The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
President Donald Trump is reportedly considering a pardon of Sean “Diddy” Combs after he was found guilty of prostitution charges earlier this month.
A jury found Combs guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. More importantly, he was found not guilty of the most serious charges of racketeering, conspiracy, and sex trafficking. Due to the fact that he likely avoided a lengthy prison sentence, the verdict was considered a major win for the defense.
Now, Combs’ team reportedly wants the president to do away with those lesser charges, as well. According to a Tuesday report from Deadline, sources from within the administration said Trump has given serious thought to pardoning the music mogul.
The report continued:
Nearly two months after Trump publicly entertained the notion of a Diddy pardon in an Oval Office gaggle, a comprehensive get out of jail card for Combs is being “seriously considered,” an administration source tells Deadline.
Additionally, as several associates of the much-accused and currently incarcerated “All About the Benjamins” performer have been pitching the White House, other insiders confirm the topic has leveled up from “just another Trump weave to an actionable event” since Combs was found partially guilty in the his NYC sex-trafficking trial earlier this month. Of course, as a number of parties attest, this being the roller coaster of Trumpworld, any decision on a Combs pardon is in flux until POTUS actually puts his signature on paper.
As the report stated, the idea of Trump pardoning Combs is not a new one. Back in May, fellow music executive Suge Knight predicted that the president would lend Combs a hand in the event that he was convicted.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest political adversaries, offered rare and enthusiastic support for the president Monday after Trump called on Congress to approve a federal incentive aimed at reviving American film and television production.
“I am in strong agreement with the President,” Schiff wrote on X, sharing Trump’s announcement.
“Congress should immediately take up and pass a federal film tax incentive to bring back these good-paying jobs that we’ve lost to other countries,” Schiff continued. “Let’s work together — Republicans and Democrats — to get this done, and bring the movie magic back to America.”
I am in strong agreement with the President. Congress should immediately take up and pass a federal film tax incentive to bring back these good-paying jobs that we've lost to other countries.
Let’s work together — Republicans and Democrats — to get this done, and bring the movie… pic.twitter.com/adeBFYtbM3
The declaration represented an extraordinary moment of agreement between Trump and the California Democrat who helped lead the president’s first impeachment and has remained a relentless administration critic.
Trump unveiled his proposal after meeting with actor Jon Voight, whom the president appointed as a special ambassador to Hollywood alongside Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson.
“I am going to suggest that Republicans and Democrats get together, and immediately craft Legislation to save the Movie, Television, and Entertainment Business in America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Congress should approve, immediately, a Federal Production Incentive to create Entertainment Jobs in America,” he added. “It can be done very easily, and EVERYBODY WILL BE HAPPY!”
Trump argued that Hollywood had become a “Complete and Total Disaster” as productions increasingly moved to Canada and other foreign competitors offering generous financial incentives.
“There is no incentive to be there, and it is hurting California very badly,” Trump wrote. “The amount of money spent on Tax Incentives will be made up tenfold by the money pouring into the Treasury’s coffers.”
The president said Voight and others had persuaded him that federal tax incentives could “Make our Movie and Television Production Business GREAT AGAIN, perhaps GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!”
Voight and his advisers have promoted a federal credit covering as much as 20% of qualifying production costs. Trump did not endorse a specific percentage in his announcement, however, and Congress has not yet introduced a final bill.
Schiff’s support was surprising politically, but not entirely unexpected on policy grounds.
The senator has spent months advocating for a nationwide incentive and circulated a proposal offering a 15% credit on labor costs for productions made in the United States, according to Mediaite.
During a March Senate hearing in Burbank, Schiff warned that state-level programs alone could not compete with the incentives offered by foreign governments.
“State programs simply cannot substitute for the kind of globally competitive federal tax incentive that is needed to bring production back to American soil and stop its offshoring,” Schiff said at the hearing.
Schiff said the industry directly supports roughly 800,000 American jobs and indirectly affects millions more, including carpenters, caterers, drivers, hotel workers and equipment suppliers. He also noted that Los Angeles County lost more than 42,000 motion-picture production jobs over two years.
