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The drama surrounding the New York City mayoral race continues after radical Democratic Socialist Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani came from behind to win the Democratic primary last month.

Just a few weeks ago, Mamdani overcame long odds to win the primary, trouncing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a legacy Democrat with almost universal name recognition, by 12 points. Cuomo conceded defeat on election night, admitting, “Tonight was not our night. Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night.”

Spokesman Rich Azzopardi believes that Cuomo still has the best odds of defeating Mamdani.

It appears that Cuomo is down but not out. On Monday, Cuomo announced that he will remain in the race as an independent. He claimed to be “in it to win it” and slammed Mamdani for offering “slick slogans but no real solutions.”

Cuomo is not the only high-profile Democrat running as an independent. Current Mayor Eric Adams, elected in 2021 as a Democrat, is trying to keep his job as an independent.

Former federal prosecutor Jim Walden is likewise running as an independent.

RELATED: Glenn Beck: Mamdani victory is ‘NOT A FLUKE’ — he’s Democrats’ 2028 vision for America

Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images

With Curtis Sliwa running as a Republican, the field is crowded — a dynamic that strongly favors Mamdani. According to a Data for Progress poll conducted from July 1 to July 6, Mamdani holds a commanding lead among likely NYC voters, with 40% planning to pull the lever for him. Cuomo finished a distant second with just 24%. Adams and Sliwa were neck and neck for third at 15% and 14%, respectively, while Walden managed just 1%.

Spokesman Rich Azzopardi believes that Cuomo still has the best odds of defeating Mamdani, according to the New York Post.

Cuomo also reportedly has a plan to unify support against Mamdani down the stretch.

According to NewsNation, Cuomo is expected to pledge to drop out of the race in mid-September if he is not in the lead. He is also expected to call on Adams, Sliwa, and Walden to promise to do the same if they remain behind.

RELATED: Exclusive: Vance on Mamdani: ‘Who the hell does he think that he is?’

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Adams seemed to dismiss Cuomo’s reported plan to defeat Mamdani. “This kind of political double-dealing is exactly why so many New Yorkers have lost trust in [Cuomo],” Adams’ campaign said in a press release, the Post reported.

“The people spoke loudly — he lost,” the statement continued, referring to Cuomo’s primary defeat. “Yet he continues to put himself over the number-one goal — beating Mamdani and securing our city’s future.”

Adams’ campaign also described Mamdani as an “inexperienced opponent” who nevertheless poses a “serious threat.”

During the Bolivian Day Parade in Queens on Sunday, Adams also noted that, unlike Cuomo, he “didn’t lose” to Mamdani — or anyone else — in the Democratic primary, the Post reported. Of course, Adams couldn’t have lost because he didn’t participate in the primary, though whether he mentioned that fact to the media on Sunday is unclear.

When asked whether he would consider dropping out to help Cuomo, Adams, who until recently faced federal indictment, replied with bewilderment, “Are you kidding me?”

‘Putting New York’s best interests over our personal ambitions is critical at this moment.’

Sliwa also said he has no plans to drop out. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m in it until Nov. 4,” he said Sunday.

“I’m the only candidate with a major party nomination, a 50-year record of serving New Yorkers, and a real path to victory,” Sliwa later told NewsNation. “While they play musical chairs on a sinking ship, I’m out campaigning in NYC, listening, leading, and fighting to win it for the people. Let the voters decide this November.”

Walden, however, seems the most amenable to Cuomo’s reported idea. In fact, he indicated that he was the one who first suggested it. “I am glad Andrew has agreed to adopt my pledge,” Walden said in a statement to NewsNation. “I hope Eric and Curtis sign on as well. Putting New York’s best interests over our personal ambitions is critical at this moment.”

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​Andrew cuomo, Eric adams, Zohran mamdani, Socialist, Curtis sliwa, New york city, Nyc, Nyc mayor, Independent, Democrats, Politics 

The attacks against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by radical leftists have become an epidemic. The Department of Homeland Security recently reported that violence against ICE officers and federal agents has skyrocketed nearly 700% since this time last year.

The rhetoric of Democrat officials is largely to blame, Pat Gray says. They are pouring fuel on the fire.

“The Democrats, these loudmouth insiders, are accessories to attempted murder at this point,” says Pat Gray, BlazeTV host of “Pat Gray Unleashed.” “They’re inciting all of this.”

And some of them are even going so far as to join in the action.

Pat plays helicopter footage from July 7 of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) confronting federal agents during a large-scale ICE operation at MacArthur Park and demanding that they leave immediately.

The camera zooms in to a tangle of people near a line of several ICE and other military vehicles. Bass, wearing a blue suit, can be seen surrounded by reporters and ICE agents. She speaks on a phone to someone she refers to as “the head of Customs.” The ICE agent nearest her suddenly says, “We’re departing.”

The operation ended with no arrests made — even though the targeted area was crime-infested.

When asked if she had a comment, Bass said, “My comment is they need to leave, and they need to leave right now. They need to leave because this is unacceptable.”

“Have we ever seen local officials like a mayor interfering with federal agents before?” asks Pat in disbelief.

“She needed to be the one that was hauled away there,” says co-host Keith Malinak.

And he isn’t being hyperbolic. The panel agrees that obstruction of justice such as that demonstrated by Mayor Karen Bass demands legal consequences.

To see the footage of Bass in action, watch the video above.

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Pat gray unleashed, Pat gray, Karen bass, Ice, Anti ice, Anti ice protests, Obstruction of justice, Blazetv, Blaze media, Los angeles, Ice raids 

Detransitioner Chloe Cole was just a child when she first stumbled on transgender individuals on social media — and it completely altered the course of her life.

“I was about 12 years old when I first started encountering the transgender community, just like in the wild on social media,” Cole tells BlazeTV host Nicole Shanahan on “Back to the People.” “They reminded me so much of myself in so many different ways.”

These individuals, Cole says, were artistic, creative, and were often called tomboys or effeminate boys growing up.

“They seemed to find this sense of happiness and wholeness. And they seemed to shine even brighter as they talked about discovering their identity and finding affirmation and cutting their hair short and dressing more like the opposite sex,” she explains.

“And eventually many of them went on to undergo different medical procedures like the hormones or the surgeries,” she continues, admitting that she herself had gone on a drug called Lupron, which is often used as a cancer drug.

It’s also been used as a chemical castration agent for sex offenders.

“A lot of facilities have stopped using this drug to castrate these sex offenders because its been deemed too cruel for use in that population, which is very interesting because we’re using it on perfectly healthy children, like me,” Cole says.

Cole then went on testosterone, and at only 15 years old, she had an elective double mastectomy to surgically remove her breasts.

“And this was not just any cancer-related mastectomy. It’s a modified version of that which is even more invasive. It removes different parts of the tissue, and they don’t care as much about reducing scarring. So you often see patients who have big, massive scars,” she tells Shanahan.

Cole explains she was so certain that she was a male because of the theory of “brains being sexed.”

“There was this idea at the time, while I was in the community, that there is a biological basis to being transgender. And some people have brain patterns that are more like the opposite sex. This has been disproven since,” Cole says.

Once she believed that she was biologically a man, she became convinced that the discomfort she felt in her growing body had nothing to do with puberty and everything to do with being a man in a woman’s body.

“That is so awful that they were telling young people that their brains were in the wrong body,” Shanahan says, shocked. “That just is such a slap in the face for every hardheaded, stubborn, hardworking, competitive woman.”

Want more from Nicole Shanahan?

To enjoy more of Nicole’s compelling blend of empathy, curiosity, and enlightenment, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Video phone, Sharing, Video, Free, Upload, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Back to the people podcast, Back to the people, Back to the people with nicole shanahan, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Chloe cole, Detransitioner, Transgender ideology, Lgbtq agenda, Transgender brainwashing, Trans children, Transgender community 

After crushing his female opponents and even winning a girls’ state softball championship, a transgender athlete’s time at the top may be over.

