Gabbard Confirmed as Trump’s National Intelligence Director after Republicans Fall in Line

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Gabbard Confirmed as Trump’s National Intelligence Director after Republicans Fall in Line

(Headline USA) The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence after Republicans who had initially tried to undermine her fell in line.

Gabbard was an unconventional pick to oversee and coordinate the country’s 18 different intelligence agencies, given her contentious relationship with the U.S. national security state. For instance, she’s been a vocal supporter of government whistleblower Edward Snowden, who exposed a vast domestic surveillance system in the Obama era.

Gabbard, a military veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, was confirmed by a 52-48 vote, with Democrats opposed in the sharply divided Senate where Republicans hold a slim majority. The only “no’ vote from a Republican came from Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a longtime proponent of war against Russia.

She is the latest high-ranking nominee to win Senate confirmation as the new administration works to reshape vast portions of the federal government, including the intelligence apparatus.

Staffers at the CIA and other intelligence agencies have received buyout offers, while lawmakers and security experts have raised concerns about Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency accessing databases containing information about intelligence operations.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created to address intelligence failures exposed by the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Republicans have increasingly criticized the office, saying it has grown too large and politicized. Trump himself has long viewed the nation’s intelligence services with suspicion.

GOP senators who had expressed concerns about Gabbard’s dovish stance on Snowden, Syria and Russia said they were won over by her promise to refocus on the office’s core missions: coordinating federal intelligence work and serving as the president’s chief intelligence adviser.

“While I continue to have concerns about certain positions she has previously taken, I appreciate her commitment to rein in the outsized scope of the agency,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, adding that Gabbard will bring “independent thinking” to the job.

McConnell, the former GOP leader, said in a statement after the vote that in his assessment, Gabbard brings “unnecessary risk” to the position.

“The nation should not have to worry that the intelligence assessments the President receives are tainted by a Director of National Intelligence with a history of alarming lapses in judgment,” McConnell said.

At the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “I think we’re greatly disappointed in any Republican who chooses willfully to vote against the president’s exceptionally qualified nominees.”

McConnell also voted against confirming Pete Hegseth for defense secretary.

Democrats noted that Gabbard had no experience working for an intelligence agency and they said her dovish stances on Russia, Syria and Snowden were disqualifying.

Until GOP support fell into place, it was unclear whether Gabbard’s nomination would succeed. Given the 53-47 split in the Senate, Gabbard needed virtually all Republicans to vote “yes.”

Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base has pressured senators to support Trump’s nominees, and Elon Musk, the president’s ally, took to social media recently to brand Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., as a “deep-state puppet.” Young had raised concerns about Gabbard but announced his support after speaking with Musk. The post was deleted after they spoke, and Musk later called Young an ally.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Trump and Putin Begin Peace Negotiations to End Hellish, Meat Grinder War

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Trump and Putin Begin Peace Negotiations to End Hellish, Meat Grinder War

(Headline USA) President Donald Trump moved to end Joe Biden’s disastrous three-year-long proxy war against Russia on Wednesday, saying that he and Russian leader Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine following a sudden prisoner swap.

Trump said in a social media post that he and Putin held a lengthy phone call and committed to “work together, very closely” to bring the conflict to an end and would meet in person, including perhaps in each other’s countries.

“We each talked about the strengths of our respective Nations, and the great benefit that we will someday have in working together. But first, as we both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine,” Trump wrote.

Trump said he and Putin also “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.” He appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA director John Ratcliffe, national security adviser Michael Waltz and his special Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff to lead those talks.

Trump subsequently announced that he’d also spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the conversation between Trump and Putin covered a good deal of ground, including the Middle East and Iran, but that Ukraine was the main focus.

Peskov said Trump called for a quick cessation of hostilities and a peaceful settlement, and that “President Putin, in his turn, emphasized the need to remove the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement could be achieved through peace talks.”

“The Russian president supported one of the main theses of the U.S. president that the time has come for our two countries to work together,” Peskov told reporters. “The Russian president invited the U.S. president to visit Moscow and expressed readiness to host U.S. officials in Russia for issues of mutual interest, naturally including Ukraine, the Ukrainian settlement.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of Trump’s conversations with both Putin and Zelenskyy: “They were very good calls. They were very positive.”

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special Russia-Ukraine envoy, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, will all be in Germany this week for the annual Munich Security Conference, which Zelenskyy also will attend. Leavitt said discussions will continue then.

