Man Charged by Biden’s DOJ for Posting a Meme Has Conviction Overturned

Ken Silva
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Man Charged by Biden’s DOJ for Posting a Meme Has Conviction Overturned

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) An appeals court has overturned the conviction against Douglas Mackey, who was charged with election interference under the Biden administration for posting a meme in 2016 about voting for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton via text message.

Mackey had been operating the popular “Ricky Vaughn” Twitter account that had some 58,000 followers. He didn’t dispute that he posted memes, but has maintained that they were clearly satire. The U.S. government, for its part claimed that Mackey conspired with others to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote.

The charges appeared constitutionally dubious at first glance, but that’s not why the U.S. Second Circuit Appeals Court overturned the conviction on Wednesday. Rather, the conviction didn’t stand because the Justice Department never proved that Mackey was part of a larger conspiracy, the Second Circuit ruled.

“The mere fact that Mackey posted the memes, even assuming that he did so with the intent to injure other citizens in the exercise of their right to vote, is not enough, standing alone, to prove a violation of Section 241. The government was obligated to show that Mackey knowingly entered into an agreement with other people to pursue that objective. This the government failed to do,” the appeals court ruled.

One of the government’s testifying witnesses was an FBI informant who still actively operates anonymous right-wing Twitter accounts. According to prosecutors, the informant operates accounts similar to the Ricky Vaughn account. They claimed that the two worked in tandem to spread “misinformation.”

The informant pled guilty to the same charge that Mackey was convicted for. His identity has been suppressed because he is allegedly still working with the FBI in respect to other Twitter users.

In any event, the Second Circuit ruled that Mackey and Microchip never actually conspired with each other.

“While Microchip testified at length regarding the conspiracy’s formation and operation, moreover, his testimony was of little probative value with respect to Mackey’s role. Microchip had never met Mackey—nor, so far as the record discloses, had any other member of the War Room or the other message groups,” the appeals court ruled.

“Microchip’s relationship with Mackey, such as it was, was exclusively online. As a result, only online interactions could prove that Mackey participated with Microchip in planning the conspiracy. And the record contains no evidence of such interactions.”

Mackey said Wednesday that he’s planning to sue the DOJ over what prosecutors put him through.

 

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

U.S. To Spend $1.5 Billion Building New Air Bases and Facilities for the Israeli Military

Headline USA Editor
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U.S. To Spend $1.5 Billion Building New Air Bases and Facilities for the Israeli Military

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) The US is poised to spend over $1 billion on building new air bases and various other types of military facilities, Haaretz reported on Tuesday, citing documents and presentations from the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The construction projects include building a facility to accommodate Israel’s new KC-46 refueling aircraft, a facility for CH-53 helicopters, new headquarters for the Israeli army’s Shayetet 13 naval commando unit, ammunition storage, and other projects.

Ongoing US construction projects inside Israel are valued at about $250 million, and the total for all of the projects being planned is $1.5 billion. All of the construction will be funded by US military aid.

A US KC-46 refueling aircraft at Travis Air Force Base, California, June 13, 2025 (US Air Force photo)

Israel receives $3.8 billion in military aid each year, but has received significantly more since October 7, 2023. According to Brown University’s Costs of War Project, from October 2023 to October 2024, the USapproved at least $17.9 billion in new military aid for Israel to support the genocidal war in Gaza and other Israeli wars in the region.

In that same Year, Costs of War found that the US spent at least $4.8 billion on military operations supporting Israel in the Middle East, including the bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen. This year, the Trump administration also waged a war against the Houthis and fought a 12-day war with Israel against Iran, which cost about $1.25 billion in THAAD interceptors alone.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.

Ousted Deep State Bureaucrats Now Plot ‘Color Revolution’ Against Trump

Luis Cornelio
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Ousted Deep State Bureaucrats Now Plot ‘Color Revolution’ Against Trump

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A group of disgruntled bureaucrats fired by President Donald Trump’s DOGE initiative has declared war on his administration, plotting sabotage both from within and outside the federal government. 

