Wondering where the American Music Awards are? For years and years, decades, they aired on ABC and aired before the Grammys so they usually aired in January. CBS won the bidding rights and will be airing them for the next few years. This year's will air later this month, on Memorial Day in fact, May 25th. CBS started airing them last year and aired it on Memorial Day then as well.
Here's part of press release the AMAs put out:
Los Angeles, CA – May 7, 2026 – Today, CBS and Dick Clark Productions (DCP),
the world’s largest owner and producer of televised live event
entertainment programming, announced the star-studded first group of
performers slated to take the stage at the 52nd American Music Awards (AMAs), which will kick off summer with host Queen Latifah live from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the largest venue in the show’s history, on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25.
Hootie & the Blowfish, KATSEYE, Keith Urban, Maluma, Riley Green, SOMBR, Teddy Swims, and Twenty One Pilots will all deliver can’t-miss performances featuring some of today’s biggest hits and fan-favorites.
Thirty years after winning the American Music Award for Pop/Rock New Artist, Hootie & the Blowfish will return to the AMAs stage to perform some of the hits that earned them that trophy in 1996.
First-time AMA nominees KATSEYE will bring down the house with the U.S. television broadcast premiere of their new single “PINKY UP.”
Fresh off show-stopping performances at Coachella and Stagecoach, Teddy Swims will perform his latest single “Mr. Know It All.”
Maluma will return to the AMA stage with a performance of a song from his latest project Loco x Volver, out May 15.
Now guest starring in the hit CBS show Marshals, country superstar Riley Green will make his AMA performance debut.
Keith Urban will perform a track from his forthcoming Yacht Rock album Flow State, out June 12.
Twenty One Pilots will perform the fan favorite
“Drag Path.” Originally released as a limited-time bonus track, the song
became a viral audio on social media and has now amassed nearly 100
million streams across DSPs.
Seven-time nominee SOMBR will make his AMA performance debut, ahead of his fall “You Are the Reason” arena tour.
As one of music’s most anticipated nights of the year, the 52nd
American Music Awards returns to CBS and Paramount+* to honor the most
influential artists and songs of today alongside unforgettable
performances and special moments in a multi-genre, cross-generational
celebration of music.
I hope they're still adding performers because that's not much. Keith Urban? I think everyone's done with Keith. His actions made everyone Team Nicole.
I mean, I'm used to AMAs with performances from Diana Ross, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston, Third Eye Bllind, Prince, Lionel Richie, Cher, etc.
As the Rolling Stones began releasing original music, their subject matter darkened. Nervy hit singles like 1965's "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and 1966's "19th Nervous Breakdown" spoke to a turbulent age characterized by generational conflict and an escalating war.
"Our songs were taking on some kind of edge in the lyrics – cynical, nasty, skeptical, rude," Keith Richards wrote in his autobiography, Life.
"The lyrics and the mood of the songs fitted with the kids'
disenchantment with the grown-up world of America, and for a while we
seemed to be the only provider – the soundtrack for the rumbling of
rebellion, touching on those social nerves."
Then there was "Paint It Black." The track began life as something else
entirely before being released as a single on May 7, 1966, about a month
after the arrival of its U.S. parent album Aftermath. Richards had created a skeletal melody while Mick Jagger completed lyrics about a lost lover that were filled with era-appropriate portent. But the song itself remained stalled out.
"'Paint It Black' was just going to be like a beat group number," Jagger later lamented. The Rolling Stones were long past that point. "If you'd been at the session, it was like one big joke."
Then their often-overlooked bandmates stepped in.
"I kept saying, 'It sounds a bit empty in the bottom end,' although I played bass on it and Charlie [Watts] played drums well," Bill Wyman recalled on the Ultimate Classic Rock Nights radio show. "But something seemed lacking, and I said, 'Can I try something?'"
When thinking of The Rolling Stones,
a vision akin to the old “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” maxim comes to
mind. The band are deemed the ultimate hellraisers in music.
The
band’s various members have all contributed to this notorious mythos
over the years, with special props going to the leading duo of frontman
Mick Jagger and lead guitarist Keith Richards and late
multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones.
At points, this infamy has threatened to overshadow the group’s
undoubted musical achievements. One of the most important creative
efforts is the ominous ‘Paint It Black’, which Jagger once deemed to the
start of “miserable psychedelia”.
A key ingredient in that sound
came from Brian Jones, who devised the track’s distinctive sitar line at
a time when he was increasingly marginalised within the band’s core
songwriting partnership.
Inspired by the growing presence of Indian instrumentation in Western
music, and following conversations with George Harrison, Jones immersed
himself in the instrument, studying under Ravi Shankar associate Harihar
Rao and developing melodies that would eventually form the backbone of
the song.
Arguably, a film can become more memorable by having its very own thematic song. In 2024, Billboard released a list of the "top 75 movie songs of all time." The ranking's top five tunes featured Irene Cara's "Flashdance… What a Feeling" from Flashdance (1983), “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor from Rocky III (1982), Bryan Adams' “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” from 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and “How Deep Is Your Love” by the Bee Gees from Saturday Night Fever (1977).
Billboard reported that Diana Ross andLionel Richie's song, "Endless Love," from the 1981 film Endless Love, was the "top movie song of all time." Billboard noted that the 1981 love song spent nine weeks at number 1 on the Hot 100.
In a 2021 interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Richie discussed writing "Endless Love," which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 1982 Academy Awards. He said he never expected that song to be number 1 for 9 weeks.
"Let
me tell you, it was the song of my life. Every once in a while, you get
one of those songs. I had no idea it was going to have that impact. And
of course, once the movie came in and of course, the Oscars, it had a life of all its own," said the singer in the 2021 interview.
The photos are also accompanied by behind-the-scenes stories from St. Nicholas.
"This
book is an intimate voyage that glimpses and celebrates the depth and
beauty in others,” St. Nicholas said in a statement shared with PEOPLE.
“It's some of my fondest memories from a diverse and extremely rewarding
photography career that quite fortunately spanned decades. It has been a
magical and stimulating ride that continues to allure me.”
Thursday, May 7, 2026. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait tell Chump "NO!" forcing
him to shut down Project Freedom, his war of choice continues to
destroy the US economy, James Comer makes nice with liar Howard Lutnick,
Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer respond to Chump, Time Square sees a
new billboard of Chump and Epstein with the tagline “What are these two
hiding?" and much more.
Yesterday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee issued the following:
Washington,
D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee
on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., Ranking
Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Rep. Angie Craig,
Ranking Member of the House Committee on Agriculture, Rep. Jared
Huffman, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, and
Rep. Don Beyer Jr., Senior House Democrat on the Joint Economic
Committee, sent a letter to President Trump demanding answers
on how his illegal war with Iran is driving up the cost of living for
everyday Americans. Consumer prices have reached their fastest growth in
almost two years as a spike in oil costs feeds into our economy, and
the war has already cost taxpayers approximately $2 billion per day
during the initial phase of attacks.
