🌊 Breaking: Secret Service Director Resigns

Has Nick Castellanos replaced The Simpsons in augury?

A few years ago, MLB star Nick Castellanos launched a meme with the crack of his bat. While the commentator was apologizing for using a slur on air, Castellanos hit a homer. Here’s the video. Since then, he’s developed a bizarre reputation for hitting home runs at bad times, and when you’re giving an apology, you can always drift into the “as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos…”

Well, it’s gotten even crazier: On the day of Trump’s attempted assassination, he slugged a homer. And then, on Sunday, when Biden resigned, he slugged a homer. Next time you fly Spirit, make sure to check his box score that morning. This is getting out of hand.

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Secret Service Head Resigns

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned this morning, a day after testifying in Congress

• Cheatle worked for the Secret Service for 27 years, then briefly for Pepsi before becoming director in 2022

• In Congress on Monday, she acknowledged that Trump shooter Thomas Crooks was identified as “suspicious” at the rally but said that didn’t mean he posed a threat. She called the shooting the service’s “most significant operational failure…in decades”

• Cheatle deflected many questions, saying more would be known in 60 days. That angered both parties’ reps, many of whom called on her to resign

• She rejected those calls during the hearing, claiming to be the best-qualified person for the job. Less than a day later, though, she issued her resignation

Dig Deeper

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D.-NY) had called Cheatle’s answers “unacceptable,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R.-SC) said she was “full of shit,” and Rep. Ro Khanna (D.-CA) called for her resignation

• The Committee’s top-ranking Democrat called it “an unusually depressing hearing,” adding, “I think that the director has lost the confidence of Congress at a very urgent and tender moment in the history of the country, and we need to very quickly move beyond this”

• Now, she’s out

KEY STORY

Kamala’s Clear Path?

The Democrats have united around Kamala Harris as Biden’s replacement

• Nancy Pelosi, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and virtually every governor considered a contender – including Gavin Newsom (CA), Gretchen Whitmer (MI), and Josh Shapiro (PA) – have endorsed Harris

• Meanwhile, donors gave $80M+ to Harris and the DNC in the 24 hours after Biden announced his decision, and the AP now reports that Harris has received pledges from the delegates she needs to secure the nomination

• As of writing, Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer have not endorsed her

Dig Deeper

• Yet a new Axios report alleged that Biden had little confidence in Harris’ ability to beat Trump

• It cited Harris’ staff turnover – of the 47 Harris staffers publicly listed in 2021, only five still worked for her as of this spring – as well as her poor performance in the 2020 Democratic primary when she failed to win a single delegate (seven candidates won delegates)

ROCA’S PARTNERS

Get Active, Get LMNT

Together with LMNT

• The sun is shining: It’s time to get active. There’s never been a better time to get active!

• Whether it’s enjoying a walk outside, going for a run, playing sports, or hitting the weight room, LMNT has your hydration needs covered

• Water is vital to staying hydrated while exercising, but it’s only half the battle. You also need electrolytes

• LMNT is a sugar-free, all-natural way to maximize your electrolytes without the dodgy additives of sports drinks. It’s made up of pure energy: Sodium, potassium, and magnesium

Dig Deeper

• Get a free Sample Pack with any purchase here

• Want your LMNT pre-mixed with a bold sparkling flavor? Try the new LMNT Sparkling — a 16-ounce can of sparkling electrolyte water

KEY STORY

Spain Turns on Tourists

Anti-tourism protests are growing in Spain

• Earlier this month, 2,800 anti-tourism protesters marched through Barcelona and splashed tourists with squirt guns. To combat over-tourism, the city has twice increased taxes on tourists – who now have to pay $57 in taxes weekly – and announced rules that will effectively prohibit Airbnb and Booking.com apartment rentals

• Tens of thousands of protesters have also gathered on the island of Mallorca, heckling tourists, flying anti-tourism banners, and chanting that the island is “not up for sale”

Dig Deeper

• This weekend in Mallorca – which is one of the Balearic Islands, a group that includes Ibiza and draws 18M tourists annually – 20,000 protesters marched through the streets and called for limits on tourism

• Earlier this summer, some 10,000 people marching there chanted, “Mallorca is not up for sale,” while a different group of protesters filled beaches and told tourists to go home, then cheered as they departed

KEY STORY

The Psychedelic Bush

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is investing millions of dollars into the development of ibogaine treatments for traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors

• The drug – a psychedelic derived from an African shrub – can induce hallucinations and visions. While illegal in the US, it’s shown promise as an addiction treatment, and clinics have opened in Mexico, Costa Rica, New Zealand, and the Netherlands

• The success is fueling investment into ibogaine-related research and businesses, and on Monday, Brin announced a $15M investment into one such company

Dig Deeper

• While ibogaine can induce visions, hallucinations, and near-death experiences at high doses, it has a stimulant effect at low doses and is sometimes used to maintain alertness while hunting

• Earlier this year, Brin funded a Stanford University study that found ibogaine therapy improved the mental health and cognitive function of 30 US military veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) from head trauma or blast explosions

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

🍪 Google is ending its four-year effort to eliminate cookies in Chrome. Initially planned for a two-year phase-out starting in 2020, advertisers objected. On Monday, Google announced that instead of eliminating cookies, it would now prompt users to decide whether to turn them on or off

🤖 Canadian AI startup Cohere raised $500M and secured a $5.5B valuation in a move that could help it compete with AI heavyweights like OpenAI. Unlike OpenAI, though, the company has focused on creating AI models for companies, not consumers

🏛️ At a White House NCAA event, Vice President Harris delivered her first public remarks since Biden’s announcement that he wouldn’t seek re-election. “Joe Biden’s legacy of accomplishment over the last three years is unmatched in modern history,” she said

🏀 Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly offered the NBA a deal to match Amazon. Warner has carried the NBA for 30+ years via TNT, but that deal came up for renewal this year, and other companies – including Disney, Amazon, and NBCUniversal – were willing to pay more, paving the way for Warner to lose its NBA broadcast rights

🇺🇸 For the first time in 48 years, the presidential election will not feature a “Bush,” “Biden,” or “Clinton.” Since 1976, elections have featured either a presidential or vice presidential candidate: George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, or Joe Biden

COMMUNITY

🧠 Yesterday’s question: What’s your reaction to Biden stepping aside? How are you feeling after the last week?