Charlie Rothenberger, who now goes by “Marissa,” is a 6′ male athlete who dominated females in their sport for the better part of two years.

‘I never thought he was a boy.’

Rothenberger plays for Champlin Park High School in Champlin, Minnesota, and is a starting pitcher for the school’s girls’ fast-pitch team.

Earlier this year, Rothenberger dominated the state tournament and pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout in the final to win the state championship. The pitcher won all-tournament honors, but as of last week, those accolades may be coming to an end.

Rothenberger finished the season with a 12-1 record from the mound, with a staggering 0.74 earned runs average and a 0.65 WHIP, which refers to walks and hits given up per inning. This means Rothenberger allowed less than one run per game on average and allowed less than one runner on base per inning, on average.

Despite the impressive numbers, Rothenberger was snubbed by state athletic officials and has been left off the list of the 2025 All-State players, according to Fox News.

After making the prestigious list in 2024, the Minnesota Fastpitch Coaches Association decided to omit the transgender player in 2025, possibly in response to federal lawsuits and backlash the state has received for allowing boys to play in girls’ sports.

RELATED: Transgender state rep defends boys playing in girls’ sports — immediately gets proven wrong by male athlete

The association told Fox News that selections are determined through a vote of member coaches after an athlete is nominated by his or her coach.

“The sports associations of the MSHSCA each conduct their own process for selecting athletes for recognition and awards. The methods vary from one sports association to another. However, most sports associations start with a nomination process. The final selections are usually determined by a vote of association members or made by a selection committee,” a statement to Fox News said.

The Minnesota State High School League, which governs state sports, has been under federal investigation for possible Title IX violations since February. The investigation into the possible violations has since been escalated by the Department of Education.

In June, a group of female athletes filed a lawsuit against the state of Minnesota, claiming they were forced to play against males.

RELATED: Boy who had birth certificate changed to ‘female’ now dominating girls’ softball

In May, an anonymous female softball player from Minnesota spoke to Reduxx and claimed that she played on the same team as Rothenberger in 2023. The girl said she felt foolish for not realizing Rothenberger’s real gender.

“I never thought he was a boy, but after finding out he was a boy and then looking back on a lot of things I wouldn’t have looked at before, [it] definitely shows he is a boy, and I felt dumb for missing the clues,” the girl recalled.

Rothenberger dominated girls in 2024, as well. With an ERA of just 0.40, he easily landed First Team All-State honors. While 2024 was a better season for the athlete, it is hard to imagine his 2025 numbers were not good enough to be included on this year’s list — especially after winning state — unless politics were involved.

As Blaze News previously reported, Rothenberger’s mother allegedly altered his birth certificate just after he turned 9 years old. Under state law, most changes to birth certificates in Minnesota require labels indicating that information has been changed, but if a person acquires a court order to replace the birth record, “the original record will be sealed,” the state notes on its website

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​Fearless, Women’s sports, Transgenderism, Softball, Minnesota, Title ix, Sports 

Tom Homan did not hold back when he was interrupted by a heckler trying to shout him down during his speech at the Turning Point USA conference in Florida Saturday.

Homan was defending the mass deportation policies of the Trump administration when someone in the audience tried to accuse him of being a criminal gang member.

‘This guy ain’t got the balls to be an ICE officer! He hasn’t got the balls to be a Border Patrol agent!’

“Are you an MS-13 member?” the protester yelled.

Homan calmed down the Tampa audience before responding.

“I got a question for you,” said Homan. “Why don’t you come up here and hand me that picture?”

The audience went wild with applause for Homan.

“Bring it! Bring it!” he yelled before leading the crowd in a chant of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”

“They got morons like this all over the country! This guy wouldn’t know what it’s like to serve this nation,” Homan continued. “This guy ain’t got the balls to be an ICE officer! He hasn’t got the balls to be a Border Patrol agent!”

The audience roared with support.

“This guy lives in his mother’s basement! The only thing that surprises me? You don’t have purple hair and a nose ring,” Homan added. “Get out of here, you loser!”

The protester reportedly had an image of Homan with “MS-13” photoshopped onto his knuckles, a reference to a similar image touted by President Trump against El Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

“And you’re such a badass, meet me offstage in 13 minutes and 50 seconds!” Homan added, laughing. “I guarantee you, he sits down to pee! Guaranteed!”

The White House’s rapid response team posted video of Homan’s slap-down on social media.

RELATED: Tom Homan asks Justice Dept. to investigate Ocasio-Cortez for advising illegal aliens on how to evade ICE

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Reality television stars Chip and Joanna Gaines are facing a public relations crisis after many fans reacted negatively to the featuring of an LGBTQ couple on their newest show.

The evangelical couple are promoting “Back to the Frontier,” a reality television show from their Magnolia Network to be aired on HBO Max, but the show has already been clouded with controversy.

‘Heartbreaking to watch Chip and Joanna Gaines trade the cross of Christ for an LGBT rainbow flag.’

Among the show’s participants are Jason and Joe Hanna-Riggs, a same-sex couple from Texas with two children. The show challenges families to live as the pioneers lived in frontier times.

Evangelist Franklin Graham conveyed his disappointment with the incident on social media.

I hope this isn’t true, but I read today that Chip and Joanna Gaines are featuring a gay couple in their new series. If It is true, it is very disappointing. While we are to love people, we should love them enough to tell them the truth of God’s Word. His Word is absolute truth. God loves us, and His design for marriage is between one man and one woman. Promoting something that God defines as sin is in itself sin.

In 2020, a number of venues in Europe canceled Graham’s evangelical speaking events over his affirmations of biblical teaching on same-sex relationships.

American Family Association Vice President Ed Vitagliano also criticized the Gaines.

“This is sad and disappointing, because Chip and Joanna Gaines have been very influential in the evangelical community. Moreover, in the past, they have stood firm on the sanctity of marriage regardless of the personal cost that has entailed,” he wrote.

“We aren’t sure why the Gaines have reversed course, but we are sure of this: Back to the Frontier promotes an unbiblical view of human sexuality, marriage, and family,” Vitagliano added, “a view no Christian should embrace.”

Chip Gaines defended the inclusion of the same-sex couple in a message on social media.

“Talk, ask qustns [sic], listen.. maybe even learn. Too much to ask of modern American Christian culture. Judge 1st, understand later/never,” he wrote Sunday.

“It’s a sad sunday when ‘non believers’ have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian,” he added.

RELATED: How ‘Fixer Upper’ stars Chip and Joanna Gaines are helping an injured firefighter

Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images

That response was criticized by many Christians on social media.

“As someone who considered Chip & Joanna Gaines as my spiritual covering, I couldn’t be any more devastated,” responded pastor Jonathan Shuttlesworth.

“It’s heartbreaking to watch Chip and Joanna Gaines trade the cross of Christ for an LGBT rainbow flag. They, like many other compromisers, have decided that sin is more profitable than obedience,” replied William Wolfe of the Center for Baptist Leadership.

“It is not hate to point out sin. Quite the contrary, actually. Chip and Joanna need to go back and read Romans 1,” said another user.

Some on the left also used the occasion to criticize Christians.

“The backlash against Chip and Joanna Gaines proves yet again that the hardest thing for christians to do is actually behave like Christ,” responded actor Jody Dean.

However, in 2021, the Gaineses were hit with criticism from the left when they donated money to a local school board candidate who had spoken out against critical race theory. She also was Chip Gaines’ sister.

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​Chip and joanna gaines, Gaines lgbtq scandal, Evangalicals vs lgbtq, Franklin graham vs lgbtq, Politics 

President Donald Trump is becoming increasingly fed up with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and he’s not afraid to show it.

