Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted
Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted Thursday in federal court on charges of making false statements to Congress and obstructing its Russia probe investigation. The two-page indictment alleges Comey lied to the Senate in September 2020, when he testified he had not authorized anyone to leak information from his private memos documenting conversations with President Trump. He had shared those memos in 2017 with The New York Times through Columbia Law professor Daniel Richman, which lead to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Comey maintains that he is innocent and that he has done nothing wrong.
Charlie Kirk’s Memorial
Nearly 100,000 Conservatives and Christians from around the country gathered last Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona to attend a five-hour memorial service for Charlie Kirk. TPUSA says they tracked 277,000 phone pings near the memorial, indicating that many more were present in the surrounding area. Worship singers included Chris Tomlin, Phil Wickham and Kari Jobe, while speakers ranged from Charlie’s pastor to the President. Vice President Vance called Kirk “a martyr for the Christian faith.” Through tears, Kirk's widow, Erika, extended forgiveness to the alleged killer of her husband, “That man… that young man… I forgive him.”
Foreign Policy Takeaways from the U.N. Meeting in New York
🇮🇱 Statehood for Palestine: As the 193 U.N. member countries convened in New York, top on the docket was a vote on statehood for Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), with a majority of countries formally recognizing Palestine, while the U.S. and Israel remained holdouts. However, Trump also said he won't let Netanyahu annex the West Bank. Those who support an independent state for Palestine say they do not recognize the legitimacy of Hamas but rather of the Palestinian people themselves, and favor returning rule to the Palestinian Authority.
🇺🇦 Hardball with Russia: President Trump said he thinks Ukraine can “win” against Russia and potentially reclaim all lost territory, and encouraged NATO nations to shoot down Russian planes and drones that enter their airspace. He stated, “Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger.’”
🇸🇾 Former Jihadi comes to Peace Council: Former al-Qaeda leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, now the president of Syria, made a controversial visit to New York to address the U.N. General Assembly (the first Syrian leader to do so for nearly 60 years). He also met with General David Petraeus (a key figure in the Global War on Terrorism) and Marco Rubio, despite having once carried a $10 million U.S. bounty.
More News
💊 White House Tylenol Warning Sparks Medical Controversy: The Trump administration announced that the use of acetaminophen (Tylenol's active ingredient) during pregnancy is a potential cause of autism, urging pregnant women to avoid the common painkiller except during high-risk fevers.
Legacy media and some public health experts dismissed the conclusions, but one notable stakeholder has for years viewed the evidence as credible enough to act upon, at least privately: the makers of Tylenol. Documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show that officials at Janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson, have been worried about the effects of Tylenol on pregnancy for at least seven years. “The weight of the evidence is starting to feel heavy to me,” said Rachel Weinstein, U.S. director of epidemiology for Janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson, in 2018. (Johnson & Johnson marketed Tylenol at the time.)
And the official Tylenol X account posted back in 2017, “We actually don’t recommend using any of our products while pregnant.”
In a notice to doctors, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used milder language than the president, saying that doctors should consider limiting the use of Tylenol, while also taking into account that it is the safest over-the-counter option to treat fever and pain in pregnant women, which can also harm maternal and fetal health. “To be clear, while an association between acetaminophen and autism has been described in many studies, a causal relationship has not been established, and there are contrary studies in the scientific literature,” the FDA wrote.
🚔 ICE Facility Shooting: A gunman opened fire on a Dallas ICE detention center Wednesday, killing one detainee and critically injuring two others before taking his own life. Officials say the gunman was targeting ICE agents but hit detainees instead. The attack marks the fourth assault on a Texas ICE facility this year, with officials reporting ICE officer attacks are up nearly 700 percent.
🚨 Nearly 275 Plainclothes FBI Agents Deployed in J6 Crowd: An FBI after-action report kept secret for four years reveals the FBI deployed 274 plainclothes agents to the Capitol during January 6th without proper safety equipment or coordination with other law enforcement. FBI Director Christopher Wray has been asked about this multiple times by Congress and gave only vague statements that didn’t answer the question.
👮♀️ Antifa Designated as Terrorist Organization: President Trump signed an executive order Monday designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, citing their “pattern of political violence designed to suppress lawful political activity.” The order directs all federal agencies to investigate and dismantle Antifa operations following Charlie Kirk's assassination.
📺 Jimmy Kimmel Returns After Brief Suspension: ABC brought “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” back to air after less than a week off following his grossly inaccurate statement about Charlie Kirk's assassin being a Trump supporter. Kimmel offered, “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. ... Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group. ... It was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. ... But I understand that to some, that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both.” About a quarter of ABC affiliates initially refused to air the show, citing concerns about ABC’s broadcast standards. All these stations have now brought the Kimmel show back.
🇬🇧 UK Introduces Mandatory Digital ID Cards: Britain will require all citizens and permanent residents to obtain digital identification cards to get work, reviving a controversial idea abandoned in the 1950s after World War II. Supposedly the move is to help crack down on illegal immigration, by keeping illegals from obtaining work and thereby deterring them from entering the country. But Britain already has a work authorization system, and employers can be fined £60,000 per illegal employee under the existing law if they have not done the correct checks.
🇺🇸 New Presidential Walk of Fame Unveiled: The White House unveiled a new “Presidential Walk of Fame” with gold-framed photos of all presidents displayed chronologically along the west colonnade. Notably, an autopen machine replaces former President Biden's portrait in the display.
📚 Merriam-Webster Gets An Update: With this being the the dictionary's first hardcover revision in more than 20 years, it’s interesting to see what new words made the cut. Merriam-Webster added 5,000 new words to its Collegiate Dictionary's 12th edition, including “farm-to-table,” “beast mode,” “cold brew” and “doomscroll.” They also added this jewel: “petrichor.” Have any idea what it means? Reply with a guess before you look it up.
🥼 A Stubborn Russian Man [spoiler alert, don’t read while eating]: We understand not going to the doctor for every tiny ache and pain, but for some things there comes a point. … A 65-year-old Russian man finally had a basketball-sized neck tumor removed after refusing hospital visits for 16 years. The growth made it appear as if the man had two heads. Doctors at the Kirov Regional Clinical Hospital were reportedly “amazed” as the patient explained that he’d tried using simple ointments to treat the tumor, with zero success.
