Lindsay Clancy had a heart rate of just 57 beats per minute just before, or potentially as she started to fatally strangle each of her three young children on January 24, 2023.
Testimony from digital forensic specialist Ian Whiffin <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/lindsay-clancy-trial-day-14-live-stream-live-updates-defense-witnesses-next/3998775/">revealed</a> Monday that Clancy&#8217;s Apple Watch recorded a heart rate of 57 bpm at 5:23 p.m. on the day of the killings. Prosecutors&#8217; digital timeline appears to place the killings in the roughly 5:23-5:38 p.m. window, although the Apple Watch did not record a heart rate throughout that period.
The recording sheds light on Clancy&#8217;s physiological state. Many people online reacted to the revelation, calling it &#8220;chilling.&#8221; Some suggested it showed Clancy&#8217;s methodical and planned approach to the horrific incident, while others viewed it as a sign to bolster the defense&#8217;s case that the mother was in psychosis, as opposed to a fit of rage.
<a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/lindsay-clancy-trial-day-14-live-stream-live-updates-defense-witnesses-next/3998775/">According</a> to NBC Boston, Whiffin further revealed searches from Clancy&#8217;s devices in the days leading up to the killings. On January 12, a search was made for &#8220;how quickly does Wellbutrin [a prescription medication used to treat depression] work for depression.&#8221; Six days later, there was a search made for &#8220;ketamine for suicidal ideation.&#8221; And on January 19, searches were made for &#8220;symptoms of postpartum psychosis&#8221; and &#8220;psychosis symptoms.&#8221;
Clancy has not denied that she strangled her children, but her defense team is leaning on what&#8217;s commonly referred to as the insanity defense to argue that she was not criminally responsible for the killings because of her mental state.
The former labor and delivery nurse is on trial for three counts of first-degree murder. Clancy&#8217;s children were just 5 years old, 3 years old, and 8 months old. She has pleaded not guilty.
Clancy killed the children inside the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, after she sent her then-husband Patrick Clancy to pick up takeout food and medication. Prosecutors say Clancy then attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window after cutting both her wrists. All three children died, and Clancy was left paralyzed from the waist down.
The case has gained national attention for a number of reasons, including the laundry list of psychiatric medications Clancy was prescribed after having her third child. Court records and medical reports indicate she was prescribed or took more than a dozen medications, including Zoloft, Ativan, Benadryl, trazodone, Prozac, Ambien, Remeron, Klonopin, Seroquel, Valium, and amitriptyline, with doctors changing or adjusting medications over time as her symptoms persisted.
Several of the psychiatric medications listed potential side effects including agitation, insomnia, suicidal thoughts, confusion, and, in rare cases, hallucinations or psychotic symptoms. According to court filings, Clancy’s medication regimen changed multiple times during the fall and winter of 2022 before the killings in January 2023.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lindsay-clancy-strangled-her-three-children-why-some-people-want-her-set-free">Lindsay Clancy Strangled Her Three Children. Why Some People Want Her Set Free.</a>

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Chilling Testimony Reveals Lindsay Clancy’s Physiological State At Time Of Child Killings

Chilling Testimony Reveals Lindsay Clancy’s Low Heart Rate At Time Of Child Killings

