Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts  —  The company is run by the husband of Noem's chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides.  DHS invoked the “emergency” at the border to skirt competitive bidding rules for the taxpayer-funded campaign.

Epstein Returns at the Worst Time for Trump  —  The president is desperate to make the questions go away, but there is no sign they will.  —  Since his return to office, President Donald Trump has missed few chances to flex the power he wields over the nation's most formidable institutions and its wealthiest people.

How a 17-Year-Old Girl Became Enmeshed in the Matt Gaetz Scandal  —  A 17-year-old with a homeless parent wanted money for braces and ended up having sex for money with powerful men.  She wants the public to have a fuller understanding of how she was victimized.  —  She was 17 and a high school junior in Florida.

Trump Administration Prepares Tariff Exemptions in Bid to Lower Food Prices  —  If the proposal goes into effect, it would be the latest rollback of one of President Trump's key economic policies over concerns about affordability.  —  The Trump administration is preparing broad exemptions …

BBC apologises to Trump over Panorama edit but refuses to pay compensation  —  The BBC has apologised to US President Donald Trump for a Panorama episode that spliced parts of his 6 January 2021 speech together, but rejected his demands for compensation.  —  The corporation said the edit had given …

Top Fannie Mae officials ousted after sounding alarm on sharing confidential housing data  —  A confidant of Bill Pulte, the Trump administration's top housing regulator, provided confidential mortgage pricing data from Fannie Mae to a principal competitor, alarming senior officials …

Trump taps Ingrassia for new role after texting scandal … “It's been the greatest honor to serve Secretary [Kristi] Noem and President Trump, alongside all of you,” he wrote in Thursday's email.  He added, “I genuinely feel this is the strongest group of political appointees anywhere …

Hegseth announces operation ‘Southern Spear’ to quash ‘narco-terrorists’  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday evening a new operation dubbed “Southern Spear” to quash “narco-terrorists” in the Western Hemisphere.  —  Hegseth said the mission is being led …

Secretary Noem Gives TSA Officers $10,000 Bonus for Above and Beyond Service During Democrats' Shutdown  —  Trump administration rewards public servants who kept airports safe despite the Democrats' games  —  HOUSTON, Texas - On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced …

The Dumb Truth at the Heart of the Epstein Scandal  —  When QAnon meets Veep  —  Some generations get a nationally televised car chase featuring O. J. Simpson fleeing police in a white Bronco.  Others get the communal adrenaline rush of frantically “CTRL-F”-ing a House Oversight Committee trove of Jeffrey Epstein's emails.

Trump official refers Rep. Eric Swalwell for a federal criminal probe over alleged mortgage fraud  —  Swalwell is the latest Democrat to face mortgage fraud allegations from Federal Housing Finance Agency head Bill Pulte, who sent a letter to the Justice Department on Wednesday.

The Epstein Scandal Is Now a Chronic Disease of the Trump Presidency  —  Read the e-mails—this isn't going away anytime soon.  —  Washington scandals can metastasize in the most unexpected ways.  The classic example of this is the long-running Whitewater investigation in the nineteen-nineties …

Donald Trump pardons UK billionaire and former Tottenham owner Joe Lewis  —  Lewis was fined $5m and given three years probation by New York judge over ‘brazen’ insider trading scheme  —  Joe Lewis, the British billionaire and former owner of Tottenham Hotspur FC, has been pardoned …

Gorsuch warns about this ‘greatest danger’ facing the country today  —  Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch was on Fox and Friends on Thursday morning to promote his new children's book, Heroes of 1776.  —  During his interview with Fox News's Lawrence Jones, Gorsuch discussed the contents of his book …

Justice Department sues to block California US House map in clash that could tip control of Congress  —  The Justice Department on Thursday sued to block new congressional district boundaries approved by California voters last week, joining a court battle that could help determine which party wins control of the U.S. House in 2026.

