By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com

Seasonally lower demand ahead of the peak summer driving season and the continued turbulence in the Middle East could extend the violent oil price swings for months ahead, the top executive of oil trader Gunvor has told the Financial Times.

“It is a little bit of a more challenging, softer period that we need to be careful of,” Gary Pedersen, chairman and CEO of Gunvor Group, told FT in an interview published on Monday.

“Frankly, it could be very choppy,” commented on the oil market Pedersen, who took over the top job at one of the world’s biggest physical oil trading groups after a management buy-out in December 2025.

Before the big shake-up at the group, Gunvor was accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of being a Kremlin puppet and was denied a license to take over the international operations of Russia’s second-largest oil producer Lukoil, which the United States sanctioned last autumn.

The recent violent swings in oil futures prices were partly due to what Gunvor’s new head Pedersen attributed in the FT interview to a “masterclass” in political messaging from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Oil futures prices have sold off sharply several times in recent weeks following various comments from President Trump that a deal with Iran is imminent or the war is “very close to over”.

But oil futures markets haven’t fully priced in the major disruption to physical supply that has crashed with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the severely constrained Middle Eastern crude and fuel supply.

Physical crude supplies remain very tight as buyers across the world scramble for replacement of the oil from the Middle East, Gunvor’s Pedersen told FT.

In a sign that buyers are rushing to lock in supply, empty supertankers have left Asia en route to the U.S. via the Cape of Good Hope in one of the biggest queues of vessels ever seen at sea—ships sent to load U.S. crude.

Well before Mark Carney was elected as Canada’s Prime Minister in the wake of numerous scandals surrounding Justin Trudeau, critics noted that the candidate represented a far greater threat to Canada’s freedom largely because he is far more devious than Trudeau ever was. 

Carney is a central banker and high level World Economic Forum globalist well acquainted with the liberal “Reset” agenda, and it is no mistake that he has taken control of Canada at a time when European elites are pushing for an economic and geopolitical separation from the US.  The plan is obvious – To isolate the US in an effort to stop the spread of conservative and nationalist movements throughout the west.

In other words, the globalists/leftists are trying to build a new empire in a last-ditched scramble to prevent their liberal order from fading away.  Carney pretends as if they are breaking from the old system and starting something new by “calling out” the US.  In reality, it was the US that broke from the liberal system and refused to “go along to get along”. 

It was the US that refused to conform to the multicultural agenda, open borders, ESG and DEI politics, the transgender cult and the indoctrination of children with socialist and LGBT ideology, not to mention the fact that so many foreign nations have been feeding off US taxpayer dollars for decades through institutions like USAID.

Vast numbers of their own citizens are rebelling against liberal governments.  Movements to stop the multicultural agenda and mass immigration are gaining momentum. Right-wing political parties are quickly growing, inspired by conservative success against the woke cult in the US.   

The liberals are circling the wagons, and it would seem that Canada is meant to play a key role in this “new order”.  Prime Minister Mark Carney has been escalating his anti-US rhetoric since he entered office while threatening to build closer economic partnerships with hostile foreign entities like the CCP in China. 

As we asked after the Liberal Convention in Montreal, are Canadians being primed for an open conflict with the US?  The rhetoric coming from the nation’s liberal government is sounding increasingly aggressive, and not just in terms of economic separation.  In his latest “address to The nation”, Carney doubled down on his militant position, citing the history of Canada (including the War of 1812) as an ongoing battle against a “predatory” US.

It’s fascinating to see a globalist like Carney try to paint the US defense against European influences as if it this was an act of war against Canada (which did not become a country until 1867).  The war of 1812 was instigated by the British Empire after their Royal Navy interfered with US trade, stopping American merchant vessels on the high seas and kidnapping men they claimed were British subjects.  They then forced these American citizens to fight in their war against the French.

Estimates of kidnapped Americans range from 9,000–15,000 between 1793 and 1812. The 1807 Chesapeake-Leopard affair, where a British warship fired on a U.S. Navy frigate and seized sailors, nearly sparked war at the time and became a major flashpoint.  Finally, the British engaged in arming and instigating an insurgency among the native Indians in the Great Lakes region in order to terrorize US settlements. 

Canada was a controlled region of the elitist empire back then, just as it is today.

There is no US invasion of Canada today, but Carney is painting a narrative as if this is an imminent threat.  US tariffs have shaken Canada to its core.  Over 75% of the country’s exports are sold in US markets.  Their trade proximity made Canada one of the wealthiest nations in the world per capita and gave them one of the richest middle class populations in 2014-2015.  However, extreme-left wing policies have ruined Canada’s economic advantage. 

