Who would have guessed that Devin Nunes, who left Congress to run former President Trump’s media company, would be accused of mismanagement and cronyism?

Well, me, for one.

It’s not that I am any kind of oracle. It’s just that I’ve followed Nunes’ career as an ultra-litigious Trump defender who is afflicted by a world-class intolerance for perceived slights.

Before taking the helm of Trump Media in 2022, Nunes had a master’s degree in agriculture but little hands-on business experience. He was involved in his family’s San Joaquin Valley dairy farm decades ago; when he was 14, he has recounted, he bought seven head of young cattle to raise and sell. I guess this explains his tolerance for the, ah, stench of MAGA bull.

Given his disdain for media in general and free speech in particular, as evidenced by a series of lawsuits against news organizations and other critics, putting Nunes in charge of a fledgling media empire was a bizarre move — unless the company is all about cozying up to the deep-pocketed sort of people who would benefit from a second Trump administration.

According to documents obtained by ProPublica, an unnamed Trump Media whistleblower recently asked the company’s board of directors to fire Nunes. One person with knowledge of the situation told ProPublica that the complaint alleged “misuse of funds, hiring of foreign contractors and interfering with product development.” (A Trump Media spokesperson denied the charges and accused the nonprofit journalism organization of a campaign to damage the company.)

Turmoil ensued: The company’s chief operating officer and chief product officer resigned. In any case, with almost no revenue to speak of and no indication that its Truth Social is competitive with major social media platforms, analysts consider Trump Media & Technology Group a meme stock. Its value is based entirely on the value Trump’s supporters place on him.

In recent weeks, with polls tight and the prospect of a second Trump term looming, shares of Trump Media have massively rebounded from a precipitous fall. Incredibly, the company is worth around $6 billion, putting Trump’s 59% stake at more than $3 billion. But if Trump loses in November, bye-bye, inflated valuation.

“It’s really simple,” Matthew Tuttle, the chief executive of Tuttle Capital Management, told CNN. “People realize that if Trump gets elected, this stock has the potential to do something. And if he doesn’t get elected, it probably goes to zero.”

In any case, one enterprise Nunes has mastered is filing doomed lawsuits. Between 2019 and 2023, he filed at least 11 of them, including defamation suits against Twitter parody accounts that posed as his cow and his mother. He tried to sue Twitter too, but a judge ruled that the social media company was protected by the Communications Decency Act, which gives such online platforms immunity from civil liability.

Nunes also sued McClatchy, the company that owns his hometown newspaper, the Fresno Bee, for defamation. He asked for $150 million in damages but ultimately dropped the lawsuit.

In 2019, he sued Fresno-area activists who had mounted a campaign to get Nunes to stop calling himself a “farmer” on the ballot. Nunes later quietly withdrew that lawsuit.

It was a very busy year for Nunes’ attorneys. He also sued Hearst and the journalist Ryan Lizza over an Esquire story that alleged — in a lighthearted, faux-investigative manner — that Nunes’ family had secretly moved its dairy operations to Iowa and implied that they employed illegal immigrants. After several court go-rounds, the case was dismissed last year.

Let’s see. Who else did the co-sponsor of the Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act frivolously sue that year?

He took aim at the liberal nonprofit Campaign for Accountability and the research firm Fusion GPS, the source of the infamous Steele dossier, which contained unverified gossip about Trump. Nunes, then the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, claimed the organizations conspired to hinder his investigation of the Steele dossier. That lawsuit was dismissed in 2020.

The lawsuit-happy former dairy farmer sued CNN for defamation after the network reported that he had traveled to Vienna to get dirt on Joe Biden. That lawsuit, which asked for $435 million, was dismissed in 2021.

