Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has taken it upon himself to right the wrongs of the Biden administration, which unlawfully kicked service members out of the military after they refused to shoot themselves up with the COVID jab.

“We all know that the previous administration issued unlawful orders on mandatory vaccines, on an experimental vaccine — COVID-19. You know it. We know it. We’re doing everything we can, as quickly as we can, to reinstate those who were affected by that policy,” Hegseth said in a statement.

“It hasn’t been perfect, and we know that. We’re having an ongoing conversation with you to get it right, working with the White House as well. We want anyone impacted by that vaccine mandate back into the military. People of conscience, warriors of conscience — back in our formations,” he continued.

Hegseth then announced that he signed a memorandum that directs the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness to “provide additional guidance to the boards that are reviewing these cases concerning the review of requests from service members and former service members adversely impacted by COVID-19 vaccine mandate.”

“The guidance also will facilitate the removal of adverse actions on service members solely for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, including discharge upgrades and less than fully honorable discharges for individuals separated for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine,” Hegseth explained.

Steve Deace of the “Steve Deace Show” is thrilled that Hegseth is declaring the mandate unlawful and getting those brave enough to refuse it back into the military.

“I want to say thank you to Pete Hegseth, man,” Deace says. “The key phrase for people, that you need to understand why it’s key, that Pete Hegseth said, ‘This was an unlawful order.’”

“Him saying that, and saying it on the record,” he continues, “that is essentially the secretary of defense saying, ‘I am tired of working through bureaucratic channels, and I’ve got too much to handle,’ because what these bureaucrats do is take every one of these 8,000 service members and little by little try to bog them down and prove that the devil is in the details.”

“This is him testifying as a witness in any form of a proceeding, or in any filing, in court on behalf of those 8,000-plus military members. That’s why that is so key and vital,” he adds.

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Two men were arrested and charged with a hate crime over the alleged assault of a couple they encountered late on April 5, according to Connecticut police.

Ryan Eustace and Ryley Haddock, both 28 years old, allegedly assaulted a man of Indian descent and his girlfriend as they were walking at about midnight on Center Street in Southington, a town of 43,000 residents near the center of the state.

Police arrested the men at the scene and determined that they assaulted the man because of his Indian heritage.

Police say the two men made derogatory statements and racial slurs against the man before they assaulted the couple.

Eustace allegedly began the altercation by punching the man in the face, and Haddock joined in the assault. After the man’s girlfriend tried to stop the assault, she was attacked before Eustace put the man in a headlock and restricted his ability to breathe.

The man suffered a bloody nose, a broken tooth, and cuts on his face, while the woman also had injuries to her face and legs. Neither was taken to a hospital.

Police arrested the men at the scene and determined that they assaulted the man because of his Indian heritage.

The two men were charged with intimidation based on bigotry/bias; ridicule related to creed, religion, color, nationality, or race; and assault. Eustace was additionally charged with strangulation.

Southington resident Jamie Elsner told WFSB-TV that she witnessed the alleged attack because she was at a nearby restaurant at the time.

“To randomly, out of nowhere, attack somebody because they don’t look like you, or they’re not your gender, or you think less of them, it’s just pathetic and sad, honestly,” she said.

“Whatever the motive was, it was not even called for, whatsoever,” Elsner added.

Eustace was given a bond of $250,000, while Haddock was given a $150,000 bond. Both bonded out of jail.

Police said that Eustace had four pending criminal cases and is a convicted felon, according to WFSB.

Video from the scene can be viewed on the news report from WFSB on YouTube.

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Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya revealed he had several “macro” ingestions of psychedelic drugs before his most recent victory.

Adesanya, who is now seemingly retired, said he had a lot of mental and emotional work to do leading up to his April 8, 2023, fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 287.

At that point, Adesanya had just lost his championship to Pereira the previous November at UFC 281 in New York City. To make matters worse, Pereira had also beaten Adesanya in kickboxing in both 2017 in Brazil and 2016 in China.