The individuals include former officials at USAID and the State Department. They claim that Trump poses a threat to democracy, citing nothing more than their firings as evidence. 

According to a NOTUS report on Monday, the fired officials are threatening to use their experience studying “color revolutions” to counter Trump. 

They are also organizing sabotage workshops on so-called “noncooperation” and building a shadow network of current staffers to disrupt Trump’s second-term agenda.  

“Take it from those of us who worked in authoritarian countries: We’ve become one,” a current federal worker said anonymously. “They were so quick to disband AID, the group that supposedly instigates color revolutions. But they’ve done a very foolish thing. You just released a bunch of well-trained individuals into your population.”  

Threatening Trump, the anonymous bureaucrat added, “If you kept our offices going and had us play solitaire in the office, it might have been safer to keep your regime.” 

Some of the bureaucrats are reportedly circulating a CIA pamphlet called “Simple Sabotage,” which educates individuals on deliberate efforts to undermine operations from within. 

“Widespread practice of simple sabotage will harass and demoralize enemy administrators and police,” the pamphlet said, as quoted by NOTUS. “The saboteur may have to reverse his thinking… where he formerly thought of keeping his tools sharp, he should now let them grow dull; surfaces that formerly were lubricated now should be sanded; normally diligent, he should now be lazy and careless.” 

In response, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly blasted the secret plot as anti-democracy, referring to Trump’s November election. 

“It is inherently undemocratic for unelected bureaucrats to undermine the duly elected President of the United States and the agenda he was given a mandate to implement,” she said. 

Critics online echoed her outrage, with Sen. Eric Schmitt writing: “These people are making the case for their own firing better than we ever could.” 

The effort mirrors the sabotage Trump faced in his first term, when the media hyped “Anonymous” as a high-ranking Trump official quietly working to undermine him in 2018.  

That so-called top official turned out to be Miles Taylor, a mid-level staffer now under federal investigation for leaking to the press. 

Hakeem Jeffries Ditches Gym, Flexes Photoshop Instead

Luis Cornelio
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Hakeem Jeffries Ditches Gym, Flexes Photoshop Instead

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Did House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Photoshop his waist to appear slimmer? Social media critics think so. 

Jeffries, D-N.Y., became the target of viral mockery on Monday after critics pointed out what they viewed as botched photo editing on the top Democrat’s Instagram page. 

The photo, shared Sunday, shows Jeffries standing behind a park bench in Brooklyn. However, the straight lines of the bench’s wood near his waist appear noticeably warped. Critics said this means the image was digitally altered to trim his midsection. 

“Home sweet home,” Jeffries captioned the image, which remains posted and has racked up millions of views across social media. 

When reached by phone, Jeffries’s office referred Headline USA to his spokesperson Andy Eichar. He did not respond to an email request for comment.

On X, critics piled on with mocking responses. 

“Hakeem Jeffries slimming himself in Photoshop is the most transparency we’ve seen from Democrats in years,” joked Republican communicator Erin Maguire. 

Journalist Eric Daugherty added, “Utter clown show. He thought no one would notice.” 

Even Jeffries’s own Instagram comment section didn’t hold back.

As quoted by the New York Post, photographer Kiel Phillips wrote: You’ve got a terrible social media team, my man. Work on those editing skills.” 

“He photoshopped a damn bench. Why bro. Whyyyy?” Asked bodybuilder Phil Heath. 

Instagram user “kingsofscorpions” called Jeffries “SHEIN Obama,” comparing the Democrat to the fast-fashion retailer infamously known for cheap knockoffs of name-brand merchandise. 

Report: Ex-CIA Boss John Brennan, Ex-FBI Boss James Comey under Criminal Investigation

Ken Silva
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Report: Ex-CIA Boss John Brennan, Ex-FBI Boss James Comey under Criminal Investigation

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Fox News Digital reported Tuesday that former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are both under investigation by the Justice Department for their roles in the politicized and fruitless Russiagate investigation, as well as for making false statements to Congress.

“CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred evidence of wrongdoing by Brennan to FBI Director Kash Patel for potential prosecution,” Fox News reported, citing anonymous DOJ sources.

