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Rand Paul Should Make Fauci Answer For Wuhan And BeagleGate Lies

2026-07-25T15:19:27.517-07:00

Rand Paul Should Make Fauci Answer For Wuhan And BeagleGate Lies

Authored by Anthony Bellotti via American Greatness,

Fauci no longer faces any realistic risk of criminal exposure for perjury or other past federal offenses covered by the pardon.

Next week, Dr. Anthony Fauci is scheduled to testify before Sen. Rand Paul's Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. After years of stonewalling, evasions, carefully parsed denials, and outright lies, this hearing presents a rare opportunity to get answers from America's most notorious mad scientist, who recklessly funded dangerous animal experiments that likely caused COVID-19 and financed beagle torture in labs worldwide.

This time is different.

In one of his final acts in office, in January 2025, President Joe Biden granted Fauci a sweeping pardon that conspicuously covered a decade-long period starting when he first funded the infamous grant that paid the Wuhan lab, which was first exposed by White Coat Waste in early 2020 and cut days later by President Donald Trump.

This means that Fauci no longer faces any realistic risk of criminal exposure for perjury or other past federal offenses covered by the pardon. So, the usual Fifth Amendment justification for refusing to answer questions about potentially self-incriminating conduct is largely off the table.

Paul should press Fauci on three false statements he has repeatedly made to Congress, the press, and the American people about the Wuhan lab and BeagleGate - claims debunked by evidence obtained by White Coat Waste.

First, Fauci needs to finally fess up about funding gain-of-function animal experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

In multiple Senate hearings in 2021, Fauci categorically told Paul and others that "the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology." He repeated essentially the same claim during a House Oversight Committee hearing in 2024.

But White Coat Waste has receipts. Our Freedom of Information Act investigations uncovered damning internal government emails from 2016 showing that NIH officials told EcoHealth Alliance that its Fauci-funded animal experiments with the Wuhan lab "appear to involve" gain-of-function research that was banned at the time.

Instead of stopping the experiments, NIH worked with disgraced EcoHealth president Peter Daszak to skirt the ban. Daszak gleefully celebrated the decision, writing, "This is terrific! We are very happy to hear that our Gain of Function research funding pause has been lifted."

In May 2024, then-acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak finally admitted to the House Oversight Committee that NIH did, in fact, fund gain-of-function in Wuhan.

Paul should ask a simple question: Does Fauci still stand by his testimony, or will he finally acknowledge that his previous statements to Congress were false or misleading?

Second, Fauci should answer for his testimony denying that he used his personal email for official NIH business.

During House testimony in 2024, Fauci declared to Chairman James Comer, "To the best of my recollection and knowledge, I have never conducted official business via my private email."

Yet White Coat Waste's FOIA investigations uncovered official NIH emails showing Fauci telling a Washington Post reporter covering the BeagleGate scandal, "I will send you an email via my Gmail account."

Records have also emerged showing that David Morens, Fauci's longtime advisor who was indicted in April for FOIA violations, told Daszak and others in 2021, "I can either send stuff to Tony on his private Gmail or hand it to him at work. . . He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble."

Will Fauci come clean?

Finally, Paul should revisit BeagleGate - the viral dog testing scandal first exposed by White Coat Waste that Fauci and his allies spent years falsely dismissing as a conspiracy.

In a 2021 Washington Post cover story written by the same reporter Fauci said he would contact through his personal Gmail account, he called the dog testing claims "ridiculous accusations and outright lies." In his 2024 memoir, Fauci again dismissed the story as "lies," "lunacy," and "off-the-wall accusations" and defended himself by awkwardly saying, "I am a passionate animal lover, especially of dogs."

But government documents obtained by White Coat Waste prove that Fauci funded countless dog labs, including the infamous experiments in Tunisia, where beagles were drugged and had their heads locked in mesh cages full of biting sand flies. After reviewing these records, even the Washington Post, which had aggressively defended Fauci and smeared White Coat Waste, finally acknowledged in 2024 that it published NIH disinformation, acknowledging that "NIH was not fully transparent as it tried to handle a public-relations nightmare."

Paul was one of the lawmakers who led the charge with White Coat Waste to hold Fauci accountable for funding beagle abuse and lying about it.

Americans deserve answers.

Next week's hearing may be Congress's last meaningful opportunity to confront Anthony Fauci directly and finally set the record straight on Wuhan and BeagleGate. Paul should seize it.

* * * [ZH]: Not everyone is convinced Rand can bring the heat. What say you?

Fuck this guy too. He’s a powerless loser who is essentially a blow off valve for the disaffected pic.twitter.com/XJJb4PUnBo
— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) July 23, 2026

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/25/2026 - 17:30
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Democrats Are Worried The GOP's Cash Advantage Could Hurt Their Chances In The Midterms

2026-07-25T15:19:26.411-07:00

Democrats Are Worried The GOP's Cash Advantage Could Hurt Their Chances In The Midterms

The Democratic Party heads into the midterms with generic congressional ballot polling and historical precedent on its side. It is nevertheless worried that the majorities it so desperately wants could still slip away.

Politico reported this week that Democratic strategists increasingly fear their favorable political environment could be overwhelmed by a Republican cash stockpile that dwarfs their own.

Federal Election Commission filings through the end of June show the three main GOP national committees and their affiliated congressional super PACs sitting on a combined $657 million. Their Democratic counterparts held $334 million. Add President Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC, which reported more than $400 million on hand several weeks earlier, and the Republican reserve runs to more than three times what Democratic Party committees and congressional super PACs can muster between them.

That gap matters more this cycle than it would have in any previous one. On June 30, the Supreme Court ruled in NRSC v. FEC that federal limits on coordinated party spending violate the First Amendment, overturning a 2001 precedent and freeing national party committees to spend without ceiling in direct coordination with their candidates. Committee money that once had to be routed through independent expenditures can now be aimed straight at a race.

Democratic strategist Morgan Jackson, an adviser to former Gov. Roy Cooper's Senate campaign in North Carolina, calls the imbalance the central threat to his party's hopes this cycle.

"What is putting the House majority and the Senate majority, nationally, in danger is the Republicans' massive stockpile of resources that they're putting together to push back," Jackson said.

He warned that the spending gap could erode the advantage Democrats have built everywhere else. "If you get outspent five to six to eight to one, that can alleviate the environmental advantage that Democrats have this cycle," Jackson said.

The committee-level numbers are lopsided almost everywhere. The Republican National Committee reported $128 million in cash against $16 million for the Democratic National Committee, which is also carrying $18 million in debt. The National Republican Senatorial Committee held $55.9 million to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's $41 million. The National Republican Congressional Committee held $92.7 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's $79 million.

The super PAC gap is wider still. Senate Leadership Fund, the leading Republican Senate super PAC, reported roughly $112 million more on hand than the Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC. Congressional Leadership Fund, its House counterpart, held about $51 million more than House Majority PAC.

The national totals obscure a more complicated picture in the marquee Senate races, where the money runs the other way. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff holds roughly $40 million more on hand than Rep. Mike Collins in Georgia. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico has nearly $20 million more than Attorney General Ken Paxton. In North Carolina, Cooper is about $17 million ahead of former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley. In several of the contests that will decide both chambers, individual Democratic candidates are burying their opponents even as the national party apparatus falls behind.

The picture inside the party gets messier once primary season is factored in. A wave of insurgent challengers aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America has forced sitting Democratic incumbents into costly primary fights this cycle, draining accounts well before anyone gets near a Republican opponent.

Senate Majority PAC spokeswoman Lauren French rejected the idea that the committee gap tells the whole story. "Republicans can crow all they want about getting massive checks from donors and businesses and billionaires, but we're going to win because we have the actual support from people who are voting," French said.

Other Democratic strategists are less confident that grassroots enthusiasm can offset a structural disadvantage. Jesse Ferguson argued that the media environment itself has made the shortfall more expensive than it would have been in past cycles. "Too many people think that fragmentation of media meant more efficiency and spending less. Wrong - it means you have to spend more," Ferguson said. The proliferation of streaming platforms, social media, and other digital outlets has driven up the price of political advertising, strategists say, raising the stakes for whichever side can deploy the deepest reserves of outside money.

What should worry Democrats most is that the Republican advantage has barely been touched. Trump political director James Blair said last month that Republican spending would begin "very soon," without offering a timetable. The fear on the Democratic side is that the bulk of MAGA Inc.'s $400 million war chest is being held back deliberately, to be dumped into competitive House and Senate races in the closing weeks - at the exact moment undecided voters start paying attention and Democratic committees have the least room left to answer.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/25/2026 - 16:55
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Trump Orders Signs Outside Smithsonian Museum To Warn Of Inaccurate Exhibits

2026-07-25T15:19:25.462-07:00

Trump Orders Signs Outside Smithsonian Museum To Warn Of Inaccurate Exhibits

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on July 24 directing signs to be placed outside one of the Smithsonian Institution’s history museums warning visitors that some exhibits contain inaccurate information.

The order references a July report by the White House Domestic Policy Council, which alleges that the National Museum of American History “cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic.”

Trump said in his order that the report shows that “the Smithsonian leadership does not present American history as a shared national inheritance to be taught and celebrated, but instead views American history as a ‘prime tool’ to advance ideas of social justice and the radical transformation of our society.”

The president directed his administration to use “all available authorities” to encourage the Smithsonian Institution to correct the issues identified in the report and ensure compliance with the laws, funding requirements, and contract conditions.

The order instructs the Interior Department to place temporary signage along the sidewalks and walkways that are maintained by the National Park Service and used by the public to access the museum, informing visitors of the report’s findings.

The signage will direct visitors to locations and resources presenting what the president deems accurate information regarding America’s history, according to the order.

The Smithsonian Institution did not return a request for comment by publication time.

The National Museum of American History, located in Washington, was originally named the National Museum of History and Technology when it was opened in January 1964. The museum was renamed in October 1980.

The museum’s collection includes more than 1.7 million objects representing the nation’s heritage in the areas of science, technology, society, and culture, according to its website.

Anthea Hartig, director of the National Museum of American History, defended the museum during a July 21 congressional hearing, saying its work is guided by the Smithsonian’s standards of scholarship and independence.

“The museum does not take sides in America’s political debates,” Hartig said. “We preserve and document the evidence of American life in all of its breadth, so that the public can encounter the past and draw their own conclusions.”

The White House report followed Trump’s March 2025 executive order directing the Interior Department to ensure that public monuments “do not contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

The report said the museum has not established any exhibit specifically dedicated to the Founding Fathers, the Second Continental Congress, the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolutionary War, or the nation’s path to independence and the establishment of constitutional rule of law.

“Our central finding is not that the museum has simply added overlooked stories, corrected perceived errors, or broadened its historical scope,” the report stated.

“Rather, it is that museum leadership has explicitly adopted an ideological framework that no longer treats the American story as a shared national inheritance to be taught or celebrated, but as a political instrument to divide, dispirit, and discourage our citizens.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/25/2026 - 16:20
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Private Forecasters Warn "New Heat Event" Will Target US East Coast

2026-07-25T15:19:24.317-07:00

Private Forecasters Warn "New Heat Event" Will Target US East Coast

Folks across the Mid-Atlantic are enjoying a welcome stretch of mild weather today, with temperatures in the 70s following several rounds of extreme heat earlier this month that sent temperatures into the 90s and even into the triple digits. Enjoy the comfortable nights in the 60s and low 70s over the next few days, because another heat wave is already on the horizon.

"New heat event potentially targets East Coast Aug 5-7," private forecaster Commodity Wx Group wrote on X.

New heat event potentially targets East Coast Aug 5-7. pic.twitter.com/GTwfR5pVrY
— Commodity Wx Group (@commoditywx) July 24, 2026

Bloomberg forecast data show temperatures beginning to climb by the middle of next week, with highs peaking in the mid-to-upper 90s during the first week of August. The incoming heat wave is not expected to match the intensity of the two earlier this month, when temperatures surged well into the triple digits.

Notably, temperatures in the Lower 48 have reached their seasonal peak and will begin trending downward.

