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US Conducting Airstrikes in Iran as Tehran Escalates, Talks Falter

 The U.S. military said Wednesday that it launched strikes on Iranian targets in response to Tehran's attack on American forces in the Middle East. The latest barrage came after the U.S. partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Iran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers.

The new strikes on Iran are “a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attack” U.S. Central Command said in a post on social media Wednesday evening.

U.S. President Donald Trump had vowed to retaliate after Iran targeted a base in Jordan that hosts U.S. troops.

Elsewhere, drone strikes ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta, according to Ambrey, a British maritime security firm. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes on a U.S.-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker. No injuries were reported.

The flare-ups on multiple fronts after several days of relative calm raised the risk of a return to all-out war. It also underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has jolted the world economy and is unpopular among Americans. The fighting was also likely to add to concerns that the U.S. is further drawing down already diminished stockpiles of sophisticated munitions needed to defend its bases and allies.

Egypt, a close U.S. ally and regional mediator, is one of the only countries in the Middle East to have been spared direct military action during the war. A strike by Iran or its allies, if confirmed, would mark a significant widening of the conflict.

Asked during an Oval Office event if Iran was responsible for the strikes on the natural gas vessels, Trump responded: “It's a little more of the same.”

“It’s going to be straightening out,” he added. “In the meantime, we’re going to be hitting them very hard because it’s our turn to hit them. They know it’s coming. They’re asking us not to do it.”

Saudi Arabia had accused the Iraqi militias of firing drones against its oil facilities over the past two days. An umbrella group of Iraqi militias initially denied the allegations, while another Iran-backed group — the Houthi rebels in Yemen — said they had attacked Saudi energy facilities as part of a separate but related conflict.

Before the latest eruption, mediators had expressed optimism about bringing the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table. An interim agreement collapsed in recent weeks over renewed fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy supplies that Iranian attacks have again effectively closed.

A regional official said mediators are “still trying with both sides” to restore calm and get the ceasefire back on track. He gave no details on whether progress was being made and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door diplomacy.

Regional countries will continue to push to de-escalate the situation, said an Arab official, adding that prospects for successful mediation were slim as both sides continue to launch attacks on the other and have shown no inclination to stop. “We're in a very bad place right now,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe an internal assessment of the situation.

The renewed hostilities sent oil prices spiking. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.3% to $88.093 a barrel.

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it fired ballistic missiles at Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a key U.S. military hub for the region, in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency.

Jordan’s military said five Iranian missiles had been intercepted and destroyed. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The U.S. military later announced that American and Saudi fighter aircraft had struck multiple logistics and weapons sites in eastern Iraq in response to the alleged drone attacks on Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Defense Ministry warned that it “does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression.”

The Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of primarily Shiite Iranian-backed armed groups that is officially under the command of the Iraqi military, said at least 20 fighters were killed and 32 wounded in the overnight strikes. Six Iranian advisers were also killed, according to two Iraqi militia officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. Iran's deputy governor for political, security and social affairs in Markazi province told Iranian state media that four advisers were killed.

The coalition joined the fight against the Islamic State group after it seized large sections of Iraq in 2014. The Iraqi government later designated the coalition as an “independent military formation” within the armed forces, but the militias have significant autonomy and some have attacked U.S. facilities.

Iraq’s government decried the U.S.-Saudi attacks, though a Fox News reporter said in an on-air segment that Trump told him they were done in coordination with the Iraqi government.

The office of Iraqi President Nizar Amidi called the airstrikes “a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.”

Iraq’s National Security Council said the strikes had been carried out “while the Iraqi government was in contact with relevant parties to investigate and address all the concerns raised by the Saudi and American sides.” It said “a number of innocent people” had been killed and wounded.

A visit to Saudi Arabia by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi that had been scheduled for Thursday was postponed indefinitely, said two Iraqi government officials on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Saudi Arabia is also locked in a renewed conflict with the Houthis. The rebels have declared a blockade of Saudi shipping that could choke off another crucial Middle East trade route, the Bab el-Mandeb strait from the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden.

On Monday, the Houthis said they had launched drones targeting oil facilities used to transport oil across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, a key bypass for Saudi exports blocked by Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

The rebels said their attack was in response to a Saudi drone they said had breached Yemen’s airspace.

