Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel said on Monday that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, also a Democrat, violated campaign law when she announced her 2026 gubernatorial bid in a government building in January. According to Nessel&#8217;s office, however, the state law does not provide any mechanism for punishing Benson, who oversees elections and campaign finance, The Detroit News <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/19/michigan-dana-nessel-finds-secretary-of-state-jocelyn-benson-violated-campaign-finance-law-governor/83726371007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
On January 22, days after she accidentally posted her campaign announcement on social media, Benson officially launched her 2026 bid for Michigan governor inside the Richard H. Austin Building, which houses the Department of State in Lansing. As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michigan-dem-secretary-of-state-launches-bid-for-governor-hours-after-accidental-announcement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time, Benson was criticized for likely violating Michigan law, which <a href="https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-169-257" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> “a person acting for a public body” from using “funds, personnel, office space, computer hardware or software, property, stationery, postage, vehicles, equipment, supplies, or other public resources to make a contribution or expenditure or provide volunteer personal services.”
Nessel&#8217;s office wrote on Monday that Benson &#8220;invited members of the press inside the Austin Building&#8221; and then &#8220;conducted a press conference, professionally dressed, during the day, in the lobby of the building that houses her office.&#8221;
&#8220;She gave no indication that would lead a reasonable person viewing the press conference to believe that she was there on her &#8216;personal time.&#8217; Instead, the circumstances would lead a reasonable person to believe that Secretary Benson was acting as Secretary of State with the authority of the Department of State, which is a &#8216;public body,&#8217; to invite members of the press inside her office building,&#8221; the attorney general added.
Those who break the law are guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to up to a year in prison or a fine of up to $1,000. Despite finding that the Democratic gubernatorial candidate broke the campaign law, the Michigan Department of Attorney General said it cannot impose a fine or civil penalty on Benson because the law excludes the secretary of state, according to <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/19/attorney-general-jocelyn-benson-broke-campaign-finance-law-governor-campaign/83726457007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Detroit Free Press</a>. The attorney general&#8217;s office said that the &#8220;unequal treatment&#8221; in the law &#8220;is something the Legislature may want to consider addressing.&#8221;
Nessel&#8217;s office did not respond to a Daily Wire request to comment.
Michigan Republican state Rep. Jay DeBoyer told The Daily Wire that he disagrees with the attorney general&#8217;s conclusion that the office cannot pursue a punishment for Benson. The law gives the Secretary of State&#8217;s office the obligation to refer the attorney general&#8217;s findings back to the AG for a punishment, according to DeBoyer.
&#8220;If the secretary of state chooses not to refer this, that is an absolute dereliction of duty,&#8221; DeBoyer said.
&#8220;The opinion that was put out by the attorney general&#8217;s office, although finding that there was a violation, seemed to hedge in the direction of &#8216;There&#8217;s nothing we can do about it,'&#8221; he added. &#8220;There actually is, but it requires the secretary of state&#8217;s office to operate in an ethical manner and do what they should do, which is refer this to the attorney general&#8217;s office.&#8221;
Aric Nesbitt, the Michigan Republican Senate minority leader also running for governor, blasted Nessel&#8217;s office, telling The Daily Wire that the attorney general is protecting &#8220;her Democrat ally.&#8221;
&#8220;While AG Nessel, the top law enforcement official in the state, targets Trump with ridiculous lawsuits, she shields her Democrat ally from accountability,&#8221; Nesbitt said. &#8220;This double standard reeks of partisan bias, undermining election integrity. Michiganders deserve an attorney general who enforces the law, not one who holds herself and her allies above it.&#8221;
Benson&#8217;s campaign communications director, Alyssa Bradley, said on Monday, &#8220;We understand the Attorney General is issuing a new interpretation of the law.&#8221;
&#8220;We look forward to continuing the conversation with Michiganders about Jocelyn Benson&#8217;s vision to make our state the best place to be a kid, raise a kid, and call home by lowering housing costs, making our schools among the best in the nation, and standing up for our rights and freedoms,&#8221; Bradley added.
Benson defended her decision to announce her bid inside her office building in January, saying she didn&#8217;t want people to stand outside in the <a href="https://world-weather.info/forecast/usa/lansing/january-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">frigid</a> Michigan winter weather. She also argued that other candidates could use the space for campaign announcements, a carve-out in the campaign law that would put Benson in the clear. Nessel&#8217;s office rejected that argument, writing that her &#8220;belief was misplaced.&#8221;

Jocelyn Benson

Michigan Dem AG Finds Dem Secretary Of State Violated Campaign Law, But Won’t Punish Her

2026 Midterms

Attorney General

Elections

Michigan

Politics

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, said on Tuesday that he will dial back his spending on future political campaigns.
Asked about his plans for political contributions at Bloomberg&#8217;s Qatar Economic Forum, Musk said over video that he&#8217;s &#8220;going to do a lot less in the future.&#8221; Musk <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-277-million-trump-republican-candidates-donations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent</a> nearly $240 million through his political action committee, America PAC, helping Trump and Republicans in the 2024 election cycle. His comments on Tuesday, however, indicate that he won&#8217;t be as aggressive in pushing Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
&#8220;I think I&#8217;ve done enough,&#8221; Musk said, adding, &#8220;If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="LIVE: Elon Musk speaks remotely at the Qatar Economic Forum" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iTRY86NEIbg?start=1984&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Along with his major donations to the Republican effort last election cycle, Musk was also a major fixture on the campaign trail, appearing multiple times alongside Trump. After Trump took office in January, Musk led the effort, alongside the Department of Government Efficiency project, to find waste and fraud within the federal government.
After joining Trump in the White House, Musk got behind the conservative candidate in the closely watched Wisconsin Supreme Court election, saying the race could affect the &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-says-wisconsin-supreme-court-election-is-a-vote-for-which-party-controls-the-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entire destiny</a>&#8221; of humanity. Musk&#8217;s America PAC spent millions of dollars on race, but conservative candidate Brad Schimel <a href="https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2025/wisconsin/?r=50888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost</a> to liberal candidate Susan Crawford by 10 percentage points, and the liberals maintained a majority on the court.
Musk, who was regularly seen with the president during the Trump administration&#8217;s first 100 days, has taken a step back from overseeing Trump&#8217;s DOGE initiative.
“I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla&#8230;&#8221; Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-significantly-cut-back-doge-time?author=Daniel+Chaitin&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Elon+To+%E2%80%98Significantly%E2%80%99+Cut+Back+On+DOGE+Time" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last month.
The Tesla CEO added in his interview on Tuesday that he is committed to leading the electric car company for at least the next five years, <a href="https://x.com/SawyerMerritt/status/1924835630858543332" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> that he wants “sufficient voting control” to keep Tesla from falling into the hands of activist investors.
“It’s not a money thing,” Musk said. “It’s a reasonable control thing over the future of the company.”
Musk&#8217;s shift back to focusing on Tesla comes after the company saw a drop in revenue and net income over the first quarter of 2025. Tesla stock dropped from $379 at the beginning of January to $222 at the beginning of April. Since then, however, the stock has climbed back up to $349. After Musk became a senior adviser to Trump and pushed for major government spending cuts, Tesla has been targeted by leftist activists who have set fires to and vandalized vehicles and threatened Tesla dealerships.
&#8220;Firing bullets into showrooms and burning down cars is unacceptable. Those people will go to prison, and the people that funded them and organized them will also go to prison. Don&#8217;t worry, we&#8217;re coming for you,&#8221; Musk said on Tuesday&#8217;s video call to the applause of the crowd.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="LIVE: Elon Musk speaks remotely at the Qatar Economic Forum" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iTRY86NEIbg?start=281&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Elon Musk

‘I’ve Done Enough’: Musk Says He Will Spend ‘A Lot Less’ On Future Political Campaigns

