Geary Marks

[DataRepublican (small r) @DataRepublican]

Hello Politico,

You’ve published 1,500+ words about Senator Mike Lee and the SAVE America Act. Your headline conditioned the reader what to think before the first paragraph: "This is about attention." Your sourcing: five anonymous Republican senators, and a section titled "Leadership ambitions?" whose only function is to ensure the reader leaves believing Lee is just putting on a performance.

The SAVE America Act requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. It passed the House 218-213. The President called it his "#1 priority." Harvard CAPS/Harris found in February 2026 that 75% of Americans support it.

Your article does not contain the phrase "proof of citizenship." It does not mention any polling. It barely has any policy analysis. You have to remove the substance for the false personality smears to land.

Now let’s examine the real reason you wrote this hit job.

In January 2021, three of your staff left and founded Punchbowl News. They took your model with them. Then Jake Sherman said something you never have: on a podcast, he described Punchbowl's revenue as "nearly 90%" from corporate sponsorships." The documented sponsors include PhRMA, ExxonMobil, JPMorgan, Meta, and the American Investment Council.

Turns out, you have the exact same sponsors. PhRMA pays for Politico Focus branded content. JPMorgan Chase is a Politico Focus client. The American Investment Council is a Politico Focus client. Meta sponsors your shows. You have Politico Pro, which charges K Street $10,000 to $30,000 a year for legislative intelligence — and accounted for approximately half your revenue as of 2015, with a 93% renewal rate. Your subscriber base is the lobbying community. They are also your subject matter.

The same corporations fund both outlets. The same K Street audience reads both outlets. And both outlets produce the same framing: leadership is realistic, insurgent senators are attention-seekers, the SAVE Act has "almost no chance." Punchbowl's Andrew Desiderio wrote that. Your Jordain Carney wrote that Lee "doesn't have a realistic path." Two outlets, same sponsors, same audience, same conclusion.

Your own article admits, buried below 1,500 words of anonymous attacks: Lee's pressure produced an open-ended floor debate "next to unheard-of in the modern Senate" and moved Chuck Schumer to concede ground on voter ID. You framed both as asides.

An anonymous senator told you Lee's motivation is "the clicks." Lee does midnight livestreams explaining his position to anyone who wants to listen. Your anonymous senators called Politico. Your alumni left, built the same thing, and told the world what it was.

You never had to. The article does it for you.

Like @PunchbowlNews, you are a K Street sham, Politico. You should have all your Capitol press credentials revoked, because your entire existence is one giant violation of undisclosed lobbying restrictions.