JUST IN - Billionaire Leon Black files a $7.25 million defamation lawsuit against Democrat Robert Garcia, alleging the congressman knowingly lied on TV tying Black to Jeffrey Epstein — AP

TRUMP REFUSES TO FIRE PETE HEGSETH! President Trump is standing firmly behind his Secretary of War, making it clear that he has every intention of keeping Hegseth in his administration and wants him to fight back against the pressure campaign from Democrats. GOOD! 🇺🇸 Hegseth is loved by our troops, and his leadership has helped maintain incredible morale within the military. According to CNN, Hegseth has become a major target of Democratic investigations and impeachment efforts. But President Trump is making it clear that he is not backing down. You can bring the Iran war to an end and still keep Pete Hegseth. Military morale is absolutely incredible right now, and that should not be overlooked. Multiple White House officials have reportedly told CNN that Trump personally likes Hegseth very much, and that has not changed. Let’s also remember that attempts to remove Hegseth were already being made LAST YEAR, multiple times. So let’s not pretend that Iran is the only reason behind this campaign against him.

I’m a team player. Not many things will make me go scorched earth. Setting up @PeteHegseth as scapegoat is one of them. And, yes, I know the blackmail. You know who you are.

.@RepRobertGarcia, what the hell is this? A fundraising text using your name and photograph declares the Trump family guilty of bribery, extortion, and corruption, promises to make them pay, and then asks for money. You’re boasting about becoming House Oversight Chairman while treating congressional investigations like verdicts you’ve already reached. And now somebody is raising money off those threats? Who authorized this message? Where does the money go? Congressional oversight is supposed to follow the evidence, not announce guilt in advance and pass around a collection plate. You want to investigate corruption? Start by explaining this fundraising appeal.

Thomas Massie and the rest of the “principled” Republicans just discovered a sudden, burning passion for impeaching Pete Hegseth. Not over Iran. Not over Signal chats. Not over any actual crime. They’re coming for him because he’s the only thing currently standing between Donald Trump and a quiet, professional, PowerPoint-backed military nullification that nobody ever has to call a coup. Hegseth spent the last year firing the generals who spent a decade treating the Constitution like toilet paper and the chain of command as a slumber party. He cut the number of senior officers whose entire job was sitting in air-conditioned rooms deciding which presidential orders felt “problematic.” He made it clear the military answers to the guy who just won an election, not to the last guy who got a 7 figure book deal and a CNN contract. That’s the unforgivable sin. The permanent national-security class and their congressional errand boys got used to a Pentagon that slowwalks, leaks, and quietly refuses until the “correct” people are back in charge. Hegseth is making that harder. So now they want the shield gone. Get rid of him and the rest of the machinery can get back to work. They’ll call it accountability. They always do...