The Left's New Moralism Will Backfire  —  Under Trump, progressives have embraced the rhetoric of “moral clarity.”  It won't help their cause.  —  In the age of MAGA, ideological lines that once distinguished left from right have blurred.  Republicans who said they were willing to die …

3 dozen House members have already called it quits … That's how unpleasant it's become to serve in the House of Representatives these days.  —  Six of those members — all Democrats — are in their 70s and 80s, retiring after long tenures in politics.  —  But the vast majority …

Memo Blessing Boat Strikes Is Said to Rely on Trump's Claims About Cartels  —  Accounts of a secret Justice Department memo offer a window into how administration lawyers approved the president's desired course of action.  —  A secret Justice Department memo blessing President Trump's boat strikes …

Letter from Chicago broadcast veterans: Federal immigration agents have traumatized us and eroded our rights  —  You know us.  —  For years, you watched and listened to our coverage of the Chicago area.  As journalists, we did our best to bring you accurate, objective information about the people, events and issues that mattered.

Megyn Kelly Eviscerated Over Epstein Remark: ‘This Is Career Ending’  —  BEYOND THE PALE  —  The right-wing host said she did not view the sex trafficker as an “actual pedophile” until recently, among other head-scratching remarks.  —  Megyn Kelly has been eviscerated for suggesting Jeffrey Epstein …

A Tennessee Special Election Could Test Whether a Blue Wave Is Coming in 2026  —  Democrats are expected to lose.  But by how much?  — Copy  —  Just about everyone agrees Republicans will win a special House election in a deep-red Tennessee district next month.  Both parties are watching the race closely anyway.

Judge appears skeptical of Lindsey Halligan's appointment as interim US attorney … Currie seemed particularly concerned that a portion of the grand jury proceedings that led to Comey's indictment was “missing,” leaving certain aspects of Halligan's interactions with the grand jury unreviewable.

Blurred lines: how Michael Wolff aspired to be part of elite circles he wrote about  —  The writer who features prominently in newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails has achieved extraordinary access but faced questions about his journalistic ethics  —  In 2003 David Carr, the New York Times's late …

Verizon to Cut About 15,000 Jobs  —  Telecommunications company is looking to reduce costs as it works to stem customer losses  —  Verizon Communications is planning to cut roughly 15,000 jobs, looking to reduce costs as it contends with increased competition for both wireless service …

US designates four European anti-fascist groups as terrorist threats  —  State department claims groups in Germany, Italy and Greece ‘conspiring to undermine foundations of western civilization’  —  The US state department has announced that it will designate four European self-described anti-fascist groups …

Indiana Professor Removed From Class Over White Supremacy Lesson  —  The professor will no longer be able to teach a class on diversity after she showed students a diagram that included the “Make America Great Again” slogan as an example of white supremacy.  —  A professor who showed …

Senators distance themselves from controversial payout provision … “Oh definitely,” Graham said at a news conference after the passage of the government funding bill.  “And if you think I'm going to settle this thing for a million dollars — no. I want to make it so painful …

JD Vance Received a Dire Warning About the Groyper Takeover of the GOP From a Strange Source  —  The call warning of a dangerous tide of extremism in Donald Trump's Washington is coming from inside the house — the vice president's house.  —  And this alarm bell that things are going way too far …

Ghislaine Maxwell Is Living It Up With Unlimited Toilet Paper  —  What we know about her alleged special privileges at prison camp.  —  Earlier this week, Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee announced that Jeffrey Epstein's convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell intends …

Federal workers question whether the longest government shutdown was worth their sacrifice  —  Jessica Sweet spent the federal government shutdown cutting back.  To make ends meet, the Social Security claims specialist drank only one coffee a day, skipped meals, cut down on groceries and deferred paying some household bills.

Epstein emails reveal enduring ties with influential figures even after his sex crime conviction  —  By the time Jeffery Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl, he had established an enormous network of wealthy and influential friends.