Peak summer is a welcome relief for customers across the PJM grid, who are facing some of the highest power costs in the nation.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/25/2026 - 15:45
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Confirmed Deaths In Ebola Outbreak Eclipse 1,000

2026-07-24T16:19:26.739-07:00

Confirmed Deaths In Ebola Outbreak Eclipse 1,000

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

The Ebola outbreak spreading in Africa has killed more than 1,000 people, authorities said on July 23.

A doctor provides care to a patient with Ebola virus disease at an Ebola treatment center in Bunia, Congo, on July 13, 2026. Benediction Murhabazi /AFP via Getty Images

The number of confirmed deaths from Ebola in Congo in recent months hit 1,033, Congolese authorities said.

Forty percent of the confirmed 2,536 patients have died.

Another 506 people have recovered, and 738 are currently in isolation or being treated in hospitals, according to officials in the central African country.

"Health teams are pursuing surveillance operations, case management, and contact tracing to contain the spread of the disease," Congo's Ministry of Communications said.

Teams have been able to track the contacts of 77 percent of patients in a bid to control the outbreak, much lower than the 90 percent threshold suggested as ideal by the World Health Organization.

The only other deaths confirmed in the outbreak are two in Uganda, which has not recorded any new cases in several weeks.

The outbreak was detected in Congo in mid-May, although it is believed to have started weeks or even months earlier. It is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare type of ebolavirus for which there are no approved treatments or vaccines.

"These are people dying. They are dying because we don't have vaccines, we don't have medicine, we don't have funding," Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a summit in Ghana on Wednesday.

The Africa CDC and other entities have been seeking and have received tens of millions in funding from the United States and other countries to combat the outbreak, but say they need more funds and resources.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters earlier in July that the outbreak was "continuing to outpace the response" and that the response plan needed more than $400 million in additional funds.

Ebola was first identified in 1976 after an outbreak in modern-day Congo. The deadliest Ebola outbreak on record ran for two years starting in 2014 in West Africa, causing 28,610 cases and killing 11,308 people.

That outbreak was caused by the Zaire ebolavirus.

The current outbreak is growing at a much faster rate than that outbreak did, according to Kaseya.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists said in modeling projections released in June that absent "large-scale and sustained public health interventions," the outbreak centered in Congo could become as large as the 2014-2016 outbreak.

"Rapid identification of cases, contact tracing, isolation and treatment of persons with [Ebola], community engagement, and use of safe and dignified burial for persons who die from [Ebola] are necessary to control the outbreak," they said.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/24/2026 - 17:00
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"The Polycrisis Of 2026 Whirls Like A Demon-Infested Storm Overcoming This Human Project..."

2026-07-24T14:19:08.970-07:00

"The Polycrisis Of 2026 Whirls Like A Demon-Infested Storm Overcoming This Human Project..."

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

Struggle session

“. . .there is no saving the Left. There is only saving America from them.” — Sasha Stone

The polycrisis of 2026 whirls like a demon-infested storm overcoming this human project of ours like a medieval panorama of the world’s end. Everything is fraught, tilting toward hazard, menace, ruin. Even under a summer sun, the mind sees only darkness everywhere it looks.

Apocalypse now, it seems like.

You almost can’t blame the doomers, the black pill-ers, lost in their transports of dread.

But I tell you, we will get through this.

Is it a surprise that the IRGC has a death wish for its host, Iran? They’ve been advertising it loudly for half a century, yearning for martyrdom, the bliss of paradise, marriage to multiple perfumed virgins, all the pomegranates you could ever want, and perpetual dreamtime beside a gently burbling fountain in the palace of eternity. Trouble is, to get there you must have your head blown off.

That’s exactly what the IRGC is asking for, though the millions of ordinary Iranians probably have their doubts about the ask. They are hostages of the IRGC regime, which refuses to just stop being a problem for the world. Mr. Trump’s proffer for Iran still abides: become a normal nation, sovereign and all, only without atom bombs. Let ships sail through Hormuz unmolested. Sell your oil, make some money, trade with the other fellas across the Persian Gulf, have a nice civilized life with all the refinements of age-old Persian culture, even with its Islamic overlay. Be happy!

The USA does not seek to occupy Iran, steal its resources, subjugate its people, force them to buy Minnie Mouse plush toys, play baseball, eat Jimmy Dean sausage for breakfast, strum banjoes, or wear cowboy hats. Just stop projecting violence and discord all over the Middle East.

You can’t make us, the IRGC says. Yes, we will, the USA replies. And so it goes. Next up: bridges and power plants. Plus, every ship you damage, we’ll deduct the cost of repair from your frozen assets held in our banks. This is where things stand after the thirteenth night of strategic bombing against the IRGC’s launch sites, drone factories, missile storage caverns, and shoreline military installations. Iran prepared assiduously for this death-scene for decades, building hidey-holes here, there, and everywhere. But every time they launch something now, our satellites mark the coordinates, and boom, now there’s one less hidey-hole.

Iran’s currency, the rial, has an exchange rate against the US dollar of about 1,900,000 to one dollar. There is hardly a functioning economy left. The people are flat broke. Everyday life must be hell now. Could be the IRGC was getting tons of munitions and material for free from China, but days ago we blew up the railroad bridge at Aq Tekeh-Khan that was China’s main connection to Iran, so that’s over with.

You must doubt that Russia is capable of sending arms to Iran at this point. Russia needs every drone and missile it can fabricate now that Ukraine is sending drones clear into Moscow and St. Petersburg on a regular basis. Of course, that war is being stoked by NATO, which perforce includes the USA. A bill (H.R. 2913 — the Ukraine Support Act) that would furnish $1.3-1.8 billion in direct security, military, and reconstruction assistance for Ukraine plus $8 billion in loans was passed by the House in June, but languishes in the Senate. President Trump has threatened to veto it, as running counter to the administration’s preference for negotiations with Russia to end the Ukraine War rather than extend it.

These two conflicts must seem intractable for now, but the mojo driving them has clear and present limits.

If the USA does not underwrite Ukraine’s war effort, then that leaves the EU nations, who are increasingly broke, and for all their idle talk are really incapable of mounting a major arms production campaign.

The UK especially is skating on thin ice these days as Mr. Trump methodically cancels its long-running command and control of global finance through the City of London (as its “Wall Street” is called). In fact, it looks as if the floundering UK — with dopey Andy Burnham rolling in as Britain’s seventh Prime Minister in a decade — has passed the ball of globalist leadership to its forward striker (and all-purpose fixer) Mark Carney the Prime Minister of Canada.

Carney, who was previously chief of the Bank of England, has played a series of losing games against President Trump the past year, while Mr. Carney is busy wrecking the Canadian economy for the sake of the globalist “green” flimflam, a sustained high volume of third world immigration, and outlandish DEI activism that includes giving vast tracts of real estate back to Canada’s First Nations people, their Indians. Carney has also very actively played footsie with the CCP to a degree that is seriously pissing off Mr. Trump. Among all the other shocks and surprises upcoming, you might imagine him having to send the 82nd Airborne up to Ottawa to inform PM Carney that there will be no globalist seat of operations in North America.

Yes, things are getting that strange. And then, continuing the clean-up operation south of our border, there is Cuba to straighten out. Cuba is obviously next. Our patience with that failing state’s communist export project is particularly thin, now that the Democratic Party here is entertaining Marxist-Leninist dreams of glory.

On top of all that, we have serious concerns with the financial markets and the widening income inequality that drives the younger generations’ yen for “socialism” (free rent, free medicine, free stuff).

Financialization concentrates and compounds wealth while the salary-mule class stagnates, suffers, goes broke, and nurses its grievances.

We’re pushing into the season of financial train wrecks. AI has cornered all the free capital in the land — for something that appears to be an existential menace as much as any potential economic benefit — and it is wildly perverting the equity market. The bond market groans under the debt burden and the impossibility of fiscal prudence. Capitalism that can’t self-correct invites financial and political violence.

It’s probably a greater threat to us than the faraway wars, bad as they are. Mr. Trump, Secretary Bessent, and others in charge surely know this — that the American ownership class has become tiny, and that the cure for that is getting the vast dis-owned, forsaken middle-class back into businesses that they will own, in an economy based on production of real goods, not on playing games with money.

There is so much to be done and we can get it done if we screw our heads back on.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/24/2026 - 16:20
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Secret Service Agent On JD Vance's Detail Under Investigation For Leaking

2026-07-23T14:19:35.735-07:00

Secret Service Agent On JD Vance's Detail Under Investigation For Leaking

Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,

CNN reported Thursday that a Secret Service agent on Vice President JD Vance’s security detail has been put on administrative leave and is suspected of leaking information about his travel to a news site.

According to CNN, the agent is suspected of leaking to MS NOW about how agents on Vance’s security detail are overworked by his busy schedule. MS NOW’s source complained about Vance planning to fly with his son on a Marine Corps helicopter to a golf lesson — even though that plan was canceled.

“The story caught the attention of Secret Service, FBI and White House officials, who fumed over operational details being described in the press,” CNN reported Thursday.

Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi confirmed to CNN that an agent is indeed under investigation.

“A member of the Vice Presidential Protective Division is the subject of an administrative investigation, and potential criminal inquiry, involving allegations of compromising operational and information security,” Guglielmi reportedly said in the statement.

“While we will not comment on the specifics of this matter, one principle is unequivocal: any conduct that undermines the trust and confidence between a protectee and their protective detail is fundamentally incompatible with our mission and will not be tolerated.”

🇺🇸 A Secret Service agent on Vance's detail is suspected of leaking to the press that agents were fed up with his travel demands.

Which, according to reports, included flying his son to a golf lesson on a Marine Corps helicopter...

The agent was put on administrative leave… pic.twitter.com/L341faQsnO
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 23, 2026

Thursday’s report isn’t the first instance of an agent leaking information about Vance’s travel schedule. In January, journalist James O’Keefe published a report about how another Secret Service agent assigned to Vance’s security detail leaked details about his travels to one of O’Keefe’s undercover reporters. O’Keefe is famous for having attractive females—and sometimes males—seduce government officials to get them to leak info.

Along with leaking agents, another Secret Service guard on Vance’s detail was recently arrested for a drug deal with an undercover cop.

RealClearPolitics reporter Susan Crabtree reported the arrest last month, saying that she’s withholding the agent’s name “until more details emerge about the alleged drug-related arrest.”

The incidents on Vance’s detail represent just a few of the many scandals plaguing the Secret Service.

In May, a Secret Service officer was reportedly arrested for public masturbation at a DoubleTree hotel near the Miami airport.

In April, a married Secret Service agent was revealed to have been having an affair with an OnlyFans star and making pornographic videos with her.

Around the same time, ABC News revealed that a Secret Service trainee was arrested for spying on his roommate, also an agent-in-training, with a hidden camera.

Before that, a Secret Service agent protecting former First Lady Jill Biden shot himself in the buttocks last month at the Philadelphia International Airport.

And earlier in the month, Crabtree reported that agent Myosoty Perez, who is a lesbian, has been suspended and is under investigation for marrying a foreign national—possibly an illegal immigrant—without declaring it. Perez was one of the agents responsible for nearly getting President Donald Trump killed at his July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Additionally, in January a Secret Service recruit shot and killed a 16-year-old in Tamarac, Florida. The 16-year-old victim was identified as Orlando Wedderburn. A woman was also grazed. The Secret Service recruit, for his part, is claiming self-defense.

According to Crabtree, Secret Service Director Sean Curran is receiving internal criticism for not doing enough to eliminate the agency’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies, which were implemented starting in the Obama era.

Meanwhile, the agency is looking to hire 4,000 new employees by 2028.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/23/2026 - 15:10
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"He Was Very Close To Being Arrested": Epstein's Paris Model Scout Found Dead At Home, Weeks After CNN Appearance

2026-07-22T14:19:15.458-07:00

"He Was Very Close To Being Arrested": Epstein's Paris Model Scout Found Dead At Home, Weeks After CNN Appearance

Daniel Siad, the 69-year-old Paris modeling scout whose name appears nearly 2,000 times in the DOJ's Epstein files, was found dead at his home in Colombes, northwest of Paris, on Monday. The deputy public prosecutor at Nanterre, Marie-Celine Lawrysz, confirmed the death Wednesday and said an investigation into the cause was opened that evening, with an autopsy to follow.