Bloomberg News

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Donald Trump

General

Qatar

Republicans

Tesla

The families of three Florida law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty last year were presented the first-ever &#8220;Medals of Sacrifice&#8221; by President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday.
Trump handed out the medals to the loved ones of Cpl. Luis Paez, Jr., Deputy Sheriff Ralph Butch Waller, Jr., and Deputy Sheriff Ignacio Dan Diaz, all former officers with the Palm Beach County, Florida, Sheriff&#8217;s Office. The officers were killed after they were struck by an SUV on November 21, 2024.
&#8220;Today, we also remember three remarkable heroes who will become the medal&#8217;s first-ever recipients. It&#8217;s a big honor,&#8221; Trump said.
&#8220;This was a terrible tragedy, shook the entire Palm Beach community like very, very few events I&#8217;ve ever seen,&#8221; added Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago estate is in Palm Beach County. &#8220;All of Florida mourned their loss, and today, our entire nation joins in honoring these three incredible patriots taken from us. Much too soon, much, much too soon.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> announces three fallen Palm Beach County officers killed in the line of duty as the recipients of the first ever Medals of Sacrifice:
Cpl. Luis Paez, Jr. Deputy Sheriff Ralph Butch Waller, Jr. Deputy Sheriff Ignacio Dan Diaz.
RIP to these heroes. 🙏 <a href="https://t.co/5ZTc0gjxP4">pic.twitter.com/5ZTc0gjxP4</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1924574363925270850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Paez, Waller, and Diaz were struck as they were on the side of the road attempting to start a broken-down patrol motorcycle following a traffic stop. The driver of the SUV attempted to pass a slower car but overcompensated and hit all three law enforcement officers on the side of the road. A fourth officer who was on his way to help his colleagues restart the motorcycle witnessed the fatal collision.
<a href="https://www.palmswestfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Luis-Paez-2/#!/Obituary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paez</a>, 58, had served in law enforcement for 36 years and was described as a &#8220;devoted family man.&#8221; Fifty-one-year-old <a href="https://www.palmswestfuneralhome.com/obituaries/ignacio-dan-diaz/#!/Obituary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Diaz</a> had served for 20 years and received several awards recognizing his work over that time. He is &#8220;remembered as a caring and devoted father, partner, and lover of animals.&#8221; <a href="https://www.palmswestfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Ralph-Waller-2/#!/Obituary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Waller</a>, 54, had served for 18 years and was known for his &#8220;charm, wit, and an infectious smile.&#8221; The president told the officers&#8217; loved ones in the Oval Office that the country is &#8220;eternally grateful for their sacrifice.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;ll never forget their legacy, and we&#8217;ll never forget the debt we owe all of these great law enforcement heroes who have given their lives to keep our communities safe, and make America strong again,&#8221; the president added.

Trump Presents First-Ever ‘Medals Of Sacrifice’ To Families Of Slain Law Enforcement Officers

Death

Executive

Florida

Law Enforcement

Oval Office

U.S.

White House

The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 on Monday that the Trump administration can remove Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for around 350,000 Venezuelan migrants who were allowed to remain in the United States under the Biden administration.
In an unsigned order that included no opinions, the Supreme Court gave the Trump administration the green light to end TPS for Venezuelan migrants pending an appeal of the case, likely paving the way for the administration to ramp up deportations, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/us/politics/supreme-court-protected-status-venezuelans.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Biden appointee, was the only justice to say she would have denied the Trump administration&#8217;s request.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem kicked off the controversy over protected status for Venezuelan migrants in February when she terminated an 18-month extension of TPS for the migrants granted by Biden just before he left office. The extension would allow the Venezuelan migrants to remain in the United States and seek work authorization until October 2026.
After a lawsuit was brought against the Trump administration, Judge Edward M. Chen of the Federal District Court in San Francisco blocked Noem&#8217;s move to end TPS, saying that plaintiffs would have likely succeeded in showing that the secretary&#8217;s decision was “unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit then rejected Trump&#8217;s request to pause the district court&#8217;s ruling before the case ended up in the Supreme Court.
In Solicitor General John Sauer&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-asks-supreme-court-to-revoke-legal-protections-for-350k-venezuelans?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Asks+Supreme+Court+To+Revoke+Legal+Protections+For+350K+Venezuelans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeal</a> to the Supreme Court, he wrote, “The Secretary’s decision whether to designate, extend, or terminate TPS implicates sensitive judgments as to foreign policy and, in this case, the ‘national interest’—a discretionary determination that Congress expressly committed to her judgment.”
Monday&#8217;s order from the high court is welcome news for Trump after justices ruled against the president 7-2 last Friday, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-trump-administration-venezuelans-alien-enemies-act-rcna202094" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordering</a> the administration to pause deportations of suspected Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador. In that case, the majority ruled that the Trump administration must give detainees more time to raise legal objections. Only conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. Trump blasted Friday&#8217;s decision, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114519567610751944" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, &#8220;The Supreme Court won&#8217;t allow us to get criminals out of our country!&#8221;

