Category: blaze media

Against a backdrop of mounting attacks on churches, the Biden administration worked ardently to curb religious liberties wherever they came into conflict with the left’s radical agenda.

For example:

the Biden Equal Employment Opportunity Commission implemented a rule requiring employers — including Christian organizations — to accommodate workers’ efforts to abort their unborn children;the EEOC attempted to force Christians to pay for employees’ sex-rejection mutilations; the Biden Department of Health and Human Services attempted to bar Christian providers who hold biblical and scientifically grounded views about sex and marriage from the foster-care system; and under Biden, a Catholic, the FBI characterized conservative Catholics as potential domestic terrorists and proposed to infiltrate Catholic churches as “threat mitigation.”

It’s clear from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s latest Religious Freedom Index that unlike the administration voted out of power in 2024, the American people overwhelmingly — and increasingly — support religious liberties.

‘Our nation still believes that our first freedom belongs at the heart of our culture; not as a source of conflict, but as a foundation for overcoming it.’

Over the past six years, Becket has tracked public opinion on religious freedom. The legal group’s index for 2025 published on Friday registered the highest cumulative score for public support of religious freedom to-date — 71 on a scale from 0 to 100 where 0 indicates complete opposition to religious liberty and 100 indicates robust support.

This amounts to a dramatic shift, especially when compared to 2020, when the composite score was 66.

Whereas in 2020, 52% of respondents agreed that religious freedom is inherently public and that Americans should be able to share their faith in public spaces, that number jumped to 57% in the latest RFI.

There was an even bigger shift when it came to support for parents’ ability to opt out of public school curricula they believe to be inappropriate — a jump from 63% in 2021 to 73% in 2025.

RELATED: 6 ways I’m using 2026 to deepen my relationship with God

Photo by ANOEK DE GROOT/AFP via Getty Images

When asked specifically about the Supreme Court’s June 2025 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, 62% of respondents signaled support for the high court’s decision to side with the Maryland parents who wanted to protect their children from LGBT propaganda in Montgomery County Public Schools.

On the question of whether public funding for education should be available to all families, including those who choose religious schools, 77% of respondents said they were mostly or completely in favor.

The report noted that “although this year’s Index found that Americans have cooled on the benefits of religion to society and are skeptical of institutions, they unify around the simple principles of religious freedom for all, even in difficult cases that invite scrutiny or controversy.”

A clear majority, 58%, of Americans said they support the right of a Christian baker to decline to make cakes that conflict with her sincere religious views.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said that the First Amendment’s guarantee of the free exercise of religion should protect Catholic priests from having to break the seal of confession as would have been required by Washington state Democrats’ now-enjoined Senate Bill 5375.

There was markedly less support for the Christian counselor in the case Chiles v. Salazar who challenged Colorado’s prohibition on so-called “conversion therapy” for non-straight youth. Only 47% expressed support for her ability to provide talk therapy to children to help them overcome their gender dysphoria.

“Year after year, the Index has made clear that religious liberty remains one of our most cherished values,” Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket, said in a statement obtained by Blaze News.

“Even amid deep divisions, our nation still believes that our first freedom belongs at the heart of our culture; not as a source of conflict, but as a foundation for overcoming it,” continued Rienzi. “The work before us is to see that freedom protected for our children and theirs in the years to come.”

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A St. Louis-area mayor obsessed with race and swamped with lawsuits has been arrested — and the accusations against him are horrifying.

On Thursday, Mayor Michael Cornell of Riverview, Missouri, was arrested and charged with nine felonies: four counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, three counts of first-degree sodomy or attempted sodomy, and one count each of first-degree harassment and possession of child pornography — film/videotape.

‘Tell me why we’re being sued because you made sexual advances to an employee and when he refused, you fired him.’

As of Thursday afternoon, Cornell remained in custody on a $1 million, cash-only bond.

The statutory sodomy charges relate to repeated incidents between 2016 and 2017 of alleged sexual contact with a teenager under 17 years of age, KSDK reported.

Prosecutors claimed that Cornell has also attacked three adult males: one between 2016 and 2017, one in May and September 2024, and one just last month.

Police worry that other victims, including minors, may be out there.

“In these types of cases with this type of behavior, based on the victims that we’ve talked to, it’s possible that this is a predatory type of behavior. And we’re concerned that if he was willing to do it to a minor, there may be other minors that we’re just not aware of,” St. Louis County Police Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Lohr said, according to KSDK.

A bond hearing has been scheduled for next week, and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for February 18, KSDK said.

RELATED: Noncitizen Kansas mayor accused of voter fraud has cast dozens of ballots since 2000, documents show

Bill Oxford/Getty Images

Cornell, 39, has been inundated with accusations since before he was elected mayor in April 2024. He currently faces litigation related to sexual harassment, wrongful termination, gender discrimination, fostering a toxic work environment, and jokes on social media.

A former Riverview alderwoman also filed a suit after Cornell allegedly ordered her to be placed in handcuffs after she mentioned the sexual harassment allegations against him at a town hall meeting last February.

“I held up the court papers. I said, ‘Tell me why we’re being sued because you made sexual advances to an employee and when he refused, you fired him,'” Regina Davis said, according to KMOV, which has covered the accusations against Cornell extensively.

At least seven lawsuits have been filed against Cornell in just two years, the outlet noted.

Cornell has also recently made bizarre claims about members of the KKK vandalizing both public and private property in Riverview.

“I am writing to inform you of the disturbing markings and threats against the City of Riverview and its residents by racist and cowardly KKK affiliates throughout the night. Over the past six months, alarming KKK and hate-related markings or destruction of City property and churches in Riverview have been reported,” he posted to Facebook in December.

Additionally, Cornell issued KMOV a rambling seven-page letter on city letterhead, referring to not only the alleged KKK problem, but other wild allegations, including that the chief of police had orchestrated “conspiracies to blow my head off, commit a mass shooting, and then kill himself.”

Former Riverview Police Chief Thomas Tumbrink filed a lawsuit against Cornell and other officials in June, alleging wrongful termination.

In response to a request for comment on the lawsuits, Cornell told KMOV: “Just let the system play that out, and you just follow the facts, you understand? We’re not here to be choked in with the smoke. When the smoke clears, a lot of facts. And if you are someone with some type of integrity, follow the facts.”

RELATED: ‘Experience your first orgasm’: Rabid Trump-hater allegedly packs sex toys for ‘date’ with supposed 11-year-old

Cornell’s bio on the Riverview website evinces a man obsessed with race and overly impressed with his resume. The first paragraph of many notes his “unmatched knowledge, courage, and strength, he has broken barriers and shattered ceilings at such a young age counting back over 20 years.”

Cornell also brags about his call for “environmental justice” and greater “integrity” and “transparency.”

Among other accomplishments, he claims to be the “youngest and First African American” chairman of the Riverview Board of Trustees and that in 2022, he became a “State Licensed Private Investigator.”

A public records request to the state law enforcement licensing agency revealed that Cornell had a peace officer license that has since “expired.” Cornell pled guilty to one count of impersonating an officer in 2017, but his record was later expunged, KMOV said.

Through a public records request, Blaze News learned that while Cornell has been registered to vote in Missouri since at least September 2020 and has cast a vote 10 times since then, he is not registered with a particular political party.

Riverview City Hall did not respond to a request for comment.

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As Minnesota begins to resemble its 2020 self after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting of Renee Nicole Good and widespread Somali fraud, a discussion of Trump invoking the Insurrection Act has been circulating — and BlazeTV host John Doyle is a fan.

“Sometimes you can use power in ways that are counterproductive obviously. However there are also absolutely instances where it is counterproductive to not use power, when it is necessary to use power. I believe this is one of those cases,” Doyle explains.

“If the left is allowed to run wild, it is only going to embolden them. These are people who are entropic by nature, and it’s going to just create more public resistance to mass deportations, everything’s just going to get uglier,” he continues.

However Doyle points out that if the Trump administration actually cracks down on what he calls a “criminal resistance,” the left will have to “realize that it’s not winning.”

“It’s going to lose energy. These people are paper tigers. Like, if the average left-wing dysgenic freak is scared to interfere with ICE, having seen so many of his, like, gay, race, communist comrades getting arrested, getting pepper-sprayed, physically harmed, whatever, he’s going to have second thoughts about doing this whole revolutionary larp,” Doyle says.

And Doyle believes the movement is already losing energy.

“Where was the resistance, right, when Trump won in 2024? You remember when Trump won in 2017, 2016? They had fires in D.C. … they were burning stuff in D.C. at the Inauguration. Where was that in 2024? Where were all the Antifa riots during his campaign rallies?” Doyle asks.

“What about after he won, you know, throughout the city? Where was our women’s march? Like the energy just is not there. The radical left, of course, is still around because these people are on welfare. They’re taking hormones. Like their job is to be that,” he continues.

“They do maintain a sort of presence, right? However, it’s not as prominent as it used to be. That is good, as it would turn out. You actually win by winning,” he adds.

