McAfee’s Hail Mary, G.O.P. Civil War, Roberts’ M&A Primer

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon anthology of Puck’s latest reporting.

First up today, Dylan Byers observes the latest volleys in Bill Ackman’s viral crusade against Business Insider for their twin reports alleging that his wife, Neri Oxman, plagiarized parts of her decade-old dissertation—and gets Axel Springer on the record about how “Ackman is completely losing it.”

Plus, below the fold: Tina Nguyen chronicles the congressional bedlam emanating from the House Freedom Caucus. Bill Cohan boldly appraises Brian Roberts’ M&A opportunities in ’24. On Somebody’s Gotta Win, Tara and Iowa insider Jimmy Centers assess the spatter patterns from last night’s G.O.P. debate. On The Town, Matt Belloni and Ethan Strauss discuss the messy Pat McAfee saga and the strange state of ESPN. And on The Powers That Be, Peter Hamby and Dylan chart where, exactly, Ackman’s holy war might lead.

DYLAN BYERS

News and notes on the media holy war of our time: Bill Ackman’s pressure campaign to persuade Business Insider’s investors and executives to disavow a report detailing improper attributions in his wife’s academic work.

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TINA NGUYEN

Congratulations, Speaker Mike Johnson: You’ve had this job for a couple months, you need to pass unpopular legislation with a one-vote margin, and now miscreants in your own party are already threatening that much-dreaded defenestration.

WILLIAM D. COHAN

Analyzing the position and motivation of the media industry’s biggest dealmaker as the bankers begin to swarm.

TARA PALMERI

It wasn’t the debate we wanted, but it’s the debate we got. Tara welcomes Iowa political insider Jimmy Centers on to the pod to recap the latest G.O.P. debate between Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. Did either candidate strengthen their case to Iowa voters before the caucuses? Does their race for second place even matter?