ICE agent

SCOTUS Allows Trump To End Temporary Protected Status For Certain Migrants

Courts

Illegal Immigration

Migrants

SCOTUS

Supreme Court

Trump Administration

Venezuela

CBS News and Stations President Wendy McMahon announced on Monday that she is resigning over disagreements with the network as CBS&#8217; parent company, Paramount, looks to settle a massive lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump.
McMahon said her time with the network was &#8220;a privilege and joy,&#8221; but added that recent months have been &#8220;challenging,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/media/cbs-news-chief-steps-down-over-trump-tensions-rcna207700" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>. Her resignation comes as Paramount moves closer to settling a $20 billion lawsuit brought by Trump, which alleges that &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris to cover up her poor answer while she was running for president. Paramount&#8217;s controlling shareholder and chair, Shari Redstone, wants to settle the lawsuit as she also <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-28/behind-the-60-minutes-upheaval-a-big-merger-seeking-approval" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seeks</a> the Trump administration&#8217;s approval to sell her company to the entertainment company, Skydance.
&#8220;It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,&#8221; McMahon wrote in a memo to CBS News staff. &#8220;It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.&#8221;
McMahon, who took over as CBS News and Stations president in August 2023, put herself in the crosshairs of Paramount executives with her support of former longtime &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; executive producer Bill Owens, who resigned last month, citing a lack of control over the direction of the stalwart news program, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/business/media/cbs-60-minutes-trump-wendy-mcmahon.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The leadership at Paramount was reportedly growing anxious with how the show reported on the Trump administration.
Redstone also slammed CBS News leadership last October after it reprimanded “CBS Mornings” anchor Tony Dokoupil for asking Left-wing activist Ta-Nehisi Coates tough questions about the Israel-Gaza conflict. McMahon informed Dokoupil that he had violated &#8220;the preproduction process where questions are run through Race and Culture and Standards and Practice.&#8221; Redstone <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/09/business/media/ta-nehisi-coates-cbs-interview-shari-redstone.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said publicl</a>y that CBS News&#8217; decision to reprimand the anchor was &#8220;a mistake.&#8221;
“I think we all agree that this was not handled correctly,” Redstone said.
McMahon will continue to work as CBS News president for a transition period that will last &#8220;a few weeks,&#8221; according to George Cheeks, the chief executive of CBS. McMahon will be replaced by Tom Cibrowski, who recently joined CBS News after working for ABC News for 30 years in multiple roles, and Jennifer Mitchell, who currently &#8220;oversees 27 CBS-owned stations and manages stations operations in 17 markets.&#8221;

Wendy McMahon

CBS News President Quits Amid ’60 Minutes’ Legal Battle With Trump

60 Minutes

Business

CBS News

Legacy Media

Mainstream Media

Media

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has a clear path to the GOP nomination for Ohio governor after the state&#8217;s attorney general, Dave Yost, announced on Friday that he is suspending his short-lived campaign.
Yost said his chances went from a &#8220;steep climb&#8221; to &#8220;a vertical cliff&#8221; after the Ohio GOP threw its support behind Ramaswamy last week for the 2026 race, The Columbus Dispatch <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/16/dave-yost-drops-out-of-ohio-governors-race/80306921007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
&#8220;I do not wish to divide my political party or my state with a quixotic battle over the small differences between my vision and that of my opponent. I am simply not that important,&#8221; Yost <a href="https://www.wcpo.com/news/state/state-ohio/ag-dave-yost-suspends-his-campaign-to-be-ohios-governor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>.
President Donald Trump backed Ramaswamy&#8217;s bid immediately after the tech entrepreneur launched his campaign in February. Ramaswamy was initially set to work in the Trump administration alongside Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, but it was revealed on Inauguration Day that he would not serve in that role.
Yost said he wants Republicans to focus on defeating Democrats instead of a &#8220;family squabble.&#8221;
&#8220;Columbus needs re-engineering, not demolition,&#8221; Yost wrote in a letter to his supporters. &#8220;Sherrod Brown and the risky progressive ideas of his party will unwind all of the good that the last 15 years of Republican leadership has brought. This is a time to protect Ohio, not a time for a family squabble.&#8221;
Ramaswamy praised Yost in a statement and said that the attorney general will continue to play a role in the state&#8217;s political future.
&#8220;Congratulations to Dave on running a thoughtful campaign,&#8221; Ramaswamy said. &#8220;He has served Ohio with great dedication, and I am confident he will continue to play an important role in shaping the future of our state and our nation.&#8221;
While the Ohio GOP rallies behind Ramaswamy, Lt. Governor Jim Tressel — the former Ohio State football coach — said last week that he is considering jumping into the race, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/ohio-lt-gov-jim-tressel-confirms-considering-run-governor-rcna205734" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Tressel was tapped by current Republcian Gov. Mike DeWine to become lieutenant governor after Jim Husted was appointed to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Vice President JD Vance.
“What has been a surprise, and it has been humbling, is how many people are encouraging me to run for Governor,” Tressel said.
“I have not decided yet, but when I became Lieutenant Governor in February, Ellen told me that it seemed like God had more work for me to do, and she was right,&#8221; he added, referring to his wife. &#8220;While I have not ruled out a run for Governor — and there will be a time in the future for those conversations — for now, I will remain focused on helping Ohioans get off the sidelines and into our workforce so they can reach their full potential.&#8221;
In the GOP primary, Ramaswamy&#8217;s only declared opponent is Heather Hill, the former president of the Morgan County, Ohio, School Board, who is running a longshot bid.
On the Democratic side, the former director of the Ohio Department of Health, Amy Acton, is the only candidate who has jumped into the race. Along with former Sen. Brown, former U.S. Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan has <a href="https://www.wosu.org/2025-05-15/democrat-tim-ryan-says-hell-decide-this-summer-if-hell-run-for-ohio-governor-next-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed interest</a> in running for Ohio governor.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Ohio AG Drops Out Of Governor’s Race, Giving Vivek Ramaswamy Clear Path To GOP Nomination