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Massachusetts already had some of the most lax abortion laws in the country, allowing it up to 24 weeks — a stage in pregnancy in which <a href="http://google.com/url?q=https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/154/4/e2024065963/199459/Survival-of-Infants-Born-at-22-to-25-Weeks&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1786655577221317&amp;usg=AOvVaw12tYgtkBgrEp17Opsc66Y0">over 10,000 babies</a> are born and survive each year in the United States. Gov. Maura Healey didn&#8217;t think that was good enough. This week, surrounded by a gaggle of gleeful young women, she signed a law barring any gestational limits on abortion.
Massachusetts joins nine other states that occupy an extreme position on this issue, even by international standards, where <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/gestational-limits-on-abortion-in-the-united-states-compared-to-international-norms/">only 15 countries</a> permit elective abortion past 15 weeks. <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/gestational-limits-on-abortion-in-the-united-states-compared-to-international-norms/">Sixty-five percent</a> of countries that allow elective abortion limit it to 12 weeks or less.
Pro-choice lawmakers and activists like Healey are presumably still angry that the United States overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. They&#8217;ve been working tirelessly to retaliate against pro-life laws, and this is their latest victory.
States like Virginia are considering <a href="https://www.elections.virginia.gov/election-law/proposed-constitutional-amendment-question-1">similar measures</a>. This November, voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would dramatically expand abortion protections, including a guarantee that the state may never prohibit a third-trimester abortion that a physician deems necessary to protect a woman&#8217;s physical or mental health. Interpreted broadly, that means abortion for any reason, since &#8220;mental health&#8221; is subjective enough to cover nearly any circumstance.
Supporters of no-limit abortion claim such laws are necessary to save women&#8217;s lives in emergency situations, but they&#8217;re inclined to euphemize the reality with language like &#8220;expanded access to reproductive healthcare.&#8221; The sanitized phrasing works for them: It disguises what abortion actually is. Mass. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll <a href="https://www.mass.gov/news/governor-healey-signs-legislation-strengthening-abortion-protections-in-massachusetts">did exactly this</a> when she assured citizens the law was all about &#8220;compassion, support and the ability to receive care,&#8221; framing it as a route to &#8220;medically appropriate care close to home.&#8221;
Driscoll, Healey, and legislators may say third-trimester abortions are a necessary safeguard for mothers facing medical emergencies, but some physicians who actually manage high-risk pregnancies disagree. The American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs (AAPLOG) <a href="https://aaplog.org/premature-delivery-is-not-induced-abortion/">states unequivocally</a> that late-term abortions are never necessary; in any true third-trimester emergency, whether severe preeclampsia, placental abruption, or maternal sepsis, the standard is to deliver the baby, not abort it. If the child doesn&#8217;t survive that process, AAPLOG notes, &#8220;The body of the unborn child is treated with respect, recognizing the humanity of the life which is lost.&#8221;
Pro-abortion advocates often point to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) for support, but ACOG <a href="https://www.acog.org/contact/media-center/abortion-language-guide">is hardly a neutral arbiter</a>; the organization explicitly advocates to &#8220;increase access to abortion,&#8221; has called for the repeal of gestational limits, and insists patients be allowed access to care &#8220;at any point during a pregnancy.&#8221; ACOG and other pro-abortion groups blur miscarriage care, premature delivery, and induced abortion together under the same sanitized umbrella of &#8220;reproductive healthcare.” This creates the false impression that restricting late-term abortion would leave mothers dying in emergency rooms. You cannot respect or dignify an unborn child&#8217;s life through poison and dismemberment when an equally valid option — delivery — is on the table.
Some women seeking third-trimester abortions aren&#8217;t in danger themselves. They&#8217;ve received a difficult fetal diagnosis, often tragic and painful to face. I have deep empathy for any mother told her child has a condition that will end his or her life shortly after birth. But a fatal diagnosis is not ethical grounds for ending that life. These children can still be delivered, swaddled, and held for whatever time they have, or placed in the NICU or palliative hospice care.
The reasoning gets even harder to defend once &#8220;severe anomaly&#8221; expands beyond fatal conditions. Spina bifida and Trisomy 21 are not terminal diagnoses; many people born with them live long, full lives. Yet <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4589245/?">the vast majority of pregnancies</a> with these diagnoses end in abortion. That&#8217;s no longer a decision about survival; it&#8217;s a judgment about whose life is worth living, and it edges toward eugenics — the idea that a human being can be discarded for failing to meet an arbitrary standard. That position depends on refusing to call an unborn child what she is — a human being — even as ultrasound images, audible heartbeats, and kicks from inside the womb make the fact increasingly hard to deny.
So when politicians offer <a href="https://malegislature.gov/PressRoom/Detail?pressReleaseId=1450">bland statements</a> about how &#8220;medical decisions should be between a patient and their doctor,&#8221; without accounting for the rights of the second patient — clearly alive by every vital sign — it rings hollow.
Though Massachusetts framed its law as necessary only for emergencies, pro-choice advocates don&#8217;t want any such stipulations. <a href="https://reproequitynow.org/prioritizing-patients-act">Reproductive Equity Now</a>, a pro-abortion group, insists that &#8220;at no point in pregnancy&#8221; should lawmakers determine when abortion is permissible — emergency or not. 
In other states with full-term abortion access, lawmakers have confirmed the real purpose of these laws is to allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, no questions asked. When then-New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/steve-adubato-in-conversation-with-governor-phil-murphy-1knwrz/">was asked</a> whether his state&#8217;s law was meant to protect abortion &#8220;at any point in a woman&#8217;s pregnancy: all nine months?&#8221; he answered, &#8220;Correct.&#8221;
In debates, pro-abortion advocates center their arguments on rape, incest, or medical emergency. What they won&#8217;t acknowledge are the situations in which women obtain third-trimester abortions for reasons beyond these. 
As Emma Camp wrote <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/10/democrats-third-trimester-abortions/680163/">in The Atlantic</a>, they may point out that &#8220;these abortions are rare,&#8221; implying they&#8217;re therefore not worth moral concern. Yet these same advocates center their case for all-access abortion on the rare situations of rape and incest, which occur in <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/psrh/2005/reasons-us-women-have-abortions-quantitative-and-qualitative-perspectives">less than 1% of pregnancies</a>. Either rare situations matter, or they don&#8217;t. Abortion advocates don&#8217;t get to pick and choose which ones count.
<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24188634/">One study</a> found that women who received abortions after 20 weeks cited reasons like delayed recognition of pregnancy, indecision, financial trouble, difficulty finding a provider, and travel barriers. Others cited relationship status, mental health struggles, drug use, and domestic violence. These circumstances are genuinely difficult, but they are not a justification for ending the life of a healthy, viable baby.
No-limits abortion advocates don&#8217;t see unborn children as human beings, but as parts of a woman&#8217;s body and an extension of personal autonomy. Erica Millar, a late-term abortion advocate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-why-there-should-be-no-gestational-limits-for-abortion-121500">wrote that</a> legal gestational limits cause women to &#8220;terminate pregnancies they would otherwise keep&#8221; and &#8220;keep pregnancies they would have otherwise terminated&#8221; because they&#8217;re forced to end a wanted pregnancy &#8220;before they are emotionally and psychologically prepared&#8221; to do so.
But a pregnancy isn&#8217;t a product to keep or return. It&#8217;s the biological reality of another human being&#8217;s existence, one that will live or die based on the state of an emotionally fraught, vulnerable mother, often coaxed toward abortion without understanding the full consequences of her choice. She&#8217;s told it will be easier not to see the child, that he will likely die at birth anyway, that abortion spares him pain. Yet <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/birt.12176?">studies find</a> it can benefit a mother&#8217;s long-term well-being to see and hold her stillborn child; one found <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/11/e008616">up to 99%</a> of mothers who did so were satisfied with that decision. It seems similar results could occur for women with children who might die soon after birth. Choosing abortion to avoid seeing your child&#8217;s body doesn&#8217;t make grieving that loss any easier.
Lawmakers can cloak abortion in the language of &#8220;termination&#8221; and &#8220;healthcare,&#8221; but that doesn&#8217;t silence the suction pump or make the forceps invisible. It doesn&#8217;t erase the existence of a person who never was before and never will be again. Too many are more concerned with talking points that lambaste their opponents than with the physical reality of what they&#8217;re defending — the stuff of potassium chloride, cardiac arrest, vacuum aspiration, or what the pro-abortion <a href="https://societyfp.org/clinical_guidances/society-of-family-planning-clinical-recommendation-induction-of-fetal-asystole-before-abortion">Society for Family Planning itself warns</a> may occur: &#8220;unanticipated expulsion of a fetus with cardiorespiratory activity.&#8221;
Abortion after 24 weeks is never necessary, and it is always barbaric. Healey scored a political win this week. Virginia may hand the movement another one in November. But every time a legislature calls this &#8220;healthcare,&#8221; a beating heart gets a little easier to ignore, and that is the real cost no press release will mention.
***
Ericka Andersen is the author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Freely-Sober-Rethinking-Alcohol-Through/dp/1514013363/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Freely Sober: Rethinking Alcohol Through the Lens of Faith</a>” (InterVarsity Press, 2026)
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

