News From Around the Web
#1 10 Highlights From Trump’s 2026 State of the Union - CBS News Video, The White House, CNN, Stan McWilliams, Tracy Beanz, Chris Dorr, New York Post, TKnight, Al Jazeera English, Reuters, and Eddie Scarry on X
President Trump delivered the first State of the Union of his second term Tuesday night. Here were some of the biggest moments...#2 In Democratic Response to Trump, Abigail Spanberger Frames the Party’s Midterm Message - Barbara Sprunt for npr, Shayne/Fox News, NewsNation, The Washington Times, Max Blumenthal, and Ron cohen on X
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger blasted President Trump's policies and invoked a civic call for Americans to push for better leadership, in a rebuttal to the State of the Union that offered a preview of how Democrats plan to message against the GOP in this year's midterm elections. "In his speech tonight, the president did what he always does: he lied, he scapegoated, and he distracted, and he offered no real solutions to our nation's pressing challenges, so many of which he is actively making worse," Spanberger said... Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said the United States is “under siege” from Roundup Weed & Grass Killer manufacturer Bayer’s lobbyists who seek to shed the company of any damage liability. “All three branches of this government are under siege by lobbyists and lawyers from a German company named Bayer. They spent over $9 million lobbying the executive branch and the legislative branch so that they don’t have to be liable for any damages that their herbicide causes,” Massie said on the House floor... Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei a Friday deadline to comply with demands to peel back safeguards on its AI model or risk losing a Pentagon contract. He also threatened to put the AI company on what could amount to a government blacklist. At issue is the guardrails Anthropic placed on its AI model Claude. The Pentagon, which has a $200 million contract with Anthropic, wants the company to lift its restrictions for the military to be able to use the model for “all lawful use,” according to two sources familiar with the discussions... On Feb. 21, an Amber Alert was issued for 2-year-old Kehlani Rogers, who disappeared from her home near 118th Avenue and Thomas Road. Rogers' parents reported her missing at around 8 a.m. that morning. The toddler was last seen with 23-year-old Marina Noriega. On Feb. 22, Rogers was found after a possible sighting was reported at a Phoenix QuikTrip near 27th Avenue and Thomas Road. Soon after, a tipster reported picking Noriega and Rogers up near Friendship Park in Avondale and driving them to Maricopa, where Noriega mentioned catching a train to California. City surveillance video showed her in Maricopa with the 2-year-old. According to court documents, Noriega said they slept on the street... The Justice Department may not search through the contents of several devices seized from a Washington Post reporter earlier this year as part of a probe into leaked classified documents, a federal judge said in a ruling Tuesday that was highly critical of the government’s approach in the case. The decision from Magistrate Judge William Porter, of the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, is a remarkable turn of events, some six weeks after he first gave the government permission to raid the reporter’s home to seize a phone, two computers, and a Garmin watch... War Secretary Pete Hegseth is appealing a judge's order that blocks him from punishing Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former Navy pilot, for participating in a video that called on troops to resist unlawful orders, according to a court filing on Tuesday. Justice Department officials filed a notice that they will ask a panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the Feb. 12 ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon. Kelly said in a social media post that the only reason for Hegseth to appeal is to "keep trampling on the free speech rights of retired veterans and silence dissent." The Department of Justice appears to have withheld dozens of pages of witness notes and reports about an alleged victim of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who, according to Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), accused President Donald Trump of assaulting her when she was a minor. An index of witness materials prepared in advance of the trial of Epstein-convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell suggests that FBI agents interviewed the woman identified by Garcia four times in 2019, but an ABC News search of the DOJ's vast public archive of Epstein files found a report about just one of those meetings...
#3 Democrats Host ‘State of the Swamp’ Counter to Trump’s SOTU - APT, Libs of TikTok, Reuters, Oli London, and RagingDissident on X
Democrats are hosting a “State of the Swamp” event as counter-programming to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. The event is expected to feature a mix of lawmakers and public figures, including Senator Ron Wyden, Rep. Eugene Vindman, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Stacey Abrams, and actors Robert De Niro and Mark Ruffalo. Organizers say the gathering will focus on issues such as government accountability, ethics and political reform, offering what they describe as an alternative perspective to the president’s annual address before Congress. The counter-event underscores deep partisan divisions in Washington, as both parties seek to shape the national narrative during a high-profile political evening...
#4 Massie Says US ‘Under Siege’ by Roundup Maker Bayer to Avoid Herbicide Liability - Molly Parks for Washington Examiner, Thomas Massie, Holden Culotta, Rob Schneider/The Children's Health Defense, CASE, Tom Renz, and Rex on X
#5 Pentagon Threatens to Make Anthropic a Pariah if It Refuses to Drop AI Guardrails - Hadas Gold and Haley Britzky for CNN, Open Source Intel, Shanaka Anslem Perera, Newsmax, Clash Report, and The Cradle on X
#6 Phoenix Movers Spot Amber Alert Suspect at Gas Station, Block Her Car Until Police Arrive - Brent Corrado and Taylor Wirtz for FOX 10 News, Dudes Posting Their W’s, The Facts Dude, Jennifer Coffindaffer, David J Harris Jr/BubsSnork, and Laura Townsend/Grok on X
#7 Judge Bars Justice Department From Searching Through Devices Seized From Washington Post Reporter as Part of Leak Probe - Devan Cole for CNN, Runa Sandvik, Peter Spiegel, Freedom of the Press/The Washington Post, Ken Hughes, and CBS Miami on X
#8 Pentagon Appeals Block on Punishing Sen. Kelly for Video - NEWSMAX, Tampa Hoss, Amandasatiro, Papa Brain, The Epoch Times, UK, and Esha on X
#9 DOJ Appears to Have Withheld Some Epstein Documents Containing Allegations Against Trump, Oversight Democrats Say - James Hill and Peter Charalambous ABC News, Child Welfare Hub, Nevaeh Daum, christine, Nino Brodin, and Jason S on X
#10 ‘I’ll Name Them Right Here.’ Massie Calls for Investigations Into Epstein’s Alleged Accomplices - PBS NewsHour, Jack T. Bauer/Brian Allen, Phil Labonte, JUNE & ZUE, Patriot Takes, and Progressives Cat/Jesus Freakin Congress on X
Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie named three powerful men—Leon Black, Jes Staley, and Leslie Wexner—from the unsealed Epstein files directly on the House floor Tuesday, demanding the Department of Justice investigate them for justice to Epstein survivors. He blasted Congress for funding the DOJ yet seeing no U.S. arrests despite over two dozen resignations, spotlighting Black's redacted ties first. Watch Massie's bold call for accountability in this explosive moment amid ongoing sex trafficking revelations...
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