Jim Brunner

Seattle Times politics reporter. Whataboutism is a helluva drug. Also at:

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

The California ballot order is determined by lot, and then rotated so all candidates have a chance to appear first on various ballots. This person used to report for 60 Minutes.

[Lara Logan @laralogan]

They will do anything to cheat in California - lest anyone discover how many people do not like the Democrats.

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

Anduril is expanding in Seattle. But no word on Glamdring. https://t.co/J1YefljQlW via @seattletimes

[Dylan Byers @DylanByers]

New statement from Scott Pelley:

There has never been anything in America like 60 Minutes.

The Sunday tradition is the most successful program of any kind in history. For more than a decade, its innovative growth on every major online platform has extended its reach to countless millions around the world. This spring, at the end of our 58thseason, 60 Minutes grew rapidly with an unheard-of 9% jump in viewers on CBS.

“60” has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories. When stewardship of the program passed to my colleagues and me, our responsibility was to expand energetically into a new age of media technology while preserving the values our audience expects. Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.

The waste is heartbreaking.

Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.

For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. Finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc. In a case involving one of my stories, the entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all.

At 60 Minutes, we have fought harder than anyone knows to save the program that became an American icon. We owed that to our millions of viewers. I am deeply moved by the thousands of wishes we have received to “keep up the good fight.” Most of the men and women of CBS News are still in that fight. But now the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.

I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion—a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives. I pray for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again—a day when sanity, competence, and courage return.

Scott Pelley

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

Leaked audio... I love this genre. https://t.co/nNRirZd2kI

[Robert Faturechi @RobertFaturechi]

New: A top White House aide intervened to get a $620 million Pentagon loan for a company tied to Donald Trump Jr.

“The call came from the White House: We have to get this done,” said one person involved.

https://t.co/duvJ0cQ9bH

[Senator Patty Murray @PattyMurray]

Whoops! Earlier this week, while running down the stairs in a rush, I tripped and ended up breaking my ankle—I wouldn’t recommend it. 🙃

Next week, I’ll be back at the Capitol for votes and hearings and doing everything else I can to be a voice for Washington state in the Senate—I’ll just be swapping one of my tennis shoes for an ankle brace for a bit.

Whether on foot, crutches, or wheels—I have no doubt I’ll still be one of the fastest Senators, and I hope to be speed walking through the halls of Congress again very soon.

I also want to express my deep gratitude to the staff at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center for their excellent care and treatment.

[The Washington Post @washingtonpost]

Breaking news: Trump administration officials have pressed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill featuring the president’s portrait, in what would be the first appearance of a living person on U.S. currency in more than 150 years. https://t.co/S8sqdKSB7i

[Paul Ed Roberts @Pauledroberts]

“The timing of the governor’s message indicates nervousness among Democrats that what they’ve marketed as a “millionaires tax” will be rejected by nonmillionaire voters if they suspect they’ll eventually pay it too.

Via @jim_brunner

https://t.co/wkiLBTU0Oa

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

As an initiative to repeal WA's new high-earner income tax gains steam, Gov. Bob Ferguson is doing some political messaging, trying to reassure voters the tax won't get expanded https://t.co/0hxFnNKv4Z via @seattletimes

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

Watch: Zuckerberg’s superyacht arrives in Seattle just as Meta cuts 1,400 local jobs https://t.co/02mBikloIN via @GeekWire

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

‘Major chemical explosion’ kills multiple people at Longview paper mill https://t.co/BlLNa4ZvOc via @seattletimes

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

NEW: Federal judges have been tossing DOJ's lawsuits seeking states' voter data. Will WA be next? https://t.co/4CAwuYgOxv via @seattletimes

[POLITICO @politico]

Trump’s Justice Department scrubs its website of news releases about Jan. 6 defendants https://t.co/dAdzUO6Xxp

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

Great piece on the Gorge Amphitheatre. I was at that big '88 Dylan/Tracy Chapman show! https://t.co/w6HJcrNHVC via @seattletimes

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

'The report's so stupid': The DNC 2024 autopsy is roiling Democrats https://t.co/AOiEXIDNg0 via @politico

[Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein]

FLASH: DOJ expands settlement in Trump-IRS leak suit to cover audits of all tax returns filed by Trump, family members, companies and trusts. Waiver of IRS' claims contained in addendum signed by AAG Blanche that was not in agreement released Monday https://t.co/i8G1AQc9W4

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

Book on Truth in the Age of A.I. Contains Quotes Made Up by A.I. https://t.co/kkMunqe0IR

[Josh Wingrove @josh_wingrove]

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosures show that he or his investment advisers made more than 3,700 trades in the first quarter, a flurry totaling tens of millions of dollars and involving major companies that have dealings with his administration.

[Jim Brunner @Jim_Brunner]

Westneat: Seattle has the No. 1 big city school district. We should act like it https://t.co/YDza1JVcUg via @seattletimes

[Andrew Kaczynski @KFILE]

NEW: The health official who led the public response to the Hantavirus outbreak has little background in public health and previously was a penile implant specialist who hosted a podcast where he questioned the 2020 election and compared the Biden administration to Nazi Germany.