This was not the Trump Administration’s doing, it was their own doing.  Trump’s opposition to Canada is partly economic (Trump wants more trade parity), but it is also predominantly ideological.  They are, essentially, a woke/globalist enclave looming on the US border and it is clear that they intend to act as a foothold for the elites in North America. 

Carney’s rhetoric only reinforces the suspicion that there is an agenda afoot to isolate the US.  The problem is that Canada is already suffering from an unprecedented economic crisis, with inflation, high taxes and housing shortages crushing their middle class.  The threat is so great that provinces like Alberta are seriously considering secession.  Furthermore, there is no trade network on Earth that can possibly replace the highly lucrative arrangement Canada has had with the US. 

The Prime Minister’s efforts to stoke “national unity” among Canadians by painting the US as the “big bad wolf” is actually setting them up for disaster.   

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

U.S. officials broke ground for a New World Screwworm (NWS) sterile fly production facility in Texas to combat the flesh-eating parasites, which have spread across Mexico and pose a significant threat to America’s livestock, wildlife, and public health.

Located in Moore Air Base, Edinburg, the facility “is being built with an aggressive timeline designed to quickly expand the nation’s sterile fly production capacity,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in an April 17 statement.

Initial operations are set to start from November 2027, hitting production of 100 million sterile flies per week. “Construction continues immediately beyond initial operations to scale full production capacity to 300 million sterile flies per week,” the department added.

NWS female flies lay eggs on orifices or wounds of warm-blooded animals, which later hatch into larvae. The larva burrows deep into wounds, feeding on the host’s flesh.

The wound grows larger as more eggs are hatched and more larvae feed into the flesh, with the animal eventually dying. A single female fly can lay up to 3,000 eggs in its lifetime. Large swarms of the parasites coming in from Mexico pose a significant threat to America’s livestock industry.

Currently, the closest active cases to the U.S.-Mexico border have been reported in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, located less than 70 miles from the border.

Swarms of NWS flies can be countered by releasing sterile male flies into the group. When male flies mate with females, they end up laying unfertilized eggs. Over time, the swarm diminishes, warding off the threat.

In its recent statement, USDA said it already produces sterile flies at a facility in Panama that outputs 100 million insects per week. Moreover, the agency has invested $21 million into a Mexican facility, which is set to become operational this summer.

The Moore Air Base facility, with its maximum output of 300 million sterile flies per week, boosts America’s efforts to counter the NWS threat.

The groundbreaking ceremony was led by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, and commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Lieutenant General William H. “Butch” Graham. USDA and USACE have cut red tape, secured expedited procurement, and eliminated other barriers to get the facility built.

“Breaking ground on this facility marks a major investment in safeguarding America’s livestock and the producers who feed this nation. This puts NWS sterile fly production in American hands, so we do not have to rely on other countries for the best offensive measure to push screwworm away from our borders,” Rollins said.

“The New World Screwworm threatens the health of our herds, the stability of rural economies, and the resilience of our supply chain. President Trump and his entire cabinet is committed to leveraging every resource necessary to contain this pest, protect American agriculture, and ensure the long-term security of our food supply chain.”

As of April 2, the United States has imposed restrictions on the import of live animals—cattle, horses, and bison—from Mexico due to NWS parasites.

In addition to animals, NWS is also known to infect humans in rare cases.

According to an April 14 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, multiple such cases have been reported from outside the United States.

“In 2023, Panama and Costa Rica identified an outbreak of NWS. Since that time, all countries in Central America and Mexico, where NWS was previously controlled, have identified cases in animals and people,” CDC said.

“As of April 14, 2026, these countries have reported nearly 168,000 NWS cases in animals and more than 1,700 cases in people.”

As for the United States, one confirmed NWS infection was found in a person who returned to the country from El Salvador.

New World Screwworm infection in humans is generally non-fatal if discovered early and treated.

However, if not caught early and treated, infestations can lead to extensive tissue damage and long-lasting severe pain in the case of nerve damage. Moreover, if the larvae burrow into vital organs, it can result in complications.

Symptoms in humans include pain, wound bleeding, foul-smelling odor around the infected site, and lack of natural healing, with the individual prone to sense the movement of larvae in the wounded area.

The CDC clarified that NWS flies have not been detected in the United States and that there is “no immediate risk of infestation to people.”