Which is to say: officially, nobody knows anything yet. Siad's lawyer told Reuters that "Daniel Siad never stopped proclaiming his innocence" - and that her client died of a heart attack. To AFP, she was more careful, saying that if it was a heart attack, the strain and anxiety of the case will have played its part. The autopsy, presumably, will referee. And if that first statement sounds familiar, it should: when Jean-Luc Brunel was found dead in 2022, his lawyers announced that "Jean-Luc Brunel never stopped declaring his innocence." The French defense bar evidently keeps the line on file.

For over a decade, per the document dumps Congress pried out of the DOJ under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Siad operated as a one-man logistics chain into Epstein's orbit. In a 2009 email he pitched a 5-foot-8 Latvian model: "she is 20 years old but she looks younger." In a 2014 note he discussed a 15-year-old French girl - parents reportedly thrilled about her modeling prospects - along with 16- and 17-year-olds, and compared his trade to angling: "some time I cache quick , some time no fish" [sic]. Files reviewed by CNN show Epstein paid Siad tens of thousands of dollars over the years; other messages flagged a young French woman in Marrakesh who'd be happy to meet him, and in 2018 Siad offered to scout the financier a young, good-looking assistant.

Here was the legal picture on the day he died: Siad was under investigation in France over allegations of rape and human trafficking - at least five accusers, per French media. One woman told the BBC he was "essentially a professional trafficker." The first criminal complaint landed only in February, from former Swedish model Ebba Karlsson, now in her fifties, who alleges Siad raped her when she was 20 and then introduced her to Gerald Marie, the former European chief of Elite - whom Karlsson and several other women have also accused of rape, allegations Marie has repeatedly denied. Siad denied everything as well, and - as his lawyer correctly notes - he was never formally placed under investigation, the mise en examen threshold at which French magistrates decide the evidence is serious. Not because the process cleared him; because the process never reached him. Per AFP, Siad had not yet been questioned by investigators when he died, though he had said he wanted to give his version of events.

"He was very close to being arrested," Karlsson said Wednesday.

He will now give his version of events to no one. And here is the part that will launch a thousand posts: six weeks ago, Siad sat for an on-camera CNN interview in which he insisted Epstein - a convicted sex offender for the entire back half of their collaboration - was a free man who had served his time and had always been thoroughly professional. He said he had no reason to believe that two women he'd recommended to Epstein - women who told CNN, on the record, that Epstein abused them - had ever been harmed. He claimed to have believed Epstein was a casting director for Victoria's Secret and MC2, a claim CNN could find no evidence for. His summary of the whole arrangement: "He was such a powerful person. And how can I not trust him?"

He gave that interview in mid-June, yet didn't make it through July.

That makes four...

Jeffrey Epstein, August 2019, Metropolitan Correctional Center: found dead in his cell weeks after his arrest (or he was smuggled out after being swapped with the corpse of a homeless guy - or Hillary Clinton's brother, so the kids say), with the cameras outside malfunctioning and the guards asleep - guards who later admitted falsifying their logs. Ruled a suicide, a ruling re-certified in 2025 by FBI leadership ("I've seen the whole file, he killed himself," Deputy Director Bongino assured Fox viewers), which settled the matter for approximately no one.
Jean-Luc Brunel, February 2022, La Sante prison, Paris: the other French modeling agent in Epstein's orbit, found hanged in his cell while awaiting trial on charges involving the rape of minors - days after Prince Andrew reached his settlement with Virginia Giuffre. As we noted at the time ("Epstein 'Pimp' Jean-Luc Brunel Found Hanged In Paris Prison"), "the jokes practically write themselves." Ruled a suicide.
Mark Middleton, May 2022: the Clinton special assistant who had signed Epstein into the White House, found dead in Arkansas. Ruled a suicide.

And now Daniel Siad - the second Epstein-linked figure from the French modeling world to die suddenly with an investigation inbound and his testimony never taken. Former model "Juliette G.," who says Siad recruited her for Epstein back in 2004, told Al Jazeera that for victims, Siad represented a possible avenue to finally "shed light on what happened." Except now, he's unable to speak in the Nanterre morgue.

Then there's Virginia Giuffre - Epstein's most consequential accuser who died at her farm in Western Australia in April 2025, at 41 - ruled a suicide by police and described that way by her own family, though as we reported last month, sixteen academics have since petitioned the state coroner for a formal public inquest. Giuffre notably traveled to Paris in 2021 to testify against Brunel in person and help keep him behind bars.

Siad's death lands as the Epstein affair continues to result in zero arrests: the House Oversight email dumps last November, the DOJ's mandated releases under the Transparency Act, the cascading resignations among the great and the good, New Mexico's freshly launched probe into what actually happened at Zorro Ranch - which we covered in February - and the Washington Post's own June investigation into the modeling-world pipeline that kept feeding Epstein introductions long after his 2008 conviction: a Swedish scout hunting teenagers, a Russian model coaching him on which women would be easy. Siad was one of the very few members of that network willing to sit in front of a camera and explain himself.

On a pretty short timeline, the survival rate for Epstein associates drops to zero...

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/22/2026 - 15:25
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DOJ Seeks To Rescind US Citizenship Granted To 10 Individuals

2026-07-21T17:19:19.130-07:00

DOJ Seeks To Rescind US Citizenship Granted To 10 Individuals

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Monday that it has filed to denaturalize 10 individuals charged or convicted with various crimes, including offenses against minors.

“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalization canceled, if the naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation,” the DOJ said in a July 20 statement, adding that the Trump administration was continuing its “largest denaturalization effort ever.”

One of the individuals targeted for denaturalization is Rodriguez Perez, 45, of Cuban origin, who was naturalized as an American in 2018. Prior to obtaining citizenship, Perez engaged in Medicare fraud worth more than $886,694 and concealed this conduct during the naturalization process.

Perez pleaded guilty in the case and was convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare and wire fraud.

Another individual, Urbano Vazquez Ortega, 53, a Mexican naturalized in July 2017, had sexually assaulted children while being employed as a church priest in Washington. The crimes were committed between 2015 and 2017. Ortega was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2019.

A third individual, Omar Cantu-Montalvo, 44, from Mexico, was naturalized in December 2005 after claiming in his application that he had never committed a crime. However, Cantu-Montalvo was later sentenced to 100 months in prison by a court for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, a scheme he joined just a few months before applying for naturalization.

Other individuals have been charged with crimes such as carrying a concealed firearm, sexually abusing a minor, misrepresenting identity to secure citizenship, and wire fraud.

“These 10 criminal aliens—including child sex abusers, a $900,000 Medicare fraudster, and a cocaine trafficker—lied their way into U.S. citizenship,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the statement.

“Each of these individuals lacked the good moral character required by law and procured citizenship through willful misrepresentations and concealment of their crimes. Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice will continue to aggressively pursue denaturalization to restore integrity to America’s naturalization process.”

In January, the Southern District of Texas court, McAllen Division, issued an order to revoke the citizenship of a naturalized person convicted of a child sex offense.

In March, the DOJ announced it had secured the denaturalization of two individuals—a convicted gun trafficker and a healthcare fraudster.

As of late April, the Trump administration had filed 22 denaturalization cases in its second term, according to the DOJ. During the entire Biden administration, 24 such cases were filed.

A DOJ memo from June 2025 prioritized investigations and enforcement actions advancing denaturalization. The memo directed the department’s Civil Division to aggressively pursue denaturalization cases by evidence, especially those involving national security threats, undisclosed felonies, gang activity, and terrorism.

Sanctity of US Citizenship

In an April 24 post on X, Rep. Grace Meng (D- N.Y.) criticized the Trump administration’s denaturalization efforts.

Naturalized people are American citizens, Meng said. Individuals who undergo the naturalization process are “extensively vetted,” often spending years navigating America’s immigration system, taking exams, and pledging loyalty to the United States, she said.

“The President’s targeting of naturalized U.S. citizens is not only a reckless weaponization of the Department of Justice, it is an attack on core American values,” Meng said.

During a Senate hearing last month, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) argued that denaturalization is a crucial safeguard to protect the sanctity of U.S. citizenship, according to a June 4 statement from the lawmaker’s office.

“For too long, Washington treated naturalization like paperwork. Check the boxes. Say the words. Get the passport. Collect the welfare check or federal tax credit. Move on. That approach desecrates American citizenship. It insults every immigrant who came here honestly, followed the law, learned our history, embraced our Constitution, and took the oath in good faith,” Schmitt said.

“The Supreme Court has made the rule clear: no alien has the slightest right to naturalization unless every statutory requirement is met. Citizenship obtained by fraud is stolen status. Stolen status should be revoked.”

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/21/2026 - 17:00
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Lockheed Unveils Move Towards Cheaper Patriot Missiles As Interceptor Stockpiles Dwindle

2026-07-21T14:19:35.937-07:00

Lockheed Unveils Move Towards Cheaper Patriot Missiles As Interceptor Stockpiles Dwindle

With US-Iran tit-for-tat strikes on their ninth day and the Russia-Ukraine war grinding on in Eastern Europe, US inventories of certain air-delivered munitions are being depleted. This has made the rapid procurement of lower-cost missiles and bombs a top priority for the Trump administration.

The Wall Street Journal reports that defense giant Lockheed Martin is planning a low-cost version of the Patriot interceptor missile that will cost less than half as much as the current version.

The PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector will cost less than half the price of Lockheed's PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptor, which currently costs $4 million per round.

.@LockheedMartin introduces PAC‑3 ACE™ – a low‑cost, high‑performance interceptor built on the trusted PAC‑3® family. Designed for our allies, it delivers rapid‑field capability against short‑range ballistic, cruise and air‑breathing threats. pic.twitter.com/YW87z3Mq9f
— Lockheed Martin Europe (@LMEuropeNews) July 20, 2026

The new missile is designed to counter cruise missiles and short-range ballistic threats while using existing Patriot launchers.

A separate report from the Financial Times states that Lockheed is exploring a European production line for the new low-cost interceptor missiles, which could drive the price down to between $1.5 million and $2 million per round.

Lockheed is already considering European suppliers for solid rocket motors, guidance electronics, and other critical components, potentially through a partnership with a leading defense contractor on the continent.

Lockheed's decision to look toward Europe, rather than expand exclusively in the US, may signal limitations within the domestic defense-industrial base, just as the Trump administration's war economy begins to accelerate.

So about lead time for these new missile? How many years?

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30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Reaches Highest Level In Almost A Year

2026-07-20T14:19:08.158-07:00

30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Reaches Highest Level In Almost A Year

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The average weekly rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is at its highest level in nearly a year, contributing to elevated housing costs and dampening buyer interest.

A home for sale in Alhambra, Calif., on Aug. 28, 2025. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

For the most recent week, the mortgage rate was at 6.55 percent, according to a July 16 statement by Freddie Mac. This is the highest level since the week ending Aug. 27, 2025, when the rate was at 6.56 percent. Since mid-May, rates have consistently hovered around 6.5 percent.

Rates have risen consecutively over the past two weeks, from 6.43 percent for the week ending July 1 to 6.55 percent currently.

Meanwhile, pending home sales in the country declined 2.2 percent for the four weeks ending July 12 compared to the four-week period ending July 5, according to a statement from real estate brokerage Redfin.

First-time homebuyers are facing a "tough time" breaking into the housing market, Christine Kooiker, a Redfin Premier agent in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said in the statement.

"High mortgage rates mean that even homes in the most affordable price point - under $350,000 in the Grand Rapids area - are a stretch for a lot of buyers, and they're hard to find and competitive," Kooiker said.

Many buyers are "sitting on the sidelines, too, because they're locked into low mortgage rates or can't find a new home they love."

Similar findings were made by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which, in a July 16 statement, reported a 5.4 percent month-over-month dip in pending sales in June.

The decrease was most pronounced in the Midwest, followed by the West, South, and Northeast.

"The highest mortgage rates in nearly a year and the record-high national median home price together are contributing to a tepid housing market that is especially difficult for first-time homebuyers," NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun said in the statement.

Housing Affordability

Lawmakers have taken action to ease the burdens on prospective homebuyers and make housing more affordable for Americans.