Trump’s endorsement marks a shift from his previous proposal to slap a 100% tariff on movies produced overseas. Studios and entertainment unions argued that tax incentives would offer a more practical way to compete with Canada, the United Kingdom and other foreign production centers.
The Motion Picture Association welcomed Trump’s support, while the Wall Street Journal reported that studios, unions and lawmakers had been privately lobbying the White House for a national incentive since last year.
Whether Congress can translate the unlikely Trump-Schiff alliance into legislation remains uncertain. For the moment, however, two of Washington’s most bitter rivals have found themselves reading from the same Hollywood script.
Iowa’s senior U.S. senator, Chuck Grassley, has disclosed findings from his office’s investigation into the first assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump during a July 13 rally near Butler, Pennsylvania. Revealing the latest to Fox News, Grassley’s office shared concerning security lapses by the Secret Service, which had assured local law enforcement that it would secure the American Glass Research (AGR) building overlooking Trump’s rally – an assurance that was not fulfilled.
The building in question was later used by Thomas Matthews Crooks, the would-be assassin who fired eight shots at Trump in under 30 seconds. Three rallygoers were hit, one fatally, and Trump himself was grazed by a bullet that came within an inch of his head. Despite these dangers, no law enforcement personnel were stationed on the roof where Crooks had taken his position.
“Butler County law enforcement officials stated that at separate times during the walkthrough, when they reiterated their concerns to the agents and counter sniper about securing the AGR complex buildings, the agents responded: ‘we will take care of it,’” Grassley’s office revealed in a Tuesday letter to acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe.
…
The Iowa senator questioned Rowe whether the Butler County law enforcement officials’ claim is true and, if so, what the Secret Service did to secure the area with the AGR complex buildings.
Grassley noted that in the weeks following the first assassination attempt, Rowe told senators during a hearing, “what was communicated is that the locals had a plan and that they had been there before,” in regard to the roof of the AGR building where Crooks took his shots from.
Crooks’ final location was only discovered when bystanders noticed him army-crawling toward Trump. A local police officer attempted to access the roof, prompting Crooks to rush his first shot.
Startling video footage, obtained by Fox News more than two weeks after the incident, showed a figure believed to be Crooks moving across the roof of the AGR building three minutes before the attack. FBI officials later revealed that Crooks accessed the roof by climbing HVAC equipment and piping, moving across multiple rooftops to establish his position about 450 feet from Trump.
CRAZY. This video is from James Copenhaver – one of the bystanders who was shot twice and critically wounded during the assassination attempt against Trump. It CLEARLY shows Crooks' head scurrying on the rooftop moments before the shooting.
The Secret Service was aware of a potential threat 10 minutes before Trump took the stage but allowed the event to proceed. Additionally, a local law enforcement countersniper had flagged the shooter as suspicious over an hour before the attack due to his use of a rangefinder and his possession of a backpack.
Grassley’s investigation raises serious questions about the security protocols in place during the rally and the Secret Service’s handling of the potential threat.
Read Grassley’s letter to acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe here:
A nonprofit advocacy group has taken legal action against former President Donald Trump and Senator J.D. Vance. They’ve filed criminal charges, accusing the Republican nominee for president and his running mate of making inflammatory statements about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. Trump and Vance argue that the influx of migrants has overwhelmed the area, even going so far as to allege that some Haitians are eating dogs and cats – claims that remain unsubstantiated and highly controversial.
In response, the nonprofit is calling on the Clark County Municipal Court to issue a warrant for Trump and Vance’s arrest. The county’s largest city and seat, Springfield, is at the heart of this legal challenge.
The charges were requested by the Haitian Bridge Alliance, which has been backed for many years by Mark Zuckerberg’s FWD.us investor group, and by investor George Soros’ political campaigns. The jarring claim was loudly echoed by pro-Democratic media sites, such as NBCNews.com, who prefer to hide the ordinary civic and pocketbook damage of migration behind elite claims about racism.
“The Haitian Bridge Alliance made the move after inaction by the local prosecutor, said their attorney, Subodh Chandra of the Cleveland-based Chandra Law Firm,” the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
“Guerline Jozef, a co-founder and the executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, filed the charges on behalf of the group,” NBCNews reported:
“Over the last two weeks, both Trump and Vance led an effort to vilify and threaten the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio,” Jozef alleged.