After about seven years of losing to Pereira around the world, Adesanya knew that if he was to beat his rival in Miami, he would need to do some internal work on himself.

‘I don’t know if it’s your ancestors or whatever, but I could feel myself on a level I’ve never felt before.’

“The work I’ve done on myself internally — I can’t stress that enough. The work that I’ve done through therapy, as well, and just life experience,” Adesanya said on “Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru and Henry.”

The 35-year-old then revealed that he attributed a lot of his emotional work to having had several large psychedelic trips leading up to the fight.

“The Pereira fight in Miami, I did three — not micro, macro — shroom trips in the shower where it was, like, I was able to just f**king hone in, bro.”

While Adesanya explained that he does not “go too deep” intellectually or spiritually with the drugs, he also said he got to a point where he could “feel” his ancestors.

“I don’t go too deep. It’s more, I can feel myself, I can feel myself deeper. I don’t know if it’s your ancestors or whatever, but I could feel myself on a level I’ve never felt before.”

The New Zealand resident said that he enjoyed altering his state of mind from time to time in an attempt to off-load any inner demons or feelings that he has been harboring. During this process, he recalled writing messages to himself on his mirror about having the greatest comeback in UFC history.

All the psychedelic talk inspired former UFC champion and host Henry Cejudo to ask Adesanya if he had taken up toad licking or if he would be willing to. The host asked because he noticed that Adesanya had been a guest on Mike Tyson’s former podcast, and Tyson has championed toad licking many times.

Licking toads is typically in reference to the psychotropic compounds secreted by toads from the Colorado River area, which have hallucinogenic effects. According to the Banyan Treatment Center, licking toads can lead to vivid visual hallucinations, changed time and space awareness, and spiritual experiences.

Adesanya said he was open to the experience.

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A New York City Police Department officer allegedly sent obscene material to an undercover cop posing as a 14-year-old girl, according to authorities.

Travis DeSouza — a 35-year-old NYPD officer of Briarwood — was charged with attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors in the first degree, official misconduct, obscenity in the third degree, and attempted endangerment of the welfare of a child. If convicted, DeSouza faces up to four years in prison.

‘I should be telling you to stop … but your maturity and the way you act is different.’

DeSouza — who was released without bail Thursday, according to court records — reportedly worked in the Law Enforcement Explorers program at the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn.

The program “provides young men and women from the city’s diverse communities with an introduction to a career in law enforcement or a related field in the criminal justice system.”

“Explorers are taught the importance of higher education, self-discipline, and respect for diversity and human dignity through training, involvement in community service projects, and other Exploring events,” the program description states.

The program is said to employ “positive adult role models,” including “law enforcement officers who help young adults see officers as fellow human beings.”

The program is “geared” toward young people ages 14 to 20.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a Friday statement: “On October 3, 2024, at approximately 5:49 p.m., an undercover officer, posing as a 14-year-old girl, met with DeSouza, who oversaw the program. DeSouza asked for the undercover officer’s age, and she told DeSouza that she was 14. The undercover officer asked DeSouza for his phone number, and he provided it.”

The undercover officer reportedly had conversations with DeSouza on the Snapchat app from Oct. 8 to Oct. 10.

The DA’s office stated, “On October 10, at approximately 10:11 p.m., DeSouza allegedly told the undercover, ‘You something else.’ About a minute later, DeSouza sent the undercover a photo of a man wearing boxer shorts with his hand on his genitals.”

Citing the criminal complaint, the New York Post reported that the undercover agent asked DeSouza on Snapchat: “What’s under those shorts?”

DeSouza reportedly replied, “Something big, maybe more than you can handle.”

DeSouza allegedly set the social media messages to disappear immediately.

The Post noted that DeSouza acknowledged the age difference and allegedly told the undercover cop, “And I don’t know even why you got me thinking things I shouldn’t because of how far we are of age LOL I should be telling you to stop … but your maturity and the way you act is different.”

DeSouza allegedly sent some of the illicit messages from a New York Police Department building in Queens.

DeSouza has been suspended without pay from the NYPD, according to the department.

