An impostor is using an artificial intelligence voice changer to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and contact foreign and domestic officials, according to a July 3 State Department cable obtained by the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/07/08/marco-rubio-ai-imposter-signal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington Post</a>.
Authorities have not identified the individual behind the attempts, but claim that he was probably trying to gain access to information or accounts.
So far he has contacted at least five officials, “including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a U.S. member of Congress.” It is unknown if they responded to the AI generated messages.
The impersonator first used a fake email address to create a Signal account. Signal is a secure encrypted messaging app that is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/encryption-apps-government-transparency-sunshine-week-ad26ecdee91c8f99f15228bbe7989ede" target="_blank" rel="noopener">widely used</a> by government officials. Then, he used the phone numbers associated with the officials’ accounts to contact them.
“The actor left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals and in one instance, sent a text message inviting the individual to communicate on Signal,” according to the cable. He also impersonated other State Department personnel using email.
The FBI had <a href="https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250515" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> government officials in May about an “ongoing malicious text and voice messaging campaign” targeting them and their contacts with voice generated messages in an attempt to gain funds or information.
“If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior U.S. official, do not assume it is authentic,” they said.
That month, someone breached the phone of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and impersonated her in numerous calls to high ranking officials.
The State Department says they will “carry out a thorough investigation and continue to implement safeguards to prevent this from happening in the future.”
Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who specializes in analyzing deepfakes, told the Washington Post that phishing schemes targeting government officials do not require sophisticated knowledge and are often successful because officials can be careless about data security.
The rise of AI has made classic phishing schemes much easier. Using an AI voice generator, all you need is 15-20 seconds of audio to “clone” someone’s voice and record them saying whatever text you specify.
New AI-assisted cybersecurity schemes are popping up all over. In June <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/scammers-now-impersonating-senior-government-officials-and-ceos-to-swindle-canadians/ar-AA1HrYCS" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canadian</a> agencies warned citizens of similar AI phishing schemes targeting government officials and CEOs. Ukraine also issued a warning that Russian intelligence agents were impersonating its Security Service to recruit civilians for sabotage missions.
Over 50% of phishing emails are now generated by AI, according to a recent <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2025/06/20/ai-is-behind-50-of-spam---and-now-its-hacking-your-accounts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> by Barracuda and researchers from Columbia University and the University of Chicago.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies on the 2026 Budget In House Hearing

Marco Rubio Impostor Uses AI To Deceive High-Ranking Officials

Artificial Intelligence

Crime

Marco Rubio

State Department

Washington Post

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard took aim at The Washington Post on Thursday, accusing one of the outlet&#8217;s reporters of &#8220;harassing&#8221; her staffers and even &#8220;demanding they share sensitive information.&#8221;
Gabbard called out reporter Ellen Nakashima by name, accusing her of using underhanded methods to get sensitive information from staffers at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and saying that the same reporter had used similar tactics on her and her family when she was in her home state of Hawaii.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It has come to my attention that Washington Post reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/nakashimae?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nakashimae</a> appears to be actively harassing ODNI staff. Instead of reaching out to my press office, she is calling high level Intelligence Officers from a burner phone, refusing to identify herself, lying about the fact…
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) <a href="https://twitter.com/DNIGabbard/status/1940796626735395098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It has come to my attention that Washington Post reporter @nakashimae appears to be actively harassing ODNI staff,&#8221; Gabbard announced in a post on X. &#8220;Instead of reaching out to my press office, she is calling high level Intelligence Officers from a burner phone, refusing to identify herself, lying about the fact that she works for the Washington Post, and then demanding they share sensitive information.&#8221;
&#8220;Apparently, publishing leaked classified material wasn&#8217;t enough for the Washington Post, so now they’ve decided to go after the Intelligence professionals charged to protect it,&#8221; the former Congresswoman (D-HI) added. &#8220;This is a clear political op by the same outlet and the same reporter who harassed and stalked my family in Hawaii. This kind of deranged behavior reflects a media establishment so desperate to sabotage @POTUS’s successful agenda that they’ve abandoned even a facade of journalistic integrity and ethics.&#8221;
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=freedom&amp;utm_content=freedomeditorial" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/freedom/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=freedom&amp;utm_content=freedomeditorial" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-2388">JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free</a>
&#8220;The Washington Post should be ashamed, and they should put an end to this immediately,&#8221; she declared.
The Post fired back with a statement from Executive Editor Matt Murray, defending Nakashima and saying, &#8220;For three decades, Ellen Nakashima has been one of the most careful, fair-minded, and highly regarded reporters covering national security. Reaching out to potential sources rather than relying solely on official government press statements regarding matters of public interest is neither nefarious nor is it harassment. It is basic journalism. DNI Gabbard’s unfounded personal attack reflects a fundamental misunderstanding about the role of journalists to report on government officials and hold power to account, without fear or favor and regardless of party. The Post remains committed to that vital and constitutionally protected work.&#8221;

