Jeremy Portnoy

Yesterday I broke one of the most viral news stories of the week: the Department of Defense spent $93 billion last September, its most expensive month on record. Purchases included lobster tail, grand pianos and luxury recliners. But @JimmyKimmelLive @colbertlateshow and @GovPressOffice missed the point. It's not about the seafood or Pete Hegseth. (1/4)

Full story: realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2026/…

#WasteOfTheDay: 18,000 Arizona families used school vouchers for unallowable purchases like condoms, wedding gifts and a hot tub, per @12News The state automatically approves any purchase below $2,000 without review.

A charter school district in Texas was nearly shut down by the state because of students' poor test scores. The superintendent was rewarded with a $900,000 salary — the highest in Texas history. Her deputies make $700k+ Full story below:

I’m not Jewish, and I have conflicted feelings about Israel’s military actions. And I swear, I’m not one of those people who sees sinister meaning in neutrally worded headlines, or who despises mainstream journalism. But that Liew Guardian column really chilled me.

@JesseBWatters openthebooks.substack.com/p/pentagon-sho…

@JesseBWatters Thanks for sharing @JesseBWatters. I wrote the article that kicked off this whole story. It’s since been taken out of context by pundits and politicians on both sides of the aisle.

NEW HOAX ALERT: “Pete Hegseth just ATE the ENTIRE ATLANTIC OCEAN” 🚨 Democrats are saying the Secretary of War ORDERED 750,000 LOBSTER TAILS… for HIMSELF 🤣 TURNS OUT— it went to the ARMY, MARINES, AND AIR FORCE… to FEED THE TROOPS 🦞 Michelle Obama FED RIB-EYES to the Troops… SO WHY CAN’T WE FEED THE TROOPS? 🤔

From @nytimes: Colbert, Kimmel and more react to my investigation of Department of Defense spending.

@FreeBeacon Begala didn't read our report. The scandal is an idiotic use-it-or-lose-it budget process that compels the Pentagon to throw $50B out the door in the last five days of the fiscal year, which is more than Israel's annual defense budget. @open_the_books

Thanks for sharing @ZitoSalena. I wrote both the RealClear article you linked to and the Open the Books study TMZ based its story on, which contains much more context. You're right - this isn't a partisan issue, and the seafood is irrelevant. The problem is that military spending spikes by roughly 400% in the last week of every fiscal year, no matter who's in office.

TMZ followed by several different other "news" sites (I use that term lightly) published a story with this all caps headline "PETE HEGSETH BLEW BILLION$ ON FRUIT BASKETS, LOBSTER" accompanied by a photo with him, surrounded by a bunch of plastic lobsters. If you've never covered the military, or served, or if you don't have any family or friends in the military this would seem like a shocking story. But it's not--not even remotely. It is a common practice for our country to provide these special meals to our service men and women at least once a week--Has been for decades. I did my due diligence to prove my point to anyone who doubts my accuracy -- in 2009 when Robert Gates was the secretary defense during the Obama administration I present you with a story from a reporter who was embedded with the soldiers in Afghanistan. "The lobsters and crab legs are shipped from the United States and driven down on a refrigerated truck from Bagram. On seafood night, the crew serves up 400 of the tasty tails, 130 pounds of Alaskan King crab legs, and 135 pounds each of shrimp and scallops." Here is the link: dvidshub.net/news/519652/re… And here is a story from 2024 when Lloyd Austin was the secretary of defense and Joe Biden was the president of the United States. "The military spent $103.7 million on meat, fish and poultry, including $16.6 million on ribeye steak and 147 orders of lobster tail for $6.1 million. Orders of blueberries, ice cream and doughnuts also exceeded $100,000." realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2025/… I am once again disappointed with the lack of balance and context in my profession. Deeply embarrassed and disappointed in members of Congress, who were tweeting this out. Why? Well because how is it that they don't know this?  You may or may not like who is the current president of the United States, but your obsession should not make something that is both a norm but also a show of gratefulness for our soldiers, an outrage to satisfy your unhappiness.

Full report from Open The Books: openthebooks.substack.com/p/pentagon-sho…

Last year our team @open_the_books reported that Biden's Pentagon had overspent in September. Republicans were outraged. This year we reported that Trump's Pentagon overspent in September. Democrats are outraged. Fiscal sanity is not a partisan issue. Appropriations laws need real, substantial changes - not viral soundbites. Our debt crisis will be impossible to solve otherwise. (3/4)

Yesterday I broke one of the most viral news stories of the week: the Department of Defense spent $93 billion last September, its most expensive month on record. Purchases included lobster tail, grand pianos and luxury recliners. But @JimmyKimmelLive @colbertlateshow and @GovPressOffice missed the point. It's not about the seafood or Pete Hegseth. (1/4)

@HQNewsNow Thanks for sharing! You can read the full report from @open_the_books here: openthebooks.substack.com/p/pentagon-sho…

New Pentagon budget reports show Pete Hegseth spent $93 billion in one month, making it the highest monthly expense since 2008. This budget report included spending $2 million on Alaskan King Crab.

Welcome to the "Moneyball" era of politics. Thrilled to partner w/ the co-founder of Ancestry.com to create an army of superintelligent citizens who can use AI to keep the surveillance state in check. @open_the_books @gekaminsky @InTheKnowAI thefp.com/p/the-watchdog…

Scoop: Paul Allen, the co-founder of data giant Ancestry, is partnering with a nonprofit group to create an AI-powered system to investigate money-in-politics—including state and federal spending They call it a "moneyball" for politics thefp.com/p/the-watchdog…

Do you have any idea how bad your policy has to be to make all these Jewish organizations agree on a statement?

@jacksonhinklle In a world where everyone has a fact-checking device in their pocket, how is it this easy to tell such an obvious lie? At least make a claim that is mathematically feasible.

“Some scholars and scientists estimate the real death toll in Gaza at 680,000.” “If confirmed, 380,000 of them are infants under five.” —Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur