Suspect in black Lamborghini attempts rob man at Erewhon Market before shooting him in street, police say A man was shot during an attempted robbery [more…]
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Union tries to scold Philly resident for ‘scabbing’ during garbage strike — and gets obliterated by ridicule on social media
As the garbage worker strike in Philadelphia continued into its eighth day, the union’s social media account was absolutely obliterated for trying to scold a resident for “scabbing.”
Philadelphia officials have been unable to agree on a wage increase with the AFSCME District Council 33 union, so the group orchestrated a garbage worker strike in an attempt to force lawmakers to cave to their demands.
‘Is the purpose of this to make people hate unions?’
Mountains of garbage are piling up in the “City of Brotherly Love,” and union members are resorting to violence and intimidation in order to achieve their goals. Some industrious residents have figured out that they can make some money on the side by picking up their fellow Philadelphians’ trash for a small fee.
On Sunday, the AFL-CIO union in Philadelphia suggested that residents should avoid “scabbing” by working to ease the garbage crisis. The account pointed to one example of scabbing and responded, “This is scabbing btw and is a pretty bad look tbh.”
The union went on to explain what scabbing was in a second post.
They added, “Scabbing is when union work is done by non union workers while the union is withholding their labor during a strike. In this case, the union has specifically asked the public not to do this or use the dumpsters the city set up. Thus, this what we call a double whammy scab.”
The union’s demand was met with scorn and ridicule by many critics online.
“Unionized government workers are upset that residents might drive their own garbage to the dump. They should — according to the union — just let the garbage sit inside their own homes, rotting, because to do otherwise is a ‘bad look,’ and insufficiently pro-labor. LOL. LMAO,” read one response.
“Yeah if my trash is piling up you can f**k right off with that union BS,” another user said.
“Sorry their willingness to do important public work at a reasonable price is undercutting your attempt at holding the public hostage,” read another response.
“Is the purpose of this to make people hate unions?” Frank Fleming joked.
“The union is claiming that they have a moral monopoly over the concept of removing trash from houses, such that no one is allowed to do that if they forbid it,” another user said. “Ponder for a moment how insane that is.”
The AFSCME District Council 33 union represents about 9,000 municipal workers in Philadelphia.
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Social media vs unions, Philadelphia garbage strike, Union garbage strike, Union ridiculed online, Politics
LEAKED alleged Big Pharma plot to destroy RFK Jr.
Jeffrey Tucker, president of the Brownstone Institute, received an alleged leaked document detailing a plot to sabotage Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and while he admits he doesn’t “know how you authenticate something like this” — he does believe the contents are cause for concern.
The membership of the organization the memo is attributed to includes vaccine manufacturers, drug manufacturers, and hundreds of other biotech firms.
Among those are Pfizer and Merck.
“It’s time to go to the Hill and lobby that it is time for RFK Jr. to go,” reads a document that seems to contain notes from an April 3, 2025, meeting of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s Vaccine Policy Steering Committee.
“This document is essentially a summary, or the minutes readout, of this April 3, 2025, meeting, allegedly, in which they are trying to figure out how to get Bobby Kennedy out of office,” BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler explains.
“Now, that in and of itself is not terribly scandalous, except for the fact that they are not interested in the science that Bobby Kennedy is trying to reclaim in public health in our government,” she continues.
While the document’s stated agenda is “to go to the Hill and lobby that it is time for RFK Jr. to go,” that’s not the issue Tucker and Wheeler have with it — but rather how they plan to do it.
“So there are conspiracy theories, and there are conspiracies. This is a conspiracy,” Tucker says, explaining that the group allegedly plans to remove RFK Jr. via creating a divide between MAHA and MAGA.
“So you just assert that RFK is operating at odds with the MAGA agenda. So you want to drive a wedge between those two things and find ways to do that to turn the executive office of the White House against what RFK is doing,” he says, explaining the plan to Wheeler.
Another alleged piece of their plan, Tucker says, is to “divide the MAHA alliance itself by making more diffuse and chaotic the coalition that supports RFK and is looking into the safety of these products.”
“And one of the ways they’re planning to do that is what I think we could call triangulation,” he explains. “You reach out to conservative influencers, they may name several institutions here where they think are vaccine friendly, along with several administration employees that they think are probably weak and sort of corruptible in some way.”
“This memo is very clever,” he continues, adding, “They’re trying to sort of drive a wedge between RFK and the agency’s appointees that he’s named based on their past positions.”
While Tucker and his colleagues remain unsure of the veracity of the document, a spokesman from BIO claims the organization’s vaccine task force had nothing to do with it.
“The purported memo was not produced by BIO. We have never seen or heard of this document, and it certainly does not accurately represent the spirit, strategy, or mission of BIO’s work,” he said. Though, in an interview with the Daily Signal, “He declined to confirm or deny the veracity of the quote about lobbying for Kennedy’s ouster.”
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America’s largest teachers’ union declares war on the Trump administration, will use kids as foot soldiers
Thousands of teachers gathered in Portland, Oregon, July 3-6 for the annual convention of the National Education Association.
Becky Pringle, the Democratic NEA president who reportedly made over $500,000 while fighting to keep schools closed at kids’ expense between September 2020 and August 2021, made abundantly clear in her keynote address on July 3 that America’s largest teachers’ union is little more than a radical political entity. She indicated that now, more than ever, the union seeks to undermine the American people’s democratically elected president, his government, and those state governments that would dare depoliticize the classroom, spare children from leftist propaganda, dismantle DEI, and uphold parental rights.
“Our country is depending on us, on this community, to lead the way from dogmatism back to decency,” Pringle said in her speech, which she mainly shouted at her audience.
Although the NEA resolutions passed at the convention were apparently kept private this year, Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Culture Project and a visiting fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, obtained a copy. The resolutions, referred to as business items, reveal precisely how the radical union intends to wield its power in the coming months.
“It looks like a declaration of war on the Trump administration,” DeAngelis told Blaze News.
‘You really can’t make this stuff up.’
“We already knew that the NEA was basically an arm of the Democrat Party based on their campaign contributions. Nearly all of their political funding is funneled to Democrats’ campaign coffers every single election cycle, and we knew that the NEA supported Kamala Harris in the presidential election,” DeAngelis continued. “But these resolutions take it up a notch.”
According to the images of the documents obtained by DeAngelis and corroborated in a report in Education Week, one of the business items adopted at the convention obligates the NEA to “defend against Trump’s embrace of fascism by using the term facism [sic] in NEA materials to correctly characterize Donald Trump’s program and actions.”
The NEA indicated that the price tag on this initiative is an “additional $3,500.”
RELATED: MASSIVE VICTORY: SCOTUS sides with parents; Alito nukes LGBT indoctrination campaign
Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage
“You really can’t make this stuff up,” DeAngelis said. “You have the nation’s largest teachers’ union, in their attempt to call the president a ‘fascist,’ misspell the word. It’s another bit of free advertising for school choice and homeschooling.”
Another business item adopted at the convention, according to the documents provided by DeAngelis, commits the union to using “existing media channels to oppose any move to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education as an illegal, anti-democratic, and racist attempt to destroy public education and privatize it in the interest of the billionaires.”
“I don’t know how in the world they can say getting rid of the Department of Education, which has failed at every academic metric for low-income and minority kids, is somehow racist,” DeAngelis told Blaze News. “If anything, keeping that department around has more roots in racism than anything since it has failed to close achievement gaps and to get black kids, in particular, at proficiency levels in reading and math.”
‘They’re trying to subvert the will of parents.’
The documents provided by DeAngelis indicate that the NEA, which equated states’ rights with Jim Crow, also adopted a business item to support “affiliates in states where legislative bodies have taken or are taking actions that silence educators, restrict collective bargaining, remove fair dismissal protections, or other actions that negatively affect public education, educators, and potential voter suppression laws that seek to undermine public education.”
RELATED: Why indoctrinated kids just handed the Big Apple to a radical Marxist
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
According to the language of this business item, which singles out Arkansas and South Carolina as states in “extreme need,” the support could take various forms, including lobbying, providing legal assistance, and “mobilizing retired and current NEA members.”
The teachers’ union appears keen to continue turning American students against their government, in part by championing student protests against both law enforcement and Trump’s policies.
“NEA opposes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) kidnapping of student leaders and supports students’ right to organize against ICE raids and deportations,” says business item 63, among those apparently adopted at the convention. “We will protect our students’ right to free speech and defend their right to dissent and organize against Trump’s policies, including attacks against LGBTQ+ students, and against racism.”
Such efforts might have to wait a year, as the NEA indicated that “this item cannot be accomplished with current staff and resources under the 2025-26 Modified Strategic Plan and Budget.”
In addition to supporting student uprisings, the documents provided by DeAngelis indicate the NEA adopted another resolution declaring its support for mass movements against the government, including the “No Kings” protests and the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in Los Angeles.
When asked about the relevance of the NEA’s agenda to parents, DeAngelis said, “These resolutions are your wake-up call to homeschool your kids,” and reiterated, “It’s free advertising for school choice.”
“Would you want these lunatics at the National Education Association like Becky Pringle teaching your kids? Do you want them to help you raise your children? Do you want them to push back against everything you’re trying to do in the household?” said DeAngelis. “They’re trying to subvert the will of parents.”
DeAngelis underscored that teachers’ unions don’t regard schools as a place for kids to read, write, and learn math but rather as the means “to control the minds of other people’s children” and “churn out more Democrat foot soldiers to push their progressive worldview on the rest of the country.”
“We must use our power to take action that leads, action that liberates, action that lasts,” Pringle said in her speech, adding that the NEA is going to “educate, communicate, organize, mobilize, litigate, legislate, elect.”
Blaze News has reached out to the NEA for comment and to confirm the authenticity of the provided documents.
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National education association, Nea, Teachers union, Teachers unions, Teachers, Education, Indoctrination, Becky pringle, Leftism, Schools, Department of education, Trump, Donald trump, Trump administration, Politics
10 members of terror cell charged with attempted murder over ‘ambush’ attack on ICE facility, feds say
A terror attack on an ICE facility in Texas has led to attempted murder charges against 10 members of an Antifa terror cell, according to federal prosecutors.
On the Fourth of July, a local Texas officer was shot in the neck by anti-ICE activists just outside of the North Texas ICE facility in Alvarado near Forth Worth. On Tuesday, prosecutors released more information about the alleged terrorists who were arrested for their part in that plot.
Police also found a flag reading, ‘Resist Fascism. Fight Oligarchy,’ as well as masks, goggles, gloves, weapons, fireworks, flyers, and body armor.
Eleven people were arrested, and of those, 10 were charged with three counts of attempted murder of a federal officer. The 11th person is facing a charge of obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors said the “coordinated attack” on the ICE facility involved 10 to 12 people clothed in black militaristic garb and began at about 10:30 p.m. Members of the group fired off fireworks and vandalized vehicles at the facility in an apparent attempt to lure the officers out of the building.
“Make no mistake — this was not a so-called peaceful protest. It was indeed an ambush,” said acting U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson.
Two unarmed officers walked out to talk to the group, and an officer with the Alvarado Police Department also responded. The officer was shot in the neck by someone in the woods, and another person fired between 20 and 30 rounds at the ICE officers.
The group members fled from the scene but were apprehended later by officers. They were found with guns and a Kevlar vest, according to law enforcement.
Prosecutors said that a jammed AR-style firearm was recovered from the scene. Police also reportedly found a flag reading, “Resist Fascism. Fight Oligarchy,” as well as masks, goggles, gloves, weapons, fireworks, flyers, and body armor.
The officer who was shot is expected to survive.
The suspects face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
RELATED: Trump administration mocks Mexicans rioting over American citizens immigrating to Mexico City
“This was an egregious attack on federal and local law enforcement officers, and it is part of an increasing trend of violence against them,” said Larson. “This will not be tolerated. Those who use violence against law enforcement officers will be found, and they will be prosecuted with the toughest criminal statutes and penalties that we have available to us.”
Republicans have been excoriating some Democrats for their overheated rhetoric against ICE officers and have tried to link the hysterics to violence against federal officers.
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Alvarado ice attack, Anti-ice terrorists, Terror attack on ice facility, Attack on ice, Politics
Parents fail to prevent thug from grabbing, walking off with their little boy — but succeed in taking perp down
Sharon Robinson — the mother of a 6-year-old boy who was nearly abducted Sunday night on a New York City street — told WNYW-TV that a stranger grabbed her son “unbeknownst” to her.
“Somebody ran to [my son] and scooped him up unbeknownst to me,” Robinson recalled to WNYW after the incident on Coney Island. “I heard him yell. I turn around. There’s a complete stranger with my son, footballing him like a football, holding him in his arm and running away.”
‘Why was that little boy so far away from his parents in the 1st place[?]’
The child’s family said they were walking together from an amusement park near the intersection of Surf and Stillwell Avenues, the station reported.
The family added to WNYW that a male picked up the child; the station said he could be heard on video calling for one of his parents as he was lifted off the sidewalk.
The following video report shows the incident unfolding — as well as the suspect throwing the boy to the sidewalk as his parents approach and then the parents running after the suspect:
Robinson in the aftermath added to WNYW: “I run towards him. I say, ‘Hey, what happened?’ He ignores me, keeps running. When he saw he couldn’t outrun me, he slammed [my son] to the ground, midair, hit the concrete. His knees hit the [ground], he’s screaming. I couldn’t worry about that, I had to go catch him ’cause the police were doing nothing.”
Robinson’s son — identified as Rah’Shem Gantt, according to WABC-TV — told WNYW afterward, “It was scary. I bumped into the guy to go to the candy shop, get popcorn, and the guy throw me on the ground for [no] reason. Then all the people said stop. He threw me on the ground.”
Roy Gantt, the boy’s father, added to WABC that “when I turned around, I noticed a man pick him up and run by way of the boardwalk. Once he saw us chasing him, he threw [Rah’Shem] down. It sounded like he hit his head on the concrete.”
Gantt told WABC that he and the boy’s mother chased the man and pinned him down for about four minutes until police arrived.
“That was someone who attempted to kidnap my son, then assaulted him,” Gantt added to WABC, which noted that several witnesses on the crowded street stayed with the crying boy and his toddler sister while their parents pursued the suspect.
“The cops came and thought we were jumping on somebody for no reason,” Gantt recounted to WABC. “We had 10, 15 people come up and vouch for us.”
Robinson recounted to WNBC-TV, “I run across the street, and I tackle the guy … [but] the police jumped on me and slammed me against the window ’cause they thought I was attacking the guy. I tried to explain, ‘Hey, this stranger slammed [my] baby on the ground.'”
“I had my foot on his chest to hold him down,” she noted to WABC. “I didn’t have the heart to stomp him. Violence is not my way.”
Police told WNYW that 36-year-old Jonathan Robalino is the male seen in the video attempting to run off with the child — and he faces charges of assault, attempted kidnapping, and failure to exercise control of a minor.
WNBC, citing police sources, said Robalino has seven prior arrests. A member of the Guardian Angels group said Robalino is known in the area and may suffer from mental illness, WNBC added.
The child was treated for a head injury at Coney Island Hospital and is expected to recover, WNBC reported.
While commenters on WABC’s video report praised the boy’s parents for catching the suspect, others wrote that they should have kept a closer eye on their son. It isn’t clear in the video how far away the parents were from their child, but the clip shows that once the perp picks up the kid, it takes his parents about four seconds to get to the man before he throws their son to the sidewalk.
