Your First Look at Today's Top Stories

Having trouble viewing this email? View the web version.

Sponsored By

Friday, July 14, 2023

White House Cocaine Mystery Remains Unsolved

Daily Wire: The Secret Service has concluded its investigation into the cocaine found at the White House without identifying a suspect, prompting skeptical lawmakers to cry “coverup.” No fingerprints or DNA were reportedly found on the bag of cocaine, according to the Secret Service. Surveillance footage was inconclusive, according to officials. “There was no surveillance video footage that produced investigative lead,” the Secret Service said. The news comes as the Secret Service is set to give a classified briefing to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability (Daily Wire). Daily Mail: The Secret Service confirmed Thursday that marijuana was found twice at the White House in 2022, sparking more questions about security after cocaine was discovered there earlier this month. Secret Service officials talked pot to members of Congress during a Thursday briefing on the investigation into the cocaine found in the West Wing on Sunday, July 2. The Secret Service Uniformed Division later confirmed details noting that ‘small amounts of marijuana’ were found in June and September of 2022 (Daily Mail). Tom Cotton: Under these suspicious circumstances, the simplest explanation is likely the correct one (Twitter).

FDA Green-Lights Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pills

Wall Street Journal: The Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth-control pill, Opill, significantly expanding access to contraception among women across the U.S. The FDA on Thursday followed the advice of expert advisers who recommended in May that the agency grant nonprescription approval to the pill despite questions over some data on its proper use. Medical societies and advocacy groups have called for years for birth control to be available over the counter and it is in countries including South Korea and Greece. The push intensified last year after the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, leaving decisions on abortion’s legality to the states (Wall Street Journal). Just the News: FDA official Patrizia Cavazzoni said Opill is “expected to be more effective than currently available nonprescription contraceptive methods in preventing unintended pregnancy.” Women will now be able to obtain Opill without seeing a healthcare provider first (Just the News).

Joe Biden’s FTC Specifically Targeted Elon Musk,

Spencer Brown: Earlier this year, the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released a report outlining how the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had targeted Twitter following Elon Musk’s takeover with harassment and bureaucratic red tape. But now we know the FTC’s harassment of Elon Musk’s Twitter was even greater than previously thought and looked more like an ideologically driven shakedown than a legitimate inquiry based on justifiable concerns. The motion for a protective order filed by Musk’s X Corp, which owns Twitter, “asks the Court to rein in an investigation that has spiraled out of control and become tainted by bias, and to terminate a misfit consent order that no longer can serve any proper equitable purpose.” Specifically, the motion seeks to have the Court terminate the FTC’s consent order imposed on Twitter in 2022 as Musk took the reins following the completion of his deal to buy the social network and take it private. According to the filing, “the FTC has engaged in conduct so irregular and improper that Ernst & Young (“EY”)—the independent assessor designated under a consent order between Twitter and the FTC to evaluate the company’s privacy, data protection, and information security program—’felt as if the FTC was trying to influence the outcome of the engagement before it had started'” (Townhall). House Judiciary: Joe Biden’s FTC wanted Ernst & Young to punish Elon Musk’s Twitter. If they didn’t, Ernst & Young feared they would be retaliated against by the government (Twitter). Elon Musk: Insanely illegal overreach by FTC (Twitter).

Media Continues Attacking Republican SCOTUS Judges

Katie Pavlich: Senate Democrats have launched a new assault on the Supreme Court by threatening and intimidating longtime constitutional legal scholar Leonard Leo. “Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats have sent letters to two wealthy businessmen and a major political activist requesting more information about undisclosed gifts to Supreme Court justices,” leftist outlet Propublica, which has been on an unrelenting crusade against conservative Supreme Court justices in recent months, reports. “The letters, sent Tuesday by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the committee chair, seek more details about an undisclosed 2008 luxury fishing vacation Justice Samuel Alito took that was reported last month by ProPublica. The letters went to three people: hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer; mortgage company owner Robin Arkley II; and Leonard Leo, a longtime leader at the Federalist Society, the powerful conservative legal group.” The “undisclosed gifts” aren’t required to be disclosed and typically involve benign travel with friends. They’re going after Leo because he’s been successful at getting constitutional judges onto the Supreme Court (Townhall). Reporter Philip Rucker: Senate appropriators are set to discuss an amendment that would withhold $10 million for the Supreme Court until Chief Justice John Roberts informs Congress that the court “has put into effect a code of ethics” (Twitter). Carrie Severino: In an escalation of their intimidation campaign, Senate Democrats are now trying to partially “defund” the Supreme Court to have their demands met. It’s a brazen attempt to bully the justices into imposing ethical rules that the Left will use to subtract justices in key cases (Twitter).

Biden Approves Sending 3,000 Reservists to Europe

Fox News: President Biden on Thursday authorized the Pentagon to tap up to 3,000 reservists for deployment to Europe to augment U.S. troops there in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. Biden’s order authorizes the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to send active duty units and individual members who are assigned to a unit of the Selected Reserve or any member of the Individual Ready Reserve. Units deployed are not to exceed more than 3,000 total members at one time, of whom not more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve, the order said (Fox News). Politico: Although it is not clear whether Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to actually deploy these reservists anytime soon, the move suggests that the U.S. military’s training mission in Europe, along with the deployment of several new brigades after the invasion, has stretched active-duty forces (Politico).

