NEW YORK (Reuters) — Sean &#8216;Diddy&#8217; Combs&#8217; former personal assistant testified on Friday at the hip-hop mogul&#8217;s sex trafficking trial that he often bought drugs for his boss and set up hotel rooms for sex parties known as &#8220;wild king nights.&#8221;
Prosecutors hope the testimony by Brendan Paul, who worked for Combs from late 2022 through March 2024, will help them prove their racketeering conspiracy charge against Combs.
Prosecutors say Combs used his businesses&#8217; resources to coerce women into ecstasy-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to all five criminal counts. His lawyers call the sexual activity consensual. The Bad Boy Records founder, a former billionaire who elevated hip-hop in American culture, could face life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors are winding down their case after six weeks, with defense witnesses expected to testify next week.
Paul, testifying under immunity from prosecutors, said he bought Combs about $4,200 of marijuana and hundreds of dollars of ketamine during his employment.
Jurors saw a text message in which Paul asked Combs&#8217; security staff to be reimbursed for his drug purchases.
They also saw a February 14, 2024, text message in which Combs wrote &#8220;You get me zans,&#8221; which Paul said was a request to procure Xanax without a prescription.
Paul said Combs ultimately obtained Xanax elsewhere, and used cocaine and ecstasy in his presence.
Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Brian Steel, Paul said procuring drugs was a minor part of his job, and he thought the drugs were solely for Combs&#8217; personal use.
&#8220;You were not some drug mule?&#8221; Steel asked.
&#8220;Absolutely not,&#8221; Paul said.
Paul also said that before three or four &#8220;wild king nights,&#8221; he stocked hotel rooms with lubricant, baby oil, liquor, and a Gucci pouch filled with hard drugs.
When Combs was done, Paul said he would put on gloves and clean up to avoid being billed by hotels for damage.
Paul said he was charged with cocaine possession after being arrested on March 25, 2024, at Miami-Opa Locka airport in Florida while traveling to the Bahamas with Combs and other staffers.
He said he put the cocaine in his bag after finding it while cleaning Combs&#8217; room that day, but forgot about it and did not tell law enforcement where it came from.
Asked by prosecutor Christy Slavik why he kept silent, Paul said, &#8220;Loyalty.&#8221; Paul said the cocaine charge was dropped.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)

Sean “Diddy” Combs attends trial in New York federal court

Ex-Assistant To Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Says Job Included Buying Drugs, Setting Up Sex Parties

Celebrities

Court

Drugs

New York City

Sean 'Diddy' Combs

MixCollage-17-Jun-2025-04-14-PM-4521

LGBT Judge Lets Child Killer Walk Free In Shocking Court Decision

Children

Judges

Leftists

LGBT

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Oregon

Prison

The doctor who supplied the drug ketamine to “Friends” actor Matthew Perry ahead of his overdose death in October 2023 has taken a plea deal.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine in federal court in Los Angeles. The deal was made in exchange for prosecutors dropping other charges against him, including three additional distribution charges and two counts of falsifying records, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/06/17/nx-s1-5436567/matthew-perry-doctor-guilty-plea">NPR</a>.
The doctor faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of at least $2 million, per the signed agreement.
In the weeks after the “Friends” star died, it was revealed that Plasencia allegedly texted another doctor, Mark Chavez, saying &#8220;I wonder how much this moron will pay.&#8221; Plasencia supplied Perry with 20 vials of ketamine, equal to 2,000 mg of the drug, along with ketamine lozenges and syringes in the month before his death, the outlet noted.
Dr. Plasencia’s co-defendant, Jasveen Sangha, nicknamed “The Ketamine Queen,” is one of several others scheduled for trial in August in connection with Perry’s overdose death. Sangha is the only defendant who pleaded “not guilty” and refused a plea deal.
Ketamine is a medication primarily used as an anesthetic in both humans and animals. It is classified as a Schedule III controlled substance and is often used for the treatment of depression, which was Perry’s reason for using it. The 54-year-old actor had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse, which he detailed in his 2022 memoir titled &#8220;Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.”
The “Friends” star was found face down in his hot tub on October 28, 2023, at his home in Pacific Palisades, California. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office determined he had drowned but attributed his death to ketamine, which Perry had been taking as part of a therapy. The levels of ketamine found in his system were so high that they were close to the range that would be used for general anesthesia during surgery, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/5-arrested-in-connection-with-matthew-perrys-overdose-death-including-2-doctors-report">reported</a>.
“At the high levels of ketamine found in his postmortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression,” the report said.
In his memoir, Perry wrote about his experience using ketamine.
“I often thought that I was dying during that hour. Oh, I thought, this is what happens when you die. Yet I would continually sign up for this s*** because it was something different, and anything different is good,” Perry wrote.
The actor wrote that the ketamine treatments made him feel like he was “hit in the head with a giant happy shovel,” but that the feeling he got from the hangovers “outweighed the shovel.”