On July 11, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law. The legislation aims to ensure housing affordability through various measures, such as rolling back permits and regulations, and offering financial support to homebuyers, builders, and state and local governments.

The bill was passed by the House and Senate last month. However, President Donald Trump refused to sign the bill until the election integrity bill, the SAVE America Act, was passed by Congress.

According to Article I of the U.S. Constitution, if a bill is not returned by the president within 10 days after being presented, it shall become law. Trump's deadline to veto the bill was July 10.

The bill "will cut red tape, lower costs, and boost the supply of housing," Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.) said in a July 13 statement.

"We need to build on this momentum and keep rolling up our sleeves to tackle the housing crisis confronting far too many American families."

Meanwhile, builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes declined in July from the previous month, according to a July 16 statement from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index was at 36 in July, the 15th straight month it has remained below the 40 level. This is the longest stretch of monthly values below 40 since 2012.

NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz cited housing affordability as the "primary challenge" facing the home building industry.

NAHB chairman Bill Owens said that many potential buyers continue to hesitate to purchase homes as they wait for mortgage rates to come down and for more clarity on inflation and the economic outlook.

While the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act has some important provisions addressing obstacles faced by buyers and builders, "these reforms will take time to implement," Owens said.

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Judge Strikes Down Race-Based Provision In Biden-Era Internet Access Grant Program

2026-07-19T18:19:12.205-07:00

Judge Strikes Down Race-Based Provision In Biden-Era Internet Access Grant Program

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge ruled on July 15 that a race-based provision of the Digital Equity Act, signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 to close digital gaps, was unconstitutional.

A judge's gavel rests on top of a desk in a courtroom in Miami, Fla., on Feb. 3, 2009. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Digital Equity Act was part of Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which appropriated $2.75 billion to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish grant programs to expand high-speed internet access for minority groups and communities in rural areas.

After taking office for a second term last year, President Donald Trump halted the competitive grant program authorized under the Digital Equity Act, saying it was unconstitutional because it allocated federal funding based on race.

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance, a recipient of the competitive grant program, later filed a lawsuit in October 2025 seeking to reinstate the program.

In a 35-page order, U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled that the Digital Equity Act's provision authorizing the use of race in awarding federal funds was unconstitutional, citing the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling that struck down race-based preferences in higher education admissions.

Bates said that while the Digital Equity Act aims to address the digital divide among minority groups and other covered populations, the Supreme Court precedent showed that remedying general social disparities alone does not justify the use of race in government action.

"Addressing that gap is a laudable goal, but the Supreme Court has admonished that ameliorating general societal inequalities - as opposed to specific instances of past discrimination - 'does not constitute a compelling interest that justifies race-based state action,'" the judge stated.

"Otherwise, Congress could deploy racial classifications when confronted with any situation of an uneven resource distribution."

Bates said the grant program could be reinstated without the race-based provision, and the government had committed to restoring it upon a judicial determination that the provision was unconstitutional.

Trump welcomed the ruling in a Truth Social post, calling it a "big win" for the American people.

"The so-called 'Digital Equity Act,' a Biden DEI law, was ruled exactly what I said it was last year - A RACIST and UNCONSTITUTIONAL giveaway that never should have become Law," he wrote.

The decision to end the Digital Equity Act comes amid the Trump administration's efforts to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from federal agencies and government initiatives.

Trump stated in a Jan. 20, 2025, executive order that the previous administration had forced "illegal and immoral discrimination programs" across virtually "all aspects of the federal government" through DEI initiatives.

Christopher Mitchell, director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, credited the National Digital Inclusion Alliance with helping to secure the program's restoration.

"Yesterday's ruling on the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program is, on balance, a victory," Mitchell said in a statement. "The only real question now is how quickly NTIA moves to actually implement it."

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance did not return a request for comment by publication time.

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The Data-Center Revolt Goes National: Tea Party Veteran Leads 142 Rallies Across 42 States

2026-07-19T15:19:19.495-07:00

The Data-Center Revolt Goes National: Tea Party Veteran Leads 142 Rallies Across 42 States

The backlash against the AI data-center build-out - which we've been tracking since it was a smattering of county fights across 28 states - staged its first coordinated day of action on Saturday: 142 protests across 42 states, from Wasilla, Alaska to Naples, Florida, organized by Humans First, the nonprofit that Tea Party veteran Amy Kremer co-founded and chairs. The crowds spanned both sides of the aisle...uniting a MAGA stalwart in a 'faith, family, freedom' T-shirt in New Jersey, a first-time activist in Texas, and a left-leaning organizer in California's Imperial Valley.

The fight looked like Kenilworth, New Jersey. Residents of the 8,500-person borough gathered outside the municipal court at mid-morning with drums, plastic horns, and sidewalk chalk to protest the $1.8 billion CoreWeave AI data center their planning board approved in May 2025 on the former Merck campus - a project that has since drawn more than 12,000 petition signatures against it, several thousand more names than the town has people. The woman in the "faith, family, freedom" T-shirt marched beside neighbors holding "Build community, not data centers" signs. When heavy rain arrived later in the day, they pulled on ponchos, shared umbrellas, and kept marching. One sign, caught by Business Insider's photographer on the scene: "You think this is pressure? Wait 'til there's no water pressure."

Texas, the country's hottest data-center market, hosted the most rallies - 18 - with Georgia at 11, California at eight, and Pennsylvania, Florida, and Indiana at seven apiece. In Imperial Valley, where a proposed facility could pull 260 million gallons a year from the Colorado River, Ivan DelSol, 54, told Reuters that around 50 people turned out in 100-degree heat. "It's dystopian that you would use this much fresh water for AI," he said. Organizers released no headcounts; turnout ran below expectations in some rural areas and in Atlanta, where about a dozen showed - most of them, a volunteer there said, driving in from the smaller Georgia towns where the biggest data centers are going up.

Kremer is a founding figure of the Tea Party movement who went on to found Women for Trump, and an organizer of the January 6, 2021 rally that preceded the Capitol riot (she neither planned nor took part in the riot itself). She has spent months calling data centers the defining fight of her lifetime, warning the technology could threaten humanity itself, and she is open about running the old playbook: grassroots pressure, town by town, aimed at both parties.

Today was incredible!

142 protests. 42 states. One message: ONE NATION UNITED AGAINST DATA CENTERS!

Communities across America showed up today for a National Day of Protest Against AI Data Centers to say that We The People deserve a voice before massive data centers are… pic.twitter.com/TwE7oRjR6V
— Kylie Jane Kremer (@KylieJaneKremer) July 18, 2026

Her crowds bear that out. One of Saturday's Texas rallies, in Tyler, was organized by Eva Cardona, a 31-year-old self-described political nomad and first-time activist who told Reuters she wanted something more hands-on than posting on Facebook; about a dozen people came. And in Imperial Valley, the man who helped lead the rally leans left. The polling explains why a coalition that broad holds. A June Reuters/Ipsos survey found only 14 percent of Americans would support a data center in their own community. Gallup polling fielded in March found 71 percent oppose building an AI data center in their area - 48 percent strongly - a worse number than a local nuclear plant gets. And Morgan Stanley told clients in a July 14 note that support for local data-center bans runs strongest among Republican, higher-income, and urban voters, while Morning Consult's national tracker crossed a line of its own in May: "stop building" (about 45 percent) overtook "keep building while expanding energy supply" (about 38 percent) for the first time since last October.

Several democratic candidates, including candidate for Texas Governor Gina Hinajosa, stopped in Lubbock to discuss campaign topics including data centers. A data center protest was also held to collect signatures to pause building hyperscale data centers in the Lubbock area. pic.twitter.com/wh3mdGNcu4
— KAMC News (@KAMCNews) July 19, 2026

For all the movement's reputation, Kremer's demands stop well short of a shutdown. She opposes a national moratorium and statewide moratoriums alike, telling Business Insider that each community should choose what gets built inside it, and that too many of those choices are made behind closed doors. Humans First's platform runs to transparent approval processes, environmental review before permits are granted, union construction jobs, and binding developer commitments of the kind lawyers call community benefits agreements. She has aimed as much fire at her own side, accusing Republicans of giving Big Tech a free pass and predicting the industry will cozy up to Democrats the moment the majority flips. The fix, she argues, belongs to Congress.

Amy Kremer is the cofounder of Women for Trump and Women for America First. Now she's taking on AI data centers. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

The organization is a narrower thing than the crowds it convened. Humans First announced in April that its non-conservative team members would spin off into a separate group, with Kremer promising "a topflight team of conservatives" to fight Big AI and its lobbyists. The banner over Saturday's rallies, in other words, was a conservative one - which makes the mix of people who marched beneath it all the more striking.

Official Backlash

The rallies capped a fast-moving week. On Tuesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order imposing the nation's first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers - an immediate pause of up to a year on state environmental permits for projects of 50 megawatts or more while regulators draft standards covering energy demand, water use, and air quality. Her office promised localities community-benefit guidance within 60 days, and Hochul will pursue repeal of the state's sales-tax exemptions for massive data centers. A tougher bill passed by the legislature, with a 20-megawatt threshold, remains unsigned on her desk; her office has called it complicated, and Hochul said the state wants to be "the first to get it right."

New York was not alone. Virginia's new tax on data-center electricity - 1.1 cents per kilowatt-hour - took effect July 1. Pennsylvania's House passed a ban on non-disclosure agreements in data-center deals by a 171-31 vote, and separately voted 197-5 to repeal the industry's sales-tax exemption, a break worth roughly $517 million a year by 2030. Arizona's governor signed a three-year moratorium on new data-center tax breaks in June. Legislators have filed more than 300 data-center bills this year; local pauses have passed at the county, city, and tribal level in at least 15 states.

Meanwhile In China

Nothing comparable is happening on the other side of the Pacific. Two days before the marches, Beijing-based Moonshot AI released Kimi K3, a 2.8-trillion-parameter system billed as the largest open-weight model ever built and claimed to perform level with America's best frontier models. Bloomberg has reported that Beijing plans to spend roughly $295 billion over five years on a nationwide network of AI computing hubs - and none of it will face a zoning board. Under the state's "Eastern Data, Western Computing" program, the buildout is steered into the arid, sparsely populated west; provincial governments compete to attract data centers with tax holidays, cheap land, and compute vouchers, and the state absorbs up to half of operators' energy costs, so the strain never shows up on a household bill. No Chinese county has passed a moratorium, because no Chinese county gets a vote.

The financial toll is no longer hypothetical. Third-party trackers cited by Morgan Stanley in its July 14 note put the value of cancelled or delayed projects at roughly $156 billion in 2025 and another $130 billion in the first quarter of 2026 alone - about $286 billion in all - set against the bank's own estimate of $877 billion in AI capital spending this year. The underlying quarterly count comes from Data Center Watch, a tracker run by 10a Labs, an intelligence firm whose client list includes AI companies, which logged at least 75 projects blocked or delayed from January through March - matching in one quarter the number of projects derailed in all of 2025 - as active opposition groups more than doubled from 396 to 833 and spread to 49 states.

Saturday itself stayed peaceful - chalk, chants, drums, umbrellas - though the wider fight has had harder edges: developers of the Piedmont transmission line into Northern Virginia's data-center corridor asked a federal court last summer for U.S. Marshals to escort survey crews after landowners threatened workers, an episode we covered at the time.

The industry answered forcefully. The Data Center Coalition warned that New York's moratorium tells investors the state is "closed for business" and will push jobs and tax revenue to neighboring states. Seven major AI and cloud companies - Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI - point to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge they signed at the White House in March, a voluntary commitment to cover the grid costs their facilities create. And White House AI czar David Sacks went after Hochul's case point by point on the All-In podcast, calling data centers "the scapegoat for all of the angst that people have about AI." His answer to the utility-bill complaint: let developers build their own generation behind the meter instead of competing with households for grid power.

David Sacks: Everything Kathy Hochul Said About Datacenters Was a False Accusation@DavidSacks: “These data centers become the scapegoat for all of the angst that people have about AI.

Everything she's saying there is a false accusation on datacenters. So let's just go one by… pic.twitter.com/gAxesw3fRD
— The All-In Podcast (@theallinpod) July 18, 2026

Some industry allies go further, pointing to OpenAI's June disclosure that it banned a China-linked network using ChatGPT to mass-produce comics and comments blaming data centers for rising power bills. OpenAI itself found the operation gained almost no authentic traction - and the crowds in Kenilworth and Imperial County were unambiguously homegrown.