Associated Press, OpenAI Partner Together

Daily Wire: The Associated Press said Thursday it reached a two-year deal with artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI to share access to its news archive in return for technology and product expertise. The AP’s deal is one of the first between a major news agency and AI as the technology becomes more popular in businesses and corporations worldwide. As part of the deal, OpenAI will gain access to some of the AP’s text archives dating back to 1985, and the AP will receive expertise from the AI algorithm. The AP is hoping the deal will put it in a position to lead in developing standards for newsrooms using generative AI, which refers to a system that generates its own text or other media in response to prompts (Daily Wire). Axios: The news industry is grappling with ways to best leverage artificial intelligence to improve output, while also protecting its work from being used to train AI algorithms without permission or compensation. In striking a deal with OpenAI, AP hopes to be an industry leader in developing standards and best practices around generative AI for other newsrooms (Axios).

Biden Administration Upset with Senator Manchin for Opposing Secretary of Labor Nominee

Politico: The Biden administration is calling out Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin over the nomination of Julie Su, a dramatic escalation in an effort to confirm a Secretary of Labor that has been stalled on Capitol Hill since February. A White House official on Thursday said President Joe Biden would continue to fight for Su’s confirmation, calling his support for her “unwavering. “We hope,” the official added, “Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema reconsider their position.” The official’s comments came just minutes after Manchin said he would oppose Su’s nomination. The West Virginia Democrat touted Su’s credentials as “impressive” but said he ultimately decided to vote against her over a “genuine concern” regarding ideology. Sinema has been publicly undeclared, though the official’s comments suggest that the Arizona Independent has signaled to the White House that she has reservations about the nominee (Politico). Townhall: A coalition known as Stand Against Su, which has been vocal in its opposition to the nomination, provided Townhall with a statement commending Manchin “Put simply, Julie Su does not have the competency, skills, or experience necessary for a successful Secretary of Labor, as demonstrated by her record-breaking track record of failure,” a spokesperson for the coalition said. “At every opportunity, Su has shown herself to be unfit for the role and a serious threat to workers, freelancers, and business owners across the nation. We commend Senator Manchin for defending American workers by opposing her nomination and encourage Senators on both sides of the aisle to do the same” (Townhall).

Kansas Judge Does Not Back Down from Decision to Pause Residents from Changing Their Gender on Driver’s Licenses

Daily Caller: A Kansas judge on Wednesday said so many transgender people rushed to change their gender on their driver’s licenses that it created a “public safety concern.” Shawnee County District Court Judge Teresa Watson issued a temporary restraining order Monday on a policy from Democratic state Gov. Laura Kelly that allowed transgender people in the state to change their gender on their licenses. Republican state Attorney General Kris Kobach challenged the governor’s policy, arguing it violates key sections of Senate Bill (S.B.) 180, which went into effect July 1. S.B. 180, also known as the Women’s Bill of Rights, defines an individual’s sex as “an individual’s sex at birth, either male or female” (Daily Caller). Hill: In a Zoom hearing Wednesday, the Department of Revenue failed to convince District Judge Teresa Watson that she should lift the ban she put in place Monday on changes to people’s listed sex on their licenses. The order expires July 24, but Watson is likely to hold another hearing to determine whether to extend the ban (Hill).

Disney CEO Bob Iger States He No Longer Wants to Be Drawn into Culture Wars

Looks like their battle with Governor DeSantis scared them. New York Post: Disney boss Bob Iger said he doesn’t want to “be drawn into any culture wars” as Disney continues to weather a battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during an interview at Sun Valley’s “summer camp for billionaires.” In a Thursday sit-down with CNBC, Iger said of last month’s neo-Nazi protests outside of Walt Disney World’s Orlando theme park: “That was horrifying. I don’t really want to engage in the specifics except to say that it’s not our goal to be involved in a culture war.” Iger echoed the sentiment when questioned on the House of Mouse’s ongoing legal dispute with Florida Gov. DeSantis, who has entered the 2024 presidential race. “The last thing I want is for the company to be drawn into any culture wars,” he said of Disney’s First Amendment case against DeSantis that was filed in April, which has since escalated into a row of warring lawsuits (New York Post). National Review: What we should not be hearing after today are arguments that Disney won the battle with DeSantis. Disney is telling us, plain as day: This fight was a loss and should never have been fought at all (National Review).

10.

Hollywood Actors to Join Writers in Strike

CNBC: Hollywood actors are officially headed to the picket line. Unable to reach a deal with producers, members of The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will join up with more than 11,000 already striking film and television writers starting at midnight. The failed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers means film and television productions featuring actors will immediately halt, essentially shutting down Hollywood. It’ll be the first tandem strike in the industry since 1960 (CNBC). Reuters: The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the trade association that negotiates on behalf of Netflix Inc (NFLX.O), Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) and other companies, said it was “deeply disappointed that SAG-AFTRA has decided to walk away from negotiations.” The group said it had offered the highest percentage increases in minimum pay levels in 35 years, “substantial increases” in pension and healthcare contribution caps, and a 76% increase in foreign residuals paid from big-budget streaming shows, among other benefits. The studios also put forward “a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors’ digital likenesses,” the AMPTP said. Actors are worried that their digital images will be used without their permission or proper compensation (Reuters).