In the
letter to President Trump, the Members wrote, “As your illegal war with
Iran continues into its third month with on and off again negotiations
and naval blockade, you have unleashed chaos, undermined our national
security, and escalated the conflict by threatening war crimes including
wiping out an entire civilization and destroying civilian
infrastructure. It is clear that you chose to start your war without
coherent or realistic strategic objectives, and with no plan to prevent
Iran from expanding its strategic control over the Strait of Hormuz. The
impacts of your war will be felt for years, and the consequences of
your reckless decision to drag America into war are increasingly falling
on the American public.”
America is not starving. There’s plenty of beef, wheat and eggs.
At the moment, food inflation is lower than core inflation, but
Americans are still living with higher prices, up around 20% since 2022.
President
Donald Trump is right when he says the U.S. doesn’t rely on the Strait
of Hormuz for its agriculture needs. But Europe and Asia do — and so
they will outbid American farmers for fuel and fertilizer, forcing food
prices higher for everyone, including Americans.
Anyone
who knows a farmer has heard stories of the “worst year ever” — but now
American farmers are facing their most serious crisis since the 1980s.
Production costs
were already rising before the Iran war and the closure of the Strait
of Hormuz. Many farmers are still waiting on loans, unable to lock in
fertilizer prices before they spiked.
A newly released Farm Bureau survey
of 5,700 U.S. farmers said 70% of farmers won’t be able to afford all
the fertilizer they need this year. Many are reducing planted acres.
This potentially means less food moving through the supply chain — and
higher prices for what does make it to market.
While
U.S. consumers are already navigating the household budget impacts of
the Iran war at the gas pumps, they could also be facing a year or more
of steadily increasing grocery costs if the Middle East conflict drags
on.
That was among the findings of a Purdue
University analysis that predicts the broad energy shock precipitated by
a sustained war could add three to six percentage points to grocery
inflation over the coming 12-18 months.
Cathy Bussewitz (INDEPENDENT) notes, "The
price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. climbed 31 cents in
the past week, spiking to an average of $4.54 per gallon Wednesday, a
price 52% higher than before the war with Iran began, according to AAA
data. The main reason drivers are paying more at the pump is because the
war has stranded oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow
passage through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil normally
passes." And Leroy Marion (AUTOBLOG) explains, "The
Iran conflict is now hitting the auto industry far beyond fuel prices.
According to a report from Nikkei Asia, aluminum prices in Japan have
jumped more than 20 percent since late February amid major disruptions
to supply chains across the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz remains
heavily affected, making exports difficult, while some regional smelters
have reportedly suffered damage during attacks."
The gas situation? Joe Perticone (THE BULWARK) has noticed a curious situation wherein rising gas prcies are causing smaller responses from certain politicians:
Rising
gas prices often provide a convenient index for dissatisfaction with
the current president, even if the increases have little to do with the
administration’s policies.1 When a war breaks out in major oil- and
gas-producing regions, prices go up. When gas prices rise, so do the
anxieties of political candidates who belong to the party in power. And
this year, that includes many Republicans whose campaigns are crucial to
maintaining a GOP Senate majority.
At
the onset of the Trump administration’s unilateral military action
(war) against Iran, gas prices in the United States skyrocketed, which
immediately spooked Republicans concerned with holding on to their
Senate majority. In the two months since the opening of hostilities,
prices have fluctuated in some states while continuing to climb in
others, with those around the Great Lakes seeing particularly
challenging increases.
“We’re gonna be fine, we
got plenty of oil,” Mike Rogers, a Republican candidate for Senate in
Michigan, said in March. “You’ll get your oil, because we’re going to
pump our oil right here in America, and we got plenty.”
Six
weeks later, though, GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan reported gas prices
leaping upward in several middle-American states. In Rogers’s Michigan,
they went up 88 cents. In Ohio, they climbed 94 cents. In Wisconsin, 33
cents. And in Indiana, prices grew by a calamitous dollar and nine
cents.2
On Thursday, Rogers addressed the issue
once again. When Newsmax host Ed Henry asked the candidate, “Are you
nervous . . . about these stubbornly high gas prices?” Rogers finally
acknowledged the reality of higher costs at the pump:
Listen,
high prices of anything hurt people in Michigan. . . . Iran is about
stopping their nuclear program, stopping their ballistic missile program
so they can’t hurt others. I think most Americans are there. We all
want this to come to a quick end—I think including the president of the
United States. The president’s also taking really direct actions to try
to bring those prices down and I support those actions to bring those
prices down. I’ll tell you this, Ed. I get around and talk to voters all
around this state. The main thing about affordability is they do not
trust Democrats.
Well,
Rogers sure doesn’t trust Democrats on affordability, at least. That
might be why he framed the situation so differently when gas prices
surged to four dollars per gallon during the Joe Biden administration.
“I’m
not sure we can survive $3.99 a gallon going forward,” Rogers said in a
2024 video campaigning against Democrat Elissa Slotkin. “Listen, the
[Democratic] agenda moving forward on gas prices is only gonna make that
worse. We must get America back on track.”
Along with rising prices, another thing Americans are agreeing on with regards to Chump's war of choice is rhetoric. Conor Murray (FORBES) notes:
Most
Americans disapprove of an image President Donald Trump posted that
appeared to depict himself as Jesus, while many more had a favorable
view of Pope Leo XIV’s calls for peace amid the Iran war, a Washington
Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found, as Washington and the Vatican continue
to fracture over the conflict.
The
poll found 87% of Americans disapproved of the post Trump made on Truth
Social last month that appeared to depict himself as Jesus, which
sparked criticism and allegations of blasphemy, even from some on the
right, though Trump said he thought the picture depicted him as a
doctor.
Eighty percent of Trump
2024 voters and 79% of Republicans surveyed had a negative reaction to
Trump’s Jesus post, the poll found.
Sixty-nine
percent of Americans disapproved of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
praying for U.S. troops to inflict “overwhelming violence of action
against those who deserve no mercy.”
But Pope
Leo’s call for Americans to contact their representatives and urge them
to find a peaceful solution to the war in Iran earned a more positive
reception, with 66% of poll respondents having a positive reaction.
87%
disproved? Yeah and that number may climb higher. I said when the
post was in the news that this was one of those things that people think
about and in a week or two get angry about. You're just not used to
seeing that kind of blasphemy and certainly from a president of the
United States.
In
the latest saga between the president and the pontiff, Trump baselessly
accused Leo of “endangering Catholics” by supporting Iran’s nuclear
weapons program.
“I think he’s endangering a
lot of Catholics and a lot of people, but I guess, if it’s up to the
Pope,” Trump said Sunday. “He thinks it's just fine for Iran to have a
nuclear weapon.”
The Pope hit back at the
claim Wednesday without directly referencing the president. “The mission
of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel, to preach peace,” he said. “If
someone wants to criticise me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do
so truthfully. For years, the Church has spoken out against all nuclear
weapons, so there is no doubt on that point.”
Pope
Leo XIV said Tuesday that people are free to criticise him but the flak
should be based on the truth after President Donald Trump launched a
new attack on him, saying his opposition to the United States and
Israel's war against Iran was putting Catholics in danger. Trump, who
last month said the pope "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign
policy" following his criticism of the war, said at the weekend that Leo
was "endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people" because "he
thinks it's just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon". The American
pontiff, on the other hand, said the Catholic Church has been opposed to
nuclear weapons under his leadership and long before. "The mission of
the Church is to proclaim the Gospel, to preach peace," Leo said outside
the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo. "If someone wants to criticize
me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully.
