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Democrat Senator Claims Uniformed Military Is Planning Coup Against Trump

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President Donald J. Trump is presented with a 10th Combat Aviation Brigade challenge coin following an air assault and gun rain demonstration at Fort Drum, New York, on August 13. The demonstration was part of President Trump's visit to the 10th Mountain Division (LI) to sign the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, which increases the Army's authorized active-duty end strength by 4,000 enabling us to field critical capabilities in support of the National Defense Strategy. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas Scaggs) 180813-A-TZ475-010

This week, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said that he believes the U.S. military could serve as a constraint on President Donald Trumpโ€™s administration, arguing that senior uniformed leaders remain primarily loyal to the Constitution rather than any individual political figure.

Speaking during an appearance on โ€œMS NOWโ€ Wednesday morning, Warner previewed questions he said he plans to ask U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley when Bradley testifies Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Warner serves as the committeeโ€™s vice chair.

Warner said his questions will focus in part on concerns surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the administrationโ€™s recent military actions, including strikes in the Caribbean. Warner said he trusts Bradley, but raised doubts about Hegsethโ€™s public statements.

โ€œRemember, this is an administration that has treated the uniformed military with unprecedented disrespect when they were all brought to get a pep rally in front of Hegseth and Trump,โ€ Warner said. โ€œThis is an administration thatโ€™s fired uniform generals from the head of the NSA, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.โ€

He added: โ€œAnd I think in many ways, the uniformed military may help save us from this president and his lame people like Hegseth, because I think their commitment is to the Constitution and obviously not to Trump. And I expect Bradley to adhere to that.โ€

Warnerโ€™s comments follow similar remarks from other Democrats who have suggested service members could resist unlawful directives. Earlier this year, six Democratic lawmakers urged members of the military to resist โ€œillegalโ€ orders.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) made a related argument in an interview last month with Don Lemon, saying he has spoken with service members who view their oath as a safeguard.

โ€œWhat gives me hope, and I talk to service members all the time. They tell me that I don’t appreciate enough and the public doesn’t appreciate enough that while Congress is not a check on the president anymore, and the judiciary at the Supreme Court is hardly a check, military members have told me, โ€˜We can be a check,โ€™โ€ Swalwell said.

He continued: โ€œTheyโ€™re essentially saying, โ€˜Weโ€™re not going to betray our oath to the Constitution because this guy tells us to.โ€™ While it’s not codified that way โ€” they’re not a branch of government on their ownโ€” their honor and integrity might just save us.โ€

Former President Barack Obama also addressed the issue Monday, saying he has seen signs of โ€œresistanceโ€ within the military to what he described as politicization, while adding he does not believe that politicization has fully taken hold.

โ€œI would not expect the politicization of the Justice Department or our military,โ€ Obama said. โ€œAnd I donโ€™t think thatโ€™s happened. I think thereโ€™s been resistance, particularly in the military, to that, but the degree to which that has been encouraged, you know, that used to be something that I would lecture other countries not to do.โ€

CNN Inks Deal With Major Prediction Market Backed by Trump Jr.

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CNN Headquarters via Wikimedia Commons

CNN is reportedly entering a new partnership with prediction-market company Kalshi that would weave Kalshiโ€™s real-time odds and forecasts into CNNโ€™s on-air and digital coverageโ€”an alliance that also has the effect of placing the network in a business relationship with Donald Trump Jr.

Axios first reported the deal Tuesday, citing sources who said Kalshi will appear โ€œacross its television, digital, and social channels.โ€ Under the arrangement, Kalshiโ€™s prediction data would be featured on CNN programming as a live โ€œreal-time data ticker,โ€ with additional segments built around prediction-market oriented content touching politics, news, culture, and weather. CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten is also expected to incorporate Kalshiโ€™s numbers into his data-driven analysis, according to the report.

