News From Around the Web
#10 Former US Sen. Bob Menendez Gets 11 Years in Prison for Taking Bribes and Acting as Agent of Egypt - Larry Neumeister and Michael R. Sisak for AP News, NY Post, Charlie Kirk, Collin Rugg, and Western Lensman on X
Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt — crimes his lawyer said he’s been mocked for as “Gold Bar Bob.” The judge delivered the sentence after Menendez tearfully addressed the court, saying he’d lost everything he cared about except his family. The Democrat resigned last year after becoming one of only a handful of U.S. senators ever convicted while in office. “You were successful, powerful; you stood at the apex of our political system,” U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein told Menendez in a packed Manhattan courtroom. ”Somewhere along the way, and I don’t know when it was, you lost your way, and working for the public good became working for your good.”
#9 Trump’s FCC Is Investigating NPR and PBS Stations Over Sponsorships - Liam Reilly for CNN, Libs of TikTok, Trish Regan, Paul Farhi, and The Gateway Pundit on X
Brendan Carr, the Federal Communications Commission’s new chairman, on Wednesday ordered an investigation into the sponsorship practices of NPR and PBS member stations.In a letter obtained by CNN, Carr said he was “concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials.” “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements,” Carr wrote in the letter, which was sent to NPR chief executive Katherine Maher and PBS president and chief executive Paula Kerger. NPR and PBS programming is aired to a network of around 1,500 member stations, all of which choose which programs to broadcast. The stations require licenses approved by the FCC to operate, and these licenses limit them as non-commercial educational broadcast stations, which are prohibited by federal law from airing advertisements. The FCC’s investigation will probe the underwriting announcements and policies of NPR and PBS, as well as their broadcast stations...
#8 Explosive Moment RFK Jr Brutally Attacks Bernie Sanders Over His Big Pharma Donors - Alexa Lardieri for Daily Mail, Autism Capital, and A Midwestern Doctor on X
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Sen Bernie Sanders had an explosive clash over the senator's links to Big Pharma as Trump's health nominee came out swinging on the second day of his confirmation hearing. The spat started when RFK Jr., who has been tapped to be head of the Health and Human Services (HHS), promised he would 'make America healthier than other countries in the world.' Sen Sanders questioned how RFK Jr could do so without guaranteeing free healthcare to every American, which appeared to set the nominee off...
#7 Tulsi Gabbard: As a Member of Congress, I Investigated the Obama Administration’s Support for Al-Qaeda in Syria - Tim Hains for Real Clear Politics, floridanow1, George, and American Greatness on X
Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump's nominee to serve as the director of national intelligence, answered a question about why she repeated "Russian talking points" about the U.S. supporting al-Qaeda while opposing U.S. intervention in Syria Thursday morning during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee...#6 Senate Confirms Doug Burgum as Interior Secretary After Trump Tasked Him to Boost Drilling - Matthew Brown, Kristi Noem, Nick Sortor, and Rapid Response 47 on X
The Senate confirmed Doug Burgum as interior secretary late Thursday after President Donald Trump tapped the North Dakota billionaire to spearhead the Republican administration’s ambitions to boost fossil fuel production. The vote was 79-18. More than half of Senate Democrats joined all 53 Republicans in voting for Burgum. Burgum, 68, is an ultra-wealthy software industry entrepreneur who came from a small North Dakota farming community, where he worked at his family’s grain elevator. He served two terms as governor of the oil-rich state and launched a presidential campaign in 2023, but dropped out months later and quickly endorsed Trump...
#5 Kash Patel in FBI Director Confirmation Hearing Pledges “No Retributive Actions” Amid Grilling on Past Comments - Melissa Quinn for CBS News, Mike Lee, Spitfire, Juanita Broaddrick, Josh Hawley, and Chicago1Ray on X
Kash Patel appeared Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing to be FBI director. Patel has been nominated to replace Trump-appointed Christopher Wray, whose resignation took effect on Jan. 20. Democratic senators pushed Patel on his prior social media posts, promotion of the "J6 Prison Choir," a list of "deep state" Executive Branch officials listed in his book "Government Gangsters," his refusal to say if President Trump lost the 2020 election, and his prior comments about the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Patel sought to distance himself from his comments, arguing that they were being "mischaracterized" and lacked context...#4 US Adviser Who Flew to UK to Rape Child Is Jailed - BBC, Shadow of Ezra, Liz Crokin, Mindy MF Robinson, and Shreyton on X
A former adviser to the US government who flew to the UK to rape whom he believed to be a nine-year-old child has been convicted and jailed. Rahamim Shy, 47, traveled to Bedford from New York in February 2024 to have sex with the girl following more than a month of planning. This followed correspondence with an individual describing herself as 'Debbie', the girl's 'grandmother', who was in fact an undercover officer with Bedfordshire Police. Shy, of Jersey City in New Jersey, was found guilty of arranging the commission of a child sex offense, namely rape, and possessing indecent photographs of a child, at Luton Crown Court on Wednesday and was jailed for 11 years and six months...
#3 Birthright Citizenship Was for Children of Slaves, Not for World to ‘Pile’ Into Us: Donald Trump - Economic Times, Breaking 911 (community note), US Homeland Security News, Awakened Outlaw, and Josh Hammer on X
President Donald Trump stated that birthright citizenship was intended for the children of slaves, not for global immigrants. He expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would support his stance after a court struck down his executive order. Republicans have proposed a bill to restrict citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and non-immigrants on temporary visas...
#2 FDA Study Finds Best-Selling Asthma Drug Linked to Serious Mental Health Issues - Tracy Beanz and Michelle Edwards for The Highwire, UncoverDC, The Chief Nerd, and Dr. Sermed Mezher on X
DA researchers have uncovered new evidence of a molecular link between one of the best-selling drugs in U.S. history—an asthma medication initially developed by Merck and marketed under the brand name Singulair (montelukast)—and severe mental health issues in some patients. Nonetheless, according to Reuters, the FDA does not intend to update the label of montelukast products to reflect these latest findings. FDA researchers wrote in their abstract: “Emerging data from confirmatory pharmacology studies in primary human CNS cells treated with montelukast and endogenous receptor ligands provide further insight into potential molecular mechanisms of drug-related [central nervous system] effects. This report is the first public release [of these findings].”
