☕️ SPINNING ☙ Monday, June 16, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠

Minnesota assassin nabbed in cornfield as media ignores the weird stuff; Trump’s tariff wins roll in; Israel-Iran war drags on; Dem purity spiral flings top unions off the progressive carousel; more.

Good morning, C&C, it’s Monday! This morning, your humble correspondent works under an especially tight deadline, since I am leaving for the Heritage Foundation in DC to speak on a panel called “Shattered Trust.” So we’ll get right to it. Today’s whirlwind roundup includes: Minnesota assassin Vance Boelter arrested in a corn field while media ignores all the weirdest facts of the story; Trump tariff deals keep on rolling behind the scenes; Middle East war update as quick victory proves elusive and the President tries to broker peace; and the Democrat purity spiral twirls even faster, throwing its biggest two unions off the progressive merry-go-round.

🌍 WORLD NEWS AND COMMENTARY 🌍

🔥🔥🔥

The first act of the Minnesota mystery has now closed. The New York Times ran the story headlined, “Suspect in Minnesota Attacks Is Arrested, Ending Manhunt.” They called the largest manhunt in state history. The suspect, Vance Boelter—unemployed but mysteriously well-off—was found crawling through a cornfield about an hour from his house, a scene equal parts Coen brothers and classified op-gone-wrong.

They didn’t say if he’d crawled the whole way. But I can tell you this: He wouldn’t have lasted an hour in a field in Florida, not in that getup. It’s too hot. Even if he’d taken off his military-style cargo jacket, the skeeters would have got him. Or gators.

Anyway, the story of how they found Vance Boelter, 57, is as convoluted and difficult to credit as the rest of his bizarre story. It begins with an “alert police officer” (I swear that’s what they said), a conveniently located trail camera, drone surveillance, and— Bob’s Your Uncle, there he was. So far, this story bears many parallels to Trump assassin Ryan Routh’s: weird world travels, loads of inactive small business entities, military-level skills (from a pre-retiree!), and unaccountable funding without any visible source of income, which is the fact I will focus on for today’s post.

Boelter, 57, is a deeply strange figure: married father of five, owner of a sprawling rural estate, former convenience store manager, NGO “director,” freelance preacher, security consultant, business panelist, self-described funeral technician, and now—allegedly—a spree killer. His arrest narrative features the trademark deus ex trail cam, a conveniently alert patrol officer, and some helpful drone surveillance. Bob’s your uncle, Vance is in cuffs.

And just like Trump assassin Ryan Routh, the details get weirder the closer you look.

It first grabbed my attention as it became increasingly obvious the entire corporate media was avoiding saying one word in all the Boelter articles: unemployed. So far as I can tell, Boelter’s been out of work since his government grant ran out four months ago and he returned from Congo as though a man possessed by a demon.

But here’s the question: How did Vance Boelter fund an apparently lavish lifestyle —marked by a large home, five children, weapons, at least $50K in cash, disguises, and multiple vehicles (including a late-model SUV modified to look like a police car)— despite being unemployed? Where’d the money come from? It’s a conundrum, but don’t look to media to quell the curiosity.

Available information provides tantalizing clues without any definitive answers, and the narrative around Boelter’s finances is muddled by conflicting hot takes and unverified claims.

Boelter owned a rural home in Sibley County, Minnesota, 60 miles southwest of Minneapolis. He reportedly purchased it with his wife for around $500,000 just a few years ago. It sits on 11 acres halcyon rural acres, far from neighbors. The property, described by some as a “million-dollar estate,” suggests significant financial resources. And anyone who owns a home can imagine how much it costs to keep up. At least three businesses were registered at his address— none having offices or customers.

Boelter also bizarrely rented a room in North Minneapolis— a detail that screams staging house or cover identity, but is being treated like a quirky footnote.

Reports mention multiple vehicles, including a custom SUV (the one modified into a security/law enforcement vehicle), his wife’s car, and another expensive-looking auto found ‘abandoned’ near his home. The weapons and disguises (like a latex mask and police-style ballistic vest) imply access to specialized, costly equipment.

These days, supporting five children requires not insubstantial funds, though it’s unclear whether they are all still dependent. Here’s Boelter recently describing his bland work history, in his own words, to a group of fellow funeral industry class attendees:

CLIP: Vance Boelter describes his patchy work history in funeral industry class (3:28).

Nor has any information been released about Jennifer Boelter's current employment status, or whether she is also unemployed, mirroring the uncertainty around Vance Boelter's job situation. Nor is there any evident media curiosity about Jennifer.

How did the Boelters fund their upper-middle-class lifestyle? Without any obvious source of income, he traveled internationally, acquired rare equipment, and maintained both his rural estate and a separate urban base of operations.

Like Ryan Routh, Boelter’s security skills —such as planning sophisticated attacks, donning disguises, and coolly navigating police shootouts— are equally inexplicable given his self-reported work history in food service and funeral homes. Like Routh, his “security training” occurred in untrackable third-world countries, without identifiable employers.