The collaboration would represent Kalshiโ€™s first major partnership with a national news organizationโ€”an important milestone for a company that has sought to position itself as a go-to source for fast-moving probability estimates about cultural and political events. In practice, prediction markets function like real-time sentiment gauges: prices (or implied probabilities) move up and down as participants buy and sell contracts tied to specific outcomes, translating collective bets into a snapshot of what the market thinks is most likely at a given moment. For a television newsroom, that kind of constantly updating โ€œodds boardโ€ can be a compelling visualโ€”especially during election cycles and major breaking-news momentsโ€”because it packages uncertainty into an easy-to-read number.

But the most politically sensitive dimension of the reported partnership is who else is tied to Kalshi.

As Media Mattersโ€™ Matthew Gertz noted, Donald Trump Jr. announced in January 2025 that he had joined Kalshi as a โ€œstrategic advisor.โ€ Trump Jr. framed the company as a disruptive force in the U.S. market for event-based trading, touting Kalshiโ€™s legal fights and its efforts to build mainstream legitimacy. โ€œIโ€™m excited to be part of what theyโ€™re building,โ€ he said at the time, casting Kalshi as a pioneering player in an industry that has long operated in a gray area in the United States.

That makes CNNโ€™s reported move notable for more than its graphics package. If Kalshi data becomes a recurring on-air featureโ€”particularly in political coverageโ€”CNN would be elevating a product linked to a prominent partisan figure: the son of a president and a central surrogate in Republican politics. Even if Trump Jr. has no day-to-day role in editorial decisions at CNN, his publicly announced advisory position creates an unavoidable headline: a major news network integrating a data feed from a company whose strategic advisor is one of the most recognizable names in national GOP politics.

The questions are as much about perception as they are about logistics. Prediction-market numbers can be useful as one input among manyโ€”alongside polling, modeling, and reportingโ€”but they can also be misunderstood by audiences as โ€œwhat will happenโ€ rather than โ€œwhat traders think might happen,โ€ especially when those percentages are presented like sports odds. And with Trump Jr. connected to the company supplying the data, critics are likely to scrutinize when and how CNN uses the ticker, whether the network discloses the advisory relationship on-air, and how often the data appears in politically charged segments.

For Kalshi, the upside is obvious: a prominent distribution channel that could normalize prediction markets and introduce the brand to a much larger audience. For CNN, the draw is fresh, visually dynamic dataโ€”something that fits modern broadcast pacing and could complement its analytics-heavy style, particularly in elections and major news events. But the addition of Donald Trump Jr. to the equation ensures the partnership wonโ€™t be viewed as just another data collaboration.

Tucker Carlson Says He Was Attacked By A Demon, Sparking Debate Over His Fitness For Leadership

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Leaving him with bleeding claw marks andโ€ฆ

Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson says he was the victim of what he describes as a โ€œdemonic attack,โ€ an incident he claims left him with bleeding claw marks and struggling to breathe. The account, shared publicly for the first time during a Megyn Kelly Live Tour event in New York, has prompted concerns about his mental health and overall fitness for leadership.

Carlsonโ€™s Account

Carlson said the episode occurred about 18 months ago, around 2:30 a.m., while he and his wife were asleep with their four hunting dogs. He said he woke up unable to breathe and felt as though he was โ€œgraying out.โ€ Moments later, he experienced sharp pain under his arms and along his ribs, โ€œas if ripped with a knife.โ€

When he turned on the light, Carlson said, he saw bleeding claw marks on both sides of his chest. His wife awoke and, according to Carlson, immediately concluded that โ€œsomething attacked you.โ€ None of the dogs stirred during the incident, a detail he said made it even more unsettling.

Aftermath and Reflection

Carlson described feeling an overwhelming urge to read the Bible before falling asleep for a few minutes and waking to believe it had been a dream โ€” until he discovered blood on the bedsheets and noticed the same marks again.

He told Kelly that an assistant later suggested the incident was a form of โ€œspiritual warfare,โ€ echoing his wifeโ€™s interpretation. Carlson said he does not expect skeptics to believe him but remains convinced that โ€œsomething realโ€ took place.

