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Friday, July 11, 2025

Rubio to Lead Downsizing Effort at State Department

USA Today: The State Department will start sending notices to members of its workforce impacted by the reorganization soon, the agency’s top official for management said on Thursday, as President Donald Trump’s administration moves ahead with its plans to overhaul the U.S. diplomatic corps and cut jobs. “Soon, the Department will be communicating to individuals affected by the reduction in force,” Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Michael Rigas said in an email to the workforce. “Once notifications have taken place, the Department will enter the final stage of its reorganization and focus its attention on delivering results-driven diplomacy,” Rigas said.The move is the first step of a restructuring that Trump has sought to ensure U.S. foreign policy is aligned with his “America First” agenda (USA Today).

Biden’s White House Doctor Pleads the Fifth

In testimony before the House Oversight Committee, chaired by James Comer (R-KY): “When Joe Biden’s doctor was asked under oath whether he had ever been instructed to lie about Joe Biden’s health, he pleaded the Fifth,” Comer posted on the social platform X. “When questioned under oath about whether he believed Biden was fit to serve, he again pleaded the Fifth. President Trump is right: this is the biggest scandal in Oval Office history,” Comer added. Comer, a close ally of Trump, has been leading a probe into Biden’s health while in office and whether top White House aides tried to cover up a decline in his mental acuity. Biden, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May, has rejected suggestions that he wasn’t fit for office while in the White House (The Hill). The deposition: (Oversight). Erick Erickson: The fact that Joe Biden’s doctor is pleading the Fifth in a non-criminal investigation tells me that there should probably be a criminal investigation (Erickson).

Protestors Clash With ICE Agents in Ventura County, California

Ventura County Star: Federal immigration agents descended on a farm outside of Camarillo on July 10, blocking off a road outside the facility and clashing with protesters… The Glass House Farms greenhouse complex on Laguna Road is one of the largest licensed cannabis farms in California, with more than 5 million square feet of growing space…. At the scene, yellow crime scene tape with U.S. Border Patrol markings stretched across Laguna Road. On one side stood what appeared to be masked and armed federal agents. On the other, a crowd of more than 100 people amassed, taunting the agents and yelling expletives (Star). Jennifer Van Laar of Red State: Ventura County Supervisor Vianey Lopez … goes on KTLA to tell people who might need help to contact 805Undocufund and 805 Immigrant Coalition- the very terrorists who are out there staging an insurrection! (Van Laar). The marijuana farm—no surprise—has a shady history: In a complaint filed June 6 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, 562 Discount Med, which does business as Catalyst, alleged that Glass House “knowingly is entering into illicit sales – both inside and outside California.” Glass House does this, the suit alleges, by selling marijuana in the legal market as well as via a “network” of so-called “burner distros” – licensed distributors set up to be briefly used as conduits for legally grown cannabis to enter the illicit market (MJBiz).

Assaults on ICE Agents Up 700 Percent

After the “Defund the Police” line fell flat, the left is now simply attacking law enforcement officers directly—and alarmingly. Fox News: A confrontation erupted outside the San Francisco Immigration Court this week, as video shared by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) captured a tense altercation between agents and protesters. The clash, which took place Tuesday, is the latest in a growing series of confrontations with federal immigration officers. According to ICE, assaults on immigration agents have surged nearly 700% compared to last year (Fox News). Homeland Security: Threats and acts of violence toward law enforcement officers will NOT be tolerated. Politicians and the media continue to fuel the vile rhetoric that has contributed to a 700% increase in assaults against our ICE officers (DHS). Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons: “The men and women of ICE are nervous, but they’re brave — morale’s never been higher” (You Tube).