Last week, Goldman analysts led by Mark Delaney laid out a detailed roadmap for clients on how autonomous vehicles could reshape America’s highways through the 2030s, with a particular focus on “the impact of AI on profit pools.”

In a separate report, Goldman analysts led by Allen Chang covered the rapid expansion of China’s robotaxi fleet, highlighting how both superpowers now appear to be locked in a race to automate roads and highways. 

“We expect a strong ramp up of robotaxis in China, with the robotaxi fleet in China growing from 5k in 2025 to 14k in 2026E (+195% YoY),” Chang began the note.

He pointed out that this update on China’s robotaxi and robotruck fleet indicates that “Commercialization is speeding up, with several players achieving city-level break-even.”

“We are raising our robotaxi forecasts for 2025-2035E by 7%-25%. By 2035E, robotaxis should account for 36% of all ride-sharing vehicles,” Chang said.

The report also introduces forecasts for overseas robotaxi and robotruck markets, highlighting international expansion as an increasingly important revenue driver for Chinese companies, including WeRide, Pony AI, and Baidu.

Chang forecasts that robotrucks could emerge as a long-term growth market, with China’s fleet rising from 8,000 in 2026 to 760,000 by 2035.

The overall outlook for AV fleets in China suggests rapid deployment, growing fleet density, and broader global scaling. The analyst noted their stock plays on this emerging trend: robotaxi and robotruck players include WeRide (Initiation), Pony AI, Didi, and Baidu.

Circling back to Goldman analyst Delaney’s report on the U.S. robotaxi market last week. He noted that the market is set to top $19 billion by 2030, up from a prior forecast of $7 billion, and continue rising to $48 billion by 2035.

Taken together, the two reports suggest the AI race is no longer confined to data centers and chip stacks. It is now moving into the physical world, where autonomous vehicles, robotaxis, and AI-powered freight networks are emerging as the next major frontier between the two superpowers. On a side note, these AI-powered vehicles can be dual-use and will eventually end up on modern battlefields.

Professional subscribers can read the full China Robotaxi and US Robotaxi notes at our new Marketdesk.ai portal. 

Authored by Ellen Chang, Kerri Anne Renzulli, and Chris Taylor via Kiplinger’s Personal Finance,

Financial advice is everywhere these days. In the digital age, you can find insights and tips about how best to save, invest, and manage your money from adviser and financial services websites; YouTube, TikTok, and other social media platforms; podcasts, newsletters, and Substacks; and your 401(k) provider, among other outlets.

Then there are all the traditional sources, such as your financial planner, newspapers and magazines, and even your dear Uncle Lou, who always has a money tip or two to dispense. (Yes, despite all the new founts of financial wisdom, Americans are still more likely to turn to family and friends for money advice than any other resource, a recent Gallup survey found.)

The challenge, of course, is figuring out whether any of the many financial recommendations you come across are actually the very best advice you could get for your circumstances. This is guidance that will not only help you manage your money wisely, but also provide perspective to keep you grounded, whatever opportunities, obstacles or challenges life throws your way.

That’s why we asked a diverse group of 35 top financial experts—acclaimed investors, advisers, money managers, economists, influencers and more—to share their very best advice. The essential question we put to them: Of all the many recommendations or insights about money you’ve given or received, what are the best, most meaningful or most impactful tips you want to pass along?

The Nuclear Co. (TNC), a startup that emerged from stealth in 2024 as America’s full-stack nuclear project integrator, is preparing to propose one of the first large-scale conventional reactor builds in the United States in more than a decade. 

According to Bloomberg, the company could unveil plans as soon as this week for an AP1000 reactor at one of three potential sites in South Carolina. The move comes as surging electricity demand, fueled largely by AI data centers, forces utilities and developers to confront the limits of today’s grid.

TNC showed up with a design-once, build-many methodology and fresh Series A funding in hand as the firm opened its primary engineering and construction office in Columbia, SC, last year.

Governor Henry McMaster welcomed the move, which is expected to create more than 100 jobs while supporting a targeted 6-gigawatt fleet rollout. South Carolina already generates over half its electricity from nuclear power, boasts established infrastructure, a skilled workforce, and a state leadership clearly committed to expansion.