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What ‘No Limits’ Abortion Actually Looks Like

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A foreign-born Massachusetts mayor was arrested Friday for stealing COVID relief funds to fund his campaign and pay off personal debt. 
The FBI arrested Lawrence Democratic Mayor Brian DePena, 61, for allegedly funneling $1.5 million in COVID funds to fund his campaign, pay taxes, and pay down $880,000 on various property mortgages. DePena, who went <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/massachusetts-mayor-cant-understand-english-needs-translator-in-court">viral</a> last year for struggling to speak English, was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. 
“Mayor DePena was elected to be a leader for the City of Lawrence. He was looked up to and trusted by his constituents, but he betrayed that trust through his alleged corruption and lies,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. “Today’s arrest is just another example of our determination to root out fraud by anyone, even public officials and holding elected officials accountable.”
DePena, born in the Dominican Republic, was first elected mayor of Lawrence, a city about 25 miles north of Boston, in 2021, running on a <a href="https://www.briandepenamayor.com/agenda">platform</a> of “integrity” and “citizen-centered” government. He was re-elected in 2025. 
Court documents say that DePena used Economic Injury Disaster Loans offered by the government and obtained by his business, Tenares Tire Services, as a fund for personal monetary benefit. 
From one round of $350,000 in loans deposited into his business account, DePena used $85,000 to pay off personal tax debts and moved $120,000 into a personal account, investigators say. DePena then wrote a number of checks totaling $90,000 to “The Committee to Elect Brian DePena,” according to court documents. Before the influx of cash, the account sat at just over $20. 
Another round of loans was approved by the Small Business Administration in October 2021, and $1,154,188 was placed in the Tenares Tire Services account. Those dollars were transferred into DePena’s personal bank account, which held only $1,401, the same day they were received, the Justice Department said. 
Of the new funds, another $42,000 went to his mayoral campaign, and $883,293 was used to pay off debts on properties owned in Lawrence, prosecutors alleged. 
If convicted, DePena could be sentenced to over 20 years in prison and subject to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. 
Despite living in the United States for decades and being elected to public office, DePena <a href="https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2022-03-21/lawrence-mayor-brian-depena-on-his-plans-to-turn-around-the-citys-schools">told</a> one local outlet in March 2022 that he was still learning English. 
“I practice my English because it’s very important in America,” he said. “For many years, another administration speaks perfect English and [didn’t provide] opportunity for better education, for businessmen, for kids, safety [in the] community.”
In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnxviuiMbBY">videos</a> posted by the city, DePena often speaks Spanish. The population of the city is about 83% Hispanic. 
During an unrelated court appearance last year, DePena made headlines after requesting a translator. That appearance revolved around the mayor’s efforts to shield the acting chief of police during an investigation. 
DePena does not yet have a lawyer, and The Daily Wire reached out to the mayor’s office for comment.

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Foreign-Born Massachusetts Mayor Who Can’t Speak English Arrested For COVID Fraud

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A crowd erupted with joy as the Democratic governor of Massachusetts signed into law a “barbaric” new law allowing mothers to end the lives of their unborn children up until the point of birth. 
The law signed by Governor Maura Healey on Monday removes the state&#8217;s 24-week abortion restriction and allows a doctor to greenlight an abortion up until just before the baby is born. As Healey signed the legislation, a group of supporters cheered and clapped in support of the new law, paving the way for ending the life of full-term babies. 
“We&#8217;re a state with some of the strongest abortion protections in place,” she said. “And yet, you&#8217;ll hear from folks about some things that just weren&#8217;t in the right place in terms of making sure that women and couples and families had access to the care that they need, particularly those who experience complications late in pregnancy.”
Late-term abortions <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/the-reality-of-late-term-abortion-procedures/">often include</a> a gruesome process where the baby is fatally poisoned in the womb and then delivered dead. They can also involve an abortionist crushing and dismembering a baby before its delivery. At full-term, most babies weigh around seven pounds, have fully developed organs, and have a layer of fat to stay warm. 
The law easily skated through both the Democrat-controlled state Senate and House. An abortion after 24 weeks may now “be performed by a physician based upon the professional judgment of the physician,” according to the law. 
In pushing for the legislation, Democrat Representative Christine Barber, the sponsor of the legislation, said that abortion “should be between a doctor and a patient.”
Healey’s signing of the law was met with immediate backlash from pro-life advocates. 
“Legalizing elective abortion up to birth on healthy mothers and healthy, pain-capable unborn children is not about protecting the doctor-patient relationship,” Massachusetts Citizens for Life President Myrna Maloney Flynn said. “It is about abortionists normalizing the deaths of fully-developed infants and pressuring vulnerable women to permit their unborn children to die in heinous acts of violence.”
“These abortions represent among the most severe human rights abuses permitted in only a few places around the world, including China and North Korea,” she added. 
The SBA Pro-Life America condemned the law as “barbaric.” 
“It should shock the conscience that tens of thousands of unborn Americans are barbarically dismembered limb by limb and torn apart every single year,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Without a minimum national standard, the United States remains 1 of only 8 countries worldwide that allows abortion at any point in pregnancy.”
Other states with similar laws include Alaska, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Vermont, New Jersey, and Maryland.