Katz stated, “As alleged, this defendant took advantage of his position with the NYPD to prey on someone he thought was a 14-year-old who happened to be a police officer on assignment.”

Katz continued, “The Explorers is an amazing program and our kids need to trust and have faith in its leaders. Although he was told that the ‘girl’ was just 14, the defendant allegedly sent explicit content to her. Thank you to our partners in the NYPD for their assistance with this investigation.”

DeSouza is scheduled to return to court on June 11.

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A Christian family has filed a lawsuit against a Maryland school district that isn’t allowing the family’s star student daughter to graduate over religious objections to a health class with LGBTQ+ curriculum.

The student, whose identity is being protected by Fox News Digital, has a 4.76 weighted GPA and received a 1450 on her SATs, which is in the 96th percentile, according to school records.

‘We are not trying to get MCPS to stop teaching about LGBTQ+ or change its curriculum. … We are trying to get MCPS to refrain from discriminating against religion.’

Despite her excellent records, Montgomery County Public Schools isn’t allowing her to graduate because she refuses to complete a mandatory health class with “LGBTQ+ affirming” and “religiously discriminatory” content, according to the family.

The district is defending its refusal for a religious opt-out in a separate case that is before the U.S. Supreme Court and was filed by a group of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim parents of students.

“She’s pretty distraught about not being able to graduate with all her friends and experience that rite of passage,” her father said to Fox.

The family has filed a petition at the Maryland Supreme Court to allow the daughter to graduate on the regular schedule.

The parents obtained screenshots of the teacher training documents that ordered teachers to “review LGBTQ+ resources to incorporate more inclusive language” with the students and provided them to Fox. The guidance also allegedly labeled Christians as a privileged group while labeling “Non Abrahamic Religions/Spiritualities” as oppressed.

The family offered to have their daughter take alternative classes to fulfill the health class requirement, but the district refused.

“We are not trying to get MCPS to stop teaching about LGBTQ+ or change its curriculum,” wrote the parents in a letter to the Maryland State Board of Education in March.

“We are trying to get MCPS to keep that teaching restricted to the Family Life and Human Sexuality part of the curriculum so we can get notice of it and opt-out our daughter, or if MCPS is allowed to spread LGBTQ+ instruction throughout the entire health class, as its teacher instruction materials say it is doing, it follows that MCPS should allow us to opt-out our daughter from the entire class,” they added. “We are trying to get MCPS to refrain from discriminating against religion.”

Neither the district nor the board of education responded to a request for comment from Fox.

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The secrecy surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy has long been a breeding ground for conspiracy theories and debate — and judging by the American people’s growing thirst for the truth, it’s for good reason.

Now, the fervor brought on by his assassination has all been reignited by the recently declassified JFK files, which Bill O’Reilly of “No Spin News” and author of “Killing Kennedy” doesn’t believe are groundbreaking in the slightest.

“There’s nothing in there that startled me, and we did some pretty heavy-duty research on ‘Killing Kennedy.’ We were lucky enough to get the original FBI notes,” O’Reilly tells Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable,” noting that those FBI notes “concluded with evidence that is rock solid that Oswald was the gunman.”

However, some conspiracy theories tell a different story — and O’Reilly isn’t buying them.

“A number of people have made millions of dollars by trumping up conspiracy theories about who killed Kennedy and how it all happened. Just remember, there is an industry that does that, and they make money,” he explains.

“I saw chatter on X from people saying, ‘Oh, Israel was involved in some way.’ Is there any truth to that?” Stuckey asks.

“No, of course not. The Kennedy conspiracy people, there’s a group on social media that desperately wants attention, and some of them can monetize that by saying outrageous things they can never back up,” O’Reilly responds.

O’Reilly has clearly done his research on Oswald and explains that the assassin was a former Marine sniper and thus an expert marksman.

“He comes back, he defects to Russia, and then after a few years, he gets married, and he comes back to the United States with his bride, Marina,” O’Reilly says. “But he’s still a nut. He was a nut when he defected, and he’s a nut when he came back.”