Democrats Shutter at the Prospect of Zohran Mamdani as Mayor of New York City

Betsy McCaughey of The New York Sun: A Mayor Mamdani would either raise New York’s already high taxes to pay for all these goodies, or his reckless spending will plunge the city into fiscal chaos, leading to draconian austerity measures like cuts to police and garbage collection. Disastrous either way. Aren’t there legal guardrails to limit what an irresponsible New York City mayor — even a crazed socialist one — can do? For half a century, ever since Gotham’s financial debacle in 1975, New Yorkers have taken comfort in knowing that a state-run financial control board is in place to prevent the city from ever again plunging into financial chaos. Yet that’s more a myth than a reality: The guardrails have turned into tissue paper under New York’s one-party, increasingly leftist rule (Sun). David Strom: Mamdani’s success in the New York City mayoral primary has energized the socialist/communist wing of the Democratic Party. They are looking to whip out the political guillotine. Not only are the shock troops violently attacking ICE agents, attempting assassinations on figures they don’t like, and posting ranting videos about how evil America is on TikTok–they are turning their rhetorical fire on the Democratic Party establishment…. Ordinary Americans are, shall we say, skeptical of the leftward lurch, so the trend is poison for Democrats. Worse for the establishment is that they have become the targets of the leftists. Liberal politicians rarely mean what they say, but the leftists sure do. They are as angry at Democrats as Republicans. Not only do they want an actual civil war with Republicans, but they are happy to have a political civil war in their own party (Hot Air).

Faced With the Prospect of Mamdani, New Yorkers Look Anew at Eric Adams

Voters have coalesced before around a flawed candidate to defeat a particularly dangerous and dark one. Will Rahn looks at Louisiana and the defeat of David Duke: Duke was a middle-aged fascist when he ran in 1991. Mamdani is a 33-year-old socialist. And whereas the national GOP built a cordon sanitaire between themselves and Duke to deprive him of support, the Democratic establishment and liberal media organs have begun to cautiously embrace Mamdani. And as the Democratic nominee in an overwhelmingly Democratic city, he is the easy favorite to become New York’s next chief executive. The only way Mamdani can lose is if his opponents coalesce around one candidate in November’s general election. And that person should be Eric Adams, our oddball incumbent mayor, elected as a Democrat but running for reelection as an independent…. In an early signal that such an upset is possible, and that Adams can indeed build a big tent, pro-Trump billionaire Bill Ackman is now backing the mayor. And while Sharpton insists he’s staying on the sidelines for now, the mayor and the kingmaking pastor are close and have been ever since Adams worked as one of Sharpton’s bodyguards in the 1980s. If Adams can make the race appear competitive, you can expect Sharpton to throw his considerable weight behind his old friend…. I acknowledge that this is not a ringing endorsement of Adams. What I am saying is that he’s a heck of a lot more electable than the faded former governor and the beret-clad Republican. He’s a better politician than people give him credit for, a man of the people in that he speaks and acts like his erratic constituents in this bizarre, marvelous, nerve-wracking town (Free Press). In a one-party city and a nearly one-party state, there are few safeguards against the maniacal vision of Mr. Mamdani. We have just one defense: electing someone else (Sun).

Clearing Things Up on Chemtrails

Or contrails. Depending on who you talk to, chemtrails are behind this, that and the other thing. Most recently: There were questions about whether—or not—cloud seeding could have been a factor on the flooding in Texas. Our new Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin is clearing things up: “Americans have questions about geoengineering and contrails,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin wrote on X. “They expect honesty and transparency from their government when seeking answers. For years, people who asked questions in good faith were dismissed, even vilified by the media and their own government. This ends today.” Conspiracy theorists say contrails, which they often refer to as “chemtrails,” are part of a government plot to poison or sterilize humanity, psychologically control the population, or alter the weather. Some go so far as to say contrails — which are mostly water vapor and carbon dioxide, as well as emissions from combusting fuel — cause respiratory illnesses and other health problems…. The renewed interest in geoengineering weather comes after a devastating flood that killed more than 100 people in Texas over the July 4 holiday. Conspiracy theorists flooded the internet with claims that the flood was caused by “cloud seeding,” a process in which chemicals such as silver iodide or calcium chloride are injected into cumulus clouds to increase rainfall. But there’s no evidence to support the claim that cloud seeding led to the deadly flood, and scientists are busy trying to correct the record. Travis Herzog, a Houston broadcast meteorologist posted on Facebook on Sunday, “cloud seeding cannot create a storm of this magnitude or size” (New York Sun).