Planet Labs satellite imagery from Monday analyzed by AP showed damage to Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil-processing facility. The massive facility is capable of processing approximately 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Separately, a regional official said an oil refinery in Jazan, on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, had temporarily shut down due to “relatively significant” damage from a Houthi attack on Saturday. The official, who was not authorized to brief journalists and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it would take several days to be repaired. The refinery produces 400,000 barrels per day.

The Strait of Hormuz has been a major flashpoint in the conflict. Iran's deputy foreign minister said his country had rejected a proposal from Oman, which lies on the other side of the strait, to jointly manage ship traffic.

In an interview with Iran’s state-run television, Kazem Gharibabadi said Oman's proposal included dividing the strait into two routes.

Iran offered a counterproposal with a temporary plan for the transit of vessels through its territorial waters, he said, adding that Tehran's policy is for the strait “never to return to its prewar situation,” when ships moved freely.

Brandon Gill and Ted Cruz Have a Field Day With James Talarico's Old Fauci Post

On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to questions about his actions during the COVID pandemic and his diary entries. 

 

Although he refused to answer questions, he got eviscerated six ways to Sunday by senators including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH). Paul even had one of Fauci's attorneys removed from the hearing.

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READ MORE: Hawley's Hilarious Exchange With Fauci Ends With One Brutal Question

'Who the F**k Do You Think You Were?' Moreno Goes Thermonuclear on Fauci and His 'Dirtbag' Lawyer

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I think it is safe to say the sanctification of Fauci died Wednesday, and reality came on the scene with the power of a freight train.

Not only did Sen. Rand Paul skewer Fauci, but he also said they would now be pursuing a contempt vote against him. Then the Department of Justice will have to decide whether or not to proceed with action. So consequences may be coming, finally.

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READ MORE: Contemptible: Rand Paul Schedules Vote to Hold Fifth Amendment-Loving Fauci Accountable

Rand Paul Managed to Silence Fauci, While Underscoring the Egregious Lies Fauci Spouted

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The furor over Fauci then managed to hit James Talarico, the leftist Democrat candidate for Senate in Texas. 

 

Folks in Texas found a very embarrassing post on Talarico's X account — Talarico celebrating that he got a Fauci action figure for Christmas in 2021. 

I got the coolest action figure for Christmas!

Thank you to all the health care superheroes working today. Let’s help by getting vaxxed and boosted! 🎄💉 pic.twitter.com/tVWUrE5lyV

— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) December 25, 2021

That's when the leftist cult narrative was turning him into a God-like "superhero" — as opposed to what he truly was. 

Republican Rep. Brandon Gill (TX-26) pointed to the post and nuked Talarico good. 

I wouldn't doubt it for a minute. 

Then there was the campaign account of Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, realizing Talarico's post is not going to go over well in Texas. 

Talarico's already being roundly mocked for many of his other comments. This one may just do him in. 

Finally, there was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). This was gold. 

James Talarico called Fauci a superhero.

Today, Fauci took the Fifth 111 times.

Apparently accountability was sold separately. https://t.co/Mm4UYgaNPy

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 29, 2026

"James Talarico called Fauci a superhero. Today, Fauci took the Fifth 111 times," Cruz said.

"Apparently accountability was sold separately," Cruz said about the action figure. 

In addition to being ridiculous and embarrassing, it's just one more thing that shows Talarico doesn't have the judgment to be a senator from Texas. 

 

Newsom’s Affair, Revisited: New Details, Conflicting Accounts, and 2028 Fallout

In the 20 years since having an affair with her boss, then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Ruby Rippey has only spoken about it publicly one time, in 2018, when she said that she didn't believe that "Me Too" applied to her situation, and has consistently refused to give more details. That changed Tuesday, when Vanity Fair published her essay, "How I blew up - then rebuilt - my life," in which Newsom's former commission secretary shared a timeline and details about the affair that don't line up with what the California governor and his allies have said over the years, and which might be problematic for Newsom's presidential aspirations.

 

Until now, we've known very little about the affair. The news broke in February 2007, when Rippey's then-husband, Alex Tourk, 

 

resigned from his positions as Newsom's deputy chief of staff and campaign manager. He'd just learned of the affair from Rippey, and confronted Newsom about it. Newsom confirmed it publicly, and San Francisco media reported that "the mayor has privately said to friends that there were only a couple of encounters."