Not for nothing is Donald Trump known as the “TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out)
President”. He announces major decisions and issues dire threats on
impulse or whim – and occasionally out of pure spite – and then scraps
them.
But even by this own shameless standards Trump’s abandonment of his so-called Project Freedom to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is the granddaddy of all TACO somersaults.
The
official White House version is that Project Freedom is being “paused”
for “a short period of time” to see if a peace deal with Iran can be
reached. “Great progress” has been made towards that end, claimed Trump,
without a shred of evidence.
The president has performed so many U-turns and flip-flops he makes Sir Keir Starmer, criticised for more than a dozen policy climb downs, look like a model of constancy and resolution by comparison.
A
more likely explanation is that he was told that Project Freedom never
had a hope of working and was almost guaranteed to make the war much
worse not end it. Experts were near unanimous in warning that it was
likely to end the fragile ceasefire between the US and America and renew
the ‘hot war’ between them.
Ben
(MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) explained this morning that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
responded to Chump's Project Freedom by announcing that the US could no
longer use their airspace or airbases.
Unfortunately for Trump, it’s easier for the Iranians to keep the choke
point closed than it is for the Americans to force it open. This is not
because the Iranian navy is stronger or more capable than what the U.S.
can field, or that Tehran’s coastal defenses are indefatigable, but
rather because corporations tend to be risk-averse
creatures that are sensitive to the threat environment. Most shipping
companies are not going to risk their reputations, their very expensive
wares and the lives of their employees if there is a decent possibility
of getting hit by a missile or stopped by the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps. The numbers bear this out — weekly passages through the
strait reportedly dropped 11% over the past week, and only two U.S. merchant ships transited the area in the 24 hours Project Freedom was in effect.
Every
week brings fresh disaster for the Tr*mp administration, but this week
is already off to a galloping start in that area. We dealt with Pentagon Pete’s fury at being next on the chopping block, unless fellow screw-up Kash Patel beats him to the punch, and that’s to say nothing of RFK Jr.’s imminent departure from Tr*mpland, along with his MAHA base.
But
that’s nothing compared to what just happened in Tr*mp’s home turf,
where a massive billboard was just erected to once again draw attention
to Tr*mp’s Epstein ties. The people haven’t forgotten, and Tr*mp’s
Epstein problem is not going away despite his constant distractions,
from Greenland to Venezuela to Iran.
The
billboard features images of Tr*mp and Epstein appearing to look at each
other with shifty eyes, accompanied by the text “What are these two
hiding? Eyes on Epstein.”
But the real kicker?
The ad is placed smack in the middle of Times Square.
For
all to see. Just like the friendship between Donald Chump and the late
Jeffrey Epstein was out there for all to see for decades and decades.
Going back to the 80s, the two were roll dogs, partners in crime, thick
as thieves. And then they had a falling out. For years, Jeffrey
Epstein abused and assaulted and trafficked people of age and underage.
And it is people. Girls, women, boys, men. New Mexico findings in the
last months have made that clear. Though some of the names of Epstein
Island visitors made that clear before hand and there were at least four
adult males who had stated that they were survivors. One of those, of
course, has stated Chump assaulting him when he was a child.
Yesterday,
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick appeared before the House
Oversight Committee. How well Lutnick knew Epstein has been in dispute
because of the cute and self-serving narrative Lutnick told Miranda Devine
last fall was contradicted by the release of some documents in The
Epstein Files. Joe Sommerlad (INDEPENDENT) explains:
The
secretary told Pod Force One presenter Miranda Devine in October last
year that he had been a neighbor of Epstein’s in New York and once
visited his Upper East Side brownstone in 2005 but was appalled when his
host made a creepy comment about receiving “the right kind of massages”
during a tour of the property.
“In the six to
eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I
decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person
ever again,” Lutnick said.
However, the release
of the Epstein files by the Department of Justice in late December and
January revealed that the men had remained in contact and appeared to
have been in communication until at least 2018. Inclusion in the files
is not an indication of wrongdoing.
Lutnick
subsequently told the Senate Appropriations Committee on February 10
that he and his family had had lunch with the billionaire on Little St
James, his private Caribbean island, in December 2012.
The
government’s January release of the Epstein files intensified scrutiny
on Lutnick and led to some calls for him to resign, as documents showed
communications and business deals between the two continuing as late as
2018—long after Epstein had pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution in
2008, and one year before his indictment and subsequent death in
prison.
Those documents contradicted previous
claims Lutnick had made, as the Commerce secretary said in October 2025
that after touring Epstein’s penthouse in 2005, he “decided that I will
never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.”
Prominent
people who were close to Mr. Epstein have been scrutinized in recent
years for their visits to Little St. James, but Mr. Lutnick’s planned
visit had not been previously disclosed. Reached by phone on Friday, Mr.
Lutnick said he could not comment about the island visit because he had
not seen the latest Epstein documents.
“I spent zero time with him,” Mr. Lutnick said. He then hung up.
The documents suggest the visit did occur.
On February 10th, Lutnick would admit before the Senate Appropriations Committee that he had stayed on the island with Epstein.
Despite that history of lying, he was treated like a Queen by the Committee Chair James Comer. For example, Stephen Groves (INDEPENDENT) reveals,
"The interview was not being recorded on video, as the committee has
done with depositions for others, including former President Bill
Clinton and Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state. Comer said the
decision not to video the interview, for which Lutnick volunteered, was
keeping with the committee's practice." Per David Edwards (RAW STORY), it's worse:
House
Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) was peppered with questions about
why he let a member of President Donald Trump's cabinet give a
deposition on Jeffrey Epstein without video recording it, while refusing
the same opportunity to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and
former President Bill Clinton.
Comer Pyle refused to allow Bill and Hillary to appear without being recorded. Edwards report continues:
"Why just a transcript?" Pergram demanded to know.
"Do
you have any concerns about the secretary's conflicting statements and
why not do this as a videotape?" a second reporter pressed.
"Well,
this is, you know, with this transcript, he's coming in voluntarily,
first of all," Comer said in defense of the process. "So we didn't
video, we don't video people that come in to volunteer."
In addition, he was not under oath and he was not deposed, he was interviewed.
According
to two people familiar with his testimony, Mr. Lutnick said in his
opening statement that he had met Mr. Epstein only three times: once for
coffee and a tour of Mr. Epstein’s home in New York after they became
neighbors, once when Mr. Lutnick and his family were invited to Mr.
Epstein’s island and once to discuss a construction project on Epstein’s
home in New York that might have had an impact on Mr. Lutnick’s
residence.
After hours of questioning,
Democrats told reporters that Mr. Lutnick did not admit to misleading
Americans about his ties to Mr. Epstein, including when he said on a
podcast last year that he was never in the room with Mr. Epstein again
after their first meeting.
Speaking with
reporters in the hallway outside the closed session, Representative
Yassamin Ansari, Democrat of Arizona, said that Mr. Lutnick repeatedly
characterized their interactions as “meaningless and inconsequential.”
But, she added, she was not satisfied with his explanation as to why he
visited Mr. Epstein’s island, particularly years after their first
interaction, which Mr. Lutnick said made him and his wife uncomfortable.
[. . .]
The
documents released by the Justice Department suggest Mr. Lutnick had
another encounter with Mr. Epstein at his house in 2011, years after Mr.
Lutnick claimed to have cut ties with him. The records also indicated
that the men invested in the same privately held company together and
dealt with each other on neighborhood and philanthropic issues.
Following closed-door testimony from Howard Lutnick before the House oversight committee on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Democrats called the commerce secretary’s performance “embarrassing”.
“If Donald Trump
had seen the video transcript, he would have fired Howard Lutnick,”
said congressman Ro Khanna, a progressive Democrat from California.
[. . .]
According to Suhas Subramanyam, a Democratic representative of Virginia, the commerce secretary said “he
could remember nothing about the visit to the island. Couldn’t remember
why he was there. Couldn’t remember anything he saw.”
Oversight
Democrats also said that Lutnick did not answer their questions about
whether he spoke with Donald Trump ahead of giving testimony before the
panel today.
“I feel very comfortable
saying that Howard Lutnick is a pathological liar who is enabling the
most egregious cover-up in American history,”
congresswoman Yassamin Ansari told reporters, while noting that the
commerce secretary told lawmakers it was “inexplicable” that he visited
Epstein’s private island. Lutnick described his encounters with Epstein
as “meaningless and inconsequential,” Ansari added.
May
29th, Pam da Bimbo Bondi is scheduled to appear before the House
Oversight Committee after blowing them off in April. Monday, Democrats
on the Committee issued the following statement:
Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, wrote
to Chairman James Comer after Oversight Republicans finally announced
that Pam Bondi would testify in a transcribed interview before the
Oversight Committee, just minutes after Oversight Democrats took action
to hold Bondi in contempt. The letter raises concerns to Comer that
Bondi’s testimony must be filmed and made available to the American
people in the interest of transparency, that Oversight Republicans must
enforce the Committee’s subpoena if Bondi refuses to fully cooperate,
and raises concerns about the participation of Assistant Attorney
General Harmeet Dhillon as Bondi’s attorney. In March, the Oversight
Committee secured a bipartisan subpoena forcing Bondi to sit for a
deposition, which she skipped on April 14, 2026.
“Oversight
Democrats kept the pressure on Oversight Republicans, and now we
finally have a date for Pam Bondi to testify in front of the Committee.
Republicans must make sure Bondi’s testimony is transparent and
videotaped with a timely public release of the video, and we must
enforce the subpoena if Bondi does not fully cooperate. Oversight
Democrats refuse to let Bondi off the hook,” said Ranking Member Robert
Garcia.
In the letter to Chairman James Comer,
Ranking Member Garcia wrote, “We understand that you have agreed to hold
this as a transcribed interview, rather than a deposition. While we
believe a deposition is the best available forum, as Chairman, this is
your decision. However, if you choose to move forward with a transcribed
interview, I am concerned with three aspects:
1. The videotaping of Ms. Bondi’s testimony. Ms. Bondi’s testimony must be filmed and made available to the American people.
2.
Ms. Bondi’s willingness to provide substantive and complete testimony.
If Ms. Bondi refuses to answer questions, we must compel her testimony.
Ms. Bondi has been subpoenaed, and all questions posed by Members must
be answered.
3. Harmeet Dhillon’s participation
as Ms. Bondi’s attorney. Ms. Dhillon is a current DOJ employee, and her
representation raises serious ethical concerns and conflicts of
interest.”
On April 29, 2026, Rep. Robert
Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform,
and all Democratic Members of the Committee filed a resolution
to hold former Attorney General Pam Bondi in civil contempt of Congress
after she failed to appear for her legally-binding, bipartisan subpoena
to be deposed on the Epstein investigation and the White House’s
cover-up of the Epstein files. The resolution instructs the chairman of
the Oversight Committee to file a lawsuit to compel Bondi’s testimony.
In
March, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform secured a
bipartisan subpoena for then-Attorney General Pam Bondi following a
motion by Congresswoman Nancy Mace supported by all Committee Democrats,
joined by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Lauren Boebert, Rep. Michael
Cloud, Rep. Scott Perry, and Rep. Tim Burchett. The bipartisan subpoena
passed the House Oversight Committee 24 to 19. On April 14, 2026, Pam
Bondi refused to appear for her deposition before the Oversight
Committee, despite the lawful bipartisan subpoena the Committee issued.
The subpoena remains legally binding, even after Bondi was fired. The
subpoena followed the Department of Justice’s botched release of the
Epstein files and the continued White House cover-up.
Senator
Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries have
responded to another AI image shared by President Donald Trump's White
House.
On Tuesday, May 5, the official White
House X account shared an AI photo featuring Schumer, 75, and Jeffries,
55, wearing sombreros and drinking margaritas near the United
States–Mexico border. As part of the AI image, fake Schumer and Jeffries
were seen smiling in front of a faux sign that said, "I love illegal
immigrants."
"Happy Cinco de Mayo to all who celebrate!" the White House wrote via X on Tuesday.
Schumer
responded with his own image of Trump, 79, posing next to convicted sex
offender Jeffrey Epstein. While the OG image is real, it was doctored
to show both men wearing sombreros.
"Happy Cinco de
Mayo, @WhiteHouse!" Schumer captioned the X post. House Minority Leader
Jeffreies seemingly approved of the message when he shared his
colleague's photo on his own profile.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Questions come as Trump sons’ drone company Powerus receives new Air Force contract
Washington, D.C. — In new Questions for the Record
following last week’s Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing, U.S.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), pressed Secretary of Defense Pete
Hegseth about President Trump’s sons’ ties to defense contractors and
how the DoD is handling these financial conflicts of interest. The
questions come as a follow-up to last week’s hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and days after reports indicated that Powerus, a drone company backed by the Trump sons, had recently obtained a new Air Force contract.
Shortly after President Trump was elected to his second term, his
son, Donald Trump Jr., announced he was joining venture capital firm
1789 Capital. After Trump Jr. joined the firm, the firm’s portfolio
companies reportedly won more than $70 million worth of contracts from
the Trump Administration, including:
$45 million awarded to Cerebras Systems in April 2025 to improve artificial intelligence chip connections;
$10.8 million awarded to PsiQuantum in April 2025 for quantum chips;
$4.9 million awarded to Firehawk Aerospace in August 2025 to develop rocket engines; and
$10 million to Vulcan Elements for magnets in 2025.
Several of the Trump Jr.-connected companies had never received such large DoD contracts prior to 2025. In early March, reports revealed
that the Trump brothers are also investing in drone company Powerus,
which is “vying to meet fresh demand from the Pentagon and fill a hole
left by the administration’s ban on new Chinese drones in the U.S.”
In March, Senators Warren and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) released answers
from the Defense Department revealing that the Department seems to have
no effective process in place to prevent conflicts of interest and
corruption involving President Trump’s family and the Pentagon’s
awarding of defense contracts. To date, Hegseth has not detailed any
plan to protect the military’s contracting process against conflicts of
interest.
