The White House proudly touted Sunday evening that Americans were enjoying the “lowest holiday gas prices since [the COVID-19] pandemic,” only to be rebuked moments later after critics noted the statement was categorically false. “Global markets called; they don't take your credit,” wrote X user “Dr. Cole,” a prominent political commentator who’s amassed more than 255,000 followers. “Lies that small should embarrass even you.” The average cost for gas in the United States as of Nov. 18 was $3.08 per gallon, according to the online lending marketplace Lending Tree. In 2020, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, gas costs reached record lows, dropping to as low as an average of $1.88 per gallon in May of that year. As pointed out by critics, however, the average cost for a gallon of gas was cheaper just a year ago, approximately 0.2 percent cheaper in November of 2024 at $3.07. The White House touted the supposed record-low gas prices on its official social media account on X, only for the post to be slapped with a “Community Note” – a crowd-sourced context-adding tool – declaring the White House’s statement to be false, citing a report from the American Automobile Association. “Pinnocchio,” wrote X user “VIX,” an apparent former statistician who’s amassed more than 6,000 followers. Others, like X user “Ambrose Pike,” who’s frequently posted content critical of President Donald Trump, noted that even if gas prices were cheaper, the savings were negated by the rising costs of groceries, which have increased since last year by as much as 29% for some products like orange juice, or 14 percent for ground beef.“I wish we could eat gas,” they wrote. “Food prices are up 20 percent.” Keep up the gaslighting and lose the midterms — LeapingIntoHell (@LeapingIntoHell) November 23, 2025

The surprise retirement of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) could be just the first in a series of explosive exits that could end the Republican House majority. The firebrand Georgia congresswoman fired off parting shots in her announcement that a senior House Republican told Punchbowl News were widely shared grievances, saying "this entire White House team has treated ALL members like garbage." GOP strategist Dough Heye highlighted on "CNN News Central" what he found so unusual about the dynamic. "The reality is we could have had this same conversation last week, last year, eight, 10, 12 years ago," Heye said. "What we've seen in Congress over now a generation is it has become a bad workplace. I remember very clearly walking to my car at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2012, as the clock was striking midnight, I was leaving the office and I thought, I hate this job, and what we see is this happens more and more for members of Congress." "What's unusual about this is it's members who are in the majority, so the ones who are actually charged with doing things, who are committee chairs, subcommittee chairs, it has become, and has been for a long time, a bad workplace," Heye added, "and I wouldn't be surprised to see more resignations or retirement announcements come over the coming weeks or months when members of Congress spend time with their families back home. Obviously, they've done that for several weeks during the shutdown, but Thanksgiving and Christmas, that's when we see those decisions get made." That senior House Republican slammed the White House for "arrogance," saying President Donald Trump's team "threatened" lawmakers and refused to share credit for any positive gains, and former Biden staffer Meghan Hayes said she understands why others might be looking for the exits. "They have to decide whether or not they're going to bend the knee to Trump or they're going to do what's right for their constituents," Hayes said, "and if they don't bend the knee to Trump, then they get a flacking from the MAGA base. They get harassed online, they get harassed in their districts, at town halls, and then they have a primary challenger that becomes extremely dirty and nasty, so I don't blame them for wanting to retire and not have to put up with that. They want to go there and do work for their for their district and for their constituents, and they're not being able to do that because Trump's agenda isn't working for them and isn't working for their constituents." "So I understand why Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to leave, as well," Hayes added. "She can be a thorn in the side of MAGA, a thorn in the side to Republicans, a thorn in the side to Democrats, and make more money outside of Congress and probably be more effective." - YouTube youtu.be