โ€œI canโ€™t explain it, but it was not a dream,โ€ he told Megyn Kelly. โ€œIt was something that happened in the physical world.โ€

Reaction and Ridicule

Critics, including Project 2025 contributor and The Origins of Woke author Richard Hanania, questioned Carlsonโ€™s mental state and credibility. โ€œThis is not the kind of thing a stable person says publicly,โ€ Hanania wrote on X.

Observers suggested the incident described by Carlson is consistent with a โ€œnocturnal panic attack,โ€ a phenomenon that occurs during deep sleep and can cause sudden awakenings marked by intense fear and physical distress. Unlike nightmares, these episodes are not typically tied to a specific dream or outside stimulus.

Medical experts note that while panic attacks do not usually cause self-harm, people may inadvertently injure themselves if they move violently or attempt to โ€œescapeโ€ a perceived threat while half-awake and disoriented.

Other scientific explanations for self-inflicted marks during sleep include severe anxiety, night terrors, and REM behavior disorder โ€” in which people act out dreams โ€” and coexisting mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive or trauma-related disorders.

Other conservative critics were equally bemused, relying on the principle of Ockhamโ€™s Razor โ€” the idea that the simplest explanation is usually correct.

Supporters, many of them evangelical Christians, framed Carlsonโ€™s experience as evidence of the spiritual conflict they believe lies at the heart of Americaโ€™s cultural and political divide. They praised his willingness to speak openly about faith, calling it a sign of moral courage.

Implications for Carlsonโ€™s Role

Even after the controversy surrounding his friendly interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, Carlson remains one of the most influential figures in digital media, commanding a broad following across multiple platforms. However, critics argue that promoting claims of a demonic attack risks alienating mainstream voters and undermining the credibility of both the conservative movement and conservative journalism.

Carlson also claimed in an interview during the final day before the 2024 election that demonic forces created nuclear technology, linking the dropping of the atomic bomb that forced Japanโ€™s unconditional surrender to the rise of secularism.

Carlson did not address how the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki โ€” combined with Russiaโ€™s declaration of war and invasion of Manchuria โ€” eliminated the need for a costly invasion of Japanโ€™s home islands (Operations Olympic and Coronet) or a prolonged blockade, actions that historians widely agree would have caused millions of additional deaths.

He also did not mention that in the early 1900s, church membership and attendance were relatively modest. In 1890, the census found that 33% of Americans identified as belonging to a church.

After World War II, however, the United States experienced a remarkable religious revival. Church membership grew from ~43% attended church before the war to โ€œmore than 55%โ€ by 1950, rising to 69% by the end of the 1950s. Gallup polls from the era show about 45% of adults reported attending church or synagogue weekly, a sharp increase from earlier decades.

The revival spanned denominations: Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish congregations all saw dramatic growth. Many Americans tied this renewed faith to national identity โ€” a Cold War-era contrast with โ€œgodless communism.โ€

Despite the backlash, Tucker Carlsonโ€™s fans arenโ€™t backing down. They say his openness about faith isnโ€™t weakness โ€” itโ€™s courage.

To them, his honesty reflects humility and conviction โ€” the very traits America needs in an age that has grown increasingly secular in recent decades.

Whatโ€™s Next

Carlson has not provided photos or medical documentation of the alleged injuries, and there is no verifiable evidence to support his account.

Whether the story ultimately strengthens or weakens his influence may depend less on the broader electorate than on how conservative audiences interpret it โ€” as a test of faith or a question of credibility.

Republicans Uncover Epsteinโ€™s Coordination With Reporters To Smear Trump

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By Ralph Alswang, White House photographer - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/clinton-epstein-maxwell/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=143417695

Just hours after the White House publicly accused congressional Democrats of selectively leaking emails related to Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released tens of thousands of additional pages of documents. These include email exchanges between Epstein and prominent journalists.