These instances highlight Secretary Hegseth’s unwillingness to
protect the military’s budget and contracting process from potential
corruption. Senator Warren’s new Questions for the Record will require
Secretary Hegseth to address these failures in writing.
Senator Warren’s questions for Secretary Hegseth include:
Justifications for loans and contracts offered to several companies in which the Trump family is financially invested;
Whether Donald Trump Jr. has held any role in vetting candidates for top Pentagon positions; and
Details of any conversations Secretary Hegseth had with the Trump
family or their representatives regarding military contracts leading up
to his confirmation.
Senator Warren has led the fight to root out corruption at the Defense Department:
In April 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Secretary Hegseth
on allegations that Trump administration officials are engaging in
possible insider trading by placing bets on the Iran War through
prediction markets.
In April 2026, Senator Warren questioned Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg
on his conflicts of interest, which may be enabling him, his immediate
family, and his network of associates to benefit from secretive DoD
contracting decisions related to its Golden Dome missile defense
program. Senator Warren urged Feinberg to take immediate action to
mitigate the conflicts.
In March 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) released a new response
from DoD indicating that there are no effective processes in place to
prevent possible conflicts of interest and corruption involving
President Donald Trump’s family and the Department’s awarding of defense
contracts. In a new letter, Senators Warren and Richard Blumenthal
(D-Conn.) pressed Secretary Hegseth on this failure and pushed for
answers regarding Trump’s sons’ latest investment in Powerus, a drone
company.
In January 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth
on potential conflicts of interest surrounding the awarding of multiple
lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contracts and loans to companies
associated with President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
In July 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), wrote to former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin seeking an explanation and further information
on his recent decision to start a strategic advisory firm. Austin had
publicly promised Senator Warren during his 2021 confirmation process
that he would not become a lobbyist after his government service ended.
In July 2023, Senator Warren (D-Mass) wrote to then-Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Heidi Shyu,
following reporting that DoD’s new Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) is
relying on consultants who will continue to work for private defense
consultants and defense investment companies. Senator Warren raised
concerns that DoD lacked the necessary safeguards to prevent conflicts
of interest in the OSC.
In December 2020, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reintroduced the Anti-Corruption & Public Integrity Act, to strengthen ethics laws and crack down on government officials’ conflicts of interest across the government.
On
May 5, the rock icons announced their 25th studio album “Foreign
Tongues” (out July 10), which they teased with two bluesy new songs:
rollicking lead single “In the Stars” and the tempestuous “Rough and
Twisted.”
That same
day, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood touched down at the
Weylin in Williamsburg for an afternoon launch party, greeting fans at
the cavernous, historic former bank-turned-event space. Inside,
projections of the Stones’ famous tongue-and-lips logo danced across the
ceiling, and guests were served a selection of passed hors d'oeuvres
and cocktails poured with the group’s signature Crossfire Hurricane
rum.
The band joined
superfan Conan O’Brien for a freewheeling, roughly half-hour
conversation, in which they discussed the recording process and how they
stay vital more than 60 years into the Stones’ career together. O’Brien
began by asking Jagger, 82, how he still sounds exactly as he did when
he was in his 20s.
“Well, I was taking a lot of drugs back in 1968,” Jagger quipped.
“This is an intervention, by the way,” O’Brien volleyed back.
“Oh, God, not another one!” Jagger exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “No, the secret is practice, I think. It’s simple.”
Richards, 82, meanwhile, spoke at length about he comes up with his classic guitar riffs.
“You
can’t write em, you can’t force em — they come to you,” Richards said
into his microphone, before apologizing to the crowd that most of his
response was inaudible. “I keep waving this thing around! I’m so sorry,
ladies and gentlemen.”
61
years ago during the evening of May 6th, 1965, guitarist Keith Richards
of The Rolling Stones was fast asleep at home in his flat in Carlton
Hill. Richards heard a melody in a dream, briefly woke up, recorded the
riff on cassette, and promptly went back to bed. He'd later finding the
tape contained just about 30 seconds of the riff and almost an hour of
himself snoring. That fateful tape would morph into what is largely
considered to be one of the best hooks in rock history in the number one
Stones song, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."
Richards
has said of the bizarre story and circumstances, "Without knowing it,
in the middle of the night, I’d woken up, picked up the guitar which I
quite often slept with. So anyway, it was one of those rare nights when I
was actually alone, and obviously I’d recorded about 15 seconds of
'Satisfaction.'"
"Satisfaction"
opens with the iconic and memorable riff by Richards, and was released
as a single and later was included on their albumb Out of Our Heads.
"Satisfaction" was released as a single in the US on June 4th, 1965, and
would go on to chart on Billboard the following week on June 12th. It
would remain on the chart for 14 weeks and held the number one spot for
four of them. This would mark the first number one hit for the Stones in
America.
Staying with the Stones, Ryan Louis Mantilla (COLLIDER) offers his pick of their best album: The
Rolling Stones boast quite an extensive discography, one notable
example being Sticky Fingers. The influence of their ninth studio album,
released in April 1971, cannot be overstated. It not only reached the
top of the Billboard 200 — marking their second ascent to the number 1
spot at the time — but also solidified the band’s status as rock
legends. Renowned for its daring fusion of rock, blues, country, and
soul (as well as its infamous, controversial cover), the album garnered
critical acclaim in addition to commercial success. The overall cohesion
of the record reflected a band fully in command of its musical
identity. Decades later, it still stands as one of the essential works
in the Stones’ catalog, celebrated for its enduring influence on
generations of musicians. The Rolling Stones currently
have eight number 1s on the Billboard charts, one of which came from the
success of Sticky Fingers. After the band first reached Number 1 with
their Out of Their Heads album in 1965 — which spent three weeks at the
top — Sticky Fingers became their second number-one album on May 22,
1971. It remained at Number 1 for four weeks before Carole King’s
Tapestry took over the top spot. Of course, much of the album’s success
can be attributed to its standout songs, particularly the hit singles
“Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses.” All tracks were co-written by Mick
Jagger and Keith Richards, except for “You Gotta Move” (written by Fred
McDowell and Gary Davis) and “Sister Morphine,” which Jagger and
Richards co-wrote with Marianne Faithfull.
George
Harrison changed the music industry more than six decades ago when he
formed The Beatles with John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. But
if not for his special gift of music scouting, another iconic rock band
may have never gotten a chance.
Harrison's
contributions to The Beatles put him in a special place of music lore,
yes. But fans of another iconic rock band, the Rolling Stones, may not
know just how vital Harrison was in helping them break through as well.
As
many die-hard fans of The Beatles know, Decca Records in London
infamously rejected The Beatles, who went on to sign with EMI. The rest,
as they say, is history.
Harrison would not
hold a grudge against Decca Records, though. As Record Collector
recalled in 2022, Harrison spoke to Dick Rowe, the head of A&R at
Decca Records, and advised him to check out a new band called the
Rolling Stones.
And so, down Mr. Rowe went to
see the Rolling Stones perform at London's Crawdaddy Club on May 5,
1963. That, ladies and gentlemen, was another history-changing day for
the rock n' roll industry.
Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Democrats in Congress lead the fight for
mifepristone, Donald Chump lies and encourages those under him to lie,
so Hegseth lies, JD Vance lies, Homeland Security lies to the court, and
much more.
