News From Around the Web
#1 Texas AG Paxton Probes O’Rourke Group for ‘Bankrolling’ Lawmakers - Elvia Limon for The Hill, Attorney General Ken Paxton, KTSM 9 News, Tara Bull, One America News, and Washington Examiner on X
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has launched an investigation into whether former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-Texas) political group is breaking laws by allegedly “bankrolling” the out-of-state travel of Democrats attempting to stop the passage of the newly proposed GOP-favored congressional maps. Paxton, in a Wednesday press release, said Powered by People, a group led by O’Rourke, may have violated bribery laws. He added that O’Rourke’s group and the Texas Democrats who fled the state may have also “violated other Texas laws, including, but not limited to, those governing campaign or officeholder contributions and expenditures, coercion of a public servant, and abuse of office.”
#2 Kremlin Says Putin-Trump Meeting Agreed, Will Happen in ‘Coming Days' - Alexander Smith for NBC News, Rod D. Martin, Joey Mannarino, Lord Bebo/Bruno, Nick Sortor, Financial Times, and Liz Crokin on X
The Kremlin said Thursday that a meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has been agreed in principle and will happen in the “coming days,” teeing up their first in-person encounter of Trump's second term. At the same time, Moscow all but dismissed Trump's proposal for a three-way summit involving Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, continuing the Kremlin's longstanding resistance to such a sit-down. Trump's efforts are part of his campaign promise to resolve Russia's war in Ukraine, and his wider "America First" pledge to end involvement in foreign conflicts altogether. “At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement in principle was made to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days,” Putin’s longtime foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, said in an audio statement...
#3 Former Georgia LT. Gov. Geoff Duncan Abandons GOP to Join Democratic Party - Landon Mion for Fox News, Ruggedindividualist, John Solomon, James, Sophia, and Michael on X
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan announced he is leaving the GOP and joining the Democratic Party, a move he says has been a long time coming as he has bucked heads with the Republican Party. Duncan, who served as lieutenant governor as a Republican from 2019 until 2023, wrote in an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday that his path to becoming a Democrat began before President Donald Trump attempted to overturn his loss to former President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, which Duncan criticized at the time. "My journey to becoming a Democrat started well before Donald Trump tried to steal the 2020 election in Georgia," Duncan wrote in the newspaper...
#4 Video Shows Department of Justice Official Urging Jan. 6 Rioters to ‘Kill’ Cops - Tom Dreisbach for NPR, Instant News, Tombug957, and Eagle Ed Martin/Island Girl on X
Police bodycam footage introduced at the trial of Jared Wise showed him berating police officers on Jan. 6, 2021, and yelling "kill 'em" as rioters attacked law enforcement. Less than five years after urging rioters to "kill" police at the Capitol, a former Jan. 6 defendant is working as a senior adviser for the Department of Justice, which has been dramatically remade under the second Trump administration. NPR has obtained police bodycam footage from multiple angles of the former defendant and current administration official, Jared Wise, berating officers and calling them "Nazi" and "Gestapo." NPR located the footage, which has not previously been published, in a review of thousands of court exhibits from Jan. 6 criminal cases, obtained through legal action by a coalition of media organizations...
#5 Higher U.S. Tariffs Officially in Effect on Dozens of Nations - Money Watch, The Beacon, Mate Barzo, Geoffrey A. Fields, Simi, KLST TV, and Kosher Nostra CPA, MBA on X
President Trump officially began levying higher import taxes on dozens of countries Thursday, just as the economic fallout of his months-long tariff threats was beginning to create visible damage to the U.S. economy. The White House said that starting just after midnight EDT, goods from more than 60 countries and the European Union began facing tariff rates of 10% or higher. Products from the European Union, Japan, and South Korea are being taxed at 15%, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam, and Bangladesh are being taxed at 20%. Mr. Trump also expects places such as the EU, Japan, and South Korea to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S...
#6 Longtime Biden Aide to Testify in Republican Probe of Former President’s Mental Decline - Annie Grayer for CNN, Don Ford - The People Strategist, Fred Lucas, and Peter Thompsin on X
One of Joe Biden’s former top communications advisers is set to appear for a scheduled interview Thursday in the House Oversight Committee’s probe of the former president’s cognitive decline and possible efforts to conceal it from the public. Anita Dunn, the former senior adviser to the president for communications, had departed the administration in the wake of Biden’s decision to step down from the 2024 Democratic ticket. Her closed-door testimony to the committee comes as the Republican-led panel has interviewed top Biden White House aides in recent weeks as part of its intensifying investigation...
#7 Trump Expands 401(k) Options with Alternative Assets - Sarah Min for CNBC, Watcher.Guru, Bitcoin Magazine, Cointelegraph, Junaid Dar, DEGEN NEWS, and Mario Nawfal on X
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday to allow alternative assets such as private equity, cryptocurrencies, and real estate into 401(k)s, according to a senior White House official. The executive order will direct the U.S. Secretary of Labor to review fiduciary guidance on private market investments in 401(k) and other defined-contribution plans that are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The federal law sets minimum standards for most retirement plans. Trump has an executive order signing scheduled at noon. The development was first reported by Bloomberg News...
#8 Trump, Vance Blast ‘Fake News’ Epstein Meeting - Alex Gangitano for The Hill, Acyn, Disclose TV, KSN News Wichita, Don Winslow/Chris Hudson, and Vince Clements/Costa DC on X
President Trump and Vice President Vance blasted reports on Wednesday that said a group of top administration officials were gathering to discuss whether to publish audio and a transcript of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell. Trump was asked if Vance was hosting a gathering to discuss the Epstein issue, after CNN first reported that the meeting at the vice president’s residence was taking place that evening. “I don’t know, I could ask you that question,” Trump said, looking at his vice president. “I don’t know of it, but I think, here’s the man right here.” Vance then chimed in, bashing the journalists who reported it...
#9 Palantir CEO Alex Karp Just Delivered Incredible News for Nvidia Stock Investors - Danny Vena for The Motley Fool, Tom Nash, Jason Bassler, Koyfin, MOONBOY06/Grizz, and Emir M | Type-F Capital on X
The past few years have been something of a blur for Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). The company pioneered the graphics processing units (GPUs) that ushered in the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. The resulting surge in sales and profits catapulted Nvidia to a $4 trillion market cap, the first company to achieve such a distinction. Yet some investors are concerned that the hype has outpaced the innovation, and the AI gravy train will inevitably slow. As such, many are looking for signs that businesses are continuing to adopt AI tools and integrate these next-generation algorithms into their operations. Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) just delivered the clearest evidence yet that the adoption of AI has reached a tipping point...
#10 Miss United States Lindsey Langston Accuses Rep. Cory Mills of Threatening to Publish Her Nude Pics, Sex Videos - Josh Christenson, The Blaze, Reese/AI Vandelay, Anthony Sabatini/Randell Jackson/Jill Savage, Jeremy Rodriguez, and Repugnican Election Thief/Turnbull on X
The reigning Miss United States is accusing Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) of threatening to make public sex videos and nude pictures of her — and “harm any men” she went out with in the future — after she ended their relationship earlier this year upon finding out he was seeing another woman. Lindsey Langston, who was crowned in October, reported the shocking sextortion attempt by Mills, 45, to the Columbia (Fla.) County Sheriff’s Office July 14, according to a document obtained by The Post. “Since February 20th of 2025, Cory has contacted Lindsey numerous times on numerous different accounts threatening to release nude images and videos of her, to include recorded videos of her and Cory engaging in sexual acts,” the report stated...
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