Matthew Perry

Doctor To Plead Guilty In Connection With ‘Friends’ Actor Matthew Perry’s Ketamine Overdose Death

California

Los Angeles

Los Angeles County

U.S.

The United States partnered with European authorities to shut down one of the world’s largest darknet drug trafficking websites, which is also one of the few online marketplaces for fentanyl.
American officials partnered with Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, to shut down Archetyp Market, which authorities say had trafficked at least $290 million worth of drugs to more than 600,000 users over five years.
A law enforcement coalition that included the national police forces of several European nations and multiple American agencies conducted a three-day operation across five countries. Officers seized Archetyp Market infrastructure in the Netherlands and arrested a 30-year-old German administrator in Barcelona.
One Archetyp Market moderator and six of the market’s highest vendors were also apprehended, along with around $9 million in assets.
“With over 17,000 listings, it is one of the few darknet markets that allowed the sale of fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic opioids,” <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/europe-wide-takedown-hits-longest-standing-dark-web-drug-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Europol</a> wrote on its website.
The operation required “years of intensive investigative work” to “map the platform’s technical architecture and identify the individuals behind it.” Law enforcement achieved this by “tracing financial flows, analysing digital forensic evidence, and working closely with partners on the ground.”
&#8220;With this takedown, law enforcement has taken out one of the dark web&#8217;s longest-running drug markets, cutting off a major supply line for some of the world&#8217;s most dangerous substances.&#8221; Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, deputy executive director of operations at Europol, stated, per Reuters.
&#8220;By dismantling its infrastructure and arresting its key players, we are sending a clear message: there is no safe haven for those who profit from harm.”
All that’s left of the site is a seizure banner and a link to “Operation Deep Sentinel,” a <a href="https://operation-deepsentinel.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> warning any remaining users that “Everything comes to an end.”

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman Announces Large Heroin Bust