Let's start with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
More than 250 House and Senate
Democrats filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court urging them to
overturn a Fifth Circuit decision that would upend the FDA approval
process and restrict access to life-saving mifepristone.
ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on Fifth Circuit Ruling to Harshly Limit Access to Medication Abortion Nationwide
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, more than 250 Senate
and House Democrats—led by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA); Senate
Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), and
Ron Wyden (D-OR); House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY); and
Representatives Katherine Clark (D-MA), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Diana
DeGette (D-CO), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)—filed
an amicus brief to the Supreme Court urging them to overturn a Fifth
Circuit decision that would upend the FDA approval process and restrict
access to mifepristone. This brief follows emergency appeals from the
manufacturers of mifepristone; the Supreme Court issuing a temporary
stay of the decision Monday morning until next Monday, May 11; and the
announcement that the Court has ordered briefing on the stay by this
Thursday, May 7.
The lawmakers argued that mifepristone already undergoes a rigorous
FDA approval process, and the medication has repeatedly been found to be
safe and effective. For a court to overturn this decision not only
limits who is able to receive this vital and life-saving medication,
putting lives at risk, but it also undermines the longstanding,
congressionally mandated, and evidence-based decision-making process at
the FDA.
“For more than a quarter century, FDA has repeatedly and
consistently affirmed that mifepristone is safe. Over seven million
patients in the U.S. have safely used mifepristone. And as with other
drugs, FDA continues to monitor the post-marketing safety data on
mifepristone—data confirming that mifepristone is safe without regard to
how it is dispensed,” the members wrote.
The lawmakers also argued that the Fifth Circuit ruling was clearly
not based on the merits of the distribution method of mifepristone, or
the scientific backing of the medication, but rather a desire to limit
the ability of individuals to receive abortion medication. The emergency
stay is necessary to ensure that Louisiana is not able to deny
medically appropriate care to patients far beyond the state’s borders.
“Decades after FDA’s initial approval of mifepristone and
years after the in-person dispensing requirement was eliminated, the
Fifth Circuit on an ‘emergency’ basis ordered FDA to re-impose this
onerous nationwide restriction on all Americans. Allowing that decision
to remain in place undermines the science-based statutory framework
Congress commands and threatens patient access to reproductive health
care,” the members continued. “As has been well
publicized, many U.S. residents in states where abortion is legal live
far from any reproductive health care provider. Reinstating an in-person
dispensing requirement for mifepristone exacerbates an already
significant reproductive health crisis by limiting access to the most
common method of early abortion.”
The members argued that this is a clear case of judicial overreach by a lower court.
“Preserving evidence-based access to mifepristone, including
when dispensed by mail or retail pharmacy, is necessary to mitigate the
imminent harm facing members of the public. Women deserve access to
mifepristone for reproductive health care, and all Americans deserve
integrity in the congressionally mandated, evidence-based process for
FDA’s drug regulatory decisions,” the members concluded.
In the Senate, the amicus brief was signed by all 47 Democratic U.S. Senators.
In the House, the brief was signed by 212 Democratic U.S. Representatives.
The lawmakers’ amicus brief to the Supreme Court can be read in full HERE.
###
And now let's turn to the administration.
They
lie to the American people. Every day. The administration lies about
everything. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been lying to the
American people about the 'success' in slowing Iran from getting a
nuclear bomb. Tom Latchem (DAILY BEAST) reported yesterday afternoon:
Pete
Hegseth squirmed at the Pentagon over a damning intel leak showing
Donald Trump’s war on Iran has barely slowed the regime’s race to a
nuclear bomb.
The defense secretary, 45, was
confronted by reporters on Tuesday after Reuters reported that the
timeline for Iran to assemble a nuclear weapon—currently estimated at up
to a year—has not budged since the U.S. first bombed the regime’s
facilities last June, despite the fresh blitz the president launched in
late February.
Pressed on how the timeline could be
unchanged “after so much bombing,” Hegseth refused to engage with the
substance of the question, telling the briefing room: “We don’t discuss
the specifics about intel, and anybody that does shouldn’t be, and I
can’t confirm or deny whether that is, indeed, correct.”
Donald
Trump’s own military intel says he’s failing to make any progress on
the key goal he says his war in the Middle East is designed to achieve.
Assessments
by U.S. intelligence suggest Iran would currently need exactly the same
period of time to build a nuclear bomb as it would have needed in the
aftermath of Trump’s attacks on facilities in the country last June,
Reuters reports.
The president claimed after
those initial assaults that he had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.
His officials instead suggested the attacks had pushed any prospective
timeline on building a bomb back by a year.
Yesterday
on MS NOW, US House Rep Seth Moulton took on the notion of "the
cease-fire is holding" and noted that Hegseth is lying and wondered how
truthful Hegseth was being with Chump?
US
House Rep Seth Moulton: They obviously have no strategy to win this
war, to end this war. And that's dangerous for us and our allies and
our troops.
Every
discussion about the war in the Persian Gulf should include a reminder
that the Strait of Hormuz was open and entirely unblockaded before
Israel and the United States attacked Iran. Had Donald Trump not decided
to join Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign, we would not now be
contemplating a global energy crisis, shortages of food and medicines,
and widespread economic recession.
Two
months in, and the world is poorer and less safe as a result of that
decision. Notwithstanding Iran’s unlawful seizure of the channel, some
accountability is needed.
Framed in that
context, Project Freedom – Mr Trump’s audacious new plan to escort
“innocent bystander” ships through the blockaded shipping lane – is an
elaborate and costly exercise to solve a problem that didn’t exist only a
few weeks ago.
Chump
really screwed the pooch this time. He didn't have to join Netanyahu
in the war. He didn't have to ignore the advice he was given not to go
to war on Iran -- Tulsi Gabbard made her feelings known and he ignored
them. He just knew it was going to be a few days and then done. But it
hasn't turned out to be a few days. It's not over two months and
counting. Oil prices have soared. Inflation has increased. The
American people are suffering. And he still can't figure out a way to
end the war. So it continues.
And
Chump who has spent the past 16 months making it clear that the US
doesn't need its traditional allies anymore, is now considering seeking a
UN Security Council resolution per Secretary of State and White House press spokesperson Marco Rubio. Edith M. Lederer (AP) notes, "A
proposed U.N. resolution threatens Iran with sanctions or other
measures if it doesn’t halt attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz,
stop imposing 'illegal tolls,' and disclose the placement of all mines
to allow freedom of navigation." The draft also calls for Iran to help
implement a humanitarian corridor through the strait.
Sen.
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is leading a push within the Senate
Republican Conference for a vote on a resolution to authorize the use of
military force against Iran beyond the 60-day window set by the 1973
War Powers Act. But Senate Republican Leader John Thune (S.D.) doesn’t
appear eager to schedule a vote that would give Republican lawmakers
ownership of the controversial war.
Senate
Republican sources say Murkowski likely won’t get a vote on her measure
because it’s not privileged. Additionally, she would need Thune to
agree to put it on the busy Senate calendar.
But
if Republican senators don’t have an opportunity to vote on a measure
to authorize military operations against Iran, that could open the door
for more Republicans to vote for a Democratic-sponsored resolution
ordering President Trump to withdraw U.S. troops deployed against Iran.
