‘Gaffe machine’ Johnson branded ‘clueless’ in latest Cummings tirade

Published

4 years ago

June 18, 2021

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Boris Johnson’s former chief aide has described the prime minister as a “gaffe machine” who is “clueless about policy and government”.

Dominic Cummings continued his assault on the government and the prime minister as he also attacked “drone-babblers” among Westminster pundits.

The ex-adviser, who has been engaged in a weeks-long feud with Downing Street, made another intervention following the Conservatives’ by-election loss to the Liberal Democrats in Chesham and Amersham.

Mr Cummings urged people to “stop reading these pundit babblers” as he listed examples of media predictions – such as an assured Conservative victory in Chesham and Amersham – that turned out to be wrong.

He also highlighted the past controversy of Mr Johnson not doing an interview with journalist Andrew Neil during the 2019 general election campaign, for which the prime minister was heavily criticised.

Mr Cummings, who worked for the prime minister during the campaign, pointed out how it was suggested that Mr Johnson not doing the interview was a “huge campaign blunder”.

Posting on Twitter, he added: “Why the fu*k wd be put a gaffe machine clueless about policy & government up to be grilled for ages, upside=0 for what?! This is not a hard decision…

“Pundits don’t understand comms, power or management. Tune out!”

Downing Street later said it did not accept the description of Mr Johnson as a “gaffe machine”.

“Of course that is not a characterisation that we would accept,” a spokesman for the prime minister said.

“But I’m not going to get into specific allegations.”

Mr Cummings has made a series of explosive claims about Mr Johnson since leaving Downing Street last November amid a Number 10 power struggle.

Earlier this week, he published a 7,000-word blogpost in which he included screenshots of WhatsApp messages in which Mr Johnson referred to Health Secretary Matt Hancock as “totally f****** hopeless”.

But the prime minister has since given his full backing to Mr Hancock.

“I have complete confidence in Matt and indeed all of the government who have been dealing with COVID-19 during the pandemic,” Mr Johnson said on a visit to Kirklees, West Yorkshire, on Friday.

Mr Cummings has promised to give answers to an “ask me anything” opportunity on his blog next Monday, although it will only be available for paying subscribers.

Politics

MEV bot trial ends in mistrial after jury deadlock on brothers’ verdict

Published

5 hours ago

November 8, 2025

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MEV bot trial ends in mistrial after jury deadlock on brothers’ verdict

A New York jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case of Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, the MIT-educated brothers accused of fraud and money laundering related to a 2023 exploit of the Ethereum blockchain that resulted in the removal of $25 million in digital assets.

In a Friday ruling, US District Judge Jessica Clarke declared a mistrial in the case after jurors failed to agree on whether to convict or acquit the brothers, Inner City Press reported.

The decision came after a three-week trial in Manhattan federal court, resulting in differing theories from prosecutors and the defense regarding the Peraire-Buenos’ alleged actions involving maximal extractable value (MEV) bots.

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A MEV attack occurs when traders or validators exploit transaction ordering on a blockchain for profit. Using automated MEV bots, they front-run or sandwich other trades by paying higher fees for priority.

In the brothers’ case, they allegedly used MEV bots to “trick” users into trades. The exploit, though planned by the two for months, reportedly took just 12 seconds to net the pair $25 million.

In closing arguments to the jury this week, prosecutors argued that the brothers “tricked” and “defrauded” users by engaging in a “bait and switch” scheme, allowing them to extract about $25 million in crypto. They cited evidence suggesting that the two plotted their moves for months and researched potential consequences of their actions.

“Ladies and gentlemen, bait and switch is not a trading strategy,” said prosecutors on Tuesday, according to Inner City Press. “It is fraud. It is cheating. It is rigging the system. They pretended to be a legitimate MEV-Boost validator.”

In contrast, defense lawyers for the Peraire-Buenos pushed back against the US government’s theory of the two pretending to be “honest validators” to extract the funds, though the court ultimately allowed the argument to be presented to the jury.

“This is like stealing a base in baseball,” said the defense team on Tuesday. “If there’s no fraud, there’s no conspiracy, there’s no money laundering.”