Democratic heads exploded last week. It could have been for any of the typical reasons. A black teen who cruelly...
Celebrities including Bette Midler and Robert De Niro faced widespread online mockery for their anti-Trump concert meant to counter-program his UFC event.
President Donald Trump’s inability to guarantee America’s FISA Section 702 program, which it uses to fight terrorists and other national security threats, is a “nightmare,” according to a Fox News reporter.“There’s the World Cup,” wrote Fox News’ Chad Pergram on Monday. “America’s 250th birthday. And the conflict with Iran. It’s all a nightmare national security hat trick.”Pergram went on to quote Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s recent Fox News Sunday interview saying that the terrorism threat level is “the highest we’ve ever seen. When I say we arrest terrorists every single week, I’m not exaggerating. Those aren’t the individuals that are coming across our border, those are individuals that are still inside this country."FISA Section 702 expired over the weekend because Republicans linked it to the confirmation of Bill Pulte as Director of National Intelligence. Pulte had no experience in national security and frequently presented himself as a political fixer for Trump, so Democrats blocked the bill so that way it would not lead to Pulte’s confirmation."I hope and pray to God that nothing happens in this country where an American is killed," Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said. Similarly Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) said, “We want to prevent the next 9/11 from happening.”Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), "This program goes dark at a time when there are literally hundreds of thousands of people coming to this country for the World Cup.”By contrast, some senators are arguing that the legislation creating FISA keeps the program functional even after its authorization expires."Data can still be collected for a year after it expires. So I don't think it's as dire as some think it is," Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) argued. Similarly Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said that “(FISA) will not lapse. I try to make this clear. The statute makes it clear that the authorities of FISA are going to be positive and enforceable for the remainder of this year. We think, until March of next year.” Likewise Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) said that "FISA is operative until next March. That's the legislation.”George Croner, a former National Security Agency counsel, said that "It's a very inopportune time to allow the authorizing statute for 702 to lapse. It has proven to be the most useful by far of any of the intelligence programs that the community has available to it."On Sunday, Axios journalist Andrew Pantazi reported that “Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is among the government's most contested surveillance authorities, long opposed by privacy advocates and supported by security hawks” and yet its future “hinges on Trump's unrelated demands for a voting bill.”"I'm against FISA if it doesn't come with The Save America Act (Full version!) firmly attached to it," Trump recently wrote in a social media post. He also defended choosing Pulte, although reports indicate he is searching for a replacement.“Congressional Republicans are largely leaving it to the administration to figure out a path forward after Trump’s decision to tap Pulte as Tulsi Gabbard’s temporary successor derailed an earlier agreement to extend the key spy authority for three years,” Politico reported on Monday. “But they are also nudging the administration to pick a different nominee to fill the role in a permanent capacity. Pulte is among the subjects Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to discuss with Trump at the White House Tuesday, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose plans for the private meeting.”
Vice President JD Vance denied that Iran will receive "billions of dollars of assets" as part of a the U.S.-Iran deal that was announced Sunday and is set to be signed later this week.
A well-known nemesis of Donald Trump is seizing on the president's birthday.Alex Vindman is trying to give Trump a birthday he won't enjoy.As the president marked his 80th on Sunday, the retired Army lieutenant colonel and key witness in Trump's first impeachment blasted out a fundraising appeal billing himself as the president's "worst nightmare" and urging supporters to help "make it backfire in the best way possible."The pitch leaned hard on Vindman's history with Trump. "Nothing would make Trump angrier," the email from the Alex Vindman Victory Fund argued, than being represented by Vindman in the U.S. Senate "holding him accountable."That framing draws on a well-known backstory. Vindman, a 21-year combat veteran who was wounded in Iraq and awarded a Purple Heart, was serving on the National Security Council in 2019 when he testified that he heard Trump pressure Ukraine's president — testimony that helped trigger Trump's first impeachment. He and his twin brother, Eugene, now a Virginia congressman, were pushed out of their NSC posts after the trial.Now Vindman is running as a Democrat for Florida's U.S. Senate seat, challenging Republican Sen. Ashley Moody — the former state attorney general whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to fill Marco Rubio's seat after Rubio became secretary of state. Moody, who carries Trump's endorsement, faces voters for the seat for the first time in November's special election.To argue the long-shot race is winnable, the email pointed to a new poll showing the contest essentially tied: Moody 43 percent, Vindman 42 percent.That number comes with heavy caveats. It echoes a string of Vindman campaign-cited polls that have kept the race within the margin of error — but independent surveys have been far kinder to Moody, including an Emerson College poll putting her up 8 points and a University of North Florida poll showing a 7-point lead. Florida has trended firmly Republican; no Democrat has won a Senate race there since 2012, the GOP holds a voter-registration edge of roughly 1.4 million, and the Cook Political Report rates the seat "Solid R."Vindman also has to clear an Aug. 18 Democratic primary first, where state Rep. Angie Nixon is among those running.Still, his campaign is betting that nationalizing the contest — and lashing it directly to Trump — can fire up donors in a race Democrats would love to steal. As Vindman put it when he launched his bid, the last time many Americans saw him, he was "swearing an oath to tell the truth about a president who broke his."
President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are in a full court press to sell GOP lawmakers on a massive funding injection for the Pentagon’s budget. Hegseth this past week spoke with senior House Republicans in at least two separate conversations to discuss military spending, with the most recent taking place Thursday at the Pentagon.…
Hegseth this past week spoke with senior House Republicans in at least two separate conversations to discuss military spending, with the most recent taking place Thursday at the Pentagon.
For some reason, humans have always been fascinated by gold. The post No, BRICS Are Not Hoarding Gold and Gold is Not Replacing the Dollar appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