Democrats
plan to vote against any resolution authorizing the use of force
against Iran because every Democratic senator opposes the conflict
except for Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.).
This morning, Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes that Chump's Project Freedom which began on Monday has already been set aside.
When the cease-fire in the war with Iran
went into effect a month ago, President Trump was pretty direct that if
the Iranians failed to end their nuclear program, or to reopen the
Strait of Hormuz, the bombers would be back in the air. “If there’s no
deal, fighting resumes,” he said, making it very clear this was just a
pause.
But it turns out, according to
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that the war actually ended at some
point after the cease-fire took hold, or so he told reporters at a news
conference at the White House on Tuesday. “The Operation Epic Fury is
concluded,” he said. “We achieved the objective of that operation.” The
effort to reopen the strait, Mr. Rubio said, is entirely a defensive and
humanitarian operation that would result in direct military exchanges
with the Iranians only if U.S. ships came under fire.
Later
on Tuesday, Mr. Trump announced that he was pausing even that effort —
which was only one day old, and had succeeded in getting just a few
ships freed — “for a short period of time,” citing what he said was
“great progress” toward an agreement with Iran. But he kept the American
blockade in place, part of a strategy of maximum economic pressure.
Still,
Mr. Trump’s suspension of the effort to guide ships out of the strait
seemed to contradict the administration’s stated position that it was
intolerable for Iran to block an international waterway, and that only
the United States had the ability to force it open again.
For the White House, the insistence that
the war was over was the latest rhetorical leap in an effort to put a
war that has created the greatest political crisis of Mr. Trump’s
presidency in the rearview mirror. But the mere proclamation does not
make it true. Missiles were still flying. Both sides insist they control
traffic in the waterway.
And despite Mr. Rubio’s declaration that the objectives of the war have been accomplished, they clearly have not.
It's nothing but another con job from our convicted felon Donald Chump.
The vice president spoke at a manufacturing facility during a rally to boost the candidacy of Rep. Zach Nunn
(R-IA) to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst (R)
and, while downplaying the economic devastation being visited on US
consumers by the war, he awkwardly admitted, "We also know that a lot of
our farmers are struggling with high fertilizer prices. I'm aware of
that. As the president of the United States has said, we got a little blip in the Middle East. We gotta take care of some business on the foreign policy side."
Co-host Willie Gest, speaking with conservative columnist David
French, prompted his guest with, “We had two days ago the president of
the United States calling this a ‘mini war. ‘Yesterday you had Vice
President Vance calling this a blip. I think everyone who's lost a
family member in this war, or who's now paying $4.50 a gallon on
national average, or much more in many states, would consider it much
more than a blip. They're trying to sort of minimize and diminish the
war and in many ways, wish it away.”
“You know, it's very clear at this point that it looks like Trump
was essentially sold a bill of goods that he thought, and he keeps
using the Venezuela comparison, we've heard it that he thought what he
was getting was going to be a short and glorious and victorious military
operation and he hadn't thought this through," French noted.
Co-host Joe Scarborough turned the conversation back to Vance’s remark.
“Over 100 school children being killed the first day of the war is a
blip, up to maybe 10,000, 15,000 Iranians being killed, JD Vance is
calling a blip,” he recited. “You have JD Vance calling a blip entire
communities in Lebanon being wiped off the face of the earth. I mean,
how would JD Vance feel if his community that he grew up in didn't have a
building left standing? That's what's happening in Lebanon, all across
Lebanon, because of this, quote, ‘blip.’”
“That's what's happening
in Iran because of this blip,” he added. “And as you say, people across
the world are paying for this day in and day out with an economy that's
getting worse. And of course, I guess only people like me worry about
spending money and the national debt, but this war has already cost us
$250 billion at minimum.”
MS
NOW host Rachel Maddow appeared stumped after a Justice Department
lawyer apologized to a federal judge for withholding information about
an arrest warrant that led to a "patently false" Department of Homeland
Security press release about said judge, leading the judge to consider
contempt charges against the department.
"Lying
to a federal judge, lying about a federal judge is a really big deal if
you're a lawyer or a government official," Maddow said on Monday.
The
"Rachel Maddow Show" host then broke down the case in Rhode Island
involving the state's U.S. Attorney's office and U.S. District Court
Judge Melissa DuBose, a Biden appointee. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin
Bolan apologized to DuBose on Monday after a Homeland Security press
release on Thursday -- titled "Activist Biden Judge Releases Violent
Criminal Illegal Alien Wanted for Murder" -- accused her of knowingly
releasing an ICE detainee who had been accused of murder in the
Dominican Republic.
Bolan acknowledged on
Monday that the press release "simply was not true" and said he didn't
inform DuBose about the warrant because he believed authorities in the
Dominican Republic hadn't signed off, according to Politico. DuBose said
the "completely erroneous and dangerous" press release put "judicial
security at risk" and was "setting up a false narrative," saying she
would consider contempt charges for both federal departments.
Homeland Security caught lying to the courts yet again and lying about the courts.
This
is how Chump's administration rolls. They lie repeatedly. They've
done that since January of last year and it's past time that they are
held accountable.
U.S.
District Judge Melissa DuBose, a Biden appointee based in Rhode Island,
said Monday the "patently false” April 30 DHS press release headlined
"Activist Biden Judge Releases Violent Criminal Illegal Alien Wanted for
Murder" put her personal safety at risk and was still on the
government's website as of Monday's hearing. DHS has yet to acknowledge
the error.
“The April
30th, completely erroneous and dangerous press release is still on their
website,” the judge complained, according to Politico. “It puts people
at risk. It’s a threat to judicial security.”
“I’m
not trying to make this political,” DuBose, a Biden appointee, added.
“It’s also very important that the public has the facts. As long as this
particular post is out there, it’s setting up a false narrative.”
Judge
Dubose also said “there was a decision made not to be truthful to the
court,” and that “there certainly was a massive breach of this court’s
trust in this case.”
Gomez attorney Melanie
Shapiro said she was blindsided by the murder charge as well. She wrote
in a statement: “I was completely shocked by the information about the
warrant and deeply disturbed by the extremely inflammatory rhetoric
against Judge DeBose. If I knew about an outstanding warrant from the
Dominican Republic for murder, I would never have filed the petition.”
A
federal judge said Tuesday that she was referring a Trump
administration lawyer to face an investigation into potential misconduct
for withholding key information from her about a case.
The
lawyer, Kevin M. Bolan, leads the civil division of the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the District of Rhode Island. In court filings and during a
hearing on Monday, Mr. Bolan acknowledged that he had failed to disclose
important information to the judge about an immigrant who had been
arrested and had petitioned for release. Mr. Bolan has apologized, but
Judge Melissa R. DuBose said that the court still needed to get to the
bottom of the omission.
“It’s the candor and
the lack of candor to this court that has to be addressed,” she said.
“And it has to be fully investigated, so we don’t have anything like
this happen again.”
The judge said the referral
would be made under the court’s local rules that govern disciplinary
proceedings against attorneys. Cases can be heard by a single judge or
all active judges, with punishments ranging from private reprimands or
fines to disbarment. At an earlier hearing on Monday, Judge DuBose also
discussed the possibility of sanctioning Mr. Bolan’s client, the
Department of Homeland Security.