🤔 Today’s Question: Should the media dismiss “conspiracies” or investigate them? Read today’s Wrap for more details!

Reply to this email to let us know what you think!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

🇺🇸 LeFlagBearer: Team USA chose LeBron James as its male flagbearer for Friday night’s opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, making him the first male basketball player to do so

🎮 Cheeky controller: Microsoft unveiled a Wolverine butt-shaped Xbox controller ahead of the upcoming movie “Deadpool & Wolverine”

🐦 Tortilla blanket: While barbecuing outside, a family in Amarillo, Texas, found a baby Mississippi kite bird on the ground and said it felt so cold that they heated a tortilla on the grill to wrap around it

😭 OxiCrying: Deceased TV pitchman Billy Mays recently visited his father’s gravesite and found a bottle of OxiClean. “Lol just got to pittsburgh and someone left oxiclean at my dad’s grave,” he posted online

🍔 McExtension: McDonald’s will extend its $5 Meal Deal, as the offer has reportedly driven traffic back to restaurants. It includes a McChicken or McDouble, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink

ROCA WRAP

Conspiracy or Incompetence?

Donald Trump was a head-turn away from an assassination that may have plunged the country into chaos. As we investigate the stunning security lapse, we ask: Conspiracy or incompetence? 

Last Saturday, at a Trump rally in Butler, PA, a 20-year-old named Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Donald Trump from a building rooftop outside the event’s security perimeter. He hit Trump in the ear, killed a retired fire chief in the front row, and critically injured two others. Four counter-sniper teams were present at the rally – two from the Secret Service and two from local law enforcement – and two immediately opened fire, with one of the federal snipers killing the shooter.

Crooks’ motive remains unclear, but some details have emerged. His high school classmates describe him as a loner who was often bullied. He was a registered Republican but gave $15 to a progressive organization on the day of Biden’s inauguration. Crooks had no social media presence and left no manifesto.

The day before the shooting, Crooks went to a local shooting club and practiced on the rifle range. On the day of the shooting, he asked for a day off from his job as a dietary aide at a nursing home. That day, he also asked his dad to borrow his AR-15-style rifle and bought 50 rounds of ammo at a local gun store.

In the days before the shooting, Crooks made a number of internet searches for both Trump and Biden, including the dates for Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the DNC in Chicago. He also reportedly left a message on the gaming platform Steam that read, “July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds.”

In a congressional briefing last Wednesday, FBI and Secret Service officials gave the timeline of what exactly preceded the shooting. A full hour before, officials identified Crooks as a potential threat; 40 minutes before the shooting, they saw him with a golf rangefinder, and then 20 minutes before the shooting, they saw him looking through the rangefinder. Just moments before the shooting, a local cop climbed a ladder to the rooftop and encountered Crooks but climbed back down after Crooks pointed his rifle at him. The amateur 20-year-old gunman opened fire on the leading presidential candidate.

Given those facts, many believe a conspiracy took place. One piece of fodder is that BlackRock – the world’s largest asset manager – confirmed this week that Crooks appeared in one of their commercials in 2022. InfoWars host Alex Jones, meanwhile, alleged, “Biden’s puppet masters ran the attack on Trump, and they will do it again.” Numerous Republican politicians have echoed that sentiment. 

Many on the left have suggested Trump orchestrated the shooting. MSNBC’s Joy Reid wondered how Trump was “given nine seconds to take an iconic photo op during an active shooter situation…Weird situation, we’ll figure that out one day,” she said. Meanwhile, an adviser to LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman – one of Biden’s biggest donors – wrote a letter to journalists that said, “[One] possibility – which feels horrific and alien and absurd in America, but is quite common globally – is that this ‘shooting’ was encouraged and maybe even staged so Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash.” Many readers have emailed or DM’d us with their own “Trump planned this” conspiracy theories.

Or was it just incompetence? As Hanlon’s razor says, “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

Analysts have suggested that the Secret Service is stretched thin or that it became confused because of the difficulty coordinating with local law enforcement. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called the situation a “failure,” saying, “We are going to analyze through an independent review how that occurred, why it occurred, and make recommendations and findings to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” After 10 days of building pressure, the head of the Secret Service resigned on Tuesday. She had said on Monday that the Service identified Crooks as “suspicious” but not as a threat.

So is it a conspiracy or does Hanlon’s razor ring true? Should the media investigate “conspiracies” or write them off?

We are curious to hear your thoughts.

Do you have any thoughts? Reply to this to let us know!

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

We are never again going to say out loud that we expect an election to be boring. Never again.

We got a few angry emails for using a quip in yesterday’s subject line regarding Biden’s decision to step aside. We hear you and would like to apologize for this as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that’ll make it a 4-0 ballgame.

Have a great Tuesday.

–Max and Max