independent Voters: YOU MUST CAST A BALLOT IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION!!!

WELL, CHINA SCIENCE HAS CULTURAL ISSUES:  Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial kept secret: Report.

Communism and science don’t mix, something worth remembering.

FOLLOW THE MONEY:  Apax Partners: The Money Linking Singham and the DNC.  Apax Partners, Neville Roy Singham, and the sovereign investors surrounding the DNC’s most important political database.

GOOD:  More on That PA Supreme Court Case Finding Land Is A Possession and Rights to It Cannot Be Erased by Agency Eager Beavers!

AND YET SOME LGBTQ PEOPLE STILL INSIST ON BEING CHICKENS FOR KFC:  Berlin: 1 Killed, 29 Injured as Machete-Wielding Islamist Rams Van Targeting Pride Parade.

I TOO AM STILL INCLINED TO BE MORE OPTIMISTIC:  It is Far from Over?

YEAH, THIS IS COMING OUT ALL OVER:  CBP intercepted biological materials tied to US–China virus network before COVID, new documents show. A DHS report details a coronavirus research network centered around University of Minnesota virologist Fang Li.

IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS YOU MUST MONITOR WHAT THEY’RE TAUGHT VERY CLOSELY. NO. CLOSER THAN THAT. NO, I MEAN EVEN CLOSER:  Taxpayer-funded trans dolls with removable genitalia to hit classrooms this fall for kids as young as 4 to ‘learn about different options’.

YEP: The first rule of strategic analysis.

WHEN MY FRIENDS ARE IN THE NEWS:  Iowa Park based publishing company goes global through social media.

GIVEN A MODICUM OF FREEDOM, IT ALWAYS DOES:  How Capitalism Beat Communism in Vietnam. It only took a generation to go from ration cards to exporting electronics.

HUMANS ARE NOT WIDGETS:  On not being a widget and the rise of corporatism.

X-cancel.

GOOD:  Pleased to report that the defensive provisions of the GRANITE Act have been adopted as model policy by the American Legislative Exchange Council. I am told the vote was unanimous.

X-cancel.

ON SUNDAYS I DO A PROMO POST FOR (MOSTLY) INDIE AUTHORS:  Book Promo And Vignettes By Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

There is also a fun vignette challenge.

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

HIS MOST UNDERRATED PROPERTY: Elon Musk’s Boring Company reportedly raising funding at a $20 billion valuation.