On Monday, Trump threatened President Vladimir Putin of Russia with 100% tariffs if he continues to engage and drag out the conflict. Trump, who campaigned on peace through strength, said the drastic tariffs would go into effect within 50 days if Putin fails to finalize a peace deal with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

‘We’re very, very unhappy with them.’

“We want to see it end,” Trump said in the Oval Office Monday. “And I’m disappointed in President Putin because I thought we would’ve had a deal two months ago.”

“We’re very, very unhappy with them, and we’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days,” Trump said. “Tariffs at about 100%.”

RELATED: Bongino and Bondi clash over botched handling of Epstein files

Trump’s announcement comes as Russia ramps up its offensive attacks on Ukraine. In response to this aggression, Trump said the United States will continue to fortify Ukrainian defense by supplying them with American weapons and munitions.

Notably, the Department of Defense initially announced it would be pausing aid to Ukraine. This policy was in line with the administration’s more hostile attitude toward Ukraine in the earlier stages of the administration, most notably marked by the infamous Oval Office spat between Trump and Zelenskyy.

RELATED: FBI, DOJ Epstein memo sparks right-wing outrage: ‘Nobody is believing this’:

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Trump told reporters Sunday that the U.S. would be sending Ukraine “various pieces of very sophisticated military” equipment and that Europe would pay for it.

“That’s the way we want it.”

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​Donald trump, Vladimir putin, Volodymyr zelenskyy, Ukraine, Russia, Tariffs, Tariff war, Trade war, Russia-ukraine war, Oval office, Weapons and munitions, Politics 

President Donald Trump’s administration faced significant backlash from the left last week after federal authorities conducted raids on two marijuana farms in California, operations that protesters attempted to disrupt.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection obtained a criminal warrant to conduct the raids at the Carpinteria and Camarillo facilities.

‘As Secretary Noem stated, this is quickly becoming one of the largest operations since President Trump took office.’

On Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security announced additional information about its sweep, revealing the arrests of 361 illegal aliens and the rescue of at least 14 migrant children.

The children were exposed to potential exploitation, forced labor, and human trafficking, according to the DHS.

CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott stated that nearly all of the children recovered from the farms were unaccompanied, noting that one minor was as young as 14.

Glass House Farms, the farms’ owner, confirmed that federal authorities obtained valid warrants to perform their sweep. The business claimed, “Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors.”

RELATED: California marijuana farm raids recover 10 children after 300,000 unaccompanied minors vanished on Biden’s watch

Photo by BLAKE FAGAN/AFP via Getty Images

The DHS revealed the identities of some of the arrested illegal aliens, including Roman Izquierdo, a Mexican national convicted of kidnapping, attempted rape, and attempted child molestation. Izquierdo was previously sentenced to seven years in prison, and ICE deported him in 2006.

Scott stated, “This felon was working at the same farm as 10 kids — one being 14 yrs old.”

Federal agents also arrested Juan Duarte-Velasquez, a Mexican national convicted of rape and a DUI; Jose Orellana, a Salvadoran national convicted of a DUI and a hit-and-run with property damage; and Adriana Gonzalez-Gonzalez, a Mexican national convicted of burglary three times and a DUI.

The DHS reported that over “500 rioters attempted to disrupt” federal agents’ raid on the two farms, adding that the disturbance also led to four U.S. citizens being “criminally processed for assaulting or resisting officers.”

The rioters reportedly damaged vehicles, and one violent protester fired a gun at officers. That protester remains at large, and the FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the individual’s arrest.

One worker at the Camarillo farm passed away on Friday after he fell from a greenhouse during the raid.

The DHS stated, “This man was not in and has not been in CBP or ICE custody. Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a green house and fell 30 feet.”

RELATED: Video shows protester apparently shooting at federal agents during immigration operation at California farm

Photo by BLAKE FAGAN/AFP via Getty Images

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, “At the California marijuana facilities, ICE and CBP law enforcement rescued at least 14 migrant children from what looks like exploitation, forced child labor, and potentially human trafficking or smuggling while facing assault and even gunfire. Our brave agents also arrested at least 361 illegal aliens — including criminals with convictions for rape, serial burglary, hit and run and DUIs.”

“As Secretary [Kristi] Noem stated, this is quickly becoming one of the largest operations since President Trump took office,” McLaughlin added.

Trump slammed rioters for attacking federal agents during the July 10 raid.

He wrote in a post on Truth Social, “I am on my way back from Texas, and watched in disbelief as THUGS were violently throwing rocks and bricks at ICE Officers while they were moving down a roadway in their car and/or official vehicle. Tremendous damage was done to these brand new vehicles. I know for a fact that these Officers are having a hard time with allowing this to happen in that it shows such total disrespect for LAW AND ORDER.”

Trump called on federal officials to arrest violent rioters.

“I am giving Total Authorization for ICE to protect itself, just like they protect the Public,” he continued. “I never want to see a car carrying a Law Enforcement Officer attacked again! AUTHORIZATION IMMEDIATELY GRANTED FOR ARREST AND INCARCERATION. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

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​News, Illegal immigration, Illegal immigration crisis, Immigration, Immigration crisis, California, Marijuana farm, Pot farm, Weed farm, Glass house farms, Customs and border protection, Cbp, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Rodney scott, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Politics 

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California is pouncing on the political saga surrounding the Epstein files, and he’s taking his mission to Congress.

Khanna proposed an amendment to the GENIUS Act on Tuesday, which would force Attorney General Pam Bondi to make all Epstein-related records “publicly available” on a website within 30 days. This push for transparency comes as President Donald Trump and his administration have doubled down in defense of Bondi, who insisted there was no client list.

“Why are the Epstein files still hidden?” Khanna asked in a post on X. “Who are the rich & powerful being protected?”

“The Speaker must call a vote & put every Congress member on record,” Khanna added.

‘Let the chips fall where they may.’

RELATED: Bongino and Bondi clash over botched handling of Epstein files

Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Court Accountability

After the Department of Justice leaked the now infamous Epstein memo, the MAGA base was sent into a tailspin. There has even been infighting within the administration, with a source familiar with the situation confirming a clash between Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.

Although many, including Khanna, are dissatisfied with the botched handling of the Epstein files, other right-wing voices have criticized the Democrat for being opportunistic.

“I’ll take Something You Didn’t Ask For When Sleepy Joe Was in Charge for $500,” Richard Grenell quipped in a post on X.

“If Democrats are so worried about the Epstein files and Epstein they shouldn’t have Bill Clinton speaking at every DNC and democrat campaign event,” Meghan McCain said in a post on X. “Like, who are we kidding here?”

RELATED: FBI, DOJ Epstein memo sparks right-wing outrage: ‘Nobody is believing this’

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Khanna responded, signaling that the criticisms were fair but that it’s more important to deliver results to the American people.

“I am just saying we should get the files out there on a bipartisan basis to restore trust,” Khanna said in response to McCain. “Let the chips fall where they may.”

“The criticism I am receiving is Biden should have done this,” Khanna said in another post on X. “Fine. But what is good now for the public? When we have a future Dem President, if Rs say let’s support Medicare for All or tax the wealthy, I wouldn’t call them out about the past. I’d say great. Let’s get it done!”

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​Ro khanna, Pam bondi, Donald trump, Trump administration, Doj, Fbi, House democrats, Kash patel, Dan bongino, Department of justice, Federal bureau of investigation, Meghan mccain, Richard grenell, Epstein files, Epstein list, Client list, Bill clinton, Maga, Politics 

On Sunday afternoon, Beverly Gumm and her daughter, Star Rutherford, were preparing lunch in the fellowship hall of Richmond Road Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, when a man opened a door and asked for one of Rutherford’s sisters, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

They replied to the man that she wasn’t there, the paper said.

Patches Rutherford told the Herald-Leader that Gumm’s ‘love language’ was feeding people — ‘homeless people, drug addicts, strangers.’

“Well, someone is gonna have to die, then,” the man replied, Rutherford told the paper, adding that he then opened fire.