Want more from John Doyle?

To enjoy more of the truth about America and join the fight to restore a country that has been betrayed by its own leaders, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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On the timeline of making America great again, two dates in 2015 stand out for anyone who backed Donald Trump before it was safe to do so.

On June 16, 2015, Trump came down the escalator in New York City and announced his run for president. The political class laughed. Conservative pundits mocked him. Commentators treated the whole thing as a stunt. A lifelong Democrat running as a Republican? A celebrity billionaire developer? Please. What a “clown.”

Scott understood something most people never learn: Bad reviews from bad people are good reviews. He also understood how to grieve with honor instead of self-pity.

Then came August 13, 2015.

That day, Scott Adams — the creator of “Dilbert” and a best-selling personal development author — published a blog post that reframed the entire race in a single phrase:

Usual frame:
Donald Trump is a clown.
Reframe:
Donald Trump is a clown genius.

That was Adams’ title: “Clown Genius.” And his point was simple: Trump wasn’t improvising. He was persuading. Adams wrote that Trump’s “value proposition” was to “Make America Great,” which meant selling the world on America again — what Adams called “good brand management.”

It sounds obvious now. It didn’t sound obvious then.

Adams became one of the first major nonpolitical public figures to say out loud what millions of Americans were starting to suspect: Trump wasn’t a joke. The joke was the people pretending they couldn’t see what was happening.

“Clown Genius” by Scott Adams, accessed via the Internet Archive

That post didn’t just defend Trump. It gave people permission. It gave tens of millions of everyday Americans cover to voice support for the one candidate the establishment of both parties hated more than anyone they had seen in decades. Adams called it before the polls did, and he kept calling it.

And, in the process, he helped change the course of human history.

He later packaged Trump’s persuasion methods into a book-length case study, “Win Bigly.” And famously, he assigned Trump a 98% chance of winning in 2016 — at a time when most of the media treated the idea as laughable.

Adams paid for that courage.

When he backed Trump in 2015, he didn’t just lose polite invitations. He lit his career on fire. He traded lavish speaking fees, safe corporate fame, and establishment approval for permanent exile from respectable opinion.

In October 2025, Adams described the price in stark terms:

When I decided … to back Trump … I sacrificed everything. I sacrificed my social life. I sacrificed my career. I sacrificed my reputation. I may have sacrificed my health. And I did that because I believed it was worth it. … I’m really happy I lived long enough to see it. It was worth it. … It was worth it to be right.

Independent journalist and filmmaker Mike Cernovich made the point even more bluntly. Adams could have kept quiet, kept the corporate speaking gigs, and died richer. Instead, he chose the lonely road and earned something bigger than money. He became a legend.

For millions, Scott Adams was more than a cartoonist or a commentator. Worldwide, listeners of Scott’s daily show, “Coffee with Scott Adams,” knew him as our “internet dad.” If Trump is the father of MAGA, Scott is its honorary stepfather.

People didn’t just read him. They listened to him. They learned from him. They built confidence from his willingness to say what others wouldn’t.

President Trump made America great again. Scott Adams made Candidate Trump plausible in the first place.

After a long, public battle with prostate cancer, Scott Adams died on Tuesday, January 13. He was 68.

President Trump responded with a tribute that said more than many will admit.

— (@)

“Sadly, the Great Influencer, Scott Adams, has passed away. He was a fantastic guy, who liked and respected me when it wasn’t fashionable to do so. He bravely fought a long battle against a terrible disease. My condolences go out to his family, and all of his many friends and listeners. He will be truly missed. God bless you Scott!”

I’m one of those listeners and friends. More than that, I was Scott’s editor, and I remain the publisher of the Scott Adams library. He brought me on as a contributing editor for “Reframe Your Brain,” a book that has helped thousands of readers apply his signature “reframes” to work, money, relationships, and even faith.

As of this writing, “Reframe Your Brain” is the No. 1 best-seller on Amazon.

RELATED: Glenn Beck remembers Scott Adams: ‘A philosopher disguised as a stick-figure artist’

Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Near the end of his life, Scott also made a quiet but meaningful choice. He accepted Pascal’s Wager — the simple risk-reward logic that faith in Jesus Christ is worth the bet. He pinned that profession to the top of his X.com profile in his final statement.

Scott was a father figure to me in the most practical sense. I asked his advice the way a son asks his dad. He was happy to oblige. That’s who he was: sharp, funny, and eager to be useful.

Now critics will rush in to re-litigate his controversies, including the 2023 livestream that helped get “Dilbert” pulled from newspapers. I wrote the truth for Newsweek at the time, after his remarks triggered an organized effort to kill his book deal and erase him from public life.

I worked with an author on a not-quite-banned book recently. Dilbert creator and bestselling author Scott Adams had his long-running comic strip ended by multiple newspapers and his forthcoming book contract canceled over some hyperbolic remarks on race that were intended to stir up discussion. Scott Adams’ books were twice banned, but Amazon reversed the decision. … Adams then went to his audience and let them know that there were people who didn’t want his book published, and they responded by buying it, en masse. Sales shot up.

Scott understood something most people never learn: Bad reviews from bad people are good reviews.

He also understood how to grieve with honor instead of self-pity. As he wrote in “Reframe Your Brain”:

When you experience the death of a loved one, your instincts push you into feeling tragedy, loss, and pain. Once you have had enough of that, and when you are ready, start tossing these five words around to release some of the pain: Gratitude. Respect. Honor. Privilege. Service.

Scott Adams lived those words. And now he belongs to the ages.

Scott won bigly.

Thank you, Scott.

​Opinion & analysis, Scott adams, Obituary, In memoriam, Dilbert, Donald trump, Clown genius, Cancel culture, Cancer, Reframe your brain, Win bigly, Christianity, Pascal’s wager, Maga 

President Donald Trump reaffirmed his commitment on Friday to the U.S. acquiring Greenland, hinting that he may impose economic pressure on reluctant nations to secure their backing.

Trump has argued that the acquisition of Greenland is imperative to America’s national security and stated that he would consider imposing steep tariffs on countries that do not support the U.S. taking control of the island.

‘We’re talking to NATO.’

Trump participated in a roundtable on Friday morning, during which he said he had pressured President Emmanuel Macron of France to raise prescription drug prices. If Macron refuses to comply, Trump has threatened to place a 25% tariff on all French imports.

Trump, who declared himself the “tariff king,” explained that he made the same threat to the “top 10 countries,” including Germany, to lower U.S. drug prices. He stated that the tariff hike would have been roughly seven times more than what the countries would pay by raising their drug prices. He noted that all of the countries he contacted agreed to his request, securing “Most-Favored-Nation” pricing.

“And I may do that for Greenland too,” Trump remarked. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that.”

RELATED: Rubio reportedly reveals Trump’s plan to acquire Greenland to bolster US defense

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

In separate comments on Friday outside of the White House, Trump told reporters, “NATO has been dealing with us on Greenland. We need Greenland for national security very badly.”

“If we don’t have it, we have a big hole in national security, especially when it comes to what we’re doing in terms of the Golden Dome and all of the other things. We have a lot of investments in military,” he added.

“We’re talking to NATO.”

RELATED: JD Vance visits Greenland to make the case for annexation: ‘We can’t just bury our head in the sand’

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that the administration has aspirations to purchase Greenland from Denmark.

“The United States is eager to build lasting commercial relationships that benefit Americans and the people of Greenland,” a State Department spokesperson previously told Blaze News. “Our common adversaries have been increasingly active in the Arctic. That is a concern that the United States, the Kingdom of Denmark, and NATO Allies share.”

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​News, Greenland, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, France, Germany, Drug prices, Prescription drugs, National security, Marco rubio, Tariffs, Tariff, Politics 

A leftist congressional candidate launched a lousy attempt to further conflate President Donald Trump with literal Nazis, but failed miserably.

Candidate Mark Davis of Florida sounded the alarm Thursday, noting the website “Nazis.us” redirects users to the Department of Homeland Security page. Davis implied that he stumbled upon this website and urged supporters to “give them a donation.”

‘I pointed it directly at Kristi Noem’s department.’

“OK, I think I have it figured out….if you go to Nazis.us it takes you to our DHS website because, of course it does,” Davis said in a post on X. “It just makes sense. Whoever did that, give them a donation.”

Despite his attempt to frame the Trump administration as Nazis, X users quickly found out that Davis was actually the one who created the website.

RELATED: Florida Panthers praise Trump during White House visit: ‘Nothing beats this’

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

After getting brutally ratioed in his comment section, Davis changed his tune and openly admitted that he purchased the domain himself.

“If Kristi Noem and donald trump didn’t know my name before, they damn sure do now,” Davis said. “I bought nazis.us. I pointed it directly at Kristi Noem’s department. And now the whole damn world is watching. I just held up a mirror … and they hate their reflection. And it’s a middle finger they can’t erase. You want to cry about ‘decency’? Then maybe don’t prop up fascists while killing women, immigrants and the working class. You built this. I’m just handing out the receipts.”