Wednesday’s Trump-Putin call and the resulting policy sea change followed a prisoner swap that resulted in Russia releasing Pennsylvania schoolteacher Marc Fogel after more than three years of detention in return for convicted Russian criminal Alexander Vinnik.

The White House has described the prisoner swap as evidence of a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Report: New York Times Hires Zoom Masturbator Jeffrey Toobin

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Report: New York Times Hires Zoom Masturbator Jeffrey Toobin

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Puck News reporter Dylan Byers reported Wednesday that the New York Times has hired CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who achieved infamy in 2020 when he masturbated on a Zoom conference call in front of his colleagues.

“Transfer news: famed legal analyst @JeffreyToobin is joining New York Times Opinion,” Byers posted on Twitter/X.

The Times hiring Toobin comes just a little more than two months before the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Toobin published a book about the OKC bombing in 2023 that attempted to compare that attack to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill uprising.

Toobin’s book also covered up for the others involved in the bombing by arguing that Timothy McVeigh acted alone in attacking Oklahoma, receiving only minor assistance in building the Ryder truck bomb from Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier. As Headline USA has covered extensively, McVeigh was linked to a network of neo-Nazi extremists, many of whom were federal informants.

By pinning the bombing solely on McVeigh, Toobin ignored the fact that former Attorney General Merrick Garland, among others, failed to prosecute others involved in the bombing.

Garland, who was an up-and-coming federal prosecutor in 1995, actively attempted to steer the case away from McVeigh’s mysterious accomplice—known only as “John Doe 2.” A fuller account of Garland’s coverup can be read here.

To this day, the U.S. government says that the OKC bombing was a lone wolf terrorist attack—and Toobin’s book helped perpetrate that lie. Indeed, in his book, Toobin tried to explain away John Doe 2 by saying that a key witness, Elliott’s Body Shop owner Eldon Elliot, was mistaken in seeing McVeigh was with an accomplice when he rented his Ryder truck two days before the bombing.

In doing so, Toobin spread more misinformation by retreading the already debunked story that Elliot confused McVeigh and John Doe 2 with two other people who rented a Ryder truck a day later, on April 18. Elliot was not at his body shop on April 18, meaning he could not have confused McVeigh and John Doe 2 with the two people other people.

Elliott maintained until the day he died that he saw McVeigh with John Doe 2. And he’s not alone: Even the FBI admitted to still looking for John Doe 2 in 1996—almost a year after publicly calling off the investigation for him in June 1995.

Headline USA also recently interviewed a first-responder to the bombing who saw McVeigh with an accomplice, which puts the number of witnesses who saw John Doe 2 on April 19 up to at least 27.

Luckily for readers, there are far better resources on the true story of the Oklahoma City bombing—particularly Aberration in the Heartland of the Real: The Secret Lives of Timothy McVeigh, and Oklahoma City: What the Investigation Missed—and Why It Still Matters.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Would-Be Trump Assassin’s Son Sent to Prison after Pleading Guilty to Child Porn Possession

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Would-Be Trump Assassin’s Son Sent to Prison after Pleading Guilty to Child Porn Possession

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Oran Alexander Routh, the son of failed Trump assassin Ryan Routh, was remanded to custody on Wednesday after pleading guilty to one count of possessing child pornography.

Routh had been on house arrest, and he filed a motion to remain out of prison until he’s sentenced on May 14. But a federal judge denied that motion Wednesday.

Routh was initially arrested on Sept. 24 for possessing child pornography, after FBI agents allegedly found it on his electronic devices while searching his home in relation to his father’s alleged Sept. 15 assassination attempt against Donald Trump. He was indicted on two counts of child-porn possession on Sept. 30, and then hit with another superseding indictment on Oct. 28.

Earlier this month,he agreed to plea guilty to one charge of possessing child porn of a prepubescent minor or minor under the age of 12, and the Justice Department dropped the other charges.. Routh faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Law enforcement started investigating Oran for child pornography in late 2023, when the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, or NCMEC, flagged a video allegedly on his phone. NCMEC passed that tip along to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, which visited his mother’s home last February. Law enforcement didn’t follow up until Oran’s father allegedly tried to kill Trump.

Meanwhile, a recent court filing in Ryan Routh’s assassination case suggests that child porn was also found on the father’s computer.

“Counsel for the defense and members of the defense team shall not possess for any purpose discovery material that contains Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM); alternative arrangements will be made for reviewing such discovery,” a protective order in Ryan Routh’s case said.

