Extremists

CNN reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, defended his support for service members accused and convicted of war crimes on Tuesday, saying there was “prosecutorial misconduct” in their cases and that he was “proud” to ensure they were looked after. “In many of the cases you’re talking about in particular, sir, there was evidence withheld, there …

“We undertook this responsibility with an obligation to the troops to do right by them for our warfighters. And what became very evident to us from the beginning, there was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us. “That was clear from moment one. And what we knew is that it wasn’t about me. Most of it was …

Axios reports: Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing is becoming a test of will for Republicans on ensuring FBI files aren’t distributed throughout the entire Senate. That means no FBI background check access for rank-and-file senators, according to two people familiar with the matter. Senate Armed Services chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) have been …

Rolling Stone reports: A federal court has levied a $2.75 million judgment against Patriot Front, the prominent, violent white-nationalist extremist organization, and its leader Thomas Rousseau. The judgment, levied Monday in federal district court in Massachusetts, stems from an unpermitted “flash” mob of masked Patriot Front toughs, led by Rousseau, in Boston during the Fourth of July weekend in 2022. …

Punchbowl News reports: Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) — the chair and ranking member, respectively — are the only committee members who have viewed Hegseth’s FBI file, which was delivered to the panel late last week. Republicans on SASC who have been briefed say that the report is unremarkable. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) told reporters on Friday …

The New York Times reports: Four years after receiving a pardon from President Donald J. Trump for crimes related to foreign lobbying, Paul Manafort is again seeking business from political interests abroad. Mr. Manafort, who led Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign for a few months, has assembled a team of consultants who helped run Mr. Trump’s 2024 effort and is looking …

Politico Europe reports: Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the East German town of Riesa on Saturday in a bid to blockade the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party congress. Protesters chanting “no to Nazis” blocked roads in the town, preventing many of the party’s 600 delegates from reaching the convention venue and ultimately delaying the kick-off of the proceedings. Police …

NBC News reports: An FBI background check for Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, was transmitted late Friday to the leading members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the report, just days ahead of his Tuesday confirmation hearing. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the panel’s chairman, and …

PolitiZoom reports: Birds of a feather flock together. On that premise, the fact that the pussy grabber in chief has nominated degenerate Pete Hegseth to lead a huge agency like the Department Of Defense has come as no surprise. It makes complete sense. And when Matt Gaetz was nominated for Attorney General, that also made sense. It was not expected …

Breitbart reports: An anti-woke super PAC is launching a seven-figure ad blitz in five states to support President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Defense Pete Hegseth, Breitbart News has learned. American Leadership PAC’s $1 million buy will reach constituents in Alaska, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Utah via text, television, and radio, urging them to …

The BBC reports: UK officials are monitoring social media posts by Elon Musk and others as a possible security risk. The monitoring is being carried out by a team in the Home Office’s Homeland Security group, which is responsible for reducing national security risks and, according to a government website, “focuses on the highest harm risks to the homeland”. They …

The Charlotte Observer reports: The Salisbury man who died Monday after he was shot by two Kannapolis police officers over the weekend was the ‘Pizzagate’ gunman arrested in Washington, D.C., in 2016 after he terrified people with a loaded AR-15 inside a restaurant. Edgar Maddison Welch, the man killed, made national headlines in 2016 when he entered Comet Ping Pong, …

“When California, in a couple of weeks, comes crawling back for federal assistance, Trump should say, listen, I’m not gonna give you a dime unless you fire the lesbian [fire chief Kristin Cowley] Kristens. You mandate the proper forest management and stop controlled burns that Newsom has stopped. “You cut it out with California’s failed diversity, equity, inclusion homeless spending. …

Slate reports: On Monday, the four-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot, members of the self-proclaimed “J6 community” gathered at a Washington hotel ballroom to lionize those who had stormed the Capitol and to rail about the “civil rights abuses” Jan. 6 defendants faced as “political hostages.” Pardons were not sufficient, speakers at the event argued. Those who had committed …

“I’m gonna say this just off the cuff before I introduce our guest. Can we please just do away with giving half the screen during these emergency briefings to the sign language interpreters? “I have nothing against, obviously, people that cannot hear, but there’s closed captioning. I mean, this is just over the top. We can’t do this. We gotta …

Axios reports: Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro claimed Wednesday that President-elect Trump invited him to attend the inauguration — but it may be difficult for Bolsonaro to attend amid his ongoing his legal turmoil. Bolsonaro — like Trump — had refused to concede his election loss while his supporters rioted. Now, Bolsonaro takes inspiration from the president-elect’s impending White House …

The Idaho Statesman reports: An Idaho House committee will consider a formal statement asking the U.S. Supreme Court to end same-sex marriage nationwide and allow the state to restore its ban on such unions. Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, proposed the measure that calls the 2015 decision from the nation’s highest court to legalize same-sex marriage an “illegitimate overreach.” It asked …

“They don’t need to be 51st state. They can just be a territory. They can be snowy Puerto Ricans. It’s fine. We can control them, but they don’t have any vote. Maybe we could go further. Maybe we could just use them as a tax base. You know? They’ll be like the Helots of our civilization. How about that? “Someone …

Politico Europe reports: Jean-Marie Le Pen, the longtime face of the far right in France notorious for his hate speech and Holocaust denial convictions, has died, his family told French newswire AFP. He was 96 years old. Le Pen had an extraordinary life and career — as a soldier, a far-right parliamentarian, a small publisher of military music and erotic …

“These people are relentless. They are unchained and [DOJ prosecutor] Matthew Graves has to understand something. Matthew Graves, write this down. Or if Matthew Graves’ family or anybody that knows Matthew Graves, make sure his family knows this. “You’re going to prison for a very long time. You’re a totally evil person that has broken the law and destroyed lives, …