Oswald then sauntered into the Cuban consulate in Mexico City, where he was rejected.

“They reject him because he was a nut. Anybody knowing him knew that,” O’Reilly continues. “Oswald’s mad, he comes back to Texas. So that was what that was all about. CIA picked him up down there, saw him, and then he was surveilled to some extent in Dallas, so he was on their radar.”

According to O’Reilly, Oswald had a CIA minder in Dallas named George de Mohrenschildt, which is a curious part of the story.

“I believe and I think I can prove it that de Mohrenschildt was Oswald’s minder for the CIA. Kept an eye on him. When the congressional committee investigating the assassination approached de Mohrenschildt in Florida years later, de Morenschildt killed himself,” O’Reilly tells Stuckey.

“Wow,” Stuckey says, shocked.

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Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Friday for federal charges of aggravated identity theft and wire fraud related to his 2022 campaign.

The prison sentence of more than seven years was the maximum that was sought by prosecutors, who presented evidence that the 36-year-old had stolen money as well as committed identity theft while spending lavishly on vacations and designer clothing.

‘I allowed ambition to cloud my judgement, leading me to make decisions that were unethical and guilty.’

Santos appeared remorseful in court and wept as he apologized for his actions, according to a CNN report.

“I cannot rewrite the past, but I can control the road ahead. I have tried my best,” he said.

Attorneys for Santos had asked for a two-year prison sentence for their client, whom they described as a gay man who had come from a broken home and had “built an alter ego that he showed the world.”

The Republican was expelled from the House of Representatives in late 2023 after the release of a congressional report documenting “uncharged and unlawful conduct” by the New York representative. He disdainfully accused the other members of Congress of getting drunk and sleeping with lobbyists at the time.

Santos initially mocked the case against him and claimed that he would beat the charges easily, but later agreed to a plea deal and tearfully apologized at a media briefing outside the courthouse in Islip, New York.

“It’s clear to me now that I allowed ambition to cloud my judgment, leading me to make decisions that were unethical and guilty,” he said. “Pleading guilty is a step I never imagined I’d take, but it is a necessary one because it is the right thing to do. It’s not only a recognition of my misrepresentations to others, but more profoundly, it is my recognition of the lies I told myself over these past years.”

In his plea agreement, he admitted that he had filed fraudulent reports with the Federal Election Commission in order to obtain significant financial support from the national party committee for his campaign. He also admitted to fraudulently charging credit cards of people who contributed his campaign in order to obtain unauthorized funds for his personal gain, as well as for the campaign.

At one point Santos bragged after earning hundreds of thousands of dollars on Cameo, where celebrities record videos for fans and charge them a fee. That admission might have backfired, as U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert excoriated him for not setting up an account to pay the $373,749.97 in restitution he had agreed to pay.

In addition to the restitution, he was ordered to forfeit $205,002.97.

“He rose to one of the highest offices in the land on a wave of lies,” said Assistant U.S Attorney Ryan Harris.

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The Democrats are already getting ready for the 2028 election, but their choices aren’t looking so hot. And a list created by The Hill of their top 10 contenders couldn’t make that any clearer.

“It’s not a promising list. It’s not looking that good,” Stu Burguiere of “Stu Does America” comments, adding, “They literally have, at number 10, Stephen A. Smith.”

Stephen A. Smith is an ESPN personality who has spent his career discussing sports and getting into public scuffles with Jason Whitlock of “Fearless.” Smith has publicly toyed with the idea of running for president in several interviews — but the fact that he made it on to the list has Stu pretty hopeful for the Republican ticket.

“This is how pathetic this field is. This is how thin the bench is for the Democratic Party,” he says, before moving onto number nine on the list: Rahm Emanuel.

Emanuel was Barack Obama’s chief of staff. Stu notes that he has been relatively unheard of since the Obama era.

“It’s hard to imagine he would even have a chance,” he comments.

Pete Buttigieg also made the list at number eight, which Stu says “has got to be terrifying for you if you’re on the left,” while JB Pritzker came in at number seven.

