Can’t believe I have to debunk this BS on Yom Kippur, but with a lot of Israelis offline today, somebody has to. This Politico Playbook story about David Milstein is such a spectacular non-story that I genuinely have no other explanation for how it became the lead item of one of Washington’s supposedly premier political newsletters besides total and complete Israel Derangement Syndrome. Of all the actual corruption, grift and shady behavior among America’s political class, THIS is what @adamwren and his colleagues decided was worthy of a “counterintelligence” scandal? An American official getting married in Israel and following completely ordinary Israeli wedding customs is not some nefarious influence-peddling scheme. Here’s something Wren, @joekent16jan19, and the thousands of basement-dwellers hyperventilating about this on X might have learned by speaking to literally one Israeli: This is what people do when they get married in Israel. People give MONEY at weddings. Not blenders. Not china sets. Money. Registries aren’t really a thing here. For decades, wedding halls have had giant safes where guests drop envelopes containing checks and cash. The practice is so ubiquitous that Israeli police licensing guidance literally has a section governing the “guest-envelope safe.” In 2004, Ynet reported on a survey that found that 85% of Israelis gave cash or checks as event gifts. And now that money-transfer apps like Bit and PayBox are ubiquitous in Israel, much like Zelle is in the U.S., people send wedding gifts through those instead of carrying around a check or wad of cash. Israeli wedding companies openly advertise services that send guests payment links for Bit and PayBox. Welcome RSVP will literally send guests a WhatsApp message on the wedding day with a link to give their gift. AttendIt gives guests personal payment links after they RSVP. A Bit link for wedding gifts is about as suspicious in Israel as hummus on a Friday morning. Maybe learn something about the country you’re writing about before turning an utterly mundane Israeli wedding custom into a national-security scandal.

President Trump was right to ban Politico from the White House. And I want to tell you why, and about a specific situation this morning involving my stepson, David Milstein. David is a young man who is about to get married in Israel in October. He works for Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. In the first Trump term, David worked for David Friedman, the former ambassador to Israel. David is earnest and, hard working. Today, on Yom Kippur, my family and I awakened to one of the most outrageous and disgusting hit pieces written by Politico's Adam Wren. And I must briefly respond to this character-assassination.. First, if David wasn't my stepson, I've no doubt he wouldn't be treated like this. Attacking him like Wren did this morning, weeks before his wedding and on Yom Kippur is truly contemptible. Second, David is not controversial. He does his job professionally, carrying out the administration's policies in his support position to Ambassador Huckabee. He has been accused of multiple lies over the last 17-months, including about a meeting with Pollard -- in which David had no role whatsoever but was asked to attend. And he has been targeted by some of the most reprehensible individuals on the Internet and elsewhere. Third, David did not "solicit cash gifts from Israeli citizens to celebrate his upcoming wedding." David was asked by family members, who live all over the world and throughout the country, about gifts for his upcoming wedding and if he was registered anywhere. David responded to requests by sending an email-message that there was no registration for gifts and suggested an alternative option. The email-message was intended for family and close friends but went to the larger email list of guests. As soon as he realized it went to the larger list, literally in less than 48-hours, he sent another email making clear he would not and could not accept gifts of any kind from the larger group. It is that simple. He was not soliciting cash gifts from Israelis, as Wren sought a hook for his story. Wren then went to cherry-picked anonymous sources to create an entirely false narrative and impression to promote a non-existent controversy about David's clearance, etc. It is a truly unconscionable thing to do, and he did it to further embellish his story, Wren also claims people are afraid of David because I'm his stepfather -- according to more anonymous sources. This is pathetic like the rest of his hit piece. I've been around a long time. I've dealt with the press for decades. This has to be the most appalling and dishonest story of all. Wren knows exactly what he's doing, and he's doing it to one of the most honorable and decent people I know -- my stepson -- who has more integrity in his pinky than Wren will ever have.