Kremer spent Saturday evening thanking volunteers and looking past the weekend. "America is not for sale, and our communities are not collateral," she wrote on X. She expects data centers on the ballot in November, and again in 2028. The midterms are less than four months away.

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"Start Spreadin' The News": New York Losing Billions As Millionaires Flee Big Apple

2026-07-18T16:19:37.139-07:00

"Start Spreadin' The News": New York Losing Billions As Millionaires Flee Big Apple

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Below is my column in the New York Post on the sharp decline in millionaires in New York, costing the state billions as many flee. The exodus has been building for years but may now be accelerating. As Mayor Mamdani holds another press conference promising to end the “violence of evictions,” businesses are reading the writing on the wall. Rather than work to make the state more attractive to wealthy residents and businesses, Democrats are seeking to diminish the appeal of two-tax states. They want to tap into a long-barred area of taxation: the wealth rather than just the income of citizens. By passing a national wealth tax, Democrats will reduce the benefit of fleeing high-tax states like California and New York.

“Start spreadin’ the news, I’m leavin’ today” — that’s how the famous song “New York, New York” captures the Big Apple’s draw.

Today, the line is becoming more ironic than iconic: Many people are indeed leaving … from New York, New York.

Worse yet, those “vagabond shoes” that “are longing to stray” are on the feet of the wealthiest New Yorkers.

And as they flee, according to a new study, they’re taking away billions in badly needed tax revenue.

As Mayor Zohran Mamdani and others pledge massive social programs and free services by taxing the wealthy, the wealthy are just melting away.

The reason is simple: if “you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.”

In today’s economy, it’s no longer necessary or even particularly beneficial to be in New York to make money in financial and other areas.

When any business meeting is a screen and a click away, you can go to a low-tax state like Florida or Texas and do as well as you can in the Big Apple.

Not surprisingly, many are choosing the money over the mystique and the madness.

This week the Citizens Budget Commission reported that New York’s share of millionaires fell from 12.7% in 2010 to 8.7% in 2022 — the largest drop of any state.

The exodus of wealthy citizens left New York short $10.7 billion in tax revenue.

By denouncing the remaining wealthy as effectively freeloaders who are “not paying their fair share,” Mamdani is only spurring them on.

It’s a demonstrably false claim that I discuss in my book Rage and the Republic — and part of a growing class-warfare theme the left is deliberately using to fuel political rage.

Yet it’s easy to form a mob — and far more difficult to control it.

That is particularly the case when your economic policies destroy your economy, and your ability to pay for all the free services that you’ve promised.

There’s a good-faith debate to be had over optimal tax levels, but the fact is that the top 10% of Americans pay more in taxes than the other 90% of the country. The top 1% pays roughly 40% of federal taxes.

As rational actors flee the state, Mamdani and New York Democrats are forced to cull the shrinking herd of high-end taxpayers who remain, layering on special fees like a pied-à-terre tax to be imposed on NYC’s luxury property owners.

And rather than change course to make New York a more attractive place to do business and live, national Democrats are moving to make other states no better — by nationalizing wealth taxes and by taxing fleeing citizens as if they still lived in the state.

Many are following Sen. Bernie Sanders’ and Rep. Ro Khanna’s call to impose a federal wealth tax they’ve dubbed the Billionaire Tax.

The idea is to stem the exodus from California and New York by giving the highest earners no place to go . . . except out of the country.

That’s the option many took when similar wealth taxes were attempted in countries like France, only to be rescinded after doing massive economic damage.

Fleecing the wealthy is a revenue loser.

New York is losing billions, and California has reportedly lost trillions due to top taxpayers’ departure.

Unwilling to adopt greater fiscal restraints and truly compete for businesses and residents, Democrats are looking for pockets of new areas to tax.

The wealth tax is a virtual bonanza of untapped revenue — if it can make it through the courts.

Our Constitution was amended in 1913 to allow for an income tax, not a wealth tax.

Once you pay taxes on what you earn, you’re supposed to be able to use your hard-earned money to buy whatever you wish, from bikes to boats.

Democrats now want to tax those possessions: “your Rembrandts, your stock portfolio, your diamonds and your yachts,” as Sen. Elizabeth Warren once dramatically warned.

And Khanna recently confirmed what some of us have been saying for years: The Billionaire Tax isn’t only for billionaires.

“The tax should not stop at billionaires,” he said in a pitch to his party’s rising socialist movement; “it must reach centimillionaires. The tax has to reach all fortunes $50 million and up.”

Khanna and others hope that, once taken nationally, a wealth tax would destroy the benefit of moving to low-tax states — and open up literally trillions in new potential revenue.

In the meantime, New York will continue to burn billions as it taps its dwindling number of millionaires.

As their wealthy neighbors depart, those remaining will have to make up for their loss.

Being among the last to leave New York will be a costly distinction.

They will indeed “wake up” — and find that they’re “king of the hill, top of the list” for wealth redistribution.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times bestselling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

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Is Home Affordability Actually Better Than Headlines Suggest

2026-07-18T14:19:09.459-07:00

Is Home Affordability Actually Better Than Headlines Suggest

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

The doom feed says home affordability locked a generation out. The math on the payment you actually write says something the headlines won’t.

Here are the “facts” that the media tells you about home affordability.

Let’s start with a recent survey. Two out of three Americans now say it’s a bad time to buy a house, the most negative reading Gallup has ever recorded. Another study showed that a record 25.2 million adults under 35 are living with their parents. Scroll any feed, and you’ll hear that home affordability has priced an entire generation out for good. Those are the “facts” according to the media.

However, here’s the problem with that story. When you measure home affordability today against the metric that actually governs the check you write each month, the picture flips. By that measure, buying a home may be easier now than it was for the Boomers and Gen Xers who get blamed for everything.

Let me be clear about what’s real, because I won’t build an argument on a false floor. Since 2019, the median listing price has jumped about 34% to roughly $430,000. The payment on a median home went from near $1,700 in early 2020 to about $3,100 by late 2025. Rates tripled off the 2021 lows. That shock was real, and it landed in five short years.

So the frustration makes sense. What doesn’t hold up is taking a recent, regional price spike and turning it into a permanent law of physics that applies to every zip code and every buyer. The honest version of home affordability today is narrower, more local, and far more fixable than the headline suggests.

But let’s start with the narrative that the Boomer generation had it easy. As one individual posted on X:

“You boomers had it easy, you could buy a home for the price of bread and a gallon of milk.”

Boomers Did Not Have It Easy

Here’s the part the narrative skips. The Boomer who bought in 1980 financed at a 30-year fixed rate of 13.74%, watched it climb past 18% by October 1981, and had no way to know rates would ever come back down, which made every payment feel like a life sentence. Think about that. For a median home price of $64,600 with 20% down, that household sent roughly 39% of its income to the mortgage before property taxes.6 Add the taxes, and the typical 1980 family spent close to 47% of their income on housing.

Today’s buyer, financing about $417,000 near 6.5%, spends closer to 32% on the mortgage and about 43% all in. Two independent analyses ran this exact math and landed in the same place. On the payment that matters, 1980 was as hard as, or harder than, 2026. So home affordability today is mostly a payment story, and the payment math favors the present. Notice what the work did. It isn’t the price of the home, it’s the rate.

The Crisis Is Regional, Not National

Now look at where the “home affordability” pain actually sits. A typical home in Iowa costs about 3.7 years of household income, near where the national buyer stood in 2000. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kansas still sell near or below $300,000. Among large metros, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and Philadelphia rank among the most affordable in the country. Home affordability today is a function of your zip code first, your generation second.

The expensive markets are real, but they’re specific. And here’s the twist most coverage misses. The old escape hatch of moving somewhere cheap is closing, because Montana now costs 8.7 years of income, worse than California or New York. The same regional pattern shows up in who’s living at home. In New Jersey it’s 44% of young adults. In South Dakota, 18%.8 The map of “kids who can’t move out” is mostly a map of expensive states.

That “one in three” figure above also deserves a second look. It counts everyone ages 18 to 34, which includes college kids, 22-year-olds in their first job, and people who’ve always lived at home for a stretch. If you narrow that gap to a more realistic home ownership range, ages 25 to 34, the share drops to about 18%. And roughly 70% of those 25-to-34-year-olds at home are employed.2 So this “home affordability” story isn’t about a lazy generation or a broken job market. It’s a story about down payments, rent, and a marriage age that has drifted six years later since 1980.

Where The Skeptics Are Right

I won’t pretend that nothing has changed. Two things genuinely got harder, and waving them away would insult the reader. First, the down payment. In 1980, 20% down ran about two-thirds of a year’s income. Today it runs a full year or more, which is why the median first-time buyer now puts down just 9% to get in the door, and why the first-time buyer’s median age has climbed from 29 to roughly 40. That capital wall is a real barrier.

Second, insurance. Premiums jumped 24% from 2021 to 2024 to an average of $3,303, twice the rate of inflation, rising in 95% of zip codes. In Utah, insurance premiums rose 59%. That cost isn’t your fault, and it won’t be fixed by skipping lattes, but notice what both problems have in common. They’re specific and addressable, not a sentence handed down to an entire generation. The home affordability debate today has two honest exceptions, and naming them is what separates analysis from a comment-section rant.

Where They Aren’t

Here’s the irony buried in the down payment story. The 1980 buyer didn’t just face a 20% norm; they put down even more, averaging about 28%. To skip mortgage insurance on a conventional loan, you needed the full 20% in cash, no exceptions. There were no mainstream 3% conventional programs, no piggyback structures in wide use, no stack of state assistance grants to pull from. You saved the lump sum, or you stayed a renter.

Today, the menu is wide open. A first-time buyer can go conventional with as little as 3% down, FHA with 3.5% down, or zero down with a VA or USDA loan if eligible, and can cover even that with gift funds, a 401 (k) withdrawal, or a state assistance grant. The 20% rule is dead. The median first-time buyer actually put down 10% last year, not 20. Less down means PMI and a bigger payment, of course. But the belief that you need 20% in cash just to walk in the door is the single most expensive myth keeping renters stuck, and it hasn’t been true for decades.

The Playbook: Home Affordability Today Is on You

So what’s the move? Stop reading a national headline as a verdict on your situation. The buyer who treats “homeownership is dead” as gospel, while sitting in a market where a solid house costs three or four times income, talks himself out of a purchase he could actually make. Bob Farrell’s ninth rule fits here. When every expert and forecast agrees, something else usually happens. Sentiment just hit a record low. That’s historically when the patient buyer gets paid.

But mindset only gets you to the starting line. Here’s the part nobody wants to hear.

Working isn’t enough. Roughly 70% of the young adults living at home already have jobs, so a paycheck alone clearly doesn’t get you out of the basement. What gets you out is a set of decisions most people dodge because they sting. So let’s say them plainly.

Run the number, then automate it. A 3.5% down payment on a $250,000 home is $8,750, about $730 a month for a year. If you can’t find $730, that’s a spending problem or an income problem, and both are yours. But here’s the part the pushback misses. The inability to save that money isn’t just a down payment problem. It’s a signal you can’t afford to own yet. The mortgage is only the floor. Property taxes, insurance that now averages $3,303 a year, the roughly 1% of a home’s value it consumes in annual upkeep, and HOA dues, if you have them, all add up to the monthly payment. Can’t bank $730 a month as a renter? You’ll drown in those carrying costs as an owner. The savings test isn’t the barrier. It’s the readiness check.
Cut the big rocks, not the pebbles. The daily coffee isn’t what’s keeping you in your childhood bedroom, but the $650 truck payment, the $1,900 rent in a city you picked for the nightlife, and the lifestyle you finance to look successful on a phone screen absolutely are. Sell the financed truck. Get a roommate. Buy smaller, because the median new home is 38% larger than it was in 1980, making a 1,500-square-foot starter a choice rather than a hardship. Live below your means on purpose. Nobody is coming to subsidize your standard of living.
Then move to the money. The good jobs and the cheap houses rarely sit in the same expensive zip code you grew up in. They sit in Columbus, Des Moines, Indianapolis, and Greenville, where a median income still buys a median home. Remote work made that move easier than it has ever been. If you won’t relocate for opportunity, fine, but then you’ve made unaffordability a choice, not a fate.
Raise your income and your credit score at the same time. A side income of $1,000 a month is a full down payment in under a year. A credit jump from 580 to 620 can move you off a 3.5% FHA loan and onto a 3% conventional, saving you thousands up front and more over the life of the loan. And every year you stall has a price tag. The National Association of Realtors estimates that delaying a purchase from age 30 to 40 costs the typical buyer around $150,000 in lost equity.