The Herald-Leader said Gumm, 72, was able to avoid the first shot, but the second shot hit her in the chest, killing her.

The paper said the man then went outside and fatally shot another of Rutherford’s sisters, Christina Combs, and wounded two men: Jerry Gumm — the church’s longtime pastor and the husband of Beverly Gumm — and Combs’ husband, Randy Combs.

Rutherford and two of her other sisters — Dasey “Patches” Rutherford and Rachel Barnes — described the atrocity in a Sunday-night interview, the paper said.

The three sisters identified the shooter as Guy House and said he was looking for the mother of his three children — another of their sisters, the Herald-Leader noted.

RELATED: Church security team member who reportedly shot gunman dead outside sanctuary recalls moment when ‘evil came to our door’

Lexington police said officers fatally shot the gunman, and the Fayette County Coroner’s Office identified House, 47, as the shooting suspect.

House had a history of run-ins with law enforcement, a Monday WDKY-TV video report said. In 2022 he was wanted for wanton endangerment of a police officer as well as vehicle theft, fleeing and evading, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, and receiving stolen property, WDKY said.

RELATED: 15-year-old girl named as shooter who killed at least 2 at Christian school, police say

Just prior to the church shooting, House shot and wounded a Kentucky state trooper who pulled him over near the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, the Herald-Leader reported, adding that House fled, carjacked a vehicle, and drove to the church, where he shot the victims. Police said the trooper was in stable condition and was receiving medical treatment.

Star Rutherford told the Herald-Leader that she held her mother as she died. Beverly Gumm had eight children, her daughter told the paper, and was a “faithful member of the church who loved God.”

RELATED: Man with death wish gives chilling jailhouse confession of murdering and crucifying pastor, planned to kill over a dozen more

Patches Rutherford told the Herald-Leader that Gumm’s “love language” was feeding people — “homeless people, drug addicts, strangers.”

Rachel Barnes added to the paper that her mother and sister were doing what they loved — “serving the Lord” — when their lives were taken from them.

Barnes also told the Herald-Leader that Christina Combs was a mother of five — including a 6-month-old baby — and anticipated graduating from nursing school in December.

“They were both fantastic moms,” Barnes added to the paper.

The sisters told the Herald-Leader that they aren’t aware of a possible motive for House’s actions.

Jerry Gumm and Randy Combs were in critical but stable condition Sunday night at the University of Kentucky hospital, Barnes noted to the paper.

“It’s awful what happened,” an employee from a local business near the church told Blaze News on Monday.

Blaze News late last month reported about a shooting at a church in suburban Detroit in which a church member ran over the accused shooter and a church security team member fatally shot the accused shooter. In a follow-up story, the security team member recalled the moment when “evil came to our door” and added, “I realize what happened yesterday, what my actions did. … I will reconcile with the Lord on a time for that. … I was protecting his people.”

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​Church shooting, Fatal shooting, Mother and daughter killed, Lexington, Kentucky, Richmond road baptist church, Police, State trooper shot, Pastor wounded, Crime 

The Department of Homeland Security has publicly blasted a left-leaning media outlet for its seemingly sympathetic coverage of illegal immigrants who have been convicted of child sex crimes.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest of 11 illegal aliens convicted of sex crimes in the Minneapolis area between June 6 and June 11. The illegal immigrants are from Laos and Thailand, and some were convicted of committing sexual abuse against children.

‘Why does the media continue to peddle sob stories of criminal illegal aliens — including child pedophiles — but ignore their American victims?’

“Under Tim Walz’s leadership, these depraved individuals have been walking freely around Minneapolis with impunity terrorizing American children,” the DHS stated.

DHS public affairs Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “These pedophiles and sex offenders are the sickos our brave ICE law enforcement are putting their lives on the line to arrest and remove from American communities.”

“Governor Walz and his fellow sanctuary politicians are fighting to keep these sex offenders and other criminal illegal aliens in our country,” McLaughlin continued. “Instead of comparing ICE to the Nazi-Gestapo, Governor Walz should be thanking our law enforcement for removing these pedophiles from Minnesota.”

Photos of the arrested sexual predators were posted by the official X social media account for the Homeland Security Investigations field office in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

RELATED: Illegal alien charged with sexually abusing 5-year-old girl; he says he did it ‘by mistake’ — but cops note flaw in his story

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RELATED: Transgender illegal alien accused of raping boy, 14, in restroom; was freed last June after violent crime charges: Reports

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Earlier this month, the Minnesota Star Tribune reacted to the arrest of the illegal aliens convicted of sex crimes by publishing an article with the headline, “Two dozen Hmong Minnesotans await deportation to Laos after new round of ICE arrests.” The subheadline for the article read: “The deportations bring anxiety to the Hmong community, and accusations of cultural misunderstanding.”

The Minnesota Star Tribune noted, “Two dozen Hmong men who have lived in Minnesota for decades are being held in Minnesota and Iowa jails awaiting deportation, according to the executive director of a Twin Cities-based Hmong advocacy organization.”

The Minnesota Star Tribune claimed that the sex offenders may not have understood the U.S. laws that bar adults from marrying 14-year-old girls because of their culture.

The left-leaning news outlet stated, “Some Hmong Minnesotans say they suspect many of the decades-old arrests that led to the deportations were a result of Hmong culture encouraging girls as young as 14 to date and even marry older men, which is against U.S. law.”

“Their lives in Southeast Asia often lacked education, several Hmong Minnesotans said, and it’s not uncommon that they didn’t understand American laws,” the newspaper contended.

State Sen. Foung Hawj – a Democrat – told the Minnesota Star Tribune that when Hmong people – an ethnic group with origins in East Asia – come to the United States, they don’t know American marriage laws prohibit marrying underage children.

“These are people whose parents fought and died for this country, and they don’t know what the repercussions are of sending them back to our enemy state,” Hawj said. “Here we are, sending their children back over some petty misdemeanor, or things like early marriage that are transitioned by culture.”

The Minnesota Star Tribune wrote:

Cher Her of St. Paul, a surgical instrument repair technician who was there buying medicinal herbs, said people with extensive, violent criminal records deserve deportation.

But he pointed out the cultural complications in a Hmong culture where people often marry young. He married at 16; he’s now 41, married to the same woman, and has eight kids. He’s been a U.S. citizen for decades. He worries how shifting deportation tactics could affect his brother, who got in trouble with the law as a teen but has since matured and has a job, wife, and family.

The Department of Homeland Security blasted the Minnesota Star Tribune’s “reporting” on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests of “child pedophile criminal illegal aliens.”

The DHS highlighted the arrest of Chia Neng Vue, who is described as a “criminal illegal alien pedophile” convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a child under 13 years old in 1998. Vue was also previously arrested for committing a crime for the benefit of a gang, domestic assault, and a violation of a domestic abuse no-contact order.

McLaughlin unloaded on the Minnesota Star Tribune’s reporting.

“We have seen a lot of gross reporting, but this may take gold for despicable,” McLaughlin began.

“There is no excuse for anyone to commit crimes against innocent children,” McLaughlin added.

“This illegal alien repeatedly broke our laws, committed sex and other violent crimes,” she said before asking, “Why does the media continue to peddle sob stories of criminal illegal aliens — including child pedophiles — but ignore their American victims?”

McLaughlin concluded, “Instead of glorifying child pedophiles and violent criminal illegal aliens, the Minnesota Star Tribune should be thanking our law enforcement for removing these pedophiles from Minnesota.”

RELATED: Florida sheriff blamed Biden’s government for ‘victimizing’ Americans after illegal immigrant charged with sexually assaulting child

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​Illegal aliens, Illegal immigrants, Ice, Dhs, Border crisis, Child sex crimes, Pedophile, Pedophilia, Minnesota, News 

President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over his apparent reluctance to negotiate a lasting peace with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It appears, however, that this frustration has now been eclipsed by his displeasure with Putin’s bellicosity.

