Project 2025 Shakes Up Leadership after Leftist Smear Campaign, Trump Disavowal

(Headline USA) The director of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint for reforming the federal government stepped down Tuesday after blowback from Donald Trump’s campaign, which has tried to disavow the program created by many of the former president’s allies and former aides.

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said Paul Dans’s exit comes after the project “completed exactly what it set out to do.” Roberts, who has emerged as a chief spokesman for the effort, plans to lead Project 2025 going forward.

“Our collective efforts to build a personnel apparatus for policymakers of all levels — federal, state, and local — will continue,” Roberts said.

What started as an obscure far-right wish list is now a focal point in the 2024 campaign. Democrats for the past several months have made Project 2025 a key election-year cudgel, pointing to the ultraconservative policy blueprint as a glimpse into how extreme another Trump administration could be.

The nearly 1,000-page handbook lays out sweeping changes in the federal government, including altering personnel rules to ensure government workers are more loyal to the president. Heritage is building a database of potential new hires to staff a second Trump White House.

Yet Trump has repeatedly disavowed the document, saying on social media he hasn’t read it and doesn’t know anything about it. At a rally in Michigan earlier this month, he said Project 2025 was written by people on the “severe right” and some of the things in it are “seriously extreme.”

“President Trump’s campaign has been very clear for over a year that Project 2025 had nothing to do with the campaign, did not speak for the campaign, and should not be associated with the campaign or the President in any way,” Trump campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement.

They said, “Reports of Project 2025’s demise would be greatly welcomed and should serve as notice to anyone or any group trying to misrepresent their influence with President Trump and his campaign — it will not end well for you.”

But Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, wrote a foreword to a forthcoming book by Roberts in which he lauds the Heritage Foundation’s work. A copy of the foreword was obtained by The Associated Press.

“The Heritage Foundation isn’t some random outpost on Capitol Hill; it is and has been the most influential engine of ideas for Republicans from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump,” wrote Vance.

Quoting Roberts elsewhere in the book, Vance writes: ″We are now all realizing that it’s time to circle the wagons and load the muskets. In the fights that lay ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon.”

Trump campaign representatives did not respond to messages inquiring about whether the campaign asked or pushed for Dans to step down from the project. The Heritage Foundation said Dans left voluntarily and it was not under pressure from the Trump campaign. Dans didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The project included not only the detailed policy proposals that Trump could put into place on day one at the White House. Project 2025 was also building a personnel database of resumes for potential hires, drawing Americans to Washington to staff a new Trump administration.

Many Trump allies and former top aides contributed to the project. Dans formerly worked as a personnel official for the Trump administration.

It was clear that Project 2025 was becoming a liability for Trump and the Republican Party.

In an interview from the Republican convention first published by Politico, LaCivita said Project 2025 was a problem because “the issues that are going to win us this campaign are not the issues that they want to talk about.”

It was almost certain than Trump’s campaign forced the shakeup, said one former Heritage aide.

Trump’s team was well aware it couldn’t risk any missteps from Heritage in this final stretch ahead of the election.

By announcing the departure, Roberts appeared to be sending a signal to the Trump campaign that changes were being made at Heritage to tamp down any concerns over Project 2025, said another conservative familiar with the situation.

If Trump wins the White House, he almost certainly will need to rely on Heritage and other outside entities to help quickly staff a new administration, the person said.

That person and the former aide would only talk on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Project 2025’s website will remain live and the group will continue vetting resumes for its nearly 20,000-person database of potential officials eager to execute its vision for government, the Heritage Foundation said Tuesday.

The group said Dans, who had started the project from scratch more than two years ago, will leave the Heritage Foundation in August. Roberts will now run Project 2025 operations.

Roberts has faced criticism in recent weeks after he said on an episode of former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast that the country is in the midst of a “second American Revolution” that will be bloodless “if the left allows it to be.”

Earlier this month, in an interview before beginning a prison sentence for defying a congressional subpoena, Bannon mentioned Roberts as the type of leader who could land a top job in a Trump White House.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

You Ran Away, Remember? Rep. Luna Responds to Kamala’s ‘Say It to My Face’ Taunt

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., had a witty response to Vice President Kamala Harris’s recent challenge to President Donald Trump, stating if he had “something to say, say it to my face.” 

In response, Luna shared viral footage of her confronting Harris at an airport in 2019 over immigration policies. At the time, Harris was a California senator and Luna worked for Turning Point USA.

When Luna approached Harris to ask about children at the southern border, Harris deflected, claiming she was busy taking a photo with a supporter. 