governor

Ohio

The 27-year-old New Jersey man who was convicted in February of stabbing and partially blinding famed novelist Salman Rushdie was hit with the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on Friday.
Hadi Matar was convicted of second-degree attempted murder for the August 2022 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-famed-author-salman-rushdie-target-of-iran-death-sentence-stabbed-on-stage-in-new-york?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=BREAKING%3A+Famed+Author+Salman+Rushdie%2C+Target+Of+Iran+Death+Sentence%2C+Stabbed+On+Stage+In+New+York" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stabbing attack</a> that also injured the event&#8217;s moderator, Henry Reese, the co-founder of Pittsburgh&#8217;s City of Asylum, which helps exiled writers, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/assailant-who-stabbed-author-salman-rushdie-sentenced-25-years-2025-05-16/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Rushdie — who sparked the ire of the Iranian regime with his 1988 novel, &#8220;The Satanic Verses&#8221; — was stabbed by Matar between 10 and 15 times in the head, neck, torso, and left hand at a New York arts institute. After the book was published, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, calling for Rushdie&#8217;s assassination.
Video captured Matar rushing the stage where Rushdie spoke during a writers&#8217; event focused on protecting exiled writers. During the trial, a trauma surgeon testified that without immediate medical intervention, Rushdie would have died, ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/salman-rushdie-stabbing-sentencing-attempted-murder-hadi-matar/story?id=121844226" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The jury took just two hours to reach a verdict. Matar was also sentenced to seven years for second-degree assault in the stabbing of Reese, but that sentence will run concurrently with the longer one.
Before the trial began in Chautauqua County Court, Matar rejected a plea deal. Shortly after the jury reached its verdict, his defense attorney, Nathaniel Barone, said Matar plans to appeal the conviction. Matar has also been charged by the federal government with an act of terrorism. He will face those charges at a separate trial in Buffalo, according to Reuters.
Rushdie was born into a non-practicing Muslim family in British India, and now identifies as an atheist. “The Satanic Verses,&#8221; which was labeled as blasphemous by hardline Islamists, refers to verses of the Quran that Rushdie claimed had been removed. Rushdie said that his book is not blasphemous against Islam, adding, “I doubt very much Khomeini or anyone else in Iran has read this book or anything more than selected extracts taken out of context.”
After the sentencing hearing, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said that the stabbing attack still haunts the 77-year-old author.
&#8220;He&#8217;s traumatized. He has nightmares about what he experienced,&#8221; Schmidt said. &#8220;Obviously this is a major setback for an individual that was starting to emerge in his very later years of life into society after going into hiding after the fatwa.&#8221;