Here are some of the comments giving kudos to — and criticizing — the mom and dad:
“Parents of the YEAR!” one commenter wrote. “You saved your adorable baby boy, and many more by refusing to let him get away, you are awesome!!””Love how the parents protected him, but keep your children close don’t let them out of your sight,” another user advised.”Why was that little boy so far away from his parents in the 1st place[?]” another user wondered.”I see young children alone away from parents as they chat among themselves,” another commenter observed. “Pay attention, those kinds of people are out there, ok.””Awful criminals, parents keep an eye at all times, very scary,” another user wrote.”Why was the child standing on the curb behind the parents[?]” another commenter asked.”Ummmm, why is your six-year-old not close to yall[?]” another user inquired.
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Crime thwarted, New york city, Coney island, Parents, Child, Attempted child abduction, Parents tackle suspect, Arrest, Assault charge, Attempted kidnapping charge, Failure to exercise control of a minor charge, Crime
Supreme Court gives Trump major victory on mass federal layoffs
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a near-unanimous order temporarily allowing President Donald Trump to restart his plan for mass federal layoffs after he was blocked by lower courts.
The 8-1 ruling had a lone dissenter: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
‘The inevitable consequence is … frustrating the government’s efforts to impose budgetary discipline and build a more efficient workforce.’
The president had ordered mass firings as part of his plan to cut down the size of the federal government, but in May, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of San Francisco ruled against him and blocked the action.
Illston said the president “likely must request congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks” and ordered 20 executive-branch entities and “any other individuals acting under their authority or the authority of the president” to refuse layoff orders.
“As history demonstrates, the president may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress,” she wrote.
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the district court had overstepped its legislative authority in the order and called on the Supreme Court to allow Trump’s layoffs to continue as planned.
“The inevitable consequence is to compel federal agencies to keep large numbers of employees on the payroll without necessity, at unrecoverable taxpayer expense, thereby frustrating the government’s efforts to impose budgetary discipline and build a more efficient workforce,” wrote Sauer.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court sided with the president to allow the plan while litigation continues.
In her dissent, Brown Jackson accused the rest of the court of demonstrating an “enthusiasm for greenlighting this president’s legally dubious actions in an emergency posture.”
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously denied an appeal from the government in June and sided with Illston’s ruling.
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Supreme court trump victory, Trump wins at supreme court, Trump layoff plan, Federal layoffs, Politics
Microsoft rejects idea that company is replacing American workers with foreign labor after massive layoffs
Tech giant Microsoft has denied media reports that it has replaced American workers with those from other countries through visa programs.
It has been just two months since Microsoft cut 7,000 employees, or roughly 3% of its workforce, in May, including almost 2,000 in Washington state. Last week, Microsoft wasted little time before implementing another round of mass layoffs.
‘We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success.’
On Wednesday, Microsoft announced another round of cuts that affects 4% of the workforce, which totals around 9,000 employees losing their jobs, according to CNN.
A spokesperson from Microsoft told CNN that the cuts are simply a case of reducing managerial layers while becoming more productive through new technologies.
“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,” the statement claimed.
With the last formal count of Microsoft workers from 2024 standing at 228,000, some are speculating that the thousands upon thousands of layoffs — including 10,000 in 2023 — are made possibly by the use of artificial intelligence. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella even said in April that as much as 30% of the company’s code has been written by AI.
This does not paint the whole picture, however, as figures from the Department of Labor suggest that Microsoft is relying heavily on foreign labor for large numbers of its workforce in the United States.
Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images
As first noted by WorldNetDaily, statistics from the Office of Foreign Labor Certification showed that Microsoft has requested thousands of foreign workers through the temporary specialty occupations program.
In total, the company filed 14,181 Labor Condition Applications to sponsor foreign workers for temporary employment visas through initiatives like the H-1B program.
Also according to WorldNetDaily, the May layoffs, which included 817 software engineers, coincided with Microsoft submitting over 6,000 H-1B requests for software engineer roles that matched the same job titles and locations as those of the American employees who received their marching papers.
In a statement to Blaze News, however, Microsoft rejected the implication of these reports.
“It’s wrong to suggest our H-1B applications are in any way related to the recent job eliminations in part because employees on H-1Bs also lost their roles,” Microsoft’s David Cuddy explained. “This data far exceeds the actual H-1B petitions we filed the past 12 months, and 78% of those were extensions for existing employees and not new employees coming to the U.S.”
RELATED: Don’t let rural America become the next New York City
Image via Department of Labor
Blaze News asked the Department of Labor to explain the statistics and clarify whether the number in question included visa extensions, previously existing visas, and more. The federal department did not respond.
Blaze News also asked investor David L. Bahnsen of the Bahnsen Group about the DOL statistics, and he stated that the vast majority of foreign contributions to “high-end aspects” of the U.S. labor market “come in specialized sectors where the U.S. talent pool lags far behind Indian and Asian contributors (math and science).”
The investor also advocated for an increased number of H-1B visas from the federal government.
The Microsoft Corporation filed the third-most requests for H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 visas in the second quarter of 2025, according to the Labor Department. This placed the company behind NVIDIA, which requested a massive 27,244 foreign workers, while Amazon had even more at 31,817.
Cisco and Oracle were lower on the list, along with three divisions of Goldman Sachs and Amazon Web Services.
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Microsoft, Foreign labor, News, Lay offs, Washington, Software engineer, H-1b, Visas, Politics
Metropolitan Police Department refuses public access to Jan. 6 use-of-force reports
The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department refused to provide Blaze News with copies of the Use of Force Incident Reports from its massive presence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Blaze News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with MPD on May 15, seeking the officer-prepared reports on the use of force for crowd control at the Capitol during the explosive Jan. 6 protests and subsequent rioting.
‘No, you’re going to kill her!’
Under MPD policy, the department had until June 2 to provide a response to the Blaze News request, but failed to do so until June 10.
“Your request was considered,” wrote MPD FOIA specialist Shania Hughes in a letter to Blaze News.
“A review of our records determined the information you seek is law enforcement sensitive and not for public release.”
Hughes’ letter cited §2-534(a)(4) of the Code of the District of Columbia, which states:
The following matters may be exempt from disclosure under the provisions of this subchapter: Inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters, including memorandums or letters generated or received by the staff or members of the Council, which would not be available by law to a party other than a public body in litigation with the public body.
The D.C. Code makes no mention of the subjective and nebulous term “law enforcement sensitive.”
Hughes’ letter said release of the details of force used against protesters at the Capitol “would constitute as a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” She cited §2-534(a)(2) and §2-534(a)(3)(c) of the D.C. Code, which make reference to “information of a personal nature” that would “constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
RELATED: Former Jan. 6 defendant gets life sentence for plot to kill FBI agents, other law enforcement
MPD Sgt. Frank Edwards fires crowd-control munitions into the packed West Plaza crowd at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. Department of Justice / Metropolitan Police Department
The sections of D.C. Code do not define the term “personal privacy” or explain why it applies to police officers employed by a government agency who were on duty during rioting at the Capitol.
Blaze News filed another FOIA request with MPD on May 1, seeking a record of all Jan. 6 use-of-force complaints. The department returned a spreadsheet listing a single complaint having to do with “shoving.”
Jacqueline Hazzan, legal counsel for the MPD Office of Police Complaints, said the details of that complaint would not be released because they would “reveal information about the agency’s internal deliberative process before it was completed” and “cause an unwarranted invasion of others’ personal privacy.”
The issue of police use of force on Jan. 6 still draws interest 4.5 years later because of what is contained on Capitol Police CCTV security video, MPD bodycam footage, and third-party videos that were often seized by the FBI for use in prosecuting close to 1,600 people who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
‘It wasn’t until I saw the video that I realized how bad it was.’
