Welcome to this week's Hill Spill! It's Thursday, happy hour is calling, and we have got tea. 🫖 After last week's special edition where we wrote about our own experience with scandal, the Hill has wasted no time getting back to its chaotic self. It was a busy week on the House floor, but honestly, we haven't been following FISA or the Farm Bill that closely, so we're letting C-SPAN handle that one this week. Instead, we've got royals, campaign chaos and scandals to get into. Grab your drink of choice and let's get into it…

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If you thought the 2026 election cycle in New York's 21st District was off to a messy start, hold onto your ballot. Republican frontrunner Anthony Constantino, the Sticker Mule CEO who famously erected a massive "Vote for Trump" sign, is riding high in the polls with a commanding lead and the endorsement of President Trump. But while Constantino is busy branding himself as a MAGA heir, the people he's keeping in his orbit are raising serious eyebrows — leading his primary opponent, Assemblyman Robert Smullen, to question his fitness for office.

The headliner of this drama is Alec Thomas Flores, a man who Washoe County records show was arrested in 2024 for open murder following a stabbing in Nevada. Court records list him as the defendant in an ongoing criminal proceeding that has seen delays and missed appearances in the months since. Constantino tried to brush this off on X as "old news" about a former staffer, but FEC filings show the campaign was still cutting him payroll checks as recently as late December 2025. The story was first reported by the Times Union.

Constantino pushed back accusations he knowingly employed a potential murderer on X: "The swamplings are bringing up old news about a guy we hired for an entry level position to answer emails and promptly fired (with severance) 1 year ago because I am up by 51 points. Politics is dirty and the Times Union should be ashamed for working on behalf of dirty politicians to unethically promote an old story while presenting it as something new."

Flores isn't the only one with a rap sheet. Senior aide Paul Antonelli, who is running communications for the campaign, was arrested in 2020 following allegations that funds went missing from a local Little League organization he presided over.

Petition circulator Christopher Bernstein has a history of legal trouble, including a 2014 felony forgery charge involving judicial petitions, in addition to prior convictions for a forged instrument and drug possession. Constantino told Politico that Bernstein is no longer with the campaign.

Tom Kennedy, a former president of the New York State Law Enforcement Council, also involved in petition efforts, was removed from that post in 1999 amid allegations of misused union funds, undocumented credit card charges, and reported federal scrutiny requiring restitution.

Then there's the candidate's own record, which has come under scrutiny. Public records show tax liens totaling more than $14,000 across multiple states since 2018.

He is also taking heat for failing to file a required personal financial disclosure on time, requesting an extension only after the deadline had passed. And while Constantino is running as a Trump-endorsed Republican, records indicate he was registered as a Democrat as recently as 2022 and previously donated to Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko, who voted to impeach Trump.

"He's a nut," one New York elected official, speaking on background, told us.

The campaign did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations.

On Tuesday, King Charles became just the second British monarch in history to address a joint session of Congress — the first since his mother's remarks in 1991 — and lawmakers were loving it, taking selfies and rewarding him with roughly 12 standing ovations. It may have been the most bipartisan behavior we've seen in the lower chamber all year. Turns out all you need is a crown, an accent and the discipline to know when you're done.

"It was first and foremost so nice to hear a short speech again from that chamber. It's a reminder why the Gettysburg Address is so effective. It was also, frankly, truly refreshing to hear a foreign head of state come here and make a robust defense of the importance of the Transatlantic Alliance, and specifically standing with Ukraine," Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) told us. Multiple lawmakers echoed the sentiment on the length of the remarks, with more than one telling us they felt some of their colleagues should take notes. (We don't disagree.)

At one point, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) managed to snag a brief chat with His Majesty as he entered the chamber. "I asked him about his Aston Martin DB6 Convertible. It's a rare car," Burchett told us.

Charles opened by referencing Saturday's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, honored his late mother Queen Elizabeth II and warned against inward-looking isolationism — views not exactly in vogue at the moment in Washington. He also noted the upcoming 25th anniversary of 9/11, saying the attacks were "a defining moment for America" whose pain "was felt around the whole world." He called defense and intelligence ties "hardwired together through relationships measured not in years, but in decades."

In rogue royal visit moments, one guest in the gallery showed up in a full George Washington costume, tricorn hat and all. We guess that's one way to assert American dominance?

Buckingham Palace said Charles was "greatly touched by the warmth and generosity" of the reception.

This week on the pod we sat down with Bale Dalton — a Navy captain, former NASA chief of staff — who is attempting to flip Florida’s 7th Congressional District. He breaks down how Mills' scandals are playing back home and why he thinks the seat is winnable. Meanwhile the Mills scrutiny remains alive and well ing the House. This week the embattled congressman picked up a GOP primary challenger, and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) torched Mills on stolen valor and dating violence while entering evidence into the congressional record. Mills has repeatedly asserted he won’t step down, but Dalton thinks voters will decide.

What a night. The 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner will go down in history for all the wrong reasons, and our first and most important note is that we are so glad everyone is safe. A shooting at an event like that is frightening, and we are extremely grateful for federal law enforcement and the Secret Service for everything they did to protect everyone on Saturday.

That being said, an unidentified woman in a black fur coat was caught on camera calmly collecting abandoned bottles of wine from the tables as the room cleared. The internet has proceeded to drag her. We just wanted to say, in what may be an unpopular hot take, we think everyone should stop being haters and let the woman live.

The wine was already paid for and everyone was already safe. We respect that she rescued a Cab from a potentially uncertain fate. We personally didn't take any table wine that evening, but we support her in her wine-taking endeavors fully and without any reservation.

We also want to give a special shoutout to friend of the newsletter former Rep. George Santos, whose WHCD fashion commentary brought us genuine joy. We were especially pleased to see him acknowledge our girl Olivia Beavers looking absolutely fabulous (for the record, we have always thought she looked fantastic, even in the years when Santos did not.). Look at these two playing nice — we love to see it.

We look forward to the full round-two takes, and we're already hoping the next event is a much calmer and more secure affair. The nation deserves a night where the biggest controversy is a dress.

TBH I’m not actually that big of a fan of this cocktail, but in honor of the Brits visiting Washington, I’m going to roll with it this week. 🇬🇧