RELATED: ‘Lectern guy’ from Jan. 6 running for election in Florida to promote ‘MAGA principles’

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Davis, who is running in a deep-red district represented by Republican Congressman Vern Buchanan for over a decade, continued his unhinged rant on X, even urging people to divorce their spouses if they support Trump.

“If your husband or wife still supports trump, leave them. Divorce them. Kick their sorry f**king ass to the curb,” Davis said.

“They backed a pedophile. They cheered for a wannabe dictator. They watch this country burn … and f**king clap[.] And if they chose the rapist who wants to end elections, they don’t deserve your loyalty. Or your home. Or your f**king silence. They f**ked the country. Don’t let them f**k your life too.”

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New information has surfaced regarding the January 7 death of Renee Nicole Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer after obstructing a deportation operation and ultimately endangering the officers’ lives.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that Good suffered four gunshot wounds, contradicting earlier reports of the January 7 incident that said she had three gunshot wounds.

Good was brought out of the vehicle to a snowbank and then the sidewalk to get ‘separation from an escalating scene involving law enforcement and bystanders.’

Citing the Minneapolis Fire Department’s incident report acquired through a state Data Practices Act request, the Tribune reported that paramedics found Good unresponsive, not breathing, and with an “inconsistent” and “irregular” pulse.

Good was brought out of the vehicle to a snowbank and then the sidewalk to get “separation from an escalating scene involving law enforcement and bystanders,” the Tribune wrote.

RELATED: ‘That’s what the Bible tells us’: Renee Good’s former in-law surprises CNN host with his message

Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images

According to the Star Tribune, the incident report said that Good had two gunshot wounds to her right chest, one on her left forearm, and one “with protruding tissue on the left side of [her] head.”

Blood was flowing out of her left ear, according to the outlet’s summary of the report.

Lifesaving efforts were given at the scene of the shooting, in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, and at the hospital, Hennepin County Medical Center. These efforts were stopped around 10:30 a.m.

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​Politics, Renee good, Renee nicole good, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota star tribune, Police report, Ice, Immigration and customs enforcement 

Four articles of impeachment have been filed against Minnesota Democrat Governor Tim Walz, and BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales believe not only that it has been a long time coming, but that far more needs to be done to rectify his actions.

“A person whose name is always synonymous with Somali fraud, it seems — sorry, I guess legally I have to say, like, ‘allegedly,’ seems like things are coming back to bite him,” Gonzales says on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.” “Of course, I’m talking about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.”

“Now, I would say, if the left wants to constantly impeach Donald Trump over nothing, we should probably impeach all of them over the things that they did that are actually crimes,” she continues.

The four articles that have been filed against Tim Walz include Article I: Violation of Oath of Office through Concealment of Fraud; Article II: Interference with Oversight and Investigations; Article III: Prioritizing Political Considerations Over Lawful Administration; and Article IV: Failure to Steward Public Funds.

“The only way in which he gets away with this is that it’s Democrat-run in Minnesota and the Democrats just won’t ever do this to one of their own. That’s the only way, because all the receipts we’ve gone over ad nauseum, like, the receipts are there that he did all of these things,” Gonzales says.

Walz has also dropped out of the next gubernatorial race, which he claimed he was doing to get to the bottom of the fraud.

“Tim Walz is like, ‘I’m dropping out to help get to the bottom of’ why he was such a facilitator to fraud, I guess,” Gonzales mocks, before playing a clip of Walz making the excuse.

“Every minute that I spend defending my own political interest would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who want to prey on our differences,” Walz announced.

“So I’ve decided to step out of this race, and I’ll let others worry about the election while I focus on the work that’s in front of me for the next year,” he added.

“Oh, okay. It’s all the other people who are the problem,” Gonzales says.

“Now, obviously, I think Tim Walz should be impeached. I actually like President Trump’s idea better, which is that he just needs to be hauled away in handcuffs, which is what he posted on Truth Social,” she laughs.

“That is my president,” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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50 Cent is going from sin to sanctity.

Hot on the heels of his recent Netflix documentary on the debauched downfall of hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, the rapper turned producer is set to release an urban crime drama inspired by the life of fourth-century Ethiopian monk Moses the Black.

Even in our compromised state, saints remain scandalous and alluring precisely because they cut against our deepest desires and despair.

Fans of Fox Nation’s “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints” will remember the violent bandit turned desert-dwelling ascetic as one of the series’ most fascinating subjects. Officially recognized by Pope Leo XIII in 1887, the former slave has long been venerated as the patron saint of nonviolence and is widely praised as a symbol of the power of peace and repentance.

Out for blood

“Moses the Black,” a loose retelling of that story set against the backdrop of modern-day Chicago, follows Malik (Omar Epps), a gang leader fresh out of prison and seeking to avenge his murdered friend.

Complicating his quest his is grandmother, an Orthodox Christian who gives him an icon of St. Moses, whom she describes as a “saint who was also a gang member.” Haunted by frustration, loss, and a lifetime of sins, Malik starts having visions of the saint, who warns him that the bloody path he has embarked upon is one he will regret.

“Moses” — which also features hip-hop notables Wiz Khalifa and Quavo — makes for an interesting companion piece to director Yelena Popovic’s previous outing, 2021 St. Nektarios biopic “Man of God.” Where that film depicts sanctity as something preserved through obedience and suffering, “Moses” imagines it reclaimed from disorder.

Mean streets

Malik navigates an inner city filled with dealers and enforcers locked into violent criminal lives, casually killing rivals or shooting up funerals over petty grudges. These sequences are among the film’s darkest and do not soften their portrayal of brutality or drug use.

“Moses” is clearly a personal project for the platinum-selling artist born Curtis Jackson, whose own background mirrors Malik’s. Raised by a single mother in Jamaica, Queens — herself a drug dealer who was murdered when he was 8 — Jackson entered the drug trade at a young age. After barely surviving an attack by a rival in 2000, Jackson released his debut “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” in 2003.

Although that album cemented Jackson’s association with the violence and materialism of gangsta rap, its cover found him wearing a jewel-encrusted cross necklace. The tension between survival and transformation is one Jackson understands firsthand.

As he has said:

I believe in God. I didn’t survive being shot nine times for nothing. I didn’t claw my way out of the ‘hood just ’cause it was something to do. I know I’ve got a purpose, a reason for being on this planet. I don’t think I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do yet. But I do know this: I ain’t going nowhere ’til I’ve done it all.

Redemption song

There is something unsettling and compelling about the lives of saints. Even in our compromised state, they remain scandalous and alluring precisely because they cut against our deepest desires and despair. The film’s greatest strength is its depiction of how Catholics and Orthodox Christians turn to saints during moments of trial, seeking models of repentance and change — models Malik strains toward but does not easily inhabit.

RELATED: Blaze News original: 6 more pro-Trump rappers

Steven Ferdman/GC Images/Getty Images

The film’s ambitions, however, exceed its budget. Extensive handheld camerawork — whether a stylistic or budgetary choice — sits uneasily beside green-screen flashbacks and CGI-heavy desert scenes. The rough Chicago footage clashes with these elements, and the film might have benefited from a tighter focus on Malik’s interior struggle. Exaggerated performances from the supporting cast further push many scenes into melodrama.

Despite its “faith-based” trappings, “Moses the Black” is emphatically not a family film. It includes graphic violence, coarse language, and crude sexual innuendo, narrowing its audience to those inclined to receive its warning. Still, its central claim — that mercy extends even to the gravest sinners — lands with force in a culture starved for hope.

“Moses the Black” will be released through Fathom Entertainment on January 30.

​Moses the black, 50 cent, Entertainment, Culture, Movies, Orthodox christianity, Omar epps, Hip hop, Faith, Review 

Boys playing on the girls’ soccer team? It’s the American way.

That’s the bizarre message of a new ad in which a motley assemblage of actors and athletes lecture the viewer on the importance of allowing male high school athletes to compete against females.

‘Time and time again, we see powerful politicians fixate on trans kids.’

Released Monday, the 30-second clip kicks off the ACLU’s “More Than a Game” campaign, which seeks to draw attention to two Supreme Court cases the organization brought challenging state bans on transgender-identified biological males playing women’s sports.

‘Free’-for-all

In the spot, celebs ranging from soccer player turned activist Megan Rapinoe to actors Naomi Watts and Elliot (née Ellen) Page deliver feel-good, fact-free slogans like, “Supporting trans youth isn’t just about sports. It’s about freedom.”

The ad also claims that transgender children are “the living, breathing fabric of this country.”

“Sports are for every kid who wants to play — including trans youth,” the ACLU wrote in a message underneath the clip.

RELATED: ACLU’s Alligator Alcatraz lawsuit CRUSHED: Trump judge smacks down liberal bid to close facility meant for illegal aliens

Targeting ‘trans’

The group simultaneously released a petition against what it calls the Trump administration’s “attacks” on “trans kids.”