“A criminal investigation into Brennan was opened and is underway. DOJ sources declined to provide further details. It is unclear, at this point, if the investigation spans beyond his alleged false statements to Congress,” Fox News added.

“As for Comey, DOJ sources told Fox News Digital that an investigation into the former director is underway, but could not share details of what specifically is being probed.”

Under Brennan, the U.S. intelligence community issued a Russiagate report that included the infamous Steele Dossier, which contained false allegations against Trump. The Steele Dossier was found to have been financed by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Brennan was also one of the 51 intelligence officials to falsely assess that the Hunter Biden laptop scandal was disinformation—an assessment that helped tip the 2020 election towards Joe Biden.

Comey, for his part, headed the bureau when Russiagate was launched, and he’s thought to have tried to blackmail Trump with the investigation in the early days of his first presidency. Trump fired Comey and replaced him with Christopher Wray.

The news of the investigation into Brennan and Wray came after hours of the Trump administration being bashed online for covering up the Jeffrey Epstein scandal—concluding that he had no co-conspirators other than Ghislaine Maxwell, that he didn’t blackmail anyone, and that he definitely killed himself.

Skeptics were quick to question whether the Fox News story was designed to take attention away from the Epstein coverup.

“Is the Comey investigation a distraction from the Epstein files?” asked prominent Twitter/X personality Gunther Eagleman.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

SCOOP: DOJ Charges 2 People for Helping Ryan Routh’s Alleged Trump Assassination Plot

Ken Silva
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SCOOP: DOJ Charges 2 People for Helping Ryan Routh’s Alleged Trump Assassination Plot

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Justice Department has charged two people in North Carolina for helping Ryan Routh obtain his SKS-style rifle as part of his alleged plot to assassinate Donald Trump last September at his Palm Beach golf course.

The co-conspirators, Tina Brown Cooper and Ronnie Jay Oxendine, were both charged in March, and have already pled guilty. Their cases have not been publicized until now.

Neither Cooper nor Oxendine knew what Routh was planning, according to court records.

According to the DOJ, Routh called Cooper, who was his employee at his roofing business, last July about procuring a rifle.

“Cooper recommended to Routh that he buy the firearm from a pawn shop, and Routh then reminded her that he was unable to purchase a firearm in his true name because he was a convicted felon. Cooper then agreed to help Routh acquire a firearm,” the DOJ stated in court records.

Cooper then reached out to Oxendine, whom she now works for at Sons Roofing Company in Greensboro.

At first, Oxendine apparently didn’t know Cooper was buying the gun for Routh. When they all showed up to his business on Aug. 2, Oxendine was surprised to see Routh, whom he hadn’t seen in over a decade and thought was living in Hawaii.

“Oxendine was outside of the business when Cooper, her daughter, and Routh arrived. Oxendine asked Cooper why Routh was there; Cooper explained that the SKS rifle was actually for Routh. Oxendine handed the SKS rifle to Routh. Routh paid Oxendine $350 in cash for the SKS rifle and paid Cooper $100 in cash for arranging the sale,” court records state.

“Oxendine asked Cooper why she did not tell him the firearm was for Routh. Cooper responded that she though Oxendine would have an issue with Routh being the recipient of the firearm.”

The criminal conspiracy didn’t end there. Later on the same day Routh purchased the gun, he asked Cooper to inquire about the location of the rifle’s serial numbers—allegedly so he could obliterate them.

Then, he asked Cooper if she could help him procure a .50-caliber sniper rifle. Oxendine said he didn’t have one, leaving Routh and his former employee to search elsewhere.

“Over the course of the next week, Routh and Cooper discussed the price of the .50 caliber rifle Routh wanted ($2500 “on the street”), their efforts to find one, and Routh’s inability to pass a background check to purchase such a gun,” court records state.

After Routh was arrested on Sept. 15, Brown and Oxendine both scrambled to conceal their links to him, records show. Oxendine texted Brown on Sept. 19 to let her know that the FBI visited him, and Brown told him: “Do not admit to anything.”

