News From Around the Web
#1 Rand Paul Releases Docs That Reveal FBI Halted Border Inspection of Virus Researcher Over Wuhan Lab Links - Louis Casiano for Fox News, Breaking 911, Bill Melugin, Just the News, Hans Mahncke, and Lara Logan/Senator Rand Paul on X
Agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were preparing to question a British zoologist and disease ecology expert upon his return to the United States from the World Health Organization’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19, before the FBI intervened and asked agents to stand down, according to files released Monday by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. "They told the public a COVID lab leak 'wasn’t plausible,'" Rand wrote on X. "Their own private messages say otherwise. Today I’m launching The Reading Room, where the public can review records related to my ongoing investigation – not just conclusions but the actual documents."
#2 Sen. Darline Graham Says She’s Running for a Full 6-Year Term After Trump Urged Her to Jump Into the Race - Rebecca Shabad and Frank Thorp V for NBC News, Darline Graham, Sean Davis, CNN Breaking News, Ned Ryun/Nick Sortor, Kelly McCarty/Fox News, and Palmetto State Watch on X
Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., said she will run for a full term for the seat held by her late brother, Lindsey Graham, days after President Donald Trump said he urged her to jump into the race. Graham said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that she will run in next month’s special primary election to appear on the November ballot. “I’ve made a decision,” Graham said in a clip released on X. “I’m in.” “I’ve been praying a lot, talking to my family. But with the love of my family, with the support of his staff, I know I’m a hard worker. I learned that from Lindsey. He cared about the people of this state. I’ve worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state,” Graham said. “I feel like I can do it. I feel an inner peace about it. Will it be difficult? Yes, absolutely.”#3 Donalds Challenges Leading Democrat to Three Debates in Florida Governor’s Race as He Faces Several Republican Challengers - Phillip Stucky for Spectrum News 13, Byron Donalds (community note)/Werther Marciales, Julie Jonas/Giovanni, TeyTeyfromFlorida/Richard FL, James Fishback, and Robert J Salvador/Political Polls on X
Rep. Byron Donalds challenged Democratic candidate David Jolly to three debates in the race for U.S. Senate on Monday. Donalds appears ready to take the debate stage, though not against any of his fellow Republicans. He has rebuffed any calls for debates leading up to the primary elections next month, but is calling out the perceived democratic frontrunner. The Trump-backed candidate took to social media to call out Jolly. He said he wants to debate Jolly three times before the November election, adding that it will give voters a chance to compare their very different visions for the state. “I’m challenging Democrat David Jolly to THREE debates. Three opportunities for Floridians to compare two very different visions for our state’s future. I’ll defend Florida’s record on freedom, economic growth, public safety, and common-sense leadership,” Donalds wrote on X...
#4 UPDATE: Appeals Court Clears Release of Biden’s 2016 Memoir Interview Audio - Jacob Rosen and Melissa Quinn for CBS News, Nick Sortor, Eric Daugherty,
Gunther Eagleman™, and Jeff Clark/Oversight Project on X
A federal appeals court on Monday night denied a bid from former President Joe Biden to keep the Justice Department from giving a conservative think tank redacted transcripts and audio recordings of conversations he had with his biographer roughly a decade ago, but stayed the opinion until August 3 to allow time for further appeals. In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Biden's attempt to stop the Heritage Foundation from getting the material. The majority opinion stated that, "We conclude that Biden has not shown a likelihood that the requested materials must be withheld from disclosure."