Rick Buchanan didn’t expect to walk out before the first session even ended. The chair of the 5th Congressional District GOP Committee had arrived at the Donald W. Huffman Advance — the Republican Party of Virginia’s annual flagship gathering — at The Forum Hotel in Charlottesville on Dec. 6, 2024, hoping the event would offer a clear roadmap heading into a pivotal election year. Instead, he said, he witnessed what felt like an early coronation of Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who had launched her gubernatorial bid that September and, in his view, had already been handpicked by Gov. Glenn Youngkin as his successor. “I sat there and watched it,” Buchanan said. “I had breakfast, and then went to the first real gathering of the troops, at lunch, and that’s when the coronation began. And I packed my stuff up and left, I didn’t want to hear any more.” The program, he said, offered little for local organizers seeking help to compete in difficult districts. “There was nothing for us grassroots supporters,” he said. “You know what the program was about? Furthering Youngkin’s agenda.” One year later, after Democrats swept all three statewide offices in November 2025 and picked up more than a dozen seats to solidify a 67-seat House of Delegates majority, Buchanan’s concerns have become the center of a widening debate inside a party struggling to process the magnitude of its losses — and to figure out what comes next. A statewide collapse that mirrored a national trend The scale of the GOP’s collapse stunned both parties.Democrats sweep Virginia’s statewide races, reclaiming full control of executive branch Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated Winsome Earle-Sears by a commanding 15-point margin in the governor’s race, while Democrats flipped more House seats than most analysts predicted — a sweeping repudiation of Republican candidates and messaging. Attorney General Jason Miyares, the Republican incumbent, fell short in his bid for a second term, losing to Democrat Jay Jones despite efforts to make his campaign about the law and order contrast and highlighting Jones’ resurfacing text-message scandal. Veteran political analyst Bob Holsworth said the results were part of a national pattern. “First and foremost, this election was a national wave,” he said, pointing to Democratic gains in New Jersey, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Georgia. But Virginia’s situation, he said, reflected deeper structural problems for Republicans. “You had Abigail Spandberger, a seasoned candidate who ran an extraordinarily disciplined campaign,” Holsworth said. In contrast, he argued Earle-Sears “spent most of the campaign as a culture warrior… and she just wasn’t where people are.” Federal budget cuts and the prolonged government shutdown also played a role, he added. “We were ground zero in Virginia,” Holsworth said. “You saw an increased level of not only Democratic votes, but turnout in general in Northern Virginia.” Holsworth also credited House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, with orchestrating one of the most effective legislative campaign operations he has seen in recent Virginia politics. “He raised enormous sums of money, targeted 13 races and pitched the perfect game,” he said. Tensions grow over Youngkin’s influence Inside GOP circles, much of the lingering anger is aimed at Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Buchanan and other activists say Youngkin’s early public support for Earle-Sears discouraged other potential candidates — particularly Miyares — from entering the primary for the top spot of the Republican ticket. Holsworth said that criticism is “well placed.” Miyares, he argued, “would have been a far stronger candidate,” with more experience and a broader ability to compete in suburban regions where Democrats dominated. Youngkin’s decision to urge Republican lieutenant governor nominee John Reid to withdraw from the race — after controversy over an old social media post — further inflamed the perception that top leaders were shaping the ticket rather than allowing a competitive, open primary process. “Youngkin did that,” Holsworth said, adding that the move made it “impossible” for Reid to fundraise or establish a statewide operation. Peake pushes back: “We don’t coronate someone” Republican Party of Virginia Chair Mark Peake flatly rejects the idea that Youngkin or party leadership pushed challengers aside. “We don’t have the authority or the ability to just coronate someone,” Peake told The Mercury in a phone interview last week. Peake also noted the timing: he took office in April 2025, just weeks bVirginia Republican Party Chair Mark Peake has pushed back against criticism of GOP leadership as Republicans assess their losses in the 2025 elections. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury) efore filing deadlines. “Primaries were open to anyone,” he said. “Nobody can make you not run.” Peake said candidates who jumped in late simply failed to gather enough signatures to qualify. “If you’ve got to have somebody else give you approval to run, then you’re not a leader,” he said. He added that the party spent months strengthening turnout infrastructure: “All RPV has done is reach out to grassroots, reach out to voters, and go after the Trump supporting voters. That is what RPV is.” But many activists say the party’s efforts lacked message discipline and statewide unity — a contrast to Democratic campaigns that emphasized abortion rights, cost-of-living issues and government stability. Grassroots anger erupts into open revolt Possibly no Republican voice has been louder in the weeks since the election than Loudoun County GOP Chair Scott Pio. In a lengthy post on X, formerly Twitter, Pio accused state party leadership of failing to build a coherent statewide message and of instructing unit chairs not to engage in issue-based communication. “So while the Democrats have a messaging machine … the Republican Party personally mandates that they are not allowed to talk policy,” Pio wrote. He then demanded the resignation of Peake, in addition to the GOP State Central Committee’s executive leadership and any member who “has taken a check from a candidate in the last five years.” Peake pushed back against Pio’s move. “The best step would be for Pio to resign,” he said in the interview, calling him “part of the problem” and saying he “has not gotten over that crushing defeat I delivered to him” in the RPV chair election in the spring. Pio, in an interview with The Mercury, rejected that characterization. “Why didn’t (Peake) find all the House of Delegate candidates?” he asked. “It’s unforgivable that he’s just blaming other people.” He also said the party is failing to reach fast-growing voting blocs — particularly Latino, Muslim, Arab, Indian and younger voters — and warned the GOP will continue to lose unless it modernizes. “There needs to be a fundamental rewriting of the Republican Party in Virginia,” Pio said. “If they don’t get their act together, it’s over.” Leadership tensions spill into the House of Delegates The Republican post-election reckoning is also affecting the General Assembly. Del. Mike Cherry, R-Colonial Heights, challenged Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, for his leadership position in a recent closed caucus meeting but was unsuccessful. Cherry declined to comment for this story. Kilgore did not respond to messages but said in a statement after the vote that Republicans would “rebuild, reconnect, and deliver a message that resonates with voters across Virginia.” Democrats, meanwhile, are already moving to consolidate their gains. Just days before the election, they advanced a constitutional amendment that could allow the General Assembly to redraw Virginia’s U.S. House districts ahead of the 2026 elections — sidestepping the independent redistricting commission voters approved in 2020. The move immediately alarmed Republicans, who warned that a mid-decade map rewrite would deepen the party’s struggles with candidate recruitment, messaging and suburban competitiveness at the very moment they are trying to regroup. In the days since their sweeping victory, Virginia Democrats have wasted no time launching a progressive agenda. They unveiled a fresh slate of bills last week that include raising the state minimum wage to $15 by 2028, mandating paid sick leave statewide, enshrining access to birth control, creating a task force to remove barriers to energy-efficient upgrades for low-income households and giving localities first right of refusal on affordable-housing sales. Among these is a bill from Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William, to fully repeal Virginia’s right-to-work law — a move that could stir intraparty tensions as moderate Democrats and business-friendly factions raise alarms. Despite these challenges, Peake believes the party can recover from its devastating election losses. He predicts Democratic proposals on gun regulation, labor law and social policy will spark voter backlash. “Republicans in Virginia are never done,” he said. “We will always fight.” He also rejected the idea that Virginia is now reliably Democratic. “I disagree with that assessment completely,” Peake said. “It’s just a matter of organizing and getting our message out there.” Holsworth, the political analyst, was more guarded. “They need a party that can compete in the suburbs,” he said, noting that Virginia’s population centers — Northern Virginia, Henrico and Chesterfield, and parts of Hampton Roads — now strongly favor Democrats. Still, he said Republicans could regain competitiveness with strategic recalibration. “Things can change,” he said. “But they need a rethinking that’s along the lines of Virginia demographics.” For Buchanan, who left last year’s Republican Advance convinced the party had lost touch with its voters, the message is simple and unvarnished. “Once we select personality over policy, we’re toast,” he said.

A new mobile phone announced by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump earlier this year and branded around their father is still nowhere to be seen three months past its planned release — with NBC News reporting Monday that the launch date still remains unknown despite the company having already charged customers for pre-orders. The company’s website has also scrubbed past mentions of the phone being “built in the United States” since its initial announcement in June, and instead now touts “American hands [being] behind every device.” As part of its investigation, NBC News paid the company the $100 pre-order fee in anticipation of its initial launch in August. Making five separate phone calls to the company’s customer support line between September and November, one operator told the outlet the phone was slated to ship on Nov. 13. That date came and went, and a subsequent phone call to the company yielded a new date: “beginning of December,” the outlet was told regarding when the phone would ship, and that the phone’s delay was caused, in part, by the government shutdown.The Trump-branded phone – dubbed the T1 – is just one of a slew of products that the Trump Organization has licensed its trademark for. Other examples include the Trump Watch Collection, which was personally promoted by Trump with costs for individual watches up to $100,000, and the “God Bless the USA Bible,” a Trump-endorsed Bible that netted Trump $1.3 million in payouts.