Laphonza Butler, a longtime advisor to Harris and current California senator, intervened, forcefully pushing Luna away. 

“Don’t touch me!” Luna retorted. Butler replied, “I’m not asking you to back off. I understand. Those ladies were asking to take a picture before you walked up.” 

A defiant Luna responded, “Don’t talk to me,” while attempting to confront Harris directly. 

“She is damaging what is happening to Hispanic women and children at the border because she is promoting family reunification,” Luna added. 

At the time, Luna criticized Harris for undermining Trump’s policies that protected children from smugglers and traffickers by verifying their guardians at the southern border. Without such verification, Trump risked allowing children to remain with predators and traffickers. 

Harris showed little interest in Luna’s concerns, instead asking for her luggage and looking down as Luna continued repriming her. 

“You’re not commenting on this issue. You’re directly impacting the Hispanic demographic in a negative way. You’re directly impacting what is happening with the children in this country … Shame on you!” Luna exclaimed. 

As she walked away, Luna shouted, “You’re not going to win.”

Luna ran for Congress in 2020, losing to then-Rep. Charlie Crist. However, when Crist ran for governor in 2022, Luna ran again and successfully flipped the district from blue to red. 

Election Denier Stacey Abrams Tries to Memory Hole Controversial Claims

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Twice-failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams attempted to revise history by claiming she never questioned the results of her 2018 race, in which she lost to Republican Brian Kemp. 

Speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Thursday, Abrams denied her previous statements to The New York Times, where she said she “won” the election and described it as “stolen.”

These remarks exposed a clear hypocrisy within Democratic circles regarding the questioning of election results, which they argue undermines democracy. 

“Kaitlan, that’s actually incorrect – and normally I wouldn’t cut you off, but you’re repeating disinformation,” A seemingly frustrated Abrams said in response to her election denialism.

Abrams falsely asserted that Georgia courts had ruled her election challenges could not be corrected due to changes in election laws. 

“I believed then and I believe now I have never been the governor of Georgia. I’ve never claimed to be the governor of Georgia,” she added. “What I have said is that voters were denied their full rights. Courts agreed with me in the time of that election, they agreed with me post-election.” 

A video of Abrams’s CNN remarks received a “community note” on Twitter, pointing out her demonstrably false assertions. 

“There are a lot of credible articles that demonstrate the fact that Stacey Abrams said she won her election such as multiple NYT articles,” the note read, linking to an interview where Abrams reiterated her belief that she won the election. 

“I have no empirical evidence that I would have achieved a higher number of votes. However, I have sufficient and I think legally sufficient doubt about the process to say that it was not a fair election,” Abrams conceded in an article for The Times.

Abrams ran for Georgia governor again in 2022 and lost by a wider margin.

Biden Demoted to Opening-Day Speech at DNC after Establishment Coup

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) Joe Biden, who was initially supposed to deliver the closing remarks at the Democratic National Convention, will instead only give a speech on the opening night, just before he leaves the political world forever and “turns the key over” to Kamala Harris, the new presumptive Democratic nominee. 

“Monday night is Joe’s night. And then he’ll turn the keys over [to Harris],” an individual familiar with what would happen during the DCN told CNN.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that Biden had been expected to win the Democratic nomination and deliver the convention’s closing remarks for months.

However, he was recently demoted only to opening night—typically reserved for the person leaving the spotlight—after he dropped his reelection bid, caving to the incredible pressure from the establishment that is the Democratic Party to step aside.

Since Biden’s withdrawal from the race on July 21, 2024, Harris has secured enough Democratic delegates. She will be formally nominated as the party’s candidate at the Chicago convention, scheduled from Aug. 19, 2024, to Aug. 22, 2024.

The news source added that the opening night’s programming would highlight Biden’s supposed “legacy and achievements” before fully concentrating on Harris’s campaign.

“[The convention] is our opportunity to tell our story directly to the American people, rally behind the Democratic nominees and grow our broad and diverse coalition to defeat Donald Trump,” DNC spokesman Matt Hill said.

It was also reported that Harris’s running mate will be announced next week and will address the convention on Aug. 21, 2024.

Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Doug Emhoff, Harris’s husband, will also be among the speakers at the DNC.

Trump, who had scheduled a second debate with Biden on Sept. 10, 2024, before Biden dropped out, said he would wait until after Harris gets her party’s official nomination before committing to any debate with her, just in case Democrats decide to replace her as well as they did with Biden.

