OptOut: The Holiday Special

Well, it’s that time of year again. The holiday season is upon us. OptOut has big changes in store for 2025–some of them good, some not so good. More info on that to come.

But for now, it’s a time for families to get together and enjoy favorite movies and a break (if possible) from the daily grind. With that in mind, we wanted to share our holiday picks in a brief newsletter to allow you to get back to it!

We’ll begin with IMPORTANT CONTEXT, OptOut’s official investigative reporting newsletter focused on the intersection of money-in-politics, disinformation, and dark money.

We‘ve had two important stories this month. The first piece revealed the political spending of major health insurers.

Here’s How Much UnitedHealth Group and Other Major Insurers Spent Influencing Both Parties This Cycle

Health insurance giants poured millions into politics.

Important ContextWalker Bragman

The second piece was a doozy. We found that Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, promoted a conspiracy theory about the anti-viral drug ivermectin in a pseudo documentary released over the summer. If he ascends to the position, Bhattacharya will lead the largest funder of biomedical research on the planet.

Trump NIH Pick Pushed Ivermectin Conspiracy Theory in Documentary Linked to Chinese Cult

Jay Bhattacharya made remarks supportive of the discredited COVID treatment in a film released this year.

Important ContextWalker Bragman

In Other News

The new report on Matt Gaetz from the U.S. House Committee on Ethics is out. It reveals that the former congressman regularly paid for sex and took illegal drugs on multiple occasions. The committee also noted there was “substantial evidence” that Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl. STATES NEWSROOM had the story.

‘Substantial evidence’ Gaetz paid for sex with minor, U.S. House Committee says • Oregon Capital Chronicle

Former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, paid for sex, including with a minor, used illegal drugs and sought to obstruct investigators.

Oregon Capital ChronicleAshley Murray

President-Elect Donald Trump has been hinting at what CNN called “U.S. expansion,” into Greenland, Panama, and NATO founding member Canada. The global implications of such a policy are immense and potentially catastrophic, but Trump’s advisers are defending him. THE NEW REPUBLIC reported on one of those defenders.

Trump Adviser Somehow Makes Greenland Threat Even Worse

Corey Lewandowski had a terrible answer when asked about Donald Trump’s recent threats against Greenland and Panama.

The New RepublicEdith Olmsted

Trump is planning deep cuts to America’s social spending and regulatory state. To that end, he named Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to create a “Department Of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, based on the meme cryptocurrency. But how the pair will actually do anything without authority from Congress is an open question. STATES NEWSROOM also had that story.

Musk and Ramaswamy to confront Congress in struggle for control of the public purse • Nevada Current

President-elect Donald Trump enlisted Washington outsiders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to tell members of Congress how they should run things. But Musk and Ramaswamy as they build their Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, don’t actually hold any elected or bureaucratic positions in the federal government — giving two hard-driving businessmen far […]

Nevada CurrentJennifer Shutt

In a surprise move, outgoing President Joe Biden had commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal inmates on death row. THE INTERCEPT reported on the response from inmates.

“And I Was Surprised”: On Federal Death Row, They Feared Biden Would Set Up Another Trump Killing Spree

Joe Biden’s commutations for 37 of 40 people on federal death row brought relief for those who feared another killing spree by Donald Trump.

The InterceptLiliana Segura

Meanwhile, in the wake of the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Israel has launched an invasion of the country and carried out aerial raids to cripple its military capabilities. COUNTERPUNCH had a commentary on the turn of events.

Israelis Invade Syria: Who Will Stop Israel?

The United States, Turkey and Israel all responded to the fall of the Assad government in Damascus by launching bombing campaigns on Syria. Israel also

CounterPunch.orgNicolas J S Davies

Another piece of interesting news is the fact that the infamous study that popularized hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment has finally been retracted. But that retraction comes after years of damage. SEQUENCER had a rundown of the story.

The hydroxychloroquine COVID-19 study is retracted, after the damage is done

Grifters have used science to make money and produce societal schisms

SequencerDan Samorodnitsky

With that, we hope you all have a happy holiday! Stay tuned for more updates on OptOut!

The OptOut Media Foundation (EIN: 85-2348079) is a nonprofit charity with a mission to educate the public about current events and help sustain a diverse media ecosystem by promoting and assisting independent news outlets and, in doing so, advance democracy and social justice.

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