AFP Washington desk chief. Formerly White House. Formerly formerly: Moscow, Chechnya, NYC, Rio de Janeiro, US #localnews. You say Thor, I say thaw.
Washington, DC
Joined November 2010
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Sebastian Smith retweeted
It was once extremely rare for grand jurors to rebuff prosecutors and turn down a request for an indictment, given that the Justice Department has traditionally sought criminal charges only in cases it expects to win. But prosecutors have become increasingly convinced they will be unable to bring any indictment that is seen as political while Trump is in office.
nytimes.com/2026/10/27/us/po…
Hugh was dispensed with, n’est pas @pirateirwin ?
#OTD 27 Oct 1326.
At Bristol, #HughDespensertheElder is hung, drawn and quartered. #RogerMortimer& #Isabella show their disdain by having his body fed to the dogs. A grizzly end - & more to come. Find out more about the time when Mortimer ruled England tinyurl.com/yp7ux9vm
Brazil is often portrayed as lagging behind the US example (Trump is Bolsonaro, Lula is old Biden, they had a “Jan 6” moment two years later than the original. Etc.). But Brazil is arguably way ahead when it comes to responding to plots to overturn elections.
Flávio é intimado pela PF para entregar passaporte oglobo.globo.com/politica/el…
Sebastian Smith retweeted
The controversial 2-hour delay in voting at some ballot stations in Brazil yesterday only resulted in 34,000 extra votes -- irrelevant, given Lula beat Bolsonaro by 4.43 million
Source: TSE (electoral court)
A Dem House js going to be a very very uncomfortable thing for President Trump
Breaking: Donald Trump was "an active participant in Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of young women in the mid-to-late 1990s,” according to a report issued today by Dems on the House Judiciary Committee. The report includes one new rape allegation against Trump, and calls for a special investigation of the Trump administration's cover-up of Epstein's crimes.
Sebastian Smith retweeted
Por enquanto Donald Trump não parabenizou e não tentou contato com Lula.
Casa Branca e Departamento de Estado aguardam manifestação do presidente -que ainda não chegou no Salao Oval para trabalhar.
Sebastian Smith retweeted
🇻🇪 Venezuela's Machado returns from exile to jubilant crowds
Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has made a surprise return home after nearly a year in exile. Her return to Caracas is a direct challenge to the US-backed interim government of Delcy Rodriguez, who has led the country under Washington's watchful eye since US forces ousted longtime leader Nicolas Maduro in January
Sebastian Smith retweeted
BREAKING Brazil's defeated presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro refuses to recognize President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's victory on Sunday.
"It is impossible to acknowledge the result," he said from Brasilia, adding that "I am going to request the annulment of these elections"
Sebastian Smith retweeted
Over the past 20 months, the Latin American left has lost seven out of seven presidential elections. Tonight, it increasingly looks as if Lula will end the right’s winning streak, in what would amount to a strategic defeat for Trump, who has systematically sought to strengthen the Bolsonaro family.
Been a bad night for Trump’s allies
Serbia's student-led movement declares victory in parliamentary elections, ending 14 years in power for Aleksandar Vucic's right-wing populist party. u.afp.com/SyJJ
Amazing that Lula pulled out a win in Brazil against the Trump-backed Bolsonaro. That stops Brazil making almost whole of Latin America, bar Mexico, from having gone over to Trump.
Catholic archbishop says they were “manipulated” by White House to pose with Trump
Milwaukee’s Archbishop Grob: “I feel a heavy sadness, not only over the pain I caused, but also for the fact that something so sacred to a group of religious leaders, prayer to our Heavenly Father, would be manipulated in that way. We came in good faith to try to work for the betterment of our fellow human beings, to ease their suffering, to build up the common good, and to pray with a president, not to pose for a political photo opportunity to benefit the few. We should never have been put in that position by the White House. I did not go without reservations. I wish I had heeded them. Please know that I have heard these concerns, understand how I caused them, and I apologize for any damage my actions have done.” archmil.org/posts/a-public-a…
“The vulnerability tsunami is coming in just a few months”
Sebastian Smith retweeted
NEW: A group of Catholic bishops prayed over President Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday, 12 days before the midterm elections, at a meeting organized by an official at the Heritage Foundation.
A senior Vatican official called it “a highly inappropriate meeting and an insult to Pope Leo XIV.”
In April, Trump called the pope “terrible for Foreign Policy,” and Vice President JD Vance warned that Leo should “be careful” when he talks about theology. thelettersfromleo.com/p/past…
Sebastian Smith retweeted
Elon Musk powers past the $400 million mark in donations this cycle cnn.com/2026/10/22/politics/…