A significant portion of the new material shows correspondence between Epstein and writer-turned-biographer Michael Wolff. Wolff reached out to Epstein multiple times, discussing not only Epsteinโ€™s public image but how to leverage criticism of Donald Trump for strategic benefit.

In February 2016, Wolff wrote to Epstein:

โ€œNYT called me about you and Trump,โ€
โ€œAlso, Hillary campaign digging deeply. Again, you should consider preempting.โ€

A month later they discussed plans ahead of the release of Filthy Rich โ€” a true-crime book by James Patterson about Epstein, who was Pattersonโ€™s neighbor in Palm Beach. Wolff suggested to Epstein:

โ€œBecoming an anti-Trump voice gives you a certain political cover which you decidedly donโ€™t have now.โ€
And he added:
โ€œPatterson can be counted on to produce a bestseller, and while he isn’t regarded as a serious writer, he’ll surely be unloading a lot of tabloid copy โ€ฆ Because this will be tied to the election, the Trump-Clinton angle will amp up the attention 10-fold, in fact, possibly, a hundred fold. Possibly more than anything you’ve encountered before.โ€

When Epstein asked Wolff what he should say publicly about his relationship with Trump, Wolffโ€™s advice was pointed:

โ€œIf he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency,โ€
โ€œYou can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt. Of course, it is possible that, when asked, he’ll say Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness, which is to be outlawed in a Trump regime.โ€

In further correspondence, Wolff requested introductions for Epstein to two figures close to Trump: business leader and inaugural-committee chair Tom Barrack and former federal prosecutor Kathy Ruemmler. He told Epstein he sought โ€œan off-the-record perspective on White House procedures,โ€ while researching his book about Trumpโ€™s first 100 days in office. He also asked whether former President Bill Clinton would confirm he had never been to Epsteinโ€™s private U.S. Virgin Islands island, Little St. John โ€” a place Clinton has publicly denied visiting. Epsteinโ€™s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell has also denied seeing Clinton there.

The documents show that Epstein and Wolff planned to meet as recently as May 2019 โ€” months before Epstein died in a federal jail cell while awaiting trial.

Read some of the emails below:

Some of the newly released material included a short video of a dog and what appear to be chew toys modeled after Trump and the 2016 presidential rival Hillary Clinton. Others appear to be slides from an adviser working to generate positive search-engine results for Epstein following his 2008 conviction for child-sex crimes.

Earlier, Democrats had released documents that included an especially cryptic email from Epstein to Maxwell โ€” one that mentions Trump by name, and refers to an unnamed victim of Epsteinโ€™s trafficking network. The email read:

โ€œI want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump,โ€ Epstein wrote on April 2, 2011.
โ€œ[VICTIM] spent hours at my house with himโ€ฆhe has never once been mentioned. Police chief. etc. I’m 75% there.โ€

Officials later identified the โ€œunnamed victimโ€ as well-known Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year. Giuffre repeatedly stated that Trump was not involved in wrongdoing and โ€œcouldnโ€™t have been friendlierโ€ to her in their limited interactions. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, responded:

โ€œThe fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre.โ€

In his own post on Truth Social, Trump weighed in:

โ€œThe Democrats cost our Country $1.5 Trillion Dollars with their recent antics of viciously closing our Country, while at the same time putting many at risk โ€” and they should pay a fair price,โ€ he wrote.
โ€œThere should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!โ€

As a reminder: Epstein secured a highly-controversial so-called โ€œsweetheartโ€ deal in 2008 for child-sex crimes. He was arrested again in 2019 on more serious trafficking charges โ€” but died before the case went to trial. Maxwell was convicted of grooming and procuring girls and young women for Epstein; she is appealing and continues to assert her innocence.