“Over the last several years, politicians across the country have targeted trans people and our families — and under the Trump administration, these attacks have only gotten more unconscionable and cruel,” the organization wrote in a statement accompanying the petition.

“One of their most consistent targets? Trans student athletes. Time and time again, we see powerful politicians fixate on trans kids and attempt to ban them from playing school sports with their friends.”

Without providing any citations, the ACLU claimed children have been subjected to “invasive and demeaning sex testing” which has allegedly resulted in “all of us [being] less safe and free to be ourselves.”

As of this writing, the petition has secured some 23,500 of the 25,000 signatures it seeks.

RELATED: Pro-transgender Seattle Kraken jersey enrages NHL fans: ‘Feel some trans joy’

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Ban wagon

Other notable personalities to appear in the ACLU’s commercial included former WNBA player Sue Bird, current WNBA player Brianna Turner, actress Kara Young, and fashion designer Willy Chavarria.

Following oral arguments Tuesday, a majority of the justices signaled skepticism toward the challenges, suggesting the bans are likely to be upheld. The Court is expected to issue a formal ruling by late spring or summer.

​News, Align, Celebrities, Transgenderism, Scotus, Supreme court, Entertainment 

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is pushing back against what he sees as growing uncertainty in Washington over abortion policy, rejecting any flexibility on federal abortion funding and warning against loosening long-standing pro-life protections.

“Federal dollars should not pay for abortion, period,” Cassidy told Blaze News.

‘The president is the straw that stirs the drink. He needs to be engaged. If he’s not, we won’t get a deal. If he does get engaged, we can get a deal.’

Cassidy made the remarks in response to questions from Rebeka Zeljko of Blaze News following a Senate hearing that examined chemical abortion and federal health policy.

President Donald Trump said pro-life advocates may need to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old provision that prevents taxpayer dollars from being used to pay for most abortions.

RELATED: Pro-abortion doctor gets dismantled by Hawley on men and pregnancy: ‘I don’t know how we can take you seriously’

For many conservatives, Hyde has long been viewed as one of the final federal safeguards limiting government involvement in abortion.

“I’m still not quite sure what he meant by that,” Cassidy said of Trump’s remarks, noting that the White House later appeared to walk them back. “Because he backed off on it a little bit.”

As chair of the Senate Health Committee, Cassidy said the larger concern is not campaign rhetoric but policy decisions that, in his view, have quietly expanded abortion access through the back door, particularly with the abortion drug mifepristone.

“It’s not like Tylenol,” Cassidy told Blaze News.

Cassidy pointed to Biden-era changes that allow mifepristone to be prescribed without an in-person doctor visit, a shift he said removed basic medical and ethical guardrails.

“This pill is only supposed to be given up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. If a woman who’s at 20 weeks of pregnancy takes the pill, she could have a complication, a terrible complication. A woman with an ectopic pregnancy can have a complication.”

Cassidy also warned that the lack of oversight has opened the door to coercion and abuse.

RELATED: ‘Massive betrayal’: Republicans, pro-life groups push back on Trump’s call to loosen key abortion restriction

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“The fact that you can go online, click in your name as Michael Smith — not a female, but Michael Smith — you can get a pill and then give it to your girlfriend without her knowledge, or force her to take it, is wrong,” he said.

He argued that returning to pre-Biden rules would restore physician oversight, protect women from medical harm, and ensure that abortion is not treated as a routine, consequence-free decision.

Cassidy was also asked about recent reporting that the Trump administration restored tens of millions of dollars in Title X funding to Planned Parenthood after a lawsuit was dismissed.

Cassidy said he had not reviewed the specifics of the report but made his position clear.

“I voted for Planned Parenthood to be defunded,” he said.

The funding move has raised alarms among pro-life advocates, who argue that even restricted federal dollars ultimately prop up the nation’s largest abortion provider. The decision has added to frustration within the conservative base, particularly as chemical abortions now account for a growing share of procedures nationwide.

RELATED: California’s abortion ‘trauma’ sanctuary: Newsom refuses to extradite accused doctor to ‘pro-life’ Louisiana

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Cassidy confirmed he is part of a group engaged in ongoing discussions with the White House as health care negotiations continue, including talks tied to the Affordable Care Act.

‘The president is the straw that stirs the drink,” Cassidy said. “He needs to be engaged. If he’s not, we won’t get a deal. If he does get engaged, we can get a deal.”

While Cassidy said he remains hopeful the administration will ultimately strengthen pro-life policies through regulatory action, he acknowledged growing concern among conservatives that early promises are being tested by bureaucratic inertia.

Asked about reports of rising abortion rates since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Cassidy said the issue goes beyond legislation.

“We [members of Congress] are a reflection of culture,” he said. “We need our culture to change.”

Cassidy pointed to pregnancy resource centers, adoption services, and community support as the real front lines of the pro-life movement.

“It isn’t a congressman or a senator that makes that decision,” he said. “It is the people in our communities.”

For now, Cassidy is drawing a clear line: no flexibility on Hyde, no normalization of chemical abortion, and no retreat from the pro-life safeguards conservatives have fought decades to secure.

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​Politics, Abortion, Abortion pill, Mifepristone, Pro-life, Baby, Children, Unborn children, Abortion rights, Abortion rights activists, Drugs, Pills 

The Stanley Cup champions were not shy about showing their support for President Trump.

The Florida Panthers visited the White House to celebrate their second-straight league championship over the Edmonton Oilers.

‘I’m so proud to be an American, and I’m so proud to be here with you.’

Trump praised the team on Thursday, shaking hands and listing accomplishments as he remarked that many of the players and staff would be participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, many of them representing the United States.

Before accepting gifts from the players, the president introduced team owner and billionaire Vincent Viola, who made the Panthers’ support for the administration indisputable.

“I’m going to make it pretty clear that we are honored to be here, we are honored to be here with you as the president,” Viola said, keeping his words short.

Then star player Matthew Tkachuk took the podium to relish being an American at the White House.

“I want to say on behalf of the whole organization, mainly the players, we are so honored to be here. Being an American … nothing beats this, I’m so proud to be an American, and I’m so proud to be here with you,” Tkachuk said, motioning to Trump.

RELATED: Video: Golfer attacks NHL fighter, learns valuable lesson: ‘You’re not a tough guy!’

Tkachuk noted the pain and effort that is required to win a Stanley Cup, stating, “Winning, it takes a toll, you pay a price for it.”

The 28-year-old certainly relished the moment and said he looked forward to wearing the red, white, and blue at the Winter Olympics.

“Representing you and the millions back here, next month at the Olympics, will be one of the highlights of my life as well,” he told the president.

Defenseman Seth Jones then presented President Trump with a Stanley Cup ring, captain Aleksander “Sasha” Barkov gave the president a No. 47 jersey, and Tkachuk presented Trump with a golden hockey stick.

As the team dispersed, an orchestral version of “We Are the Champions” by Queen played as Trump walked off the stage.

RELATED: Gov. DeSantis trolls Canada over lack of Stanley Cup wins as Canadian tourists pour into Florida despite claims of boycott

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Panthers kept the Stanley Cup out of the hands of Canadian teams for yet another year with their second-straight win over the Oilers and their third-straight appearance in the finals.

No Canadian team has won the cup since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens. Interestingly Florida’s other team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, appeared in three-straight finals before the Panthers and won two also.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who is widely regarded as the best player in the world, has split fans in recent years for defending the highly controversial gay pride nights in the NHL.

“It’s not my call, but obviously it’s disappointing,” he said in 2023. “I certainly can’t speak for every organization. … I know in Edmonton, we were one of the first teams to use the Pride tape,” the star boasted.

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​Fearless, Hockey, President trump, White house, American, Olympics, Patriotism, Sports 

While there have been mixed reactions to the January 3 capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro by the U.S., few have shown greater support for the move than opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

On Thursday, Machado visited President Donald Trump at the White House and presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize, which she won in October.

‘María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done.’

When asked in a Fox interview why she gave her medal to the president of the United States, Machado had a simple answer: “Because he deserves it.”

“It was a very emotional moment. I decided to present the Nobel Peace Prize medal on behalf of the people of Venezuela.”

RELATED: Venezuelan freedom fighter wins Nobel Peace Prize — and she immediately dedicates it to Trump for his support

Photo by Drew ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images

The medal was presented to Trump in a large golden frame with text that reads: “To President Donald J. Trump in Gratitude for Your Extraordinary Leadership in Promoting Peace Through Strength.” The text further calls the award a “Personal Symbol of Gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan People.”

After the meeting, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”

A White House official confirmed to CNBC that Trump intends to keep the medal.

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​Politics, Maria corina machado, President trump, Nicolas maduro, Venezuela, Nobel peace prize, White house, Trump, Donald trump 

A day-care worker in Minnesota confessed to “intentionally suffocating” an 11-month-old boy who died last fall, police told WCCO-TV, adding that it was “an attention-seeking act.”