#5 CNN’s Van Jones Warns Far Left: ‘Stop Pooping in the Punch Bowl — and Telling Us the Turds Are Ice Cubes’ - Ryan King for New York Post, Van Jones, Eyal Yakoby, DC_Draino/TV News Now, Glenn Beck, and Erin Burnett OutFront on X
Famed progressive CNN pundit Van Jones is blasting the far left for pushing “crazy ideas” and “turds” — while warning the mainstream of the Democratic Party is too worn down to rein in the extremists. “I’m a strong Democrat, with a winning bipartisan track record. I’m rooted in progressive ideals and policies: criminal justice reform, Green New Deal, Medicare for All, free education, clean air, and water. These are ideas I have fought for my entire adult life,” Jones said on X over the weekend. “But some people in groups like the DSA are pushing an agenda FAR outside those ideals. Supporting Hamas is not progressive,” he said...
#6 Treasury Stopped Nearly $100M in Taxpayer Money From Going to Dead People After New Gov’t Measure Implemented - Victor Nava for New York Post, Stock Mom™, AMERICANVibes, Election Wizard, and sandym on X
The Treasury Department has blocked nearly $100 million in taxpayer money from going to dead people since implementing a government-wide payment verification process last year, The Post has learned. The department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service discovered the money set to go to ghosts after a review of an eye-popping 885 million payments worth a total of nearly $2.7 trillion. Since March 2025, the screening has identified more than 4,900 disbursements, worth approximately $99 million, associated with deceased payees, according to the Treasury...
#7 Canada Ready to ‘Intensify’ Trade Talks as Trump Reportedly Prepares to Hit More Countries With New Tariffs - The Guardian, Mark Carney, CBS News, ABC News, CNN, and The Associated Press on X
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that Ottawa is ready to deepen trade talks with the United States, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered fresh tariffs targeting Canada. “This is the latest in a series of unilateral US trade actions that began with the US imposing a series of tariffs in direct violation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement,” Carney said of Trump’s plan for 50% duties on many Canadian products. He added that Canada has made proposals to resolve disputes as Washington transformed its trade ties, and is “ready to intensify those discussions.” Trump’s tariffs will hit a wide range of products, the White House said, including wine, hockey sticks, and cement. They also include goods previously protected from import taxes under the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) agreement...
#8 DOJ Files Denaturalization Cases Against 10 for Hiding Serious Crimes - Hailey Peck for Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau, The White House, Eric Daugherty, Homeland Security, Rapid Response 47, and U.S. Department of Justice/New York Post on X
The U.S. Department of Justice is moving to revoke the naturalized citizenship of 10 people, including one person in Iowa, the department announced Monday. The department filed denaturalization actions for 10 people accused of serious offenses, including sexual abuse of a child, healthcare and wire fraud, immigration fraud, and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, according to a news release. “Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice will continue to aggressively pursue denaturalization to restore integrity to America’s naturalization process,” said Todd Blanche, acting U.S. attorney general...
#9 Novo Nordisk Sues Eli Lilly, Alleging Misleading Glp-1 Advertising - Annika Kim Constantino for CNBC, AlphaBronze, Irish Examiner Business, Damian Garde, Paul Sommerville, and Merger Sales on X
Novo Nordisk on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly, alleging that its advertising campaigns for its blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs are designed to mislead consumers about their superior efficacy relative to the Danish drugmaker’s rival injections. Novo is specifically taking issue with nationwide ads that cite what it called “outdated” clinical trials to compare the highest doses of Lilly’s medicines to lower doses of Novo’s drugs. For example, those campaigns don’t include new evidence about Novo’s recently approved high-dose version of its obesity injection, Wegovy, which entered the market in March and brings weight loss that’s more comparable to Lilly’s products...
#10 HHS Moves to Establish COVID-19 Vaccine Injury Table - Jeffrey Jaxen for The HighWire
It’s official. Published in the latest edition of what’s called the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, HHS states its formal, public declaration to “…establish the COVID-19 Countermeasures Injury Table for the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP).” Specifically, HHS declares: “The Table will list and explain injuries that, based on compelling, reliable, valid, medical, and scientific evidence, are presumed to be caused by covered COVID-19 countermeasures, and set forth the time periods in which the onset of these injuries must occur after the administration or use of these covered COVID-19 countermeasures.”