Other lies include that Chump's ballroom wouldn't cost the taxpayers a single cent. That lie appears to have imploded.
Chump's winding down before our eyes. Nick Hilden reports that risk analyst Brett Erickson is attempting to determine what Chump's legacy will be. It isn't pretty:
As
Erickson points out, Trump’s 2024 campaign boiled down to several key
points, among which were the release of the Epstein files, no new wars
and the general Make America Great Again ethos. But over the first 18
months of his term, Trump has not only failed to deliver on these
promises but has fumbled them so badly that they will define his
presidency.
“At this point,” writes Erickson,
“it is clear that there will forever be a massive stain on the Trump
legacy as a result of the Epstein cover-up. I don’t think anyone,
Democrat or Republican would disagree with that.” The fallout from the
mishandling of the Epstein files was so severe that it angered and
alienated some of his strongest supporters, such as former
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, podcaster Joe Rogan and far-right
conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
But Erickson
devoted most of his criticism to Trump’s assertion there would be “no
new wars,” saying, “this is where we see this conflict REALLY begin to
rupture the foundation of his presidential legacy. It’s not JUST that he
campaigned on ‘No New Wars’ and then decided to conduct regime change
in Venezuela, launch a massive war against Iran and repeatedly say ‘Cuba
is next’, it’s that he’s LOSING in Iran.”
Chump is losing it -- as his behavior around children makes clear.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, released new
responses from the Department of Education (ED) and the Treasury
Department (Treasury) demonstrating that the agencies cannot articulate a
clear purpose or plan for implementing their illegal interagency
agreement (IAA) transferring the administration of federal student loans
to Treasury.
The responses were in reply to Senator Warren’s April 2nd letter
with Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Patty Murray
(D-Wash.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), pressing Secretary of Education
Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to rescind the
IAA.
In new responses to the senators, the agencies failed to provide
basic details about the implementation of the agreement, including
timing, cost, and Treasury’s plans for forced collections, or concretely
explain how the agreement will help borrowers and families.
Treasury also confirmed that while ED is transferring staff to
Treasury to execute the IAA, Treasury is also transferring staff to ED,
raising further concerns that the arrangement is wasting staff and
resources.
Previous IAAs have cost ED over $1 million in extra program costs and
resulted in weeks-long delays in grant disbursements that students and
schools rely upon.
While ED and Treasury again insisted in the new responses that their IAA is legal, Secretary McMahon admitted to Senator Warren
last year that she understands she has no authority to move the
statutory responsibilities of the Department of Education to other
agencies without Congress passing legislation first.
“The Trump administration has no explanation for how this latest
attempt to dismantle the Education Department is helping anyone —
because it isn’t,” said Senator Warren. “The truth is
that Trump is jacking up costs for borrowers and wasting resources. This
illegal agreement is bad for students and families, and I'll do
everything I can to fight back."
Senator Warren has led the fight to make our higher education system
more affordable, cancel student loan debt, and hold student loan
servicers accountable for incompetence and malfeasance. She launched the
Save Our Schools campaign in a coordinated effort to fight back against President Trump’s attempts to abolish the Department of Education.
On April 28, 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pressed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new Student Loan Ombudsman,
Geoffrey Gradler, on his plan to protect student loan borrowers,
especially given his past censorship of a key student loan report at the
CFPB and his background as a lobbyist for lenders. The senators also
asked him to recuse himself from past clients’ matters that might come
before his office at the CFPB.
On April 2, 2026, Senators Warren, Sanders, Wyden, Murray, and
Baldwin—all top Democrats on influential education committees—pressed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon
and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to rescind their plans to
move the administration of federal student loans to the Treasury
Department, the latest move in the Trump administration’s attempts to
dismantle the Department of Education.
On February 23, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, along with Representative Ayanna Pressley, released a response
from the Department of Education to their November letter regarding a
potential sale of the federal student debt portfolio. In the response,
ED confirms for the first time publicly that they are weighing a sale of
the federal student loan portfolio.
On February 19, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) pushed Education
Secretary Linda McMahon on concerns that the U.S. Department of
Education is apparently obstructing Congressional efforts to hold
federal student loan servicers accountable for underperformance.
On February 2, 2026, Senator Warren released a new report
revealing the findings of their investigation into how private student
loan lenders will reap the benefits from cuts to federal student loan
access enacted in Republicans’ Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBBA). The report
is the first Congressional analysis of the impacts of the OBBBA’s
student loan restrictions on the private lending market.
On January 22, 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley
(D-Ore.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) led their
Senate colleagues in demanding answers
from Trump Education Secretary Linda McMahon about the Trump
Administration’s proposal to eliminate affordable student loan repayment
options for millions of Americans.
On December 8, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in writing to the federal student loan servicers
to ensure they are providing borrowers with the customer service they
deserve in the wake of the Trump administration’s student loan policy
whiplash. The senators sent letters to MOHELA, Nelnet, EdFinancial,
Maximus, and CRI.
On December 1, 2025, Senator Warren published an op-ed in USA Today
calling for Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to resign following
the recent news that President Trump and Secretary McMahon plan to
further dismantle the Department of Education (ED).
On November 17, 2025, Senator Warren led over 40 of her colleagues in a letter urging
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Secretary of the Treasury
Scott Bessent to immediately end any plans to sell or transfer the
federal student loan portfolio to the private market.
On November 10, 2025, Senator Warren led her colleagues in a letter urging
the Trump administration to use the IRS’s existing legal authorities to
stop the looming “tax bomb” facing borrowers who obtain income-driven
repayment (IDR) discharges of their student loan debt.
On October 15, 2025, Senator Warren and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) led 70 members of Congress
in a letter calling on the Trump administration to address the ongoing
and unprecedented wave of student loan delinquencies and defaults, which
threatens the financial stability of millions of people and could have
disastrous effects on the American economy.
On September 19, 2025, following a push by Senator Warren and nine
other senators, the Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of
Education agreed to open an investigation
into DOGE’s infiltration of internal systems, including the scope of
its access to sensitive student loan borrower information and its impact
on borrowers’ rights and privacy.
On August 26, 2025, Senator Warren led colleagues
in sending a follow-up letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon
condemning the Department of Education for deliberately hiding the
“Submit a Complaint” button on the Office of Federal Student Aid’s
website, firing employees responsible for providing customer service to
borrowers and families and misleading Congress about the scope of these
firings.
On August 4, 2025, Senator Warren led
eight Senators in pressing major private student loan lenders on their
plans to serve the incoming surge of borrowers who will be pushed to the
industry because of Republicans’ recently passed “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
On July 17, 2025, Senator Warren released a new 23-page report,
“Education At Risk: Frontline Impacts of Trump’s War on Students,”
highlighting warnings from 11 major national education and civil rights
organizations on the impact of the Trump Administration’s dismantling of
the Department of Education (ED), slashing support to millions of
American students, primary and secondary school teachers,
administrators, parents, and student loan borrowers.
On July 15, 2025, Senators Warren and Sanders, along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter
to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, urging her to reverse the
interest hike on student loan borrowers in the SAVE forbearance.
