November 23, 2025 at 5:28 PM EST
DOJ's own court reporter busts Trump-picked attorney's timeline on bungled Comey indictment

An email from the government's own court reporter appears to muddy the Justice Department's claim that a full grand jury reviewed the final indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, Lawfare's Roger Parloff reports. The Justice Depart on Thursday did "a complete reversal on its position about whether the full grand jury in the Comey criminal case reviewed the indictment before it was handed up to a federal judge in September," NBC News reports. Lindsey Halligan, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was hand-picked by President Donald Trump to present the case against Comey.

November 23, 2025 at 4:56 PM EST
Rubio not 'fully looped in until late' on Trump's 'last minute' peace deal: report

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was not "fully looped in until late" on a "controversial 28-point plan dropped suddenly by the Trump administration to Ukraine," Bloomberg reports. According to the report, the "take-it-or-leave it proposition " was mostly the result of several weeks of negotiations behind the scenes between Steve Witkoff and his Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev that excluded not only Ukraine and its allies but even some key US officials." Bloomberg spoke with "several people familiar with the deliberations who spoke on condition of anonymity" to "reconstruct" the plan's origination. The framework has since been delivered as an "ultimatum" to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Per Bloomberg, Vice President JD Vance's "close friend" US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, triggered the "alarm" for European officials after he "told their ambassadors and Ukraine officials in an urgent tone that U.S. President Donald Trump had run out of patience." "Before European leaders and Zelenskiy jumped into action, they needed to try and understand who was most responsible for the framework," Bloomberg reports. "They had been entirely shut out and it wasn't clear who had the most influence with Trump on the issue." As it turns out, "Witkoff and Dmitriev forged the plan during an October meeting in Miami that included Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law," according to Bloomberg. "Rubio hadn't been fully looped in until late," Bloomberg reports. "Trump also found out about it at the last minute, but he blessed it once he was briefed." Despite this, the U.S. State Department on Saturday pushed back on claims from U.S. senators that the plan originated with Russia. After a phone call with the secretary of state, Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said Saturday the framework was "not our peace plan." Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who also sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters the plan is "essentially the wish list of the Russians." State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott, in response, called King's comment "blatantly false," and Rubio has since insisted "the peace proposal was authored by the U.S." Still, no one has walked back Rounds' assertion that Rubio told him and fellow senators the peace plan "is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan." Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, on Saturday lashed out the administration's shifting position on the deal. "Some people better get fired on Monday for the gross buffoonery we just witnessed over the last four days," he wrote on X.

November 23, 2025 at 3:01 PM EST
'Not gonna comment': Republicans dance around Trump's call for executions

After President Donald Trump called for the execution of Democratic lawmakers on social media, some Republican members of Congress are uncomfortable taking a hard stance on the matter when asked by Raw Story. Trump's anger stemmed from a video in which half a dozen Democratic senators and representatives with a background in military service reminded active-duty troops that they have an obligation, under both the Constitution and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, to refuse illegal orders even from the president himself. This reminder comes as legal experts rebuke Trump's orders, including the deployment of National Guard to American cities and the military targeting of alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela.

November 23, 2025 at 2:56 PM EST
Even MTG can see the truth

The Georgia Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who on Friday announced her shock resignation from Congress, has been dissed and ridiculed by the left for years. Progressives mocked her lies, shredded her conspiracies, exposed her QAnon nonsense, and denounced her cruelty. And through it all she never once feared for her life. She fundraised. She smirked. She gave speeches, traveled the country, and strutted through Congress like she owned the place.

November 23, 2025 at 2:51 PM EST
An unlikely messenger just exposed Trump's biggest weakness

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), according to reporting in Axios, is setting his sights on a 2028 run for the presidency. The report forced Donald Trump to respond to it, and thus to talk about life without him as the leader of MAGA, much less America. No, Cruz will not be elected president in '28 -- and we certainly don't want that to happen -- but we should encourage the talk nonetheless, and media should to bring it up more. Apparently, the White House is angry with Cruz for putting it out there, seeing it as undermining Trump -- and JD Vance. As NOTUS reports:

November 23, 2025 at 11:27 AM EST
'He lied to you': GOP senator confronted on live TV with past claims about key Trump official"?