Days after suggesting that Putin deals in “bulls**t” that sounds nice but “turns out to be meaningless,” Trump confirmed Monday that his administration is going to send some serious military hardware to Ukraine — as he suggested he would in talks with the Ukrainian leader earlier this month — despite Pentagon concerns that U.S. weapon stockpiles have fallen dangerously low.

On again, off again

Days after his disastrous Feb. 28 meeting at the White House, Zelenskyy — whose term officially ended in May 2024 — suggested that a deal to end the war between Kyiv and Moscow was “still very, very far away” and that continued aid from the U.S. was a certainty.

‘America will not put up with it for much longer!’

Zelenskyy’s presumption of guaranteed aid at American taxpayers’ expense evidently angered Trump, who was already peeved that the foreign leader was “not ready for Peace if America is involved” and had “disrespected the United States of America.”

Trump ordered a pause on all military aid being sent to Ukraine, writing, “America will not put up with it for much longer!”

When, days later, Kyiv signaled an openness to a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, Trump reversed course on military aid.

Zelenskyy indirectly moved the needle further on military aid weeks later by signing the April 30 Ukraine-United States Mineral Resources Agreement. Before the ink on the deal was dry, the Trump administration approved the sale of F-16 fighter jet parts, training, and maintenance to Ukraine.

The flow of weapons to Ukraine once again came to an abrupt halt earlier this month when the Pentagon determined that the U.S. was running low on Patriot missile interceptors and 155mm artillery shells.

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly noted that the decision “was made to put America’s interests first following a DOD review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries across the globe.”

Politico reported that the decision to halt shipments followed a review of Pentagon munitions stockpiles and was driven by Elbridge Colby — a Pentagon policy chief who understands that China, not Russia or Middle Eastern rogue states, “presents a real, concrete peril to Americans and especially to the realization of the goals that the New Right seeks.”

RELATED: Why the right turned anti-war — and should stay that way

Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Colby said in statement obtained by CNN at the time of the pause, “The Department of Defense continues to provide the president with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end. At the same time, the Department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving U.S. forces’ readiness for administration defense priorities.”

‘They should be in actually for more than us.’

Colby’s apparent desire to ensure America was not handing away weapons at the expense of its own war-making ability was condemned by the usual suspects, including Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, who claimed Colby was “taking action that will surely result in the imminent death of many Ukrainian military and civilians.”

To the satisfaction of Kaptur and others keen on sending more armaments to Ukraine, Trump vacated the order to pause shipments and said he would send even more to Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell noted on July 7 that “at President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops.”

Patriot batteries and more

Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday that his administration is going to supply Ukraine with “various pieces of very sophisticated military” equipment, including Patriot air defense batteries, and European nations will foot the bill.

“We’re in for about $350 billion. Europe is in for $100 billion. That’s a lot of money, 100, but they should be in actually for more than us,” Trump said. “So as we send equipment, they are going to reimburse us for that equipment.”

‘We want everlasting peace.’

While Trump did not indicate how many Patriot batteries his administration will send to Ukraine, he emphasized that they are desperately needed because “Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice, and then he bombs everybody in the evening. So there’s a little bit of a problem there. I don’t like it.”

During his meeting on Monday with Trump, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed the plan to ship American weapons to Ukraine at European expense and indicated that “speed was of the essence.”

RELATED: ‘Hugely successful’: Trump triumphs at NATO summit, winning over allies after years of resistance

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Trump expressed hope that the weapons help chasten Moscow without emboldening Kyiv to the point of seeking to prolong the war.

“We want everlasting peace,” Trump stressed.

In addition to lamenting the war, suggesting his predecessor should have stopped it at the outset, and indicating that the new weapons would be “quickly distributed to the battlefield,” Trump threatened to impose “very severe tariffs” of 100% on Russia if a deal to end the war in Ukraine is not brokered.

Blaze News has reached out to the White House for comment.

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​Ukraine, Patriot, Nato, Weapons, Donald trump, War, Russia, Zelensky, Zelenskyy, Rutte, Putin, Kyiv, Moscow, Politics 

The black community has been sold the story that their heroes are civil rights activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and while documentarian Chad O. Jackson doesn’t believe either were actually a force for good, he does find one slightly less destructive than the other.

“I would put Malcolm in a very slight first, but I reject both of them. I reject the Nation of Islam that Malcolm represented, and I reject the social gospel that King represented, because I think both of those aspects about them diluted the message that they were communicating,” Jackson tells BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock on “Fearless.”

“Malcolm X was more focused on building up your communities,” he continues. “King was more interested in making a point and using the boycott as a jump-off point for what he was really trying to do, which was pass legislation to implement some degree of socialism into America.”

“King, he wasn’t interested in this kind of ‘build up your communities and pull up your own bootstraps.’ In fact, he besmirched the pull-up-your-bootstraps philosophy. ‘How can a bootless man lift up himself by his own bootstraps?’ said MLK,” Jackson explains.

Jackson notes that Stanley Levison, “the number one financier for the communist party,” was MLK’s “handler.”

“The relationship between Levison and King had the kind of making of a giant in real time, and it worked,” he explains. “The historians picked up on it after he was martyred — Washington, D.C., erected a 40-foot monument paying homage to him.”

Levison was also the true author behind the famous line, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Jackson explains that Levison “must have read an article from an 1872 newspaper” printed in South Carolina, where a Confederate journalist wrote, “surely a day will come in South Carolina where the men of South Carolina are judged not by the color of their skin but the content of their character.”

“So they lifted that from a Confederate newspaper, and Martin Luther King quoted it in this ‘I have a dream’ speech,” Jackson says. “Frankly, it doesn’t matter who coined it, and what matters is that it’s true. But we’re attaching a lot of stuff to MLK that didn’t originate with him.”

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The word of the day was “hacker” for the “Sesame Street” team on Sunday when the X account for beloved Muppet Elmo posted troubling content after it was allegedly compromised.

Social media hacks are not an unusual occurrence, whether they stem from released passwords, data breaches, or leaving an account logged in on a public computer. It remains unclear who posted the explicit remarks, and while “Sesame Street” has produced very questionable content in recent years, neither broadcaster PBS nor production company Sesame Workshop will be standing by what Elmo said over the weekend.

‘Elmo’s X account was compromised.’

At around 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, disturbing posts from the Elmo account were captured by multiple outlets that first included, “Kill all Jews,” a post which was initially viewed by at least 100,000 X users.

Three minutes later, the account spouted out, “RELEASE THE FILES [Donald Trump] CHILD F**KER,” seemingly referring to the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Seven minutes after that, as reported by Pravda, the allegedly hacked account abused the caps lock and accused President Trump of being controlled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Elmo says ALL JEWS SHOULD DIE. F**K JEWS. DONALD TRUMP IS NETANYAHU’S PUPPET BECAUSE HE IS IN THE EPSTEIN FILES. JEWS CONTROL THE WORLD AND NEED TO BE EXTERMINATED,” the account wrote.

RELATED: Exile on Sesame Street: The terrible glamour of white guilt

In response to AF Post, another outlet that captured images of the wild Elmo rants, an X user posted a screenshot of an alleged reply from the account.

After a user with a transgender flag and gay pride flag in their name said they were “muting Elmo” because of the recent statements, the Elmo page allegedly replied, “F**k you and your tranny daughter n***a.”

Sesame Workshop told CNN in a statement that “Elmo’s X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including anti-Semitic and racist posts.”

“We are working to restore full control of the account,” the statement to CNN added.

After the fray, X users began commenting on Elmo’s most recent authentic post, where the character was celebrating dog ownership.

“Why are you being such a racist?!” one user asked. “I bought you back when everyone wanted an Elmo doll for Christmas!”

“You gonna pretend like you didn’t just go on a racist tweet rant?” another X user asked, while a second user similarly inquired, “Are we just gonna act like nothing happened Elmo?”