Theah Loudemia Russell, 18, is in custody and will face a second-degree murder charge and other charges, Savage Police Chief Brady Juell told the station, which added that formal charges were expected to be filed Thursday.

Authorities investigating Russell’s background found ‘a documented history of attention-seeking behavior,’ including ‘nonsensical’ 911 calls, fire-starting, and ‘erratic behavior toward other children,’ Juell added to the station.

A 911 call came from Rocking Horse Ranch in Savage on Sept. 22 reporting that a child — later identified as 11-month-old Harvey Muklebust — was not breathing, WCCO said.

Authorities responded, and the boy was taken to a hospital where he later died, the station said.

Three days before, Savage police responded to Rocking Horse Ranch on a report of an unresponsive 4-month-old, the chief told WCCO. In addition, just two hours before the 911 call about the 11-month-old boy, the same 4-month-old child was found unresponsive, but police were not called, the station said.

RELATED: Day-care worker accused of child abuse; father of alleged victim posts images of 1-year-old son’s mangled face

Juell told WCCO that Russell’s “behavior and actions at the scene immediately raised suspicion, drawing investigative focus to her as the primary person of interest.”

Authorities investigating Russell’s background found “a documented history of attention-seeking behavior,” including “nonsensical” 911 calls, fire-starting, and “erratic behavior toward other children,” Juell added to the station.

Following a three-month investigation, Juell told KTSP-TV a clear pattern emerged: Russell was involved in all three incidents at the day care, had the last contacts with the children before the incidents occurred — and exhibited suspicious behavior in the immediate aftermath of each incident.

Russell in an interview with police confessed to “intentionally suffocating” Muklebust and the other child “in an attention-seeking act,” Juell told WCCO, adding that she “confessed to the attempted murder of our first victim on two occasions and to the murder of Harvey Muklebust.”

Russell had worked at the day care for only three weeks before the boy’s death, Juell noted to the station.

WCCO said that after the infant’s death, Rocking Horse Ranch owner Lisa Weiss told the station she had no comment.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services said it suspended Rocking Horse Ranch’s license on Sept. 23 but that the suspension is under appeal.

Russell on Friday was listed on the inmate roster at Scott County Jail. She’s also facing felony assault charges, jail records show.

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​Murder charge, Assault charge, Day-care center, Minnesota, Arrest, Confession, 11-month-old victim, Crime 

Riots broke out in Minneapolis on Wednesday after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot one of three illegal aliens the Department of Homeland Security claims savagely attacked him in an effort to evade arrest.

During the violent riots, independent journalist Nick Sortor captured damning footage of radicals ransacking and destroying federal vehicles. In one of Sortor’s videos, anti-ICE rioters appear to rip a weapons locker out of a federal vehicle. In another video, radicals appear to successfully break open a different weapons locker and seemingly steal a rifle.

Sortor not only managed in the second video to get clear images of the suspected rifle thief’s face — a face with a very specific tattoo — but his apparent license plate as well.

‘Minnesota leadership ENCOURAGES lawbreaking.’

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday evening that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives working in concert with Justice Department partners captured a known member of the Latin Kings gang who allegedly stole FBI body armor and weaponry. Fox News confirmed that the suspect is 33-year-old Raul Gutierrez.

Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office records indicate that Gutierrez of Inver Grove Heights is being held on theft and weapons charges.

“This criminal is a perfect example of what our brave federal law enforcement agents are up against every day as Minnesota leadership ENCOURAGES lawbreaking,” said Bondi.

RELATED: Trump threatens Insurrection Act after ambushed ICE agent shoots illegal alien: ‘Put an end to the travesty’

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bondi indicated that Gutierrez has a history of violence.

FBI Director Kash Patel indicated that “there will be more arrests,” emphasizing that “any individual who attacks law enforcement or vandalizes federal property paid for by hardworking taxpayers will be found and arrested.”

Sortor, whose vehicle was mobbed and vandalized by anti-ICE radicals on Sunday, noted on Friday that in the wake of the arrest, he has been inundated with complaints from leftists.

“Their Trump Derangement Syndrome is so bad that they’re defending violent gang members who steal machine guns. Lmao,” wrote Sortor. “What a time to be alive.”

Antifa has circulated Sortor’s picture on the liberal X knockoff Bluesky.

Journalist Cam Higby indicated on Thursday that he was swarmed and attacked by anti-ICE protesters who had mistaken him for Sortor.

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​Nick sortor, Sortor, Minneapolist, Renee good, Illegal alien, Venezuelan, Venezuela, Ice, Us immigration and customs enforcement, Immigration, Criminal noncitizen, Crime, Fbi, Doj, Bondi, Patel, Politics 

Are American women experiencing a deeper spiritual crisis beneath today’s political chaos?

BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey believes so, arguing that the most extreme strains of progressive activism are not driven by the majority of women — who largely identify as conservative or moderate — but by a smaller, highly intense subset channeling their natural nurturing instincts into politics.

And the liberal media’s new darling — the perceived victim of the recent ICE shooting in Minneapolis, Renee Nicole Good — is an example of the stereotypical woman who could be identified as having had a spiritual crisis.

“She’s kind of the stereotype of this liberal, white woman. Is this characterization of older, white women as unstable social justice activists accurate? I would argue yes and no. So if we look at the political demographics of the white woman in America, 36% of white women identify as conservative,” she says.

“Most white women don’t actually identify as liberal: 33% is moderate, 28% as liberal. That is still a large percentage, but that is a lower percentage of progressives in our demographic than any other demographic of women in America. So white women are actually the most conservative female demographic in America,” she continues.

However, as Stuckey points out, the women who identify as liberal are “extremely intense.”

“I think it has to do with this idea of misplaced mothering. And this is not just for white women. This is just for women in general,” she explains.

Misplaced mothering is when women — who have a natural biological instinct to nurture children — instead put that instinct into pets, plants, politics, or their profession.

“This kind of disordered channeling of the nurturing, beautifying, cultivating, mothering instinct creates a kind of inner discord and disorder that lends itself to bitterness and can lend itself to instability and lends itself to outsized passion when it comes to social justice projects and social justice causes,” Stuckey explains.

“The illegal alien becomes your child, or the gangbanger becomes your child, or this man who thinks that he’s caught in the wrong body and just wants to go into the girls’ locker room becomes your child. These causes become your children, the perceived victim in these causes become your children,” she continues.

“And this is all triggered by what I call toxic empathy,” she says, pointing out that the more empathetic a person is, the more likely they are to be radicalized.

“The more highly empathetic someone is, actually, the meaner they can be to those that they don’t perceive as the victim. If you perceive this one person as the oppressed … you’re putting all your feelings in how they feel. Everyone that you see as oppressing that victim becomes your enemy, and you become absolutely ruthless to them,” she explains.

This is why so many highly empathetic women are going to bat for Renee Nicole Good, when if you scroll through their social media history, they’re dancing on the grave of Charlie Kirk.

“She feels like she is like a mother and protector of all of these supposedly marginalized groups,” Stuckey says, “Everyone that she sees as the oppressor becomes the enemy, and she is cruel towards them, and she will fight them tooth and nail.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Free, Sharing, Camera phone, Upload, Video, Video phone, Youtube.com, Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Relatable, Allie beth stuckey, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Renee nicole good, Liberal white women, Liberal women, Spiritual crisis, Misplaced mothering, Toxic empathy 

Some story ideas are best left in the editing room … or in the first draft.

“Marty Supreme” casts Timothee Chalamet as a ‘50s-era ping-pong prodigy hoping to dominate his sport. Yes, we’re talking ping-pong, but it’s still a terrific movie despite the goofy concept. There’s even an impressive performance by “Shark Tank” alum Kevin O’Leary.

Now even a shrinking ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ is reducing the number of live musical interludes between spoon-feedings of propaganda.

His character is the lead’s frenemy, a benefactor who clashes with the brash ping-ponger. Except the film’s ending nearly featured a bloody coda that would have shocked everyone.

And perhaps crushed its Oscar dreams.

Director Josh Safdie reveals the original premise ends with an ‘80s set scene where O’Leary’s character bites Marty in the neck. Yeah, he’s a vampire in that iteration of the film, even though there’s only one vampire reference prior to it. Audiences assumed it’s a metaphor.

A24, the artsy-fartsy studio behind the film, apparently balked at that ending. The rest may be Oscar history. Bullet dodged …

The naked lady sings

Our heroine is a scrappy OnlyFans model, gang!

The political leanings of the Metropolitan Opera’s new “Carmen” update are so on the nose that it would make Pinocchio blush. This take on Bizet’s classic features an ICE agent attacking an innocent victim on a stage decked out to be the U.S. southern border. And that poor soul happens to be an OnlyFans model.

