Blanche's slip-up on his Trump relationship: 'I'm his lawyer'  —  Todd Blanche likely fueled the most potent criticism against him Wednesday with a gaffe that may haunt him beyond his ongoing confirmation hearing to become the next attorney general.  Asked by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) …

Hegseth announces annual testosterone screenings for service members  —  Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced a new effort to annually screen service members' testosterone levels and offer testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), framing it as a way to keep troops on the “leading edge of lethality.”

U.S. Mint to produce $1 coin with Trump's face on it, treasury secretary says  —  The U.S. Mint will soon begin producing a new $1 gold-hued coin with President Donald Trump's face on it.  —  Summary  —  The U.S. Mint will soon begin producing a new $1 gold-hued coin with President Donald Trump's face …

They Don't Care If ICE Kills People  —  Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has his first day of hearings for his nomination to the top Justice Department job today.  He'll spend most of the day answering questions—or, more precisely, not answering questions, because the rules the Republicans …

FCC Officials Took Pricey Gifts From Paramount as the Company Needed Approval for Billion-Dollar Deals  —  The rich and famous who filed into the Kennedy Center's opera house in December were there to enjoy one of the nation's most exclusive celebrations of the performing arts: the center's annual honors gala.

Trump intel pick Jay Clayton questioned about election security, journalist subpoenas  —  His appearance comes weeks after the president scrapped his originally scheduled confirmation hearing.  He is nominated to replace acting DNI Bill Pulte.  —  Summary

Why we still don't know what foods are the source of the cyclospora outbreak  —  Government cuts have contributed to an information vacuum on foodborne illness  —  As of Tuesday, a parasite called cyclospora has  —  so far this summer.  On Monday, Michigan health officials announced their first potential source:

New frontiers in sanewashing  —  One of the keys to understanding the current catastrophe enveloping this country because it chose to make Donald Trump president (twice, so far) is that for no doubt complex sociological and psychological reasons lots of elite actors have to pretend to themselves …

Vance's security detail ‘fed up’ with hastily arranged personal and family travel requests  —  Secret Service sources said the Vance family asks included getting their young son to a golf lesson on a military helicopter.  —  On Thursday last week, Secret Service agents groused among themselves …

CDC nominee struggles to convince senators she'll stand up to RFK Jr.  —  Donald Trump's nominee to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Erica Schwartz, struggled during her Wednesday confirmation hearing to convince senators she'd stand up to her boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., like her predecessor did.

In seismic shift, more than 100 House Democrats vote to end Israel aid  —  Nearly half of House Democrats voted to cut off aid to Israel Wednesday, underscoring a seismic shift in political support for the longtime U.S. ally.  —  The amendment to a State Department spending bill …

Exclusive: Officials asked to turn over phones at the White House as Wiles, Patel lead intensifying leak probe  —  Chief of staff Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump's closest aide, and FBI Director Kash Patel helped personally orchestrate a sprawling investigation last week at the White House aimed …

Tehran threatens to halt all Middle East energy exports after US reimposes its blockade on Iran  —  The U.S. military reimposed a naval blockade on Iran and intensified its airstrike campaign early Wednesday, hitting an Iranian army barracks and killing at least seven troops …

Senior defense officials looking at Cuba military options  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  Washington — As the U.S.-Iran war restarts following the collapse of the weeks-long ceasefire, senior Pentagon officials are also quietly eyeing another flashpoint much closer to home: Cuba.

Iran Sent Message to JD Vance Warning that Kushner and Witkoff Were “Abusing” Their Inside Access to Negotiations  —  Drop Site's journalism is free to read because thousands of readers choose to fund it.  If our work matters to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today.

Amy Coney Barrett reveals insane threats against SCOTUS  —  Enough is enough — it is wrong that public officials are receiving an unprecedented level of threats on their lives and now require significant security measures to guarantee their safety.  —  Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett …

FBI Has Looked at Using Questionable AI Tech to Review Signatures on Seized Mail-In Ballots  —  The FBI has explored using artificial intelligence to assess the validity of signatures on tens of thousands of mail-in ballot envelopes seized from Fulton County, Georgia, the latest push …

DRL NOFO Developing Civilizational Bonds, Democratic Resilience, and Rule of Law in Europe  —  Developing Civilizational Bonds, Democratic Resilience, and Rule of Law in Europe  —  A. Basic Information  —  1. Overview  —  Developing Civilizational Bonds, Democratic Resilience, and Rule of Law in Europe

Netflix Smears ‘Gone with the Wind’ as Racist, Refers Viewers to Black Lives Matter  —  If you look for the 1939 masterpiece Gone with the Wind on Netflix, you'll be smacked across the face as a racist and scolded into seeking out the far left-wing radicals in Black Lives Matter.  —  Here's the blurb:

Venezuelan man becomes 22nd person to die in ICE custody this year  —  Jesús Manuel Arenas-Silva, 45, found ‘unresponsive’ while being transferred between detention facilities in Georgia  —  Another person has died in federal immigration custody this week in Georgia, officials announced on Wednesday.

America's Death Squads Are Real  —  Sometimes you can't see the world clearly from the inside.  —  ∙ Paid  —  1. Roving Death  —  Over the last week, agents of the federal government have killed two people on the streets of America.  We should say their names: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo; Johan Sebastián Guerrero.