Hadi Matar

Sentence Is In For American Who Stabbed Novelist Salman Rushdie

attack

Crime

Iran

New Jersey

New York

Prison

Salman Rushdie

Stabbing

FBI Director Kash Patel said on Friday that the bureau&#8217;s J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C., which has been the agency&#8217;s headquarters for 50 years, would shut down as he seeks to move agents out of the nation&#8217;s capital.
Patel made the surprise announcement during a <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6372897577112">preview clip</a> of Fox News&#8217; Sunday Morning Futures, which was released on Friday morning, alongside Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t know I was going to do this, but I&#8217;m going to announce it on your show anyway: this FBI is leaving the Hoover Building,&#8221; Patel said. &#8220;Because this building is unsafe for our workforce. We want the American men and women to know, if you&#8217;re going to come work at the premier law enforcement agency in the world, we&#8217;re going to give you a building that&#8217;s commensurate with that, and that&#8217;s not this place.&#8221;
Bongino laughed as Patel made the announcement, telling him, &#8220;You just gave up a big nugget there.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: Director Kash Patel announces the FBI will be leaving the J. Edgar Hoover building <a href="https://t.co/VfJ1LnrJK6">pic.twitter.com/VfJ1LnrJK6</a>
&mdash; ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) <a href="https://twitter.com/alx/status/1923362159192342715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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A year before he became FBI director, Patel <a href="https://rollcall.com/2025/02/20/senate-confirms-kash-patel-as-fbi-director/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that he would &#8220;shut down the FBI Hoover building on Day 1 and [reopen it the] next day as a museum of the deep state.&#8221; He added that he would &#8220;take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to chase down criminals.&#8221; The FBI director has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kash-patel-to-relocate-hundreds-of-fbi-staff-out-of-dc-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushing</a> major changes to the bureau, including increased &#8220;accountability&#8221; and a return to more traditional law enforcement roles.
For more than two decades, the FBI has been considering moving out of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which was completed in 1975. A <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-12-96.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2011 report</a> from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the building needed serious repairs and was &#8220;inefficient&#8221; for the FBI&#8217;s needs. Former President Joe Biden <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/washington-fbi-headquarters-hoover-building-deteriorating-pennsylvania-avenue-set-for-move-suburbs-2022-president-joe-biden-budget-fiscal-year-2023-it-infrastructure-greenbelt-metro-station-landover-gsa-warehouse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">included</a> language in his 2023 fiscal year budget to get the ball rolling on a brand new 2.1 million-square-foot headquarters for the bureau in Maryland that would house around 7,500 employees. The project would cost $2.5 billion.
President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/maryland-washington-dc-fbi-headquarters-greenbelt-president-trump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in March, however, that he is putting a stop to those plans, and instead, wants to &#8220;build another big FBI building right where it is, which would have been the right place because the FBI and the DOJ [Department of Justice] have to be near each other.&#8221;
&#8220;They were going to build an FBI headquarters three hours away in Maryland, a liberal state,&#8221; Trump said, adding, &#8220;But we&#8217;re going to stop it, not going to let that happen.&#8221;
Patel also said he wants to reduce the number of FBI employees in the D.C. area.
&#8220;Look, the FBI has 38,000 when we&#8217;re fully manned, which we&#8217;re not,&#8221; Patel told Fox News. &#8220;In the national capital region, in the 50-mile radius around Washington, D.C., there were 11,000 FBI employees. That&#8217;s like a third of the workforce. A third of the crime doesn&#8217;t happen here, so we&#8217;re taking 1,500 of those folks and moving them out.&#8221;

Kash Patel

Kash Patel Says FBI Is Shutting Down D.C. HQ

kash patel

Washington D.C.

The Producer Price Index, which measures the average change over time in selling prices received by domestic producers, fell 0.5% in April, its biggest drop in five years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.nr0.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Thursday.
The drop marks the first time the Producer Price Index declined since October 2023. Since last April, producer prices rose 2.4%, but that&#8217;s a significant deceleration from the 3.4% year-over-year gain in March, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/producer-wholesale-prices-tariffs-83aef2863cac075143e89dc2d951eff6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>. The producer price drop defies economists&#8217; <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-15/us-producer-prices-fall-unexpectedly-as-margins-decline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">predictions</a>, which forecast that producer prices would rise last month.
Services prices, the prices charged by domestic producers for the services they provide, dropped 0.7% in April, which was the biggest drop since the index began in December 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wholesale food prices dropped 1% last month, including a 39% drop in egg prices.
The report is the second round of economic news being <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1923000718648041816" target="_blank" rel="noopener">celebrated</a> by the Trump administration this week after the Labor Department reported on Tuesday that inflation hit its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-hits-lowest-point-in-over-4-years-as-april-report-better-than-expected" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lowest point</a> in four years. The consumer price index was up just 2.3% from April 2024, the smallest year-over-year gain since February 2021.
POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/13/trump-tariffs-inflation-trade-economy-fed-powell-00344184" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Wednesday that the inflation report has surprised economists as &#8220;there was broad anticipation that Trump’s levies on Chinese imports, steel and aluminum and certain Canadian and Mexican products had caused prices for apparel, electronics and other consumer goods to spike.&#8221; The outlet noted that &#8220;the opposite has occurred&#8221; as the cost of clothing and new cars, which were supposed to take the brunt of Trump&#8217;s tariffs, both dropped.
Economists continue to predict that President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariffs will drive up prices, with increases likely hitting American consumers over the summer. As Trump continues to negotiate trade deals, however, those forecasts could change. Some businesses are also still expecting that consumers will feel the pinch of Trump&#8217;s tariffs soon. Walmart said it will likely raise prices as soon as this month due to tariffs, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/15/business/walmart-prices-tariffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible. But given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on Thursday during an earnings call.
“The higher tariffs will result in higher prices,” he added.

