The Daily Herold: 8/17/26 - The Rusty Thumbs Files and Swalwell's Chinese Spy Scandal

Jon Herold digs deep into newly declassified FBI files on suspected Chinese operative Christine Fang, nicknamed "Rusty Thumbs" by investigators, and her years long relationship with Congressman Eric Swalwell, walking through the FBI's failed attempt to recruit her as a source before pivoting to a campaign corruption investigation that ultimately closed without charges. He builds out a detailed theory around a still classified National Security Presidential Memorandum he believes triggered the document release, connecting it to his ongoing coverage of the weaponized intelligence community storyline. Other topics include an appeals court dismissing an Alien Enemies Act challenge, Trump's Truth Social post on reducing joint military exercises with South Korea, Kushner and Netanyahu's Gaza disarmament stance, and a Bloomberg opinion piece skeptical of Tucker Carlson's third party ambitions. Sponsor reads, personal deck staining stories, and a lively chat session round out a dense Monday show.