Jon Ponder legal proceedings could be star-studded

No, not that Dana White. Gah. There’s another Dana White. She was an assistant to the Secretary of Defense for public affairs during the first Trump administration (when the Pentagon was run by people who knew better than to blunder into a war with Iran, but I digress). In other words, she’s the sort of person whose name might end up on a list of potential White House press secretary prospects.

Did Trump see her name on just such a list, and think it was Las Vegan and ardent Trump supporter Dana White of UFC fame? And then did the dotard, so thrilled by the prospect of Dana White being his press secretary, dictate a gushing social media rant to Nataly and tell her to hit publish? And then, upon later learning that a Dana White on a list was not in fact toxic manosphere denizen Dana White, but a public affairs professional, did Trump a) lie, b) pretend that he knew all along his buddy Dana White was not going to be his press secretary, and c) say it was all a joke hardy har har?

Because that seems a helluva lot more plausible than the pathetic Trump-was-joking-from-the-start explanation.

IN THE NEVADA CURRENT

Area law enforcement industrial complex update. Sort of. The attorney who filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a woman who alleges she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Hope for Prisoners’ founder Jon Ponder while in the state’s custody says he intends to depose Nevada’s top law enforcement officials to learn what they knew about Ponder and when. Dana Gentry reports: Lombardo, Wolfson, McMahill likely to be grilled in Ponder lawsuit, says lawyer

No wheel-reinvention required. Nevada Democrats have a clear path to provide statutory safeguards for the state’s growing ranks of freelance and independent workers. Democrats will have the votes, too. Freelance/independent worker advocate Bryan Driscoll lays it all out in this commentary: Democrats swept Nevada. Now protect all workers.

Quack quack. The holidays are right around the corner, which means a congressional stopgap spending deadline, which means that special time of year when another performance of Government Shutdown Theater is always a possibility. But maybe it won’t come to that. Here’s a look at what’s on deck, via the D.C. bureau: Lame duck Republican Congress has lengthy to-do list in year-end session

Tragic, really. The age of the typical first-time homebuyer last year remained stuck at a historic high of 40 years old as younger people continue to get the worst of brutally high prices and interest rates in much of the country. Via Stateline: Young home shoppers still priced out without help, according to survey

Root liked it. He tweeted it anyway. As I’ll do on occasion, I repurposed the Saturday newsletter as a Sunday column: So who’s the Nevada Republican leader now? Root?

Good Luck