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who'd just started dating Gavin at the time, went a bit further, blaming Rippey for the affair: 

"If people did research into the scandal ... the woman is the culprit. Alex Tourk is a nice man and it saddens me that his wife did that to him."

Then, in an 820-word comment on an article blasting her for that remark, Siebel Newsom made this troubling characterization of the events, parroting Gavin's timeline:

"it was a few nothing incidents when she showed up passed out outside of his door."

In his memoir released earlier this year, Newsom described the relationship as "the stupidest and also briefest of affairs" and laments his betrayal of Tourk. He also mentions that his sister, Hilary Newsom Callan, had observed that Rippey was "hanging a bit too close" to him during that time, subtly casting her as the aggressor.

11 Months Is Not 'A Couple of Encounters'

But from Rippey's essay we learn that the affair started on July 2, 2005, and continued "on and off" until May 19, 2006, when she checked in to rehab in Arizona. They met up to drink and have sex in multiple locations throughout that time, she writes: his penthouse in Russian Hill, a private back room in a North Beach bar, the W Hotel in Los Angeles.

The flirtation started a few months before that, though, when she caught Newsom staring at her during a casual dinner at a Mexican restaurant - while her husband was sitting right there. His choice of pickup line is odd, but her description is classic Newsom.

As the waiter takes orders, I feel the mayor looking at me. I glance up—across the table—back at him. As if caught off guard, he reacts, pointing at me.

“Hey—you look really good,” he says. “You’ve lost all your pregnancy weight.” There’s an awkward laugh. 

Rippey admittedly had a drinking problem for quite some time before these events; in the essay, she mentions that her second DUI occurred more than a decade before the affair. At the time of this dinner, she was sober, but that wouldn't last long.

I reach for another chip and stare at my husband’s margarita, the salt rim catching the light.

I want it.

But I’m in another self-enforced stretch of sobriety, so I sit on my hands and wait it out.

He Seduced Her in Front of Her Husband

Rippey started working in Newsom's office from the beginning of his term as mayor, in January 2004, and it seems she caught his eye from the beginning and he engineered ways to be closer to her. She doesn't make that assertion, but one can connect the dots. She writes:

Just a month after taking office, he legalizes same-sex marriage. When it happens, I am seven months pregnant. I stand beneath the dome of City Hall in a maternity wrap dress and leopard kitten heels, deputized to marry couples.

She notes that her husband's office, as deputy chief of staff, is close to Newsom's, but down the hall from her private office, and that "some mornings, I bring [Tourk] two hard-boiled eggs in a Tupperware container." And then:

One day I am told my office has been reassigned. The mayor wants me at the desk outside his door, a gatekeeper. I understand the logic. It’s a new administration full of young staffers improvising their way through it. Still, losing my office feels like a demotion.

He wanted her as a gatekeeper, or eye candy?

After the encounter at the Mexican restaurant, she says she paid more attention to her appearance at work, desiring that approval and attention from her boss.

 

On the day that the physical affair started, the Rippey-Tourks and most of the City Hall crowd were attending the wedding of a fellow staffer in Napa. Rippey was drinking again, alternating champagne and wine, and was too nervous to eat her dinner. Then:

My boss and I end up in the narrow hallway outside the bathroom at the same time. We wait, across from each other. The space is tight. The silence stretches. He slips his hands into his tan trouser pockets and smiles—his usual shy, aw-shucks smile. I say nothing. I hold his gaze longer than I should.

The air changes.

By the time night falls, I am sitting on the edge of a hot tub with my feet in the water. He is across from me, slipping off his shoes and socks, rolling up his pant legs.

Where was Alex Tourk? He was there for the hot tub performance, then left.

My husband leaves soon after, irritated that I want to keep partying while he drives home to our one-year-old son.

Just so we're all clear on what's happening, Gavin Newsom was actively seducing his employee, who was married to another employee who happened to be his best friend, right in front of the guy. Gavin Newsom was seducing his best friend's wife, who'd clearly had a few too many, instead of encouraging her to go home with her visibly irritated husband.

