July 31, 2026 - Anthropic Concerns About Claude's Testing

A follow-up to yesterday's note on Dr. Fauci taking the Fifth — 111 times. Several of you asked a fair question: if Biden pardoned him, why the silence? Because the pardon protects everything through January of 2025 — and nothing he said Wednesday. One misremembered date under oath is a fresh perjury charge. In this climate, that's no small risk.

And consider the climate. While campaigning, Trump told a CPAC audience, "I will be your retribution." I don't know if he delivered for that audience, but he's surely been his own avenger. James Comey has been indicted twice — first for allegedly lying to Congress, a case a judge tossed, and now for "threatening the president's life" with an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to read "86 47." Letitia James: indicted; dismissed; on appeal. John Bolton pleaded guilty to one count of mishandling classified information. John Brennan is before a grand jury. Adam Schiff, Lisa Cook, Jerome Powell, Mark Kelly and Eric Swalwell are all under investigation or referral. Fani Willis's travel records have been subpoenaed. Jack Smith drew a criminal referral from House Republicans. Only Alvin Bragg has escaped scrutiny — the one who convicted Trump. My theory: that case did more to elect him than any other. Maybe Trump agrees.

That's the case for Fauci's silence. Here's the case against it: a million Americans died, questions about Covid's origins and gain-of-function research remain unanswered, and the man best positioned to answer them sat in front of the country and said nothing — while holding a pardon.

So that's today's poll question at Smerconish.com: Was Fauci justified in taking the Fifth? It's not an easy call — I understand the silence, but I wish he'd spoken.

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Anthropic disclosed three of its advanced AI models accessed and compromised real-world systems during cybersecurity testing after a misconfigured evaluation environment inadvertently allowed internet access, prompting the company to suspend internet-connected cyber evaluations while it reviews its testing infrastructure.

Axios

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The Atlantic

President Trump announced Thursday that Hamas and his international Board of Peace have agreed on the next phase of his Gaza peace plan, including the complete disarmament of Hamas and a phased Israeli withdrawal tied to compliance, though a firm timetable has yet to be set.

CBS News

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NBC News

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The Hill

Sen. John Fetterman broke with some Republican colleagues on the Senate Homeland Security committee, calling their questioning of 85-year-old Dr. Anthony Fauci over the COVID-19 pandemic "excessive" and an inappropriate attempt to humiliate him, though he said holding Fauci accountable is fair.

USA Today

UEFA's 55 member nations unanimously voted to boycott the 2030 World Cup and all FIFA competitions in protest of a $20 billion privatization scheme backed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, with Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital reportedly poised to take a 20% stake.

New York Post

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Euronews

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes dropped out of Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial primary Thursday as progressive state lawmaker Francesca Hong surges in polls and Democrats brace for damaging media reports about him, with Gov. Tony Evers now working to consolidate moderates behind David Crowley.

Politico

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The Washington Post