The market isn’t fair. It was never fair. The only question that matters is what you’re going to do about it.

The bottom line is this. Housing isn’t unaffordable everywhere, for everyone, forever. It’s expensive in specific places, for specific reasons, and most of all since 2020. The rest is geography, a savings problem, and a story people keep repeating until they believe it. After three decades of watching cycles, I’ve learned the worst financial decisions get made when people accept a narrative instead of running the numbers.

Home affordability today is better than the Fed admits. Run your own numbers and see.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/18/2026 - 16:20
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Trump Wants To Revoke Broadcast Licenses Of Networks That Didn't Air His Election Meddling Speech

2026-07-17T15:19:28.173-07:00

Trump Wants To Revoke Broadcast Licenses Of Networks That Didn't Air His Election Meddling Speech

President Donald Trump on Thursday said that US TV networks that refused to air his primetime address on election integrity should have their licenses revoked.

President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White House on July 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. Saul Loeb/Pool - Getty Images

During the address, Trump said that both NBC and ABC News said they "would not cover the speech" - something he called a "rare move."

"They knew what it was about because of the fact that they don’t like the topic, because they know how corrupt our system is, and they don’t want to reveal it," he said, adding "Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses. They use our public, multi-billion-dollar in value airwaves for absolutely no money. They pay nothing. All we want is honesty in our elections and honesty in reporting."

ABC News said on Thursday that they would run the speech - but only on their live streaming platform and ABC News Radio - but not on its broadcast channel. NBC News also aired the speech on its streaming platform.

As the Epoch Times notes further, Trump announced the declassification of information that he said reveals large-scale Chinese hacking of American voter information, saying that China obtained 220 million voter records during the 2020 election.

The president also detailed the findings of a Homeland Security Department review that found 278,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in federal elections. Trump said he had ordered the agency to notify states and direct them to remove all ineligible voters from their voter rolls.

White House communications director Steven Cheung called out NBC and ABC News for not airing the president’s address and encouraged viewers to watch it on the White House’s platform instead.

“NBC and ABC don’t want you to hear the truth. All they want to do is hide the facts from YOU. Tune in @WhiteHouse at 9:00pm EDT, where we always get bigger ratings than any of the networks,” Cheung said in a post on X.

Trump had previously called for the broadcast licenses of ABC News and NBC to be revoked over what he described as “unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives.” He also accused the networks of being “an arm of the Democrat Party.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in April ordered an early review of license renewals for eight Disney-owned ABC television stations. The FCC was also looking into whether ABC’s daytime talk show “The View” violated federal rules requiring broadcast stations to provide equal airtime to all political party candidates.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 17:20
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After Trump's 'Election Cyber-F**kery' Speech, "The Game Is Gonna Get Rough Now"...

2026-07-17T14:19:29.035-07:00

After Trump's 'Election Cyber-F**kery' Speech, "The Game Is Gonna Get Rough Now"...

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

“. . . the Democrat Party. . . are morally bankrupt nincompoops who have been beaten by the establishment like the rented mules they are. “

- Kurt Schlichter on X

Strange to relate, in last night’s speech to the nation on election chicanery, President Trump managed to both overwhelm and underwhelm public expectation.

He touched on voting machine shenanigans, registration skullduggery, cyber-fuckery, labor union toolery, ballot fraud, and especially China meddling.

Internal CIA / FBI docs at the time said that China’s policy around the 2020 US election was to “leverage all domestic and foreign elements” opposed to the President to prevent his re-election. The Intel bunch never sent that memo to the White House. They were too busy pushing fake Russia meddling, fake impeachment, and a fake Covid-19 pandemic. Then they declared the 2020 was “the most secure election in history.”

As of yesterday, the President de-classified many thousands of Intel agency documents for the public (and news media) to peruse.

And naturally, the major cable news networks (except Fox) declined to broadcast the speech.

As of Friday morning, The New York Times leads the offensive to disparage the actual news.

He’s Obsessed, that Trump!

The actual news: China hacked over 220-million voter registrations, plus social security files; manufactured and shipped tens of thousands of fake US driver’s licenses to be used in motor-voter states; and paid favored US journalists to write negative articles about Mr. Trump. The Department of Homeland Security reported 278,000 non-citizens were registered to vote in federal elections. But that number was compiled only from states that complied with DOJ demands for voter rolls. California, New York, and Illinois and many other states refused, so the number is probably more than double the DHS figure.

The big take-away was that US Intel agencies withheld all this intel from the President of the US, Mr. Trump, in the lead-up to the 2020 vote.

Yes, there really is Deep State, as seen starkly in a now-declassified memo from the then-chief of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, one Nikki Floris, who wrote “I’m basically running a shadow government at this point” by hiding information from POTUS.

Ms. Floris is now employed as Microsoft’s Director of Insider Risk (former Deputy Attorney General under “Joe Biden,” Lisa Monaco, is President of Microsoft Global Affairs.)

According to the NY Post’s Miranda Devine, in August 2020, Nikki Floris also tried to hoodwink Senators Chuck Grassley and Rob Johnson, telling them the Hunter Biden laptop was a Russian op — a gag later ratified by fifty-one former intel officers (including five former CIA Directors) who signed the notorious October letter to the news media.

All of this activity, Mr. Trump averred, amounted to a cover-up of a conspiracy by members of the permanent bureaucracy to overthrow the government. And that is exactly why more than one federal grand jury is convened in Fort Pierce, Florida, right now, to sort out who, exactly, is going to account for these rather grave crimes. The new document release is apt to accelerate the work of US Attorneys there, since declassification is the biggest routine holdup in the process.

On the “underwhelming” side of the president’s speech, there was little mention of the swing-state ballot fraud enabled and conducted by local election officials in Fulton County, Georgia, Maricopa County, Arizona, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Antrim County, Michigan, Mesa County, Colorado, and Philadelphia, PA. But you know that the FBI raided Fulton County election headquarters months ago and seized around 700 boxes of evidence, and then reassigned 260 FBI agents to examine all the material. All that might still be to-come.

Then there is the question of the millions of dollars that Hunter Biden winkled out of China over the years before the 2020 election — records of which were stuffed in his infamous laptop, along with photos and video of his sexual exploits there — and whether Hunter’s father, Joe, was a blackmail captive of China leading up to that election. Stay tuned on that.

Altogether, Mr. Trump’s speech and document drops are obviously an effort to move election reform, the Save America Act, through Congress, where it has languished in a procedural miasma for months due to one man: Senate Majority Leader John Thune. The President’s emphasis last night on China’s election meddling is purposeful in ways not broadly apprehended, but I will tell you:

If Congress does not find a way to vote that bill out to Mr. Trump’s desk before they recess for the rest of the summer in late July, Mr. Trump will invoke an executive order under the National Emergencies Act (NEA) — Public Law 94-412; codified at 50 U.S.C. §§ 1601–1651 — requiring the fifty states to employ all the same provisions that are in the SAVE America Act for the 2026 midterm elections. Under the NEA, the federal courts cannot be used to fight or strike down the executive order; it can only be stopped by a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate.

If that is the course that this takes, you can expect Antifa and the Democratic-Socialist foot-soldiers to take to the streets this fall in a violently-amplified episode of “No Kings” demonstrations — because fair and honest elections with citizens-only voting will mean the end of the Democratic Party, and they know it. Last night’s move by President Trump is only the opening bid of a quickening game against the Deep State, and their partners-in-sedition.

The game is gonna get rough now.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 16:20
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Iran Tells Houthis To Close Red Sea Energy Chokepoint If Trump Bombs Power Grid

2026-07-16T14:19:47.141-07:00

Iran Tells Houthis To Close Red Sea Energy Chokepoint If Trump Bombs Power Grid

Yemen's Houthis have long warned of their ability to close the Red Sea oil route, but have by and large stayed on the sidelines of the expanding Gulf regional conflict which is focused on Iran since Operation Epic Fury began.

Things began changing dramatically this month, however, after Saudi warplane incursions into Yemen - which bombed Sanaa International Airport on July 13 - in an effort to prevent an Iranian commercial jet from landing there.

via Marine Insight

The Houthis responded by sending missile and drones on Saudi Arabian airbases and infrastructure, opening up the possibility of renewed Saudi-Houthi war (hearkening back to the more intense war of the prior decade).

Houthi rhetoric is growing, related to the US-Israel war on Iran:

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi movement has denounced US and Israeli collaboration as the source of the problems in the Middle East.

In a televised address, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi also blamed Saudi leaders for advancing US and Israeli objectives in the region. “The United States and Israel are the source of evil and instability in the world,” al-Houthi said.

In a rare moment of the now long-running conflict, on Thursday reports have emerged that Tehran is actively requesting that the Houthis join the war in the scenario that Washington begins attacking Iran's power infrastructure.

This is after President Trump told Fox News on Tuesday evening that "Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants."

"Next week comes the bridges. We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate," he warned.

But according to Reuters, Iran still has another escalatory card of its own to play:

Iran has asked Yemen’s Houthi rebels to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure, three sources told Reuters on Thursday, posing a potent new threat to global energy supplies.

The idea has been discussed within the Islamic Republic’s leadership, and the message has been conveyed to Iran’s Houthi allies, two senior Iranian sources and a regional source familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The sources said the Houthis had been informed recently of Tehran’s request, which has not been previously reported.

It's long been reported that the Houthis have indeed been making preparations to attack shipping by deploying missiles and drones near Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is the crucial entry point to the Red Sea.

The Telegraph, citing sources in Yemen, reports that the Houthis are preparing contingency plans to close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in coordination with Iran if Tehran decides to escalate the conflict further.

According to the report, the Houthis are expanding ties with Somalia's… pic.twitter.com/2ugHuY5Wde
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 16, 2026

This could obviously greatly exacerbate the global energy crisis - and would likely set off a new round of regional escalation - which might also see Houthi missiles once again targeting southern Israel, but also Saudi Arabia and the GCC allies.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/16/2026 - 15:20
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NYC Council Grapples With Debate Over Bill To Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

2026-07-16T14:19:38.072-07:00

NYC Council Grapples With Debate Over Bill To Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

Authored by Nicholas Zifcak via The Epoch Times,

The family of Romanch Mahajan delivered emotional testimony over video link and in person on July 15, during a New York City Council hearing about a law that would phase out carriage horse rides in Central Park.

Tearful aunts and uncles of the deceased 18-year-old urged city council to outlaw the horse-drawn carriage rides and spare other families the grief they are still struggling to cope with.

The law, renamed in honor of the teen from India who died on June 17, would stop the city from issuing new licenses and over two years phase out the horse-drawn carriage rides through Central Park by June 1, 2028.

Majahan was thrown from a carriage after the horse spooked and bolted during a ride with his family on June 17 during their visit to New York. At the time the carriage driver had stepped down to take a photo of the Mahajan family in the carriage. City law requires carriage drivers to hold the reins of horses at all times.

Testimony from the family was followed by city officials, animal rights activists, and the union representing carriage drivers, TWU Local 100.

On Tuesday, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced her support for the bill in a video on X, calling the teen’s death “heartbreaking and infuriating,” and preventable. She said it’s time “to begin the transition away from horse-drawn carriages. “

Multiple past attempts to end the horse-drawn carriage rides in Central Park have failed. The previous bill, Ryder’s law, introduced in 2022, was blocked by then-Speaker Adrienne Adams, according to former council member Bob Holden, who introduced the bill and attended Wednesday’s hearing to testify.

City Council members focused on how to help the 208 drivers navigate a career change and how to make sure horses are not sold for meat or end up pulling a carriage somewhere else.

