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    Letitia James Leading Charge On New Multistate Lawsuit Over HHS Cuts

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    Alec Perkins from Hoboken, USA, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    Longtime Trump rival Letitia James announced she is leading a coalition of 20 states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s cuts to public health funding and the Department of Health and Human Services,

    The lawsuit, filed by James and other state attorneys general, accuses the Trump administration of violating “hundreds” of laws and regulations in attempting to dismantle the Department of Health and Human Services, both by firing thousands of HHS employees in an effort to slash its overall workforce by 20,000 people and shuttering crucial health programs across the U.S.

    Their lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of erasing “decades of public health progress” and leaving HHS “unable to execute many of its most vital functions.”

    “This administration is not streamlining the federal government; they are sabotaging it,” James said Monday. 

    “When you fire the scientists who research infectious diseases, silence the doctors who care for pregnant people and shut down the programs that help firefighters and miners breathe or children thrive, you are not making America healthy; you are putting countless lives at risk,” James said. 

    “This is not how government is supposed to work. These actions are dangerous, cruel and illegal. They defy Congress’s authority and they violate federal law. And that is why today I am leading a lawsuit joined by Democratic attorneys general across the country to stop this administration from tearing down our public health infrastructure.”

    The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, are asking the court “to halt the unlawful dismantling of HHS, to stop the mass firings, and to restore the life-saving programs that millions of Americans depend on,” James said.

    New York is joined in the lawsuit by the attorneys generals of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

    Her remarks come after HHS announced thousands of layoffs in March and April, including at the FDA, the CDC and NIH. 

    The lawsuit is not the first time James, a longtime foe of the current president, has sparred with Trump since the start of his second presidential term. She’s joined Democrat attorneys general in more than a dozen other lawsuits challenging his early actions

    Former ABC News Anchor Suggests Replacement For Ousted National Security Official

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54325633746/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=159707159

    Former ABC News journalist Mark Halperin suggested a replacement for President Trump’s National Security Council after Thursday’s shakeup.

    Halperin said Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff was Waltz’s likely replacement.

    Trump administration National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and other staffers are out at the National Security Council, sources confirmed to Fox News.

    Watch:

    Fox News confirmed Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong were purged Thursday. 

    Waltz, who previously served as a Florida congressman, has come under fire from Democrats and critics since March, when the Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published a firsthand account of getting added to a Signal group chat with top national security leaders, including Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, while they discussed strikes against Yemen terrorists. 

    Waltz took responsibility for the inclusion of a journalist in the group chat in April, telling Fox News’ Laura Ingraham: “I take full responsibility. I built the group. … It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it.”

    Alex Wong served as Waltz’s principal deputy national security advisor, who was detailed in the Signal chat leak earlier this year as the staffer charged with “pulling together a tiger team” in Waltz’s initial message sent to the Signal group chat in March, the Atlantic reported at the time. 

    White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital earlier Monday when asked about reports claiming Waltz and other would be shown the door: “We are not going to respond to reporting from anonymous sources.”

    President Donald Trump held a meeting with members of his Cabinet Wednesday, following his 100th day back in office on Tuesday, with Waltz attending the meeting. 

    Report: Rubio Says State Had Dossier Accusing Trump Cabinet Member Of Disinformation

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    (Miami - Flórida, 09/03/2020) Presidente da República Jair Bolsonaro durante encontro com o Senador Marco Rubio..Foto: Alan Santos/PR

    On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department under President Biden had labeled one of President Trump’s now-cabinet officials as a purveyor of disinformation and had collected a dossier on their social media posts. 

    Rubio did not identify the individual, revealing the information during a round-table meeting of Trump’s cabinet officials, but said it was someone at the table. He said he would hand over the information to the person and allow them the decide whether to make it public.

    An unidentified person in the room shouted out, “Was it me or Elon?” referring to Elon Musk, owner of the X social media site, who has used his platform to amplify conspiracy theories and promote falsehoods on political, social and foreign policy issues. 