Brown initially denied concealing her links to Routh until agents showed her the text messages, according to court records.

Last month, Brown struck a deal with the DOJ to plead guilty to one count of conspiring to purchase a firearm for a known felon. Oxendine, who is not a U.S. citizen, also struck a deal to plead guilty to possessing an unregistered firearm—agents found a sawed-off shotgun at his business.

Both are set to be sentenced in October. Routh is set to go to trial in September, but he’s asked the court to dismiss his attorneys—so presumably that date will be delayed.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Trump Says He’s Sending More Weapons To Ukraine After Some Shipments Were Paused

Headline USA Editor
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Trump Says He’s Sending More Weapons To Ukraine After Some Shipments Were Paused

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Trump said on Tuesday that he would be sending more weapons to Ukraine after his administration paused the shipment of certain munitions, including Patriot air defense missiles.

When asked if he would send more arms to Ukraine, the president said, “We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now. We’re going to send some more weapons — defensive weapons primarily.”

Following the president’s comments, the Pentagon released a statement affirming that US “defensive” weapons were on the way to Ukraine.

“At President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.

“Our framework for POTUS to evaluate military shipments across the globe remains in effect and is integral to our America First defense priorities,” Parnell added.

While the administration never specified which weapons shipments were paused, media reports said it applied to Patriots, GMLRS munitions for the HIMARS rocket systems, artillery shells, and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. It’s unclear at this point if the US is resuming the shipment of all the weapons or just the ones considered “defensive.”

According to a report from Axios, Trump decided to resume the weapons shipments after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Trump promised to immediately send 10 Patriot interceptors. He is also asking Germany to send its own Patriot battery to Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump told Zelensky in the call that he wasn’t responsible for the weapons pause and that he ordered only a review of US stockpiles after the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. The US used a significant number of Patriot missiles to repel Iran’s retaliatory attack, which targeted the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

The pause in certain munitions to Ukraine was reportedly done under the direction of Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s policy chief, who is a China hawk and wants the US to focus on preparing for a war over Taiwan.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.

Trump Media Files for ‘Crypto Blue Chip ETF’ With SEC

Headline USA Editor
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Trump Media Files for ‘Crypto Blue Chip ETF’ With SEC

(Headline USA) President Donald Trump continues to expand his crypto-related offerings, this time with a planned exchange-traded fund tied to the prices of five popular cryptocurrencies.

Trump Media & Technology Group, a Florida company that operates the Truth Social media platform, announced Tuesday it had filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval to launch the “Crypto Blue Chip ETF” later this year.

The proposed ETF would have 70% of its holdings in bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, 15% in ethereum, the second-most popular, and 8% in solana, a cryptocurrency popular in the meme coin community. The fund would hold 5% in the cryptocurrency developed by the company Ripple and 2% in the crypto created by the exchange Crypto.com, which will act as the ETF’s digital custodian.

Trump Media previously announced plans for a crypto ETF with just bitcoin and ethereum. It’s unclear if the company plans to move forward with that ETF offering. Trump Media did not immediately return a request for comment.

Cryptocurrency-based ETFs make it easier for investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies without having to buy them directly. These funds have exploded in popularity since bitcoin ETFs began trading in U.S. markets last year.

The SEC released new guidelines last week for crypto ETF issuers as part of the Trump administration’s push to create a more welcoming regulatory environment for crypto-related companies. The agency has also dropped or paused several enforcement actions against crypto companies since Trump took office.

Trump was once a bitcoin skeptic who has since warmly embraced the cryptocurrency industry, which has showered him with campaign and other types of contributions. Ripple, for example, was one of the biggest donors to Trump’s inaugural committee.

While the Trump administration has pushed for crypto-friendly regulations and laws, the Trump family has aggressively sought to expand its crypto-related businesses. That dynamic has led to allegations of corruption from Democrats and concern among some crypto enthusiasts that the president may be undermining their efforts to establish credibility and stability for the industry.

At a news conference last month, Trump dismissed any notion that his family’s investments were improper and touted his administration’s efforts to make the U.S. the world capital for crypto.