The Trump State Department officially added a German antifascist group and three other European far-left groups to its list of foreign terrorist organizations last week. But the action, which freezes U.S. assets and imposes penalties on anyone who offers support to the groups, ignored a transnational neo-Nazi group that has committed acts of violence of its own and is linked to the murder of two men in Florida. The State Department announcement about plans to apply the terror designation to Antifa Ost accused the group of conducting “numerous attacks against individuals it perceives as ‘fascists,’” specifically citing “a series of attacks in Budapest in mid-February 2023.” What the announcement leaves out is that the attacks allegedly committed by Antifa Ost took place during an annual gathering, the “Day of Honor,” organized by neo-Nazis to commemorate a battle fought by the German army and local collaborators against the Soviet Union in Hungary during World War II. By the State Department’s own admission, “extreme right sympathizers … attacked groups they took to be antifascist demonstrators” during the event. The first “Day of Honor” march in 1997 was organized by the Hungarian chapter of Blood and Honour. Members of the international Blood and Honour group and its armed wing Combat 18 continue to attend the event, according to a report financed by the German Foreign Ministry. Canada added Blood and Honour and Combat 18 to its list of proscribed terrorist entities in 2019, alongside the UK and Germany. A Spanish court ordered the dissolution of the group in that country. The Canadian government describes Blood and Honour as “an international neo-Nazi network whose ideology is derived from the neo-Nazi doctrine of Nazi Germany,” while saying Combat 18 “has carried out violent actions, including murders and bombings.” As noted by the Canadian government, Blood and Honour members pleaded guilty to murdering two unhoused men in Tampa, Fla. in 1998, reportedly “because they considered them inferior.” “It sure shows the game here that’s afoot,” Tom Joscelyn, a senior fellow at Just Security, recently told a podcast, adding that the Trump administration is “going after what they claim is this international terrorist menace in antifa” by sanctioning Antifa Ost. “But they’re not going after the neo-Nazi group, which is by far larger and has also committed acts of violence in this context. I think it puts everything in stark relief.” ‘Greatly inflating the threat’ Joscelyn has written extensively about al-Qaida and was a principal author of the final report of the House January 6thCommittee. “There is a threat from antifa adherents inside the U.S., and no one will be surprised if there’s a successful antifa-style attack in the future,” Joscelyn told Raw Story. “However, the administration is greatly inflating the threat for their own political purposes while ignoring well-established threats from far-right and neo-Nazi groups.” In order to designate a group as a foreign terrorist organization, the State Department is required to demonstrate that a group’s activities “threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.” Thomas Brzozowski, formerly domestic terrorist counsel for the Department of Justice, said the State Department announcement cited “no attacks or alleged attacks on Americans” and “no plots against Americans” by members of Antifa Ost or the three other left-wing groups. “We do not discuss deliberations or the potential deliberations of our designations process,” an unidentified State Department spokesperson said in a statement to Raw Story. The German government has said the threat posed by Antifa Ost has “decreased significantly” thanks to the successful prosecution of several prominent members, according to Reuters. The outlet reported that the German government said it was not consulted by the U.S. before plans to designate Antifa Ost as a foreign terrorist organization were announced. Brzozowski said he thinks “even the folks at State know” there’s no way to show Antifa Ost as a legitimate national security threat. “And they’re doing their best, I’m sure,” he said. “But come on! They’re put in a bind. They’ve got to deliver, or else they’re going to get fired. “The sequencing is all backwards at this point. And that’s dangerous. Because this is really political theater, is what it is. This is giving effect to a presidential directive.” Brawling with neo-Nazis The violence at the “Day of Honor” event in Budapest has been politicized in Hungary. Légió Hungária, a neo-Nazi group that assumed responsibility for organizing the event from Blood and Honour, receives support from the ruling Fidesz party, led by Trump ally Viktor Orbán, according to the 2023 report by B’nai B’rith and Amadeo Antonio Foundation, underwritten by the German Foreign Ministry. In 2019, members of Légió Hungária vandalized a Jewish community center in Budapest during a nationalist gathering commemorating the 1956 uprising against the Soviet Union, as reported by the State Department during Trump’s first term. This September, Hungary declared Antifa Ost a terrorist organization, in alignment with Trump’s agenda. But the Trump administration has remained silent on the 2019 attack carried out by Légió Hungária, as well as reports cited by B’nai B’rith that participants in the 2020 “Day of Honor” chanted, “Jews out!” The report also cited “Holocaust denial and distortion, historical revisionism of World War II, and worship of the Waffen-SS as core ideological elements of the event.” Shortly after taking office this year, President Trump announced the launch of a Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, which accused U.S. universities of turning a blind eye to the issue, amidst an administration campaign to deport pro-Palestine activists. “Anti-semitism in any environment is repugnant to this nation’s ideals,” said Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights and leader of the task force, when the effort was launched. “The [Justice] Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found.” The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment from Terrell for this story. Despite Légió Hungária receiving state backing, Hungary’s Supreme Court reportedly upheld a police ban on the 2023 “Day of Honor,” finding: “Extreme groups are expected to appear at this event. The holding of the event in their presence may be accompanied by considerable attack on public order and peace.” But, as a 2023 State Department report noted, neo-Nazis sidestepped the ban. “Media outlets reported that despite the police ban, several hundred extreme-right and neo-Nazi sympathizers gathered in the Buda Castle to commemorate ‘Day of Honor.’ Police successfully prevented them from clashing with a group of 100-200 Hungarian and international counter-protesters in the area,” the report reads. “According to statements by police, antifascist demonstrators elsewhere in the city assaulted several individuals they assumed to be affiliated with the extreme right,” the report continues. “Similarly, extreme right sympathizers reportedly attacked groups they took to be antifascist demonstrators.” The circumstances of violence allegedly committed by antifascists in Budapest is telling, Joscelyn told Raw Story. “The U.S. went from designating al-Qaida for the 9/11 hijacking to designating overseas antifa adherents for brawling with neo-Nazis,” he said. The State Department’s selective sanctions against antifascists while turning a blind eye to neo-Nazi violence reveals the Trump administration’s actual objectives, Joscelyn added. “You saw even during the No Kings protests there were very prominent MAGA Republicans that said this was an extremist effort and warning of violence and warning of events that didn’t happen. “That shows how desperate the administration and its supporters are to portray its opposition as extremists. The concept of antifa is the cudgel they’re using to bash their opposition.”