U.S. Wholesale Prices See Biggest Drop In 5 Years, Flying In The Face Of Economists’ Predictions

Economy

Prices

Tariffs

A 15-year-old illegal immigrant in Aurora, Colorado, received probation and community service as part of a plea deal with prosecutors after he killed 24-year-old Kaitlyn Weaver last July by plowing a Jeep into the side of her vehicle.
After initially promising to pursue the maximum sentence of two years in a correctional facility for the illegal immigrant, Weaver&#8217;s father, John Weaver, said that the Arapahoe District Attorney&#8217;s Office changed course after different leadership took over a few months later, CBS News Colorado <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/colorado-prosecutor-offers-unlicensed-undocumented-teen-probation-deadly-crash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
&#8220;The DA&#8217;s office said this would be a &#8216;no plea deal&#8217; case, so they were not going to offer anything; any concession,&#8221; Weaver said.
Kaitlyn, who worked at a drug rehab center in Aurora, was <a href="https://x.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/1922666291401265323" target="_blank" rel="noopener">driving home</a> and talking over speaker phone with her boyfriend when the illegal immigrant teenager slammed into the side of her car, driving around 90 mph in a residential area, according to authorities. Footage from a Ring doorbell camera captured the crash, showing the illegal immigrant&#8217;s jeep speeding down the road before the massive collision. Kaitlyn was &#8220;effectively killed instantly,&#8221; her father said. John Weaver and his wife Michelle made the decision to remove Kaitlyn from life support two days later.
The juvenile also had other minors in his vehicle when he crashed into the 24-year-old woman. The Jeep, which the teenager was driving illegally, was uninsured, and his mother said that he took it without her permission. The teen was charged with vehicular homicide.
Under the new Democratic District Attorney, Amy Padden, the illegal immigrant was offered two years of probation if he pleaded guilty, according to Weaver. Arapahoe County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley said the plea deal was handled by an experienced prosecutor and was not influenced by the new district attorney. The deal was upheld by a judge after hearing from the Weaver family, Brackley added.
&#8220;Why the change? If he had taken a firearm and recklessly just shot it and killed someone, this would be a different case. They would be pushing it completely differently,&#8221; Weaver said. &#8220;There&#8217;s no deterrence.&#8221;
&#8220;Immigration and the criminal justice system and all these things landed together one day in Aurora, and now I sit here today without a daughter,&#8221; Weaver added.
Brackley defended the plea deal, saying that before any plea deal is negotiated prosecutors consider &#8220;the impact on the victims and the community,&#8221; &#8220;the characteristics of the defendant such as age, culpability, and level of remorse,&#8221; and the &#8220;goals of sentencing, including deterrence, rehabilitating the offender, treating similarly situated offenders equitably, and holding each offender accountable.&#8221;
&#8220;The negotiated sentence acknowledges the seriousness of this preventable tragedy,&#8221; the assistant district attorney stated.

Police officers

Illegal Immigrant Teen Gets Off Easy After Killing Colorado Woman In High-Speed Crash