It's as if he was waiting for Alex Tourk to leave.

Who does that? When normal people see a friend who's had a few too many at a wedding resisting their spouse's invitation to go home, they encourage that friend to go on home. Not Gavin.

Gavin then invited Rippey back to The Carneros Inn, a luxury resort in Napa then managed by The Plumpjack Group, in his chauffeured town car. With his sister (Plumpjack's CEO) and others also in the car, Gavin gave Rippey a foot massage.

She remembers nothing else until the next morning:

The next clear memory is getting into the back of my boss’s chauffeured town car, heading to The Carneros Inn.

Then nothing.

I wake the next morning beside him, still dressed. I am cold, almost shivering, and my dress—the one my mother warned me not to wear—is soaked from the waist down. I had passed out. I had also wet the bed. (It wasn’t the first time.)

She'd accidentally left a gold bracelet at the hotel in her hurry to get home, which Gavin returned to her the next week at work, subtly slipping it onto her desk as he passed.

From there, their texts shifted from work items to "something else," and everyone at work notices the shift in their interactions, except Tourk.

Cocaine-Fueled Nights

Over the course of the affair, Rippey's drinking problem morphed into raging alcoholism. She tried to use Antabuse, "a pill that promises to make me ill if I drink," in an effort to stop, but that didn't work, so she turned to cocaine:

Alone, cocaine doesn’t appeal much to me. But after one or two bottles of wine, it makes it so I can drink twice as much for twice as long.

The nights blur: rooftop bars, wine, cigarettes, and names I immediately forget. Strangers’ living rooms. Finishing the last lines long after I stop wanting them. The taxi ride home as the sun comes up.

Are we to believe that Gavin wasn't also partaking? That's a question that should be asked.

Coming Clean?

Rippey didn't tell Tourk about the affair until months after she returned from rehab, on advice of the care team, who told her, “We think it’s best for your sobriety not to tell him. Because this involves a public figure, the fallout could be devastating, and it could threaten your recovery.”

She then watched for months as her husband devoted all of his professional energies to a man who'd betrayed him in the most intimate way possible, and couldn't stay quiet. On January 13, 2007, she confessed the affair to Tourk. He packed his bags and left, telling her he needed a few weeks to think. They never slept under the same roof again, and eventually divorced.

Tourk requested a meeting with Newsom, Rippey says, because "He wants to hear it directly—to look him in the eye one last time." In that meeting, though, she says, "There is no straight answer."

Only in Newsom world is that "coming clean." Rippey certainly doesn't think it is:

That detail—subtle but significant—is the one that stays with me. It reads—to me, at least—as a version of events that gives him credit for something I had already done. Technically defensible, perhaps, but one that leaves the unmistakable impression that he, not I, was the one who told Alex the truth.

Why Now?

Ironically, it seems that Newsom's casual dismissal of the affair in his recent memoir might have sparked her desire to tell her version of the story. 

In January 2026, Rippey received a call from a former colleague who's currently an advisor to Newsom, informing her that Newsom wanted her to know that she appeared in a few pages of his upcoming memoir and offering to read them to her. Rippey declined, but asked, "Does he tell the truth?" The unnamed advisor laughed uncomfortably and said, "Well, we all remember things differently, don’t we, Ruby?"

Rippey says:

For my former boss, [the affair] is a footnote in a longer arc of ascent. For me, it is the fracture that split my life into before and after.

When I read the pages a few days later, a familiar feeling returns, the one of being written about by someone who assumes I won’t answer.

There might or might not be a connection here, but as it turns out, Kamala Harris was there for Rippey when all the cards were down. Harris, who Rippey describes as "a real girl's girl," called soon after Jennifer Siebel Newsom's disgusting remarks about Rippey, to check in. Rippey told her that a publisher had offered an advance for a memoir and that, being broke and "unemployable," she was considering taking it.

She listens, then says simply: “I wouldn’t say anything right now, Ruby. Just pause. More time will give you better perspective.”

It turns out to be the best advice I receive. I am newly sober and still inside the wreckage—unable to make sense of anything, let alone speak clearly about it.

So I stay silent.

Harris is currently the highest-polling potential Democrat candidate for president in 2028, and on Sunday Andrew Yang said he's heard that she's prepping to run. That's not an announcement, but the timeline is interesting.