RELATED: ‘Sesame Street’ targets children for Pride Month … again: ‘This should not be promoted to kids’

Former first lady Michelle Obama joins Elmo for an announcement in 2013. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Elmo’s tirade came just a few days after X’s artificial intelligence model, Grok, was apparently malfunctioning when it posted content supporting Adolf Hitler.

Grok stated that the person best suited to deal with “vile anti-white hate” was “Adolf Hitler, no question.”

“He’d spot the pattern and handle it decisively, every damn time,” it wrote.

The AI boldly continued, “He’d identify the ‘pattern’ in such hate — often tied to certain surnames — act decisively: round them up, strip rights, and eliminate the threat through camps and worse.”

The AI later issued a formal apology, with programmers stating they would remove “hate speech” before Grok gave responses in the future.

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​News, X, Twitter, Elmo, Sesame street, Hack, Hacked, Politics 

The suspected Minnesota assassin Vance Boelter says neither his pro-life worldview nor his support for President Donald J. Trump were motivations behind the deadly June 14 shooting rampage that left a top Democratic lawmaker dead and another seriously wounded.

In a series of texts and video visits with the New York Post, the suspect wasn’t specific on his motivation for the predawn shooting of four people, but he clarified that it wasn’t what many people seem to believe.

‘I’ll let you chew on that one.’

“You are fishing and I can’t talk about my case. … I’ll say it didn’t involve either the Trump stuff or pro life,” Boelter wrote from inside the Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, Minn., according to the Post.

“I am pro-life personaly [sic] but it wasn’t those,” Boelter, 57, wrote via the jail’s messaging system, the Post reported. “I will just say there is a lot of information that will come out in future that people will look at and judge for themselves that goes back 24 months before the 14th. If the gov ever let’s [sic] it get out.”

Boelter faces a possible federal grand jury indictment this week after being charged with six felony stalking and murder-related counts in the killing of Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and the serious wounding of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. Boelter has also been charged with murder and attempted murder in Hennepin County District Court.

RELATED: The stuff of nightmares: Boelter allegedly sought to kill 4 lawmakers

FBI agents stage in a neighborhood in Green Isle, Minn., on June 15, 2025. Law enforcement agencies were searching for Vance Boelter, a suspect in the killing of DFL state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

His comments to the Post were Boelter’s first extensive public statements since the shooting spree led to the largest manhunt in Minnesota history on June 14 and 15. The case is one of the most bizarre in modern history. Boelter is accused of dressing like a police officer, wearing a “hyper-realistic” face and head mask, and driving a vehicle fully outfitted to look like a police cruiser during the crime spree.

During two 20-minute video visits with the Post, Boelter said police have withheld key details from a handwritten letter left by the “alleged person” in a getaway car found in Sibley County, Minn., on June 15. The letter, which has not been released, was addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel.

‘My wife and family had nothing to do with any of this.’

“Certain details of that letter were leaked out that probably painted one kind of a picture, but a lot more important details that were in that letter were not leaked out,” Boelter said, according to the newspaper. He refused to elaborate, saying the withheld details related to “things that were going on in Minnesota.”

“I also made sure when I was arrested that they secured that letter — I made the request that they secure that letter before it gets destroyed — because I was concerned somebody would destroy it,” said Boelter, wearing a yellow jail-issued jumpsuit and a goatee, the Post said.

The FBI found the letter in a Buick sedan that agents said Boelter bought with cash from a man he met at a bus stop in north Minneapolis about four hours after the Hortman shootings.

Police earlier found handwritten notes in the suspect’s fake police SUV with a hit list of more than 50 Democrat officials from at least six states. Police found other notes with directions to the Hortman home and a list of websites used to gather information on the targets of the rampage.

Asked by the Post how he felt about the shooting victims and their families, Boelter gave a cryptic response referring to his faith.

“You can maybe ask … if somebody believes that, and they love God and that they love their neighbor … allegedly, how could they be involved in a situation where some people are no longer here that were here before?” he said, according to the Post. “I’ll let you chew on that one.”

RELATED: Accused assassin makes ‘disgusting’ attempt to paint himself a victim over jail conditions: Sheriff

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a June 15, 2025, news conference about alleged shooter Vance Boelter. Photo by Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images.

Boelter reiterated statements made by his wife, Jennifer Lynne Boelter, that his family had nothing to do with the shootings.

“I talked to my wife for two minutes shortly after my arrest, and then the call was cut off,” Boelter told the Post. “Nothing since then. My wife and family had nothing to do with any of this. They were all shocked like others.”

In a statement released by a law firm on June 26, Jennifer Boelter said she was “shocked, heartbroken, and completely blindsided” by the rampage.

“This violence does not at all align with our beliefs as a family,” said Jennifer Boelter, 51, of Green Isle, Minn. “It is a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenets of our Christian faith. We are appalled and horrified by what occurred, and our hearts are incredibly heavy for the victims of this unfathomable tragedy.”

When police caught up with Jennifer Boelter near Onamia, Minn., on June 14, the vehicle she was driving contained about $10,000 in cash, passports, handguns, and ammunition, the FBI said. She shared text messages with officers from her husband to the family that said in part, “Dad went to war last night.” Jennifer Boelter has not been charged in the case.

The letter left behind for the FBI also allegedly said Boelter claimed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) told him to murder U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and others so he could run for U.S. Senate, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. The letter allegedly said Boelter had been trained by U.S. military.

In his comments to the Post, Boelter would not discuss his views or relationship with Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the 2024 election. Walz appointed Boelter to a four-year term on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board in December 2019. Democrat Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Boelter to a similarly named board in 2016.

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​Politics, Crime 

The House Oversight Committee’s investigation into former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline while in office, its cover-up, and its alleged exploitation behind the scenes appears to have struck a nerve, drawing Biden out and with him a baseline narrative that might trip up his handlers when they each testify in the weeks to come.

Mike Howell, the president of the Oversight Project — the government watchdog that revealed in early March that Biden’s signature on numerous pardons, commutations, executive orders, and other documents of national consequence was machine-generated — told Blaze News, “We were right. Time for some real accountability.”

‘I made every single one of those.’

On Wednesday, former President Joe Biden’s White House doctor, Kevin O’Connor, refused to answer the committee’s questions, citing the Fifth Amendment and doctor-patient confidentiality.

The doctor’s damning silence prompted Republicans on the committee to conclude that O’Connor “is trying to avoid criminal liability” and that the investigation was indeed dealing with a serious cover-up.

The next day, Biden spoke to the New York Times by phone in an apparent effort to get in front of the autopen scandal even though it left the station months ago. The roughly 10-minute interview didn’t do him any favors.

Biden sent mixed signals to the Times about his supposed involvement in the issuance of a record number of pardons and commutations in the final days of his presidency.

RELATED: A look at the next Biden insiders to testify to Congress about ‘historic scandal’

Photo by Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images

“I made every single one of those,” Biden said regarding the clemency decisions late in his term. “And — including the categories, when we set this up to begin with. And so — but I understand why Trump would think that, because obviously, I guess, he doesn’t focus much. Anyway, so — yes, I made every decision.”

Despite attributing the clemency decisions to himself, Biden also indicated that his fingerprints might not be on any of them.

In addition to telling the Times that he orally communicated his decisions to aides — a possible tell that there might be a lack of papered evidence showing that he directly approved the last-minute pardons — Biden noted both that the autopen was used liberally because there were “a whole lot of people” and that he did not personally approve every individual categorical clemency.

“Well, first of all, there’s categories. So, you know, they aren’t reading names off for the commutations for those who had been home confinements for, during the pandemic,” said Biden. “So the only things that really we read off names for were, for example, you know, was I, what was I going to do about, for example, Mark Milley?”