Dr. Gabriel Cook, a veterinarian who was hired by carriage owners to look after the health of their horses, said the bill would be a death sentence for the horses. He said many horse retirement sanctuary facilities struggle financially and are not necessarily a better environment for the horses than their current stables.

Council Member James Gennaro of Queens berated city officials for lax enforcement of city law, demanding to know how many carriage medallions were revoked or suspended for violations in recent years.

“What have you done to enforce?” asked Gennaro when questioning Carlos Ortiz, the deputy commissioner at the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Ortiz said there have been suspensions but could not provide exact numbers.

Gennaro favors reforming the industry and introduced a bill on June 11 that would require the city to study ways to improve safety for horses by such improvements as allowing pitching posts in the park to tie horses up and allowing them to start working at 7 a.m., when temperatures are cooler.

Ashley Byrne of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), echoed Gennaro’s argument of “little to no enforcement from the city,” leading to the injury and death of a long list of horses over the past several decades.

Gennaro challenged Byrne in a heated exchange about what PETA has done for horses after the death in June of carriage horse Deniz, which TWU Local 100 has said died from eating poisonous Japanese yew that the Central Park Conservancy had planted within reach of the carriage route. Gennaro said he organized a campaign and reached out to the Conservancy.

“What have I done about a plant?” Byrne shot back at Gennaro as the audience jeered the council member. But Gennaro’s allotted time was up.

Speaking on the topic on July 14, Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed concern that adequate assistance be provided to carriage drivers, who would be put out of work.

“We support the spirit of the bill,” Mamdani told reporters, speaking at an unrelated press conference on July 14 in Inwood, Manhattan.

He suggested that the council do more to make sure drivers and stable hands employed in the industry find new employment.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/16/2026 - 13:45
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US Utilities Requested $9.2BN In Rate Hikes In Q2, Up 26% From Previous Year

2026-07-15T14:19:32.491-07:00

US Utilities Requested $9.2BN In Rate Hikes In Q2, Up 26% From Previous Year

By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive

Electric and gas utilities in the second quarter asked state regulators to approve $9.2 billion in rate hikes, up 26% from the $7.3 billion in rate increase proposals filed in the same period last year, according to an updated report released Tuesday by the advocacy group PowerLines.

In the first half this year, utilities asked for $18.6 billion in rate hikes, down from about $25 billion in the same period last year, according to data collected by the nonprofit.

The report comes as average U.S. residential electric rates increased 7.3% from the year before to 18.8 cents/kWh in April, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. As a result, “regulators face mounting pressure to scrutinize utility spending plans while balancing the infrastructure investments that a modernizing grid genuinely requires,” PowerLines said.

The utility sector appears to be entering a capital investment “super-cycle” amid growing affordability concerns. Backlash to rising bills has prompted protests by consumers and their advocates, as well as new state laws intended to tackle the issue.

The Edison Electric Institute, a trade group for investor-owned utilities, estimates that IOUs will spend about $1.4 trillion from this year through 2030 on capital investments. EEI expects capital expenditures will jump 17% this year to nearly $239 billion, from about $204 billion in 2025.

Some utilities contend they can make the investments without significantly affecting their rates. FirstEnergy, for example, is proposing to increase its electric rates in Ohio over three years by about $392 million — partly to cover roughly $2.5 billion in planned capital expenditures. The company says this will increase average annual residential customer bills by less than 3% a year.

According to PowerLines and public filings, other rate hike proposals utilities filed in the second quarter include:

Dominion Energy in Virginia is seeking about $1.5 billion across three rate requests;
Oncor in Texas requested the largest single increase in the second quarter, at $1.2 billion, driven largely by transmission and distribution investments to meet demand from the oil and gas industry and data centers in the Permian Basin;
We Energies in Wisconsin is seeking about $606 million in rate increases;
DTE Energy in Michigan is seeking an increase of $474 million; and,
Consumers Energy in Michigan is asking for a rate hike of $456 million.

The proposed rate increases in the Midwest total about $193 per customer, followed by $172 per customer in the South, $135 per customer in the Northeast and $110 per customer in the West, according to the data from PowerLines.

Utility regulators will scrutinize the rate hike proposals in the coming months.

“These requests, while often approved at a lower cost than utilities propose, have a high chance of reaching consumer bills in some form,” PowerLines said.

State regulators approved 58% of the total costs utilities sought to add to their rates from 2023 through 2024, the organization said.

U.S. residential customers paid 18.8 cents/kWh on average in April, up 7.3% from the year before, according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration.

Those costs ranged from 12.4 cents/kWh in North Dakota to 46.6 cents/kWh in Hawai’i. The other highest cost states for residential customers were California at 35.3 cents/kWk, Connecticut at 32.2 cents/kWh and Massachusetts and New York at 29.5 cents/kWh.

Eversource Energy’s Connecticut Light and Power subsidiary is preparing to seek a $503 million rate increase, according to a May 20 filing at the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. If approved, it would increase residential rates by about 13%, the utility estimated.

CL&P said it would show PURA it has strategies to keep customer bills as stable and affordable as possible, while keeping the distribution system reliable.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 15:05
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US Gasoline Prices Could Top $4 Per Gallon Within Days

2026-07-15T14:19:21.884-07:00

US Gasoline Prices Could Top $4 Per Gallon Within Days

After several weeks of reprieve for drivers, the US national average price of gasoline could top $4 per gallon within a week, as crude oil prices rallied by about 12% in the three days since Friday amid the all-but-collapsed U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

The renewed hostilities in the Middle East have fueled a new crude oil price rally this week, while tight fuel markets globally are also pushing US prices at the pump higher, OilPrice notes.

“I've seen enough and believe the national average price of gasoline will again reach $4/gal in the next 7-10 days, if not sooner,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote late on Monday, when crude had surged by 9% on the day following the announcement of U.S. President Donald Trump that the U.S. blockade on Iran would be re-imposed on July 14.

GasBuddy’s key analyst expects price increases of $0.15-0.45 per gallon, depending on price cycling, in the next week or so.

Early this week, the average U.S. national price of gasoline rose for the first time since May, as the re-escalation of hostilities in the entire Middle Eastern region prompted an oil rally with prices hitting more than one-month highs.

As of the end of the day on July 14, the national average was $3.8590 per gallon, according to AAA data. That’s up from the $3.79 average from a week ago.

“The pain at the pump is about to intensify, and this time it's not one story driving it, it's two,” GasBuddy’s De Haan wrote earlier this week, noting the double gas price whammy of the re-escalation in the Middle East and Ukraine systematically knocking out Russian refining capacity.

“I now expect the national average price of gasoline to reach $4 per gallon in the next 7-10 days, if not sooner, while the U.S. average diesel price is likely to again reach $5 per gallon by the end of this week, potentially as soon as Friday,” De Haan said.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 14:20
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Rubio Pledges To Dismantle International Criminal Court's Threat To US Sovereignty

2026-07-14T16:19:29.450-07:00

Rubio Pledges To Dismantle International Criminal Court's Threat To US Sovereignty

Authored by Victoria Friedman via The Epoch Times,

The State Department is launching a campaign to “dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to U.S. sovereignty,” the department said, including through disabling the court’s ability to target American servicemen or officials.

The State Department said in a July 13 statement that actions under consideration include U.S. officials contacting foreign nations to highlight the ICC’s abuses and the risk posed to other countries by the court, and urging them to withdraw from the body.

The Trump administration is also considering revoking visas and imposing travel bans on ICC personnel, imposing increased sanctions against the ICC and its affiliates, and increasing pressure on nations that refuse to reject ICC rulings while still relying on U.S. assistance.

“No diplomatic option will be off-limits in the campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the ICC to Americans,” the department said.

The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, asserting its jurisdiction if a member of the ICC is unable or unwilling to undertake prosecutions itself.

The United States has never been a member of the ICC; however, the court’s statutes give it the power to prosecute crimes committed in a member state by nationals of non-member states, including Americans.

“The ICC poses an intolerable threat to U.S. sovereignty - it claims the authority to prosecute and even imprison American servicemen and officials operating on behalf of America’s national interest,” the State Department said.

“Americans never signed up for this, and all American presidents since the ICC’s ratification have maintained that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Americans.”

The ICC’s spokesperson, Oriane Maillet, said the court would not comment on the matter at this stage.

President Donald Trump’s opposition to the court goes back to his first term in office. He and other officials in Washington have long said the ICC should not have the authority to investigate and prosecute U.S. citizens, particularly members of the military.

In March 2020, ICC prosecutors opened an investigation in Afghanistan that included looking into possible crimes by U.S. military personnel. However, since 2021, it has deprioritized the United States’ role, focusing ⁠on alleged crimes committed by Taliban forces and the Afghan government.

‘Waging a War Against Our Country’

“As we speak, the ICC and its friends are waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles, but with statutes and compacts and the force of so-called international law,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a video message posted on July 13.

Rubio said that when the ICC was established, it said it was limited to dealing with the most serious of offenses.

“But the truth is, it was something far more radical and extreme. It was a global tribunal staffed by unelected globalist bureaucrats who claim their power is almost unlimited,” he said.

Rubio said that the court’s power has only continued to grow, and that the United States should not stand idle and let judges living thousands of miles away make determinations well beyond their jurisdiction.

“The American people never agreed to any of this, and they never will,” Rubio said.

“Read the words of our Declaration of Independence. We fought a revolution against a foreign power, transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses. Independence is our birthright. We will never let foreign bureaucrats take that away from us.”

In December 2025, Rubio sanctioned two ICC judges after accusing them of being engaged in the “illegitimate targeting” of Israel. Rubio said at the time that neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute, the international treaty that established the ICC, and therefore rejected the court’s jurisdiction.

“The ICC has continued to engage in politicized actions targeting Israel, which set a dangerous precedent for all nations. We will not tolerate ICC abuses of power that violate the sovereignty of the United States and Israel and wrongly subject U.S. and Israeli persons to the ICC’s jurisdiction,” Rubio said in the Dec. 18 statement.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/14/2026 - 17:00
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Venezuela's Oil Revival Faces A Critical Services Bottleneck

2026-07-14T14:19:02.538-07:00

Venezuela's Oil Revival Faces A Critical Services Bottleneck

Authored by Rystad Energy via OilPrice.com,

Venezuela could increase crude production by about 194,000 bpd by late 2028, with most growth coming from existing producing fields rather than new discoveries.
International oil companies led by Chevron are expected to deliver nearly two-thirds of the forecast production increase through brownfield investments.
The biggest obstacles are operational, including drilling rigs, diluent supplies, infrastructure upgrades, and a competitive fiscal regime capable of attracting long-term investment.

Venezuela's upstream industry has entered a new phase. Following sweeping hydrocarbon reforms and broader geopolitical developments in early 2026, the conversation has shifted from whether the country can reopen its oil sector to whether it can successfully execute a meaningful production recovery. The country's resource potential has never been in doubt. The greater challenge now lies in converting policy momentum into sustained operational growth.

Rystad Energy estimates Venezuela's crude production could increase by approximately 17%, or around 194,000 barrels per day (bpd), between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the fourth quarter of 2028. Importantly, this growth is expected to come primarily from existing producing assets rather than large-scale new discoveries, highlighting that operational execution, not resource availability, will determine the pace of recovery.

Near-term production growth will be dominated by heavier crude grades. Around three-quarters of Venezuela's output through 2028 is expected to come from heavy, extra-heavy crude and bitumen, with the Orinoco Oil Belt accounting for roughly 60% of total production. This makes access to diluents, workover activity, infill drilling, and mature field management considerably more important than reserve additions over the next several years.

Venezuela upstream figure 1

International operators are driving the recovery

International oil companies (IOCs) are expected to contribute nearly two-thirds of Venezuela's forecast production increase through 2028. Chevron remains the largest contributor, followed by Repsol, Eni, Maha Energy and Maurel & Prom. Most of this growth is expected to come from expanding production at existing joint ventures, reflecting renewed investment following regulatory changes and sanctions relief rather than greenfield developments.

Chevron continues to occupy a particularly strategic position. Recent portfolio adjustments have strengthened its exposure to the Orinoco Oil Belt, while future production growth is expected to rely on brownfield optimization, infill drilling and the phased development of Ayacucho 8. Beyond Chevron, companies such as Eni and Repsol continue to play a dual role in both Venezuela's crude and natural gas sectors through assets including the Cardón IV block and the giant Perla gas field.