An expert economist believes the Crypto slump is due to it being tied to Donald Trump's approval rating. Paul Krugman says the Trump trade is "unraveling" after the president went all-in on the digital currency. The Trump family made their way into meme coins and cryptocurrency earlier this year and it appears to have backfired. The Daily Beast reported the Trump family has lost upwards of $1 billion in trading crypto. Further from that, the volatility of cryptocurrency seems to be tied with Trump's approval rating, as Krugman notes a clear link between the administration's failures and the decline of digital currencies like Bitcoin. He explained in his Substack post, "Bitcoin's price surged after Donald Trump won last year, and its recent plunge coincides with a series of Trump political setbacks. So how should we understand Bitcoin’s recent crash? Think of it as the unraveling of the Trump trade." "Trump remains as determined as ever to reward the industry that made his family rich, and those around him are as determined as ever to make America safe for predators of all kinds. But Trump’s power is visibly diminishing, so the price of Bitcoin, which has in effect become a bet on Trumpism, has plunged." But when Trump looks weaker, as recent polling cited by Krugman suggests, the knock-on effect to cryptocurrencies heavily backed by the Trump administration and his family is clear. He added, "Is it a stretch to link Trump’s political woes to the price of crypto? No. As Josh Marshall often emphasizes, power is unitary. A weakened Trump is less able to work his will on all fronts, including his efforts to promote crypto." Analysis from Bloomberg News suggests Trump and his family has dragged their estimated collective wealth from $7.7 billion in early September to $6.7 billion in November. Trump's power base appears to be weakening as the president faces resilience from a split GOP on issues of healthcare and economics. Trump's slip on power has been noted by The New Republic, who suggested the midterms next year could be a massive shift for the Democrats. Experts believe Trump's age will be a major factor in voter turnout and voting intent in the 2026 elections.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) announced her retirement from Congress in a provocative manifesto that highlights growing tension in the Republican caucus — and party leaders are being warned it's inspiring others. Greene's critique comes at a critical moment for Republicans, who have a precarious majority with 219 seats compared to 213 for the Democrats. Upcoming special elections in Tennessee, Texas and New Jersey could further destabilize their position, reported Punchbowl News. "The crux of MTG’s message is that Trump and House Republicans are abandoning all of the president’s priorities, falling into complacency and are on the brink of squandering their razor-thin majority," the outlet reported in its email newsletter. "Let’s dispense with the caveats," the newsletter added. "MTG has never been representative of the House Republican Conference writ large. She clearly has a bone to pick with Trump and the leadership. MTG may have her eye on the governorship — that chatter picked up again over the weekend. She was also never a fan of Speaker Mike Johnson." However, as Punchbowl reported, Greene's viewpoint appears to be widely shared. “This entire White House team has treated ALL members like garbage. ALL," said one senior House Republican. "And Mike Johnson has let it happen because he wanted it to happen. That is the sentiment of nearly all — appropriators, authorizers, hawks, doves, rank and file. The arrogance of this White House team is off putting to members who are run roughshod and threatened. They don’t even allow little wins like announcing small grants or even responding from agencies. Not even the high profile, the regular rank and file random members are more upset than ever. Members know they are going into the minority after the midterms." “More explosive early resignations are coming," that senior House Republican added. "It’s a tinder box. Morale has never been lower. Mike Johnson will be stripped of his gavel and they will lose the majority before this term is out.” There's a special election next week, on Dec. 2, to fill former Rep. Mark Greene's (R-TN) seat, and both parties have poured massive amounts of money into that race, and Democrats are expected to gain a seat in Houston at the end of January to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner's (D-TX), and New Jersey voters will choose Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s replacement on April 16 in a district that Kamala Harris won by nine points in 2024. "Let’s say Democrats are able to steal the Tennessee seat based on subpar GOP turnout — unlikely but possible — Johnson would have 218 members to Democrats’ 214. Texas and New Jersey would bring Democrats to 216," Punchbowl reported. "If any members retire or fall ill, Johnson would be sunk." "House retirements and resignations are common after holidays," the newsletter added. "How appealing is it to return to the Capitol when the House spends most of its time voting on censure resolutions or meaningless messaging bills?"

Yale Law School graduate JD Vance was on the receiving end of a lecture from a former U.S. attorney for jumping in late on Sunday to defend Donald Trump in the squabble about issuing illegal orders to U.S. military members. The president has been at war with Democrats in Congress who have served in the military for advising their brothers and sisters in arms not to follow any demand of the president that they believe is illegal. Over the weekend, the president blew up at the advice and wrote on Truth Social, “THE TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT THEY SAID WAS OK.” He added, “IT WASN’T, AND NEVER WILL BE! IT WAS SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL, AND SEDITION IS A MAJOR CRIME. THERE CAN BE NO OTHER INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THEY SAID!” That came after he threatened on Thursday, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” With Trump being criticized for his over-the-top response, Vance ran to his defense on Sunday by linking to a clip of Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) pressing her case on ABC her case against the president. The vice president responded on X by writing, “If the president hasn't issued illegal orders, them (sic) members of Congress telling the military to defy the president is by definition illegal.” That brought a swift response from the ex-US Attorney and University of Alabama School of Law professor Joyce Vance on her Substack platform, where she wrote, “That doesn’t make any sense.” Noting Vance’s legal background, she added, “Anyone with a Yale Law School education should be in a position to understand that a) members of the military have an obligation not to follow an illegal order, b) that reminding them of that obligation neither violates the law nor instructs them to defy a legal order, and c) that using those false statements to claim that members of Congress who made the video they object to so strongly is not ‘by definition’ illegal, and certainly not for members of Congress who have speech and debate clause privilege even if there had been something incorrect about their statements.” Having laid out her own legal opinion, she questioned the White House strategy for keeping the controversy alive. “What is the administration’s point here? Do they contest that the military and the intelligence community should pursue concerns through their chain of command to prevent compliance with illegal orders? Do they want those public servants to believe they must follow any orders, no matter what?’ she wrote before bluntly stating, “Because that is not the law.” You can read her entire post here.

The midterm elections could swing massively in favor of Democrat candidates, and it's because of an issue with Donald Trump the GOP have not addressed. Greg Sargent of The New Republic and Amanda Marcotte believe the problem of age will weigh heavy on the election cycle next year. Trump, 79, is "not looking good these days" according to Marcotte, who says the "elephant in the room" of the 2026 midterms is the president's age. She said, "I will not be surprised if turnout is really high in the midterms. And that’s all before you even get into the fact that the elephant in the room is that Donald Trump is 79 years old, and he is not looking good these days." "And I think that his ability to be a strongman leader of the MAGA cults kind of depends on him looking like someone who’s going to survive for the next few years. I think there’s a bet that increasingly few people are interested in taking." This is an issue that is, according to Sargent, starting to register with "a lot of MAGA figures." Sargent said, "A lot of MAGA figures are now questioning Trump’s strength and his ability to hold the movement together. And that’s its own sort of death knell." Trump has struggled to bring the GOP back together after the party found itself split on economic issues and healthcare. The economic issue, Marcotte believes, is what is affecting Trump's second term most of all. She said, "I do think that the economy is really… I mean, even Trump has been persuaded, obviously, that he should be worried about the bad economic news because he’s trying to stick to talking points. He fails." "But it’s clear that whoever sat him down and said, this affordability issue is going to hurt you, got through to him because he’s trying to use the word, even though, you know, affordability sounds as weird in his mouth as saying please or thank you. He’s just incapable of understanding that people struggle to afford things. "Even though he’s been broke how many times. Because he’s rich guy broke so he still has money to pay for whatever he wants. But it’s interesting."