In 2022, Nunes again sued CNN, and its host Jake Tapper, who reported that Nunes had reposted a disgusting MAGA meme about Paul Pelosi on Truth Social. Pelosi, the husband of former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had been attacked by a stranger in their San Francisco home. Nunes’ attorneys claimed that Tapper insinuated that Nunes “has a depraved mind and that he acted immorally, fraudulently, unprofessionally, spread lies about Paul Pelosi, and disparaged and defamed Paul Pelosi.” (I couldn’t have put it better myself.) That lawsuit was dismissed in 2023.

I can find only one instance in which Nunes was not essentially laughed out of court. In 2021, he sued NBCUniversal, the parent company of MSNBC, alleging that Rachel Maddow had libeled him when she said he failed to turn over to the FBI a package that he had received from a Russian agent. In 2022, a judge ruled that it was plausible that Maddow knew the claim was untrue and has allowed the case to proceed.

My favorite empty Nunes legal threat is the one he once made against a fellow Californian, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of Torrance. Lieu said Nunes had conspired with Lev Parnas, the Russian-born Rudy Giuliani associate, to undermine the U.S. government. (In 2021, Parnas was sentenced to prison for making illegal donations to Trump’s 2020 campaign, and just last month, he tearfully apologized to Hunter Biden for pushing the Trump/Giuliani/Nunes-endorsed lie that as vice president, Joe Biden took actions in Ukraine to benefit his son.)

“I welcome any lawsuit from your client and look forward to taking discovery of Congressman Nunes,” Lieu responded. “Or, you can take your letter and shove it.”

I guess they shoved it: Miraculously, no lawsuit was ever filed.

Threads: @rabcarian

The World Series betting odds might be in the Dodgers’ favor, but when it comes to the battle of the brands, the Yankees have a leg up (sorry, Angelenos).

The Yankees are the highest-valued team in Major League Baseball, with a valuation of $7.6 billion, and its brand is valued at an estimated $1.2 billion, according to an analysis this year from Forbes. The Dodgers are the runner-up, with a $5.5-billion valuation and $1.1-billion brand.

Underscoring and helping to drive the Yankees’ domination on retail shelves and airwaves has been the proliferation of the team’s iconic logo in the cultural zeitgeist, including Jay-Z’s ball cap and a partnership with Gucci. Hollywood frequently gives the franchise free product placement, putting the white-on-navy insignia on characters in movies and television shows, furthering its cultural reach. (The Yankees’ logo was inspired by an interlocking “N” and “Y” design from Tiffany’s in 1877.)

“The Yankees have this status where they’ve transcended baseball,” said Jim Andrews, a Northwestern University sports marketing professor who founded the sports marketing consulting firm A-Mark Partnership Strategies. “You see people wearing that logo all around the world.”

But don’t count out the Dodgers just yet. The signing of Japanese baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani last year to a 10-year, $700-million contract ignited fan interest around the world, particularly in the baseball-obsessed market of Japan.

That energized fan base has translated into tourism dollars for Los Angeles, as Japanese tourists have descended upon the city — and on Little Tokyo — to watch the Dodgers and Ohtani throughout the season.

Small businesses in Little Tokyo have displayed Dodgers decorations in their windows, and blue-clad visitors, often wearing Ohtani shirts or jerseys, frequently wander the streets. A massive mural of Ohtani, painted by artist Robert Vargas, looms over 1st Street on the side of the Miyako Hotel.

“In terms of the internationalization … they are beating the Yankees right now in the Japanese market through Shohei Ohtani,” said Thilo Kunkel, a professor at Temple University’s school of sport, tourism and hospitality management. The Dodgers are “using international superstars to build their team brand, and they’ve certainly done really well.”

Though the Dodgers are bested by the Yankees in total number of social media followers (12.9 million to 17.6 million), L.A.’s fans engage with the team more on social media, with the Dodgers racking up the most likes, shares, reposts, comments and video views of any team in MLB, according to data from business intelligence firm Kore, which was recently acquired by global marketing agency Two Circles. The 2.3 million new social media followers the Dodgers added this season was tops in the league as well, Kore figures show.