The timing feels both promising and painfully familiar:

• -Just days ago we asked whether America sits on the verge of a nuclear renaissance

• -We have chronicled the historic first federal approval for novel reactor technology

• -The Washington facility is slated to host 12 Amazon-funded small modular reactors

• -Nano Nuclear’s construction permit was submitted for its Kronos unit in Illinois

• -We tracked the steady drumbeat of SMR licensing approvals 

• -President Trump’s executive orders to fast-track small modular reactor development drew widespread applause

• -We even reported on the national emergency declaration that positioned the U.S. government to purchase 10 large new reactors

Yet for all that…

Four months later, China has added 9 more reactors and is now building a total of 39 nuclear power plants. Meanwhile the US has added 0 and is still building 0 https://t.co/TJ6BoMghNk pic.twitter.com/O4idOANNUr

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 15, 2026

China continues to lead with dozens of units under construction. Russia and India press forward while America’s own expertise has atrophied after a generation of near-total inactivity. Even Iran is building more nuclear plants than the US…

At least the US will have some really cool microreactors to play with, and they’ll only need 999 more of them to even come close to a single AP1000. 

The frustration deepens when one considers the $80 billion strategic partnership struck last October between Cameco, Brookfield, and the U.S. government to deploy Westinghouse reactors across the country.

Six months later, that headline figure has produced zero visible shovels in the dirt.

If the times really are changing and nuclear steel is about to get put into the ground, investors would do themselves some good to consider where the upside is in the construction of a new plant. Uranium prices are going to be more directly driven by the wider global supply-demand gap, not necessarily the reactor build itself, where fuel only accounts for roughly 5% of the cost of a new reactor. 

The most likely investment opportunity for a new nuclear facility rests in the construction companies, heavy equipment manufacturers, and service providers for the facility. Companies like Fluor, Amentum, Curtiss-Wright, Mirion Technologies, ATI, Flowserve, and Crane Company are just a few examples.
 

Over the weekend it was confirmed by Pentagon statements that the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group has belatedly redeployed to the Middle East after a month in port for repairs following a fire aboard the ship.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier returned to operations after what’s been officially described as a blaze in its laundry area, which headlines have presented as accidental. The incident injured sailors and forced significant maintenance work, and ever since it happened on March 12, there’s been an avalanche of public speculation that Iranian forces my have hit it in a missile or drone attack.

However, US and military officials have repeatedly rejected that the Ford was damaged as a result of Iranian attack, as Tehran has claimed.

The carrier is rejoining an expanding US military buildup in the region – with the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group already deployed, and the USS George H.W. Bush expected to soon join, which would bring the number of US carriers in the Middle East to three.

By comparison, the 2003 US invasion of Iraq was supported by a total of five US Navy aircraft carriers, with some in the Persian Gulf and some in the Mediterranean.

The Ford had been operating in the eastern Mediterranean when the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran. While transiting the Red Sea last month, a fire allegedly broke out in the ship’s main laundry facility, triggering a major damage-control response and forcing the vessel to divert for repairs.

After completing maintenance, the bulk of which was done at the Croatian port town and Split, the carrier has returned to active duty.

Before earlier this year returning to the Middle East, the Ford operated in the Caribbean, including missions targeting suspected drug trafficking, and it was heavily involved in the controversial US operation against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

As a reminder on the Bush carrier’s route:

🇺🇸 🇮🇷 USS GEORGE HW BUSH CARRIER GROUP TAKES LONG ROUTE TO MIDDLE EAST TO AVOID BAB AL MANDAB STRAIT AND HOUTHIS

Source: USNI pic.twitter.com/opTeCA6Nut

— Maine (@TheMaineWonk) April 13, 2026

During its extended deployment, the carrier has also been subjecting of widespread reports of technical problems, including plumbing failures that caused sewage system backups, adding to the overall strain of its lengthy, extended deployment.

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

The legendary baseball player and manager Ted Williams once wrote a letter to the Angels outfielder Jay Johnstone on improving his hitting. Among his pieces of advice was that “with two strikes, you simply have to protect the plate.”

Williams’s advice on not striking out came to mind this week when another leak of confidential information rocked the Supreme Court. (The prior leak of the Dobbs decision went unsolved).

For Chief Justice John Roberts, the message is clear: it is a time like this when you have to protect the plate.

Roberts, of course, is famous for his own baseball analogies. In his confirmation, he declared that “judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules. They apply them…Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire.”

Yet, justices do make rules not only in new precedent, but in the operation of the court system. Those rules are being broken.

In the same week as the new leak, Justice Sonia Sotomayor attacked her colleague Brett Kavanaugh as essentially an out-of-touch prig who had never even met an hourly wage worker.