President Donald Trump took to social media early Monday to gush over Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders following his team’s decisive victory Sunday over the Las Vegas Raiders — and with an unusual focus on the rookie quarterback’s genetics. “Shedeur Sanders was GREAT,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “Wins first game, career start, as a pro (for Cleveland). Great Genes. I TOLD YOU SO!” Trump has frequently commented on NFL games. He’s lashed out at a new kickoff rule intended to improve safety for players but slammed by the president as a form of “sissy football” designed by “radical leftists.” He’s also criticized specific plays, as recently as early Monday morning when he torched the New York Giants for not kicking a field goal.Sanders was tapped by the Cleveland Browns earlier this year, and in Sunday’s game, threw for 209 yards with one touchdown, and completed 11 of his 20 passes. His performance was largely celebrated by fans online, among them being the president of the United States.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) governs the conduct of every person in the United States military, and applies equally to all ranks and branches, whether in combat, or not. All service members are taught, and are expected to understand, its core principles. Ignorantia juris non excusat, or “Ignorance of the law,” is not a legal defense in the US military. Under Art. 92 of the UCMJ, members have a duty to obey all lawful commands, and they have a parallel duty to disobey all unlawful commands. Obeying a manifestly illegal order, like an order to target civilians, can expose a service member to criminal liability. The duty to disobey manifestly illegal orders is a cornerstone of international law, with foundations in Nazi atrocities-related post-WWII trials like Nuremberg. Orders of such nature that their unlawfulness is clear and obvious, such as an order to target unarmed civilians, are considered manifestly illegal. Manifestly illegal orders Donald Trump has ordered the summary execution of at least 83 people so far in strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth call these targets “narco-terrorists” because they think that means they can treat them as enemy combatants in a war that does not exist. It doesn’t. Even if the victims were “narco-terrorists,” for which Trump has provided zero evidence, at worst, they are citizen criminals entitled to interdiction and legal process under US and international law. No country has the right to execute non-combatant civilians unless faced with imminent threat, otherwise unhinged leaders could shoot people for sport, which Trump’s snuff videos are chillingly starting to resemble. International condemnation of Trump’s campaign is growing, along with a global chorus accusing him of murder that would be louder if Trump weren’t threatening foreign trade like a mob boss. Formerly strong US allies, including the UK, Colombia, and the Netherlands, have either refused or suspended related intelligence sharing with the US. Military support groups are starting to talk in earnest, offering counseling and advice on what to do when faced with illegal order situations. Calls to execute US lawmakers Against this legal framework, the President of the United States has called for the prosecution, conviction, and death penalty for federal legislators, for reminding military personnel that they must follow the UCMJ. After Democratic legislators, all veterans of Intelligence or the US military, released a video reminding members of their duty to disobey illegal orders, Trump came unglued, unleashing a series of posts confirming that he is a danger to all Americans and unfit to lead the military. Trump wrote: "It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand - We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET." "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" he added in a later post. Eliciting stochastic violence, Trump then reposted other posts calling the lawmakers "traitors" and "domestic terrorist Democrats" and another reading, "HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!" Trump is criminally insane. What are officials waiting for to remove him? The evidence that Trump is unfit to lead, and is a metastasizing threat to the US citizenry, is objectively irrefutable: * He is using the US military for domestic law enforcement, which has long been illegal under federal law * He has openly turned the Department of Justice into a lawless political weapon * He is sending armed, masked and insufficiently trained federal agents to attack people in their beds, at schools and churches, and on the sidewalks * His closest advisors publicly encourage excessive brutality as his “War” Secretary praises “lethality” unconstrained by the laws of combat * Advancing his violence toward the media, last week he defended the dismemberment of a journalist critic * He has officially declared groups who oppose him politically to be “domestic terrorists” in clear violation of the First Amendment * His administration has been caught lying about peaceful protestors threatening ICE agents in order to justify ICE brutality. At the same time Trump is violating the rule of law at home, transforming the nation into an occupied military zone, his national security blunders have seriously increased the risk of harm from outside forces by: * Sharing a plan of attack through unsecured sources * Posting juvenile social media rants that gave Iran advance notice to move their enriched uranium * Accidentally declaring part of Mexico as US territory now under US command * Alienating NATO, demoralizing Ukraine, and supporting Putin’s murderous regime in Russia * Claiming victory in Gaza even as both sides continues attacking on the other * Selling fighter jets to Saudi Arabia despite national security warnings. These cumulative blunders suggest he doesn’t care about long-term, or even short-term, risks to national security. For example, Trump’s plans to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia ignores consistent warnings from national security officials that he will be letting China steal the American military’s advanced technology. Trump either doesn’t care, or lacks the cognitive capacity to understand, that Riyadh and Beijing have a formal security partnership. “We will be doing that, we’ll be selling F-35s,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, because the Saudis “want to buy them, they’ve been a great ally.” These facts trigger a duty to act, regardless of politics. Federal officials, including his cabinet, and members of Congress, all swore an oath to follow the Constitution and protect the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Legal tools within their reach include impeachment and removal, Congressional oversight and the power of the purse, and the 25th Amendment. This is not a partisan issue. America is in danger. Federal officials’ complicity and failure to act is now a dereliction of duty in deference to a man whose cognition is in question, who still has access to the nuclear codes. Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25+ year federal trial attorney specializing in 1st and 14th A defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, is free.

