Good evening, everyone. Today was a slower news day. I worked through nearly all of the relevant Epstein files and, for the first time in two relentless weeks, I was finally able to take a breath. There is still major news to cover, from Democrats refusing to cave on ICE funding, to new developments in the Epstein story, to mounting scrutiny around Pam Bondi. You will find all of that below.
But for a moment, I want to pause with you. This week, I spoke with several college students who are hoping to pursue this career. Those conversations reminded me exactly why I do this work.
We are facing a serious challenge in this country. Civics, media literacy, and ethics are not consistently taught in classrooms across America. When people are not equipped with those tools, it becomes easier to flood the zone with noise, to distract, and to misinform. That environment benefits those who want confusion instead of clarity.
That is why I built this platform. The mission is simple but urgent: deliver accurate, fact-based news to people everywhere, regardless of political affiliation. Fill the void left by declining civics education. Rebuild trust where institutions have failed. Create a space grounded in truth, context, and accountability.
And we are doing it. Together.
Thank you to everyone who supports this work with your time, your attention, and your heart. If you are able, please consider subscribing so we can continue building this strong, informed, and principled community.
Here’s the news:
- I can announce that Saturday evening I will be on CNN’s Have I Got News For You at 9 PM EST, so stay tuned for a fun conversation!
- Senate Democrats blocked a House-passed funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security in a 52–47 vote that fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster, making a partial DHS shutdown likely at midnight Friday, after demanding significant reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to public outrage over the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
- Pam Bondi is facing significant ridicule over her comments concerning the DOW Jones Industrial Average:
- The DOW Jones Industrial Average finished below 50,000 today.
- A federal judge, Richard Leon, ruled that the Trump administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “trampled” on Sen. Mark Kelly’s First Amendment rights by attempting to demote and reduce the retirement pay of the Arizona Democrat and retired Navy officer over a video in which he and other Democratic lawmakers urged military and intelligence personnel to refuse illegal orders; the judge issued an injunction blocking the Pentagon’s action, sharply criticizing the administration’s approach to retired service members’ free speech.
- Two Justice Department special counsels—a former GOP staffer and a longtime associate of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro—unsuccessfully sought to indict six Democratic lawmakers over a social media video advising military and intelligence personnel to refuse illegal orders, but failed to convince a grand jury to bring charges.
- A federal judge ordered billionaire Les Wexner, a former Ohio State trustee and alleged co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein’s, to testify within 60 days in a lawsuit by former students alleging the university ignored sexual abuse by Dr. Richard Strauss, rejecting Wexner’s attempt to quash the subpoena.
- A highly classified whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard centers on an intercepted conversation last spring in which two unidentified foreign nationals discussed Jared Kushner, though the substance of their remarks—reportedly touching in part on Iran—is unknown; the complaint allegedly stalled within Gabbard’s agency for eight months before being transmitted to Congress last week in heavily redacted form.
- President Trump said he has not spoken with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about Lutnick’s reported lunch with family on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island and reiterated, “I was never there,” while a senior adviser indicated the issue is not a concern inside the White House, saying the only opinion that matters is Trump’s and “he does not care,” suggesting the matter has not become a priority or point of internal contention for the administration.
- More bad DOJ redactions. For example, they redacted the “pm” or the “am” in this fundraising announcement in the Epstein files:
- Members of Congress from both parties are seeking investigations after it was revealed that the Department of Justice logged and monitored lawmakers’ searches of unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files, with photographs showing Attorney General Pam Bondi holding a document titled “Jayapal Pramila Search History” during a House hearing, detailing the specific files accessed by Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
- A federal judge, James Boasberg, ordered the Trump administration to allow more than 130 Venezuelan men who were deported under the Alien Enemies Act to El Salvador’s CECOT megaprison to return to the United States for their immigration proceedings if they choose, ruling that the situation stemmed from the government’s failure to provide due process before their removal.
- RFK Jr. appeared on a podcast this past week where he said: “I’m not scared of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats.”
- At a heated Senate hearing, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said his agency will release body camera footage of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, though he gave no timeline, stating that both CBP and the FBI are still reviewing evidence; Scott, along with ICE and USCIS leaders, faced sharp bipartisan questioning over the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good during a controversial immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, with lawmakers raising concerns.
- The Trump administration announced that the EPA is rescinding its 2009 “endangerment finding” — the legal determination that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane endanger public health and welfare — effectively stripping the agency of its authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate climate-warming emissions from vehicles, power plants and industry.
- The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso was triggered after U.S. Customs and Border Protection used military-provided anti-drone laser technology—recently authorized by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—to shoot down objects later identified as harmless party balloons without coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration, prompting the FAA to issue a 10-day national defense temporary flight restriction that halted all flights below 18,000 feet.
See you in the morning.
— Aaron