Kamala Harris Misappropriated Millions in Fed. Grants to Fight Border Crimes

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) A 2010 Department of Justice audit revealed that, while working as San Francisco’s district attorney, Kamala Harris misappropriated over $5 million in federal grants intended to combat crimes at the border.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that records indicated that Harris requested millions of dollars from the DOJ’s Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative while serving as chief prosecutor of the sanctuary city from 2004 to 2011.

The news source added that the program reimburses local prosecutors for handling “illegal immigration and drug and alien smuggling cases” referred to them by federal authorities.

However, a DOJ inspector general audit report found that none of the cases Harris’s office filed for reimbursement were eligible under the program. As a result, the city was forced to pay back the improper funding claims.

As district attorney, Harris promoted the globalist agenda by championing San Francisco’s “sanctuary city” status, promising never to prosecute immigration offenses. Despite that, her office still got over $5 million in unlawful reimbursements from the federal program intended to address crimes that were related to illegal aliens.

A 2010 report issued by the DOJ inspector general indicated that DOJ auditors noticed a “red flag” after Harris’s office requested significantly more reimbursements in 2006 from the program than any other local prosecutor in the United States, “despite being located about 500 miles north of the Southwest Border.”

When contacted, Harris’s office claimed the money was repayment for handling drug cases connected to illegals that the U.S. Attorney’s office had referred to her agency for prosecution. However, the news source reported that the inspector general investigation determined that none of the cases were eligible and had not been referred to Harris by federal prosecutors.

The audit found that “[all] of the cases for which San Francisco had received SWBPI funds were ineligible for reimbursement.” Harris’s staff and an outside contractor hired by her office were blamed for the failure.

The investigation found that Harris’s office had “submitted approximately 30 percent of its drug cases” for funding instead of submitting individual cases for reimbursement, even though the “cases were not federally initiated.”

“I think she’s been consistent throughout her political career, whether she was D.A., a California attorney general, a senator. Her entire record was about not enforcing immigration laws, [and] making sure that the people who violate those laws are not prosecuted or removed in any way,” Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said.

Racist Prof. Uses Obama-Era Data to Rationalize Rise in Black Supremacy

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) A study performed by researchers at Texas’s Rice University revealed that so-called black nationalism rose in a response to alleged “white supremacy,” according to the College Fix.

The paper referenced Marvel’s 2018 Black Panther film in the title: “Wakanda forever! Consistency in correlates of black nationalist tendencies.”

The movie was well received, accumulating more than $700 million total in domestic box-office returns and more than $1.37 billion worldwide for parent company Disney—as well as critical acclaim for stars including the late Chadwick Boseman.

Sociology professor Tony N. Brown and associates argued that part of the movie’s success was its “not-so-subtle connection to black nationalism,” which resonated with its black viewers, despite the fact that the movie is fictional.

However, the study used research from 2012 in an attempt to prove its points.

The decade-old research from University of California-Irvine asked respondents to rate their level of agreement to a series of questions, all having to do with race and racial solidarity, such as “Black people should shop in black-owned stores whenever possible,” and “Black people should always vote for black candidates when they run.”

The results of the survey—originally published in the journal Outlook on Life Surveys-–led the researchers to determine that white supremacy brought on black nationalism.

“We conclude white supremacy infiltrates black life so thoroughly that even fictitious sovereign nations like Wakanda are not immune to it,” they wrote.

Moreover, they suggested that the racist attitudes among blacks, both fictional and nonfictional, were entirely justified due to the abstract affront they perceived—despite the fact that such hostility was only likely to create even more divisiveness and distrust.

“Once scholars acknowledge black nationalism is a reasonable response to white supremacy’s insidiousness, then they must acknowledge certain blacks will always endorse it,” the study claimed.

Brown said animosity toward white people, as well as feelings of black solidarity, were the two most common factors in the “black nationalist” mindset.

Age, sex, education and income also helped predict the rise of black nationalism.

According to Brown, the election of former President Barack Obama kindled the hopes of many black nationalists, but had left many of them disappointed by the end of his term over his failure to fix racism—and, indeed, his use of divisive rhetoric to exacerbate it for his own political gain.

Both Brown and co-author Quintin Gorman, a sociology student pursuing his doctorate, dodged answering questions concerning the report for several weeks.

Nonetheless, they expressed hope that the study would help politicians consider new ways to address racial inequality—emphasizing the priorities of black people, of course.

Sweeping MAGA Victory in Arizona Primaries Shows Positive Signs for November

Donald Trump-endorsed “America First” candidates won sweeping victories in battleground state Arizona’s contentious Republican primary on Tuesday.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who defended the 2020 election and 2022 election results and had received campaign support from leftist donors, was defeated by state Rep. Justin Heap.