Donald Trump just called for the execution of American veterans — all of them also elected members of Congress — because they reminded our active duty soldiers that it’s a violation of both American and international law to commit war crimes. If that’s not impeachable, what is? This is his most dangerous and insane escalation yet, because it crosses a bright red line the Founders themselves warned about: a president openly demanding the execution of members of Congress for telling U.S. service members to obey the law. And the horror of it isn’t subtle. It’s not, like in the days of Nixon and Reagan, even coded. It’s not even wink-and-nod stochastic terrorism. This is the President of the United States calling for hanging lawmakers — by name — for the “crime” of reminding military personnel that their oath is to the Constitution, not to him. That is the precise scenario the Founders feared when they warned that a would-be tyrant could try to transform the military from defenders of the republic into enforcers of a single man’s will. What these senators and representatives said in their video is not controversial, not partisan, and not new. It’s bedrock American law. It’s the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It’s every ethics class, every commissioning oath, every baseline principle of civilian-controlled government in a constitutional republic. Trump’s reaction — psychotic, paranoid, and dripping with bloodlust — makes one thing painfully clear: he’s terrified of the military remembering who they actually work for. It also suggests an ominous future Trump may have planned where he turns our military against you and me. Or uses it against a foreign nation so he can wiggle out of the growing questions about his 1990s teenage modeling agency, his Miss Teen USA pageant, and their possible connections to Jeffrey Epstein and child sex trafficking. The lawmakers who made that video are, to a person, military and combat veterans or intelligence professionals who’ve literally risked their lives for this country. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) was shot at, launched into space, and flew combat missions over Iraq. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) served in the Air Force. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) was an Army Ranger. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) is a Navy vet. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) spent years as a CIA analyst overseeing Iraq policy. These aren’t armchair patriots: they’re the real thing. So when Trump — who faked bone spurs to dodge Vietnam — calls for them to be executed, it tells you something profound: he wouldn’t be flipping out like this unless he intends to give orders like that. Everything about this situation is a rerun of January 6th — for which he’s already been impeached — only with the stakes ratcheted up. Trump has already learned that violent language produces violent followers. He watched it happen in real time. He saw his crowd beat police officers bloody, hunt for Mike Pence, and smash their way through the Capitol while chanting about hanging elected officials. As I mentioned about the attacks on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), he knows his movement is filled with men eager to “carry out the punishment” for him. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) offers a warning — that Trump is lighting a match in a country soaked in gasoline — that isn’t metaphor. It’s a sober assessment grounded in hard experience. And now Trump is testing the waters again, seeing how far he can go, how hard he can push, before America pushes back. Consider what these lawmakers actually said in their video: follow lawful orders, refuse unlawful ones, and remember your oath is to the Constitution. That’s the opposite of sedition. It’s literally the definition of military ethics in a democratic society, right out of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, American law, international law, and even the Nuremberg trials Fox’s commentator Andy McCarthy — hardly a liberal — made this clear:“There is no insurrection or sedition without the use of force. Disobeying a lawful order is insubordination, not insurrection or sedition. Disobeying an unlawful order is required.” Veterans and members of Congress telling soldiers to obey the law? That’s the American system working. But Trump immediately interpreted it as a threat to himself and his agenda. Not to our country. Not to political or military norms. To him personally. That should reveal to every American with half a brain who this man really is and what his plans really are. The cries of “HANG THEM!” and “punishable by DEATH!” aren’t policy positions. They’re the words of an out-of-control authoritarian, a wannabe dictator, a man intent on destroying the rule of law and the American republic that’s been based on it for over two centuries. They’re the gut-level reactions of a man who thinks loyalty should flow upward to his person, not outward to the nation. And it’s not a one-off. This is a Trump pattern that necessitates impeachment. * This is the same Trump who demanded the execution of Gen. Mark Milley. * The same Trump who encouraged chants of “Hang Mike Pence.” * The same Trump whose follower mailed pipe bombs to Democratic leaders. * The same Trump who says generals should be shot, newspapers and TV networks shut down, and political opponents imprisoned. * Who calls soldiers who died in battle “suckers” and “losers.” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller — who also avoided military service, like every man in the Trump family — shrieking that veterans should “resign in disgrace” for stating U.S. law is the purest illustration of an authoritarian mindset straight out of 1930s Germany: loyalty is owed to the leader, he suggests, not to the Constitution. And the moment someone asserts otherwise, they’re a traitor. And Fox “News” giving Miller a platform to do it, without even trying to push back or defend American values of the role of law, is unspeakable. Which brings us to a remarkable admission from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): Republicans are “afraid” to cross Trump. They’re terrified of Trump’s base, the Confederate flag-waivers, the well-armed Bros. Terrified, because Trump has conditioned those men (virtually all of the violence has come from right wing men) to see critique or embrace of the rule of law as betrayal, and betrayal as punishable. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is right: you can’t negotiate with a party whose operating principle is “wait to see what Trump wants.” As Murphy noted yesterday in response to Trump’s call to kill Democratic lawmakers:“If you’re a person of influence in this country and you haven’t picked a side, maybe now would be the time to pick a fucking side.” We now have a major political party that openly accepts their president calling for the execution of lawmakers who simply restate the Constitution. And a White House spokeswoman who pathetically backs him up. Trump isn’t just attacking political rivals: he’s asserting that the American military’s loyalty belongs to him personally, and that those who contradict him should be killed. That is the exact formula the Founders designed the Constitution to prevent. That’s not normal political dysfunction. That is a republic confronting its own death-throes. The heartening part — the only heartening part — is the response from the lawmakers themselves. These elected officials understand the stakes. They know the oaths they took aren’t merely symbolic. They know that stopping this modern-day rightwing fascism depends on We the People standing up, speaking out, and refusing to be intimidated while we support members of our military — from the most senior levels to the lowest privates — in their refusing to follow illegal orders. Trump wants a military that obeys him, not the rule of law. That’s why he’s screaming for the deaths of these congressional veterans. It’s also why Congress must impeach him now. These veterans in Congress reminded the members of our military that their duty is the exact opposite of Trump’s demand for unthinking, unquestioning fealty to illegal orders. No democracy survives that.

A former Republican political consultant believes Donald Trump has "no motivation" during his second term other than being the "center of it all". The Lincoln Project founder, Rick Wilson, appeared on MS Now to speak on Trump's tactics during his second term. The president has seemingly split the GOP in recent weeks over his administration's approach to the economy, healthcare, and the release of Jeffrey Epstein's files. Wilson believes "arson and chaos" are the aims of Trump this time around, with the 79-year-old not even accounting for a political legacy with some of his decisions. The Lincoln Project founder said political commentators calling Trump a "lame duck" had consistently "underscored the risk Trump poses because he does not care." Wilson continued, "He does not care about tradition, law, the long history of America's peaceful transfer of power, none of that matters to him. This second term has also given him a sense of autonomy he didn't have in the first term, to violate whatever he wants to violate, whether it's the constitution, the rule of law, or good taste in the White House." The clear difference between the first term and second term for Trump comes in looking at what the president is now doing, Wilson says. He explained, "The president is not going to look at the last two years of his term and say, 'I'm going to wind down, plan the presidential library, it'll be nice, I'll play a lot of golf.' "He's going to look at how he burns it all down, how he continues to control the greatest grift he's ever had with his family enormously profiting off of crypto deals, off of real estate deals with foreign powers, all these business arrangements that they're suddenly in because he's fully weaponised and exploited the power of the Oval Office. "And I don't think he has any motivation right now other than arson, other than chaos, he's not a guy who has ever said 'I want a legacy of dignity and I want to be considered a great and meaningful president', he just wants to be the center of it all, and if he can't be, I predict he's going to be more chaotic and much more dangerous."

Donald Trump has reportedly leaned on his Paramount producer friends to revive "mentally tough" Hollywood movies. The president has, according to Semafor, "personally pressed the Paramount owner" to revive Rush Hour, the buddy-cop comedy film starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Trump had previously announced ambassadors to the "great but very troubled" Hollywood and is still seemingly pushing for more changes in film. Trump called on Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone to be ambassadors for Hollywood earlier this year, with a Truth Social post confirming the surprise appointments. He wrote, "It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!" Trump's continued interest in Hollywood was made clear by film producer Dallas Sonnier, who predicts Trump will have some influence in what Paramount and other film studios start producing. He told Semafor the president wants "a wave of classically male-driven movies with mentally tough, traditional, courageous, confident heroes. Maybe even a tad cocky, but dedicated to honor and duty. Plus, of course, a few explosions, gun battles, helicopters, fistfights, and car chases!" Semafor editor Max Tani suggested the Brett Ratner-directed Rush Hour series is on Trump's radar, with the president personally calling Paramount producers to see if any progress had been made on a fourth instalment. Tani wrote, "Trump appears to want to revive the raucous comedies and action movies of the late 1980s to late 1990s. He’s passionate, for instance, about the 1988 Jean Claude Van Damme sports flick Bloodsport." "A person directly familiar with the conversations told Semafor that the president of the United States has personally pressed the Paramount owner to revive another franchise from Ratner: Rush Hour, a buddy-cop comedy starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker that blended physical comedy, martial arts, and gags about racial stereotypes."

