Good evening,

Welcome back to The Washington Mall. I know it’s mid-August, but this has been one of the busier political weeks in recent memory. So I’ve been working in overdrive to break news on a number of different stories, from the latest intrigue inside Trumpworld (where fingers are pointing all over the place) to DeSantis’s corner of the party (where they are working on a Trump-foiling political strategy) to the succession drama enfolding Nancy Pelosi, who I’m told wants a generation of leadership to exit with her.

Mentioned in this email: Donald Trump, Hakeem Jeffries, Jim Clyburn, Steny Hoyer, Adam Schiff, Boris Epshteyn, Ron DeSantis, Steve Cortes,Blake Masters, Peter Thiel, and many, many more!

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Trump’s inner circle is reeling, almost Agatha Christie-style, over the identity of the informant. And it’s become an interesting guessing game. Since his kitchen cabinet of advisors generally drop in from out of state, and are relegated to his office above the ballroom in Mar-a-Lago, few have access to his residence or the basement where personal items are stored. Trump insiders have told me that they’ve narrowed the identity of the possible informant down to two camps. The theory is that it was likely among the cohort of junior aides, mostly body men, (think Cassidy Hutchinson level), who are by his side day-to-day at either Bedminster or Mar-a-Lago. A few of these people have rotated out of the office in recent months, and, some have speculated, may perceive their futures as brighter outside of Trump’s orbit. Others say it could be an actual staff worker at the Mar-a-Lago club. I’ve been told specific names...