How’d they pay for the travel? Were the Boelters trust-fund babies?

His most recent employment history is, shall we say, patchy. Boelter owned ‘Praetorian Guard Security Services,’ where he was listed as ‘director of security patrols.’ But his ‘friend,’ David Carlson (his ‘roommate’ at the house where Boelter rented a room), claimed the company was not operational and had no clients, suggesting it was more of a cover than a reality.

Nor have any customers or clients of the Boelter’s businesses been identified.

Boelter said he’d worked in the food industry for decades, later took jobs in “funeral services” (removing bodies from nursing homes and crime scenes), and pursued ‘agricultural projects’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Suddenly, late in life, he’s a world-traveling farmer and crime scene cleanup specialist.

One of his posts on X mentioned a $420,000 Small Business Administration loan to his "Red Lion Group" in Congo (his NGO). I’ll leave it to DataRepublican to figure out what other grants he might’ve benefited from. After returning from Congo four months ago, his “roommate,” David Carlson— the only person apart from his family who seems to have known him— described Boelter as “struggling to find work.”

In other words, just like Ryan Routh, unaccountably unemployed. Swap the names and find the same breadcrumbs: combat skills without a clear source, deep financial resources without visible income, foreign training in sketchy locales, and no documented history of radical ideology— until suddenly, there it is! Right at the crime scene!

For example, though the media is enthusiastically portraying him as a “deeply committed Christian,” there is no evidence that Boelter ever took theological training or even attended church. Nor did he post about religion on his still accessible social media. In 2006, Boelter announced a “forthcoming” religious book (still forthcoming), and the announcement was nothing but feel-good quasi-religious word salad without any theological substance:

Absent any “deep commitment” to actually writing his book, and lacking any apparent theology beyond superficial nods to “our relationship with God,” my working hypothesis is that Boelter put this page up to support a grant application or establish a cover for travel. There are videos online of his Congolese “sermons” and they seem equally calorie-free.

As for his “anti-abortion” status— if he was pro-life, it doesn’t appear in any of his published musings.

The well-worn phrase "follow the money" was famously coined by investigative journalists during the Watergate scandal. It has long been considered the cornerstone of media scrutiny, guiding reporters to uncover hidden motives and corruption by tracing financial trails. Yet, not only are the media failing to follow the money here, they are actively obscuring the Boelters’ employment and financial status.

Media reports obsess over Vance’s alleged anti-abortion extremism and the politically charged shootings, yet they consistently sidestep the glaring financial incongruity of a million-dollar Minnesota home, a custom Praetorian SUV, six figures in cash, and support for five children against his unclear job history and the reported non-operation of Praetorian Guard Security Services.

They are also ignoring his inexplicable combat training and that his isolated home and a nearby rented room are classic hallmarks of secrecy. What would we do without media to tell us what to think?

🔥🔥🔥

With the news cycle co-opted by the Minnesota killings, good news sails along behind the scenery. The Wall Street Journal ran a great story yesterday headlined, “Nations Head to G-7 Hoping to Reach Trade Deals With Trump.”

The G-7 (Group of Seven) is an informal political and economic forum of the world’s eight most advanced ‘industrialized democracies,’ including the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the European Union. It holds its annual meeting this week in Canada. Also attending by invitation are: Mexico, India, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, South Korea, and … Ukraine.

The Journal reported that the other countries “all hope that face time with Trump will help them persuade the president to lower at least some of his most onerous tariffs in exchange for a range of concessions.” In other words, the trade talks continue, with countries lining up to talk to President Trump and make a deal.

🚀🚀🚀

In war news, Israel and Iran continued trading missile strikes like two bodybuilders in a slap fight. The Washington Post’s morning story was headlined, “Israel and Iran trade heavy strikes for a fourth day, with attacks expanding.”

What has become abundantly clear is that, despite early reports of an Israeli rout, Iran has stood back up, and is now swapping strikes with the best of them. Apparently, the initial news of a complete Iranian “decapitation” was overly optimistic (if not totally propagandistic). To the extent we can believe anything today, Iran seems to be taking the worst of it. But this obscures the fact that Iran is vastly bigger than Israel and can absorb a lot more abuse.

Time is not on Israel’s side in a war of attrition. Over the weekend, for example, independent commenters described how the constant flow of Tehranian attack drones sailing toward Tel-Aviv are beginning to wear out Israel’s fighter pilots. It’s sleepless AI robotics versus humans, and even Top Gun pilots must get their forty winks sometime.

Nor is it clear to anyone how Israel can “win” a war with Iran without a ground invasion, which —absent U.S. boots— seems impossible. The dream of rapid regime change in Tehran is already withering. Iran’s leadership is battered but intact, its military still functioning, and —crucially— its people not rising up. So far, this isn’t the 1979 revolution in reverse. It’s more like 2006, when Israel unsuccessfully invaded Lebanon to quash Hezbollah, but with better drones.