Key Takeaways for a Republican Audience

  • The timing of the document releases and allegations of selective leaking by Democrats raises questions about political motive and media stratagem.
  • The correspondence shows efforts to frame Epsteinโ€™s narrative around Trump โ€” part of a broader attempt to tie the story to the 2016 presidential election and cast Trump in a negative light.
  • Trumpโ€™s defenders argue the documents reinforce his long-standing disassociation from Epstein, as well as serve to remind voters of Democratsโ€™ role in political maneuvering, rather than holding criminals accountable.
  • For Republicans focused on institutional integrity and media accountability, the episode reinforces concerns about selective exposure of documents, agenda-driven leaks, and manipulation of public perception.

Fox News Host Clashes With Trump In Tense Interview

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President Donald Trumpโ€™s latest appearance on The Ingraham Angle turned out to be anything but routine. In a Monday night interview filmed in the Oval Office, Fox News host Laura Ingraham pressed the president repeatedlyโ€”on housing, the economy, foreign policy, and the MAGA movement itselfโ€”leading to one of Trumpโ€™s most combative televised exchanges in recent memory.

Before the interview even aired, a preview clip posted to Ingrahamโ€™s Facebook page hinted at the unusual tone. Filming amid Trumpโ€™s famously gold-adorned surroundings, she teased, โ€œSo these arenโ€™t from Home Depot?โ€ The moment didnโ€™t make it to air, but it set the stage for what followed: a testy back-and-forth between two of the most influential voices in conservative politics.

Trump on Housing and the Economy

Ingraham began by raising concerns about housing affordability and the average age of first-time homebuyers now hitting 40. Trump interrupted, โ€œWe inherited that, you have to understand,โ€ but Ingraham shot back, โ€œLet me get to the question, though.โ€

She challenged Trump on his proposal for a 50-year mortgageโ€”a concept some in the MAGA base criticized as prolonging debt. โ€œIs that really a good idea?โ€ she asked.

โ€œItโ€™s not even a big deal,โ€ Trump said. โ€œI mean, you go from 40 to 50 years.โ€ Ingraham corrected him: โ€œ30 to 50 years.โ€ Trump deflected, blaming โ€œJoe Biden and his lousy Fed person, Jerome Powell,โ€ before asserting, โ€œIf we had a normal person, the Fed would have really low interest rates.โ€

Ingraham pressed further: โ€œWhy are people saying they are anxious about the economy?โ€ Trump dismissed the premise. โ€œI donโ€™t know that they are saying [that]. I think polls are fake. We have the greatest economy we ever had.โ€

Her question came as Republicans are still reeling from setbacks in the New Jersey and Virginia elections. โ€œDo you think voters have the wrong perception?โ€ Ingraham asked. Trump responded, โ€œMore than anything else, itโ€™s a con job by the Democrats. Costs are way down.โ€

The $10,000 Bonus Controversy

Ingraham also questioned Trumpโ€™s Truth Social post offering a $10,000 bonus to air traffic controllers working through the government shutdown. โ€œThere are a lot of delays now, sir,โ€ she noted.

Trump replied, โ€œIโ€™m not happy when I saw people refusing to do unpaid work during the shutdown. Look, life is not so easy for anybody. Our country has never done better. We should not have had people leaving their jobs. What I basically saidโ€”the ones that stayed, there were a lot of themโ€”Iโ€™m sending them a $10,000 bonus.โ€

When Ingraham pressed, โ€œWhere is that money coming from?โ€ Trump quipped, โ€œI donโ€™t know. I will get it from some place. I always get the money from some place, regardless. It doesnโ€™t matter.โ€

Sparring Over China and Foreign Students

The discussion turned global when Ingraham cited a CNN report on China expanding its missile facilities. โ€œChina are not our friends, sir,โ€ she said.