Metropolitan Police routinely refuse to release any bodycam footage from Jan. 6. Former Jan. 6 defendants have posted a large cache of MPD bodycam video, but the department practice has been that the public is not allowed access to Jan. 6 video.
Blaze News covered a high-impact use-of-force case in the point-blank shooting of Pennsylvania dump-truck driver Mark Griffin with a 40mm shell filled with hard rubber baton rounds. The shot — fired by an officer, according to video — split Griffin’s left femur from top to bottom. The injury required several surgical procedures to repair, including insertion of a titanium plate with 14 screws.
Sgt. Frank Edwards, the officer who video shows fired the shot, told a colleague late in the day on Jan. 6 that MPD went through 500 crowd-control munition shells, grenades, and gas canisters that day.
Other prominent Jan. 6 use-of-force cases included the beating of protester Rosanne Boyland by MPD Officer Lila Morris. Boyland had collapsed at the mouth of the Lower West Terrace Tunnel and appeared to be lifeless when Morris used a wooden walking stick to strike Boyland in the face, head, and ribs, according to video evidence.
Metropolitan Police Department Officer Lila Morris winds up with a wooden walking stick to strike protester Luke Coffee and shortly turns her fury to a lifeless Rosanne Boyland outside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. Department of Justice/Metropolitan Police Department Bodycam
It is unknown the extent of injuries Boyland suffered as a result. Third-party video and bodycam footage showed that Boyland was bleeding from her right eye and her nose. There was a visible injury above her right eye that was not mentioned or documented by paramedics, the emergency room physician, or the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in its autopsy report.
The use of the walking stick against Boyland was “brought to our attention and reviewed thoroughly,” MPD public affairs specialist Alaina Gertz told the Epoch Times in April 2022. The review “did not substantiate the allegations you have outlined,” she said, suggesting that the videos of Morris striking Boyland were not properly vetted for “authenticity.”
Bagshaw had ‘gone hands-on with demonstrators in Washington for years.’
The Epoch Times filed a FOIA request for Officer Morris’ Jan. 6 bodycam footage, but MPD refused to grant access, saying releasing the video would violate Morris’ privacy.
Protester Victoria C. White of Rochester, Minn., was beaten in the head, neck, and face by then-Lt. Jason Bagshaw and other officers inside the Lower West Terrace tunnel about 20 minutes before Boyland collapsed, video showed. Capitol Police CCTV security video and MPD bodycam footage showed that White was struck nearly 40 times with steel riot batons and fists.
At 4:11 p.m., a bystander at the tunnel mouth repeatedly tried to intervene to protect White. He shouted at police, “No, no, no, no. Please … please don’t beat her!” and “No, you’re going to kill her!” according to the bodycam of MPD Officer Andrew Wayte. In one violent series, Bagshaw repeatedly pummeled White in the side of the face with a closed fist, security video showed.
“It wasn’t until I saw the video that I realized how bad it was,” White said in a 2022 Jan. 6 documentary. She sued Bagshaw and MPD Officer Neil McAllister in March 2024. That lawsuit is ongoing before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols.
RELATED: Fact-check: President Trump authorized 20,000 National Guard troops for duty on Jan. 6, 2021
Protester Victoria White is tossed around by police during a severe beating in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Bodycam Images/Metropolitan Police Department
The lawsuit said White was subjected to “objectively unreasonable, excessive, and indeed, deadly force that shocks the conscience.”
Bagshaw has been with MPD for more than 22 years. A July 2022 article in the Washington Post said Bagshaw has “gone hands-on with demonstrators in Washington for years, winning colleagues’ respect but drawing criticism from demonstrators.” The article did not mention Bagshaw’s actions against White in the tunnel on Jan. 6. Bagshaw was promoted to commander in April 2022.
The FBI began collecting use-of-force data from law enforcement agencies nationwide on Jan. 1, 2019. Of 18,514 federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide, 5,481 reported use-of-force data to the FBI. Participation in the National Use-of-Force Data Collection is encouraged, but not mandatory.
Both MPD and the Metro Transit Police Department supply use-of-force data to the FBI, according to the FBI Crime Data Explorer.
In 2024, 11,445 of the nation’s 19,277 law enforcement agencies participated in the data collection system. The reporting agencies represent 72% of federal, state, local, and tribal sworn officers nationwide, according to the FBI.
In 2024, the primary uses of force reported included firearms, hands/fists/feet, canine, and electronic control weapons such as a taser, according to the database. Police uses of force were a response to failure to comply with verbal commands, attempt to escape or flee from custody, using a firearm against an officer or other person, displaying a weapon at an officer, and resisting being handcuffed or arrested, the FBI reported.
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Trump IRS realizes the president’s years-old promise to churches
Church leaders have long been limited in what they can say to their congregations about political candidates and political matters as a result of an amendment introduced in 1954 by then-Democratic Senator Lyndon Johnson, who was supposedly keen on hamstringing his political opponents.
President Donald Trump, making good on a 2016 campaign promise, took action against the so-called Johnson Amendment in his first term, signing an executive order directing his Treasury Department to effectively halt its enforcement.
“Faith is deeply embedded into the history of our country, the spirit of our founding, and the soul of our nation,” Trump said at the time. “We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied, or silenced anymore.”
Despite numerous attempts, Republicans have been unable in the years since to go the distance and pass legislation repealing the amendment, leaving its enforcement up in the air.
This proved to be an issue for organizations such as Grace Church in St. Louis, Missouri, and New Way Church in Palm Coast, Florida, which were investigated by the IRS during the Biden years for alleged violations of the Johnson Amendment.
The Internal Revenue Service agreed in federal court Monday, however, that church leaders are now free not only to speak to their congregations about electoral politics but to endorse political candidates without worrying about losing their tax-exempt statuses.
The ban
The Internal Revenue Code prohibits churches and other tax-exempt nonprofit organizations “from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.”
RELATED: Wake-up call: This is what happens when Christians are afraid to offend
Blaze Media Illustration
According to a 2007 IRS publication clarifying how churches could avoid violating the ban and possibly losing tax-exempt status, church leaders can speak for themselves, as individuals, freely on political matters as well as address issues of public policy.
They cannot, however, “make partisan comments in official organization publications or at official functions of the organization.”
‘First Amendment rights don’t end when a pastor, church member, or even a political candidate steps on the platform of a church.’
Progressives have long championed this ban. After all, it serves to attenuate the influence of religious leaders in American politics.
Conservatives, alternatively, have argued that the so-called Johnson Amendment stifles free speech; limits the ability of religious leaders, acting in their official capacities, to become more fully involved in the political process; and creates a legal environment ripe for abuse and biased enforcement.
The win
The National Religious Broadcasters and a pair of Texas-based churches sued the IRS in August, claiming that “churches are placed in a unique and discriminatory status by the IRC” and that the agency “operates in a manner that disfavors conservative organizations and conservative, religious organizations in its enforcement of § 501(c)(3).”
The religious coalition’s complaint — which alleged that the Johnson Amendment violated their First and Fifth Amendment rights as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — stressed that churches should have the same freedom of speech as the hundreds of newspapers organized under § 501(c)(3) that are permitted to openly endorse political candidates.
In a joint court filing intended to settle the lawsuit on Monday, the IRS confirmed that endorsing candidates does not qualify as taking part or intervening in a political campaign.
“When a house of worship in good faith speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith, it neither ‘participate[s]’ nor ‘intervene[s]’ in a ‘political campaign,’ within the ordinary meaning of those words,” the filing says.
“Bona fide communications internal to a house of worship, between the house of worship and its congregation, in connection with religious services, do neither of those things, any more than does a family discussion concerning candidates,” the filing continues. “Thus, communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services through its usual channels of communication on matters of faith do not run afoul of the Johnson Amendment as properly interpreted.”