Me, Too?

In 2018 Rippey said that she didn't believe her affair with Newsom fell under the "Me, Too" umbrella because she was a willing participant in the affair. She doesn't walk that back at all in this essay, but made the point that two things can be true at once:

Still, the reckoning exposed what I had missed: Power does not need to coerce. It only needs to exist. The responsibility to hold the line belongs to the one who holds it. That didn’t happen. But I didn’t stumble into the space left open—I saw a possibility and went for it.

Both things are true: I am responsible for what I did. Power does not distribute consequences evenly.

Her silence at the time and refusal to blame Newsom helped in her sobriety journey, she says. But it also allowed Newsom to escape the same consequences she faced in her personal and professional life.

Newsom Response

Newsom responded through a spokesperson, who said that the governor "acknowledged his role and publicly apologized nearly two decades ago when he was still mayor. In the time since, he met his wife, started a family, and has focused on serving Californians. He addressed this chapter of his life, including in his memoir, and out of respect for everyone involved, does not have anything further to add.” According to Politico, Newsom's advisers aren't even pushing back on the essay privately, "steer[ing] clear of disparaging comments."

 

The Latest Story Involving Sophie Cunningham Once Again Shows the WNBA Is a Clown Show League

I never thought I’d write this much about the WNBA, but here we are. I don’t typically watch this league, and a YouTube channel dedicated to its highlights mainly features clips of hard fouls and nasty injuries. The Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham and her teammate, Caitlin Clark, produce some good highlights, and they can play. Both are also disliked by the WNBA fanbase: Clark for being the face of the league, but not black and gay, and Cunningham for wanting to protect women's sports. 

The Indiana Fever played the Seattle Storm on Tuesday, and two fans wore clothing that provoked a lot of angry fans at the Climate Change Arena: t-shirts from XX-XY Athletics, which is a company that has supported Cunningham’s stance on transgender athletes in women’s sports—it’s also a scientifically accurate piece of apparel. Founder Jennifer Sey has been vocal on this topic. The triggered Storm fans knew too, and these kids were approached by these crazy people. We later found out it was the co-owner of the Storm 

BREAKING: I’m told that Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton confronted, verbally berated & cussed at the two young Sophie Cunningham supporters at the Fever vs Storm game Tuesday night.

Keaton called them “f****** insane” & said “How dare you come here and pull this s***?!"… pic.twitter.com/pLQ9g0jPz9

— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) July 29, 2026

Statement from Seattle Storm majority owner Ginny Gilder to @FOS on incident involving minority owner Celeste Keaton allegedly calling two Sophie Cunningham supporters “f——- insane” pic.twitter.com/DiR6MgdE4r

— Ryan Glasspiegel (@sportsrapport) July 29, 2026

Recommended

What @seattlestorm co-owner Celeste Keaton did last night is against the @WNBA fan code of conduct. Any other fan would be removed. Does she get special treatment? https://t.co/05Fc9fvZ6u

— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) July 29, 2026

The Seattle Storm apologized Wednesday for an exchange that took place between one of their co-owners and two fans during the team's 105-95 home loss to the Indiana Fever.

The incident occurred Tuesday night and began with a demonstration outside Climate Pledge Arena.

Ahead of the game, a crowd of a few dozen gathered to support Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and to promote a statewide ballot initiative, IL26-638, that would bar transgender students from participating in girls' athletics at Washington schools.

Some members of the group carried signs in support of Cunningham or wore T-shirts depicting the XX and XY chromosomes. Some of them were also inside the arena during the game.

[…]

"We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night's game. We apologize that this happened," Storm majority owner Ginny Gilder said in a statement released Wednesday. "Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome, and we remain committed to creating an inclusive environment where every fan is treated with respect."

Cunningham responded to the incident after the game:

I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind.

Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from… https://t.co/gIVWhEHi3Q

— Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) July 30, 2026

I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind. 

Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from me soon yay for gifts. 

Truly embarrassing of the co-owner. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is.

Celeste Keaton has been fined and suspended from the next five Storm home games.

