The litigious hopes of Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California came to a humiliating end on Friday when he dropped a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

Swalwell, who is also a California gubernatorial candidate, had accused the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency of improperly accessing his private information in order to punish his anti-Trump efforts.

‘There’s a reason the First Amendment — the freedom of speech — comes before all others.’

FHFA Director Bill Pulte accused the 45-year-old of mortgage fraud and cited information gathered from the agency.

When Swalwell announced the lawsuit in Nov. 2025, he cast himself as a defender of free speech and a martyr for the cause of constitutional rights.

Four months later, he abandoned the cause.

The filing Friday said that Swalwell and Pulte had agreed to bear their own fees and costs in order to dismiss the lawsuit.

“Director Pulte has combed through private records of political opponents. To silence them,” Swalwell said when he filed the lawsuit. “There’s a reason the First Amendment — the freedom of speech — comes before all others.”

The lawsuit was scheduled to be presided over by U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg, a well-known critic of President Donald Trump who has been accused of political bias by the administration.

Swalwell filed to request the court to order Pulte to withdraw his criminal referral and demanded damages to be awarded for the alleged violations of the Privacy Act.

He quoted George Orwell, author of “1984” and “Animal Farm,” novels dedicated to warning against totalitarianism.

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear,” Swalwell posted.

RELATED: Trump says he will fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve if she doesn’t resign

Swalwell also cast himself as a stalwart opponent to Trump in hopes of persuading Democratic voters in California to support his campaign for governor.

The latest polling shows Swalwell taking a slight lead against the other field of Democratic candidates, but his Republican competitors are also surprisingly strong. One Democrat is expected to pull ahead as the others drop out, however.

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President Donald Trump said he is considering winding down the military campaign in Iran and added that the Strait of Hormuz must be defended by other nations.

The president posted the update on the war with Iran in a statement on Truth Social on Friday, after 21 days of the military campaign.

‘Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them.’

“We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran,” the president wrote.

He went on to say the strikes had completely degraded Iran’s missile capabilities, eliminated its navy and air forces, and destroyed its ability to obtain nuclear weapons. He then addressed the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a contentious issue.

“The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!” he added. “If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated.”

The threat of strikes from Iran has caused oil tankers to stop transporting oil through the strait and sent gas prices skyrocketing across the globe.

He added that the U.S. had accomplished protecting Middle Eastern allies that included Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

The president previously demanded that other countries help defend the strait, but claiming that the U.S. does not use it appears to be an escalation of his claim. About 20% of the global source of oil flows through the strait.

On Thursday, a group of European countries and Japan issued a statement condemning Iran’s actions in the strait and pledging to protect the key trade route.

“We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait,” reads the letter from the nations’ leaders. “We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning.”

RELATED: US allies have change of heart on defending Strait of Hormuz from Iranian attacks after oil prices continue to surge

Trump reassured those who might defend the Strait of Hormuz that it would be easy.

“Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he added.

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The president of a Latin American country is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for his alleged drug trafficking ties, according to a New York Times report.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has called President Donald Trump a “barbarian” for ordering lethal strikes on boats in the Caribbean identified by the U.S. as participating in drug trafficking.

He also warned against reviving ‘the age of the Crusades.’

On Friday, the Times cited three people with knowledge of the investigation into Petro by at least two U.S. attorney’s offices.

The investigations focus on whether Petro’s presidential campaign solicited donations from drug traffickers and held meetings with traffickers. The report said the probes are in the early stages, and it’s not clear whether they will result in criminal charges.

The report said the two U.S. attorney’s offices investigating Petro were in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Petro, who is a leftist and former member of Colombia’s M-19 guerrilla group, has criticized the Trump administration for promoting a “white, Christian, Western civilization.” He also warned against reviving “the age of the Crusades” and added that such efforts could lead to an “enormous level of violence within each society.”

Trump said back in December, “Colombia is a major manufacturer of drugs, meaning cocaine,” and warned Petro to “wise up.” Petro and Trump then appeared to settle some of their differences after a meeting at the White House in February.

RELATED: Liberals pounce to defend drug cartels after Trump reveals strike on drug-running gang members near Venezuela

Petro has also touted his administration’s efforts at combating and defeating drug traffickers, including the seizure of 3,300 tons of cocaine and the handing over of 800 drug traffickers to the U.S.

Representatives from both prosecutors’ offices declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Petro did not respond to a comment request, according to the Times.

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This morning, news broke that Chuck Norris — the legendary martial artist and action star best known for “Walker, Texas Ranger” — died at age 86.

Glenn Beck was in the middle of recording his morning show when he got the news of Norris’ passing. He stopped everything in that moment to reflect on the life and legacy of his dear friend.

“We have known each other for the longest time. He was one of the most giving men I have ever met,” Glenn says, fighting tears.

“Here’s a guy who is known all over the world, is a mega-star. Everywhere he goes, everyone loves him. And he was Chuck. He was just a normal guy who dedicated himself to making the lives of children better,” he continues.