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WATCH: Crowd Laughs As Dem Governor Allows Abortion Until Birth

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The murder trial of Lindsay Clancy has become one of the most hotly debated criminal cases in the country, raising difficult questions about standard practices for treating mental health issues, postpartum care, and personal accountability.
Clancy admitted to strangling her three young children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan — inside the family&#8217;s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023 after her then-husband left to pick up takeout food and medication. Prosecutors say Clancy then attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window after cutting both her wrists. All three children died, and Clancy was left paralyzed from the waist down.
There has been a movement of supporters online that say Clancy suffered from a severe psychiatric illness after having her third child, and that repeated medication changes only worsened her mental health, culminating in an unimaginable tragedy. They note that the mother of three was seeking help before the killings and should receive treatment instead of life behind bars.
Others argue that Clancy must be held accountable for the deaths of three innocent children. They also point to prosecutors&#8217; allegations that Clancy&#8217;s actions showed planning and awareness.
Clancy has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, arguing she was legally insane due to postpartum mental illness. She faces life behind bars.
<h3>Here are five things you need to know about the case:</h3>
1. Clancy was prescribed a long list of psychiatric medications before the killings.
One of the biggest points of contention is Clancy&#8217;s psychiatric treatment in the months leading up to the deaths. Court records and medical reports indicate she was prescribed or took numerous medications, including Zoloft, Ativan, Benadryl, trazodone, Prozac, Ambien, Remeron, Klonopin, Seroquel, Valium, and amitriptyline, with doctors changing or adjusting medications over time as her symptoms persisted.
Several of the psychiatric medications listed potential side effects including agitation, insomnia, suicidal thoughts, confusion, and, in rare cases, hallucinations or psychotic symptoms. According to court filings, Clancy&#8217;s medication regimen changed multiple times during the fall and winter of 2022 before the killings in January 2023. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-1149143 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616821-861x576.jpg" alt="" width="861" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616821-861x576.jpg 861w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616821-300x201.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616821-768x514.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616821.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 861px) 100vw, 861px" />
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
2. Clancy spent time in intensive psychiatric treatment shortly before the killings.
Weeks before the killings, Clancy voluntarily entered a partial hospitalization program at McLean Hospital for mothers experiencing postpartum mental health issues.
According to court records, she left the program early to celebrate her daughter Cora&#8217;s fifth birthday at home. Clinicians declined to involuntarily commit her after determining she did not exhibit signs of postpartum psychosis and was stable enough to return home.
3. Prosecutors say the evidence points to planning, as opposed to a sudden psychotic break.
Prosecutors argue Clancy carefully orchestrated the timing of the killings. They allege she asked her then-husband, Patrick, to pick up takeout food and medication from separate locations, giving herself more time alone with the children than usual before he returned home.
Investigators also say each child was strangled with an exercise band, suggesting the killings occurred one after another rather than during a sudden, uncontrollable outburst. Prosecutors are arguing that Clancy&#8217;s actions demonstrate planning and awareness.
4. Patrick Clancy has publicly forgiven his ex-wife.
In the days after the killings, Patrick Clancy released a statement asking the public to forgive his then-wife rather than hate her. &#8220;I want to ask all of you that you find it deep within yourselves to forgive Lindsay, as I have,&#8221; he said. He described her as a loving mother whose illness had &#8220;broken&#8221; her.
<div id="attachment_1149189" style="width: 854px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1149189" class="wp-image-1149189 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616864-844x576.jpg" alt="Patrick Clancy on the stand. The Lindsay Clancy murder trial is held at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth on July 29, 2026. " width="844" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616864-844x576.jpg 844w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616864-300x205.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616864-768x524.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616864.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 844px) 100vw, 844px" />David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</div>
During pretrial hearings, Patrick Clancy appeared in court in support of Lindsay, and his attorneys said he believes she was suffering from a devastating mental illness rather than acting out of malice.
During the trial, Patrick testified that he never believed his wife wanted to harm their children and described the dramatic decline of her mental health in the months before the killings. He also recounted repeatedly seeking medical care for her and trusting the recommendations of her doctors, testimony that became a central part of the defense&#8217;s claim that Clancy was suffering from a severe mental illness.
The couple were married at the time of the killings, but have since divorced, and Patrick Clancy is reportedly remarried.
5. Her suicide attempt remains one of the most disputed parts of the case.
After the children were killed, Clancy jumped from a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.
Her defense says the jump reflected overwhelming guilt and a genuine suicide attempt by a woman experiencing a catastrophic psychiatric collapse.
Prosecutors are expected to argue that her jump was evidence of consciousness of guilt after she realized what she had done.
<div id="attachment_1149193" style="width: 851px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1149193" class="wp-image-1149193 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616927-841x576.jpg" alt="Lindsay Clancy attends her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth on July 29, 2026." width="841" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616927-841x576.jpg 841w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616927-300x205.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616927-768x526.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/08/GettyImages-2287616927.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 841px) 100vw, 841px" />David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</div>
A verdict is expected to be rendered later this month or in September.

Patrick Clancy describes ex-wife’s mental health struggles leading up to children’s deaths in her murder trial

Lindsay Clancy Strangled Her Three Children. Why Some People Want Her Set Free.

Lindsay Clancy Strangled Her Three Children. Why Some People Want Her To Walk Free.