“If anyone else had disrupted public service, made false alarms, and engaged in telecommunications harassment in the manner Trump and Vance did with their relentless and persistent lies – even after the governor and mayor said what they were saying was false, they would’ve been arrested by now,” the group’s attorney, Subodh Chandra, claimed.
“They must be held accountable to the rule of law in the same way any of the rest of us would be.”
The lawfare follows the government-arranged delivery of perhaps 20,000 Haitians to the city, which has had a huge civic and pocketbook impact in the town of almost 60,000 Americans.
The inflow has been welcomed by business, political, and media leaders in Springfield, but is decried by ordinary Americans who are losing wages, opportunities, housing, safe roads, civic aid, and their stable community to the chaotic migration.
What’s Behind the Legal Action?
The charges stem from Trump and Vance’s remarks, which critics argue fuel anti-immigrant sentiment. Haitian immigrants currently enjoy temporary protected status (TPS) under the Biden administration, a measure designed to protect them from deportation due to the severe unrest and violence gripping Haiti. This protection even applies to those who entered the U.S. illegally, with the goal of shielding them from the chaos that has left Haiti teetering on the edge of anarchy.
“We are providing this humanitarian relief to Haitians already present in the United States given the conditions that existed in their home country as of June 3, 2024,” stated Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at the time of the announcement.
Immigration Advocates Push for More
While the Haitian Bridge Alliance welcomed the Biden administration’s decision, they’re pushing for long-term solutions. Jozef praised the humanitarian relief but made it clear that he believes this is just a temporary fix.
“I call on the U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would create permanent protection for all TPS recipients,” said Jozef.
The demand for a more permanent path to safety comes as violence continues to escalate in Haiti.
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has issued a subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi, demanding she testify before lawmakers regarding the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The subpoena intensifies the growing conflict between Congress and the Justice Department over transparency and accountability.
Lawmakers say Bondi’s testimony is necessary to comprehensively review files related to the deceased sex trafficker. The resolution to subpoena Bondi was introduced by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and passed in a bipartisan 24-19 vote.
All Democrats present for the committee hearing voted in favor, with Mace and GOP Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Michael Cloud (Texas) and Scott Perry (Pa.) joining their colleagues from across the aisle.
The subpoena of Bondi would bring the highest-level sitting official before the House panel as it pushes ahead with its review of the files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Bondi has faced steady criticism over her handling of the files throughout her tenure as attorney general, cries that have only grown louder as the Justice Department has been accused of failing to release all the files and faced questions about how it has handled redactions.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Questions Over Missing Records
The demand comes after a CBS News report on Tuesday stating that the Justice Department had started removing documents:
After removing tens of thousands of files, the Department of Justice currently makes public about 2.7 million pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, a CBS News analysis found, a number below the Department’s initial claim of 3 million, and a total that continues to fluctuate.
The Justice Department initially said that its release, made in response to a law passed by Congress compelling the agency to disclose nearly all files related to Epstein, comprised more than 3 million pages. Combined with previously released materials, the Department put the total at 3.5 million pages.
And now, in part in response to widespread criticism and concern from survivors and their attorneys that the files contain nearly 100 survivors’ personal information and photos, the DOJ has scrambled to remove documents. A CBS News analysis found that as of late February, the Justice Department has taken down more than 47,000 files comprising about 65,500 pages. Links to those files now return a “page not found” error on the department’s website.
Some of those removed documents contained explicit images or survivor information — including one document with unredacted photos of 21 survivors along with most of their birthdates. But the reasons for other files’ removal is unclear, such as a call log with all names redacted and images of Epstein’s jail bunk where investigators say he hanged himself. The Justice Department appears to be putting some removed files back up.
Bondi Faces Questions
Bondi has already faced intense questioning from lawmakers during recent oversight hearings about the department’s handling of the Epstein document releases.
During those hearings, members of Congress pressed the attorney general about:
Extensive redactions
Missing records
Whether additional investigations tied to Epstein could still occur
Epstein, a financier with connections to powerful political and business figures, was arrested in 2019 on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.
He died in federal custody later that year while awaiting trial.