    “We had an office in the Department of State whose job it was to censor Americans,” Rubio said, referring to previous administrations.

    “And by the way, I’m not gonna say who it is, I’ll leave it up to them. There’s at least one person at this table today who had a dossier in that building of social media posts to identify them as purveyors of disinformation,” he added.

    “We have these dossiers. We are going to be turning those over to these individuals.”

    Rubio appeared to be referring to the now-shuttered Global Engagement Center, initially a bipartisan effort to track foreign disinformation online campaigns abroad, but that Republicans accused of policing Americans’ social media activity.

    Canadian Conservative Poised To Lose Seat After 20 Years In Stunning Fall From Grace

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1

    A stunning loss for Canadian conservatives…

    Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is projected to lose the parliamentary seat he has held for more than 20 years in a stunning defeat to Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy.

    The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a state-owned outlet, projected the loss on Tuesday morning following Monday’s federal election.

    However, Elections Canada’s decision to pause the counting of special ballots means it remains unclear whether the Liberals, led by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, will walk away with a minority or majority mandate.

    Fanjoy, who is projected to take Poilievre’s seat in Parliament, worked in business and marketing and lives in a carbon-neutral house in Manotick, a suburb of Ottawa, according to CBC.

    “We have to look out for ourselves, and we have to take care of each other. Let’s get to work,” Fanjoy wrote in a post on X.

    In his victory speech, Carney appeared to criticize the U.S. for President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which he called a “betrayal.”

    “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” Carney said in his victory speech. “America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. These are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so America can own us. That will never … ever happen.”

    In late 2024, just before Trudeau’s resignation, Poilievre was up 25 points over the unpopular then-prime minister, according to Politico. However, Trump’s tariffs and comments about making Canada the 51st state took over the Great White North’s election cycle, likely fueling Carney and the Liberals’ victory. 

    President Trump has repeated remarks referencing Canada potentially becoming the 51st state.

    “What I’d like to see — Canada become our 51st state,” Trump said in February in the Oval Office when asked what concessions Canada could offer to stave off tariffs.

    Despite Canada being one of the United States’ top trade partners Trump asserted the U.S. did not need Canada’s lumber or automobile production.

    The president suggested it’s unlikely the U.S. will annex Canada, partly because neither side would be willing to put up with the economic pain that would be required for that to happen.

    “We don’t need them. As a state, it’s different. As a state it’s much different. And there are no tariffs,” Trump said. “So I’d love to see that. Some people say that would be a longshot. If people wanted to play the game right, it would be 100 percent certain that they’d become a state. But a lot of people don’t like to play the game. Because they don’t have a threshold of pain.”

    Trump Indicates Plan To Lower or Eliminate Income Taxes Thanks To Tariffs

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    3

    This could be huge…

    President Donald Trump said that some people’s income taxes will be lowered or perhaps even completely eliminated due to tariffs.

    “When Tariffs cut in, many people’s Income Taxes will be substantially reduced, maybe even completely eliminated. Focus will be on people making less than $200,000 a year,” he declared in a post on Truth Social.

    “Also, massive numbers of jobs are already being created, with new plants and factories currently being built or planned. It will be a BONANZA FOR AMERICA!!! THE EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE IS HAPPENING!!!” the president added.

    The president touched on the subjects of income taxes and tariffs while addressing reporters on Sunday.

    “And eventually we’ll be reducing taxes very substantially for the people of our country, because the money is so great coming in from tariffs that I’ll be able to reduce taxes … to a very large extent, and maybe almost completely,” he said.

    “And it’s possible we’ll do a complete tax cut, because I think the tariffs will be enough to cut all of the income tax,” he noted. 

    The president indicated Americans will be given “a tremendous tax cut,” starting “with people making less than $200,000 dollars a year.”

