In today’s edition, we take stock of President Donald Trump’s retribution campaign this month as Ken Paxton and James Talarico look ahead to the general election in Texas.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, who accused President Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple reports. CNN was the first to report Wednesday night that the DOJ’s probe focuses on whether Carroll committed perjury while speaking at a deposition as part of her two civil…
Rock star Bruce Springsteen used his May 27 performance at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. to deliver a searing six-minute critique of Donald Trump — and announced plans to return to Donald Trump's backyard in October for a major "Power to the People" music festival designed as an explicit show of resistance ahead of Election Day.The legendary rock star told the cheering crowd to direct their message toward the White House before leading an "ICE Out Now!" chant, signaling his opposition to the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement policies, according to NJArts.Performing alongside The E Street Band, Springsteen revealed plans for what he called "another night of music and resistance" on October 3 at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland."In the future, we want to keep raising our voices for hope and justice, together," Springsteen announced. "[Rage Against The Machine's] Tom Morello and I will be back again here in D.C. on Oct. 3 for another night of music and resistance. The first-ever Power to the People Festival will be announced to the world, tomorrow. But you're hearing about it first, here, tonight!"The festival will feature an all-star lineup including Morello (who is overseeing the event), Dave Matthews, The Foo Fighters, and The Dropkick Murphys. Springsteen said he will make guest appearances and perform several songs with Morello and his band."We encourage you to come out and make a goddamn ruckus along with us," Springsteen told the crowd.According to the Power to the People Festival website, the one-day event is billed as "a celebration of peace, love, justice, music and community action" designed to demonstrate "the power everyday human beings have when they come together — through music, art, community and action — to shape our country and our planet on, and beyond, Election Day."The festival description emphasizes its non-partisan positioning while making clear its focus on mobilizing citizens around issues of justice and community action heading into the critical November elections.Springsteen's announcement comes on the heels of some acts who were supposed to appear at the Trump-friendly Great American State Fair announcing they are pulling out.Bruce Springsteen ends a six-minute, anti-Trump speech by yelling: “Let them hear you in the f——— White House!” pic.twitter.com/DkHmbx29lV— Sam Fortier (@Sam4TR) May 28, 2026
Cracks are beginning to show in the MAGA-linked "Freedom 250" festival, an event billed as marking the country's 250th anniversary featuring a number of musical performers of all genres and backgrounds, as artists uncomfortable with the event's increasingly politicized direction begin to exit.The trouble began with Morris Day, who denied any involvement with the event despite having been advertised as being in the lineup, according to Bring Me The News.The famed Minneapolis star was posted in the line-up for the multi-day festival on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall. Other acts included Milli Vanilli, Vanilla ICE and Flo Rida," according to the report. However, after his name appeared on promotional material, Day took to social media to say, “Contrary to rumor: Morris Day & The Time will not be performing at the Great American State Fair.”It is unclear whether he was ever formally booked to the event in the first place.Day's disavowal was followed closely by Young MC, the rap star behind "Bust a Move," who had also been featured in promotional images for the event."I HAVE INFORMED MY AGENTS THAT I WILL NOT BE PERFORMING AT THE FREEDOM 250 EVENT," wrote Young MC on Facebook. "The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And despite the claims by the organizers that the event is non-partisan, SPIN magazine describes it as "Trump-backed". I hope to perform in D.C. in the near future at an event that is not so politically charged."
A Chicago teen detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for more than two months was released Tuesday in time to attend his high school graduation after pressure from legislators and community backlash.Ricardo Hernandez-Navarrete, 18, and Martha Liliana Navarrete-Capazan, 46, were unexpectedly detained at an ICE check-in in March. They were separated and then transported to at least eight different facilities in seven states, Raw Story first reported.Navarrete-Capazan was ordered immediately released on May 19 in response to her habeas corpus petition, and Hernandez-Navarrete was released by ICE on his own recognizance on Tuesday, said Kelli Fennell, the family’s lawyer.Both reunited Tuesday at a gas station in Crown Point, Indiana, in front of a local media frenzy. Hernandez-Navarrette will attend his graduation at Mather High School in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood on Thursday, Fennell said. Kristy Morrow, community organizer; Ricardo Hernandez-Navarette; Liliana Navarrete-Capazan; and Steven Navarrete reunite on Tuesday.“It was just incredibly fortunate and so grateful that they're home now, where they should be, and we're going to continue doing things the right way, and keep fighting their cases,” Fennell told Raw Story Wednesday.At a check-in with ICE on Wednesday, Hernandez-Navarrete was given a watch wrist monitor, Fennell said. While “no monitor and a selfie app on the phone would have been ideal,” Fennell said Hernandez-Navarrete was grateful to not have to wear an ankle monitor that would interfere with his soccer playing."It’s like a watch," Hernandez-Navarrete told Raw Story via phone on Wednesday. "It's okay. I prefer that than be there in jail.""It was really good, see[ing] a lot of people, a lot of friends, and a lot of interviews," Hernandez-Navarrete said after being released.Both the mother and son are still pursuing their asylum cases, Fennell said. The family faces fear of harm or persecution in Colombia, she said."I hope, and I have faith with God, and he's going to be is going to do everything," Hernandez-Navarrete said.Lawmakers reactThe family’s detention experience drew attention from national lawmakers.In response to Raw Story’s investigation, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) called for the release of the mother and son.“Donald Trump and this gang of thugs think that cruelty and bigotry make America strong. They are mistaken,” Schakowsky told Raw Story in a statement last month. “Immigrants are and always have been what makes our country great. My office is in communication with the family’s attorney, and we will do everything possible to bring them home and secure justice for them.”Upon Hernandez-Navarrete’s release, Schakowsky posted a statement on X.