Crash Course: Allen Weisselberg links Trump to illegal tax scheme — and reveals he's still on the payroll

Plus: Why did insulin prices spiral out of control? [View in browser](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNnc1ZXhob2Q1ay8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) Your daily update from [Salon](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNmRqNzZ3OTYzZy8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo). [Allen-Weisselberg,-Trump-Organization-CFO,-leaves-Manhattan-Criminal-Court] Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Allen Weisselberg links Trump to illegal tax scheme — and reveals he's still on the payroll Former Trump Organization financial chief Allen Weisselberg testified in Manhattan on Tuesday that he received $1.76 million in untaxed, off-the-books perks from the Trump Organization, confirming several aspects of the district attorney's case against the former president's company. Weisselberg attested that the tax fraud helped both him and the company, as the Trump Organization would have had to give him a raise that was double the amount that they spent on his personal expenses in order to provide the same benefit if taxes were withheld. [Read more from Samaa Khullar.](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvdDMzcHY4OWZ6cy8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) [Visual-metaphor-for-increasing-medical-costs-(syringe-turning-into-a-graph-line)] Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images How did insulin get so expensive? When inventor Frederick Banting discovered insulin in 1923, he famously refused to profit off of it. Instead of putting his name on the patent, Banting allowed co-inventors Charles Best and James Collip to sell it to the University of Toronto for $1. They believed that it was unethical for anyone to try to make money off of an invention that others needed to survive. Boy, how things have changed. For decades, insulin was affordable in the United States, although there were some price increases after the introduction of human insulin in 1984 and insulin analogs in 1996. Between 2007 and 2018, the retail cost of insulin rose by 200%, while patients with either inadequate insurance or no insurance at all can pay as much as $1000 per month. [Read more from Matthew Rozsa](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvMHVyYWw4dGkwZC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) - Reporters say hostility between Rick Scott and Mitch McConnell is “[off the charts](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvMnoxa3c2eWxldS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo)" - Meet the "[peer support specialists](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvd3JkMXA4M29udS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo)," a new job title that is akin to a life coach for helping those recovering from addiction - Ex-Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney [warns](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvaGV1aGp4YWhzOC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) “he’s the only Republican who could lose.” - Fox News is here for Donald Trump's "[2024 revenge tour](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNWF0YWxvY2l1NC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo)," Heather Digby Parton opines. - "Girls" actor Zosia Mamet comes on Salon Talks to talk about her collection of essays on our [emotional relationship to food](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvMDc1eGJ4cmdvdy8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo). - Hilarie Burton Morgan calls Candace Cameron Bure a "[bigot](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNzlwbWNmZHlvai8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo)" for her remarks on "traditional marriage" - Mar-a-Lago attendees tried to walk out of Trump’s speech early — but security [forced them to stay](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvdWtybWtlbDFtaC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) - At COP27, the UN climate change conference, Biden says the U.S. will crack down on [methane emissions](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvem5tbnhvZ3hldy8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo). Not a subscriber yet? [Sign up](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNm42YXZpcDUycC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) to receive Crash Course. [Donald-Trump-speaking-about-2024-candidacy] Former US President Donald Trump speaks at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on November 15, 2022. (ALON SKUY/AFP via Getty Images) Desperate conservatives are rallying around an absurd talking point about Trump The GOP appears to have a lingering wariness around Trump, Salon's Amanda Marcotte writes. But not because he attempted a coup that resulted in a violent insurrection on January 6, 2021. Instead, Marcotte says they're worried about how said coup is affecting the electoral prospects of Republicans. Indeed, many of the midterm candidates who campaigned on Trump's "Big Lie" lost their elections. Trump's announcement on Tuesday that he was running appearedpoised to assuage his party's concern. "He adopted the low energy, droning tone he takes when trying to bait the press into calling him "presidential," Marcotte writes. His acolytes ate it up: Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, always a reliable sycophant, shot out of the gate early with his spin: "If President Trump continues this tone and delivers this message on a consistent basis, he will be hard to beat," Graham gushed. 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"I love my father very much. This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family," she said in a statement released shortly after her father's speech. Her husband, Jared Kushner, however, attended his father-in-law's speech. Reports claim that  Ivanka Trump's refusal to get on board caused some "extra behind-the-scenes tension" ahead of the announcement. Other reports state that Trump spent part of his youngest daughter Tiffany's wedding over the weekend "begging" Ivanka and Kushner to join him at the announcement. [Read more from Igor Derysh.](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlWKdOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNWN2ZWM1YzM2ZC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPWg4b2hiMzlrdzBXA3NwY0IKY3NPInZj7OZe9FIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) Have a tip for Salon? Feedback on this newsletter? 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