Friday, August 22, 2025

August 22, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Prosecutors secured evidence Comey authorized classified leaks, but declined charges . . . Federal prosecutors gathered evidence from James Comey's top lieutenants that he authorized the leak of classified information to reporters just before the 2016 election but declined to bring criminal charges, according to recently declassified memos that call into question the former FBI director's testimony to Congress. The bombshell revelations involving ex-FBI general counsel James Baker and ex-Comey chief of staff James Rybicki were memorialized in the documents. Just the News

Politics

New York appeals court tosses Trump's 'excessive' fraud fine in blow to AG Letitia James . . . A New York appeals court on Thursday tossed the roughly $500 million fine against President Trump in a defeat for New York Attorney General Letitia James, who won a conviction against him and his company on charges of inflating property value and deceiving banks. The appeals judges said the massive penalty violated the Eighth Amendment protection against excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishment. The five-judge panel revoked the fine. Washington Times

Trump vows to block wind and solar projects, calling them the 'scam of the century' . . . President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of the renewable energy industry on Wednesday, promising that his administration would not issue any approvals for new wind and solar power projects. "Any State that has built and relied on WINDMILLS and SOLAR for power are seeing RECORD BREAKING INCREASES IN ELECTRICITY AND ENERGY COSTS," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Washington Examiner

Ex-White House Official Who Defended Biden's Mental Acuity Met With Him Only Twice . . . Iam Sams, a former White House spokesperson who staunchly defended Joe Biden's mental acuity—attacking a former federal prosecutor who raised questions about it—only met the 46th president twice in person, said House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer. Comer, the Kentucky Republican who led most of the congressional probes of the Biden administration, noted that he spent more time with the former president than the official did. Daily Signal

Gavin Newsom Imitates Joe Biden: Says He'll Punch 'Sons of Bitches' Trump, Republicans 'In the Mouth

lol

Year Will End With 300,000 Fewer Federal Workers, Trump Official Says . . . There will be some 300,000 fewer federal workers on the government payroll by the end of December than there were in January, according to the Trump administration's top human resources official. That amounts to the loss of about one in eight federal civilian workers, and would be the largest single-year reduction since World War II. New York Times

Now let's find more.

Alina Habba 'unlawfully' working as US attorney in New Jersey, judge rules

In NYC Mayor's Race, Adams Asks Mamdani, 'Where in His Quran' Prostitution Is OK . . . Prostitution has taken center stage in the New York mayor's race, as front-runner Zohran Mamdani is pushing to decriminalize it in the city. This has prompted one of his opponents, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, this week to question the religious principles of Mamdani, a Muslim. "I don't know where in his Quran it states that it's OK for a woman to be on the streets selling her body," Addams said. Daily Signal

Trump Signs Order Establishing 'National Design Studio' to Improve Digital, Physical Federal Spaces

Rep. Chip Roy Is Running for Texas Attorney General in 2026 . . . U.S. Rep. Chip Roy announced Thursday he's running for Texas attorney general. First elected to the U.S. House from the 21st District of Texas in 2018, Roy, a Republican, has been a staunch conservative in Congress, opposing most big spending bills. "Texas has a long and proud tradition of rising to defend our homes, our freedom, and our communities," Roy said in a post on X. "I'm running for attorney general to carry on that legacy … unafraid to fight, unafraid to win, and unafraid to defend Texas at every turn." Daily Signal

And then he'll run for governor and then president. That's how this works.

Culture

Supreme Court Lets Trump Admin Axe Millions In NIH Grants Involving DEI, Gender Ideology . . . In a 5-4 vote, the majority enabled the administration to terminate nearly $783 million in grants, which the government said were opposed to its policy positions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and gender ideology. "The plaintiffs do not state that they will repay grant money if the Government ultimately prevails," the court's order states. Daily Caller

National Security

HHS overseer says US taking steps to have pharmaceutical ingredients not be made in China . . . Top Health and Human Services official John Knox said that the U.S. is taking active steps to make sure active pharmaceutical ingredients are made in the U.S. and not in China. Knox said that 70% of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and key materials are manufactured in China and India. He also said that about 90% of antibiotics are manufactured in China. Just the News