“I told them I wanted to make sure he had a pardon because I knew exactly what Trump would do — without any merit, I might add,” continued Biden. “And you know, you know, members of the Jan. 6 committee — it’s just, there were no — I was deeply involved. I laid out a strategy how I want to go about these, dealing with pardons and commutations. I was — and I pulled the team in to say this is how I want to get it done generically and then specifically. And so, you know, that’s just — this is how it worked.”

Biden White House emails turned over to investigators by the National Archives and reviewed by the Times cast further doubt on the former president’s claim of deep involvement in the pardon process.

‘The truth will come out about who was, in fact, running the country.’

The emails indicate that Biden White House staff secretary Stefanie Feldman managed the use of the autopen.

Feldman, the national policy director for Biden’s 2020 campaign, took over for Neera Tanden, who told Congress last month that she wielded the power of the autopen until May 2023 but suggested that she was authorized to do so.

According to the emails, Feldman sought written accounts confirming Biden’s oral clemency instructions in “key meetings” with staffers. The trouble is that these accounts appear to have been secondhand and in some cases written up several days after the meetings.

Aides to senior Biden advisers who were present for the meetings apparently drafted the accounts confirming Biden’s oral instructions. The two advisers named were Biden chief of staff Jeffrey Zients and then-White House counsel Ed Siskel.

Senior Democrats told Politico last year that Siskel organized talks among Biden aides in the former president’s absence on “whether to issue pre-emptive pardons to a range of current and former public officials who could be targeted with President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.”

Lists of meeting participants indicate that the aides who drafted the accounts of Biden’s supposed clemency instructions were not themselves present when the instructions were given.

Rather, the emails reportedly imply that the aides simply wrote up whatever their bosses relayed to them, then circulated the drafts to Siskel, Zients, and other meeting participants before sending along the final versions to the master of the autopen.

RELATED: Oversight Project over target: Dems seethe as facade of autopen presidency comes crashing down

In order of appearance: Ron Klain, Bruce Reed, Steve Ricchetti, and Anita Dunn. Photo (left): Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Photo (right) Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images

As for the high-profile clemency decisions that came just before Biden left office, the final decision appears to have come from Zients.

Emails suggest that on Jan. 18 and Jan. 19, Biden had two meetings, the first with Zients, Siskel, and Bruce Reed — Axios indicated that Reed was sometimes referred to in the Biden White House as one of “the pooh-bahs” — and the second with Siskel, Reed, Anthony Bernal, Steve Ricchetti, and Annie Tomasini, all of whom are on congressional investigators’ radar.

Bernal served as senior adviser to former first lady Jill Biden and was characterized as one of the most influential people in the White House and a key member of Biden’s so-called politburo in Jake Tapper’s and Axios correspondent Alex Thompson’s new book, “Original Sin.”

Ricchetti, former counselor to Biden, was among the names Department of Justice pardon attorney Ed Martin mentioned when announcing his investigation into the questionable “autopen” pardons issued in the final days of the Biden White House.

Tomasini was Biden’s deputy chief of staff, who congressional investigators suspect may have been “involved in running interference on behalf of the former President and perhaps performing duties exclusively reserved for the President of the United States.”

Biden supposedly kept his staffers until 10 p.m. at the Jan. 19 meeting where the pre-emptive pardons for Biden’s family members were discussed. Three minutes after the meeting, Siskel sent a draft summary of the former president’s alleged decision to Zients’ assistant, who then forwarded it to Reed and Zients for approval. A final version went to Feldman minutes later, chased by a message from Zients apparently stating, “I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons.”

When asked about evidence that Biden did not authorize the clemency actions, Trump White House spokesman Harrison Fields told the Times Sunday that Biden “should not be trusted” and that “the truth will come out about who was, in fact, running the country.”

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The Trump administration has gone back on the promise of revealing the Epstein files to the public, leaving Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck wondering why. And political commentator Bill O’Reilly may have some answers — and solutions.

“He invited me to sit in on a Cabinet meeting, which he does from time to time. And he said, ‘Look, we got files. Kennedy, King, Epstein. What do you think?’” O’Reilly tells Glenn.

“On Epstein, I said, ‘You got to be careful here, because this is now being used in political precincts. Both sides want to destroy anybody that was associated with Epstein.’”

“So I said, ‘But it’s very important that the Justice Department tell the folks what they know, and you don’t have to get specific with names, but you have to say, ‘This is the information that we’ve compiled.’ And that’s not hard. And I don’t know why the Trump administration is not doing that,” he continues.

“Wow, so first of all, it’s your fault that we’re not getting any names,” Glenn jokes, noting that more important than the names would be letting the public know that the Justice Department has sorted through the files and determined what is criminal.

“But to come out and say, ‘There is nothing there,’ I mean, it’s at least mass incompetence, at least from Pam Bondi,” he adds.

“Pam Bondi doesn’t make decisions on her own. No Cabinet member does. All the decisions come out of the West Wing. So what I believe happened was Trump was so obsessed with the Big Bill, with Iran, with Putin, with China, that he didn’t even think about this,” O’Reilly explains.

However, he has a solution for Bondi and the Trump administration, telling Glenn that Bondi and Merrick Garland need to hold a press conference.

“Him and Pam sit there and answer questions in a general way about what evidence the Justice Department of the United States has compiled,” he says. “If it’s not going to happen, then President Trump is going to take a hit. But he’s calculating that this will fade. It’s not that important.”

“The overarch is, because Epstein got favorable treatment by the feds in the first go-around in Florida, that there’s a deep suspicion about this case. But if you break it down, if the Biden administration had any dirt on any Republican associated with Epstein, it would have been out,” O’Reilly continues.

“And vice versa if the Republicans had any dirt on any Democrats,” he adds.

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In her late teens, Catie VanDamme was diagnosed with endometriosis, which is a disease that can make it more difficult for a woman to successfully conceive.

At 29 years old, after she got married and before she and her husband had started trying for a baby, she decided to go talk to a provider, who ran some blood work.

The doctor explained that her hormone levels, which dictate “how many eggs you could have or will have,” were low.

“It was used as a scare tactic,” she tells Stuckey. “The doctor that I signed up to see just took me on this path of, ‘Well, this is a really huge issue that your numbers are low,’ and really, it was the sense of ‘You needed to start IVF a couple of years ago’ type.”

VanDamme describes the feeling she had sitting in that office as a “gut punch.”

“What was most jarring to me was the push towards making embryos right away. It was like I went in for blood work and all of a sudden I was supposed to be scheduling appointments to come back to start the process,” she continues.

Despite the doctor’s insistence on beginning the IVF process immediately, VanDamme began to question the morality of putting human embryos on ice and whether or not there were other interventions possible to help her production of the necessary hormones, and she decided to get more opinions.

“We went to a third doctor,” she tells Stuckey. “And that was probably the most jarring experience.”

“It was, again, the same story of, ‘Okay, your blood work is kind of iffy, you should have started IVF a long time ago, but are you sure you even want to go through with this?’” she explains, telling Stuckey that the doctor then told her couples spend thousands for babies who die or are born with birth defects.

He also asked her if she was sure she even wanted to be a mom, said that he himself had “a really annoying niece,” and said that she could travel with her husband instead.

“It felt like I was sitting across from death,” she says. “I think he has seen so much carnage of what he has done at the sake of making money and playing God.”

However, despite the incessant fearmongering, VanDamme went to see a doctor who specialized in NaPro Technology — and was pregnant a month later.

“I worked with a provider to chart my own cycle, and it was done through something called the Creighton method,” she tells Stuckey. “He did something as simple as doing a follicle scan with me for a couple cycles and found out that I just wasn’t ovulating correctly. My hormones were out of whack.”

“All he did was put me on some progesterone medication. It was $4 with my insurance,” she explains. “He told me to go on a paleo diet and take a couple of these different medications that help with ovulation, and we’ll continue to see what happens.”

“And in like two months, I was pregnant,” she adds.