The father, who faces a federal charge of attempted assassination and a state attempted murder charge, hasn’t been indicted for possessing child porn.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Nonprofit Says ‘Crazy Fad’ of Gender Reassignment Ideology Is ‘a Fever that Is Breaking’

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Nonprofit Says ‘Crazy Fad’ of Gender Reassignment Ideology Is ‘a Fever that Is Breaking’

(TJ Martinell, The Center Square) Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning medical providers from performing gender reassignment or affirming procedures, such as mastectomies or prescribing puberty blockers, to individuals below the age of 19. In response, many medical centers and hospitals have since suspended those services.

Meanwhile, some states such as Washington have filed lawsuits against the EO, while California has threatened legal action against medical providers who discontinue those services.

Nevertheless, a senior fellow with a nationwide nonprofit that has investigated the practice of youth gender reassignment procedures says the EO indicates that it’s “a fever that is breaking.”

“It is unclear how some important people managed to convince themselves that they should give life-altering drugs and surgeries to children to change the appearance of their sex,” Do No Harm Senior Fellow Jay Green wrote in an email to The Center Square. “But, as the public learns more about this and policymakers become involved, it becomes harder to continue defending the practices. Of course, there will be pockets of resistance, but the direction we are headed in seems clear.”

Last year, Do No Harm unveiled a database showing that there were more than 13,000 gender reassignment procedures on minors between 2019-23. Among their findings was that some of the most prolific medical providers engaging in the practice were located in states that have since banned those procedures. Another finding was that some of these procedures were performed on children as young as 7 years old, with mastectomies constituting the vast majority of surgeries.

Among the medical providers to end these procedures was D.C.-based Children’s National Hospital, albeit prior to the EO it did not perform gender affirming surgeries.

Green wrote that “many medical providers recognize the significant liabilities associated with performing gender procedures on children already. So, when the government signals potential financial consequences, it was assumed that many, certainly not all, institutions would abandon or at least pause conducting these procedures.”

While Do No Harm now has a list of institutions that have suspended gender reassignment services, Green believes that the lack of a formal declaration from a hospital or medical center doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ignoring Trump’s EO.

“I strongly suspect that the vast majority of medical providers will comply with the executive order,” he said. “They have too much to lose. And the fact that many are not announcing their compliance suggests that they understand that it is increasingly difficult to justify gender procedures on children. Not advertising their surrender does not make it any less of a surrender.”

He concluded: “Some of the high-volume providers will lose a profit center, but giving children drugs and surgeries to alter the appearance of their sex is not central to what hospitals do. This whole thing has been a crazy fad. Hospitals and providers survived before gender ideology, and they’ll do just fine after they abandon these destructive procedures.”

Dem. Lawmaker Stops Speech after Seizure on House Floor

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Dem. Lawmaker Stops Speech after Seizure on House Floor

(Headline USA) Connecticut U.S. Rep. John Larson, who inexplicably stopped speaking during a speech Monday on the House of Representatives floor, said Tuesday night he had suffered a complex partial seizure.

The 76-year-old Democrat, who is serving his 13th term, said the House attending physician referred him for further evaluation following the incident. The diagnosis was determined after a round of tests, according to a news release from Larson’s office.

People who experience such seizures, which can last 30 seconds to two minutes, can appear to be daydreaming or staring blankly. They may also make some movements, such as chewing, according to Cedars-Sinai medical center.

During his speech, Larson is speaking normally before he suddenly stops, drops his arm and stares ahead, appearing to make chewing movements.

Larson, whose office on Monday said the incident was likely “an adverse reaction to a new medication,” attributed the complex partial seizure to a heart valve replacement.

“Fifteen years ago, I had a heart valve replacement due to a variation in the shape of my aortic valve that I was born with,” he said in a statement. “Sometimes, people with this condition can later develop symptoms such as the momentary change in speech or movement that was apparent yesterday. “

Larson said he has been prescribed medication that doctors told him will “greatly reduce the chance of this happening again.” Larson, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he plans to resume his congressional duties on Wednesday.

“I am looking forward to getting back to work for the people of Connecticut’s First District,” Larson said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Soros Drops $1M to Guard Wisc. Supreme Court the Left Bought in 2023

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Soros Drops $1M to Guard Wisc. Supreme Court the Left Bought in 2023

(Headline USA) Billionaire megadonors are opening their wallets to influence the high-stakes race for control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The winner of the April 1 election between Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford and Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel will determine whether the court in battleground Wisconsin will remain under liberal control or flip to a conservative majority.

The 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court race, which was also for ideological control of the court, was the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history.

Some of the country’s most deep-pocketed political megadonors are getting involved.