Who knew Orange Man Bad wasn’t a fan of the adult web site? Now we know, and knowing is half the battle. The other half? Saving your money and watching a version that doesn’t devolve into “resistance” agitprop.

Big Bird, free agent

And yet another “we must fund media that hates us” argument hits the bricks.

PBS and NPR finally had their federal funding removed, courtesy of Team Trump. The usual progressive suspects decried this attack on … wait for it … democracy.

Actually our democracy is better when state-sponsored news doesn’t use our cash to suppress stories like the Hunter Biden laptop scandal and a cognitively impaired president.

One chronic PBS defense boils down to two words (or one name): Big Bird. Today’s children must have free, unfettered access to the yellow fella living on “Sesame Street” or they’ll grow up listening to Kid Rock.

Now even that argument is going down in flames.

YouTube just partnered with Sesame Workshop to make more than 100 full “Sesame Street” episodes available, for free, to anyone with an internet connection.

Move over, Oscar — looks like another progressive institution is headed for the dustbin of history.

The ‘Show’ must go on (and on)

Jordan Klepper remains gainfully employed by Comedy Central, but his star just won’t rise. He’s the guy who seeks out uninformed Trump supporters and mocks them for his “Daily Show” sycophants.

George Carlin, he ain’t.

This week, Klepper — one of the show’s rotating hosts — attacked President Donald Trump for … supporting the Iranian people desperate to overthrow their tyrannical government.

How does a freedom-fighting fake newsman spin that as something bad? Not to worry — Klepper found a way, calling Trump a hypocrite because he’s against the violent radicals attacking ICE in Minnesota:

Ah, he’s talking about Iran. My mistake. Yes, but you know what? It doesn’t matter, because President Trump is nothing if not consistent in his beliefs and ironclad in his principles. And I know that his police force will treat Americans with that same empathy and restraint when they — ah, [bleep], you know where this is going.

Yes, we do know where it’s going, Jordan. Which is why anyone with a brain tuned out “The Daily Show” a long time ago.

Spin doctors

Scrap the musical guest … we got Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in studio!

Late-night TV is getting out of the music business, laments the Hollywood Reporter. First “The Late Show” cut back on its musical guests. Then “Late Night with Seth Meyers” jettisoned its house band to cut costs.

Now even a shrinking “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is reducing the number of live musical interludes between spoon-feedings of propaganda.

The article laments a great opportunity for emerging bands to make a name for themselves — even if the spots don’t move the needle like they used to.

The bigger message is clear. It’s belt-tightening time with Team Kimmel, and the show’s fans would rather watch Democrats blather than enjoy a cool, new band cracking the zeitgeist.

Oh well. Maybe Senator Pocahontas can lead a drum circle.

​Showbiz, Entertainment, Culture, Opera, Carmen, Only fans, Daily show, Donald trump, Ice, Toto recall 

The criminal case against Brian Jerome Cole Jr. for the alleged January 2021 placement of two pipe bombs on Capitol Hill raises more questions than it answers about Cole’s movements that night and why the FBI appears not to have addressed notable actions in its case documents, as well as the strange behavior of Capitol Police investigators that immediately followed.

The government alleges that Cole, 30 — who the defense says is an autistic man with obsessive compulsive disorder — was a lone wolf who somehow evaded the FBI’s massive dragnet for nearly five years. Blaze News examined the charges against Cole to see if his arrest fits with the case history and facts already in the public square. The list of conflicts, problems, and questions is extensive. This is Part 1.

‘I’m pretty confident that we’re closing in on some suspects.’

The defense disclosure that Cole suffers from Level 1 autism spectrum disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder recast the prosecution’s case and called into question the FBI’s four-hour interview of Cole on Dec. 4 and his alleged “detailed confession” without an attorney present.

“I know that the government has come out and claimed that Mr. Cole has made confessions,” defense attorney Mario Williams said in an interview with WTTG. “Not true. … That interview, we do not consider a confession at all,” Williams said. While Williams asserted his client’s innocence, he declined to comment on whether his client is the hoodie-wearing person depicted in the footage of the bomber.

On Jan. 9, Cole pleaded not guilty to two felony charges in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.: transportation of explosives and malicious attempt to use explosives. His defense has pointed out that the five-year statute of limitations on the charge for transporting explosives expired a day before a federal grand jury handed up the two-count indictment. The status of that charge is not clear.

Disbelief and muted praise

Cole’s arrest was greeted by skepticism and disbelief by the Cole family, by an FBI whistleblower who worked on the pipe-bombs case, and by officials inside the FBI, U.S. Department of Justice, and White House, who all spoke privately to Blaze News. Cole’s grandmother, Loretta R. Cole Donnette, told a reporter that her grandson operates on the mental level of a 16-year-old.

While FBI Director Kash Patel went out of his way to credit then-Deputy Director Dan Bongino for assembling a new FBI team that solved the pipe-bomb case using only the evidence and tips the bureau had already compiled, the White House remained silent. Even the FBI’s initial self-congratulations have been muted since the initial press conference.

After Bongino left the FBI in early 2026 to return to his podcasting career, Patel’s farewell comments failed to mention his most high-profile success.

“Dan heads back to the private sector after helping orchestrate a record year for the FBI,” Patel wrote on X on Jan. 4. The director cited eight examples, from the U.S. murder rate to Operation Summer Heat, but nary a mention of the pipe bombs.

This stands in contrast with the attention the two brought to the case in the months leading up to the arrest and in its immediate aftermath. In May, Bongino listed the Jan. 6 pipe bombs as one of the top three cases he and Patel planned to focus on. “We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention to these cases,” Bongino wrote on X May 25.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino (L), accompanied by Attorney GeneralPam Bondi (C) and FBI Director Kash Patel (R), speaks during a news conference on an arrest of a suspect in the January 6 pipe-bomb case at the Department of Justice on December 4, 2025.Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Bongino said in May 2025 that the FBI had been working anew on the pipe-bombs case ever since Patel was sworn in as the ninth director the previous February. He told Fox News: “The second we got in, I put a team on it and I said, ‘I want answers on this.’ And I’m pretty confident that we’re closing in on some suspects.”

It’s not clear what became of any other suspects — plural — Bongino mentioned this past spring, as there was no further word about the case for more than five months, and the FBI now alleges Cole acted alone.

Two months later, in July, Bongino garnered more than 20 million views with a single post on X, writing that he was “shocked” by the things he had learned about the FBI during his brief tenure. He made the remarks in the context of a pledge that he and Patel were “committed to stamping out public corruption and the political weaponization of both law enforcement and intelligence operations” and later told radio host Vince Coglianese they were specifically in reference to anti-Trump corruption he uncovered investigating the Obama FBI’s 2016 Crossfire Hurricane counterintelligence operation that alleged Russian interference in the election.

“It is a priority for us. But what I have learned in the course of our properly predicated and necessary investigations into these aforementioned matters, has shocked me down to my core,” he wrote on X. “We cannot run a Republic like this. I’ll never be the same after learning what I’ve learned.”

A rough start for the DOJ

The prosecution got a sloppy start during Cole’s initial court appearance on Dec. 5.

Despite having placed so much importance on the years-long investigation, the Department of Justice did not have an indictment of Cole when he was arrested — only a criminal complaint.

A magistrate judge set Dec. 15 for a detention hearing but did not establish a date for arraignment, where Cole would have an opportunity to enter pleas to the charges. The detention hearing was later moved to Dec. 30 by joint agreement.

Cole’s right to a speedy trial meant federal prosecutors had until Dec. 19 to obtain a federal indictment or face an adversarial preliminary probable-cause hearing, where the government would have had to present its evidence to the judge showing that Cole is likely guilty of the charges and defense attorneys could question the case against their client.

While Cole agreed to delay the detention hearing until Dec. 30, he refused to waive his right to a preliminary hearing within the 14-day window his speedy-trial rights demand, his attorneys said in court filings.

FBI, Prince William County Police Department

The DOJ did a bit of an end run on Dec. 29 by obtaining an indictment of Cole in the local D.C. Superior Court. It is not a standard practice for federal courts to accept indictments from the local or municipal-level D.C. court. A test case on that question is currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, though a decision on that case is unlikely in time to affect the Cole case.

While the DOJ finally went back to the district court to get a federal grand jury indictment of Cole on Jan. 6, the statute of limitations on one of the charges had expired — by a single day. Now, Cole’s attorneys are arguing that the DOJ missed both the window for that charge and the deadline for a speedy trial.

After a magistrate judge ruled that Cole must remain locked up until trial, defense lawyers filed an emergency motion for review of the decision with U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, who was assigned to the pipe-bombs case.

Cole’s “emergency motion seeks release because the government failed to follow the law, and it does not get to detain Mr. Cole now because the magistrate judge failed to properly release him on Dec. 30,” attorney J. Alex Little wrote in a motion supporting his client’s release.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has worked tirelessly to solve the pipe-bombs case, decried the DOJ’s ongoing efforts to keep Cole in jail until trial.