“If we didn’t have it, China would,” Trump said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

Investors Snap Up Growing Share of US Homes as Traditional Buyers Struggle to Afford One

Headline USA Editor
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Investors Snap Up Growing Share of US Homes as Traditional Buyers Struggle to Afford One

(Headline USA) Real estate investors are snapping up a bigger share of U.S. homes on the market as rising prices and stubbornly high borrowing costs freeze out many other would-be homebuyers.

Nearly 27% of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors — the highest share in at least five years, according to a report by real estate data provider BatchData.

Between 2020 and 2023, the share of homes bought by investors averaged 18.5%.

All told, investors bought 265,000 homes in the January-March quarter, an increase of 1.2% from the same period a year earlier, the firm said.

Despite the modest annual increase, the rise in the share of investor home purchases is more a reflection of how much the housing market has slowed as traditional buyers face growing affordability constraints, according to BatchData.

The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump since early 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Home sales fell last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years.

They’ve remained sluggish so far this year, as many prospective homebuyers have been discouraged by elevated mortgage rates and home prices that have kept climbing, though more slowly.

As home sales have slowed, properties are taking longer to sell. That’s led to a sharply higher inventory of homes on the market, benefitting investors and other home shoppers who can afford to bypass current mortgage rates by paying in cash or tapping home equity gains.

“As traditional buyers struggle with affordability, investors with cash and financing advantages are stepping in to maintain transaction volume,” according to the report.

BatchData analyzes U.S. home sales records to determine which properties were purchased by investors. These could include vacation homes or rentals, but not a homebuyer’s primary residence.

Investors bought 1.2 million homes in 2024, up from an average of 1.1 million homes a year going back to 2020, according to BatchData.

Even so, investor-owned homes account for roughly 20% of the nation’s 86 million single-family homes, the firm said.

Of those, mom-and-pop investors, or those who own between 1 and 5 homes, account for 85% of all investor-owned residential properties, while those with between 6 and 10 properties account for another 5%.

Institutional investors that own 1,000 or more homes account for only about 2.2% of all investor-owned homes, the firm said.

And that number could get smaller, amid signs that large institutional investors are scaling back home purchases.

Out of a group of eight of the biggest companies that own and lease single-family houses, including Invitation Homes and American Homes 4 Rent, six sold more homes in the second quarter than they bought, according to data from Parcl Labs.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

Magistrate Judge’s Report Suggests Dugan Trial

Headline USA Editor
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Magistrate Judge’s Report Suggests Dugan Trial

(Benjamin Yount, The Center Square) Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan’s case is moving forward, for now.

A federal magistrate judge said the case should not be dismissed and instead said her lawyers should pitch their immunity defense at trial.

Judge Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph delivered a 37-page report that argued against dismissing the case.

“Dugan disputes the government’s version of events, and the government will have the burden of proving its allegations beyond a reasonable doubt at trial,” Joseph wrote. “However, these contested facts cannot be resolved at this juncture.”

Dugan, who was arrested in May after federal prosecutors say she helped an illegal Mexican immigrant sneak out of her courtroom to avoid ICE agents, is planning to say she cannot be prosecuted because of judicial immunity.

Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty Vice President Dan Lennington called the magistrate judge’s reading of the case “smart” and said it’s a big blow to Dugan’s defense.

“Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph notes the unavoidable fact: there is simply no judicial immunity doctrine that has been extended to criminal acts,” Lennington said on X.

Her lawyers said the report is not the final ruling in the case.

“We are disappointed in the magistrate judge’s non-binding recommendation, and we will appeal it,” attorney Steven Biskupic said in a statement. “This is only one step in what we expect will be a long journey to preserve the independence and integrity of our courts.”

The report will now go to the judge who is hearing the case, Judge Lynn Adleman, who will make the ultimate decision about dismissal.

Last month Adleman delayed Dugan’s trial, but he has not yet set a new date.

Dugan has pleaded not guilty to the two federal charges she is facing. She could spend up to six years in prison if convicted.

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