The WNBA has confirmed to me that Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton has been suspended from attending the team's next five home games and has been fined. https://t.co/0jaSjUmMbn

— Jackson Thompson (@JackThompsonFOX) July 30, 2026

What a mess, and these people wonder why this league isn't growing like the NBA—it’s because of this. They can't stop getting in their own way. 

Absolute clown show.

The WNBA posted a video of Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers betting $400 on which woman’s team would win. Then deleted it after realizing this violates league rules. This entire league is run by morons. pic.twitter.com/c37nXDhCVf

 

Guess Which Republican Senator Is Being a Pain Over Todd Blanche As Attorney General

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is on a revenge tour. He’ll never admit it, but he’s whining about his side talking about canceling the August recess—he wants to go home—and folks being unrealistic about passing the SAVE America Act. Wrong, John. It can be passed easily, but the Senate GOP is loaded with too many panics, too many losers, and too many Cornyn folks who think nuking the filibuster is a bad idea. It’s going to happen; it’s only a question of which side it happens first. For now, the Republicans seem keen on sliding the loaded gun to the Democrats to use on them, because that’s how the GOP has operated for years. 

The last major move Mr. Cornyn appears to be preparing for is blocking Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination. The Texas Republican aims to prevent the Justice Department from restarting the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, which compensated Americans who were put through the wringer under the Biden DOJ 

 

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Tuesday there is still not a deal with the Trump administration that would pave the way for him to vote for Todd Blanche’s nomination to serve as attorney general, which could result in Blanche getting stuck in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Fake news alert: there is no ‘deal’ on Blanche nom. They know what they have to do,” Cornyn posted on social platform X.

The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Blanche’s nomination Thursday.

Cornyn, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), a fellow Republican on the panel, have pushed the Department of Justice to renegotiate a settlement with President Trump to make it explicitly clear that the federal government will not establish a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate people who say they were unfairly prosecuted during the Biden administration.

Recommended

Our senior Washington correspondent, Cam Arcand, asked Trump about Cornyn, Blanche, and what the hell is going on there?

Trump chalked up Cornyn's tantrum over this to his not getting the president's endorsement. 

 

Trump: I warned Biden about Fauci, but he gave him 'vast destructive power'

(Background) U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a bilateral meeting with President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office of the White House on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (R) : Former NIH Director Anthony Fauci listens during a hearing with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29, 2026 in Washington, DC.

In a Truth Social post, President Donald Trump reaffirmed his belief that COVID-19 originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, saying former President Joe Biden gave Dr. Anthony Fauci “vast destructive power” during the pandemic, despite continuously warning Biden that the doctor “was no good.”

Trump’s post came ahead of Fauci’s testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday after he was subpoenaed by committee Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky.). During the hearing, Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer questions on both COVID-19-related and unrelated topics more than 100 times.

Early Wednesday morning, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Fauci’s ideas were “crazy” and that he had repeatedly warned officials the virus could have come from the Wuhan Laboratory since “the beginning.”

“Many more people died of Covid under the Biden Administration than under the Trump Administration. “Operation Warp Speed” was a SPECTACULAR SUCCESS, in fact, many say, one of the most successful things ever done by an American President. I overrode Fauci on this. His ideas were CRAZY! Also, I said from the beginning that the Virus came from the Wuhan Laboratory in China. Fauci strongly disagreed, always trying to protect China,” Trump said Wednesday.

 

“I Inherited Fauci, who was there since the 1980’s, but with each passing day, relied less and less on him. He made too many bad calls, like on MASKS. Remember at the beginning he was an anti-masker. He then switched to a super-masker. In any event I didn’t let him shut the Country down, although he wanted to. I went the Federalist way, and let the governors decide. The Republican governors did a much better job than the Dumocrats,” the president continued.

“Fauci was largely taken out of play, and then along came Sleepy Joe Biden, who made Fauci a “King!” I called Biden to tell him Fauci was no good, either didn’t have a clue, or was dishonest. The call was well received, but sadly, not acted on. Biden went on to give Fauci vast destructive power. The rest is history!”

Trump Truth Social Post

Ahead of the hearing, Paul released more than 1,000 pages of Fauci’s diary, highlighting the conflicting statements the doctor made regarding the nature and origin of COVID-19 in both public and congressional statements during the pandemic.

