White House Official: Vance, Rubio ‘Lockstep’ on Iran

US hammers Iran with more airstrikes after Islamic Republic attacks another ship in Strait of Hormuz

The military also said that “commercial vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz continue.”

JD Vance's 'admission' will make it easier to arrest Trump officials: ex-insider

A former senior Department of Homeland Security official said Saturday that Vice President JD Vance's recent comments dismissing Watergate amount to a "tacit admission" that the Trump administration's conduct is more serious than the scandal that ended Richard Nixon's presidency — and could ultimately make it easier to hold administration officials accountable.Miles Taylor, the former DHS chief of staff who now runs the group Defiance.org, made the remarks during an appearance on MS NOW's "Alex Witt Reports," responding to Vance's claim that Watergate would be little more than a brief news story if it happened today.Taylor offered a grim partial agreement, saying that compared to what President Donald Trump is doing now, Watergate might warrant only a multi-day story. The reason, he argued, is that Trump has done things he described as substantially more unconstitutional than Watergate — and Vance's comment, in Taylor's view, was an acknowledgment of exactly that.But Taylor drew a sharp distinction between the two presidencies. Nixon, he noted, tried to cover up his abuses. Trump and his team, by contrast, have carried out actions that federal judges have ruled facially unconstitutional out in the open, without any attempt to hide them.That brazenness, Taylor argued, cuts both ways.He pointed to prosecutors who previously worked in the Justice Department who believe the administration's open defiance of the law will ultimately work against it. By wearing what Taylor called the lawlessness on their sleeves, officials may be handing a future Democratic Congress and a future administration the evidence needed to pursue accountability.Taylor framed the dynamic as a double-edged sword for the administration — the same out-in-the-open conduct that alarms defenders of the rule of law could, down the line, become the basis for holding those responsible to account.

'A big deal': Senator says JD Vance just spilled 'all you need to know' about himself

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) seized on Vice President JD Vance's recent comments downplaying Watergate this week, warning that the remarks reveal something fundamental about how the vice president views presidential power.Murphy was responding to reporting from journalist Aaron Rupar, who flagged Vance's comments at an event tied to the Richard Nixon Foundation. According to that account, Vance said Nixon's "historical legacy is enjoying a bit of a renaissance, and deservedly so," and joked that if Watergate "happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12 hours news story." Vance reportedly added that "the idea that it took down a presidency is crazy."For Murphy, the remarks were not a throwaway line but a window into the administration's governing philosophy."I actually think this statement is a big deal," the senator wrote. "Because it tells you all you need to know."He then spelled out what he believed Vance had revealed."They believe, in their bones, in an imperial presidency where the executive rules absolutely and uses his power to destroy enemies and enrich himself," Murphy wrote.The exchange adds to a growing back-and-forth over Vance's Nixon comments, which have drawn criticism from Democrats who see in them an attempt to rehabilitate a president forced from office over abuses of power. Hillary Clinton earlier took her own shot at Vance over the same remarks.Watergate, which unfolded after a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972, led to Nixon's resignation in 1974 amid mounting evidence of a cover-up and bipartisan pressure to step down.Murphy, a frequent critic of the administration who has positioned himself as a vocal warning voice about democratic backsliding, framed Vance's apparent dismissiveness toward that history as a tell — a signal of how the current White House understands the limits, or lack thereof, on executive power.

Hillary Clinton takes vicious swipe at JD Vance: 'He doesn't know his history'

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went after Vice President JD Vance Saturday over his comments downplaying the Watergate scandal, using the moment to land a pair of pointed jabs at both the vice president and the Republican Party.Clinton was responding to a New York Times report headlined "Vance Downplays Watergate and Compares Himself to Nixon." According to the story, Vance argued that the scandal which ended Richard Nixon's presidency would amount to "like a 12-hour news story" if it unfolded today, and suggested the "deep state" had been responsible for taking Nixon down.Clinton's first swipe took aim at Vance's grasp of the history itself — and at his administration's record on book bans."Maybe Vance doesn't know this history because it's in one of the books his administration banned," she wrote.Her second was aimed at the broader Republican Party, drawing a contrast between the lawmakers of the Watergate era and those serving today."The difference between Watergate and now is that back then, Republicans actually did something about a law-breaking president," Clinton wrote. "Today, they only roll over for their cult leader."The reference points to the bipartisan reckoning that followed the Watergate break-in, when Republican leaders ultimately pressed Nixon toward resignation rather than defend him through impeachment proceedings.Vance's reported framing inverts that history, casting Nixon less as a president brought down by his own conduct than as a target of unelected government forces — a narrative that echoes the grievance politics central to the current administration.Clinton, a frequent and unsparing critic of President Donald Trump and his allies, has shown little hesitation in needling the administration on social media, and her latest post folded two of the left's recurring criticisms — book bans and Republican deference to Trump — into a single response.

Iran Launches Strikes Against Bahrain - and the Excuse Is Incredible

Iran strikes American targets as Trump’s peace deal hangs in the balance: report

Violence near the Strait of Hormuz continued for its third consecutive day Saturday after “American targets” in Bahrain were hit by suspected Iranian strikes, the Wall Street Journal reported.“Iran didn’t specifically claim responsibility for the attacks. But state media said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had carried out strikes against American targets in the region and reasserted Iran’s claim of control over traffic in the strait,” the Journal’s report reads.The most recent exchange of violence between the United States and Iran began Thursday after the Iranian military struck a ship passing through an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration responded with a series of strikes on Iranian missile and drone locations.Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a U.S. official told the Journal that two Iranian drones had been shot down Saturday over Bahrain, where the U.S. Naval Support Activity Bahrain base is stationed.“One [drone] was shot down by a ground-based defense system and the other landed in a remote airfield area without hitting any target,” the Journal reported, paraphrasing the U.S. official. “Bahrain didn’t detail any damage from the attack.”

US, Iran test each other’s red lines in new fighting

The delicate ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was put to the test on Friday when the U.S. military reopened strikes against the Middle Eastern nation over an alleged infringement of the agreement’s terms.  President Trump called the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s attack on a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz a “foolish violation”…

Bill Maher presses Vance over Trump’s election fraud claims: ‘That s*** has to stop’

Comedian and political commentator Bill Maher blasted Vice President JD Vance over the Trump administration’s claims of election fraud, saying that the president only believes in two options: Winning or calling it a scam.  “Under Trump, you guys have two outcomes that an election can be, either we win, or they cheated. That s*** has […]