The agency indicated that this interpretation of the Johnson Amendment is “in keeping with the IRS’s treatment of the Johnson Amendment in practice,” citing Trump’s 2017 executive order.
Blaze News reached out to the White House and to the IRS for comment but did not immediately receive responses.
“First Amendment rights don’t end when a pastor, church member, or even a political candidate steps on the platform of a church,” First Liberty Institute, the legal outfit that represented Grace Church and New Way Church in their battles with the IRS, said in a statement obtained by Blaze News. “The IRS weaponized the Johnson Amendment to silence churches and pastors for decades. This is great news for religious organizations, churches, and religious liberty.”
Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, told the New York Times that this outcome “basically tells churches of all denominations and sects that you’re free to support candidates from the pulpit.”
“It also says to all candidates and parties, ‘Hey, time to recruit some churches,'” added Mayer.
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Agriculture secretary unveils plan to stop China’s farmland grab, bio-material smuggling threats
The Trump administration is moving to prevent foreign adversaries from owning farmland in the United States, following reports that foreign entities own nearly 45 million acres of agricultural land.
During a Tuesday morning press conference, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the National Farm Security Action Plan, a multi-agency effort to protect America’s food supply by banning foreign rivals, including Chinese entities, from purchasing farmland in the U.S.
‘We are working to issue regulatory action to remove over 550 entities from foreign countries of concern from our preferred catalog.’
Rollins was joined at the press briefing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.
“American agriculture is not just about feeding our families but about protecting our nation and standing up to foreign adversaries who are buying our farmland, stealing our research, and creating dangerous vulnerabilities in the very systems that sustain us,” Rollins stated.
The action plan includes “seven critical areas,” as outlined on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website. These areas focus on increasing transparency and imposing stricter penalties for foreign ownership of farmland. Additionally, it emphasizes redirecting domestic investments to strengthen supply chain resilience, combating foreign crime syndicates and biological threats, safeguarding research, and ensuring the USDA aligns with the administration’s America First agenda.
The USDA aims to partner with state leaders and members of Congress to swiftly implement executive action and legislation to prevent “countries of concern or other foreign adversaries” from purchasing farmland.
RELATED: From Wuhan to Michigan: Feds nab ANOTHER Chinese scholar in alleged bio-material smuggling plot
Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Rollins stated that the Trump administration would use presidential authorities to “claw back what has already been purchased by China and other foreign adversaries.”
She noted that she signed a memo on Tuesday, canceling USDA-affiliated contracts or research arrangements with 70 citizens from countries of concern.
Rollins added, “We are working to issue regulatory action to remove over 550 entities from foreign countries of concern from our preferred catalog.”
The agency will roll out an online portal for those in the agricultural industry to “report possible false or failed reporting and compliance with respect to [the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act].”
As of December 2023, nearly 45 million acres of agricultural land are owned by foreign countries, including hundreds of thousands of acres by Chinese entities, according to a report by AFIDA.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Another top goal of the administration’s action plan is to address biological material threats. This follows reports in June that federal authorities arrested multiple Chinese nationals who allegedly attempted to smuggle biological material into the United States.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Bondi stated that two of the individuals allegedly involved in the schemes had ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
“It’s going to stop. FBI has opened over 100 bio-smuggling investigations in recent years,” Bondi said.
She also stated that the administration is cracking down on pesticide trafficking across the southern border, noting that “illegal and highly toxic chemicals from Mexico were smuggled into the U.S.”
“The Department of Justice is prioritizing the arrest of those illegal aliens doing it,” Bondi added.
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‘Bulls**t piece published by a bulls**t rag’: Ted Cruz comms director lashes out at Texas flooding report from Daily Beast
While emergency officials continue to search for bodies and survivors from the devastating and lethal flooding in Texas, the Daily Beast is using the occasion to bash a Republican senator.
At least 108 people have died from the natural disaster at latest count, including many children who were staying at Camp Mystic when the floods rushed through Kerr County.
‘In the first few hours of this flood, I was on the phone with Governor Abbott, was on the phone with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.’
On Monday, the Daily Beast published a report claiming that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was on vacation in Athens, Greece, as the rescue operations continued in Texas. Cruz and his wife were spotted at the Parthenon on Saturday, according to the report, about 24 hours after reports of the flooding started to surface.
Macarena Martinez, the communications director for Cruz, excoriated the outlet in a statement on social media.
“A bulls**t piece published by a bulls**t rag outlet with no credibility, and with no regard for the tragedy in Texas. The Senator is on the ground in Texas and arrived as fast as humanly possible,” Martinez wrote.
“I explained all of this to their two-faced reporter,” she added.
The Daily Beast updated its article with the statement from Martinez.
The report documented that Cruz returned to Texas by Sunday and indicated at a press conference about the flooding that he was on the phone with emergency officials within hours of the first report of flooding.
“In the first few hours of this flood, I was on the phone with Governor Abbott, was on the phone with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. I was on the phone with Nim Kidd, the head of the Texas Department of Emergency Management, and then I called President Trump,” said Cruz on Monday.
RELATED: Brian Stelter suggests media partly to blame for ‘warning fatigue’ amid tragic flood deaths
“He was having dinner at the time, it was still early in what was transpiring, and I wanted him to know,” he continued. “I said, ‘Mr. President, from everything we’re hearing right now, this appears to be bad, really bad.'”
Blaze News reached out to the Daily Beast reporters who worked on the article for comment. Political correspondent Farrah Tomazin had no comment but directed Blaze News to a statement from the Daily Beast’s executive editor.
“You asked to go off the record when we asked for comment, which we agreed to believing it was a good faith request,” wrote Hugh Dougherty to Martinez on social media.
“So yes you did explain it, but you didn’t want [to be] quoted by name and omitted to mention that in this post,” he added. “Now that’s changed we have updated our story.”
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Daily beast vs ted cruz, Ted cruz in athens, Macarena martinez vs daily beast, Texas flooding, Politics
Justice for Laken Riley at risk? Shocking court decision could give vicious killer a new trial.
The illegal alien gangster convicted in the vicious slaying of beloved nursing student Laken Riley may get a new trial after a shocking ruling from the same judge who found him guilty.
On Thursday, Judge Patrick Haggard ruled that Jose Ibarra must undergo a mental health evaluation. Ibarra’s appeals attorneys had claimed in court documents filed last month that Ibarra has a “congenital deficiency” and a diminished “mental capacity” that could have affected his ability to make decisions during Riley’s murder and the subsequent trial.
‘This court has found it appropriate for an evaluation to be conducted at the public expense.’
Ibarra is “suffering from congenital deficiency which could render the client incapable of preparing a defense and standing trial,” the lawyers wrote, according to the New York Post.
They added that Ibarra “lacks the mental capacity to understand the nature and object and proceedings and [counsel] believes that this was in existence at the time of the offense and at the time of the trial.”
RELATED: Trump signs Laken Riley Act, marking the first law of his new administration
Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
Last fall, Ibarra waived his right to a jury and instead opted for a bench trial. On November 20, Judge Haggard found Ibarra guilty of malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstruction of a 911 call, tampering with evidence, and peeping Tom. The judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Ibarra’s appeals attorneys argued that his alleged mental deficiencies may have impacted the decision to opt for a bench trial instead of a jury trial, noting that his trial attorneys did not have his mental health evaluated. They even claimed a “language barrier” may have exacerbated these alleged concerns.
Prosecutor Sheila Ross responded to the motion about a mental health evaluation by noting that nothing presented at trial indicated that Ibarra suffered from mental incompetence.
“There were no challenges or concerns about Defendant’s competency to stand trial during the pretrial and trial proceedings. Moreover, there is nothing in the trial record that would suggest that Defendant was not competent during his trial,” Ross wrote in a June 25 motion obtained by Blaze News.
