California AG Bonta claims Trump weaponized the DOJ against Gov. Newsom, calling the federal probe political persecution despite California origins.
As the Department of Justice investigates Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife on multiple fronts, a key question is whether the crimes of the governor's criminally indicted ex-chief of staff will come back to haunt him.
Vice President JD Vance has departed for Switzerland to begin talks with Iran after signing the memorandum of understanding on Wednesday. Talks between the US and Iran are planned for Sunday at the Bürgenstock Resort in Switzerland, according to CBS. The post JUST IN: VP Vance En Route to Switzerland – Tells Reporters Iranians “Just Landed” (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
President Donald Trump says the U.S. Park Police have rounded up a ring of vandals who sabotaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The actual arrest record tells a much smaller story: one 67-year-old cyclist who says he reached into the water to touch a piece of paint that had already fallen off.In a Truth Social post Saturday, Trump escalated his days-long insistence that his troubled $14 million renovation was the victim of a crime rather than a botched paint job. "The United States Park Police have arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Poll," he wrote, misspelling "Pool." "Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail! Work will begin immediately on its repair."According to The Washington Post, Park Police arrested a single person on Friday: David Hearn, a 67-year-old man from Bethesda and a three-time Olympic canoe slalom athlete, on a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property.Hearn's account bears no resemblance to a coordinated assault on a national landmark. He told the Post he had just finished a 52-mile bike ride, including a loop around Hains Point, and swung by the Lincoln Memorial to see the refurbished pool for himself. Noticing a chunk of the new "American flag blue" liner that had partially detached from the bottom, he reached into the water to feel it. Moments later, as he was getting ready to leave, officers put him in handcuffs."I didn't vandalize anything," Hearn told the paper. "I didn't destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs."The footage that fueled the arrest came from conservative journalist Emily Miller, who posted video online and claimed Hearn had grabbed a hose used by cleanup crews. Hearn said he only reached for the loose sealant. Either way, the charge is a misdemeanor, not the felony-grade "destruction of National Monuments" the president invoked, and it carries nothing resembling the "years in jail" he promised.We will report on additional details if more evidence surfaces.
A former GOP congressman is calling out a failed Trump administration investigation into voter fraud.Adam Kinzinger described how Trump set out to prove "stolen elections," specifically by looking at voting machines. Ultimately, the investigation failed to dig up any instances of fraud, Kinzinger said.He was referring to a probe that stemmed from a Trump executive order from last year, according to Reuters, which broke the exclusive. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence produced the report, but Reuters reported that it found no evidence that machines that will be used in the midterms caused votes to flip."They found that not a single vote was switched anywhere," Kinzinger said. "They have this report, but what are they doing? They're delaying the release of the report."He blasted that, "instead of being grown-ups and admitting it, they are not releasing the report. It's been delayed," and lamented, "They're going to lie, and when they find out they lied, they'll never admit it."
President Donald Trump reportedly spent nearly $15 million painting the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue. When the water turned green and the new paint started peeling off, he reached for the explanation he always reaches for: someone did this to him on purpose.In a late-night Truth Social post Friday, Trump wrote that "we've had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool," and said law enforcement was "actively investigating." He provided no evidence. He claimed the algae was "75% gone," insisted the damaged section was small and would be fixed early the following week, and pinned the supposed sabotage on "radical left lunatics" and what he called "Dumocats." He tied it all to the numbers "8647" that had been scratched into the grass on the National Mall days earlier, slang widely read as a call to get rid of the 47th president.CNN reported the claim Friday, noting the administration had been scrambling to fix the pool's deterioration just days after Trump's pricey renovation. The story landed about as well as the paint job.Adam Kinzinger, the former Republican congressman turned full-time Trump critic, was blunt. "Has Trump ever admitted failure once? He's now claiming sabotage on the reflective pool," Kinzinger wrote, before delivering the line that turned his post into a viral hit with more than 9,000 likes: "His brain is filled with tapioca and raisins."The account YourAnonNews, affiliated with the Anonymous collective, offered a far more grounded theory than the president's. "No one vandalized the Reflection Pool," the account wrote, alleging that Trump "just hired a no bid contractor that never did this kind of work before as a favor to the owner of the company who Trump also pardoned."Amanda Carpenter, the former Republican speechwriter and Bulwark writer, took the sarcastic route. Replying to CNN's report, she wrote: "Yes... someone sprayed blue paint all over it." The blue paint, of course, was Trump's own, applied during the renovation he ordered.Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer, skipped the jokes entirely. "This pathetic person hides its staggering incompetence by endless claims of victimhood. It's never their fault, it's always 'the others'. Can't fix a pool? It's a conspiracy!" Skinner wrote. "America, he's not the victim. We are. Of his incompetence & our choices. So reject this pathetic person."The actual record does not flatter the president's story. The renovation was initially pitched at roughly $1.8 million and ballooned to about $14.7 million, according to a contract summary of the Interior Department's award to Atlantic Industrial Coatings. The basin was repainted "American flag blue" ahead of the country's 250th anniversary, then promptly bloomed into a murky green. Interior officials attributed the algae to residual buildup after supply lines sat dormant for weeks. Scientists pointed to the obvious: a shallow, sunny, stagnant pool in summer heat is a near-perfect algae habitat, and a fresh renovation can stir up nutrients that speed the bloom along.For good measure, Trump also blamed ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl for the negative coverage. He named no vandals, produced no evidence of chemicals, and identified no suspects. What he did produce was a green pool, a peeling paint job, a $15 million bill, and a chorus of people pointing out that the only person who painted the Reflecting Pool blue was him.No one vandalized the Reflection Pool, Trump just hired a no bid contractor that never did this kind of work before as a favor to the owner of the company who Trump also pardoned. https://t.co/WcAlPdJ6hf— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) June 20, 2026
President Donald Trump blamed ABC reporter Jonathan Karl and vandals for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s peeling seal and algae growth after the Trump administration’s $15 million renovation. The pool turned bright green from an algae bloom following the installation of “American flag blue” coating at the bottom of the pool. In an effort to […]
A three-time Olympic athlete was arrested for touching the detached paint of the renovated Reflecting Pool, according to the Washington Post.Olympian David Hearn, who competed three times in the canoe slalom, stopped by the Reflecting Pool on Friday after a bike ride to see how it looks since Trump's $14 million renovations, the Post reported. The Reflecting Pool is currently plagued with murky green algae blooms, and paint is coming off after workers dumped hydrogen peroxide in it to combat the algae.According to the Post, Hearn reached into the Reflecting Pool to feel a piece of partially detached paint from the bottom, and moments later, U.S. Park Police officers arrested him on the misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property."I didn't vandalize anything," Hearn told the Post, adding that he just wanted to feel stripping paint. "I didn't destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs."Trump has already accused "Radical Left Lunatics" and ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl of trying to destroy the pool as reporting on the peeling paint emerged, MS Now reported.Hearn's arrest was recorded and posted on social media by conservative journalist Emily Miller. Three officers can be seen holding and handcuffing the 67-year-old Hearn.Miller described the scene as "Man arrested for vandalizing Lincoln Reflecting Pool. He grabbed the hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae." Meanwhile, in the comments, people described him as a "leftist boomer," and an "a—.""I didn't remove anything," Hearn reiterated to the Post. "I reached in there, and I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece. It was still attached to the bottom."Hearn is now due to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 9, per the Post.
Former President Biden wins a three-week injunction blocking release of audio recordings from Special Counsel Hur's classified documents investigation.