“The Dodgers really are a story of growth,” said Daniel Foltz, corporate partnerships strategy and data analyst at Kore. “It would have been very easy for them to sign Shohei, get the gift of having the most unique player in baseball, and then just cruise. They have instead done a great job this year of building on it, not letting any of the momentum go to waste.”

There’s history between these two teams. The Dodgers and Yankees have previously met 11 times in the World Series, most recently in 1981, when the Dodgers emerged as champions.

This year’s matchup presents a huge opportunity not only for the teams to boost their brands, but also for Major League Baseball to build on the increased ratings and fan interest it has won in recent years, said Andrews, of Northwestern.

The league’s gains have been helped by the star power of players such as Ohtani and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, as well as additions such as the introduction of the pitch clock, which has quickened the pace of games.

Though media rights have already been settled for these games, viewership numbers for a matchup like this could give either team more negotiating power for future media rights deals, Kunkel said.

The Yankees broadcast their regular season games through their team-owned Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, which is the most-watched regional sports network in the U.S. as of last year. (Amazon and Sinclair Broadcast Group have minority stakes in the network.)

The Dodgers own SportsNetLA, which is distributed by Charter Communications (which operates the Spectrum brand), as part of an $8.35-billion deal struck more than a decade ago. Though nonsubscribers were shut out from Dodgers games for years, Spectrum reached a deal in 2020 to broadcast games on DirecTV and U-Verse. (Other pay-TV operators, such as Cox, are still excluded.)

Having a recognizable and valuable brand is a huge advantage in the sports world, Andrews said.

“The bigger the brand, the more merchandise you’re selling and the more money you’re making,” he said. “If you can do that, it gives you that baseline revenue to build your business off of.”

The Yankees generated $679 million in revenue in 2023, while the Dodgers raked in $549 million, according to Forbes’ calculations.

This World Series not only represents a battle between two of the league’s storied and successful franchises, but also the nation’s two top media markets — L.A. and New York — which adds to the brand strength of those franchises, said Bryan Harris, founder and chief executive of 25 Hits, a marketing communications firm with sports expertise.

It’s part of how these two brands have transcended the sports sphere and made their way into fashion, lifestyle and pop culture, particularly internationally.

“The baseball cap is, if anything, the American uniform,” said John Thorn, the official MLB historian since 2011. “New York and L.A. have come to symbolize America in distant lands. To be a media capital or a cultural capital is to become a fashion capital.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the Port of Los Angeles more than $400 million to support its transition to electric cargo-moving equipment — a major boost to efforts aimed at curbing pollution at America’s busiest container port.

The so-called Clean Ports grant, announced Tuesday, is part of a larger $3-billion initiative to deploy zero-emission equipment at the nation’s ports, which are significant sources of lung-searing smog and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Port of Los Angeles received the largest single award, securing $411 million in federal funding. The port and its private partners have committed an additional $236 million in matching funds for zero-emission initiatives.

“This transformative investment will be a tremendous boost to our efforts to meet our ambitious zero-emission goals, improve regional air quality and combat climate change while accelerating the port industry’s transition to zero emissions across the country,” said Gene Seroka, executive director at the Port of Los Angeles.

The landmark grant, funded through the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, will significantly accelerate the port’s efforts to replace diesel-powered equipment with all-electric alternatives.

The funding is expected to finance the purchase of more than 400 pieces of cargo-moving equipment, such as yard tractors and forklifts. The grant also aims to increase the number of battery-electric trucks and expand the port’s charging infrastructure.

These investments will help the port avoid burning 3.5 million gallons of diesel fuel each year, according to port officials. It will reduce smog-forming emissions by 55 tons and planet-warming carbon emissions by 41,500 tons per year.

“Our ports are the backbone of our economy — critical hubs that support our supply chain, drive commerce, create jobs and connect us all,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who visited the port in March. “But we cannot overlook the challenges faced by the communities that live and work near these ports. Too often these communities face serious air quality challenges due to diesel pollution from trucks, ships and other port machinery.”