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Live cockroaches and spiders. A preserved fetal pig. A bloody Halloween mask. A funeral wreath. A book about surviving the death of one’s spouse.
These items were all sent to the home of journalists David and Ina Steiner by executives of one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms. The packages were an attempt to scare them into silence and to stop reporting on the e-commerce company’s business practices.
The Steiners sued, and after over a decade in the courts, they have won their case.
On Tuesday, eBay agreed to pay the Massachusetts couple nearly $50 million after former employees terrorized the bloggers in a 2019 harassment campaign.
Since 2012, Ina Steiner, with her husband David’s help, has hosted the newsletter eCommerce Bytes, unveiling to readers important updates about services such as Amazon and eBay.
She has been critical of many of eBay’s corporate decisions, <a href="https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2019/4/1554870735.html">reporting</a> in 2019 on issues such as former eBay CEO Devin Wenig earning 152 times more than normal employees.
In response, eBay employees reportedly became angered by the Steiners’ reporting and conspired to &#8220;intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and silence them,&#8221; Fox News <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/ebay-pay-nearly-50m-after-ex-employees-allegedly-terrorized-couple-cockroach-fetal-pig-packages">reports</a>.
Some employees named in the lawsuit were former CEO Devin Wenig, former Chief Communications Officer Steve Wymer, and former Senior Vice President Wendy Jones.
Along with sending anonymous packages with disturbing contents, employees sent pornographic magazines addressed to David Steiner to a neighbor&#8217;s home in an attempt to smear the image of the couple in their community.
The Steiners also received a host of threatening direct messages online. The lawsuit even alleged that eBay employees tried to plant a GPS tracking device on the couple’s vehicle.
In the settlement, the Steiners are slated to receive $48.7 million in compensation. This comprises $46.15 million from eBay itself, $2 million from Wenig, $500,000 from Jones, and $50,000 from Wymer.
The company will finance $6 million in donations to various nonprofits, and Wenig will pay $1 million to a charity committed to protecting First Amendment rights on Ina Steiner’s behalf.
eBay has posted a statement disavowing the actions of its former executives and employees.
“What the Steiners were subjected to by former eBay employees in 2019 was wrong, reprehensible, and should never have happened,” eBay <a href="https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-statement-regarding-agreement-with-ina-and-david-steiner/">said</a> in a statement. “We condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the employees who perpetrated and pled guilty to criminal charges for the misconduct against Ina and David Steiner. We also acknowledge the unprofessional tone in internal communications demonstrated, to different degrees and number, by Mr. Wenig, Mr. Wymer, and Ms. Jones.”
“We continue to extend our deepest apologies to the Steiners,” eBay added. “This agreement is consistent with our commitment to fairly compensate the Steiners and fulfills our efforts to make things right.”
The couple <a href="https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2026/7/1785201549.html">posted</a> about their win on their eCommerce Bytes website and shared the testimony of their lawyer Chris Murphy.
&#8220;This case was always about more than obtaining financial recovery,” Murphy said in the statement. “From the beginning, our clients wanted to uncover the truth, protect journalists and publishers, hold those responsible accountable, deter future corporate misconduct, and help ensure others would never have to endure what they experienced.”
“We believe this resolution sends a clear message that corporations and their executives cannot engage in this type of misconduct without facing significant consequences,&#8221; Murphy added.
Devin Wenig has reached out to the Daily Wire and denied any knowledge of the harassment campaign.
“The harassment was deliberately done in secret and without my knowledge, as established by an independent law firm review, a federal probe, and the sworn testimony of the security employee convicted as the ‘ringleader.’” Wenig said in a statement. “This behavior is antithetical to everything I sand for and believe in.”
The Steiners are <a href="https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0JIXX8JL25WD8603EEB8JLNRDI">featured</a> in the documentary &#8220;Whatever It Takes: Inside the eBay Scandal,&#8221; where they share their experiences being victims of the harassment campaign.

Photo Illustrations – GameStop Hostile Takeover Bid For EBay

Inside eBay’s Twisted Plot To Terrorize A Couple With Live Spiders And Cockroaches

eBay

Harassment

Journalism

Lawsuit

stalking

Former President Barack Obama will headline a Democratic fundraiser next month on Martha&#8217;s Vineyard as party leaders ramp up preparations for an aggressive redistricting campaign ahead of the 2028 election, even as Democrats continue grappling with financial challenges at the national level.
The August 31 fundraiser will benefit the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), the party&#8217;s primary organization dedicated to congressional redistricting efforts. The event, hosted by former Attorney General Eric Holder, will feature &#8220;dinner and a discussion&#8221; with the former president, according to an invitation first obtained by <a href="https://punchbowl.news/article/campaigns/obama-ndrc/">Punchbowl News</a>.
The fundraiser will take place on the ritzy Massachusetts island long associated with affluent seasonal residents, celebrities, and Democratic political figures. The event comes as Democrats prepare for what party leaders expect will be a costly and contentious battle over congressional maps ahead of the 2028 election.
Democratic officials have already signaled interest in pursuing new congressional maps in several blue states — including New York, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, and potentially California — seeking to offset Republican gains achieved through recent redistricting efforts in states such as Texas.
Many of those efforts would require expensive statewide referendum campaigns or constitutional amendments. In Virginia, for example, Democrats would need to finance a statewide campaign to amend the state&#8217;s redistricting process after a previous effort failed. Similar legal and political hurdles exist in several other Democratic-controlled states.
Obama has remained deeply involved in Democratic redistricting efforts since leaving office.
The NDRC was founded in 2017 by Holder, who served as attorney general throughout most of Obama&#8217;s presidency. Obama has repeatedly lent his fundraising power to the organization, including hosting one of his first post-presidency political fundraisers on its behalf. A 2023 fundraiser reportedly raised roughly $1.5 million for the group. The organization hosted a similar August fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard in 2025, with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Obama both speaking.
The former president publicly supported Democrat-backed congressional map redraws in California and Virginia in recent years. The renewed focus on redistricting follows Republicans&#8217; successful push to redraw congressional maps in several states before the 2026 midterms.
After President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to revisit the state&#8217;s congressional districts, GOP lawmakers approved a new map designed to create additional Republican-leaning seats. Republicans have also pursued new maps in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
Democrats have argued those moves created a Republican advantage heading into the 2026 elections and have increasingly shifted their attention toward reversing that advantage during the next redistricting cycle.
&#8220;The race by Republicans to gerrymander is not over — and between potential redraws and the November election, the 2028 redistricting fight is already underway,&#8221; NDRC President John Bisognano said in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/us/politics/obama-fund-raiser-marthas-vineyard-redistricting.html">statement</a> announcing the organization&#8217;s continued focus on future map battles.
Martha&#8217;s Vineyard has long served as a destination for prominent Democratic politicians and wealthy donors. The island&#8217;s housing market ranks among the most expensive in the country. According to a January report in the <a href="https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2026/01/22/island-real-estate-market-sees-steady-expensive-growth">Vineyard Gazette</a>, the median home sale price on Martha&#8217;s Vineyard approached $1.7 million in 2025, while the average single-family home sold for approximately $2.6 million.
Former President Obama himself has longstanding ties to Martha&#8217;s Vineyard, where he has vacationed frequently since leaving office. The former president previously stayed at Blue Heron Farm, a sprawling Chilmark estate that sold for $37 million last year.
The NDRC has not publicly disclosed a fundraising target for the event, and organizers have not released ticket pricing or sponsorship levels.

