Thursday, March 27, 2025

March 27, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

US boosts Iran strike options with aircraft carrier and bomber deployments . . . Although little noticed, the Trump administration just took a significant step toward strengthened military options for possible strikes on Iran's nuclear program.It did so via Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's ordering of the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to relocate from the East China Sea to the Middle East. Hegseth also extended the deployment of the USS Harry S. Truman strike group, operating off Yemen in the Gulf of Aden. A third carrier strike group, the USS Nimitz, is in the Pacific Ocean but could be in the Middle East within three to four weeks of orders. Washington Examiner

Politics

Trump sounds off after 'Highly Conflicted' Obama-nominated judge assigned Signal chat lawsuit . . . President Donald Trump sounded off on Truth Social early Thursday after Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia was assigned to preside over a lawsuit lodged against several Trump administration officials and the National Archives and Records Administration. The Obama-nominated judge has also been presiding over a lawsuit challenging Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies act for authority to deport Venezuelan members of Tren de Aragua, which the U.S. has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Fox News

Conservative Group Seeks DOJ, FEC Probes of Jasmine Crockett . . . A conservative organization filed requests for federal investigations into Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, regarding suspicious ActBlue campaign contributions, as well as alleged voter intimidation. The Coolidge Reagan Foundation wants the Justice Department, the Federal Election Commission, and the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate Crockett's actions.The letter to the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section and Civil Rights Division focused on a social media post from Crockett depicting stick figures of herself and her Democrat colleague—New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—beating up a Republican voter. Daily Signal

AOC is getting a run for her money for the title of silliest Democrat in Congress. If Crockett is the new face of the Democrat Party, Republicans can rejoice.

Appeals court upholds Judge Boasberg's blockade on Venezuelan gang deportations . . . A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a judge's blockade on President Trump using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang suspects, saying the administration appears to be stretching the law too far. The 2-1 decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia leaves U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's restraining order in place, marking a setback for Mr. Trump. Washington Times

U.S. Prosecutors Probe Tip About the Timing of Pfizer Vaccine . . . Soon after President Trump won the presidential election in November, British drugmaker GSK brought an unusual claim to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, according to people familiar with the matter. A senior GSK scientist, who formerly worked at rival Pfizer, had told GSK colleagues that Pfizer delayed announcing the success of its Covid vaccine in 2020 until after that year's election. Wall Street Journal

Pennsylvania upset stirs GOP concern . . . An upset victory in a state Senate race in Pennsylvania is the latest development to give Democrats hope of growing grassroots enthusiasm in the first few months of President Trump's second term. Democratic East Petersburg Mayor James Malone's surprise victory over his GOP rival in a Trump-friendly district follows other under-the-radar wins the party has pulled off since the beginning of the year. The Hill

Culture

NPR CEO, Who Called Trump 'Deranged Racist Sociopath,' says No 'Political Bias' at Broadcaster . . . NPR CEO Katherine Maher testified Wednesday to Congress that she's "never seen … political bias" at the taxpayer-funded outlet, a comment that provoked laughter. "Is NPR biased?" Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) asked Maher."Congressman, I have never seen any instance of—" Maher said. "Never?" Jordan said. "—of political bias determining editorial decisions, no," Maher continued. The answer prompted laughter that can be heard in video of the hearing. But she acknowledged that the outlet delivered poor coverage of two politically charged stories: the Hunter Biden laptop and the origins of COVID-19. Washington Free Beacon

Defund Big Bird now. He's a communist, probably.

Course Correction: How Conservatives Are Reclaiming Pop Culture . . . Conservatives struggled to engage the culture for years, and in some cases, willingly left the space to the radical Left. Trends within entertainment point to a growing desire from consumers for content that isn't aimed at pushing a leftist political agenda. Daily Signal

National Security

Details Revealed: Inside the CCP's United Front Work in Minnesota . . . On the 1300 block of North Eustis Street in St. Paul, Minnesota, a ten-minute drive from the Governor's Mansion, sits a brutalist brick building that houses a secret Chinese Communist Party front operation that serves several functions for the CCP — none of them good for the United States. Out of this building, CCP operatives curry favor with politicians like Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and provide various services for Chinese Americans in Minnesota who are still loyal to Beijing, including hosting meet-and-greets with CCP diplomats and dignitaries. Breitbart

And to think, Tim Walz, so enamored of Communist China, might have become vice president.

Trump changes his tune on Signalgate: 'I always thought it was Mike' . . . President Donald Trump tentatively blamed national security adviser Mike Waltz for the Signal leak scandal – while continuing to vigorously defend Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth – during a Wednesday evening executive order signing. "Mike Waltz, I guess he said, he claimed responsibility," Trump said. "I would imagine it had nothing to do with anyone else. It was Mike, I guess I don't know. I always thought it was Mike." Politico

DHS Chief Issues Warning to Illegal Aliens During Visit to Prison Holding Deported Criminals . . . "If you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face," Noem said while standing in front of a prison cell holding deported illegal aliens. "First of all, do not come to our country illegally. You will be removed and you will be prosecuted," the DHS secretary said. Daily Signal

Money

Taxpayers Spent Billions Covering the Same Medicaid Patients Twice . . . Health insurers got double-paid by the Medicaid system for the coverage of hundreds of thousands of patients across the country, costing taxpayers billions of dollars in extra payments. The insurers, which are paid by state and federal governments to cover low-income Medicaid recipients, collected at least $4.3 billion over three years for patients who were enrolled—and paid for—in other states, a Wall Street Journal analysis of Medicaid data found. Wall Street Journal

Trump Announces 25% Tariff On Imported Cars . . . President Trump announced on Wednesday that he would impose 25 percent tariffs on all cars imported into the United States, a sweeping measure aimed at revitalizing domestic manufacturing and reducing the nation's trade imbalance. The tariffs, set to take effect on April 2, will apply to finished cars and trucks shipped into the country, including American brands manufactured overseas. Breitbart

You should also know

CIA confirmed Ark of the Covenant's existence using remote viewing, resurfaced declassified docs claim . . . The CIA claimed to have confirmed the existence of the Ark of the Covenant by way of remote viewing — aka extra sensory perception or ESP — alleging the mysterious and sacred object is guarded by "entities" with an "unknown" power, a recently resurfaced declassified document claims. In a remote viewing session on Dec. 5, 1988, remote viewer #32 was tasked with identifying a target that, unbeknownst to them, ended up being the storied Ark of the Covenant, according to document, which was declassified on Aug. 8, 2000, and has been circulating on social media. New York Post

Kennedy Center Is $40 Million In Debt, Will Make Major Cuts . . . The Kennedy Center is $40 million in debt, and will soon begin "reducing expenses" to address its "difficult" financial situation, The Daily Wire has learned. Kennedy Center Chief Financial Officer Donna Arduin emailed staff at noon Wednesday "in the spirit of transparency" to share "the difficult reality of our current financial situation." Daily Wire

VP Vance shoots a medium-range machine gun at Quantico

Guilty Pleasures

Vastly obese man abandons buffet to start slamming 4-wheeler into Teslas . . . An ATV-riding Texan was a massive problem to Tesla owners when he allegedly rammed his 4-wheeler into multiple cars during an unprovoked hit-and-run spree on Tuesday. Demarqeyun Marquize Cox was arrested after one of his alleged attacks was recorded by the Tesla he purposely ran into, police in Texarkana, Texas announced. The 33-year-old allegedly spotted the electric vehicle sitting in the parking lot of a Golden Palace Chinese buffet while its owner having lunch inside the restaurant. New York Post