Far-left oligarch George Soros gave $1 million to the Wisconsin Democratic Party in January. Other large donors included Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker at $500,000; Milwaukee philanthropist Lynde Uihlein at $490,000; Gloria Page, the mother of Google co-founder Larry Page, at $470,000; and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman at $250,000.

After those donations came in, the Democratic Party made three transfers to Crawford’s campaign totaling $2 million. The party previously gave Crawford $1 million.

“Susan Crawford is George Soros’ ideal investment,” Schimel’s campaign said in a statement Tuesday. “On Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, Susan Crawford has an agenda and Soros is buying into it.”

Under Wisconsin law, individuals can’t give more than $20,000 to Supreme Court candidates. But political parties can receive unlimited donations, which they can then give to the candidates.

Crawford has raised more than $7.7 million since she got into the race in June, including $3 million from the state Democratic Party.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been at the center of some of the battleground state’s largest battles in recent years, including the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and legislative redistricting.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Dems Fume after Trump Halts Biden DOJ’s Lawfare on NYC Mayor

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Dems Fume after Trump Halts Biden DOJ’s Lawfare on NYC Mayor

(Headline USA) New York City Mayor Eric Adams vowed to regain the public’s trust Tuesday as the Justice Department moved to halt his criminal corruption case, an extraordinary directive that officials said would free him up to assist in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

In his first public comments since federal prosecutors were ordered to drop the case, Adams said he was eager to “put this cruel episode behind us and focus entirely on the future of this city.”

He did not mention President Donald Trump by name but praised the Justice Department for its “honesty,” adding that he would “never put any personal benefit above my solemn responsibility as your mayor.”

The mayor’s brief address at City Hall came one day after acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told federal prosecutors in Manhattan to dismiss the bribery charges “as soon as is practicable.”

In a two-page memo, Bove said the Justice Department reached the decision “without assessing the strength of the evidence.” Rather, he claimed the case was politically motivated and said the dismissal would allow Adams to “devote full attention and resources” to combating illegal immigration and violent crime.

Adams, who was elected as a centrist Democrat, had already shifted rightward following his indictment in September, praising Trump and expressing a willingness to roll back some of the city’s protections for undocumented migrants. But in the wake of the memo, he is facing a barrage of criticism from those who say he is now beholden to the Trump administration’s agenda.

“It certainly sounds like President Trump is holding the Mayor hostage,” Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement Tuesday. “I have supported the Mayor, but he has been put in an unfair position — even for him — of essentially political blackmail.”

Several of the mayor’s challengers in the Democratic Party also suggested Adams would now put Trump’s interests over those of New Yorkers. Asked on Tuesday if the mayor was compromised, Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, responded: “I truly don’t know.”

The task of carrying out the Justice Department’s order now falls to Danielle Sassoon, a seasoned prosecutor who was appointed acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan just days after Trump took office.

Her office declined to comment and has not indicated what it plans to do next. In a letter sent last month, prosecutors in the Adams case praised the strength of the evidence, dismissing the mayor’s claim of political prosecution as an attempt “to shift the focus away from the evidence of his guilt.”

Under the terms laid out in the memo, the charges could still be refiled after the November mayoral election. Dismissal of the case should be conditional, Bove said, on Adams agreeing in writing that prosecutors are legally allowed to bring the charges back if they choose.

That means the threat of a renewed prosecution will hover over Adams in all of his dealings with the Trump administration while he is mayor.

“I have not seen anything like this before,” said Arlo Devlin-Brown, the former chief of public corruption at the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan. “For a case that’s already been charged to be reversed in the absence of some real new development in the merits of the case is highly unusual.”

Even with some uncertainty about what happens next, Adams struck a tone of vindication Tuesday, describing the criminal prosecution against him as an “unnecessary ordeal” that had been sensationalized in the media.

“Who I am is not in the headlines, it’s in my history,” he said. “As I said from the outset, I never broke the law and I never would.”

Federal prosecutors charged Adams in September with accepting illegal campaign contributions and lavish travel perks worth more than $100,000 — including expensive flight upgrades and luxury hotel stays — while serving in his previous job as Brooklyn borough president.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

FBI Argues in Court that It Had Discretion to Let Jeffrey Epstein Operate w/ Impunity

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FBI Argues in Court that It Had Discretion to Let Jeffrey Epstein Operate w/ Impunity

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A group of Jeffrey Epstein victims is suing the FBI for allowing his sex-trafficking network to operate with impunity—but the bureau filed a motion to dismiss last week, arguing that it had the discretion to do so.