“Who put together this list? This is a catastrophe,” he says, adding, “So far, this is a bunch of nobodies outside of Stephen A. Smith, who almost certainly won’t run.”

Whoever wrote the list certainly still has hope for a Kamala Harris presidency, as she made the list at number six, right after Governor Wes Moore (D-Md.) at number five.

“This one I see a lot of hype for,” Stu says. “Hasn’t really accomplished an awful lot, kind of an unknown nationally, but he’s generally a pretty good communicator.”

Shockingly, even Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) is a top contender at number four. Stu says he “has been a catastrophe for the state of California.”

“Let’s be honest about it. He was awful during COVID. He went out to dinner when he was trying to convince everyone else they needed to be in lockdown. That was just a total disaster. He almost got recalled,” Stu explains.

Number three isn’t much better.

“Gretchen Whitmer at number three is a disaster. She’s terrible,” Stu says, before getting to number two, who Stu admits is “a bit scary to the right.”

“It’s Josh Shapiro. Shapiro has handled a lot of the situations in his state pretty well,” he explains. “He did a pretty good job coming out talking about political violence; he kind of talked about it on either side of the aisle.”

“AOC, number one. The number-one possibility, according to The Hill, for 2028,” Stu says, shocked. “I will say, there is a path there. The path is that people really don’t like Donald Trump. The presidency goes terrible, and they’ll just reflect to whatever Democrat wins, and she’s seen as the only one taking this seriously.”

“But making AOC the voice of the left is a good thing for Republicans generally. But if things go very badly, like if there’s a massive economic crisis, then any Democrat will win,” he warns.

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Jaw-dropping cellphone video caught the moments when a group of females physically attacked two uniformed police officers outside a Southern California high school Thursday afternoon.

Turns out the San Bernardino school officers — a man and a woman — were there to break up a fight in the parking lot of Entrepreneur High School in Highland around 3 p.m. when they came under attack themselves, KABC-TV reported.

‘Am I the only one that finds the name “Entrepreneur [High] School” ironic?’

You can view cellphone video of the attack here.

It shows about four females taking turns arguing and shoving and striking the two officers. The male officer at the start of the clip continually yells at the females to “back up” and “get off” as the female cop tries to subdue one of the combatants on the ground.

Soon the male cop has enough and grabs one of the females — who’s wearing a red bandanna — and forces her to the ground, attempting to handcuff her after she had punched him in the chest.

Arguably the worst moment occurred when another female — wearing a Nike sweatshirt — actually pulled the female officer by her hair and moved her several feet backward.

Several people were eventually handcuffed, KABC said.

How are people reacting to the video?

As you might expect, observers were not thrilled by what they saw:

“Oh, the parents must be so proud,” one commenter wrote.”Am I the only one that finds the name ‘Entrepreneur [High] School’ ironic?” another user asked.”They have NO FEAR of consequences,” another commenter offered.”I counted at least 5 different times that a body slam was warranted,” another user declared.”This is what happens when politicians and command staffs constantly scrutinize and implement asinine laws and policies,” another commenter said.

Anything else?

The station said it reached out to the San Bernardino school police and the district superintendent for more information on what started the fight.

You can view a video report here about the incident.

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson told a wrestling host it was not healthy for him to be so animated over the sport and explained the whole business is not real.

Johnson’s comments stemmed from complaints about WWE’s WrestleMania 41, which aired April 19-20, and included disappointment over the fact that Johnson did not make an appearance. What made the no-show even worse was the fact that Johnson was heavily involved in the storyline leading up to the event that featured John Cena returning to the top of the promotion.

SiriusXM host and wrestling reporter Dave LaGreca was one of the most vocal critics of Johnson and heavily criticized the star for even going on talk shows after the event to say he would have done WrestleMania differently.

“Nice to hear from you now, pal. It’s over,” LaGreca said on his show “Busted Open.” “Now that everybody’s bitching and complaining. ‘Yeah. I would’ve done it differently.’ Oh, really? You talk about a Monday morning quarterback? That’s a Tuesday morning quarterback. Thanks, pal. Didn’t make yourself available. Didn’t show up at WrestleMania. But now I’m gonna say, ‘Yeah. I would have done things differently.’ You talk about completely throwing [WWE] under the bus. That’s exactly what the Rock did.”