United States, Europe Shut Down Major Dark Web Fentanyl Market

European Union

Fentanyl

United States

Anti-ICE protesters got in the way of a drug bust targeting a former cartel member in Tucson, Arizona, on Wednesday night, according to Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple.
Teeple told local outlet <a href="https://www.kold.com/2025/06/12/protesters-disrupt-major-drug-bust-tucson-mistaking-it-immigration-action/">13 News</a> on Thursday that a group of protesters stood between federal and local law enforcement officers and a home where over 120 pounds of fentanyl, 20 pounds of meth, and 30 pounds of cocaine were seized. The suspect, an illegal immigrant and former cartel member, according to authorities, was also taken into custody. Teeple said that the protesters disrupted the joint federal and local law enforcement operation, which was carried out with a search warrant.
&#8220;These individuals, the &#8216;protesters,&#8217; actually blocked a Pinal County Sheriff&#8217;s Office tow truck from removing the suspect&#8217;s vehicle from a criminal investigation,&#8221; Teeple said.
“These idiots came out and protested us getting 5 million fentanyl pills off the streets, 32 pounds of cocaine off the streets, 22 pounds of methamphetamines off the streets,&#8221; he added. &#8220;They don’t have individual thought, they have group think.”
Some of the protesters who showed up in the usually quiet Tucson neighborhood on Wednesday were previously at a demonstration at an ICE facility that devolved into violence, according to authorities, 13 News reported.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
“Even when it was explained to them that this was a criminal case, where we were taking a criminal drug smuggler, a known felon off the street and keeping the community safe, they still sat there and protested because they don’t have an independent thought,” the sheriff said.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Tucson Police Department was called to assist with crowd control so authorities could carry out the warrant for the drug bust. Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar said officers tried to explain the situation to the group of demonstrators.
“We took the time to tell them and reiterate, this is not an immigration warrant. It was narcotics-related,” Kasmar said.
Anti-ICE demonstrators have impeded federal immigration officers during raids in other parts of the country. Earlier this week, protesters <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/11/us/video/ice-raid-omaha-block-immigration-digvid#:~:text=Workers%20at%20a%20meatpacking%20plant,of%20the%20Trump's%20second%20term.">threw themselves</a> on top of ICE vehicles during a raid at a meatpacking plant in Omaha, Nebraska. In L.A., protesters tried to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCZfaX6j6Zc">stop</a> ICE SUVs from leaving a place where agents had conducted a raid.
Protests and riots have hit cities across the country after anti-ICE agitators attacked federal, state, and local authorities in Los Angeles last weekend. The riots led to President Donald Trump calling in the National Guard and Marines to L.A., which enraged Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. Republican governors in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/greg-abbott-to-deploy-national-guard-amid-texas-anti-ice-protests">Texas</a> and <a href="https://www.ky3.com/2025/06/12/gov-kehoe-says-missouri-national-guard-remains-standby-ice-protests/">Missouri</a> also mobilized the National Guard in their states ahead of planned anti-ICE demonstrations this weekend.

‘Idiots’: Massive Drug Bust Impeded By Anti-ICE Protesters, Sheriff Says

Arizona

Crime

Illegal Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Protest

Sheriff

Making sure your teen feels open enough to communicate can be a daunting task for parents, but it’s of utmost importance in maintaining a healthy parent-teen relationship, especially in dealing with bullying and avoiding crowds of bad actors.
But how do parents accomplish this without falling into the vice of helicopter parenting? In the third full-length episode of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/parenting">Parenting</a>,” Dr. Jordan Peterson sits down with parents Sean and Jennifer to discuss the importance of knowing when and when not to step into the social lives of their two teens. 
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups&amp;_gl=1*6hlksl*_gcl_au*MTg2MDQ4NjcyNi4xNzQ4OTczNTc3LjE0MDMwMTM0NjYuMTc0OTA0NzMxMi4xNzQ5MDQ3MzMw*_ga*ODc5MDIyMjYwLjE3NDg5NzM1NzU.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*czE3NDkyMjYyOTMkbzE3JGcxJHQxNzQ5MjI4NzY1JGoxOSRsMCRoMA..">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
“Our daughter, when she was in fifth grade, was bullied by an LGBTQ club and friends at her school that tried to pressure her to join,” the mother, Jennifer, said. “We started noticing a change in her, and she eventually came to tell us that these students were bullying her.”
“As this is happening, our son, who’s in seventh grade… you start to see him hanging around with the wrong friend group,” the father, Sean, added. “He was starting to withdraw from us as a family… [He] turned to substance abuse at that time.”’
The parents explained how their relationship with their children, especially their son, is not as strong as they desire it to be. Jennifer pointed out their son has expressed a desire for “freedom.”
Dr. Peterson encouraged the parents to reasonably communicate with their son and have him develop a vision for the freedom he wants.
“Freedom and anarchy aren’t the same thing,” he said. “Freedom to do anything? That just makes you anxious. You want ordered freedom.”
Watch “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/parenting">Bullying + Peer Pressure</a>” on DailyWire+ to find out how Dr. Peterson advises Sean and Jennifer to deal with their teens’ social issues.