Glenn highlights Norris’ nonprofit “Kickstart Kids” — a character development program that integrates karate instruction into the school day, teaching core values like discipline, respect, responsibility, and honesty to middle and high school students in dozens of public schools across Texas to help them build strong moral character and avoid negative influences.

“It changed kids,” Glenn says.

He then shares a heartfelt story about his own son’s experience being shepherded under Norris’ wing.

“My son was really struggling when he was younger, and we were over at Chuck and Gena’s house. And we stayed overnight, and the next morning I see him and my son walking outside,” Glenn tearfully reminisces.

“He said, ‘I’m sending somebody to your house because I see greatness in you, and I know you’re struggling. I’m sending somebody to your house to get you started on your black belt because once you learn this discipline, everything will change in your life.”’

This kindness, Glenn says, extended to every child Norris met.

The magic of Chuck Norris, he says, is that he reached the pinnacle of stardom but wasn’t changed as a result of fame and fortune.

“I can’t tell you I have met a bigger star than Chuck Norris … and a more regular guy than Chuck Norris,” he says.

“He has left more than jokes on how tough he is behind. He has left a legacy of good and strong young men and women.”

To hear more — including the hilarious story behind the virality of Chuck Norris jokes — watch the video above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

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A Democratic governor is perpetuating the party’s efforts to shut down President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans by filing a lawsuit against a new detention center.

The Trump administration planned to convert a massive warehouse for use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Roxbury, a township of about 23,000 residents in New Jersey.

‘Let’s be honest about this. This case isn’t about the environment. It’s about trying to stop President Trump from making America safe again.’

On Friday, the town announced a lawsuit to block the plan, and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, posted on social media that her administration had signed on.

“Together with the Township of Roxbury, we are suing ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to stop their illegal plan to convert a warehouse into a mass detention facility,” Sherill said. “We will not allow the Trump administration to violate the rights of New Jerseyans.”

The complaint accuses the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of violating four laws while trying to convert the 470,000 square-foot warehouse into a center that could house as many as 1,500 people. The lawsuit alleges that DHS ignored required environmental review in their rush to convert the facility.

Sherrill made her case in a press conference in Newark.

“This plan won’t make the community or our state safer, and as I’ve said before, we will never just stand by and let this administration violate the rights of New Jerseyans,” she said.

A spokesperson for ICE fired off a response to the governor.

“Let’s be honest about this. This case isn’t about the environment. It’s about trying to stop President Trump from making America safe again,” the spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News.

“The left didn’t care about the mountains of litter that illegal aliens dropped on ranches and riverbeds during Biden’s border crisis,” the statement continued. “They’re feigning concern now because they want those same illegal aliens to stay forever and vote here.”

RELATED: Fed judge limits warrantless detentions by ICE in Colorado — Trump fires off defiant response

“A logistics center fit for Amazon Prime packages is an unjustifiable location at which to establish a mass immigration detention center covering the 1,000 to 1,500 detainees DHS plans to house in the Roxbury Warehouse,” read the lawsuit.

Critics also point to inadequate bathroom facilities in the center as well as concerns over road and wastewater capacity.

“It doesn’t just violate common sense, it violates federal law, not to mention zoning and building codes that any other property owner would have to abide by,” Sherrill said. “The administration may think it’s above the law, but it will soon find out that that is not the case.”

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President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Harvard on Friday, accusing the Ivy League school of discrimination.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon posted a video on social media announcing the legal action. She claimed that Harvard tolerated “significant and onerous racial and ethnic abuse against Israeli and Jewish students on the campus in the wake of the horrific Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, 2023.”

‘When institutions take taxpayer dollars, they accept a duty to protect civil rights.’

She noted that the school allowed “pro-Palestinian protests” to “take over” its campus, blocking Israeli and Jewish students from getting to class.

“Harvard has rules about how students should conduct themselves, but it relaxed those rules when it came to these particular protesters,” Dhillon stated.

“Every American university that takes federal funding must comply with federal law.”

The DOJ accused Harvard of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by allowing anti-Semitic “mobs of students, faculty, and visitors” to assault, harass, and intimidate Jewish and Israeli students.

RELATED: Harvard posts deficit of over $110 million as funding feud with Trump continues to sting

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

“Since October 7, 2023, too many of our educational institutions have allowed anti-Semitism to flourish on campus — Harvard included,” Attorney General Pam Bondi stated. “Today’s litigation underscores the Trump administration’s commitment to demanding better from our nation’s schools and putting an end to discriminatory behavior that harms students.”

The DOJ noted that Harvard is slated to receive $2.6 billion in taxpayer funds under active grants from the Department of Health and Human Services.

RELATED: Former Clinton official to quit Harvard University position amid backlash for Epstein ties

JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/Getty Images

“Every student deserves to learn without fear of harassment or exclusion,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. “When institutions take taxpayer dollars, they accept a duty to protect civil rights. We hold Harvard accountable on the principle that anti-Semitism has no place in any program funded by the American people.”