“No credible motive, presents danger to no one, flimsy evidence, no priors, willing to wear a tracker under house arrest, family will vouch, and DOJ botched the legal work,” Massie wrote on X the day before Cole’s Jan. 7 detention hearing. “Irreparable harm to him otherwise.”

Independent case discoveries

Blaze News outlined shocking case discoveries on Oct. 9 in a feature story on the work of an independent investigator who goes by the social media handle “Armitas” and has asked not to be otherwise named publicly for security reasons.

Armitas tracked the hoodie-wearing bomb suspect by scrubbing the feeds of dozens of U.S. Capitol Police CCTV security cameras. He discovered that the suspect visited two locations apart from where the bombs were found on Jan. 6, 2021.

At the first, the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, the suspect sat down cross-legged in front of a bush on the north side of the building. The suspect leaned into the bush and appeared to attempt to place something under the shrub around 7:47 p.m. After 77 seconds, the suspect got up, grabbed the suspect’s backpack, and walked off toward the DNC a few hundred feet away.

The bomber also visited a C Street rooming house near the Capitol Hill Club at about 8:15 p.m. Security video shows the suspect visited the front garden of a congressional rooming house known as the C Street Center, 133 C St. Southeast.

Photos by U.S. Capitol Police

The suspect was standing behind some bushes when a Capitol Police squad car pulled over directly across the street about 8:15 p.m. The suspect then walked south on Rumsey Court and, according to the FBI, placed a bomb along the rear wall of the Capitol Hill Club.

The FBI has never publicly addressed the two Capitol Police squad cars parked across the street from the pipe bomber just as the suspect was moving into place to drop the second pipe bomb. It is not known whether the two patrol officers were ever identified or interviewed.

Armitas said he presented the information about the possible other bomb-drop locations to the FBI and the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Remaining Questions Surrounding Jan. 6. The FBI has not publicly acknowledged the information or explained whether it has investigated the possibility that the bombs were originally intended to be placed and explode at other sites.

Williams said the defense has an expert prepared to testify that the pipe bombs were not explosives and could not have detonated.

“We have an expert that’s well recognized, and we have an expert report,” he said. “Now, these devices that are alleged to be explosive and this or that by the government, what’s the key point that you need to focus on? [They] were not viable, by their [the government’s] own data.”

Either a ‘device’ or a hoax

The first responders to the discovery of the Capitol Hill Club/RNC device had serious doubts that the contraption was a real bomb. This included the head of RNC security and then-Capitol Police Officer Michael Riley, who exchanged looks of disbelief but had no choice but to treat the device as real, Riley told Blaze News.

The devices had 60-minute kitchen timers attached, but were ostensibly placed 17 hours before they were found. Under questioning by Massie in June 2023, former FBI Assistant Director Stephen M. D’Antuono said it was not technically possible for a device with a 60-minute timer to detonate 17 hours later.

The House Subcommittee on Oversight also took issue with the FBI’s description of the pipe bombs as “viable.”

‘By the way, they didn’t go look for a third pipe bomb.’

“According to an FBI bomb technician who agreed to speak to committee staff on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, the FBI’s use of the term ‘viable’ is a deviation from the standard description used by bomb technicians,” read a January 2025 Subcommittee on Oversight report.

“Traditionally, bomb technicians deliberately avoid using vague language,” the report continued, “choosing instead to refer to a bomb as a ‘device’ if it would ‘function as designed,’ or as a ‘hoax.’”

Did Cole set the bomb timer for 60 minutes?

According to the FBI, Cole told agents he set the kitchen timer on the DNC bomb for 60 minutes before he placed the device near a park bench behind the building. However, the video released by the FBI doesn’t show the suspect even attempting to set the timer before placing it under the DNC bush.

Armitas said the surveillance video released by the FBI from a DNC security camera shows that the bomber took the device out of a backpack and immediately placed it under the bush near the base of the park bench. Setting the timer would have required two hands. “Video from 2 different angles shows that the timer was never set,” Armitas wrote on X.

“This device requires 2 full turns of the dial to set it,” Armitas wrote, “not to mention you have to unclip and re-clip all the alligator clips, otherwise turning the dial will close the switch across those clips, shorting the detonator — kaboom. As we can see in the video, the device is pulled out of the backpack and immediately placed.”

Counter-surveillance behavior

One of the two-man Capitol Police counter-surveillance teams dispatched after discovery of the Capitol Hill Club bomb on Jan. 6 exhibited odd behavior in their search for other devices.

The counter-surveillance agents chose to walk all the way from the Capitol South Metro Station near the RNC, despite the urgency of the search. Capitol Police CCTV footage did not show them conducting any searches along the way.

They walked along South Capitol Street Southeast, not stopping at the park bench where the FBI has since insisted the device sat for 17 hours, and proceeded to the north side of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute building a few hundred feet from the DNC.

Two U.S. Capitol Police counter-surveillance officers walk toward the Democratic National Committee on Jan. 6, 2021. One of the officers would discover a pipe bomb under a park bench behind the DNC. U.S. Capitol Police

The agents walked up a sidewalk to the front of the CBCI building before returning. One of the agents stopped, leaned down, and looked under a bush beside the sidewalk. It was the same bush where security video shows the alleged bomber stood and sat for 77 seconds the night before, appearing to attempt placement of something under the shrub. What did the agent see? Was it the same thing noticed by a construction worker who peered under the bush at 1:00 p.m., just minutes before?

The CBCI shrub and the bomber’s visit were unknown to police at midday on Jan. 6, and the counter-surveillance agents had not yet discovered the DNC device. Why did the bush draw their attention? How could they have known the shrub could be an important part of the forthcoming investigation?

51 of them ‘were identified as “not needing further action” because the phones “belonged to law enforcement officers or persons on the exclusion list.”‘

The appearance of the bomb suspect at the CBCI bush was not even mentioned in an Oct. 22 video update from the FBI. The animated map shown in the FBI video does not show the bomber walking down a sidewalk north of the CBCI building and spending 77 seconds standing and sitting in front of the shrub.

Once the counter-surveillance agents found a device in the bushes at the DNC, it appears that they stopped searching for other bombs, even though the risk should have been heightened by discovery of a second bomb within just 25 minutes of the first. They later could not account for this when questioned by Rep. Massie.

“How did they know exactly where to look, including the place [Congressional Black Caucus Institute bush] where the pipe bomber tried to place a bomb?” Massie asked. “It was police, it was Capitol Hill Police that found these bombs, and they got there. But … I hope they went and bought lottery tickets after finding these, after going to these two locations.

Bomb orientation different on J6 than night before?

According to Armitas, the hoodie-wearing bomb suspect placed the DNC pipe bomb under the bench with the kitchen timer facing out toward the sidewalk. But when the bomb was discovered by a Capitol Police counter-surveillance agent at 1:05 p.m. Jan. 6, the device’s orientation was 180 degrees different, with the timer facing under the bush and the long end of the pipe facing toward the sidewalk. That could indicate that the bomb was removed after being placed on Jan. 5 and re-placed shortly before its discovery on Jan. 6.

Corrupted cellular data?

In testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary in 2023, the former head of the FBI’s Washington Field Office said some of the data turned over by cell carriers was “corrupted” and that “the corrupted data may have contained the identity of the suspect,” according to a January 2025 U.S. House report.

“We have complete data,” former FBI Assistant Director D’Antuono told a Judiciary committee in June 2023, before correcting himself. “Not complete, because there’s some data that was corrupted by one of the providers. Not purposely by them, right. It just — unusual circumstances that we have corrupt data from one of the providers.”

In later correspondence with the Judiciary Committee, representatives for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile said they did not supply corrupted data and that the FBI never notified them with concerns about the integrity of the information they supplied.

The Subcommittee on Oversight said in its January 2025 report that the FBI “has refused to comply with multiple requests from the subcommittee regarding this claim.”

Of the 186 phone numbers of interest identified by the FBI, 51 of them “were identified as ‘not needing further action’ because the phones ‘belonged to law enforcement officers or persons on the exclusion list,’” according to the January 2025 U.S. House report. The names associated with those 51 protected numbers have not been made public.

FBI identified possible suspect using AdID

Case agents developed eight potential targets from subpoenas issued to 10 AdTech companies, which use anonymized trackers to help target advertising to customer prospects. The information collected by AdTech includes “the websites a user visited, their internet activity and a user’s location,” a 2025 House report stated.

Unlike the vague location information from cell phone tower pings, AdTech uses GPS technology to pinpoint a user’s exact location in order to tailor advertising based on the user’s location. Anyone with online-purchasing apps, maps, or applications like DoorDash and Uber Eats can be tracked using AdID technology.

‘The user associated with this AdTech ID was a significant lead.’

According to AdTech, the company’s software tools allow advertisers to reach qualified customer prospects, control how and where advertisements are shown, and optimize advertising spending “in real time.”