โ€œThey donโ€™t want to mess around with us,โ€ Trump countered. When Ingraham noted Chinaโ€™s theft of U.S. intellectual property, Trump asked, โ€œDo you think the French are better?โ€ Ingraham said yes. Trump shot back, โ€œIโ€™m not so sure.โ€

The tension deepened when Ingraham raised the issue of foreign students. โ€œA lot of MAGA folks are not thrilled about this idea of hundreds of thousands of foreign students in the United States,โ€ she said. โ€œWhy, sir, is that a pro-MAGA position?โ€

Trump defended the policy: โ€œWithout foreign students, you would have half the colleges in the United States go out of business.โ€

โ€œSo what?โ€ Ingraham said bluntly. Trump replied, โ€œI think thatโ€™s a big deal.โ€

The MAGA Movementโ€”and Media Dynamics

Ingraham repeatedly framed questions around the โ€œMAGA folksโ€ critical of Trumpโ€™s ideas. Trump pushed back: โ€œMAGA was my idea. It was nobody elseโ€™s idea. I know better than anybody else MAGA wants to see our country thrive.โ€

That line captured Trumpโ€™s increasingly defensive postureโ€”not just toward Democrats, but toward members of the conservative media who now challenge him more openly. While The Ingraham Angle once provided friendly ground, Mondayโ€™s interview underscored the shifting balance between Trump and right-leaning outlets seeking to assert independence ahead of the 2024 election.

Observers note that Trumpโ€™s prickly demeanor may reflect deeper frustrations: inflationary pressures remain despite his attacks on Bidenโ€™s policies; conservative pundits are fracturing over strategy; and Trumpโ€™s own polling among independent voters has shown volatility. Within this context, even mild criticism from longtime allies can provoke his ire.

A Tense Exchange Symbolizing a Larger Rift

The Oval Office encounter stood in stark contrast to Ingrahamโ€™s earlier visit in March, when Trump jovially showed off his โ€œCoke buttonโ€ and griped about paving over the Rose Garden. This time, there were no laughsโ€”just sharp exchanges between two seasoned figures who have long shaped Republican discourse.

Trump Seeks To Proceed With $10B Lawsuit Over Wall Street Journal

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The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

President Donald Trump’s legal team has requested a Florida federal judge reject a request from the Wall Street Journal to dismiss a $10 billion defamation lawsuit over the paper’s reporting on the bawdy letter allegedly penned by Trump that appeared in a birthday book for disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.ย 

In a court filing late Monday, Trump’s lawyers argued that the July article and surrounding coverage were a “deliberate smear campaign designed to damage President Trump’s reputation” and subject the president to “public hatred and ridicule.” They also requested oral arguments over the Journal’s recent motion to dismiss.

“Defendants did not publish the Article on the front page of The Wall Street Journal based on a mere harmless joke between friends,” Monday’s filing said. “Indeed, such an assertion strains credulity beyond repair. The Article, and the surrounding media around it, were all a deliberate smear campaign designed to damage President Trump’s reputation.”

Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for aiding and participating in Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls, told Justice Department officials in August that Epstein had asked her toย organize contributionsย to his 50th birthday book from friends and associates, but said she could not recall if Trump, then a private citizen, was among those who responded.

Last month, the House Oversight Committee released records from Epstein’s estate that included aย copy of a birthday bookย with the alleged letter from Trump that the newspaper had described.

Trump thenย filed a lawsuitย against the Journal in July, and has continued to assert the letter is fake and that the signature on the letter isย not his.

Acknowledging the release of the letter by the House Oversight panel, Trump’s lawyers alleged that the Wall Street Journal was still “deliberate and malicious” in its reporting by claiming that the letter was not only authored by Trump but also “on-brand” for the president.ย 

The Wall Street Journal has stood by its reporting.

“Because Plaintiff has publicly admitted that he was Epstein’s friend in the early 2000s, his reputation cannot be harmed by the suggestion that he was friends with Epstein in 2003. Indeed, he was listed in the Birthday Book as a ‘friend’ of Epstein. The fact that his relationship with Epstein may now be a political liability — over 20 years after the Birthday Book was presented to Epstein — does not change this conclusion,” the Journal contended in its request for dismissal.

