The Justice Department Takes Actions to Strengthen the Federal Death Penalty  —  For Immediate Release  —  President Trump's Day-One Executive Order Directed the Department to Prioritize Seeking and Implementing Death Sentences to Protect Public Safety  —  Today, the Department of Justice acted …

Trump Hit by Brutal Fox Poll as Aides Scramble: “He's in a Bad Mood”  —  A new Fox News poll contains crushing findings for Donald Trump.  His approval on the economy is at 34 percent with 66 percent disapproving.  On inflation, those numbers are even worse, at 28-72.

Kash Patel Got Arrested for Public Urination After a Night of Drinking  —  FBI Director Kash Patel was twice arrested in incidents involving alcohol, once for public intoxication and once for public urination after leaving a bar, he admitted in a 2005 letter about disclosures on his Florida Bar application.

DeSantis plots end run of Florida law to create more GOP House seats  —  Florida bans lawmakers from intentionally creating congressional seats to give their party an advantage.  But Gov. Ron DeSantis quietly has launched a three-tiered power play to evade the ban — and create more GOP-friendly seats — in November.

Exclusive: Pentagon email floats suspending Spain from NATO, other steps over Iran rift, source says  —  An internal Pentagon email outlines options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support U.S. operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain …

Trump Isn't Thinking Strait  —  Another day, another Pentagon press conference in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fruitlessly demands Europe get more involved with reopening the Strait of Hormuz: “This should not be America's fight alone,” Hegseth seethed.  “We barely use the Strait of Hormuz. . . .

DOJ expected to drop criminal probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell amid pressure from senators: Sources  —  The investigation threatened to delay the confirmation of Powell's successor.  —  Katherine Faulders, Elizabeth Schulze, Allison Pecorin, and Alexander Mallin

The Conspiracy Theory Behind Tucker Carlson's Apology  —  Tucker Carlson, you might have heard, is sorry.  Early this week he posted a long conversation with his brother, Buckley, a former Trump speechwriter, in which they tried to make sense of the wreckage of the second Donald Trump presidency.

What's Wrong With The SPLC Indictment  —  DOJ's indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center is a critical moment in the administration's war on democracy  —  Civil rights organizations protect us when our rights are at risk.  You, personally, may not need that today.

Elon Musk's near-daily online posts about race are turning off some fans  —  The billionaire posted 850 times on the topic in recent months, almost triple the rate for the previous two years.  —  Summary  —  Elon Musk, the world's richest person, is on the cusp of a record-setting initial public offering …

Hegseth declares victory while preparing for more war with Iran … Hegseth opened his remarks by saying that the operation is not an endless war like Vietnam or Iraq and Afghanistan, all of which dragged on for years amid shifting or unachievable strategic goals.

Trump Says He Dislikes Prediction Markets.  His Family Invests in Them.  —  The White House has warned staff not to wager on government decisions, but his family's involvement with these firms undermines the president's message.  —  When a U.S. soldier was indicted on Thursday on charges …

Trump Bizarrely Ties Politically-Motivated Prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center to Having the Results of the 2020 Election Be “wiped from the books and be of no further force or effect”  —  Hard for me to see the logic in any of this, even given Trump's usual unclear statements:

Unfounded Health Concerns Are Powering a Solar Backlash Unfounded Health Concerns Are Powering a Solar Backlash  —  Reporting Highlights  — Health Fears: Some critics say large solar farms are a public health threat.  While there is little reputable evidence for this, their claims have helped power a backlash.

Panda diplomacy: China sends two bears to Atlanta ahead of Trump-Xi summit  —  China on Friday agreed to send two giant pandas to the United States in a renewed display of “panda diplomacy,” a move that comes weeks before a planned summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Judge sanctions law firm that has pursued Leon Black over Epstein ties … The woman in this case, whom Christensen no longer represents, sued Black using a Jane Doe pseudonym.  —  Clarke, a Biden appointee, found that Christensen “repeatedly lied to the Court and to opposing counsel in this litigation” …

Many Americans believe Trump's lies about voter fraud, poll shows  —  President Donald Trump's repeated attempts to convince the public that elections are rigged and voter fraud is rampant - both false claims - have had an impact, a new poll shows.  —  The findings underscore the damage …

Concern Grows Over Republican Congressman's Mysterious Absence  —  A spokesman for Representative Thomas Kean Jr. said an unspecified “personal medical issue” has led the New Jersey Republican to miss House votes.  —  Representative Thomas Kean Jr., one of the most vulnerable Republican members of Congress …

FOIA Documents ‘Scrubbed’ From Intelligence Agency Website  —  Last year, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence removed all documents from its FOIA reading room.  Emails say a Biden-era FOIA release caused a “fuss.” … At first glance, the disappearance of documents …

Iran War Live Updates: Kushner and Witkoff to Talk With Iranian Officials in Pakistan  —  Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, will also be in Islamabad this weekend, and Iranian officials said he planned to meet with the two Americans.  —  Here's the latest.

Forget ‘Abolish ICE.’ Tom Steyer Wants to Jail ICE Agents.  —  THE SMOKE FROM ERIC SWALWELL'S POLITICAL IMPLOSION has not yet cleared from the California gubernatorial race, but one figure is deploying a giant political box fan to give himself some visibility.

Palantir Is Helping Trump's IRS Conduct “Massive-Scale” Data Mining  —  Military contractor Palantir has been paid more than $130 million by the IRS to analyze sensitive federal databases.  —  MILITARY CONTRACTOR PALANTIR is helping the IRS analyze dozens of different data sets on Americans …

Nobody is laughing at Donald Trump anymore  —  When I think of the difference between Donald Trump's first term and Donald Trump's second term, the image that stands out most is the president bombing.  —  Not a country, in this case — a comedy routine.  —  It was this January's keynote speech …

White House Allowed Officials' Text Messages to Be Deleted, Lawsuit Says  —  Two watchdogs say internal White House guidance that text messages need not be preserved unless “they are the sole record of official decision-making” contradicted the law.  —  Two government watchdogs sued President Trump …

The incredible shrinking Trump coalition  —  An updated look at the president's approval rating by geography and demographics shows just how narrow his coalition has become.  —  It has been an exciting poll week here at Strength In Numbers.  On Tuesday, we released our April Strength …