Former President Obama Campaigns For Kamala Harris In Pittsburgh

Obama To Headline Dem Gerrymandering Fundraiser In Posh Martha’s Vineyard

Barack Obama

fundraiser

fundraising

Martha's Vineyard

Redistricting

BOSTON— Federal authorities arrested 11 illegal immigrants in Massachusetts they say are tied to a massive taxpayer-funded benefit fraud scheme that exceeded $1 million.
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/06/18/11-illegal-aliens-indicted-14-million-benefit-fraud-scheme-massachusetts">announced</a> charges against a total of 15 alleged fraudsters, which includes the 11 illegal aliens, during a press conference on Thursday in Boston. Several of the accused fraudsters are &#8220;John Does&#8221; who used stolen identities and their names remain unknown.
Colin M. McDonald, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department&#8217;s fraud division, said federal investigators are &#8220;still working&#8221; to determine the &#8220;true identities&#8221; of the unnamed fraudsters.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t know who they are fully, but we do know who they are not. They are not the American citizens they pretend to be, and from that initial lie the charges [announced] today allege that they gained access to the buffet of benefits generously given by the American taxpayer for needy Americans,&#8221; McDonald said.
&#8220;In some cases, the victims of these crimes, the rightful beneficiaries of these funds, could not access benefits they needed. And why? That was because their identities had been stolen and their names had been already used in the programs to steal benefits. In other words, American citizens were boxed out of these programs because illegal aliens took their names to then take their money, or more accurately your money, the American taxpayer&#8217;s money. Illegal immigration carries real and substantial costs to American taxpayers and places enormous strain on our public benefits systems. And the further we look, the more fraud we find,&#8221; he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨Justice Department CHARGES 11 ILLEGAL ALIENS Among 15 in $1.4M Benefit Fraud Crackdown in Massachusetts
“These cases highlight a broader, deeply troubling pattern: the exploitation of America’s safety-net by illegal aliens,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald.… <a href="https://t.co/ZvUH6yhQA5">pic.twitter.com/ZvUH6yhQA5</a>
— National Fraud Enforcement Division (@DOJFraudDiv) <a href="https://x.com/DOJFraudDiv/status/2067637738635960615?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Among those charged was 56-year-old Dominican national Santo Escolastico Cuello who allegedly committed aggravated identity theft and made false statements relating to a health care program in connection with $162,180 in MassHealth fraud.
One of the accused illegal immigrant John Does is charged with false representation of a Social Security number, aggravated identity theft and making false statements relating to a health care program in connection with MassHealth fraud totaling $75,000 and aggravated identity theft.
Another John Doe is charged with illegal acquisition or use of SNAP benefits, theft of government funds, and aggravated identity theft in connection with SNAP benefit fraud totaling $11,000.
Federal authorities also charged Mario Baez Romero, a 45-year-old Dominican national who was living in Somerville, Massachusetts, with aggravated identity theft and passport fraud in connection with $26,942 in SNAP fraud, and $48,785 in MassHealth fraud. He was encountered by federal authorities on a recreational boat near Key Biscayne in Miami, Florida, in May.
One of the suspects, Indian illegal immigrant Mitul Patel, 40, allegedly <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/eleven-indian-nationals-charged-visa-fraud-conspiracy">staged</a> at least six false armed robberies of a convenience store to allow the alleged victims, including himself, to seek U visas for victims of violent crimes.
Another accused fraudster was previously convicted in Massachusetts on federal drug charges, officials said.
Authorities are still working to identify the John Does and have asked the government of the Dominican Republic for assistance, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said during Thursday&#8217;s presser.
Illegal immigrants have traditionally flocked to Massachusetts for the state&#8217;s generous public benefits system, including state health care programs, McDonald told The Daily Wire&#8217;s Kassy Akiva during an interview that followed the press conference.
McDonald also called out Massachusetts Democratic Governor Maura Healey, who has sparred with the Trump administration over its demands for the state to hand over data on SNAP applicants and recipients.
&#8220;Things like being transparent for the records that the state maintains because the state is responsible. Not only do they receive the money from the federal government, we give them the money. They are then responsible for the verification checks, the eligibility checks. We are asking and we have been asking for them to give us those records so that we can see and we can pressure test, just make sure that fraud&#8217;s not happening, but they refuse to give us those records,&#8221; McDonald said.
&#8220;It begs the question of what are you trying to hide,&#8221; he said.

Texas Governor Abbot Continues To Send Migrants To DC

Feds Nab Nearly A Dozen Illegal Aliens Tied To Massive Fraud Scheme

Illegal Immigration

A 70-year-old Massachusetts man was charged with attempted murder after a heated dispute over water access at a local beach turned violent, according to authorities. 
Steven Dana was arrested after police responded to a call about a fight. Authorities say Dana assaulted 21-year-old Matt Duffy during a confrontation at Sandy Beach in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Prosecutors say Dana forced Duffy underwater and held him there during the altercation, leading to the attempted murder charge.
Police said the dispute stemmed from Duffy and his friends using Lake Maspenock. Duffy <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/hopkinton-ma-sandy-beach-fight-attempted-murder/">told CBS News Boston</a> that Dana, who appeared to live near the water, became increasingly irritated by the group riding a jet ski.
Dramatic video obtained by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJmF2NvezBM">Boston 25 News</a> shows the confrontation escalating near the edge of the water.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
GRAPHIC VIDEO WARNING: A violent confrontation at a Hopkinton beach was caught on camera and is now drawing serious concern after police say a dispute over &#8220;resident-only&#8221; access escalated into an attempted murder case. <a href="https://t.co/3KrCIbmVtb">pic.twitter.com/3KrCIbmVtb</a>
— Boston 25 News (@boston25) <a href="https://x.com/boston25/status/2062884844900688184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
“Time to go. You live there and listen to you doing it all day long and see how you like it,” Dana told Duffy. 
“Woopdy doo,” Duffy replied. “You bought a house on the lake. Deal with it. I’m following the rules of the lake.” 
Dana repeatedly told Duffy to take this boat elsewhere. The young men refused and appeared to taunt the 70-year-old. 
As Dana threatened to call the police, one of the young men mocked the idea.
“You want me to shoot you?” Dana asked him.
“Alright, shoot me then,” Duffy said back. 
Dana then walked down to the beach and stood face-to-face with Duffy. 
“Use that big mouth of yours,” Dana said before slapping Duffy in his face. 
The two tussled to the ground. Video appears to show Dana forcing Duffy into the water during the altercation. 
“He tackled me into the water, then we were fighting, and then he shoved my head under and was not letting me breathe until my friend came up and pulled him off me,&#8221; Duffy told <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/hopkinton-ma-sandy-beach-fight-attempted-murder/">CBS News Boston.</a> &#8220;I just knew I couldn&#8217;t use either of my arms or my leg as they were both broken, and it was just praying that he let go or my friends pull him off of me.”
The 21-year-old said he had been using crutches because he was involved in a severe motorcycle accident months before, according to CBS News. 
Authorities charged Dana with attempted murder, strangulation/suffocation, and assault and battery on a disabled person. 
Dana was freed on Friday on $7,500 bail. He is due back in court on July 13.