Taiwan Announces Massive Increase in Defense Spending Urged by Trump . . . Taiwan's President William Lai Ching-te rolled out a 2026 budget proposal on Thursday that included a massive 22.9 percent increase in defense spending, bringing Taiwan's total outlay to over three percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first time since 2009. According to Premier Cho Jung-tai, the 2026 budget includes $31.27 billion in defense spending in U.S. dollars, bringing Taiwan up to 3.32 percent of GDP. Breitbart

Still not enough. If they're not willing to defend themselves, are we sure we want to defend them?

272 Jihadis Killed: The Trump Admin's Counterterrorism Strategy . . . Since Jan. 20, the Trump administration has killed 272 "jihadis" around the world, according to Sebastian Gorka, senior director for counterterrorism on the president's National Security Council. Among the first terrorist threats eliminated under President Donald Trump was a leading member and recruiter for ISIS. "This [was] a man planning to kill Americans," Gorka explained during a discussion of "Trump's New Counterterrorism Strategy Landscape" at The Heritage Foundation in Washington. Daily Signal

Trump admin to review all 55 million US legal immigrants to see if they should be deported . . . The Trump administration will begin reviewing all 55 million US visa holders to see if any have committed deportable offenses. Any immigrants holding US visas found with "indicators of overstays, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity, or providing support to a terrorist organization" will have their permits to live in the US revoked and be deported, the State Department announced Thursday. New York Post

International

Trump Says Ukraine Has No Chance of Winning War Without Striking Russia . . . President Trump said Thursday that Ukraine would have to continue attacks on Russia to have any hope of winning the war, days after hosting two summits designed to end the conflict. "It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country," he wrote. "It's like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense." It's unclear what Trump meant. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said "the president is making an observation, which happens to be true." Wall Street Journal

Famine grips Gaza's largest city and is likely to spread, 'authority' on food crises says . . . The world's leading authority on food crises said Friday the Gaza Strip's largest city is gripped by famine, and that it is likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said famine is occurring in Gaza City, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The grim milestone — the first time the IPC has confirmed a famine in the Middle East — is sure to ramp up international pressure on Israel. Associated Press

Why doesn't this put pressure on Hamas, which is stealing the food? Both to feed itself and to generate antipathy toward Israel. And except with the US, it's working

You should also know

Back to Gas: School Districts Revert to Diesel Because Biden's Electric Buses Can't Be Repaired . . . The Biden administration awarded Canadian electric bus maker Lion Electric $159 million to manufacture 435 school buses between 2022 and 2024, making it the third-largest recipient of such funding. The company has since fallen into bankruptcy, failed to deliver hundreds of the buses it promised, and warned school districts that its dire financial straits prevent it from servicing those in circulation. As a result, many of those districts are turning back to diesel. Washington Free Beacon

Cracker Barrel redesign faces backlash, causes political frenzy . . . Cracker Barrel, the "old country store" eatery that has been a staple of interstate detour dining since its growth in the 1990s, is facing backlash and becoming a point of partisan conflict as the chain tries to meet modern times. The Southern-style restaurant/gift shop announced Wednesday that it is changing its logo — removing the old man and carefully sketched barrel, as well as the whipping "K" flourish over the restaurant's name. The name "Cracker Barrel" was initially derived as an homage to people in the South who gathered to play cards and other table games around barrels. The Hill

In another stunning move, Cracker Barrel announced that it would begin selling New Coke.

Guilty Pleasures

White House slams Jack White for calling Trump Oval Office 'gaudy' . . . The White House blasted former White Stripes frontman Jack White as a "washed-up, has-been loser" after the Grammy winner insulted President Trump's golden Oval Office makeover this week. "Jack White is a washed-up, has-been loser posting drivel on social media because he clearly has ample time on his hands due to his stalled career," White House spokesman Steven Cheung said after White remarked online that the Oval's new golden accents are "gaudy" and "vulgar." The Hill