    Trump, who has been in the Oval Office for nearly 100 days, has moved at breakneck speed to revitalize America.

    Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Fox News exclusively that President Donald Trump has accomplished more in the first 100 days of his tenure than “most politicians or presidents accomplish in their entire lifetimes.”

    “So much of what we’ve done is leading up to the big reconciliation bill, and that is the legislative vehicle, as I’ve explained to people, it will help us, through which we will deliver the president’s America First agenda,” Johnson told Fox News Digital.

    “We’ve done it with arguably the smallest margin in the history of the Congress, so challenges every day, but it’s been very rewarding to lead us through that.”

     The speaker also acknowledged that Trump has acted quite a bit on his own, as well.

    “He’s issued, I think, 110 executive orders and many other executive actions. And we’ve been working to codify so much of that. It’s been kind of a partnership,” Johnson said.

    “I don’t think we’ve ceded any authority. I think that he’s doing what is within his scope to do. There’s an assumption made by Congress that the administration, whoever is in the administration, will use the money that is appropriated to the executive branch as a good steward, that they will take every measure possible to prevent fraud, waste and abuse,” Johnson said. 

    “And tariffs as well – the president, whomever is president, has a responsibility and I think an expectation from Congress that they will deal with unfair trade partners around the globe.”

    However, while many conservatives have praised Trump’s recent accomplishments, many Democrats have openly decried the moves and spurred concerns they will seek to impeach Trump if they regain control of Congress.

    CNN host Dana Bash recently asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer if he agreed with Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) who signaled recently that he would support an impeachment effort against Trump.

    “Would that be a priority if Democrats were to take back Congress?” Bash asked. 

    “President Trump is violating rule of law in every way. And we’re fighting him every single day in every way. And our goal is to show the American people over and over again, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s tariffs, whether it’s Russia and overseas and whether it’s rule of law, how bad he is. And you know, two years is too far away to predict. Our job is day to day to day, to show who Trump is, what he is doing, and it’s having an effect,” Schumer said.

    Bash pressed him further and said, “You’re not saying ‘no.’”

    “Look, it’s too far away to even judge,” Schumer responded.

    Ossoff signaled support for impeaching Trump during a town hall event in Georgia.

    “I saw just 48 hours ago, [Trump] is granting audiences to people who buy his meme coin,” Ossoff said. “There is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense. And the reality is that that’s just one of many [examples] — defying a federal court order, for example.”

    Ivanka Surprises Supporters With Holiday Message About Her Future

    By
    Patrick Houck
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    0
    Ivanka Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Ivanka Trump recently spent the Easter and Passover holidays in Costa Rica, joining her husband Jared Kushner, his brother Joshua Kushner and model Karlie Kloss for a family getaway. The former White House adviser shared photos from the trip on social media, calling the rejuvenating break “a gift beyond words.”

    The vacation comes as Ivanka, 43, signals a shift in her public role. In a recent interview on “The Skinny Confidential Him & Her” podcast, she spoke candidly about the “very dark” nature of politics and the isolation of life in the White House, describing the presidency as “the world’s loneliest position” and reflecting on the transactional nature of most interactions her father faced on a daily basis.

    “You know your closest friends — everyone’s passionate about something, and they all want to spend the short time they have with you, selling you on what they think is good and positive and productive for this country and the world,” she said. “It is a very lonely perch.”

    Ivanka, who advised her father during his first term, made clear that while she remains supportive, she has no plans to reenter official politics. Instead, she emphasized her intent to be present for her father in a personal way, as Fox News reports:

    “I think I’m most looking forward to just being able to show up for him as a daughter and be there for him, to take his mind off things, to watch a movie with him or watch a sports game, to know that he can be with me and be himself and just relax and for me to be able to provide that for him and in a very loving way as his daughter,” she said.

    Trump shares Ivanka, along with sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, with his late ex-wife Ivana Trump. The current president of the United States also shares daughter Tiffany Trump with his second ex-wife Marla Maples and son Barron Trump with his current wife, first lady Melania Trump.