Car Crash

Colorado

illegal immigrant

Plea deal

Teenagers

A 19-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday and charged with planning a mass shooting at a U.S. military base in Warren, Michigan, &#8220;on behalf of ISIS.&#8221;
According to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/michigan-man-arrested-and-charged-attempting-attack-military-base-behalf-isis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOJ</a>, Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said told two undercover law enforcement agents that he formulated a plan to attack the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive &amp; Armaments Command (TACOM) facility in Warren. The suspect was arrested after the two undercover agents indicated that they were ready to carry out Said&#8217;s plan and scheduled the attack for May 13. Said was detained after launching his drone near the base.
The suspect is accused of providing &#8220;material assistance to the attack plan, including providing armor-piercing ammunition and magazines for the attack, flying his drone over TACOM to conduct operational reconnaissance, training the undercover employees on firearms and the construction of Molotov cocktails for use during the attack, and planning numerous details of the attack including how to enter TACOM and which building to target.&#8221; TACOM is part of the Detroit Arsenal, which is <a href="https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/in-depth-overview/u-s-army-garrison-detroit-arsenal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">home</a> to 144 active-duty Army soldiers and 8,000 Department of Defense civilian employees or contractors.
Said of Melvindale, Michigan, joined the Michigan Army National Guard in September 2022 and trained at Fort Moore in Georgia, according to the criminal complaint. After being sent to the Michigan Army National Guard Taylor Armory, he was discharged in December of 2024, but the complaint did not say why, ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/former-national-guardsman-allegedly-plotted-isis-inspired-attack/story?id=121797139" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. He began planning the mass shooting at the TACOM facility in November of 2024, according to the complaint.
“The arrest of this former soldier is a sobering reminder of the importance of our counterintelligence efforts to identify and disrupt those who would seek to harm our nation,” said Brig. Gen. Rhett R. Cox, the commanding general of Army Counterintelligence Command.
Said faces charges of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and distributing information related to a destructive device, according to the DOJ. He made his first court appearance on Wednesday in the Eastern District of Michigan and faces 20 years in prison for each count if he is convicted.
“ISIS is a brutal terrorist organization which seeks to kill Americans. Helping ISIS or any other terrorist organization prepare or carry out acts of violence is not only a reprehensible crime – it is a threat to our entire nation and way of life,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. for the Eastern District of Michigan. “Our office will not tolerate such crimes or threats, and we will use the full weight of the law against anyone who engages in terrorism.”

Abrams Tank

Former Army National Guardsman Charged With Planning Mass Shooting At U.S. Base ‘On Behalf Of ISIS’

Department of Justice

ISIS

Terrorism

U.S. Army

Waymo, the software company that was first known as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, recalled more than 1,200 of its robotaxis this week after a software glitch caused multiple crashes into chains, gates, or other roadway barriers.
The recall comes after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Waymo robotaxis after reports of the automated cars violating traffic laws, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/14/waymo-recalls-1200-self-driving-vehicles-after-minor-collisions.html#:~:text=Alphabet's%20Waymo%20is%20recalling%20more,opened%20a%20probe%20last%20year." target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Waymo said it was aware of 16 collisions with barriers between 2022 and 2024, none of which were serious. The company currently has more than 1,500 robotaxis operating in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin.
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Waymo turned into oncoming traffic on the way to work.
It sat there confused for 45 seconds with its hazards on.
Then it proceeded to back up into oncoming traffic.
And they’re about to let these guys on the freeway 😂 <a href="https://t.co/ZLRKx2loo1">pic.twitter.com/ZLRKx2loo1</a>
&mdash; Jake Glaser | LA Multifamily (@LAMultiBroker) <a href="https://twitter.com/LAMultiBroker/status/1885370114054512921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Road safety regulators said that some of the crashes “involved collisions with clearly visible objects that a competent driver would be expected to avoid.”
Waymo said it has fixed the issue with a regular update to its fifth-generation self-driving software in November of 2024.
“Waymo provides more than 250,000 paid trips every week in some of the most challenging driving environments in the U.S.,” the company said, according to CNBC. “Our record of reducing injuries over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles driven shows our technology is making roads safer.”
It&#8217;s at least the third time in the past year that Waymo has recalled robotaxis over potential software issues. In February, the company recalled 444 automated vehicles after two robotaxis crashed into the same truck that was being towed, according to <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/14/business/waymo-recalls-1200-robotaxis-over-glitch-linked-to-crashes/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a>. Last June, 700 robotaxis were recalled after one crashed into a telephone pole in Phoenix. No one was injured in that crash.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also looking into Tesla&#8217;s planned launch of its own robotaxi service, which it hopes to start up in June. The federal government has <a href="https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/inv/2024/INIM-PE24031-62887.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> Tesla to provide more information on its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system to “understand how Tesla plans to evaluate its vehicles and driving automation technologies for use on public roads.” The feds also want to know how many robotaxis Tesla plans on sending out and if the vehicles will be monitored by Tesla in real time.
In a social media post in April, Tesla announced, &#8220;FSD Supervised ride-hailing service is live for an early set of employees in Austin &amp; San Francisco Bay Area. We&#8217;ve completed over 1.5k trips &amp; 15k miles of driving. This service helps us develop &amp; validate FSD networks, the mobile app, vehicle allocation, mission control &amp; remote assistance operations.&#8221;
This article has been updated to clarify that Waymo said it fixed the issue with a regular update to its fifth-generation software.

Waymo

Over 1,200 Self-Driving Robotaxis Recalled Due To Software Glitch That Led To Crashes

Cars

Google

Recall

Technology

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Zach Jewell