Jordan Peterson Parenting

How Communication Will Save Your Relationship With Your Teen

Bullying

DailyWire+

Dr. Jordan Peterson

Parenting

Teenagers

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt lit up The Washington Post during Tuesday&#8217;s briefing, shining a spotlight on what she called &#8220;one of the most ridiculous headlines ever&#8221; on the topic of drug seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The article she highlighted was headlined, &#8220;The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border,&#8221; and it purported to outline the &#8220;complex&#8221; reasons behind the fact that fentanyl seizures had plummeted in recent weeks. Leavitt argued that the reasons were neither complex nor mysterious, saying, as President Donald Trump has, that it could all be chalked up as the obvious result of the American people electing a different president.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> slams the Fake News Washington Post: &#8220;There is no mystery about why there is a decrease of fentanyl coming into the United States. This Administration&#8217;s strong border policies are the reason!&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/RJlWO7EyWp">pic.twitter.com/RJlWO7EyWp</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1929951219130221006?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The Washington Post just ran one of the most ridiculous headlines ever — even by their standards,&#8221; Leavitt began. &#8220;And on my very first briefing, several months ago, I said I would hold anyone accountable in this room. The Washington Post actually had this headline: &#8216;The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border.'&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday&amp;_gl=1*1qdq03s*_gcl_au*MTYyNDg0MTE0OS4xNzQxODk4NTMz*_ga*MTEzOTk1NjkxNi4xNzI2MzI1MDQz*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*czE3NDgzNzg2NDgkbzEwMDMkZzEkdDE3NDgzODEwMTckajU4JGwwJGgw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;How is this mysterious?&#8221; Leavitt asked. &#8220;There is no mystery about why there is a decrease in fentanyl coming into the United States. This administration&#8217;s strong border policies are the reason there has been a decrease in fentanyl trafficking. [Trump&#8217;s] strengthened relationship with Mexican President Sheinbaum and all of the measures he has been taking to deter illegal human and drug trafficking at our United States southern border is the reason for plummeting fentanyl seizures at the U.S. border. There is nothing mysterious about that, and we&#8217;d like to see The Washington Post update their headline accordingly.&#8221;
Leavitt went on to say that the White House had provided WaPo with a lengthy list of the Trump administration policies that had brought about the drop in fentanyl seizures at the border, but that the outlet had refused to include them.
&#8220;This [is] clearly trying to intentionally manipulate the minds of the – Americans — and I think the American people understand why there&#8217;s been a fentanyl drop,&#8221; Leavitt said. &#8220;That&#8217;s despicable.&#8221;

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

‘There Is No Mystery’: Karoline Leavitt Lights Up WaPo Over ‘Ridiculous’ Fentanyl Headline

'There Is No Mystery': Karoline Leavitt Lights Up WaPo Over 'Ridiculous' Fentanyl Headline