Despite claiming to be a “proud Republican,” Richer supported Joe Biden for president, and he allegedly operated a political-action committee to defeat former GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and other “MAGA” supporters during the 2022 race.

Richer also rejected demands to purge illegal immigrants from the county’s voter rolls after requests by America First Legal, and he was reportedly linked to a county election worker who was caught stealing the security keys for the county’s voter tabulation machines in June.

Most recently, he was forced to awkwardly account for the fact that a CrowdStrike server crash had taken down some of the county’s election machines, even though they were not supposed to be connected to outside internet that would make them susceptible to hacking.

Heap defeated Richer 42.4% to his 35.9%, and a third candidate took 21.8% of the vote.

“Elections have winners and, sadly, losers. And in this one, it looks like I’m going to end up on the losing side of the column,” Richer wrote in an X post.

He will continue to preside over elections in Maricopa County until January 2025.

Lake, the ex-television news host who lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the highly dubious 2022 gubernatorial race, won her primary for the Senate nomination against Sheriff Mark Lamb.

In 2022, Lake was a strong advocate for election integrity, mounting legal challenges to combat alleged voter fraud by Hobbs.

She was endorsed by Trump, despite being outraised raising only a fraction of the cash that her primary rival was able to accumulate.

Trump and Lake both endorsed Abe Hamadeh—the 2022 candidate for attorney general, whose race against Democrat Kris Mayes came down to just 280 votes, again under somewhat suspicious circumstances.

Hamadeh defeated five other competitors in a high-profile primary to secure the Republican nomination for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, garnering 29.8% of the vote.

Former senatorial candidate Blake Masters finished second in the race.

The results show a pattern of support for MAGA and America First policies in Arizona—a state whose Republican politics have long been dominated by RINO “mavericks” such as the late Sen. John McCain, who maintained a notoriously contentious relationship with Trump.

However, the party will continue to face an uphill battle going into the general election with George Soros-backed Democrats holding the top executive offices.

The primary nonetheless stood as a victory for grassroots organizations such as Phoenix-based Turning Point Action, which have turned into full-time ballot-chasing machines.

The Charlie Kirk-fronted group has been registering Republican voters and encouraging early voting in a push to flip the state for Trump in November.

In April, Mayes indicted the organization’s chief operating officer, Tyler Bowyer, as one of 18 “fake electors” in a chilling lawfare attack over efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.

Despite the setback, Bowyer touted Turning Point’s endorsement of the winning candidates in the state’s most closely watched races.

“The GOP is on pace to obliterate Democrats in turnout by not only a double-digit number, but almost 20%,” he wrote on X, applauding his organization’s efforts. “Bad sign for Democrat prospects in AZ in November!”

Ex-Kamala Lover Willie Brown Reveals What She Would Do to ‘His Ass’

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, now back in the spotlight, spoke candidly about his affair with Vice President Kamala Harris, jokingly telling Politico that she would “deport his ass.”

Brown dated Harris in the 1990s when he was the speaker of the California Assembly. At the time, Harris was 29. Brown was 60 and married.

“She may send me back to Mineola,” Brown jested, referring to his hometown. “Sending me back to Texas would be a deportment!” 

Though no longer on speaking terms, Brown has openly discussed his relationship with Harris and offered advice on how to win the presidency. 

He seemingly criticized Harris’s fixation with identity politics and her frequent flip-flops in policies. 

“The voters want her to answer them,” he said, implying she should avoid making identity a central issue, as reported by Politico.

On shifting positions, Brown suggested that if Harris “keeps people continually guessing then she can adjust the interpretation of your guess every time she sees you.” 

Brown also negatively compared Harris to Hillary Clinton, stating that the vice president suffers of “Hillary syndrome,” referring to public perception and unlikability. 

At the time of the interview, Harris was President Joe Biden’s running mate, and he had not announced his exit from the race. Brown’s comments have resurfaced as the media scrutinizes Harris’s past amid her presidential campaign. 

Brown, now 90, has long been labeled as the force that propelled Harris into politics, having appointed her to two powerful California commissions, then known as “patronage” positions.  

Democrats and leftist pundits have suggested that the suggestion that Harris’s career is owned to Brown is sexist and misogynist. Yet Politico, far from a right-wing outlet, reported that Brown was Harris’s “entree to many of the city’s most prominent figures and donors.” 

In a 2019 op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle, Brown wrote, “Sure, I dated Kamala Harris. So what?”

He admitted to helping her career but also highlighted his support for other prominent politicians, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom, and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

In his Politico interview, Brown also mentioned aiding leftist Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.  