‘Stop ranting; it’s not healthy, my friend. Enjoy the show.’

Johnson responded to the remarks on an Instagram post, which was shared by the show. In his reply, the 52-year-old immediately explained that everything in the wrestling business is for show.

“Hi Dave, the business is a complete work. Always has been, always will be,” Johnson wrote. “Every aspect of it. Every match. Every interview. Please join me, [other former wrestlers], and the rest of us for our creative discussions so you can expand your perspective.”

Johnson then told the host to “stop ranting; it’s not healthy, my friend. Enjoy the show.”

In the wrestling world, a “work” essentially means an act or a bit, and given that nearly everyone in the world knows professional wrestling comes with predetermined victors, Johnson’s reaction was taken by some as an unnecessary jab at someone who is passionate about the business.

— (@)

At the same time, Johnson’s reaction could certainly be taken as a work in itself, as the return of Cena has come with a new bit that included purposely destroying the business. The criticism here would be that Johnson is hiding behind the fact that wrestling is predetermined to escape responsibility for a poorly received product.

The WWE has certainly found new ways to blur the lines of its business in recent years, however, speaking openly about the product and its past on shows and podcasts. Even the company’s head of creative, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, has made appearances that would have made previous generations of wrestlers incredibly upset given the depth at which he has exposed the inner workings of the company.

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Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg is continuing to battle his own party, as it appears the DNC will be making a rule that bars DNC officials from being involved in primaries.

The drama within the Democratic Party started after Hogg announced that his personal organization, Leaders We Deserve, will spend $20 million to support primary challengers against incumbents he believes are not doing enough to resist President Donald Trump. The announcement set off a firestorm within the DNC and Capitol Hill.

Shortly thereafter, DNC Chairman Ken Martin indicated that a proposal to prevent DNC officers from involving themselves in primaries, even in a personal capacity, will be introduced at their annual meeting in the summer.

‘Nothing I’m doing is at odds with any of that.’

“As I’ve said to [Hogg], if you want to challenge incumbents, you’re more than free to do that, but just not as an officer of the DNC, because our job is to be neutral arbiters,” Martin said on a media call, according to Politico. “This is not about shielding incumbents or boosting challengers. It’s about voters’ trust in the party.”

Hogg took to social media to say he is not going to change his plans since he is currently not violating any rules. Hogg says the DNC changing its rules to stop him proves his point about needing new Democrats.

“They’re trying to change the rules because I’m not currently breaking them. As we’re seeing law firms, tech companies, and so many others bowing to Trump, we all must use whatever position of power we have to fight back. And that’s exactly what I’m doing,” Hogg said on X.

“The role of the DNC is to set the presidential primary calendar, set the presidential debate schedule, to help strengthen our state parties, play a key role in building our data infrastructure for the party, and to be the campaign in waiting for whoever the next Democratic nominee is. Nothing I’m doing is at odds with any of that,” he maintained.

Hogg pointed to the Democrats’ historically low approval rating, 27%, and said that number cannot improve by “just changing our words. We need to change who we are.”

The gun control activist has indicated that he is willing to lose his position as vice chairman in order to carry out his primary plans.

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Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, reportedly made an abrupt exit from the agency on Friday.

Kasper was previously expected to leave his position for another opportunity within the DOD. However, a senior official told Newsweek he would return to a government relations and consulting position for the Trump administration.

‘You make changes over time, and we’re grateful for everything Joe’s done.’

The official told the news outlet, “Joe Kasper will continue to serve President Trump as a Special Government Employee (SGE) handling special projects at the Department of Defense. Secretary Hegseth is thankful for his continued leadership and work to advance the America First agenda.”

Kasper is the fifth official to exit the agency over the past week amid a Pentagon shake-up as a result of an investigation into internal leaks.