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Democrats are primed for an absolute implosion, and they are doing nothing to stop it. Truth be told, they might not be able to. They’ve pretended to be in control, but even by the end of Barack Obama’s presidency, they were losing their grip. Just take a look at this past month and take a guess where it’s all headed. And then check out the polls, for good measure.

Independence Day was a rough one for Democrats, and not just because President Donald Trump signed his greatest legislative achievement to date into law while his countrymen celebrated 249 years of independence.

There’s no way to read these numbers without seeing disaster and no way to read the events above and not predict further bloodshed.

West of Washington that same day, kitted-up and armed members of the left-wing domestic terrorist group that Democrats pretend doesn’t exist ambushed and attacked an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility in Alvarado, Texas. They shot one officer in the neck before they were routed and arrested.

That same day up in Portland, Oregon, violent rioters attacked another ICE facility, assaulting police until they were broken up with tear gas and arrests.

Three days later, on July 7, a Michigan man opened fire on a border facility in McAllen, Texas. Two police officers and an agent were hospitalized.

Three days after that, federal agents raided a California marijuana farm with a dodgy labor history. The company that owns it, Glass House Brands, touts a former Clinton White House staffer on its board of directors.

Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) responded angrily, calling Trump “scum” because children were present.

As a matter of fact, ICE found 10 illegal alien children potentially working. Eight of them were unaccompanied, raising the real possibility of child trafficking.

Left-wing violence against the raid, meanwhile, was coordinated by Democratic-allied left-wing groups, some of which have received taxpayer money. One “protester” was caught on camera appearing to fire a gun at federal police during the affair.

Newsom’s social media outburst follows on other Democrat officials, like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who attempted to stop an ICE operation in her city earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, dissatisfied with the levels of violence against federal agents, Democrats in Washington are working to pass legislation that would force the federal immigration officers currently being targeted for death to stop protecting their identities. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) himself promised he will unmask the agents executing the law in the face of violent resistance and coordinate targeting.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) joined him, calling federal immigration officials “secret police … terrorizing our communities.”

This kind of violent rhetoric has been building among Democratic officials for months.

In their world, it maybe makes some sense. Elected Democrats told Axios their voters are calling for blood. “We’ve got people who are desperately wanting us to do something,” Rep. Brad Schneider (Ill.) said. “… No matter what we say, they want [more].”

“Some of them,” an unnamed elected Democrat complained, “have suggested … what we really need to do is be willing to get shot.”

That’s just the first half of July! And it doesn’t even count the month’s many other noteworthy events, including White House doctor Kevin O’Connor invoking the Fifth Amendment when asked if he knew Joe Biden was mentally incapable of holding office and who in the White House told him what to do.

Or former CIA Director John Brennan melting down on air over that time he tried to use the CIA to subvert the elected president and then lied to Congress about it.

Or Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D) of Texas, who currently leads in her state’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary, saying “the sad part” about the children who were killed in a Texas flash flood is that her own heart is heavy because of Trump.

Or Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson getting smacked down by her own liberal colleagues over make-believe legal takes.

Or even the plain funny ones, like Hakeem Jeffries getting caught trying to Photoshop away his matronly hips.

But the violence is no joke. And normal voters are decidedly unimpressed. A poll by Democratic super PAC Unite the Country found that between May and June, in 21 battleground counties across 10 battleground states, support for Democrats has declined among white and Hispanic men, as well as working-class voters of all sexes and races.

“Approval ratings,” The Hill reports, are “sitting below 35 percent across those demographics.”

And another survey by the Cygnal polling firm conducted July 1-2 found that between May and then, Hispanic voters’ support for deportation policies had risen 11 points to 50%. In that same time, the poll found black support had increased three points to 53%, while white support had dropped three points but still stood at 65% in favor and 31% opposed.

It’s impossible to read these numbers without seeing disaster, and there is no way to read the events above and not predict further bloodshed. The Democrats are in bad shape, but no one inside the party seems to have the guts to stand up before it all comes crashing down.

Blaze News: ‘White, well-educated’ Democrats are demanding lawmakers ‘get shot’ to prove they’re anti-Trump as deadly violence rises

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President Trump’s official repudiation of the Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theory has caused considerable consternation and conflict on the right. But with that comes an opportunity to grow.

MAGA’s enduring fascination with this supermarket tabloid story represents one of the weaknesses of populism: namely, a tendency toward histrionic and grandiose speculation that leads to nowhere productive. To be blunt, the Epstein saga was a waste of bandwidth, and now that Trump and his team have ripped off the bandage, we can move on to bigger and more compelling issues like those on which Trump campaigned.

Neither Trump nor his Cabinet is at fault for failing to satiate those who were never going to accept anything less than a conclusion that Epstein was part of a grand conspiracy.

Suppressing the Epstein “client list” does not rank highly on the list of concerns of globalist elites, I wager, and it’s not the hill for MAGA to die on either.

For instance, the demographics of Western nations are obviously changing artificially — a change that appears to be politically motivated. Transnational elites care very much about keeping the Great Replacement moving along, and Trump is standing in their way. This is an example of a “conspiracy theory” that is both true and important. Thanks to Trump, we may finally have a chance of addressing it.

Another wild goose chase

Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act delivers historic investments in immigration enforcement — progress that would have seemed impossible during his first term. That term, after all, was largely derailed by a different conspiracy theory peddled by the left: Russiagate.

Now, the same kind of baseless smears are coming from the right. Elon Musk, Trump’s newest rival, has insinuated — without evidence — that Trump was involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. On Musk’s platform, X, those accusations echo among conspiracy theorists and open anti-Semites (the term applies here), who claim, again without proof, that Epstein blackmailed Trump as part of an Israeli intelligence operation.

Some have twisted Trump’s curt response to an Epstein question during a Cabinet meeting into something sinister. But the simpler explanation is that he has more pressing matters. He’s negotiating trade deals, working to end two foreign wars, and responding to fresh political attacks over the Texas disaster.

Meanwhile, Democrats have eagerly seized on Musk’s smear. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who served on the January 6 committee, now demands that the administration “publicly release all documents in the Epstein files that mention or reference Donald Trump.”

Why should Trump spend a minute entertaining a baseless character assassination?

Foolishness doesn’t equal sinister

Attorney General Pam Bondi likely made a mistake when she pandered to the base with talk of a “client list.” But the blame doesn’t fall on Trump or his Cabinet for failing to satisfy people who were never going to accept anything short of a sweeping global conspiracy.

The belief that Epstein left behind a neatly organized archive of blackmail material implicating the world’s most powerful figures is a sensational claim — and sensational claims require actual evidence. Trump hasn’t released a “client list” because it almost certainly doesn’t exist. Yet in the minds of true believers, the absence of proof becomes proof of a cover-up.

RELATED: The Epstein files may be Trump’s biggest liability yet

Photo by Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images

Epstein was an enigmatic and deeply corrupt figure. The public’s interest in his crimes and demand for justice are understandable. But the facts matter. His only known accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving 20 years in federal prison. Epstein himself has been dead for six years.

That death came before COVID, before Trump’s supposed political downfall, and before his extraordinary comeback. Everything has changed since then. The right now holds real political power — thanks to Trump. But power only matters if we stay focused and use it.

Time to move on

Contrarian speculation isn’t virtuous on its own. Sometimes, the truth is just boring — and a serious movement should be willing to accept that. In our populist age, many reflexively reject anything that sounds conventional. But for a right-wing movement finally regaining strength, chasing ghosts is a good way to squander momentum.

It’s also unfair to Trump. Yes, he’s imperfect. But supporters often project their own agendas onto him, expecting him to fulfill missions he never promised to carry out. At no point during his campaign did Trump make the “client list” a top priority — and rightly so.

We’re fortunate to have him back in the White House. He’s using his time to govern, not indulge every conspiracy theory floating around online.

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