National conventions often attract a lot of weird people, a lot of famous people, and a lot of people who are both. Last night at the Democratic National Convention, I saw a few of both, including Comedy Central’s Jordan Klepper and Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler from “The Good Liars.”

I also discovered Matt Walsh, the right-wing podcaster and activist who “theocratic fascism”, Airports only operated by white men (?), and the normalization of Impregnating teenage girls “when they are most fertile.”

Walsh wore a disguise consisting of his presumably liberal clothing, which included a long-haired wig, a “White Dudes for Harris” T-shirt, a tweed sport jacket with buttons bearing various slogans, a MAGA-esque red hat with a high crown and a “Kamala Harris for President” logo, and a lavalier microphone for recording conversations. He also wore exceptionally tight jeans, but I don’t think those were part of the disguise – just his preferred style.

Walsh regularly dons a similar disguise to film surprising moments for his “documentaries” mocking progressives. Because of this, it was not difficult to recognize him in the crowded convention hall. I asked him if he was Matt Walsh.

“No, I’m not,” he said, his eyes wide. When I asked, “I know it’s you,” he replied, “The man is dead. I’m a new man now.”

The whole experience seemed very familiar to me.

Walsh did not have the Secret Service badge on his lanyard, which was given to members of the press, but he did have an authorized cameraman with him. As I mentioned in an earlier issue of Press cardit’s not that difficult to get a ticket. If you know someone who knows someone, you can get a few extra tickets together.

Walsh works for the Daily Wireso I asked a Democratic convention speaker if Walsh was authorized to be there and what happened to him after more people presumably spotted him. I’ll let you know if I get an answer.

But there are obvious concerns that conservative intelligence agents are trying to catch convention-goers at odd moments. At least two people we tried to interview last night wouldn’t talk because they had been told that right-wing media were roaming the halls trying to deceive them.

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The progressive challenge to the Democratic establishment seems to be over. As my colleague Andrew Egger noticed In The Bulwark‘s Morning Shots Newsletter,

Eight years ago, delegates supporting Bernie Sanders engaged in a memorable battle with the DNC because the latter tipped the scales in favor of Hillary Clinton. The publication of hacked emails from the committee on the Internet ended force the resignation DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Four years later: Progressive star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke only 90 seconds in the symbolic role of re-nominating Sanders’ name. This was generally perceived as a kind of snub.

This time, both luminaries of the formerly oppositional left played a central role in the party convention program – Ocasio-Cortez on Monday, Sanders last night. They praised Harris and warned of the dangers of a second term for Donald Trump.

Andrew believes that thanks to Biden’s leadership, the progressive insurgents and the establishment Democrats have put aside their differences – or at least come to an agreement that compromise in the name of progress is better than disagreements that do not bring progress. Here’s what happened in the arena last night:

Sanders rattled off one of his most famous phrases, telling the packed arena: “We need an economy that works for all of us, not just the billionaire class.”

Immediately afterward, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who has a net worth of $3.5 billion and has pumped more than a quarter of a billion into his own election campaigns, took the stage to tout his business acumen: “Donald Trump thinks we can trust him on economics because he claims to be very rich. But take it from a real billionaire, Trump is only rich in one thing: his stupidity.”

After Pritzker, the big business part of the evening was not over yet. The next speaker was former CEO of American Express and venture capitalist Kenneth Chenault.

I have seen no indication that Sanders et al. were angered or felt undermined by the contrast between progressive populists and captains of industry. Certainly much of the credit for uniting the clans goes to Biden, who, while moderate in temperament, pushed through some of the most economically progressive policies in recent history.

But you also have to give some credit to Sanders, AOC and Elizabeth Warren. They have accepted that they represent part – but only part – of the Democratic coalition. But they have also used their influence strategically: They have moved the party to the left and heavily staffed the administration to influence the (often overlooked) implementation of policy. For now, everyone seems happy with that arrangement.

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I would like to take a short break to tell a fascinating story that I read at GQ this morning about the life of a whistleblower in government.

As it turns out, there is actually good money to be made exposing government corruption, and one man has figured out how to significantly increase his income by doing it.

It’s Saturday, I’m sitting in a well-appointed room in a luxury hotel in a major American city, and a man named Richard Overum has just escorted me out of the lobby to initiate me into my new identity. My instructions: I’m to embody a high roller. A man who is able to sign a check for millions of dollars in the blink of an eye. And, most importantly, a man who wants to make an investment. “I have to look perfect,” explains Overum. “Because tonight I’m going to shadow him during an operation.”

Richard Overum is neither a cop nor a government official. He is something else: a high-profile practitioner in a career field he practically created for himself. He hunts down businesspeople he suspects of breaking the law — a job that can end up paying surprisingly well because of often-overlooked sections of federal law. The Dodd-Frank Act, which Congress passed in the wake of the Bernie Madoff scandal and the economic crisis of the late 2000s, includes provisions designed to encourage people who spot signs of possible financial wrongdoing to come forward to the government with information. The incentive? If authorities take action on a tip that results in penalties of over $1 million, the law says, one or more whistleblowers can receive a reward of 10 to 30 percent of the amount collected.

Read the full article.