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a medical doctor, on Sunday struggled to answer a series of questions from CNN's Jake Tapper about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Cassidy appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" and was asked about a recent change made to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website. Kennedy said Friday he personally instructed the CDC to add language questioning the claim that "vaccines do not cause autism." "The claim 'vaccines do not cause autism' is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism," the CDC website now reads. Tapper on Sunday played a clip of Cassidy asking Kennedy during his conformation hearing if he'd "unequivocally and without qualification say that [vaccines do] not cause autism" if "the data is brought to" him. "Not only will I do that, but I will apologize for any statements that misled people otherwise," Kennedy told Cassidy at his confirmation hearing. "Dr. Cassidy, [Kennedy] lied to you," Tapper said Sunday. "Speaking as a physician,"vaccines are safe," Cassidy said. "It's actually quite well proven that vaccines are not associated with autism," the senator added. "There's a fringe out there that thinks so, but they're quite a fringe. President [Donald] Trump agrees that vaccines are safe." The medical doctor continued speaking about vaccine safety without mentioning Kennedy. "How worried are you that this change to the CDC's website and Secretary Kennedy's other actions are going to result in more dead Americans?" Tapper asked. "Anything that undermines the understanding, the correct understanding, the absolute scientifically-based understanding that vaccines are safe " is a problem," Cassidy said. "And so I want to make America healthy again. I want to agree with President Trump." Cassidy again continued discussing vaccine safety without mentioning Kennedy. "You were the deciding vote that allowed RFK Jr. to ascend to the role of health secretary," Tapper said. The CNN host then rolled a clip of Cassidy explaining his decision to confirm Kennedy on the Senate floor. In his speech, Cassidy insisted Kennedy "will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advisory committee on immunization practices recommendations without changes."

November 23, 2025 at 10:05 AM EST
Here's what US troops say about refusing illegal commands

As the Trump administration carries out what many observers say are illegal military strikes against vessels in the Caribbean allegedly smuggling drugs, six Democratic members of Congress issued a video on Nov. 18, 2025, telling the military "You can refuse illegal orders" and "You must refuse illegal orders." The lawmakers have all served either in the military or the intelligence community. Their message sparked a furious response on social media from President Donald Trump, who called the legislators' action "seditious behavior, punishable by death."

November 23, 2025 at 9:58 AM EST
Trump holds 'weekly meetings' on White House reno to pick new chandeliers and flagpoles

CNN is out with a new report Sunday detailing President Donald Trump's hand in extensive makeovers throughout the White House complex, including the president's input on small elements of the redesign including "the type of flagpoles on the North and South lawns." CNN's Betsy Kline reports Trump "has been remarkably hands-on when it comes to remaking Washington's spending hours," noting the president Saturday met with "golf legend turned golf course developer Jack Nicklaus." The pair took "aerial tours at Joint Base Andrews," according to Kline. "But the president is also paying very close attention to that White House ballroom renovation," Kline said on CNN. "He leads weekly meetings at the white White House, where they discuss details as small as the size of windows to the placement of bathrooms to interior finishes." "And he's also been quizzing visiting foreign leaders and members of Congress on their opinions on design choices," she explained. "We also know that the president has personally selected the limestone for the White House rose garden. He's chosen new chandeliers for the palm room. He's chosen the type of flagpoles on the North and South lawns. And the president has really moved at remarkable speed to impose his style and tastes on the White House." Trump, Kine reports, "is hopeful that this will be complete by the end of his second term in office."

November 23, 2025 at 9:01 AM EST
Kristi Noem hands out 'fake' checks to TSA agents

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Saturday handed out fake "checks" Saturday during a press conference at Harry Reid International Airport, the Daily Beast reports. Noem was purportedly giving $10,000 bonuses to 29 TSA agents who worked without pay during the government shutdown. As the Beast reports, the TSA bonuses, "like the bonuses given to air traffic controllers " were only offered to certain employees." "Let's hand out some checks, should we?" Noem asked before immediately clarifying she wasn't handing out real checks. "Now, I will say, this is a document that verifies it will be direct deposited into your accounts, OK?" She added. "Noem also announced that the department will be giving bonus checks to many [transportation security officers] across the country for 'doing their job with excellence,' by not just showing up for their shifts during the government shutdown, but also taking extra shifts and extra responsibilities, as well as going above and beyond to serve those in their communities and help fellow employees," CBS News reports.

November 23, 2025 at 8:24 AM EST
Alito temporarily reinstates Texas' Trump-requested maps

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday temporarily restored a controversial Trump-backed Texas redistricting plan that could grant Republicans an extra five seats in the House of Representatives. Alito's order came in response to a ruling from a federal court in Texas on Tuesday, which blocked the redrawn congressional maps on the basis that they were "racially gerrymandered."

November 22, 2025 at 1:48 PM EST
Another country is lining up behind Israel to cause MAGA's next big 'divide'

Israel may not be President Donald Trump's only international policy threatening MAGA unity, said Ransom Miller, reporting for the Hill. "More Trump voters disapprove of the president's handling of China than any other foreign policy issue," said Ransom, according to a public opinion poll by his team at the Institute for Global Affairs. "Even as Trump makes overtures to Beijing, most of his voters continue to view China as a moderate or severe threat (83 percent), and almost a third agree that it intends to destroy the U.S. or replace the world order.

November 22, 2025 at 1:02 PM EST
'Lame duck': Analyst says Trump in 'position of a political loser'

New York Times Columnist Ross Douthat said Trump has been down before, but this time pulling up out of his dive will not be so easy. "When Donald Trump's approval ratings dropped sharply last April, the wound was essentially self-inflicted and the prescription relatively simple: Dial it back. Meaning smaller and less destructive tariffs, a retreat from brinkmanship with the Supreme Court, [and] less random hacking away at government programs by Elon Musk and Co."