She also dismissed the “language barrier” allegation, pointing to the “court-certified interpreter who is fluent in both Spanish and English” who assisted Ibarra at pretrial and trial proceedings. However, Ross ultimately did not oppose an evaluation, leaving the decision up to Judge Haggard.
“The mental competence of [Ibarra] has been called into question, and this court has found it appropriate for an evaluation to be conducted at the public expense,” Haggard wrote in his latest ruling.
Haggard demanded that Ibarra be given a “prompt evaluation” by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities either at a Georgia Department of Corrections facility or at a hospital, Fox News reported.
Whether any evaluation has yet been scheduled is unclear. Should authorities determine that Ibarra was mentally unfit, he may be granted a “trial redo,” the Post indicated.
The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia declined a request for comment from Blaze News, citing ongoing litigation.
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
On February 22, 2024, Ibarra attacked Riley, 22, in broad daylight while she was jogging near the campus of the University of Georgia. He ambushed her and attempted to rape her. After she fought back, he brutally bashed her skull with a rock, according to prosecutors. His DNA was discovered under Riley’s fingernails.
Ibarra, 27, and two of his brothers stole into the United States from Venezuela during the border crisis of the Biden administration. Days before his conviction in November, sources within Biden’s Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Ibarra is a member of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
At least one of Ibarra’s brothers is a suspected TDA associate as well. Both brothers have had run-ins with the law since breaking into the U.S., pled guilty to possessing a fraudulent document, and are slated for deportation as part of Operation Take Back America under President Donald Trump.
Jose Ibarra was also arrested for other alleged crimes in New York City prior to moving to Georgia.
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Bench trial, Biden border crisis, Donald trump, Illegal alien crime, Jose ibarra, Laken riley, Patrick haggard, Politics
A man says he’s a woman — and his brain scan ‘proves’ it?
Transgender economist Brian Riedl, who now goes by “Jessica,” claims that his brain scans prove he’s neurologically female.
“Typical male and female brains contain subtle but real differences. And because our genes contain a full blueprint for both male and female development, it is possible even for some people with XX or XY genes to experience chemical changes in the womb that alter some of the gender development signals, particularly to the brain,” Riedl wrote in a post on X defending his transgenderism.
“I knew from age 4 that something was off with my gender, and later participated in several gender medical studies that confirmed a more female brain chemistry/architecture/functioning, hormone levels, and other biological characteristics,” he continued. “Most people who transition are merely aligning the rest of their body with other observable biological gender aspects (mostly in the brain) that emerged before birth.”
BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey is disturbed that even some conservatives are falling for Riedl’s claims.
“This idea that brain scans can prove that you have a female brain — that’s just not true, and it’s not possible,” Stuckey says on “Relatable.” “Now, it could be possible that someone has true, true gender dysphoria.”
“But the remedy for that is to help someone accept their biological reality, not to get them to reject their biological reality, to try to change their outward appearance and try to force everyone else to accept something that will never be true, that a man can become a woman or a woman can become a man,” she continues.
“All of us have different kinds of things wrong with our brain or wrong with our thinking or ways in which our thinking is incongruent with reality. But we don’t try to bend reality to try to fit what our brain wrongly thinks,” she adds.
Riedl also claims that his family life with his wife and children hasn’t changed at all since he transitioned, but Stuckey isn’t buying it.
“I don’t believe you,” she says. “You have two young children, and you think that they accept this. They miss their dad, and this is sowing confusion in their lives. And you are sacrificing their stability on the altar of your desire, and that is the height of selfishness.”
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Interview with Joe Exotic’s deported husband goes OFF THE RAILS
Joe Exotic of “Tiger King” fame isn’t known just for his love of big cats, but also for his love of romance, which he found once again inside a federal lockup in Fort Worth, Texas.
It was there that he met his husband, Jorge Flores Maldonado — but their time together was short-lived. That’s because Maldonado, 33, was deported on May 17 after allegedly driving a car containing six other undocumented immigrants across the U.S.-Mexican border.
The two were married in a prison ceremony last November.
Despite his predicament, Maldonado has found time for an interview from lockup with BlazeTV host Alex Stein of “Prime Time with Alex Stein” and tells him that while he and other inmates were aware of Exotic’s fame, he did not have to compete for his love.
“Did Joe Exotic have a lot of men trying to date him?” Stein asks, while his producer, JVT, translates.
“He said they were trying to get money out of Joe,” JVT says, adding that Maldonado says Exotic’s “health is doing bad” and “he needs a blood transfusion.”
While Maldonado tells Stein that he’s not angry with President Donald Trump or border czar Tom Homan for his deportation, he does believe that he should be legally allowed back into the country.
He also believes Joe Exotic needs to be pardoned, telling Stein that Exotic is not only a “good kisser” but a “great person” who “has cancer.”
However, when asked in 2020 whether he planned to pardon Joe Exotic, Trump explained he didn’t know anything about the case but would “take a look.”
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Interview with Joe Exotic’s deported husband goes OFF THE RAILS
Joe Exotic of “Tiger King” fame isn’t known just for his love of big cats, but also for his love of romance, which he found once again inside a federal lockup in Fort Worth, Texas.
It was there that he met his husband, Jorge Flores Maldonado — but their time together was short-lived. That’s because Maldonado, 33, was deported on May 17 after allegedly driving a car containing six other undocumented immigrants across the U.S.-Mexican border.
The two were married in a prison ceremony last November.
Despite his predicament, Maldonado has found time for an interview from lockup with BlazeTV host Alex Stein of “Prime Time with Alex Stein” and tells him that while he and other inmates were aware of Exotic’s fame, he did not have to compete for his love.
“Did Joe Exotic have a lot of men trying to date him?” Stein asks, while his producer, JVT, translates.
“He said they were trying to get money out of Joe,” JVT says, adding that Maldonado says Exotic’s “health is doing bad” and “he needs a blood transfusion.”
While Maldonado tells Stein that he’s not angry with President Donald Trump or border czar Tom Homan for his deportation, he does believe that he should be legally allowed back into the country.
He also believes Joe Exotic needs to be pardoned, telling Stein that Exotic is not only a “good kisser” but a “great person” who “has cancer.”
However, when asked in 2020 whether he planned to pardon Joe Exotic, Trump explained he didn’t know anything about the case but would “take a look.”
Want more from Alex Stein?
To enjoy more of Alex’s culture jamming, comedic monologues, skits, and street segments, 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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FBI, DOJ Epstein memo sparks right-wing outrage: ‘Nobody is believing this’
The joint memo from the FBI and Department of Justice was meant to provide transparency and increase trust. Unfortunately for the administration, it drew only rampant criticism and distrust that has spread like a wildfire.
On Sunday, the Trump administration released a memorandum that powerfully explained there was nothing to see or hear about the death of infamous financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The memo claimed that after a full investigation where every nook and cranny was searched, there was no “blackmail list,” no sign of co-conspirators, and certainly no evidence of wrongdoing in his death.
This sparked a flurry of negative reactions across social media, with only one prominent conservative backing the administration’s fumble.
‘Was she lying then or is she lying now?’
On Monday, BlazeTV’s Liz Wheeler immediately called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to be fired.
“If I’m President Trump, I would not tolerate this behavior anymore. She has become a LIABILITY to his administration,” Wheeler told host Glenn Beck.
Wheeler added that if the Epstein memo is indeed telling it like it is, the attorney general should not have assumed “its veracity and publicize[d] it for clicks.”
Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison made a series of similar remarks in which he called for releasing any missing documents.
“The DOJ can’t just say ‘case closed’ on Epstein and expect the American people to move on. Full transparency is not optional. This won’t cut it,” Burlison wrote on X.
The congressman even boldly claimed the administration could be concealing information.
“Nobody is believing this. Either they’re hiding something, or they’re inept. Or incompetent,” he added.