border security

Donald Trump

Karoline Leavitt

Media

Mexico

Politics

Washington Post

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary says the &#8220;Make America Healthy Again&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-jrs-highly-anticipated-maha-commission-report-is-out-heres-what-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> on potential causes of chronic diseases in American children calls for a shift from a &#8220;reactionary&#8221; to a &#8220;proactive&#8221; healthcare system in the United States.
The Trump administration official, who appeared for &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6373468984112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with Fox News anchor Jackie DeAngelis, argues that more focus should be placed on food and environmental toxins rather than fixating on drugs and treatments.
&#8220;Scientists have been waving the flag for years, saying you have got to look at this body of scientific data. And the modern medical establishment really has been disconnected. We have been so busy focusing on treatment, on billing and coding in a high-throughput model,&#8221; Makary said.
&#8220;We have got to stop and ask ourselves, should we be focusing more on school lunch programs, not just putting every kid on Ozempic?&#8221; he added, referring to a drug widely used for weight loss. &#8220;We have got to talk about food as medicine and gut health and the microbiome. We have got to talk about environmental toxins that cause cancer, not just the chemo to treat it.&#8221;
&#8220;And maybe we need to treat more diabetes with cooking classes, not just throwing insulin at people. This report is a fresh new approach that really calls for a transformation of our health care system from a reactionary system to a proactive system.&#8221;
Makary said he could &#8220;not be more excited&#8221; about the report with its takeaways about ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins, stress, and the lack of physical activity, as well as the reliance on medications and vaccines. The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-jrs-highly-anticipated-maha-commission-report-is-out-heres-what-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">covered</a> its findings last week when it was released by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
&#8220;There are no sacred cows. It talks about 70% of the diet being ultra-processed. It talks about pesticides, microplastics, natural light exposure in children, sleep quality,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And, remember, Republican, Democrat and independent moms showed up in high numbers to vote for President Trump over this very issue.&#8221;
Makary emphasized the findings come from a &#8220;purely independent scientific report on the state of health in America&#8221; when DeAngelis pressed him about the power of the food industry and lobbyists in Washington who might try to fight to stop change.
&#8220;This report talks about how we fix our broken health care system by getting at the root causes and the ultimate issue that we have not been talking about, and that is the health of the population,&#8221; Makary said. &#8220;When you have 40% of our nation&#8217;s children with a chronic disease, that portends for a very expensive future health care system. We can address it. There are many things that we can do even at the FDA addressing food, which many people forget is, the first letter of the FDA is food. It&#8217;s not just drugs.&#8221;

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary

‘MAHA’ Report On Chronic Disease Will Cause Major Shift In Healthcare, FDA Chief Predicts

Food

Health

Ozempic

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Trump Administration

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) says he is ready to assist President Donald Trump in lowering drug prices if the commander-in-chief is &#8220;serious&#8221; about doing it.
The offer came on Monday after Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-signs-order-to-reduce-drug-prices-tells-rest-of-world-to-pay-up?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Signs+Order+To+Reduce+Drug+Prices%2C+Tells+Rest+Of+World+To+Pay+Up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unveiled</a> an executive <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/delivering-most-favored-nation-prescription-drug-pricing-to-american-patients/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">order</a> that aims to align U.S. prescription drug prices to match the lowest amount offered to other developed nations, promote &#8220;direct-to-consumer&#8221; sales at these rates, and prevent foreign countries from &#8220;freeloading&#8221; on American-funded pharmaceutical innovation.
&#8220;I agree with President Trump: It is an outrage that the American people pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,&#8221; Sanders said in a <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-statement-on-trumps-executive-order-on-prescription-drugs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. &#8220;It is beyond unacceptable that we pay, in some cases, ten times more for the same exact prescription drugs than people in other major countries. But let’s be clear: The problem is not that the price of prescription drugs is too low in Europe and Canada. The problem is that the extraordinarily greedy pharmaceutical industry made over $100 billion in profits last year by ripping off the American people.&#8221;
Sanders added: &#8220;Further, as Trump well knows, his executive order will be thrown out by the courts. If Trump is serious about making real change rather than just issuing a press release, he will support legislation I will soon be introducing to make sure we pay no more for prescription drugs than people in other major countries. If Republicans and Democrats come together on this legislation, we can get it passed in a few weeks.&#8221;
Trump unveiled his executive order during a press conference at the White House. He was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H79QL4UDU44" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joined</a> by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who in the 2024 cycle ran unsuccessfully for the presidency while challenging the Democratic Party&#8217;s establishment, just like Sanders did in 2016 and 2020. Kennedy Jr. said that Democrat leaders have promised Americans for 20 years they would lower drug prices without actually doing it and asserted that Trump&#8217;s effort now was the &#8220;fulcrum&#8221; of Sanders&#8217; campaigns for the White House.
&#8220;I have a couple of kids who are Democrats, are big Bernie Sanders fans, and when I told them that this was gonna happen, they had tears in their eyes because they thought this was never going to happen in our lifetime, and we finally have a president who&#8217;s willing to stand up for the American people,&#8221; Kennedy Jr. said.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) echoed the call for action, urging Congress to make Trump’s move <a href="https://x.com/HawleyMO/status/1921950612104601836" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;permanent&#8221;</a> through legislation he introduced with Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT).
Their <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/in-bipartisan-push-hawley-welch-introduce-major-legislation-to-lower-prescription-drug-prices/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a>, the &#8220;Fair Prescription Drug Prices for Americans Act,&#8221; would keep pharmaceutical companies from charging higher drug prices in the United States than the average in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and the United Kingdom, with penalties of 10 times the price difference per unit sold for violations.