Elon Musk's government body, DOGE, has been quietly dumped by the Trump administration, eight months before it was set to close. The Tesla CEO had initially headed up a directive in the president's administration to cut government spending. But it seems the Department of Government Efficiency has ended with a dud, closed down with eight months left on its mandate. Musk had said the aim of the department was to be so cost effective it made itself redundant by the halfway point of the president's second term. But it seems the slashes made by DOGE weren't working out as well as the administration had hoped. Speaking to Reuters, Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor confirmed the department no longer exists. He said, "That doesn't exist. There is no target around reductions." Kupor would go on to say it's no longer a "centralised entity" in the administration. DOGE did not provide any details of what they had cut, when they had cut it, or how much they had effectively saved but did claim to have cut government expenditure down by tens of billions of dollars. White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told Reuters, "President Trump was given a clear mandate to reduce waste, fraud and abuse across the federal government, and he continues to actively deliver on that commitment." The main figures of the DOGE team appear to have been moved to new jobs within the government also. Musk had a major fallout with Trump in May but this appears to have been patched up after the tech billionaire was spotted at a recent White House gathering attended by soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo and Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Zachary Terrell was part of the DOGE team given access to government health systems but has since been moved to the Department of Health and Human Services. Another major player in the DOGE project was Jeremy Lewin, who is now overseeing foreign assistance at the State Department, according to the agency's website. Under Musk's leadership of DOGE, tens of thousands of federal employees were fired, though hundreds were offered their jobs back in September. According to The Daily Beast, the General Services Administration was cut so heavily they had to call on ex-employees to return to work as they were left "broken and understaffed".

A Democrat has hit out at Marjorie Taylor Green after the ex-Trump ally resigned from her position in Congress. Jasmine Crockett, the Democrat representative for Dallas, Texas, said that Greene "can't take the heat" of being on an opposing side to Donald Trump. Speaking to CNN, Crockett said, "Honestly, I was like, you've got to be kidding me. You're on the other side of the president for one week and you can't take the heat. "Imagine what it is to sit in my shoes, to not only be on the opposite side of him, but to have people like her who are constantly fanning the flames." The pair had clashed frequently in Congress though the resignation from Greene comes after she voiced her support for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Despite being at odds with the president on the Epstein files issue and defecting from her position as one of his most dedicated allies, Trump paid tribute to her work in a post to Truth Social. He wrote, "Marjorie 'Traitor' Brown, because of PLUMMETING Poll Numbers, and not wanting to face a Primary Challenger with a strong Trump Endorsement (where she would have no chance of winning!), has decided to call it 'quits.'" "For some reason, primarily that I refused to return her never ending barrage of phone calls, Marjorie went BAD. Nevertheless, I will always appreciate Marjorie, and thank her for her service to our Country! President DJT." His post comes just a short while after previously describing Greene as a "traitor". A four-page statement from Greene confirmed her resignation while also taking aim at Washington DC. She wrote, "I've always represented the common American man and woman as a member of the House of Representatives which is why I've always been despised in Washington DC and never fit in." "Americans are used by the Political Industrial Complex of both Political Parties, election cycle after election cycle, in order to elect whichever side can convince Americans to hate the other side more." "No matter which way the political pendulum swings, Republican or Democrat, nothing ever gets better for the common American man or woman."

Donald Trump has claimed his tariff plan will start to pay off soon as the "full benefit" of his policy has "not yet been calculated". In a post to Truth Social, the president claimed there was a significant proportion of money made by tariffs placed on other countries that had not yet been added to the "hundreds of billions of dollars" already made. Trump took to the social media app and wrote, "Despite the massive amount of money being made by the United States of America, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, as a direct result of Tariffs being charged to other countries, the full benefit of the Tariffs has not yet been calculated in that many of the buyers of goods and products..." Trump would go on to say that some countries had bulk ordered pre-tariff "in order to avoid paying the Tariffs in the short term, 'STOCK UP' by purchasing far more inventory than they can use in order to avoid Tariff payments in the short term." "That heavy inventory purchase is now, however, wearing thin, and soon Tariffs will be paid on everything they apply to, without avoidance, and the amounts payable to the USA will SKYROCKET, over and above the already historic levels of dollars received. These payments will be RECORD SETTING, and put our Nation on a new and unprecedented course." Trump announced his tariff-driven economic policy in February this year, with reports now indicating the project is set to deliver $1 trillion less than it had been projected to. The Congressional Budget Office, per The Independent, reported the deficit would likely be cut by $3 trillion, short of what was expected by the administration. Trump continued, "These payments will be RECORD SETTING, and put our Nation on a new and unprecedented course. We are already the “hottest” Country anywhere in the World, but this Tariff POWER will bring America National Security and Wealth the likes of which has never been seen before. "Those opposing us are serving hostile foreign interests that are not aligned with the success, safety and prosperity of the USA. They couldn’t care less about us. I look so much forward to the United States Supreme Court’s decision on this urgent and time sensitive matter so that we can continue, in an uninterrupted manner to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Thank you for your attention to this matter! President."

Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo made a bizarre statement when she introduced Kevin Hassett on Sunday Morning Futures by wishing him a happy Thanksgiving, and weirdly saying "we've got a lot to be grateful for." WTF is she talking about? Demented Trump and the Republican party are sending the military into US cities, destroying goods and services, the private US healthcare industry, worsening people's ability to buy food, undercutting and disrupting SNAP, and destroying Medicaid before the New Year. BARTIROMO: Director Kevin Hassett, great to see you. Thank you for being here this morning. And to you, happy Thanksgiving, and we've got a lot to be grateful for. I guess we can be grateful Trump didn't drop a nuke on Venezuela, so that's something... The .01 per centers are happy for sure. Open thread. read more

The Trump administration's conduct in a high-profile deportation case has been "totally embarrassing" for the government, according to one legal expert. On Friday, the Washington Post reported that the Trump administration had been caught in another lie about its efforts to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father living in the U.S. with protected status that the government claims is part of an international crime syndicate. The administration admitted in court that there is no removal order on file for Abrego Garcia, a fact that could kill the entire case. Allison Gill, CEO of MSW Media Network and author of "Mueller, She Wrote," discussed the government's conduct in a new podcast episode on Sunday. "The judge, Paula Xinis, brought that guy in who signed that declaration, and he admitted in court that he did not write all of that sworn declaration, the one that he signed," Gill said. "He said a State Department lawyer wrote part of it for him, and he confessed that he didn't know what a lot of those words meant, but he signed it anyway." The Washington Post also reported that another part of the Trump administration's case against Abrego Garcia is based on a falsehood. The administration has said it has been trying to deport Abrego Garcia to an African nation like Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana, or Liberia because Costa Rica, a country that Abrego Garcia's lawyers have said is a "practical alternative" for the Maryland father, would not accept him. Costa Rican officials said on Friday that they are willing to accept Abrego Garcia. "Trump's Department of Justice was caught red-handed again lying in court," Gill said. "If Mr. Abrego avoids deportation on these trumped-up charges, it will be totally embarrassing for the government," Gill continued.