The FBI Counterterrorism Advanced Projects Unit initially identified three potential AdID targets, but “none of these targets were ‘particularly high-confidence candidates,’” the 2025 House report stated. By March 2021, the FBI identified one AdID “whose movements matched the suspect’s movements as outlined by the video the FBI released tracking the suspect’s whereabouts.”

The pipe-bombs case team requested that the FBI’s Special Operations Group conduct surveillance on the person of interest tied to the AdID. The House reports called this a “significant lead.”

“It ultimately remains unclear what happened to this lead; however the allocation of resources for surveillance purposes suggests the user associated with this AdTech ID was a significant lead,” the report said.

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​Politics 

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) blasted California officials this week for refusing to extradite a doctor facing abortion charges.

Murrill said that it was “appalling” to see Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) “openly admitting that they will protect an individual from being held accountable for illegal, medically unethical, and dangerous conduct that led to a woman being coerced into terminating the life of her unborn child.”

Remy Coeytaux was charged on Jan. 8 in St. Tammany Parish with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 50 years of hard labor.

‘The trauma of my chemical abortion still haunts me.’

Murrill announced on Tuesday — several months after indicating that she would “pursue anyone and use any legal means available” to hold accountable those who distribute abortion pills in the Bayou State — that a criminal arrest warrant had been signed for Coeytaux and his name had been entered into the National Crime Information Center.

Roughly an hour later, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry indicated that he was “signing the extradition paperwork to bring this California doctor to justice.”

“Louisiana has a zero tolerance policy for those who subvert our laws, seek to hurt women, and promote abortion,” said Landry. “I know Gavin Newsom supports abortion in all its forms, but that doesn’t work in Louisiana. We are unapologetically pro-life.”

RELATED: Pro-abortion doctor gets dismantled by Hawley on men and pregnancy: ‘I don’t know how we can take you seriously’

Shuran Huang for the Washington Post via Getty Images

Newsom said in response that “Louisiana’s request is denied.”

“We will not allow extremist politicians from other states to reach into California and try to punish doctors based on allegations that they provided reproductive health care services. Not today. Not ever,” said Newsom. “We will never be complicit with Trump’s war on women.”

Newsom suggested that this frustration of Louisiana justice was consistent with his 2022 executive order directing California to decline extradition requests for doctors accused of providing or facilitating abortions.

Nancy Northup, the president and chief executive of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Coeytaux in a separate civil case, told the New York Times that the allegations “are unproven and should not be reported as fact.”

“Women should also be able to get safe and legal abortion care in their own state,” added Northup. “Thousands of women seek abortion pills via mail every year because abortion is banned in their state, and that will not change until abortion is legal everywhere.”

While characterized as safe, abortion pills not only kill unborn children but endanger women’s lives. The Ethics and Public Policy Center noted in a report last year that over 10% of women “experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion.”

Coeytaux is accused in a federal lawsuit of sending abortion pills to a Louisiana woman in 2023 — a woman who has indicated she was pressured to take the drugs and is now “haunt[ed]” by her chemical abortion.

Rosalie Markezich, the recipient of the drug and now suffering from the fallout of the abortion, claimed in a September court filing that despite initially celebrating her pregnancy, her boyfriend “soon changed his mind,” then used her personal email address and mailing address to obtain mifepristone and misoprostol “from an online provider that his sister has used multiple times before.”

A few days after allegedly forwarding to Coeytaux the $150 her boyfriend sent her, Markezich received the drugs by mail.

According to her declaration, Markezich changed her mind about killing her child, but her boyfriend, who “had anger issues and a criminal record,” allegedly coerced her into taking them — and she proved unable to throw them back up.

“The trauma of my chemical abortion still haunts me,” said Markezich.

Coeytaux is also named in a civil complaint filed in July with the federal court for the Southern District of Texas. The Texas complaint alleges that a woman, Kendal Garza, was pressured by her estranged husband to use abortion drugs allegedly obtained from Coeytaux “to murder” Garza’s unborn child by another man.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) ordered Coeytaux on Aug. 14 to cease and desist from mailing abortion drugs into the state of Texas and indicated such conduct not only violates Texas state law but the federal Comstock Act of 1873, which prohibits the mailing of abortion-related drugs.

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​Abortion, Gavin newsom, Mifepristone, Abortionists, Gavin, Newsom, California, Louisiana, Murrill, Rob bonta, Abortion pill, Interstate, Politics 

Courts can block executive action, so Congress must cut funding. Yet Republicans refuse, leaving the Justice Department and FBI with the same tools Democrats will use again.

That gap between rhetoric and action now threatens to erase everything President Trump promised. In March 2023, he vowed, “For those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,” and pledged to “obliterate the deep state” and fire the bureaucrats who turned federal law enforcement into a political weapon. Those words land with force. Appropriations decide whether they mean anything.

Trump’s ‘retribution’ pledge will collapse into another campaign slogan if Republicans keep funding the same Department of Justice and FBI they claim to oppose.

But if Trump relies on executive action alone, courts will block key moves and the next Democrat in the White House will reverse the rest. Only structural reforms written into law can stop the next round of weaponization.

That reality hits hardest at the Department of Justice and the FBI. A Congress that keeps funding these agencies under the Biden-era architecture keeps the weaponization machine intact.

Yet Republicans just pushed through a Justice funding bill that drew more Democrat support than conservative support.

That vote captures the GOP Congress since 2017. Leadership passes budget bills with less resistance from Democrats than from Republicans. Spending is the battlefield. Everything else fades fast. If your own side opposes your funding bills more than the other side, you are not changing the country. You are managing the status quo.

Here’s the brutal truth: Congress has not structurally defanged the Justice Department’s weaponization or taken a sledgehammer to the FBI’s open-ended mandate. The same deep-state actors who drove January 6 abuses, FACE Act prosecutions of pro-life activists, and FBI operations like Arctic Frost still collect paychecks.

Republicans had one last chance to shrink this machinery before Democrats likely regain the House. The final Justice Department appropriations bill should have cut off funding for the most abusive programs and permanently reduced the department’s ability to target Americans. Instead, Republicans passed a status quo bill that effectively codifies Biden’s DOJ.

The vote breakdown exposes the scam. All but six House Democrats supported the minibus package that included full-year DOJ funding. Meanwhile, 22 House conservatives opposed it.

The package included three appropriations bills: Commerce-Justice-Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment. Freedom Caucus pressure forced leadership to hold a separate vote on the Commerce-Justice-Science portion first, and even then, it drew 40 Republican “no” votes. Leadership tried to quiet the revolt by swapping out a $1 million earmark for a Somali-led nonprofit after a welfare fraud scandal in that state. That move changed nothing about the bill’s core failures.

RELATED: The ‘blue-slip block’ is GOP cowardice masquerading as tradition

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Democrats voted for this bill despite calling Trump a dictator because the bill left the regime’s tools in place. On the issues that matter most, it stayed silent.

It did not:

Bar funding for future January 6 prosecutions.Bar funding for FACE Act prosecutions of pro-life activists.Address the FBI’s Arctic Frost overreach.Defund sanctuary cities, even though sanctuary policies endanger federal agents and courts have repeatedly blocked Trump’s efforts to punish them. If Congress refuses to codify enforcement policy, courts will keep neutralizing it.Cut off grants to NGOs that help illegal aliens evade deportation. Other appropriations bills even fund refugee resettlement contractors.End incentives for blue states to implement red-flag laws. The bill keeps the $740 million slush fund that bribes states to expand them. It also fails to defund Biden’s pistol brace ban, the “engaged in the business” rule, and the Justice Department’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention.Fund an Election Integrity Office to implement Trump’s executive order on election integrity, even while the bill keeps money flowing to offices that persecute Americans.Rein in the Office of Inspector General, which receives $139 million despite lacking an appointed inspector general and operating under an acting career bureaucrat.

The FBI budget barely took a haircut from its record Biden-era levels. Keep the scale in mind: The bureau has more than 35,000 employees, yet only 138 have been fired so far.

Republicans also promised fiscal discipline. This minibus package totals roughly $180 billion and rejects steeper cuts conservatives proposed in committee. It includes nearly $5.6 billion in earmarks for 3,030 projects. Leadership found room for parochial spending while refusing to squeeze the agencies that turned federal power against the public.

Congress holds one real lever to change the regime without begging courts for permission: the power of the purse. If Republicans won’t pass transformative legislation, they must at least defund odious policies through appropriations.

Trump’s “retribution” pledge will collapse into another campaign slogan if Republicans keep funding the same Department of Justice and FBI they claim to oppose. When Democrats vote happily to fund the very departments that targeted Americans under Biden, the conclusion writes itself. Washington will not dismantle the machine. It will keep it humming until Democrats take power again and aim it at us with even fewer restraints.

​Opinion & analysis, Justice department, Fbi, Weaponized justice, Weaponization, Congress, Senate republicans, Joe biden, Retribution, Budget, Minibus, Arctic frost, Face act, Abortion, Sanctuary cities