“I'm relieved that Ricardo and his mother Martha have finally been reunited and released. But what they endured should've never happened in the first place,” Schakowsky posted.“The cruelty we're seeing in our immigration system must end. Immigrants make our communities stronger, and we must keep fighting for a system that reflects our values."I'm relieved that Ricardo and his mother Martha have finally been reunited and released. But what they endured should've never happened in the first place.The cruelty we're seeing in our immigration system must end.Immigrants make our communities stronger, and we must keep… https://t.co/nHpmgWLUx2— Jan Schakowsky (@janschakowsky) May 27, 2026 Hernandez-Navarrete told Raw Story via a phone interview from Kenton County Detention Center in Kentucky last month that he was subjected to strip searches, slept on the floor without blankets, was unable to use the restroom due to too many people in one room and spent two days in solitary confinement — he says without reason.Fennell called the conditions “appalling” last month.Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) called for the release of Hernandez-Navarrete on the Senate floor last week and celebrated his release in a post on Wednesday.“I am very pleased that Ricardo has been released from ICE detention and is reunited with his mother. But he should never have been taken from his school and family in the first place,” Durbin posted on X Wednesday.“We must end the Trump Administration’s mass deportation operation and stop these needlessly cruel attacks on immigrants and our communities.” I am very pleased that Ricardo has been released from ICE detention and is reunited with his mother. But he should never have been taken from his school and family in the first place.
‘Vova’ is again asking for help from the US. The post Zelensky Asks Trump for More US Air Defense Against Russian Massive Missile Attacks appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Frustrated White House insiders who are looking at Donald Trump’s cratering approval numbers and have been attempting to get him to address issues that are causing his collapse have been warned off by powerful White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. According to a report from MS NOW, while voters are consumed with anger over exploding costs of living and the unpopular Iran war, Trump has instead devoted his energy to pursuits that make his own staff cringe: a new White House ballroom, renovation of the National Mall reflecting pool, purges of insufficiently loyal Republican lawmakers including four-term Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), and a $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" that could compensate Capitol riot participants.In response to staff concerns, Wiles has implemented a stark directive: "let Trump be Trump.""There are two tracks: There is what the president says, and then there's what you as a staff member message on," a White House official lamented while speaking anonymously about internal strategy.Cabinet secretaries have scrambled to fill the messaging void by grafting affordability language onto unrelated initiatives — the Small Business Administration reducing loan fraud and the EPA rolling back refrigeration requirements, for example — both sold as cost-cutting measures.According to MS NOW, the two-track approach is failing spectacularly. A New York Times/Siena survey found just 38 percent of Americans approve of Trump's performance — a record low for his second term. A Gallup poll found economic confidence at a nearly four-year low, with only 16 percent rating the economy as "excellent" or "good," and three in four Americans saying conditions are worsening.One recent moment crystallized the problem. During a ballroom construction site visit, Trump dismissed rising gas prices as "peanuts" and thanked people for "putting up with it for a little while.""While beautifying our nation's capital is surely important and appreciated, if you don't live, work, or visit DC, you don't really reap the benefits of the president's passion projects," said a former Trump White House official. "What people do feel is $4.50 gas, and that's the real passion point for Americans."One former Trump adviser concluded that current staff have been handcuffed. "I think it's a failure on the part of his staff. They're not focused on the issues that Americans are focused on, which is obviously, affordability," the adviser told MS NOW.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's son has been secretly working as a political appointee attorney at the U.S. Treasury Department, raising serious conflict of interest questions as high-stakes cases involving the agency have made their way to the nation's highest court, according to a report.Philip Alito was hired to Treasury's office of the general counsel in the early months of the second Trump administration, according to four former government officials, yet his presence there has been treated as something close to a state secret, reported NOTUS."If people were introducing themselves by first and last name, he'd just say 'Phil,' not Phil Alito," said one former official. "He's a pretty soft-spoken guy."The younger Alito maintains no public resume, has no LinkedIn profile and his name appears nowhere on the Treasury Department's website. Colleagues recall that he went out of his way to avoid drawing attention to his famous surname.But the low profile belies the significance of his role. As an attorney-adviser in the general counsel's front office, Philip Alito was briefed on important Treasury matters across the board and offered legal feedback at the highest levels."There's no doubt he got that position because of who he is," a second source said.The Treasury Department's general counsel office handles legal matters related to taxation, economic policy and law enforcement. It could be involved in multiple federal lawsuits challenging Trump's controversial anti-weaponization fund — which allocates public money to individuals claiming unfair targeting by the Justice Department — that could ultimately reach the Supreme Court.While Philip Alito was working at the Treasury, a lawsuit challenging Trump's use of emergency powers to issue tariffs was argued before the justices in November — with the Treasury Department named as a defendant, but the department never disclosed Philip Alito's employment in court documents.His father did not recuse himself from the case, ultimately joining a dissent when the majority ruled against the administration in February.Justice Alito's office did not responded to requests for comment from NOTUS.
Ms. Carroll, who prevailed in a civil trial after accusing President Trump of sexual abuse, is the latest target in a Justice Department campaign going after his perceived enemies.