Six other California ports were also awarded federal funding: Oakland, Oxnard, San Diego, San Francisco, Stockton and Redwood City.

The Port of Long Beach however, which operates adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles and is the second-busiest port in the nation, was notably absent from the list of announced grant recipients.

On Tuesday, a Port of Long Beach official said the complex had requested $380 million to deploy nearly 300 pieces of zero-emission cargo-moving equipment and up to 1,000 trucks.

“The Port of Long Beach congratulates its fellow ports and the U.S. EPA for the Clean Ports Program awards today,” said Noel Hacegaba, the port’s chief operating officer. “As our port partners intensify their efforts to decarbonize the supply chain, we all benefit from the technology advancement, air quality improvement and the reduction of greenhouse gases … We certainly welcome zero-emissions trucks being added to the fleet serving this San Pedro Bay ports complex.”

The Port of Los Angeles — nicknamed America’s Port — serves as a vital gateway between Asia and the United States. Roughly $300 billion worth of goods pass through the sprawling seaport every year. These operations provide tens of thousands of jobs to dockworkers, truck drivers and other laborers who help move this cargo.

But the port’s activity is also one of the region’s largest fixed sources of smog-forming emissions. Although the port has drastically slashed diesel exhaust and nitrogen oxides through cleaner fuels and engines in the past two decades, it is now faced with its stiffest challenge to date: adopting zero-emission technology.

The new funding will help push it toward its ambitious goal of having all terminal equipment be zero-emission by 2030. The port has more than 2,100 pieces of cargo-moving equipment — about 72% of which are diesel-powered while 9% are electric.

The Clean Ports funding could phase out more than a quarter of the diesel equipment. It will assist the port tenants in purchasing 337 yard tractors that ferry containers across the harbor; 56 top handlers that load and stack cargo; and 24 forklifts.

The trucks, cargo ships and trains that transport these goods continue to generate pollution and planet warming emissions, however.

More than 22,000 trucks are registered to serve the Port of Los Angeles. Ninety percent are diesel-powered. Fewer than 2% are zero-emission, and they include 332 electric trucks and 51 hydrogen fuel cell trucks.

The EPA grant will fund the financial incentives for trucking companies and operators to purchase an additional 250 electric cargo trucks. It is also expected to cover the installation of 300 electric chargers, two solar arrays and 10 battery storage systems.

“The San Pedro Bay communities have struggled with the impacts of cargo-goods-related emissions for far too long, so we congratulate the Port of Los Angeles on its substantive EPA Clean Ports Grant award to make meaningful progress towards the stated zero-emissions goal,” said Ed Avol, who sits on the board of the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation, an organization working to mitigate pollution at the ports. “The Harbor Community Benefit Foundation looks forward to working with the Port to achieve that goal without delay.”

In July, the EPA announced another historic $500-million federal grant to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which plans to encourage the adoption of zero-emission cargo trucks, delivery vehicles and some locomotives.

The Port of Los Angeles partnered with Yusen Terminals LLC, Everport Terminal Services, TraPac, Fenix Marine Services, APM Terminals and the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation for the grant application.

The port’s bid was supported by elected officials, public agencies, business groups, environmental justice advocates, community groups and labor organizations.

Beyond the environmental benefits, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union emphasized that the grant funding will be spent on human-operated equipment that won’t automate operations and eliminate jobs. This includes $50 million toward community benefits, including training for residents who are interested in learning how to operate and repair this new equipment.

“The men and women of the ILWU are thrilled to learn of this over $400 million investment, by the U.S. EPA, in the environmental and economic well-being of our members and local community,” said Gary Herrera, president of ILWU Local 13. “Human-operated, zero-emission cargo handling equipment is the gold standard for maritime port operations not only because it protects good jobs while cleaning the air, but is also the most efficient and cost-effective in terms of port operations, while additionally providing the necessary safeguards against cyber threats to our national security.”