His associate Ghislaine Maxwell was later convicted of sex trafficking and is currently serving a federal prison sentence.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
Trump promoted a post that showed a grainy photograph of someone that is alleged to be DeSantis standing next to several women at a party who appear to be roughly the same age.
“Here is Ron DeSanctimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher,” the post claimed.
Trump promoted the post on his social media channel, writing: “That’s not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!”
The New York Times previously reported that the photo was published by a blog run by a Democrat super PAC and that two former female students said parties that DeSantis attended “took place after” they had graduated.
The Florida Governor has been the recent target of a number of verbal attacks from Trump, however, the Governor refuses to sink to his level.
On Wednesday, a reporter asked if DeSantis’s proposal to make it easier for government officials to sue the media for defamation would address Trump’s “damaging” posts about him. After defending his panel proposals, DeSantis got more direct about Trump’s attack:
“I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida and fighting against Joe Biden,” DeSantis said to applause. “That’s how I spend my time. I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans.”
President Trump responded to speculation that he will attempt to pursue a third term in the White House despite being prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
During a phone interview with The Atlantic’s Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, Trump was asked about a rumor that he had instructed the Justice Department to look into whether he could legally run for a third term.
Trump denied the claim and seemed to laugh off the possibility.
“That would be a big shattering, wouldn’t it?” Trump mused, laughing. “Well, maybe I’m just trying to shatter.”
Trump acknowledged that his supporters routinely call for him to seek a third term but, ultimately, insisted he was not planning on it: “It’s not something that I’m looking to do. And I think it would be a very hard thing to do.”
Even as Trump publicly distances himself from a 2028 bid, The Atlantic flagged how the Trump Organization has already rolled out “Trump 2028” hats, priced at $50 each.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the hats were “flying off shelves” since going on sale Thursday, but recently told Axios co-founder Mike Allen it was “not something [Trump is] thinking of.”
The Constitution’s 22nd Amendment firmly bars a third term. A serious effort to amend the Constitution – however far-fetched – would require a two-thirds majority approval in Congress and backing from three-quarters of state governments. The Republicans, while in majority in both chambers, wouldn’t have the power alone to achieve that.
Trump first stirred third-term speculation in January, telling supporters it would be “the greatest honor” to serve “twice or three times or four times” — before claiming it was a joke aimed at the “fake news media.”
President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd after delivering remarks at the House GOP Member Retreat, Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at the Donald J. Trump- John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
One of Michigan’s oldest and most prominent newspapers has chosen a side in the state’s highly competitive Senate battle — and it is backing the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump.
The Detroit News endorsed Republican Mike Rogers over Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed in the contest to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. The decision gives Rogers a prominent in-state boost as both parties pour attention and money into a race that could help determine control of the Senate.
The editorial board did not merely favor Rogers. It delivered a pointed warning about El-Sayed’s efforts to remove years of old social-media posts, podcast episodes and YouTube videos from public view.
Paper Questions El-Sayed’s Deleted Online Record
El-Sayed “has worked so hard covering his tracks leading up to this Senate race that it’s impossible to know who he really is or where he would stand in the Senate,” The Detroit News wrote.
The newspaper cited deleted posts concerning America and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, along with roughly 100 removed YouTube videos that it said offered an unflattering look at the Democrat’s cultural views.
“A candidate who feels the need to hide his past from voters is not someone who can be trusted to be the same person after Election Day as he was on the campaign trail,” the board argued.
El-Sayed’s past commentary has become a central Republican line of attack. Fox News reported that his old remarks included proposing an end to Fourth of July fireworks, suggesting that the Second Amendment be replaced with a right to health care and voicing support at one point for the “defund the police” movement. He has also criticized football’s ties to “toxic masculinity” and “bro culture.”
El-Sayed’s campaign previously said some material was removed “to prevent any old posts from being taken out of context.” Around the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the campaign also said El-Sayed “has always unequivocally condemned terrorism and the September 11 attacks,” according to Fox News.
Republicans have repeatedly described El-Sayed as a socialist because of his support for policies including Medicare for All. El-Sayed, however, has distanced himself from that label, and reporting has noted that he is not affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America.
Rogers Wins Praise for Experience
The Detroit News reached a markedly different conclusion about Rogers, calling the former congressman “the prototype of a United States Senator.”