Senator Bernie Sanders

Bernie Offers To Help Trump If He’s ‘Serious’ About Lower Drug Prices

Bernie Sanders

Congress

Health Care

Josh Hawley

U.S. Senate

One of the most commonly prescribed abortion pharmaceuticals in the United States today is one of the most dangerous substances in the world, according to groundbreaking new research. Sadly, it&#8217;s not as polarizing a product as Ozempic or vaccines.
According to a <a href="https://eppc.org/news/largest-ever-study-of-abortion-pill-reveals-shocking-number-of-adverse-events/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bombshell new study</a> using real-world data, the abortion pill is physically wounding thousands of women per year.
When the Food &amp; Drug Administration approved the abortion pill – mifepristone or Mifeprex – it was on the basis that clinical trials had shown a serious adverse event rate of less than 0.5%.
But the new research, which analyzed 865,727 mifepristone abortions between 2017-2023, found a serious adverse event rate of 11%. That&#8217;s twenty-two times higher than the figure cited on the drug label.
These adverse events are not mere side effects. Hemorrhage, sepsis, infection, cardiac distress, and incomplete abortions are part of the laundry list of complications suffered by women within 45 days of taking the abortion pill.
The figures come from an all-payer health claims database. Insurance companies don&#8217;t pay for things that didn&#8217;t happen. The research was published by the Ethics &amp; Public Policy Center, which has promised more is to come.
If these serious adverse events were caused by a common antibiotic or a diabetes medication, media outrage and mass public uproar would ensue. 
Reckless conduct in the service of political ideology got us here. In the final year of the Obama administration, the Department of Health and Human Services watered down safety regulations. They allowed the abortion pill to be prescribed by non-physicians, taken at home away from the watchful eye of medical professionals, and extended the maximum gestational age at which a child could be aborted from seven weeks to ten weeks.
The Biden administration took this ghoulish crusade a step further. In 2023, they removed virtually all safeguards to the extent that a woman can now order abortion pills online, take them at home, risk bleeding out, flush her aborted child down the toilet, and go it alone, all without ever seeing a doctor.
It is up to the new Trump administration to restore some sanity. President Trump has been notoriously fickle on abortion, as has his HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy.
<a href="https://catholicvote.org/catholicvote-joins-urges-trump-admin-to-reevaluate-abortion-pill/?mkt_tok=NDI3LUxFUS0wNjYAAAGaJQObGcXkcfyZbJ7FjQNwks_nKJ9XiOo9VXl6pBbxneaC7Ri29G__kqN2XupSy1lr5nuPJN-ynFfzQylzGOSa83kCwwhMt68zcxRRaMq0ww">Just this week,</a> CatholicVote joined a coalition of 30 other pro-life organizations urging President Trump to re-evaluate the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone in light of the study’s disturbing discoveries.
Both Kennedy and newly-installed FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary have expressed a commitment to prioritizing women&#8217;s safety in regard to the abortion pill. Upon questioning from Sen. Steve Daines of Montana during his confirmation hearings, Kennedy promised to study the abortion pill and take action on any new developments. Dr. Makary has expressed similar rhetoric, although he <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/04/24/2025/fdas-marty-makary-no-plans-to-pull-abortion-pill-mifepristone">stated</a> in late April that he had &#8220;no plans&#8221; to restrict the pill until the data could be examined thoroughly.
The question now is whether health and safety will take priority over abortion absolutism. There are too many women suffering silently for the administration to do nothing.
* * *
Tommy Valentine is the Director of the Catholic Accountability Project at CatholicVote.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