Former Senior Adviser Dan Caldwell, former Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick, and former Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary Colin Carroll were previously removed and escorted out of the Pentagon.

The three released a joint statement following their removal.

“Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door. All three of us served our country honorably in uniform—for two of us, this included deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the statement read. “And, based on our collective service, we understand the importance of information security and worked every day to protect it.”

A source previously told Politico that Kasper was involved with the officials’ removal, claiming he was attempting to consolidate power.

“Kasper did not like that those guys had the secretary’s ear,” the source stated. “He did not like that they had walk-in and hanging-out privileges in the office. He wanted them out. It was a knife fight.”

During a Tuesday interview with Fox News, Hegseth stood behind Kasper, calling him “a great guy” and “a great American.”

“He has done a fantastic job for us at the Defense Department,” he continued. “He’s staying with us, going to be in a slightly different role, but he’s not going anywhere, certainly not fired. You make changes over time, and we’re grateful for everything Joe’s done.”

Regarding the removal of the three Pentagon officials, Hegseth stated, “When we had leaks, which we have had here, we did a serious leak investigation. And through that leak investigation, unfortunately, we found some folks that we believe that were not holding to the protocols that we hold dear here at the Defense Department. Through that investigation, they have been moved on and that investigation continues.”

The DOD did not respond to a request for comment from Politico.

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​New, Pete hegseth, Joe kasper, Department of defense, Dod, Defense department, Trump administration, Trump admin, Pentagon, Pentagon leak, Politics 

A trans-identifying man who was convicted of strangling a baby to death has filed a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of inciting sexual assault against him in prison.

Autumn Cordellionè, who was born Jonathan C. Richardson, claimed that he was raped by other male prisoners at the Westville Correctional Facility in Indiana and that his claims were ignored by guards.

‘We’re patriots and even if you tell on us, Trump will pardon us and probably give us a medal.’

Cordellionè claimed in the handwritten lawsuit that he had suffered numerous assaults by other prisoners who specifically cited the president being elected as the reason they could harm Cordellionè without penalty.

Richardson chose to transition in 2020 after 19 years in prison, but the state refused to pay for the surgery. The American Civil Liberties Union jumped on the case and won in court in 2023, forcing Indiana taxpayers to foot the bill for Richardson’s transgender surgery.

Cordellionè was convicted in 2011 of strangling to death the 11-month-old daughter of his girlfriend at the time. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison.

He said that he was assaulted after being moved from the New Castle Correctional Facility, where he was in special custody, to the male prison in Indiana.

“Trump’s president now, and we won’t even get in trouble for f**king you trannies up,” one assailant allegedly told Cordellionè.

“We’re patriots and even if you tell on us, Trump will pardon us and probably give us a medal,” another assailant allegedly said.

Cordellionè is seeking $3.5 million in damages from the president. The lawsuit says that Trump’s rhetoric contributed to the violation of the prisoner’s Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment.

He claims that Trump’s rhetoric also fueled discrimination among the prison guards and officials.

“I’ve seen your case on the news, and I personally don’t think us taxpayers should have to pay for your surgery,” one allegedly said. “God doesn’t approve of transgenders and gays, so what do you expect to happen when you dress like a woman and have t*** in a male facility?”

The Daily Mail reported that a White House spokesperson released a brief statement about the lawsuit.

“President Trump has vowed to defend biological women from gender ideology extremism and restore biological truth to the federal government,” read the statement.

Cordellionè had also sued after a prison chaplain allegedly restricted him from wearing a hijab. He argued in that lawsuit that he was a member of the Theosophical Society of America.

A spokesperson for ACLU praised the ruling in 2023 as a victory for civil rights.

“Today marks a significant victory for transgender individuals in Indiana’s prisons,” said Ken Falk at the time. “Denying evidence-based medical care to incarcerated people simply because they are transgender is unconstitutional. We are pleased that the court agreed.”

The 13-page lawsuit was filed on April 1.

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​Transgender prisoner, Trans woman sues trump, Trans prison rape, Autumn cordellione, Politics