Cruise ship on the ocean. Luxury liner at sea. Miami Beach with cruise ship. Sea water and cruise liner. Tourist cruise ship near coast. Ocean waves and vessel boat. Summer dream vacation. Boat trip.

WATCH: Man Accused Of Trying To Drown 21-Year-Old Over Beach Dispute

Crime

Fight

News

U.S.

A man accused of randomly shooting at cars in Massachusetts has been identified as a career criminal with a previous conviction for attempting to murder a Boston police officer. The suspect was out on the streets thanks to a soft sentence back in 2021. 
Police arrested 46-year-old career criminal Tyler Brown on Monday after they say he walked down a street in Cambridge waving a rifle and shooting at random. Video captured by witnesses show a man, identified by police as Brown, dressed in black walking down the road while brandishing his weapon. 
Two people were seriously injured in the shooting, and officials say Brown&#8217;s shooting spree was stopped by a former Marine legally carrying a handgun and a Massachusetts State Police who both opened fire on him. Brown was hit multiple times and taken to the hospital, <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/what-we-know-about-accused-memorial-drive-gunman-tyler-brown/3948328/">according</a> to Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Shocking new video shows a gunman opening fire indiscriminately on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. Police say there is no current threat to the public but the incident has shut down the usually busy road for hours on Monday afternoon. <a href="https://t.co/kPkRgUdsSf">pic.twitter.com/kPkRgUdsSf</a>
— Boston 25 News (@boston25) <a href="https://twitter.com/boston25/status/2053947248124289462?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Brown is accused of firing between 50 to 60 shots at more than a dozen cars on the busy Cambridge street. He is expected to be charged with two counts of intent to murder and multiple gun charges. The shooting took place about an hour after police <a href="https://www.kwtx.com/2026/05/11/gunman-memorial-drive-cambridge-was-shooting-passing-cars-random-witnesses-say-i-was-running-my-life/">attempted</a> to conduct a welfare check on Brown after his parole officer reported he made suicidal statements. 
Back in 2021, a judge gave Brown a much lighter sentence than requested by prosecutors after he was <a href="https://www.suffolkdistrictattorney.com/press-releases/items/man-shot-at-police-sentenced">convicted</a> of armed assault with intent to murder and attempted assault and battery by means of discharging a firearm after he opened fire on several Boston police officers back in 2020. 
During that incident, Brown fired 13 shots at police officers who were called to check in on him after he was seen with a weapon.
He was additionally convicted over the incident of three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon for pointing a firearm at Boston Police officers, unlawful possession of a firearm as a subsequent offense, and carrying a loaded firearm and possession of a large capacity feeding device.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders sentenced Brown to just five to six years in prison, about half the 10-12 years requested by prosecutors. 
At the time, even leftist Suffolk District Attorney Rachel Rollins said she was “disappointed” with the sentence. 
&#8220;Violence will not be condoned in Suffolk County,&#8221; she said. “Whether that violence is committed ​by or against a domestic partner, a stranger, a loved one, ​a family member, a spouse, an acquaintance, a police officer, a suspect, anyone, we will hold the perpetrator ​of the violence accountable​ and advocate on behalf of the victim. ​​This sentence doesn&#8217;t do that, and I want to ​personally apologize to ​each of the​se officers and their families.&#8221;
Brown also has convictions from 2014 for assault and battery with a knife and witness intimidation.

MixCollage-12-May-2026-08-40-AM-4268

WATCH: Deranged Felon Opens Fire On Drivers In Broad Daylight

Shooting

The Trump administration opened an investigation on Monday into a historic all-women’s college that admits gender-confused men.
The Department of Education confirmed in a <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Office-for-Civil-Rights-Case-Number-01-25-2398-Smith-College-Parshall-Perry-5-4-26.pdf">letter</a> that it had launched a probe into whether Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, was violating Title IX. The investigation comes almost one year <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/all-womens-college-breaking-the-law-by-admitting-trans-identifying-men-complaint">after</a> watchdog organization Defending Education filed a civil rights complaint over its transgender policies. 
“The complaint alleges that the College, one of the largest women’s colleges in the United States, discriminates against women on the basis of sex by admitting males who identify as women (‘self-identified transgender women’) and by permitting male students to use intimate facilities designated for women,” the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights wrote in a letter on Monday to Defending Education. “[The Office of Civil Rights] is opening the complaint for investigation.”
The office will determine whether there are any merits to Defending Education’s complaint, which was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/all-womens-college-breaking-the-law-by-admitting-trans-identifying-men-complaint">first reported</a> on by The Daily Wire in June 2025. 
The complaint said that the school violates federal policy by allowing males who identify as females to take the place of females in admissions. Smith College only admitted about 22% of applicants for the 2024-2025 school year. 
The stated policies make it clear that the historically all-women’s college allows men to enter so long as they identify as transgender. The decision to admit males was first made in 2015 after Smith <a href="https://www.smith.edu/president-kathleen-mccartney/letters/2014-15/admission-policy-announcement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conducted</a> a year-long study group on the topic. 
“People who identify as women — cis, trans, and nonbinary women — are eligible to apply to Smith,” the college <a href="https://www.smith.edu/your-campus/offices-services/equity-inclusion/gender-identity-expression">explains</a>. “Smith’s policy is one of self-identification. The applicant’s affirmation of identity is sufficient.”
Smith also says that it has an “all-gender locker room in the athletic facilities” and is working on making more multi-stall “all-gender” bathrooms. 
Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry said she looked forward to the department&#8217;s investigation. 
&#8220;Smith College has a longstanding reputation as a women&#8217;s college of exclusive excellence. But that hasn&#8217;t prevented it from falling victim to the fiction of &#8216;transgender&#8217; womanhood,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Admitting men who feel like women means that the institution — formerly one of the nation&#8217;s prestigious &#8216;Seven Sisters&#8217; all-women&#8217;s colleges — is no longer for women only.&#8221;