Wyoming’s Only Abortion Clinic Forced To Stop Administering Abortions Due To New State Law

It’s Long Past Time To Re-Evaluate Chemical Abortion Pills

It's Long Past Time to Re-Evaluate Chemical Abortion Pills

Abortion

Abortion Drug

Biden Administration

Catholics

Department of Health and Human Services

Obama Administration

Pregnancy

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is so afraid of drug cartels that &#8220;she can&#8217;t even think straight,&#8221; and that&#8217;s why she rejected his proposal to send American troops into Mexico to fight them.
Trump made the comments after he was asked whether news that he had made the offer was true. On Saturday, Sheinbaum said that she had turned down Trump&#8217;s offer because it would impugn Mexican sovereignty.
&#8220;It&#8217;s true,&#8221; Trump told reporters. &#8220;[The cartels] are horrible people that have been killing people left and right. They&#8217;ve made a fortune on selling drugs and destroying our people. We lost 300,000 people last year to fentanyl and drugs. They are bad news.&#8221;
&#8220;If Mexico wanted help with the cartels we would be honored to go in and do it,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I told her that, &#8216;I&#8217;d be honored to go in and do it.&#8217; The cartels are trying to destroy our country. They are evil! And you know, we had 300,000 people die last year from fentanyl and all that. We had millions of people brought into this country that shouldn&#8217;t be here. The cartels brought them in.&#8221;
He said that he thought Sheinbaum was nice but that she refused American help because she was scared of the cartels.
&#8220;So if she said that I offered to do that, she&#8217;s 100 percent right,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;She&#8217;s so afraid of the cartels she can&#8217;t walk so you know, that&#8217;s the reason. And I think she&#8217;s a lovely woman. The president of Mexico is a lovely woman. But she is so afraid of the cartels that she can&#8217;t even think straight.&#8221;
On Friday, it was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-pressures-mexico-to-allow-u-s-military-to-lead-fight-against-drug-cartels?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Pressures+Mexico+To+Allow+U.S.+Military+To+Lead+Fight+Against+Drug+Cartels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Sheinbaum and Trump got into a heated phone call last month after he pushed for the U.S. military to lead in the fight against cartels.
&#8220;He said, &#8216;How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the United States military come in and help you.&#8217; And you know what I said to him? &#8216;No, President Trump,'&#8221; Sheinbaum <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-sheinbaum-mexico-drug-cartels-c2113e74cfc122f8f5a9e162644a470f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Saturday, confirming the conversation.
&#8220;Sovereignty is not for sale. Sovereignty is loved and defended,&#8221; she added. &#8220;We can work together, but you in your territory and us in ours.&#8221;
Trump has designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-it-is-time-for-america-to-wage-war-on-the-cartels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promised</a> in a speech before Congress to &#8220;wage war&#8221; on them.
White House National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt said Saturday that while the United States-Mexico border had largely been secured, Mexico still needed to do more to crack down on drug cartels.
&#8220;Dangerous Foreign Terrorist Organizations, however, continue to threaten our shared security and the drugs and crime they spread threaten American communities across the country,&#8221; Hewitt said. &#8220;The President has been crystal clear that Mexico must do more to combat these gangs and cartels and the United States stands ready to assist and expand the already close cooperation between our two countries.&#8221;

MixCollage-05-May-2025-07-30-AM-9035

Trump Says Mexico’s President ‘Afraid’ To Let American Troops Come Fight Cartels

Menu