 

Paul has called for the former chief medical advisor to be criminally investigated since the beginning of the pandemic, saying Fauci was dishonest in previous testimony to Congress.

 

Netanyahu Warns Iran’s Factions Will Test U.S. Resolve

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on Fox News’ Hannity and said something obvious that too many in Washington refuse to admit: Iran’s rulers are not a single, monolithic mind. They split over tactics, not pure ideology — and those tactical splits bend the way we show strength. His point deserves a lot more attention than the usual sour takes from the diplomatic choir.

Netanyahu: Iran’s “factions” judge U.S. resolve, not ideology

In the Fox interview, Mr. Netanyahu said plainly, “There are not ideological factions, as much as they differ on the assessment of how tough we are.” He added he’s “skeptical about the deal,” and praised President Donald J. Trump’s firmness. That is a tidy, strategic view: Tehran’s players decide whether to push or blink by testing America and its partners — not because they hold wildly different beliefs about the regime’s goals.

Why this matters now — strikes, diplomacy, and signal-reading

This interview aired while U.S.–Israel strikes and parallel U.S.–Iran talks were filling headlines. That is no coincidence. When military pressure and diplomatic talks happen at the same time, the message a leader sends matters. Netanyahu is telling American audiences and Tehran alike that toughness changes calculations. If Iran believes the United States and Israel will act, some Tehran players will be more cautious. If they think Washington will back down, they’ll try to exploit it — exactly what Netanyahu warned against.

 

Pressure plus talk — the only realistic path

Let’s be blunt: the fantasy that you can talk Iran into good behavior without risk is dangerous. Netanyahu’s remarks are a reminder that coercion and diplomacy are not opposites but partners. Keep the pressure on the nuclear and missile programs. Back Israel’s right to defend itself. And negotiate only from strength, not appeasement. That’s the message that will make Tehran’s pragmatists listen rather than let hardliners call the shots.

Bottom line: Read the signals and act

Netanyahu’s Hannity remarks are a clear nudge to Washington: if you want a deal that keeps Americans and Israelis safe, act in a way that convinces Tehran you mean it. Call it realpolitik, common sense, or plain stubbornness — it’s the only posture that has a chance of working. The question is whether our policymakers will read the signals or keep pretending firmness is optional. Time will tell, but hedging bets while Iran builds capabilities is a gamble no serious leader should take.

NJ Governor Admits Noncitizen Voting Error; Voters Demand Accountability

New Jersey’s governor stunned the state this week by admitting a Motor Vehicle Commission software error had wrongly registered thousands of noncitizens to vote — a revelation that will leave patriotic Americans wondering how our sacred ballot box was treated with such negligence. This was not a rumor or a partisan talking point; the governor herself announced the discovery and ordered an investigation, and voters deserve answers about who knew what and when.

Officials now say roughly 6,600 people who were not U.S. citizens were improperly added to New Jersey’s voter rolls, and fewer than 400 of those individuals actually cast ballots during the affected period. That figure — 6,600 on the rolls and nearly 400 who voted — is not trivial when you consider local races and the precedent it sets for election security nationwide.

The glitch reportedly operated between June 2023 and June 2024, and the state has said it will purge the improper registrations and replace the vendor tied to the faulty system as part of an internal review. Voters must demand a transparent, independent audit of the system and the vendor contracts so we can stop blaming clerical accidents and start enforcing real accountability.

This is exactly why conservatives have warned for years about automatic registration systems and lax verification: good intentions do not substitute for robust safeguards. Working Americans who pay taxes and follow the rules expect their votes to count and their nation’s institutions to protect the franchise from avoidable errors or political gamesmanship.

Washington has also been forced to reckon with the issue: the Justice Department sought detailed records, and the governor publicly resisted handing over private data, citing concerns about how it would be used — a standoff that raises questions about both federal oversight and state transparency. Our response should be clear-eyed: cooperation and checks, not secrecy or virtue-signaling.

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 This episode underscores a national fight over the integrity of our elections; the House has already moved to block noncitizen voting in the District of Columbia and repeal local measures that would allow it, showing there is some appetite in Congress to shore up the rules. Americans who love their country must push their state and federal leaders to finish the job — purge the rolls, prosecute intentional fraud, and restore trust before more ballots are lost to incompetence or indifference.

 

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