TV News LIES

Texas state House Democrats who left their state to prevent Republicans from passing a new congressional district map were forced to evacuate their hotel after a bomb threat, but officials say everyone is safe. 

The St. Charles Police Department in Illinois said officers responded to a report of a bomb threat at about 7:15 a.m. CDT Wednesday at a hotel where the Democrats were staying. The department’s officers, along with those from the fire department and the Kane County Sheriff’s Office, conducted a “thorough” search and did not find any device, according to a release. 

The release said 400 people were evacuated as bomb squad units conducted their search, and everyone has been able to return to the hotel.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said he’s “aware” of the threats and instructed the Illinois State Police to ensure that public safety is maintained. 

“Threats of violence will be investigated and those responsible will be held accountable,” he said in a post on the social platform X. 

A group of Texas state House Democratic leaders — Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu, Mexican American Legislative Caucus Chair Ramon Romero and Legislative Black Caucus Chair Barbara Gervin-Hawkins — said in a statement that a threat was made on Wednesday morning against the members, but everyone is safe. 

“We are safe, we are secure, and we are undeterred,” they said. “We are grateful for Governor Pritzker, local, and state law enforcement for their quick action to ensure our safety.”

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The State Department is proposing requiring applicants for business and tourist visas to post a bond of up to $15,000 to enter the United States, a move that may make the process unaffordable for many.

In a notice to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the department said it would start a 12-month pilot program under which people from countries deemed to have high overstay rates and deficient internal document security controls could be required to post bonds of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 when they apply for a visa.

The proposal comes as the Trump administration is tightening requirements for visa applicants. Last week, the State Department announced that many visa renewal applicants would have to submit to an additional in-person interview, something that was not required in the past. In addition, the department is proposing that applicants for the Visa Diversity Lottery program have valid passports from their country of citizenship.

A preview of the bond notice, which was posted on the Federal Register website on Monday, said the pilot program would take effect within 15 days of its formal publication and is necessary to ensure that the U.S. government is not financially liable if a visitor does not comply with the terms of his or her visa.

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A federal judge blocked the Trump administration on Tuesday from diverting funds from a multibillion-dollar grant program designed to protect communities against natural disasters.

US district judge Richard Stearns in Boston issued a preliminary injunction preventing the government from spending money allocated to the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (Bric) program for other purposes.

Twenty mostly Democratic-led states sued the administration last month, saying the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) lacked power to cancel the Bric program without congressional approval.

Fema is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Neither agency immediately responded to requests for comment.

Created in 2018 during Donald Trump’s first term, the Bric program helps state and local governments protect major infrastructure such as roads and bridges before the occurrence of floods, hurricanes and other disasters.

According to the lawsuit, Fema approved about $4.5bn in grants for nearly 2,000 projects, primarily in coastal states, over the last four years.

But the agency announced in April it would end the program, calling it wasteful, ineffective and politicized.

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Donald Trump and Wall Street Journal owner Rupert Murdoch on Monday struck a deal related to the president’s lawsuit against the paper over its publication of a story detailing a “bawdy” birthday message Trump allegedly wrote to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.

While Trump had initially sought to have Murdoch deposed swiftly, citing, in part, his advanced age and long-standing health issues, the president has now agreed to remove that request, according to a Monday court filing first reported by Politico’s Josh Gerstein.

Trump sued Murdoch, the Journal’s publisher and the reporters who authored an article the newspaper published last month reporting that the president wrote a lewd message to Epstein as part of an album British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell compiled for the disgraced financier’s 50th birthday in 2003. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Trump has denied writing the letter, attacking the newspaper for publishing its story and taking legal action over the report.

Monday’s agreement stipulates that until the “Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the Complaint is adjudicated, the Parties agree not to engage in discovery.”

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The Justice Department is reportedly probing allegations that Obama officials fabricated evidence of Russian interference during the 2016 election, doubling down on attempts to distract from its controversial handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Per reports from CNN and Fox News, Attorney General Pam Bondi has called on prosecutors to initiate a grand jury investigation into these claims – a move that could lead to subpoenas of former officials and even potential indictments.

A DOJ spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bondi’s decision effectively endorses Trump’s latest baseless conspiracy theory — which has included accusing Obama of treason — and comes as the administration has struggled to move on from the Epstein debacle.

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Tulsi Gabbard, the director of US national intelligence, hoped to uncover evidence that Barack Obama and his national security team conspired to undermine Donald Trump in a slow-motion coup.

But if her crusade was aimed at proving that Obama embarked on a “treasonous conspiracy” to falsely show that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump, Gabbard made a mistake. A previously classified annexe to a report by another special counsel, John Durham – appointed towards the end of Trump’s first presidency – has further undermined Gabbard’s case.

It was a quixotic enterprise from the start.

After all, the 2019 report from Robert Mueller, the original special counsel appointed to investigate the Russia allegations, and a bipartisan five-volume report the following year from the Senate intelligence committee – then chaired by Marco Rubio, now Trump
’s secretary of state – both affirmed the offending January 2017 intelligence community assessment, which expressed “high confidence” in Russian interference.

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, seemed to validate the intelligence’s premise in 2018 when, standing beside Trump at a news conference in Helsinki, he admitted wanting him to win.

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