“I really had a good run with a lot of good, quality people,” Brown claimed. “None of those people, so far, are a great embarrassment.” 

SF Gate columnist Heather Knight referred to Brown as a “powerful” man in a 2013 column. “The Man About Town: Former mayor. Chronicle columnist. Lawyer. Socialite. Sugar daddy. Willie Brown is a very busy guy – and very powerful,” she wrote.

Special Counsel David Weiss Slams Hunter Biden for Trying to Toss Tax-Fraud Case

(Headline USA) Special counsel David Weiss slammed Hunter Biden’s legal team this week for trying to get the federal cases against the embattled first son thrown out.

Biden’s lawyers argued in a court filing last week that Weiss’s federal tax case, and the illegal firearm purchase charges on which Hunter was already convicted, should be dismissed, claiming Weiss was illegally appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. 

They cited a recent federal ruling dismissing special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, which found that Smith had been illegally appointed by Garland.

There is no legal parity in the situations, since Weiss was already approved by the Senate in his capacity as U.S. Attorney prior to his special counsel appointment. Smith’s came from entirely outside the Justice Department ecosystem.

However, that didn’t prevent lead lawyers Abbe Lowell and Mark Geragos from attempting the longshot gambit.

“Based on these new legal developments, Mr. Biden moves to dismiss the indictment because the Special Counsel who initiated this prosecution was appointed in violation of the Appointments Clause as well,” Biden’s legal team argued in the filing.

“The Attorney General relied upon the exact same authority to appoint the Special Counsel in both the Trump and Biden matters, and both appointments are invalid for the same reason,” they claimed.

Weiss’s office shot back, arguing Hunter’s lawyers “invented” reasons to dismiss the charges against the first son.

“These statements continue to be misleading by suggesting that United States Attorney Weiss failed to take action against the defendant until after he became special counsel,” Weiss’s team said in a filing of their own, according to the New York Post. “That is patently incorrect.”

Judge Mark Scarsi, who is overseeing Weiss’s tax-fraud case against Hunter, also accused Hunter’s lawyers of falsely representing Weiss’s position and threatened to sanction them over the false claims.

There is a “meaningful distinction” between Trump’s case and Hunter’s case, Scarsi argued.

“But Mr. Biden’s motion does not engage with this distinction; instead, counsel avoids the issue by misrepresenting the history of the proceedings,” he wrote. “This Court has little tolerance for lack of candor from counsel … These statements … are not true, and Mr. Biden’s counsel knows they are not true.”

Scarsi has rejected three prior bids by Hunter’s team to have Weiss’s tax fraud case.

House GOP Subpoenas Biden Agency over Unconstitutional ‘Voter Registration’ Program

(Headline USA) House Republicans issued a subpoena to a key Biden administration agency this week over its efforts to register voters in Michigan.

The House Committee on Small Business launched an investigation into President Joe Biden’s Small Business Administration earlier this year after the SBA released a memorandum of understanding (MOU) designating itself as a voter-registration agency in Michigan.

“Protecting and strengthening our democracy is critical to our economic success and a core goal of the Biden–Harris administration,” SBA Administrator Isabel Casilla Guzman claimed in a statement in March.

It was unclear if the move was connected with Biden’s controversial Executive Order 14019, a secretive initiative to convert many of the execuvite branch’s nonpartisan agencies into de-facto arms of the Democratic campaign through dubious voter initiatives that had no relationship with their function.

The SBA revealed it would encourage voter registration in the critical swing state by “meeting [small business owners] where they are—on our website and at our small business outreach events.”

The program also was expected to include “training” for “all personnel conducting [voter registration] activities,” which would cover “information on who is eligible to register to vote” and “instructions on how to refer individuals to register to vote online.”

House Republicans argued the program was “unconstitutional” and an improper use of taxpayer funds. They requested documentation earlier this year on whether the SBA would be using federal funds to support the program, but still have not received all of the relevant materials.

“The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate legislative solutions to the SBA’s use of federal funds to conduct voter registration activities,” the House committee said in its subpoena, according to Fox News.

“Unfortunately, the SBA has produced only a small portion of the documents and communications that the committee has requested and has done so slowly and after multiple attempts by the committee to obtain any relevant information,” it said.

The committee has asked for “every email and official correspondence between the SBA and businesses related to this MOU; and every email and official correspondence between the SBA and other government agencies related to this MOU,” as well as “the calendars and travel itineraries for 11 identified SBA employees and any trip summaries, transcripts, or any related documents memorializing reimbursements for the travel and trips.”