It was an unfair insult and a departure from the Court’s long-standing rules of civility.

(Sotomayor later apologized).

Additionally, a forthcoming book by Mollie Hemingway on Justice Samuel Alito contains an embarrassing account of how Justice Elena Kagan allegedly screamed at Justice Stephen Breyer so loudly before the Dobbs opinion that the “wall was shaking.”

(The book suggests that Kagan was upset with Breyer agreeing to spur along the dissents to get out the final opinions in light of rising threats against conservative colleagues after the leak).

For an institution that prides itself on its confidentiality and insularity, the Court is looking increasingly porous and partisan in these leaks. 

Worse yet, people are indeed coming to the Court “to see the umpires.”

The most recent leak was published by the New York Times, which was given internal memos from various Supreme Court justices on the use of what is known as the “shadow docket” to issue rulings without oral arguments.

Notably, the leaks occurred after a controversial speech by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at Yale Law School in which she denounced the use of the shadow docket by her conservative colleagues to release decisions that were sometimes “utterly irrational.”

The memos reveal the concern of the justices that the Environmental Protection Agency was effectively gaming the system, imposing unlawful regulatory burdens on electric utilities despite a countervailing earlier ruling in Michigan v. EPA.

Chief Justice Roberts noted that the EPA was using the ongoing litigation to force utilities to spend billions of dollars to comply with the new regulations: “In other words the absence of stay allowed the agency to effectively implement an important program we held to be contrary to law.”

The controversy over the use of the shadow docket is immaterial to this story. The most immediate concern for Roberts should be that this is strike two: another leak from within the Court that was clearly designed to wound some of its members.

Unlike the Dobbs leak (which appeared to be an effort to influence the final opinion), this is a leak about a decade-old case. It had a purely malicious purpose to embarrass or disrupt the Court.

The question, again, is the identity of the culprit. There is no reason to assume that the same person was involved in both leaks. Rather, the leaks appear to reflect a deteriorating culture at the Court.

After the Dobbs leak, Chief Justice Roberts launched a fruitless investigation through the federal marshals to find the responsible person. The use of the marshals as the lead investigators (rather than the FBI) was criticized at the time. Roberts may have been sensitive to an executive-branch agency rooting around in the highest court of a sister branch.

The result was the worst possible outcome. The culprit succeeded in both leaking the opinion and evading any accountability.

The fact is that the Court’s culture and institutional identity have always been its greatest protection of confidentiality. In a city that floats on a rolling sea of leaks, the Court was an island of integrity and civility. The “umpires” could call balls and strikes without playing the leak game.

That culture is fast becoming nothing but a relic in the wake of yet another major leak. For the future of the Court and the faith of the public, Roberts has to set his reservations aside and bring in the FBI to find the culprit. Most importantly, he has to guarantee total transparency in allowing the public to see the results wherever they may lead. In other words, with two strikes, Roberts needs to protect the plate.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

Kuwait has declared force majeure on shipments of crude oil and refined products after disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz prevented some vessels from entering the Persian Gulf.

The move comes as tensions in the Strait escalated again following the U.S. seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel in the waterway.

According to Reuters, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has notified customers that it is invoking contractual clauses allowing it to withhold certain scheduled deliveries after the blockade hindered access to the Gulf. The measure is not expected to result in a complete halt to supply. 

The latest escalation follows a volatile weekend in which the Strait briefly reopened before closing again after Iran linked the reopening of the shipping lane to the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade targeting its oil exports.

Iran’s foreign ministry said it has no plans for a new round of talks following the U.S. seizure of the vessel. U.S. President Donald Trump said a delegation led by Vice President JD Vance is heading to Islamabad for talks. Pakistan has tightened security in the capital ahead of the potential negotiations.

Iran has warned that it cannot guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz if its oil exports continue to be restricted, saying that security for shipping in the waterway cannot be separated from pressure on its own crude flows.

Shipping activity in and around the Strait has been disrupted again, with vessels altering routes and operators reassessing transit risks through one of the world’s most important oil shipping lanes.

After plunging late last week, oil prices rebounded in early trading as markets reacted to the renewed disruption and the risk of further constraints on flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

The renewed pressure also comes as Iran-aligned Houthis have threatened to target the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, raising concerns about additional risks to alternative export routes for Middle East crude.

The Department of Justice appears to be gaining fresh momentum in its criminal investigation into the 2016 Trump-Russia collusion narrative, with a significant overhaul of the team handling the case in southern Florida.