With such harsh criticisms being levied at the Trump administration, there were only a few willing to step in and defend them.
RELATED: The Epstein memo is a joke — and the joke’s on us
So far, the Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro is the only prominent conservative to come out in defense of the administration, seemingly taking the facts presented in the memo at face value. Shapiro also insisted that any critics who are dissatisfied with the DOJ and the FBI’s findings ought to produce their own evidence supporting their theories on Epstein.
“Does this put to bed all inquiries? Of course not,” Shapiro said on his show Monday. “People can continue to speculate as much as they want, and I think there are still open questions here regarding how did Epstein make his money. That’s a very serious open question, and the speculation for a long time was he made his money from blackmail.”
Shapiro admitted that some major questions remained unanswered, but he also felt that FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino are telling the truth.
“But the DOJ and the FBI, again, run by people like Dan Bongino and Kash Patel and Pam Bondi … people you elected and put into these positions to get you the truth on this matter are telling you that he was not murdered, he did not keep a client list, and he did not blackmail powerful figures,” Shapiro said.
“If you are willing to throw that over and claim they’re lying, then I’d like to see you present your evidence that they are in fact lying because I know Dan. I don’t think Dan Bongino is lying to me,” Shapiro added. “I know Kash Patel a little bit. I don’t think Kash Patel is lying to me. I don’t think these people are lying to me.”
RELATED: Is the FBI salvageable? Here’s what bureau insiders have to say
Despite Shapiro’s defense of Bondi, Bongino, and Patel’s findings, others have noted that certain discrepancies remain unaddressed.
Critics point to Bondi’s previous remarks about the Epstein files being on her “desk” as evidence that the administration is not being as transparent as they claim.
“Sorry but this is unacceptable,” investigative reporter Robby Starbuck wrote on his X page. “Was she lying then or is she lying now?” he asked.
Similarly, commentator and actor Russell Brand asked what happened to Trump supporters’ aggression toward “deep state obfuscation.”
“We were promised the Epstein client list and flight logs — now we’re being told they don’t even exist,” Brand wrote on X.
Political pundits like Tucker Carlson have gone even further, accusing the FBI and the DOJ of fully participating in a cover-up.
“So let’s just assess this logically,” Carlson said on his show Tuesday. “The current DOJ under Pam Bondi is covering up crimes. Very serious crimes by their own description.”
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Epstein, Pam bondi, Fbi, Doj, Kash patel, Ben shapiro, Trump administration, Politics, Epstein files, Jeffrey epstein, Blackmail, Liz wheeler, Glenn beck, Donald trump, Eric burlison, Tucker carlson, Dan bongino, Russell brand, Robby starbuck
Drug middlemen launch attacks against MAGA allies pushing for health care reforms
Pharmacy benefit managers like CVS are going after President Donald Trump’s allies who are seeking meaningful health care reforms for their constituents.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) have become the primary target of PBMs, which are threatened by their push to implement reforms in drug costs. Threatened by MAGA allies, PBMs have now escalated these conflicts to legal disputes.
‘These massive corporations are attacking our state because we will be the first in the country to hold them accountable.’
RELATED: Who is bankrolling the anti-MAHA movement?
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
In April, Huckabee Sanders signed legislation banning PBMs from “engaging in anticompetitive practices” by owning pharmacies. PBMs are tasked with negotiating drug prices between pharmacies and insurance companies, but by buying up pharmacies, they are able to take advantage of the health care system and inflate the cost of pharmaceuticals, pushing competitors out of business, according to Huckabee Sanders’ press release.
“For far too long, drug middlemen called PBMs have taken advantage of lax regulations to abuse customers, inflate drug prices, and cut off access to critical medications,” Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “Not any more. These massive corporations are attacking our state because we will be the first in the country to hold them accountable for their anticompetitive actions, but Arkansas has never been afraid to be a conservative leader for America.”
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association promptly retaliated and filed a lawsuit challenging the legislation, calling it a “fundamentally flawed law” that they say “could shutter pharmacies, restrict access to critical medications for patients and families, increase health care costs, and eliminate jobs.”
RELATED: Pharmacy middlemen didn’t break health care — the feds did
Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Landry has become involved in his own legal disputes with PBMs. Landry, alongside Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, filed three separate lawsuits against CVS in June for allegedly interfering with legislation that also would have prevented PBMs from owning and simultaneously operating pharmacies.
“PBMs are not health care providers,” Landry said. “They are corporate profiteers inserted into the most intimate part of your life and your health.”
Although several of Trump’s allies have been targeted by PBMs, criticism of the pharmaceutical industry is generally bipartisan.
Mark Cuban recently called out Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts for claiming that Big Pharma is responsible for high drug costs when, he says, PBMs are the real culprit.
“It’s because PBMs corrupt healthcare,” Cuban said in a post on X. “Big Pharma wishes they could set their own pricing. They don’t. PBMs control formularies and manipulate prices, in exchange for providing pharma access to patients. It’s how they maximize rebate revenue. In fact, 3 PBMs NEGOTIATE MORE THAN 90% OF REBATES for commercial insurance plans. That’s your area of expertise, and you have done nothing.”
Cuban’s criticisms promptly earned the unlikely praise of some of the most prominent voices in MAGA world.
“Didn’t think I’d be RTing Mark for a while, but he’s 100% right on this issue,” Donald Trump Jr. replied in a post on X.
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Vance identifies the perfect mascot for the Democrats — then outlines what America actually needs
The Claremont Institute kicked off its “Golden Age Agenda” in San Diego on Saturday by honoring Vice President JD Vance with its 2025 Statesmanship Award.
The conservative think tank appears to regard Vance, who is far and away the front-runner in the 2028 Republican nomination contest, according to a recent Emerson College Polling survey, as best positioned and dispositioned to carry on President Donald Trump’s project of “American renewal and greatness.”
Vance provided additional insights into what his leg of the race might look like should he be handed the baton, as well as into the nature of the left.
RELATED: Exclusive: Vance on Mamdani: ‘Who the hell does he think that he is?’
Ahead of the vice president’s remarks, however, Ryan Williams, the institute’s president, reflected on President Donald Trump’s selection of Vance to be his running mate — a decision that was made nearly a year ago and just days after the attempted assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Williams emphasized that Trump’s “gutsy pick” broke the mold of conventional Republican vice presidential selections, as the decision appeared to be motivated not by improving the president’s chances of winning Ohio nor by reassuring the establishment.
If anything, Vance actually terrified the establishment, as evidenced by various deep-pocketed Republican donors’ open denigration of the Appalachian populist and Rupert Murdoch’s reported lobbying campaign to dissuade Trump from picking Vance.
Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
Williams suggested that Vance was instead chosen because of who he is and what he stands for.
Vance is a “premier advocate” “for a transformative course correction after years of middle American economic stagnation, a bipartisan blindness on the importance of secure borders and sovereignty, and a return to prudence and strategic clarity in foreign policy,” said Williams.
What’s more, “Vance’s story is an American story — a kid rising from tough family circumstances in middle America; serving his country honorably in the Marines and then making his way in law and business; becoming a senator from his home state and then ascending to the vice presidency. This kind of success and political ascent is really only possible in America.”
After expressing gratitude for the award as well as to both the institute and his wife, Vice President Vance — fresh off casting the tiebreaking vote in the Senate last week to pass the president’s “big, beautiful bill” — provided a survey of the political landscape.
Vance noted that rather than learn their lesson after their trouncing at the polls in the 2024 election, the Democrats have embraced the politics that alienated so much of the electorate, as evidenced by Democrats’ support for “33-year-old communist” Zohran Mamdani in the New York Democratic primary.
‘They hate the people in this room.’
Whereas Trump’s victory in 2024 was “rooted in a broad, working- and middle-class coalition, Mamdani’s coalition is almost the inverse of that,” said Vance.