However, international participation remains highly selective. Companies continue to balance the opportunity presented by Venezuela's vast resource base against fiscal uncertainty, operational complexity and long-term investment risk.

Execution, not geology, remains the key constraint

While policy reforms have improved the investment outlook, they do not eliminate the operational bottlenecks that have constrained production for years.

Sustained production growth will require continuous access to diluents, higher drilling activity, extensive workover campaigns, improved infrastructure and significantly greater rig availability. These operational requirements represent the critical link between resource potential and realized production.

Fiscal competitiveness also remains an important consideration. International operators have indicated that future capital commitments will depend on further improvements to Venezuela's fiscal framework, particularly around royalty rates and taxation. Lower project breakeven costs through more competitive fiscal terms could materially improve investment economics and encourage broader participation across the sector.

Oilfield services could become the industry's defining bottleneck

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing Venezuela's recovery lies beyond the upstream operators themselves. The Venezuelan Oil Ministry has identified a requirement for 93 active drilling rigs by 2028, a significant increase from current activity levels. Achieving this target would require a phased expansion involving reactivating domestic rigs, refurbishing idle equipment, and eventually importing additional rigs from international markets.

This creates substantial opportunities for drilling contractors and oilfield service providers but also highlights the scale of the execution challenge. Companies must balance equipment mobilization costs, contract duration requirements, and country risk before committing capital.

Local contractors have begun reactivating existing fleets, while international service providers remain more cautious, waiting for greater evidence that recent policy reforms will translate into a stable, commercially attractive operating environment. As a result, rebuilding operational capacity may ultimately prove just as important as attracting upstream investment.

Venezuela upstream figure 2

The next phase depends on implementation

The 2026 Hydrocarbons Law represents one of the most significant structural reforms to Venezuela's upstream sector in decades. By expanding opportunities for private participation and introducing greater fiscal flexibility, the legislation has created a more attractive framework for future investment.

Yet legislation alone cannot restore production. The speed of implementation, the stability of fiscal policy, continued sanctions relief, and the industry's ability to rebuild operational capacity will ultimately determine whether Venezuela can translate ambition into sustained output growth.

For investors and operators alike, the opportunity is considerable. But the country's upstream revival will depend less on the size of its resource base than on its ability to consistently execute across drilling, infrastructure, services, and investment policy. That execution gap, not geology, is likely to define Venezuela's production trajectory over the remainder of the decade.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/14/2026 - 15:45
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Believe All Women - Unless They're Inconvenient

2026-07-13T16:19:18.381-07:00

Believe All Women - Unless They're Inconvenient

Authored by Frank Salvato via The American Spectator,

The political Left has spent years promoting the slogan "Believe All Women," using it as a powerful weapon against conservatives, especially during critical events like the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. But this mantra has never been about seeking justice or protecting victims; instead, it serves as a cynical tool for gaining power - a way to undermine opponents while conveniently overlooking the serial abusers, gropers, and predators within their own ranks.

When the alleged victims are conservative women, or when the accused belong to the "right" political party, the Left's proclaimed solidarity vanishes, replaced by silence, excuses, and even cover-ups. This hypocrisy is a fundamental aspect of a movement that prioritizes tribal loyalty over truth, power over principles, and narrative over the genuine suffering of women.

True protection for women requires consistency, evidence, and fairness - not selective blindness from those on the Left.

Take Joe Biden, the dilapidated standard-bearer of the Democrat Party. Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer, came forward with detailed allegations that Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993 by pinning her against a wall and digitally penetrating her. There was corroboration for her claims, including a friend she confided in at the time and a 1993 call to Larry King's show in which her mother referenced the incident.

However, the mainstream media, which claims to support the #BelieveWomen and the #MeToo movements, downplayed the story, questioned Reade's credibility, and defended Biden. The New York Times and the Washington Post published skeptical investigations that minimized Biden's pattern of "inappropriate touching" with multiple women. When Biden denied the allegations, the Left largely shrugged it off and continued to support him.

In contrast, any conservative accusation is met with immediate, intense scrutiny. Reade's claims posed a threat to the favorable image of their presidential candidate, so the media largely ignored them. Women only seem to matter when their stories align with the cause.

Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York who was once celebrated as "America's Governor" during the COVID-19 pandemic, faced credible allegations of sexual harassment from multiple women, including former staff members. These women described a troubling pattern of unwanted advances, groping, and a hostile work environment. Cuomo resigned amid the scandal; however, many Democrats rallied to his defense, with some downplaying the allegations as mere political attacks.

The media, which called for resignations in response to lesser offenses by conservatives, treated Cuomo's downfall as a reluctant necessity rather than a justified outrage. Where were the #BelieveAllWomen and #MeToo movements during this situation? Nowhere - because Cuomo was a powerful Democrat.

Al Franken, a comedian who later became a Senator, faced accusations from multiple women regarding inappropriate touching and forced kisses during his career in entertainment and politics. Photos surfaced of him mock-groping a sleeping colleague. Although Franken resigned from his position, many prominent voices on the Left, including some feminists, expressed regret over the loss of what they considered a "good man" and questioned whether the response was proportional. The urgency for judgment, typically directed at Republicans, was replaced by concerns about due process - only when it was convenient for their side.

Keith Ellison, a Congressman from Minnesota and former deputy chair of the Democrat National Committee, faced serious domestic abuse allegations from his ex-girlfriend, Karen Monahan. Her son claimed to have witnessed a video showing Ellison dragging her off a bed by her feet while shouting obscenities and making threats. Medical records and text messages supported aspects of her claims of abuse. Ellison denied all the allegations, and many on the left largely ignored the situation. As a rising star in progressive circles, his actions went overlooked.

There was no sustained outrage or calls for investigation from the usual advocates. In contrast, conservative women making similar allegations would likely have faced heavy scrutiny. Monahan, Ellison's alleged victim, faded into the background.

Eric Swalwell, the California Democrat, continues to face mounting scandals. Multiple women, including a former staffer, have accused him of sexual misconduct, ranging from sending naked, unsolicited messages to rape while the women were intoxicated or incapacitated. One woman provided a detailed account of being assaulted in a hotel room, which is corroborated by texts and eyewitnesses. Although Swalwell has denied these allegations, the consistent pattern raises serious concerns about entitlement.

Despite this troubling situation, the partisan machinery that typically amplifies accusations against conservatives has reacted sluggishly. Swalwell remains prominent in Leftist and Democrat circles, and his ambitions have only recently faced setbacks.

Even Graham Platner, the Democrat Senate nominee in Maine challenging Susan Collins, exposes the farce. Platner enjoyed robust support from the progressive apparatus, including Bernie Sanders allies, as a populist veteran and oysterman - until Jenny Racicot, a Maine woman from the Left who had dated him, came forward with a rape allegation. She detailed how in 2021, an intoxicated Platner entered her home uninvited, ignored her repeated objections, and forced himself on her despite her clear refusal. Only after this credible accusation from within their own camp - reported by outlets like Politico - did the Democrat establishment and mainstream media, including the New York Times, finally cease their backing, with calls for him to withdraw flooding in.

Prior controversies, including other troubling claims about their relationship, hadn't stopped them. But a Democrat woman's direct rape accusation? That finally pierced the protective bubble. The selective timing reveals everything: their #BelieveAllWomen and #MeToo piety is reserved for enemies, not inconvenient allies.

Conservative women, such as those who were criticized during the #MeToo movement or attacked for supporting America First policies, find little support from the Left. The Kavanaugh hearings demonstrated the strategy: use unproven allegations against those who threaten the agenda, and then discard principles when they implicate allies. The media-Democrat complex doesn't genuinely "believe all women"; rather, it selectively supports women at the right time for political gain; for the political "kill shot." Victims who do not fit this narrative - whether they are Republican, conservative, or simply inconvenient - are often dismissed as liars, opportunists, or fabricators; dragged through the mud into the public square.

This hypocrisy undermines trust in institutions - especially the media - and the experiences of genuine victims. Real abuse exists and deserves serious investigation with due process, rather than being used for partisan gain.

The Left's #BelieveAllWomen and #MeToo movements were never based on principles; instead, they served as a performative tactic to consolidate power. They overlook crimes against conservative women because acknowledging those victims would expose the underlying hypocrisy. This mandate only applies when it supports the Marxist, identity-focused agenda that reduces women to mere props in a cultural battle.

True protection for women requires consistency, evidence, and fairness - not selective blindness from those on the Left who preach empathy while practicing ruthless expediency.

Their silence regarding their own predators speaks volumes: power always trumps principle.

Frank Salvato is a 30-year independent journalist focused on constitutionalism and threats to the free West.

Tyler Durden Mon, 07/13/2026 - 16:20
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McConnell Watch: CNN Duped Into Running Fake X Post Mocking Its Own Analyst

2026-07-12T16:19:27.239-07:00

McConnell Watch: CNN Duped Into Running Fake X Post Mocking Its Own Analyst

Authored by Ben Sellers via Headline USA,

OOPS: CNN This Morning cites parody account of fake congressman @RepJackKimble on list of quotes about Sen. Mitch McConnell's health. pic.twitter.com/GBXJ37bkoe
— Nick (@nspin310) July 8, 2026

Since last year's corporate takeover of CNN's parent company, Warner Brothers, by Paramount Skydance and its Trump-friendly CEO, David Ellison, the notoriously left-slanted network has been braced for the inevitable fallout.

A humiliating on-air mistake that involved quoting a fake member of Congress may be just the catalyst needed for some heavy-handed house-cleaning.

On Wednesday, "CNN This Morning" anchor Audie Cornish shared a series of social-media statements from GOP insiders who claimed to have been in contact with AWOL Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The roundup included statements from spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., as well as former McConnell campaign adviser Scott Jennings, himself a regular CNN panelist.

"He's still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 20 minutes," Jennings wrote Tuesday in an X post.

Many found the "trust me" posts to be unconvincing amid mounting speculation that McConnell may be braindead, if not altogether deceased, following a June 14 medical emergency, and a growing clamor for proof-of-life evidence.

Jennings's post spawned several imitators, also claiming to have spoken to McConnell on a disparate array of unlikely topics.

I spoke to McConnell for about 20 minutes this morning. He said we should end the war with Iran, quit giving aid to Israel, stop spying on Americans without a warrant, and he's really sorry about how my primary turned out.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) July 7, 2026

Among the dubious claims was one from the spoof account of fake lawmaker Rep. Jack Kimble, representing California's 54th district (it currently has only 52).

"We talked for just shy of 45 minutes," the post said, following a familiar template.

"He's so sharp," it continued. "Just like always he let me do all of the talking. He's a great listener. After that we prayed silently for awhile and had a staring contest. Just like always, he beat me."

I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky. He's still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 45 minutes. He's so sharp. Just like always he let me do all of the talking. He's a great listener. After that we prayed…
— Rep. Jack Kimble (@RepJackKimble) July 7, 2026

Kimble's prank drew positive responses from both sides of the aisle.

Professional Trump hater George Conway, who recently lost his bid to be a Democrat congressman from New York, wrote, "You are my favorite Congressman."

You are my favorite Congressman
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) July 8, 2026

Meanwhile, Brendan Carr, a Trump ally and current chair of the Federal Communications Commission, seemed to take particular note of the allegations that CNN was exposing its left-wing biases once again, writing "oof" on a post that was commenting on the subject.

oof
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) July 8, 2026

Cornish corrected the record on Thursday's broadcast, stating "Obviously we should not have done that, and we regret the error."

According to the New York Post, the parody Kimble account claims to be "the brainchild of a Chicago school teacher." The account, launched in 2009, has previously fooled the Washington Post and the Huffington Post website.

Kimble also has a book for sale on Amazon, titled Detective Jesus No. 1: Thou Shalt Not Kill.

Kimble claims in his X biography to be the co-sponsor of Poe's Law, which the Post described as "a reference to the internet adage that parodies of extreme political views are often mistaken for genuine statements unless clearly marked as satire."

Tyler Durden Sun, 07/12/2026 - 17:30
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