The FBI’s Feb. 5 motion to dismiss is in response to 17 anonymous Epstein victims, as well as two that are named: Sandra Ward and Laura Newman. Those victims allege that the FBI “failed to take appropriate action in light of complaints made regarding Epstein and subsequently botched and covered up investigations for years.”

The FBI’s motion to dismiss doesn’t contest the victims’ core allegation, but it argues that it had the legal discretion to decide whether to let Epstein operate his sex-trafficking ring.

“Plaintiffs point to no non-discretionary duty that governed the FBI’s decision making. Absent such a mandatory directive, the FBI maintains discretion in how to follow-up on tips of criminal conduct. Courts have made it clear that decisions by FBI employees on whether to investigate and follow-up on information they received from the public are ones in which the FBI is afforded broad discretion,” the Justice Department argued in the motion to dismiss.

“The FBI employees who received tips from the public were not constrained to take mandatory and specific steps during their assessment of the tips. FBI personnel retain discretion to determine whether a tip indicates a credible threat that is appropriate for FBI involvement,” the DOJ argued.

The Epstein victims have not yet filed their reply to the FBI’s Feb. 5 motion to dismiss.

The survivors initially filed their lawsuit in New York in February 2024, nearly a year after they filed a complaint with the Justice Department over the matter. A judge there ruled that they couldn’t proceed anonymously, and so they refiled their case in Washington DC last September.

Their lawsuit recounts the FBI’s long, sorry track record on the Epstein case, starting when the bureau ignored a complaint from Epstein victim Maria Farmer in 1996.

“Between 1996 and 2006, the FBI continued to receive reports, complaints and tips concerning the illegal sex trafficking of women and underage minors, sex abuse and human rights violations committed by Jeffrey Epstein and associates. In March of 2005, the FBI was alerted by the Palm Beach Police Department of child prostitution. In fact, there was a 14-year-old girl who was solicited to Epstein’s mansion for sex,” the lawsuit said.

Even when the FBI opened an investigation into Epstein in 2006, the result was a sweetheart deal, where he pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor in exchange for non-prosecution. Epstein served 13 months in jail, during which time he was allowed to leave for work release during the day. The FBI then closed its investigation in 2008, allowing Epstein to again run amok for another decade.

After Epstein’s 2008 unusual plea deal, more reports, tips and complaints were received by the FBI concerning sex with teenagers, minors, sex trafficking and abuse, the lawsuit continued.

“The FBI was aware of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring between New York, Palm Beach, New Mexico, Paris and the U.S. Virgin Islands which continued after Epstein was a registered sex offender,” the lawsuit said.

“It was not until 11 years later, Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019, and charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy. Epstein died in jail before the case could be prosecuted for these heinous crimes.”

The victims are asking the court to award them damages for the FBI’s negligence.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Bannon Strikes Plea Deal to Avoid MORE Jail Time over Border-Wall Scam

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Bannon Strikes Plea Deal to Avoid MORE Jail Time over Border-Wall Scam

(Headline USA) Steve Bannon pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding donors to a private effort to build a wall on the U.S. southern border, ending a case the conservative strategist decried as a “political persecution.”

Spared from jail as part of a plea deal, he left court saying he “felt like a million bucks.”

Bannon, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty in state court in Manhattan to one count of scheme to defraud, a low-level felony. The case involved We Build the Wall, a non-profit that Bannon himself once suspected was a scam.

Bannon, 71, must stay out of trouble for three years to avoid additional punishment, including possible jail time. He also can’t raise money or serve as an officer or director for charities in New York and can’t use, sell, or possess any data gathered from border wall donors.

Bannon had been scheduled to go to trial March 4.

His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said Bannon wanted to “put up a fight,” but opted to plead guilty after weighing how a jury in heavily Democratic Manhattan might judge him. Under the deal, prosecutors agreed to drop money laundering and conspiracy charges against him.

Bannon’s plea deal came just days after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the Justice Department to investigate what Trump called the “weaponization of prosecutorial power.”

Outside court, Bannon urged Bondi to immediately open criminal investigations into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted him, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump over his business practices and is leading legal challenges to his administration’s policies.

Bragg “can call a grand jury at any time” and “set up criminal charges on the most bogus efforts,” Bannon said. He called James the “queen of lawfare” and warned that Trump and his allies “ought to be worried about this out-of-control city.”

Bragg and James’s office didn’t immediately respond to Bannon’s comments.

Bragg took up the case and charged Bannon with state offenses after Trump cut a federal prosecution short with a pardon in the final hours of his first term in 2021. Presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes, not state offenses.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

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