In October, Harvard issued a financial report that showed a $113 million deficit for fiscal year 2025, marking its first operating loss since 2020. This report followed Trump’s decision to withhold federal research funding from the school after he claimed it “repeatedly” failed to address anti-Semitic harassment.

Harvard released a statement responding to the lawsuit.

“Harvard cares deeply about members of our Jewish and Israeli community and remains committed to ensuring they are embraced, respected, and can thrive on our campus,” the school said. “Our actions illustrate this. Harvard has taken substantive, proactive steps to address the root causes of anti-Semitism and actively enforces anti-harassment and anti-discrimination rules and policies on campus. We also have enhanced training and education on anti-Semitism for students, faculty, and staff and launched programs to promote civil dialogue and respectful disagreement inside and outside the classroom. Harvard’s efforts demonstrate the very opposite of deliberate indifference.”

“We will continue to prioritize this important work and will defend the university against this lawsuit, which represents yet another pretextual and retaliatory action by the administration for refusing to turn over control of Harvard to the federal government,” the statement read.

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Meta announced big changes to its original virtual reality world, as Mark Zuckerberg’s dream of a world in goggles gets closer to shutting down.

Horizon Worlds, Meta’s flagship Metaverse platform, will be taken down by the end of March with the company separating VR from the rest of its online Metaverse experience.

‘This separation will extend across our ecosystem, including our mobile app.’

Horizon Worlds is being taken out of the Meta’s virtual reality store by March 31 and will be only available through mobile platforms.

“We are separating the two platforms [VR and Horizon] so each can grow with greater focus, and the Horizon Worlds platform will become a mobile-only experience,” Meta wrote in a community blog post. “This separation will extend across our ecosystem, including our mobile app.”

While Metaverse’s active user base is still in the hundreds of millions, the rolling losses from the platform are too much to run from. As Return previously reported, the platform has cost around $77 billion since its inception, with a significant chunk of jobs from its Reality Labs division (originally reported as 1,000-1,500) getting cut in January so Meta can prioritize wearable technology.

According to CNBC, Reality Labs posted an operating loss of $6.02 billion in a fourth-quarter earnings report in January.

RELATED: Jeffrey Epstein was BANNED from Xbox Live — for harassing other gamers

While some have signaled this is the end of the Metaverse entirely — and this is indeed a significant hit given the losses at Meta — other virtual reality experiences on the Metaverse still exist.

Some of the more popular programs include Gorilla Tag and the seemingly ever-present VR Chat. The latter was a cultural phenomenon in the early 2020s, spawning videos from content creators that ranged from streamers to pranksters to political commentators.

The multi-platform app still had an estimated 12 million users in 2025, a significant chunk of which is likely from Meta as its Quest VR headset represents a reported 52% market share.

RELATED: The strategy to win elections hasn’t changed in 2,000 years

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

It should be no surprise that Meta is shifting away from the virtual reality experience or even the Metaverse as a whole. The idea that once had celebrities like Snoop Dogg saying he would start a new record label on the platform has since been dwarfed by Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft as places where the youngsters hang out online.

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The fans and friends of action film star Chuck Norris are sorrowful at the news Friday that he passed away. He was 86 years old.

Some fans are expressing their grief by adding a final chapter to the hilarious meme trend that celebrated his superhuman strength and invincibility.

‘Chuck Norris didn’t die. He told death he was coming.’

The meme had become so popular that Norris himself began making some of the jokes and referred to the trend in his commercials. Between the solemn celebrity remembrances of Norris, fans continued the “Chuck Norris facts” trend as part of his legacy.

“Chuck Norris could kill two stones with one bird. Chuck Norris didn’t do push-ups. He pushed the Earth down. Chuck Norris could strangle you with a cordless phone. Chuck Norris beat the sun in a staring contest,” read one post. “In heaven, even miracles check with Chuck Norris.”

“Chuck Norris didn’t die, he just completed his mission & went to rest…” said actor Mario Lopez.

“Chuck Norris didn’t die. He told death he was coming,” read another post.

“It’s been announced Chuck Norris be the pallbearer at his own funeral,” said another user.

“Chuck Norris woke up briefly from death this morning to correct an error on his death certificate. He then shook hands with the doctor, laid back down, and died again,” read another popular entry.

“Chuck doesn’t flush the toilet, he scares the s**t out of it,” recalled writer Stephen King.

Others referred to his many movie characters and cameos.

“I’ll always remember Chuck Norris as the man who changed the course of dodgeball history by casting the deciding vote that allowed Average Joes to play in the championship of the Las Vegas International Dodgeball Open where they upset the heavily favored Globo Gym Purple Cobras,” read one entry.

RELATED: Chuck Norris warned against ‘socialism” in 2021: ‘Or something much worse’

The world was informed of the passing of Chuck Norris by a statement from his family.

“He lived his life with faith, purpose, and an unwavering commitment to the people he loved,” his family wrote. “Through his work, discipline, and kindness, he inspired millions around the world and left a lasting impact on so many lives.”

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