    Sources close to the first daughter say the clarity gained from the tropical retreat could influence her future personal projects, although no formal plans have been announced yet.

    READ NEXT: FBI Arrest Unleashes Dangerous Threat From Wisconsin Judge

    White House Denies Reports It’s Seeking New Defense Secretary

    By
    Patrick Houck
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    2

    White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt didn’t mince words Monday, firing back at an NPR report claiming the administration is quietly searching for a new secretary of defense.

    In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Leavitt dismissed the story as “fake news” and reaffirmed that President Trump has full confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — echoing remarks she made earlier during an appearance on Fox News.

    At the center of the controversy are revelations that Hegseth shared sensitive details about a planned U.S. airstrike in Yemen through a private Signal chat. According to a New York Times report published Sunday — later corroborated by The Wall Street Journal — the previously unreported March 15 exchange included Hegseth’s wife, brother and personal attorney.

    Hegseth allegedly disclosed the timing of F/A-18 Hornet aircraft departures for an operation targeting Houthi terrorists. The Signal group, titled Defense | Team Huddle, was reportedly used for both personal and professional updates — but in this instance, it included highly sensitive operational information.

    The incident follows a previous misstep involving another Signal chat, where a conversation between top administration officials — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance — was accidentally shared with a prominent liberal journalist from The Atlantic.

    The Pentagon inspector general’s office has launched an inquiry to assess whether the use of a platform like Signal violated protocols for handling certain information.

    Despite the growing pressure, the administration has shown no public sign of backing away from Hegseth. In addition to Leavitt’s denial of the NPR story, Trump himself has brushed off concerns over Hegseth’s Signal chats.

    The White House may be banking on a unified public front to contain the fallout.

    READ NEXT: Trump Cabinet Member Robbed

    US Threatens To Abandon Ukraine Peace Negotiations

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    By President Of Ukraine - https://www.flickr.com/photos/165930373@N06/54169325552/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=156221279

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated the United States may back off from assisting in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that it needs to be determined within days whether achieving a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is “doable in the short term,” warning that he thinks the U.S. will “move on” if it is not achievable.

    Rubio has been working alongside Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to broker a 30-day ceasefire agreement with Russia and Ukraine, which has not yet been seen to fruition.

    “We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,” Rubio told reporters Friday while departing from negotiations with his counterparts in Paris. “Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on.”

    “It’s not our war. We have other priorities to focus on,” he added, suggesting the U.S. would decide if continued talks were “doable” in a “matter of days.”

    But Rubio noted that the U.S. will help if either or both sides are “serious about peace.”

    (Miami – Flórida, 09/03/2020) Presidente da República Jair Bolsonaro durante encontro com o Senador Marco Rubio..Foto: Alan Santos/PR

    “@POTUS has been clear: The time to end the war between Russia and Ukraine is now. Today in Paris, @SE_MiddleEast, @SPE_Kellogg and I met with leaders from France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Ukraine to talk about how we can stop the killing and reach a just and sustainable peace,” Rubio noted in a post on X. 

    While ceasefire negotiations have been slow, Trump has maintained that efforts to obtain a minerals deal with Ukraine are picking up pace. The U.S. leader said access to the country’s critical natural resources would provide a strong interest in maintaining Ukraine’s sovereignty and security for years to come. 

    The secretary also suggested that the U.K., France and Germany can help “move the ball” on negotiations. Officials who met in Paris have agreed to meet again in London next week with hopes of gearing peace talks toward a secured deal. 

    Kremlin.ru, via Wikimedia Commons

    Despite Rubio’s comments, Vice President Vance said Friday he believes talks will move forward.

    “The negotiations, I won’t pre-judge them, but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war to a close,” he told reporters during his visit to Rome, where he met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — a day after she met with President Trump at the White House.

    Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said she signed a memorandum of intent with the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ahead of a potential agreement. 

    “I assume they’re going to live up to the deal, so we’ll see. But we have a deal on that,” Trump said Thursday.

    MyPillow CEO Makes Emotional Plea Following Smartmatic Court Loss

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    Mike Lindell via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell told a judge he has no money left to pay the sanctions imposed against him in a defamation case brought by voting technology company Smartmatic.

    “I’m in ruins,” Lindell said tearfully during a virtual hearing before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on Wednesday, according to a report from ABC News. “I borrowed everything I can. Nobody will lend me any money anymore.”

    Lindell was ordered to pay $56,369 in sanctions to Smartmatic, which sued him for defamation in 2022 over his baseless claims that the company helped rig the 2020 presidential election against President Donald Trump.

    A judge previously labeled a countersuit Lindell filed as “frivolous” and imposed the fine to cover Smartmatic’s legal costs.

    Lindell said he was not even able to pay the judgment in installments.

    “I can’t turn back time … but I will tell you, I don’t have any money,” he told the judge.

    The embattled pillow executive described a steep financial downfall, claiming he was forced to let hundreds of employees go.

    He also said he lost several MyPillow warehouses and owes millions to the IRS. Lindell told Nichols his only possessions were two homes and a truck he was trying to sell for cash.

    He asked Nichols to postpone any payments until after a final judgment is issued in the case.

    According to ABC News, Nichols asked Lindell on Wednesday for proof that he was in financial ruin. He described Lindell’s claims as “non-verifiable” and gave him until Friday to submit proof he was bankrupt.

    “I have nothing to hide,” Lindell reportedly told Nichols. “I want Smartmatic to see the financial situation I’m in as well.”

    Smartmatic filed a motion to hold Lindell in contempt of court for his failure to comply with the sanctions order, accusing him of dodging payments.

    FAA Contractor Pleads Guilty To Spying For Iran

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Arrest image via Pixabay

    A former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contractor has pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of Iran.

    The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that 42-year-old Abouzar Rahmati, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of Virginia, pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of Iran by pursuing an FAA job to gain access to information. From 2017 to 2024, Rahmati met with Iranian officials, communicated with security officials, and provided “non-public materials about the U.S. solar energy industry.”

    According to the DOJ, it was Rahmati who offered his services to Iran:

    In August 2017, Rahmati offered his services to the Iranian government through a senior Iranian government official who previously worked in Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and with whom Rahmati had previously attended university. Four months later, in December 2017, Rahmati traveled to Iran, where he met with Iranian intelligence operatives and government officials and agreed to obtain information about the U.S. solar energy industry, to provide that information to Iranian officials, and to conduct future communications under a cover story based on purported discussions about research with fellow academics.

    Rahmati previously was an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) 1st Lt., a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, from June 2009 to May 2010. The IRGC is a designated terrorist group by the U.S. government.

    The DOJ said Rahmati offered his services to Iran in August 2017 through a former colleague who was a senior Iranian government official who previously worked at the country’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

    Rahmati traveled to Iran four months later and met with intelligence operatives and government officials, the DOJ said. He also agreed to gather and provide Iranian officials with information about the solar industry in the U.S.

    Read:

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    Rahmati provided information “relating to solar energy, solar panels, the FAA, U.S. airports, and U.S. air traffic control towers” to his brother in Iran, which was then provided to government officials. He also at one point provided information related to “the National Aerospace System (NAS), Airport Surveillance Radar systems, and radio frequency data.”

    In early 2018, Rahmati obtained private and open-source materials related to the U.S. solar industry, then provided them to the office of Iran’s Vice President for Science and Technology.

    Rahmati is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 26, and he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for acting as an agent of a foreign government, and up to five years in prison for conspiracy.

    The guilty plea comes amidst President Donald Trump’s ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran in which the president has warned military options are on the table should Iran not agree to never possess a nuclear weapon.

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