BY ELIANA JONSHON AGO 7 2026 --------------------- https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JeTX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F398c7123-e386-4860-a350-4e11b6ec44eb_736x514.jpeg An upcoming criminal trial may reshape public opinion about the 2025 Palisades Fire in Southern California—because it shows that the fire was “a consequence not of climate change but of class warfare,” our Ira Stoll writes. The trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, who was indicted by a grand jury late last year on three charges, including arson, and has pleaded not guilty, is set to begin in October after the original case ended in a mistrial in June. A memo released by federal prosecutors in the case notes that Rinderknecht said someone might commit arson in the Palisades “out of resentment of the rich enjoying their money as ‘we’re basically being enslaved by them.’” It also notes that Rinderknecht was known to rant about capitalism and Luigi Mangione, searching the internet with terms like “free Luigi Mangione,” “lets take down all the billionaires, “ and “reddit lets kill all the billionaires.” Stoll writes: To hear the Democratic politicians and most of the press tell it, the main cause of the 2025 fire was climate change. The Democratic presidential candidate in 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris, posted in February 2025, “In January, we saw historic damage in Altadena, Pacific Palisades, and throughout Los Angeles due to wildfires. These blazes — made worse by the climate crisis — devastated communities.” The Times opinion pages also weighed in with a piece about “climatic changes that seem to increase those risks almost year by year.” Another guest essay, headlined, “As a Climate Scientist, I Knew It Was Time to Leave Los Angeles,” asserted, “For those who have lost everything in climate disasters, the apocalypse has already arrived. And as the planet gets hotter, climate disasters will get more frequent and more intense.” One New York Times opinion piece, by veteran Los Angeles Times reporter Mark Arax, had the audacity to blame the fires on, of all people, Rupert Murdoch: “If only the climate change deniers peddling their pap on Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News considered the last escapees from Coffey Park, a mundane suburban tract tucked behind a freeway in a corner of Sonoma County in Northern California. At 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 9, 2017, flames raced down the gully of an adjacent hillside, and a gust of fire roared toward them.” There has been no such spate of Times opinion pieces blaming the California fires on left-wing television networks or opinion pages platforming wealth inequality handwringing by Senator Bernie Sanders, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, or economics professors Piketty and Zucman. READ MORE: Palisades Fire Was Sparked By Anti-Capitalist Motivated By Hate of Rich, Prosecutors Say []{} Elsewhere: Abdul El-Sayed won’t say whether it was a “mistake” to campaign with the socialist, America-hating streamer Hasan Piker. “I think people get real worried about him, but you think about who Mike Rogers has been palling around with, right?” El-Sayed said, referring to his Republican opponent. Rogers, in fact, has not been “palling around” with folks who say “America deserved 9/11.” The rise of candidates like El-Sayed is prompting a $15 million push from the center-left group Third Way to discredit democratic socialism, the New York Times reported. The group plans to “target the Democratic Socialists of America” through “opposition research” and “social media programs.” Chuck Schumer may be absent, but at least somebody is speaking up. The Senate’s government oversight committee voted to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after the embattled health official refused to answer questions in a hearing last week. Fauci pleaded the Fifth more than 100 times, including in response to questions like, “What day of the week is it today?” and, “What color tie are you wearing?” An auto executive who resides in the United States but has been identified as a member of the Chinese Communist Party contributed $61,000 to Democratic campaigns in the second quarter of 2026, bringing the total he has given to Democrats this campaign cycle to more than $450,000. A Republican lawmaker in North Carolina has received death threats after raising concerns about a pentagram-skirt-wearing transgender music teacher who has been hired by a local elementary school. After commenting about the ordeal on Facebook, Erin Paré woke up to a message reading, “I hope you end up kirked,” a reference to the assassination of the late conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. Happy Friday, our full lineup is below. James Talarico Headlined Pride Event Alongside 11-Year-Old Child Drag Queen ‘Kween Kee Kee’: ‘Absolute Cutest and Youngest of Our Drag Performers’ Nebraska ‘Independent’ Dan Osborn Compared Immigration Enforcement to Nazi Germany in Unearthed Town Hall Comments Palisades Fire Was Sparked By Anti-Capitalist Motivated By Hate of Rich, Prosecutors Say Electric Vehicle Exec Identified as CCP Member Has Given $450K to Democrats This Campaign Season—Including $71K for Senate Nominees Juliana Stratton, Roy Cooper ‘I Hope You End Up Kirked’: North Carolina Lawmaker Gets Death Threats After She Complains About Transgender Music Teacher at Elementary School Thanks for reading the Washington Free Beacon! Subscribe for free to receive new posts.