Perhaps signaling a whiff of recognition that there’s no quick victory in the offing, and quashing notions of immediate U.S. involvement, President Trump seemed to take a tiny step back, posting this weekend his strong denial of any U.S. involvement in the attacks on Iran, and calling for a peace deal.

Late yesterday, the President reiterated calls for peace, and announced the good sign that “many calls and meetings” were “now taking place”:

One call that Trump mentioned specifically yesterday was with President Putin of Russia, who agreed to help broker Middle East peace. Trump reasonably wrote, “He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end.” According to independent media, the Russians have offered to mediate peace talks between Iran and Israel and help with de-nuclearization efforts.

There’s still plenty of hope that peace will quickly emerge from this fogged war.

🔥🔥🔥

Whee! Purity spirals can make you dizzy. Yesterday, Politico ran a curious story headlined, “Teachers union president Randi Weingarten resigns from DNC.” The sub-headline, dripping with venom, added, “‘I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging,’ she wrote in a letter to DNC Chair Ken Martin.”

Ouch! Weingarten has been a DNC member for 23 years. In her June 5th rage-quitting letter, the once-untouchable union queenpin huffed, “I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more of our communities.” A noble sentiment—just 18 months and one presidential election too late.

“Weingarten’s departure,” Politico explained, “is the latest sign that the party is still embroiled in factional disputes, and it is likely to only further finger-pointing and intensify criticism among Democrats.” According to Politico, the straw that broke Randi’s back was the recent ouster of DNC Vice-Chair David Hogg for wrongthink.

The natives are restless. The story reported that union members applauded after Randi told them about her withdrawal. In a related New York Times story, readers learned that Randi wasn’t the only one. Lee Saunders, president of the blue blockbuster American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), also jumped ship.

It was political infighting at its best, or worst. We learned that, after Randi supported a different candidate for DNC chair, incoming David Martin stripped Randi of a prestigious committee appointment on the DNC’s influential Rules Committee— a post in which she’d squatted since 2009.

It’s also inconvenient timing. “The infighting among Democrats comes,” Politico drolly noted, “as they are trying to rebuild their party in the wake of their 2024 loss.” The Times was more severe. “The departures of Ms. Weingarten and Mr. Saunders,” the Times reporter wrote, “represent a significant erosion of trust in the D.N.C. during a moment in which Democrats are still locked out of power and grappling for a message and messenger to lead the opposition to President Trump.”

Randi Weingarten and Lee Saunders weren’t just random DNC bureaucrats— they are the connective tissue between the party’s elite class and its industrial-strength foot soldiers. Their untimely departures signal something deeper than personal pique: a rupture in labor’s decades-long marriage to Democratic leadership.

If rank-and-file union members start feeling unrepresented or disrespected, mid-term turnout will drop. So will funding. So will door-knockers in the Rust Belt. The Democrats may soon realize they risk alienating the most reliable muscle in their vaunted ground game.

Weingarten’s complaint about the party failing to “enlarge the tent” wasn’t just sour grapes— it was a screeching crone in a coal mine. Her ouster (and Hogg’s before hers) suggests the DNC is full-on into the purity spiral phase, purging heterodoxy for ideologically rigid leadership. That might thrill the activist wing, but it’s a gift to President Trump, who only needs a divided opposition and lukewarm turnout from moderates to steamroll through 2026 and beyond.

The deepest irony is that, while corporate media keeps trying to paint President Trump as unhinged and chaotic, it’s actually the DNC that’s bleeding leaders, devouring its own, and leaking credibility. Voters don’t need to read the tea leaves— this is open war inside the Democrats’ shrinking tent. And, to everyone except sold-out partisans, party infighting reads like incompetence.

When even dyed-in-the-wool union bosses are calling it quits, Trump gets an easy contrast: I’m the one running the show. They can’t even run a meeting.

Ironically, the normally loquacious DNC Chair David Martin declined to comment for either important story. His sudden silence felt less like strategy and more like survival— an uneasy pause from a man sensing the ideological earth shifting beneath his feet. In a party spinning through communist-style purity spirals and performative purges, Martin seems unsure which words might trigger the next inquisition. The neutral zone is shrinking fast.

As the purity spiral tightens like a noose, this is the worst possible moment for a Democrat with ambition to step into the spotlight. It’s not a leadership race—it’s the Hunger Games Volume I. The wise scatter into the underbrush while the naive charge for the Cornucopia and get politically disemboweled.

I can’t wait to read the next book.

Have a terrific Monday! Wish me easy travels, and I’ll be back tomorrow morning, writing from the Nation’s capitol and bringing you all the essential news and commentary you need to make it through the week.

Don’t race off! We cannot do it alone. Consider joining up with C&C to help move the nation’s needle and change minds. I could sure use your help getting the truth out and spreading optimism and hope, if you can: ☕ Learn How to Get Involved 🦠

How to Donate to Coffee & Covid

Twitter: jchilders98.
Truth Social: jchilders98.
MeWe: mewe.com/i/coffee_and_covid.
Telegram: t.me/coffeecovidnews
C&C Swag! www.shopcoffeeandcovid.com