According to investigative journalist Julie Kelly’s reporting at Declassified.live, longtime Trump legal advisor Joe diGenova – a former U.S. Attorney and prominent commentator – will be sworn in Monday as counsel to the attorney general. He will assume leadership of the ongoing grand jury probe based in Fort Pierce, the district overseen by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. That same courthouse was the site of Cannon’s landmark July 2024 ruling dismissing Special Counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case against President Trump after she found Smith’s appointment unconstitutional. The grand jury has been active in Fort Pierce since January, Kelly reports.

DiGenova’s wife, Victoria Toensing, has also served as a key Trump legal counselor for years. In a notable earlier move, the Biden Justice Department seized Toensing’s cellphone in April 2021 during a separate inquiry tied to Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to examine the Biden family’s overseas dealings.

But wait, there’s more…

The addition of DiGenova isn’t the only retooling. Earlier this week, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche removed the career prosecutor previously in charge of the investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan, who played a key role in concocting the Trump-Russia collusion scheme in 2016. According to CNN, assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Medetis Long was ousted “after she resisted pressure to quickly bring charges against the former CIA director and prominent critic of President Donald Trump.” Meditis Long notified lawyers representing several individuals who have received subpoenas or interview requests related to the investigation that she was off the case, the New York Times reported on Friday. -Declassified Live

Blanche has also sent one of his senior aides, Christopher-James DeLorenz – who clerked for Judge Cannon during the documents litigation – to the Fort Pierce team.

These changes come shortly after President Trump dismissed former Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month, citing dissatisfaction with the pace of the Russiagate accountability effort. In a pointed press conference days later, Blanche—whom Trump immediately named acting attorney general—made clear the department’s direction. “The president has said time and time again that he wants justice,” Blanche told reporters. “If you look at what happened to him, his family, his administration, the agents who protected him, people who just happened to walk by him on a given day, they got subjected to…massive investigations by this department.”

Blanche speaks from direct experience: he defended Trump in both the Florida documents case and the Manhattan hush-money prosecution brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Earlier this year the Justice Department did secure indictments against a small number of figures tied to the lawfare campaign, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Those cases were later dismissed, however, after a judge ruled that the appointment of the acting U.S. Attorney who filed them, Lindsey Halligan, was improper. That decision is now under appeal in the Fourth Circuit.

Still, many Trump supporters are demanding deeper accountability. While the initial charges brought some satisfaction, the expectation is for more significant action. A potential indictment of Brennan – who many view as a top target – now looks increasingly likely. He was recently subpoenaed in connection with his 2023 congressional testimony, in which he denied that the discredited Steele dossier influenced his 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment alleging Russian election interference on Trump’s behalf.

Brennan’s legal team has reacted with alarm. In a highly unusual letter sent last December to the chief judge of the 11th Circuit, his attorneys urged the court to block the probe from proceeding in Fort Pierce—viewed as a more conservative venue than Miami—and to bar Judge Cannon from any involvement. The letter claimed that Cannon’s prior rulings created the appearance of favoritism toward Trump and accused prosecutors of deliberately steering the case to her courtroom in line with what they called the president’s political retribution agenda.

If diGenova’s role expands beyond Brennan to encompass a wider “grand conspiracy” review – potentially covering everything from the roots of Russiagate through January 6, the Mar-a-Lago raid, and the conduct of the now-disqualified special counsel – additional high-profile targets could come into focus. Among them are individuals already the subject of criminal referrals sitting with the DOJ, including Thomas Windom (referred by House Judiciary Chairman James Jordan for alleged obstruction during congressional depositions) and January 6 committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson, accused of fabricating testimony about an incident in the presidential vehicle. This week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also referred two former officials—Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson and analyst Eric Ciaramella – for their roles in advancing the 2019 Ukraine-related impeachment allegations against Trump. Both men have documented connections to the original Russiagate players.

Even Jack Smith may not be fully in the clear. Recent reporting from CBS News indicates that Florida prosecutors are examining documents linked to Smith’s prior investigation of the president. Smith could additionally face scrutiny for allegedly continuing to hold himself out as special counsel in court filings long after Cannon disqualified him, raising questions of contempt and potential false statements to Congress.

As Julie Kelly observed in her Declassified.live piece, diGenova—still energetic and far from retirement age—may be exactly the experienced, no-nonsense figure needed to bring decisive momentum to the Florida investigation and deliver the accountability many have long awaited.