While the Journal’s reporting included a denial from President Trump, his lawyers argued in Mondays filing that the publication still acted with a “reckless disregard for the truth” because the request for comment was rushed and the reporting allegedly cast doubt on the president’s claim. 

Federal Prosecutors โ€˜At Workโ€™ To Bring Charges Against John Bolton

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The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Federal prosecutors are reportedly preparing charges against former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton, a longtime critic of President Trump, over his handling of classified materials โ€” a move that comes after months of internal resistance from within the Justice Department.

According to CNNโ€™s Katelyn Polantz, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorneyโ€™s Office in Maryland met over the weekend to hammer out the details of a potential indictment. Citing unnamed sources, Polantz reported that the Maryland team had initially pushed back against DOJ leadershipโ€™s push to charge Bolton, but those objections have now โ€œlifted,โ€ and the team is โ€œat workโ€ on the case.

The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Appearing on CNNโ€™s The Situation Room with anchor Pamela Brown, Polantz explained that the disagreement was โ€œabout when to chargeโ€ Bolton โ€” suggesting that some inside the DOJ were concerned about timing rather than substance.

โ€œFrom what I had learned through sources,โ€ Polantz said, โ€œwas that the dispute was over timing โ€” whether to charge John Bolton very soon or prepare an indictment very soon to take it through the grand jury, or whether there needed to be more time since those searches of his home and office only took place a couple of weeks ago.โ€

In late August, FBI agents raided Boltonโ€™s Maryland home and private office, seizing materials reportedly marked โ€œsecret,โ€ โ€œconfidential,โ€ and โ€œclassified,โ€ including documents referencing weapons of mass destruction. Investigators also collected electronics and files labeled โ€œTrump Iโ€“IV,โ€ according to court filings.

Bolton โ€” who has been a vocal Trump critic since leaving the administration โ€” has denied any wrongdoing. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, said the items taken were โ€œdecades oldโ€ and insisted that his client โ€œdid nothing inappropriate.โ€

Sinclair Ends Jimmy Kimmel Ban

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The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A quick turnaround…

On Friday, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it will end its preemption of ABCโ€™s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and the show will return on Friday.ย 

“Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience. We take seriously our responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honoring our obligations to air national network programming,” Sinclair said in a statement.

“Over the last week, we have received thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers, and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives. We have also witnessed troubling acts of violence, including the despicable incident of a shooting at an ABC affiliate station in Sacramento. These events underscore why responsible broadcasting matters and why respectful dialogue between differing voices remains so important,” the statement continued. “In our ongoing and constructive discussions with ABC, Sinclair proposed measures to strengthen accountability, viewer feedback, and community dialogue, including a network-wide independent ombudsman.”

Sinclair added that proposals “were suggested as collaborative efforts between the ABC affiliates and the ABC network.”

“While ABC and Disney have not yet adopted these measures, and Sinclair respects their right to make those decisions under our network affiliate agreements, we believe such measures could strengthen trust and accountability,” the company said. 

“Our decision to preempt this program was independent of any government interaction or influence. Free speech provides broadcasters with the right to exercise judgment as to the content on their local stations. While we understand that not everyone will agree with our decisions about programming, it is simply inconsistent to champion free speech while demanding that broadcasters air specific content,” Sinclair continued. “As a company rooted in local stations, Sinclair remains committed to serving our communities with programming that reflects their priorities, earns their trust, and promotes constructive dialogue. We look forward to continuing to work with ABC to deliver content that serves a broad spectrum of our communities.”

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Media Personality Claims Tucker Carlson Is Frontrunner to Succeed Trump

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Tucker Carlson via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Swisher and Galloway were discussing the decline of television in the wake of Kimmelโ€™s suspension from ABC when the conversation turned to podcasters.

โ€œI think, look, we got to just burn those ships and move on. Thatโ€™s the thing, because this is how Trump lives. He lives in the 80s in his head, so CBS, ABC, and NBC are the be-all and end-all,โ€ Swisher argued.