Rogers served seven terms in the House and rose to chair the House Intelligence Committee. Before Congress, he served in the Army and worked as an FBI special agent. After leaving the House in 2015, he entered the private sector and focused on cybersecurity.
“Mike Rogers is clearly the best choice for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat and gets our endorsement,” the board wrote, according to Michigan News Source.
The endorsement is particularly notable because the newspaper supported Rep. Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary before El-Sayed defeated her. Founded in 1873, The Detroit News remains one of Detroit’s two major daily newspapers.
Trump Put His Weight Behind Rogers
Trump endorsed Rogers in July, giving the Republican what his campaign described as the president’s “complete and total” support.
“I’m grateful to have President Trump’s complete and total endorsement,” Rogers said in a campaign statement. “He knows that we have what it takes to win this seat and deliver real results for hard-working families.”
Trump again urged Michigan voters to support Rogers after the August primary, when Rogers and El-Sayed formally secured their parties’ nominations.
The race remains highly competitive. An Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media survey found El-Sayed at 48% and Rogers at 46%, with the two-point difference inside the poll’s three-point credibility interval. A Fox News survey conducted a month earlier showed Rogers ahead by four points.
With Michigan hosting one of the country’s most closely watched open-seat contests, The Detroit News has now placed its institutional weight behind the Trump-backed Republican — while making El-Sayed’s deleted record a central issue for voters to consider before Election Day.
Justice Department attorneys are pressuring federal judges to reject petitions from at least two Jan. 6 defendants who are requesting that they be allowed to return to the nation’s capital for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Cindy Young, convicted of four misdemeanors for her involvement in the riot at the Capitol, and Russell Taylor, who pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge, both petitioned the courts to allow them to return to Washington, D.C., despite provisions of their sentences requiring them to stay away.
“Contrary to Young’s self designation that she ‘poses no threat of danger to the community,’ Young presents a danger to the D.C. community, including the very law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” U.S. attorneys said in response to Young’s petition. The federal attorneys cited calls from Young “for retribution against those involved in January 6 prosecutions” and argued that she has failed “to recognize the seriousness of her actions.”
A request from Taylor, who was invited to attend the inauguration by members of Utah’s congressional delegation, is also being challenged by attorneys at the Department of Justice who argue that the serious nature of his crimes should preclude him from being able to “return to the scene of the crime.”
“He is asking for the Court to bless his desire to return to the scene of the crime, and the Court should not look past his criminal conduct the last time he was on Capitol grounds,” the U.S. attorneys wrote in a filing to U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. The attorneys added in their court filing that, while they had granted previous travel requests to other defendants involved in the Capitol siege, those approvals were to support people’s continued employment, and the requests did not involve travel to the nation’s capital.
There remains uncertainty around whether Trump will pardon any, some, or all of those defendants who were convicted of crimes as a result of their involvement in the U.S. Capitol siege that occurred in 2021.
Trump has said at times that pardons will be reserved for those who remained peaceful on that fateful day; however, at other points he has suggested a blanket pardon for all those who were convicted.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley celebrated a symbolic victory in New Hampshire early Tuesday morning. Haley won all six votes in Dixville Notch, which kicked off the first-in-the-nation primary vote just past midnight.
The remaining voters headed to the polls later on Tuesday.
The final tracking poll before Tuesday’s primary showed Trump with a 22-point lead over Haley — his largest yet.
While addressing a crowd of supporters Trump tore into Haley after his win in New Hampshire.
“I have to tell you — it was very interesting, because I said, ‘Wow what a great victory,’ but then somebody ran up to the stage all dressed up nicely when it was at 7, but now I just walked up, and it was at 14,” Trump said, mocking Haley for delivering remarks to supporters after the race was called in his favor.
“Let’s not have somebody take a victory when she had a very bad night. She had a very bad night,” Trump said.
Later, he added that he couldn’t let his former United Nations ambassador “get away with bullshit.”
“But I felt I should do this, because I find in life, you can’t let people get away with bullshit,” he said. “You can’t. And when I watched her in the fancy dress … I said, ‘What’s she doing?’ We won. And she did the same thing last week.”