A brick wall sign with SMITH COLLEGE.

Top Women’s College Admitted Gender-Confused Men. Now The Feds Are Involved.

Civil Rights

Department of Education

Transgender

A Republican candidate for governor in Massachusetts is facing renewed scrutiny over his role in bringing a Chinese state-owned manufacturer into the Boston subway system, a decision that represents both a financial debacle and a potential national security risk.
Brian Shortsleeve, who is running in a three-way GOP campaign ahead of the September 1 primary election, has built much of his campaign around his tenure as chief administrator of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. But newly surfaced research obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire is casting that record in a harsher light, focusing on a $277 million contract awarded during his leadership to China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, or CRRC.
At the time, Shortsleeve defended the deal as fiscally responsible. “The decision we made today was a good business decision,” he said in December 2016, touting the new Chinese-built subway cars as a cost-saving measure for the struggling transit system. He also appeared at a 2016 ceremony marking construction at CRRC’s Springfield facility, publicly celebrating the partnership.
That relationship has since become a liability, with the project becoming plagued by delays and mechanical issues, and only a fraction of the promised cars delivered years behind schedule. In 2023, CRRC reportedly submitted unfinished cars for inspection, and in August 2025, federal agents detained several new MBTA subway car shells at the Port of Philadelphia amid an investigation into potential forced labor connections.
Security concerns surrounding CRRC have also grown over time. Lawmakers and industry experts have warned for years that Chinese state-owned rail manufacturers could pose a surveillance or sabotage threat to U.S. infrastructure. A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/business/chinese-train-national-security.html?unlocked_article_code=1.cVA.i653.VI8KwYILj5Dk&amp;smid=url-share">2019 report</a> in The New York Times highlighted fears that subway cars built by CRRC might be equipped with technology capable of tracking passengers’ movements or communications.
Those concerns have been echoed at the federal level. In a <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/05/30/marco-rubio-dont-let-chinas-spies-near-the-nyc-subway/">2019 op-ed</a>, then Florida Senator Marco Rubio warned that CRRC is part of a broader effort by the Chinese Communist Party to expand its influence in critical infrastructure sectors, calling it “one tactic China is employing to supplant America.” Federal agencies have since classified CRRC among Chinese military-linked companies, and Congress has moved to restrict federal funding for transit projects involving such firms.
Independent research has reinforced those warnings. A <a href="https://www.rtands.com/passenger/intercity/crrcs-chief-obligation-is-to-the-chinese-state-report/">report</a> published in an industry magazine described CRRC as having “indelible ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” noting that executives often serve dual roles as corporate leaders and party officials. The company, the report found, operates in close alignment with Beijing’s industrial strategy, including efforts to dominate global transportation networks under initiatives like “Made in China 2025.”
Meanwhile, the Rail Security Alliance <a href="https://railsecurity.org/fiasco-mbtas-contract-with-crrc/">has called</a> the MBTA’s contract with CRRC a “fiasco,” citing delays, alleged coverups, and mechanical failures. The group and others have argued that Chinese state-owned enterprises benefit from heavy government subsidies, allowing them to undercut competitors and win contracts that may not serve long-term U.S. interests.
All of that is now intersecting with Shortsleeve’s political ambitions; the 53-year-old Marine veteran and Harvard MBA is positioning himself as a fiscal conservative capable of fixing Massachusetts’ economic challenges.
His business background has been emphasized in <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/02/19/brian-shortsleeve-governor-massachusetts-gop-baker-romney">local reporting</a>, and he argues that the state needs “a chief executive … that understands how to get costs under control, provide tax and regulatory relief and get jobs growing.”
But his record complicates that message. While he is now campaigning on a more hardline conservative platform—taking tough positions on immigration and energy policy and attacking Democratic Gov. Maura Healey—Shortsleeve’s political history reflects a more moderate, establishment trajectory. He worked closely with former Gov. Mitt Romney, serving as political director for his 2002 gubernatorial campaign and fundraising for both his 2008 and 2012 presidential runs.
Shortsleeve, a self-described “Cape Cod voter” and founder of venture capital firm M33 Growth, has donated to several Democrats in recent years, including members of Congress and state officials.
He has also shifted party affiliations over time, at one point registering as a Democrat before later switching between Independent and Republican. As recently as 2021, he moved to “unenrolled” status following January 6, before rejoining the Republican Party in 2023.
Political strategist Wendy Wakeman noted that Shortsleeve is now running “a little more Republican, a little more right” than in the past, as he competes in a primary shaped by the Trump-era GOP.
That dynamic leaves him in a delicate position. To win the nomination, he must appeal to a conservative base that has grown increasingly skeptical of establishment figures and foreign economic dealings, particularly those involving China. Yet to compete in a general election in deep-blue Massachusetts, he would likely need to regain support from moderates and independents.
The controversy over the MBTA’s CRRC contract underscores the tension at the heart of his candidacy. What was once presented as a pragmatic, cost-saving decision is now being reframed as a cautionary example of the risks tied to foreign state-owned enterprises—and a potential vulnerability for a candidate trying to redefine himself in a changing Republican Party.

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