โ€œBut theyโ€™re not. Theyโ€™re not influential anymore. We should just move along and make our stuff. We should grow and conservative outlets should grow, whatever it happens to be. I was, although I think Tucker Carlsonโ€™s reallyโ€“ somethingโ€™s going on with him. When heโ€™s articulated, it was absolutely right,โ€ Swisher added.

โ€œWe both have our issues with Tucker. I think Tucker right now is the most likely nominee for the Republican nomination. I think he has been very good lately,โ€ Galloway replied โ€” referring to Carlsonโ€™s warning against any kind of free speech crackdown following Kirkโ€™s murder.

โ€œWell, heโ€™s consistent at least,โ€ Swisher agreed.

โ€œAbout housing, for young people, he comes across as intellectually honest. He comes across as courageous, not afraid to go against his own party. And I realize Iโ€™m talking our own book here,โ€ Galloway continued, adding:

Our downloads are up 10 percent in the last 30 days. And guess what? Everyone fromย Megyn Kellyย toย Joe Rogan, youโ€™re going to see a lot, increasingly people turn to podcasts likeย The Daily, becauseย The New York Timesย is fearless and does the work.

Youโ€™re just going to see media that is not scared ofย Brendan Carr,ย or canโ€™t be controlled byย Brendan Carr.ย Boom, because people are really interested in whatโ€™s going on, and they like fearless. You know, Iโ€™ll give you an example,ย Don Lemon.

Watch:

Report: Trump FCC Chair Willing To Revoke Media Broadcast Licenses

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Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr is making waves in Washington by refusing to give corporate media a free pass. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Carr said he is prepared to hold powerful broadcasters accountable if they cross the line, even suggesting their licenses could be at risk.

โ€œBroadcast licenses are not sacred cows,โ€ Carr declared, emphasizing that media companies must serve the public interestโ€”not just their own political agenda.

Unlike past FCC chairs who often looked the other way, Carr has embraced President Trumpโ€™s call to challenge the entrenched power of legacy outlets. He noted that Trump shattered the illusion that the mainstream press acts as neutral gatekeepers of truth, exposing the bias that millions of Americans already sensed.

Taking on Comcast and NBC

Carr has already taken steps to ensure media giants like Comcast are not misleading the public. Following concerns about the companyโ€™s partisan coverage and questionable diversity policies, Carr launched two investigations into Comcastโ€™s practices.

In April, Carr accused Comcast of misleading Americans with its reporting on a high-profile deportation case. By July, he expanded the review to include whether NBC affiliates were truly serving their communities as required under federal law.

The standard Carr cites dates back to 1934, which requires broadcasters to act in the โ€œpublic interest, convenience, and necessity.โ€ While critics claim such standards are outdated, Carr argues that the law remains clear: if companies are given privileged access to Americaโ€™s airwaves, they must be held accountable to the public.

The FCC has rarely revoked a broadcast licenseโ€”most notably in 1971 when a Mississippi station defended segregationโ€”but Carr has signaled heโ€™s willing to use that authority again if necessary.

Fully Aligned With Trumpโ€™s Agenda

Carr has been at the FCC since 2017 and makes no secret that he supports the presidentโ€™s approach. โ€œWe are fully aligned with the agenda that President Trump is running,โ€ he told the Journal.

For Carr, this means standing up to the mainstream press, protecting Americans from being misled, and ensuring that media companies donโ€™t abuse their privileged position.

Critics Push Back

Of course, media lawyers and progressive watchdog groups are sounding the alarm. Robert Corn-Revere of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression complained to the Journal that Carrโ€™s actions are political. But for millions of conservatives, Carrโ€™s willingness to confront biased outlets is long overdue.

By leaning in rather than playing the old Washington โ€œindependenceโ€ game, Carr is showing heโ€™s willing to take bold steps to ensure the public gets fair and honest coverageโ€”not just the partisan spin of corporate media.