A former U.S. ambassador to Russia bashed the latest peace plan for Russia's war in Ukraine offered by President Donald Trump, arguing that it "reveals American weakness" and does not serve the country's interests. Michael McFaul, ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, penned a new op-ed in The Kyiv Independent that sharply criticizes the 28-point peace plan the Trump administration has reportedly pressured the Ukrainians to accept. The plan would prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO, require to to give up its long-range missiles, and give up land occupied by Russian forces, including parts of the country that Russia does not fully control. Experts have noted that the plan heavily reflects Russian negotiating points. "This Putin plan does not serve American national interests," McFaul wrote. "The sooner Trump and his team amend it or abandon it, the better it will be for U.S. security and prosperity." "Endorsing this plan embarrassingly underscores that all of Trump’s courtship of Putin, punctuated by rolling out the red carpet for the Russian imperialist dictator in Alaska in August, has yielded not a single substantive concession from Russia," he added. McFaul also argued that the plan includes several "egregious" points, such as placing a cop on the size of Ukraine's army going forward. "The United States needs a strong Ukraine to help contain Putin’s Russia," McFaul argued. "Many of these provisions do the exact opposite; they weaken Ukraine." Read the entire op-ed by clicking here.

Former Department of Justice officials who were either forced out or resigned in protest of President Donald Trump's administration left some scathing resignation letters for their bosses, and a new organization is seeking to preserve as many of the letters as possible, according to a new report. Since Trump took office in January, about 5,000 employees at the Department of Justice have either quit or resigned, CBS News reported on Sunday. Meanwhile, a cadre of those former employees is banding together to create a public display of the messages the former employees left for their bosses. Those employees have created an organization called Justice Connection that is organizing and posting the messages, the report added. Stacey Young, a former civil division attorney for the Justice Department, is leading Justice Connection. A spokesperson for the organization told CBS News that they are working to preserve the messages because they "show what is happening in our country at this moment." The repository includes messages left by high-profile former employees such as Maurene Comey, the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. "Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought," Comey wrote in a message. "Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place." Another former DOJ lawyer, Hagan Scotten, who resigned in protest of the Trump administration's decision to stop prosecuting New York City Mayor Eric Adams on corruption charges, also had her farewell message captured in the online database. "If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion," Scotten wrote. "But it was never going to be me." Read the entire report by clicking here.

[Above: "Buyer’s guides" like this one have cropped up on YouTube. -- eds.] João Marinotti, Indiana University In late October 2025, as much as US$2 billion vanished from a digital marketplace. This wasn’t a hack or a bubble bursting. It happened because one company, Valve, changed the rules for its video game Counter-Strike 2, a popular first-person shooter with a global player base of nearly 30 million monthly users. For years, its players have bought, sold and traded digital cosmetic items, known as “skins.” Some rare items, particularly knives and gloves, commanded high prices in real-world money – up to $1.5 million – leading some gamers to treat the market like an investment portfolio. As a result, many investment-style analytics websites charge monthly fees for financial insight, trends and transaction data from this digital marketplace. read more

President Donald Trump didn’t attend former Vice President Dick Cheney’s memorial service on Thursday. He wasn’t a no-show—he wasn’t invited. It’s customary for sitting presidents to show up when former presidents or vice presidents are laid to rest. Trump’s absence breaks that norm—though in Washington, even the villains have enemies. Cheney, the architect of post-9/11 executive expansion and a key figure in the Iraq War, died earlier this month at 84. In his final years, he became one of the few Republicans willing to defy Trump openly. He and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, ultimately voted for then-Vice President Kamala Harris instead of the GOP’s nominee. “We have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution,” Dick Cheney said at the time. Thursday’s service, held with full military honors, drew a bipartisan crowd. The turnout underscored a strange duality: Dick Cheney’s late-life rebellion against Trump left him isolated among his party, yet softened his image for some longtime critics. read more

-- Donald Trump prepares a revenge campaign after losing the fight to block the Epstein files, targeting Democrats while pretending he supported transparency Become a Member: https://www.davidpakman.com/membership https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-white-house-retribution-democrats-epstein-b2868464.html Subscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://substack.davidpakman.com Get David's book: https://davidpakman.com/book Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidpakmanshow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dpakman Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thedavidpakmanshow Discord: https://www.davidpakman.com/discord Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/davidpakman.bsky.social Threads: https://www.threads.net/@david.pakman David's tech: Camera: Panasonic Lumix G85 https://amzn.to/4fOir5a Microphone: Shure SM7B: https://amzn.to/3hEVtSH Voice Processor: dbx 266xs https://amzn.to/3B1SV8N Stream Controller: Elgato Stream Deck XL https://amzn.to/4fOGJvE Microphone Cloudlifter: https://amzn.to/2T9bhne Timely news is important! We upload new clips every day! Make sure to subscribe! Original show date: November 21, 2025 #davidpakmanshow #davidpakman #tdps

The electronic voting company Smartmatic has submitted another filing that details more shocking revelations about Fox Corp. The company is suing over what it alleges were false allegations about its electronic voting equipment in the wake of the 2020 election. Each part of the case has shown details about what Fox staff and on-air talent have said under oath that could undermine Fox's defense. More exhibits appeared on the docket Sunday night under Document 2818, revealing the extent of the financial damage to the company since the 2020 election allegations began. Last week, The Guardian reported that President Donald Trump's Justice Department would begin an investigation into conspiracy theories that allege Venezuela had a role in somehow rigging the election. Among the exhibits was the testimony of a finance and damages expert. Financial expert Christopher James submitted a report on Feb. 15, 2024 that used a formula to calculate the damages he feels Fox Corp. caused in its ongoing attacks against Smartmatic. The document, released on Sunday, was a June 12, 2025 update to that initial report. His calculations of damages from 2021-2025 total a loss of $526.2 million in profits and a loss of $165.4 million in expected profits from U.S. markets. "After discounting the nominal lost expected profits from specifically identified international opportunities and the U.S. Market of $691.6 million, using a discount rate of 10.1 percent, I calculate a net present value of these lost expected profits of $537.3 million as of January 2021," the expert concluded. The company is also seeking economic damages "on the harm to its business after 2025," he said in the affirmation. "If the Trier of Fact concludes that Smartmatic will suffer continuing harm to its business in certain geographies — the United States and Latin America — linked to the Disinformation Campaign and dissipating harm in other geographies, a reasonable measure of Smartmatic's additional economic damages for periods subsequent to 2025 would be approximately $882 million...." James continued. That number is slightly higher than the January 2021 "Opening Export Report," which cited $876.8 million.