One-Year Anniversary of Butler Assassination Attempt; “The hand of God”

And what a year it has been. This Sunday—July 13^th—marks one year since the nearly-lethal gunshot wound nearly took the life of the now 47^th president of the United States. Salena Zito, who was sitting right near the president that day, had an interview with her scheduled for after the event. Trump called her the day after: “Good morning, Salena. It’s Donald Trump. I wanted to see if you and your daughter Shannon and Michael are okay. And I wanted to apologize that we weren’t able to do the interview.” I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, so I did something I rarely do in a casual conversation, let alone when talking to a former president. I cussed like a truck driver. “All due respect, Mr. President, but are you bleeping kidding me? You’ve just been shot; I was only near you!” I blurted out, then immediately regretted it. I apologized, thinking of how my parents would not be happy. He laughed. We would go on to have seven conversations that day, powerful, emotional ones as the president grappled with what happened. “Why did I look away, Salena?” he asked that first day after the shooting. His conclusion came slowly. “Divine intervention?” he asked. He paused. “The hand of God,” he finally said. “It was the hand of God” …. “I’ve had people that were not religious become religious over that moment because they said it was a miracle,” he said. A “fraction of an inch,” he reminded me. That was the difference. There would be no second Trump term, and all that’s come with it. “It just put something in your mind that perhaps it was done for a very, very big reason, and the reason would be we have to save America because that’s the only reason I can think of,” he told me in May. Then he got quiet again (Washington Post). New York Post: Earlier this week, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told Post columnist Miranda Devine on the “Pod Force One” podcast that she believed Trump’s survival was “100%” down to divine intervention (New York Post).

Six Secret Service Agents Suspended After Butler Attack

Ed Morrissey: What took so long? … This seems like a very strange moment to reveal this discipline, and that’s not the only eye-raising timing issue in play. It has been nearly a year since a local law-enforcement sniper ended the threat by killing would-be assassin, and yet we still know next to nothing about him. The New York Times finally documented Crooks’ “descent into madness” on its own last month, but we’ve heard next to nothing from official sources as to whether evidence of other motives may exist and/or have been explored. The families of the victims want answers too, and they aren’t getting many: “The families are also linked by their frustration about the communication and security failures of the Secret Service and lingering questions. ‘As far as the Secret Service, you failed my brother. You failed our family,’ Comperatore Meeder said” (Hot Air).

10.

Trump and Netanyahu: A Friendship Built for the Ages

Some have compared it FDR and Churchill or Reagan and Thatcher. Lee Smith: Certainly, the relationship between the two men, each of whom prides himself on being at war with his country’s elites, has gone through some rocky patches. Still, it is nonetheless the most consequential relationship between world leaders since Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher teamed up to end the Cold War—and perhaps even since Winston Churchill enlisted Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s aid in defeating Nazi Germany. It’s easy to say that the Churchill-Roosevelt relationship was far more significant to the world at large than Trump’s partnership with Bibi to bomb Fordow. But we’ll never know the extent to which the Islamic Republic threatened to destabilize the world order, since the United States and Israel destroyed the terror regime’s nuclear weapons program before it tested our peace—a peace that has been kept by two resolute leaders…. Churchill and Roosevelt’s voluminous correspondence gives us details of the relationship they forged to save the world, and the same is so with the record of Reagan and Thatcher’s secure phone calls. But these were all private exchanges made public only later. What we’re watching with Trump and Netanyahu on social media is unique: the public declaration of a friendship, its goals and commitments, between two world leaders—a bond that makes the world safer (Tablet). Andrew Stiles: But just when we thought our own assessment of this remarkable broalition could not be topped, Netanyahu decided to send Trump one of the most awe-inspiring gifts a man of greatness has ever bestowed upon his fellow bro: a Hebrew scroll shaped like a B-2 bomber, fashioned out of a fragment of an Iranian missile fired at Israel in a futile act of retaliation. The inscription was just as epic: “In appreciation for the big, beautiful bombs of Midnight Hammer,” a reference to the U.S. military operation that decimated Iranian nuclear facilities with 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs. If this incredible act of mutual brofection doesn’t cement the status of the Bibi-Trump bromance as one of history’s greatest, we’re not sure what would. Fortunately for everyone involved—except their enemies, who deserve what’s coming—this magnificent pair of history-shaping, destiny-drenched manly dude bros is just getting started (Free Beacon).

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