“If you look at his electoral performance, precinct by precinct, what you see is a left that has completely left behind the broad middle of the United States of America. This is a guy who won high-income and college-educated New Yorkers, and especially … young, highly educated New Yorkers, but he was weakest among black voters and weakest among those without a college degree. That’s an interesting coalition,” said the vice president.
RELATED: Vance: Trump’s growth plan ditches cheap labor for real jobs that will fuel American greatness
Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
After pointing out the various contradictions manifest on the left, Vance underscored that the elites-championed coalition of “Islamists, gender studies majors, socially liberal white urbanites, and Big Pharma lobbyists” is not bound together by shared affinities — not even the ideas of Thomas Jefferson or Karl Marx — but by hatred.
“They hate the people in this room. They hate the president of the United States. And most of all, they hate the people who voted for that president of the United States in the last election in November,” continued Vance. “This is the animating principle of the American far left.”
While careful not to conflate everyday Democrat voters with the American far left, Vance said the label accurately applies to the party’s leadership, who are “arsonists” willing to “make common cause with anyone willing to light the match.”
‘There is something about Western liberalism that seems almost suicidal or at least socially parasitic.’
The vice president further suggested Mamdani is a perfect mascot for the Democratic Party, as he “captures so many of the movement’s apparent contradictions in a single human being” and is “not trying to build prosperity. He’s trying to tear something down.”
After faulting the left for lacking a positive vision for the future, Vance discussed ways of maximizing American prosperity and continuing to usher in the “golden age” promised by Trump on Jan. 20.
The vice president noted that by employing the “stick” that is tariffs and the “carrots” that are lower taxes and fewer regulations, the administration hopes to make it easier to save, invest, build businesses, work dignified jobs, and support a family in the United States.
Vance made abundantly clear that this work under way to bring about American renewal is not another liberal project that treats the U.S. as an economic zone and an “idea” with an infinitely replaceable population.
Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
“We are not just producers and consumers,” said Vance. “We are human beings made in the image of God, and we love our home, not just because we earn a living here but because we discover our purpose and our meaning here.”
“Every Western society, as I stand here today, has significant demographic and cultural problems. There is something about Western liberalism that seems almost suicidal or at least socially parasitic. It tends to feed off of the healthy host until there’s nothing left,” continued the vice president.
“They’ve gotten awfully good at tearing things down, but they haven’t gotten good at building back.”
‘This country is not a contradiction.’
After hammering themes of disorientation, disenchantment, and disaffiliation and emphasizing the importance of social cohesion and satisfying the “obligations that we have to our fellow countrymen,” he then identified a number of remedies, many of which the Trump administration is presently pursuing, including defending American sovereignty by securing the border and protecting citizens from “unfair foreign taxes” and “preserving the basic legal privileges of citizenship” like voting or access to state-run benefits programs. He indicated that the government must also avoid entangling Americans “in prolonged, distant wars.”
Vance noted further that citizenship in the 21st century not only means respecting American heritage but necessarily building upon it “together as one American family” — to advance “groundbreaking innovations and to leave homes, and libraries, and factories that our descendants will look at someday and feel a sense of awe.”
“This country is not a contradiction,” he concluded. “It’s a nation of countless extraordinary people across many generations. It’s a land of profound ingenuity and tradition and beauty, but more importantly, it’s our home.”
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Liz Wheeler unleashes fury: FIRE Pam Bondi over Epstein cover-up scandal!
Yesterday, the Department of Justice and the FBI dropped a bombshell: The Epstein client list – the one promised by President Trump and the one Attorney General Pam Bondi said back in February was sitting on her desk pending review – doesn’t exist. The memo asserted that Epstein did not maintain a “client list” for trafficking underage girls and concluded their investigation with no further disclosures planned.
The MAGA outrage was swift. No client list means no accountability for the elites who were complicit in Epstein’s exploitation of young girls.
Many people smell a cover-up, including BlazeTV’s Liz Wheeler. On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Liz told Glenn she believes it’s time for President Trump to fire Pam Bondi.
“People care deeply about the Epstein files because there was a grisly crime that we know for a fact was committed. Epstein was convicted of that,” says Wheeler, adding that it’s no conspiracy theory to say that “there’s evidence of a cover-up.”
Back in February, Liz was among a handful of conservative influencers invited to the White House for the release of what was dubbed “The Epstein Files: Phase 1,” which was presented in official-looking binders that, to many people’s disappointment, contained mostly public documents.
At the event, “Pam Bondi bragged to us about making that cover sheet on the binder – the one that read ‘The most transparent administration in history,’” Wheeler scoffs, noting that Bondi also told her that “she had not seen the SDNY documents” and was anticipating their delivery.
Wheeler claims she’s “tried every way to Sunday to square that behavior with the announcement we got last night from the Department of Justice,” but the only thing that makes sense is duplicity.
“Contextualizing all of this, suddenly this seems like unforgivable behavior,” she says. “How could she give the American people those Phase 1 binders that contained nothing while at the same time bragging about the cover sheet … and tell us that the SDNY had the real goods, that the binder was just proof of a deep-state cover-up … only now to say, ‘Sorry, there’s actually nothing’?”
What’s the truth then?
Wheeler says “it’s possible, maybe even probable” that Bondi was “set up by some deep state FBI career officials trying to make a fool of her.”
“But here’s the thing,” she says, “if you are smart, if you are savvy, if you are sharp enough to be the attorney general of the United States, you verify such information; you don’t assume its veracity and publicize it for clicks, and that’s what she did.”
If this is true, then Bondi’s judgment must be called into question, Wheeler argues, asking, “Is she just click-thirsty? Is she wanting to be a Fox News star?”
“I say this somewhat sorrowfully: If I’m President Trump, I would not tolerate this behavior anymore,” she says. “[Bondi] has become a liability to his administration. … It’s time to move on.”
To hear more, watch the clip above.
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Trump’s inner circle under attack: AI fraudster impersonates Rubio to manipulate top officials
President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly battling impersonation campaigns amid warnings that artificial intelligence-powered security threats are becoming increasingly more common.
An unknown culprit reportedly used AI to imitate Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s voice to contact top officials, according to a July 3 cable from the State Department obtained by the Washington Post.
‘The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal.’
The individual reportedly used text messaging and Signal to contact “at least five non-Department individuals, including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a U.S. member of Congress.”
The imposter apparently began the scheme in mid-June, creating a Signal account with the display name “Marco.Rubio@state.gov,” which is not Rubio’s official email address.
“The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal,” the agency’s cable read.
The State Department speculated that the culprit was likely attempting to manipulate the officials “with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts.”
The department’s correspondence did not reveal the names of the officials whom the imposter contacted, the contents of the messages, or whether those officials responded.
RELATED: Deep-staters threaten to use color revolution tactics against Trump admin: Report
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
Bad actors also impersonated other State Department personnel, according to the federal agency.
The State Department told the Post that it would “carry out a thorough investigation and continue to implement safeguards to prevent this from happening in the future.”
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is investigating the incident. The State Department urged U.S. diplomats to report any impersonation attempts to the bureau, while non-State Department personnel should alert the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
This is not the first time that the Trump administration has faced impersonation attempts.
RELATED: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act hides a big, ugly AI betrayal
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
In May, a fraudster reportedly breached the phone of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The culprit impersonated Wiles while making calls and sending messages to senators, governors, and business executives.
Around the same time, the FBI issued a public service announcement warning that “malicious actors” had been impersonating U.S. officials since April, sending text messages and AI-generated voice messages to gain access to personal accounts.
“One way the actors gain such access is by sending targeted individuals a malicious link under the guise of transitioning to a separate messaging platform. Access to personal or official accounts operated by U.S. officials could be used to target other government officials, or their associates and contacts, by using trusted contact information they obtain,” the FBI’s alert read.
The FBI declined a request for comment from the Post.
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