Tulsi Gabbard’s Senate confirmation hearing for national intelligence director in Washington

Tulsi Gabbard Unloads On Washington Post, Says Reporter Is ‘Actively Harassing’ Staffers

Director of National Intelligence

Media

Politics

Tulsi Gabbard

<div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body type-text" data-qa="article-body">
<p class="wpds-c-heFNVF wpds-c-heFNVF-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" dir="null" data-apitype="text" data-contentid="7BU43BIRSBANNPPEFSXUVKFJDQ" data-el="text" data-scroll-pos="0" data-scroll-measured="true">A Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post editor has been charged by the federal government with possession of child pornography.
<p class="wpds-c-heFNVF wpds-c-heFNVF-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" dir="null" data-apitype="text" data-contentid="7BU43BIRSBANNPPEFSXUVKFJDQ" data-el="text" data-scroll-pos="0" data-scroll-measured="true">Thomas P. LeGro, 48, was arrested on Thursday after authorities allegedly found 11 video files of child pornography on LeGro&#8217;s work laptop, which was located at his home in Washington, D.C.
The journalist faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/06/27/legro-post-child-pornography-possession/">said</a> in a statement that it “understands the severity of these allegations, and the employee has been placed on leave,” but refused to comment further.
LeGro&#8217;s Washington Post profile says he was &#8220;part of a team of Post reporters who were awarded a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Senate candidacy of Roy Moore and a subsequent effort to discredit The Post&#8217;s reporting&#8221; in 2018. &#8220;As Deputy Director of Video, Tom oversees an award-winning team of video journalists who work across the newsroom, including in National, Climate, Metro, Style and Technology,&#8221; the profile adds.
</div>
<div class="wpds-c-PJLV article-body type-text" data-qa="article-body">
<div id="attachment_940773" style="width: 453px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-940773" class="wp-image-940773 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-28-at-12.05.59-PM-443x576.png" alt="" width="443" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-28-at-12.05.59-PM-443x576.png 443w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-28-at-12.05.59-PM-231x300.png 231w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-28-at-12.05.59-PM-768x999.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-28-at-12.05.59-PM.png 1032w" sizes="(max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px" />Facebook: Tom LeGro</div>
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A press release from the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office in the District of Columbia <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/award-winning-journalist-arrested-and-charged-possession-child-pornography">said</a> LeGro made his first appearance in U.S. District Court on Friday.
&#8220;LeGro, a journalist at the Washington Post and resident of the District of Columbia, was arrested [Thursday] and taken into custody following a search of his home,&#8221; the office said.
The charges were announced by Jeanine Pirro, interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
&#8220;On June 26, 2025, FBI agents executed a search warrant at LeGro’s residence and seized several electronic devices,&#8221; the press release said. &#8220;A review of LeGro’s work laptop revealed a folder that contained 11 videos depicting child sexual abuse material.&#8221;
&#8220;During the execution of the search warrant agents observed what appeared to be fractured pieces of a hard drive in the hallway outside the room where LeGro’s work laptop was found,&#8221; it continued.
&#8220;This case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.&#8221;

Washington Post Logo

Washington Post Journalist Charged With Possession Of Child Pornography

Feds Charge Award-Winning Journalist With Child Porn Possession

Child pornography

Jeanine Pirro

Pulitzer Prize

A news reporter at Los Angeles&#8217; ABC News affiliate, speaking over video footage of riots where leftists were burning cars to protest Trump administration immigration policies, described the situation to viewers as “just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn.”
The ABC 7 reporter made the comments while declaring, “It could turn very volatile if you move law enforcement in there and turn what is just a bunch of people having fun watching cars burn into a massive confrontation and altercation between officers and demonstrators.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="LIVE: Immigration protest underway in LA" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HH7DPreBh1g?start=9822&#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>
Meanwhile, on Monday, after a weekend of rioting, the usual suspects in the media either offered their support for illegal immigrants or attacked the Trump administration for getting involved in the incendiary situation. The Los Angeles Times published an article titled, “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-08/rights-explainer-immigration-crackdown">Feds vow to continue immigration enforcement ‘every day in L.A.’ Here are your rights</a>.”
“Businesses should ensure that employees know their rights and that they should refrain from engaging with ICE officials, according to the National Employment Law Project,” the Times wrote.
“Trump Jumps at the Chance for a Confrontation in California Over Immigration,” The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/politics/trump-california-immigration.html">blared</a> in response to the riots, adding, “The situation has all the elements that the president seeks: a showdown with a top political rival in a deep blue state over an issue core to his agenda.”
&#8220;In bypassing the authority of Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat, to call in the National Guard to quell protests in the Los Angeles area over his administration’s efforts to deport more migrants, Mr. Trump is now pushing the boundaries of presidential authority and stoking criticism that he is inflaming the situation for political gain,” the Times continued.
“The easiest way to understand this is not that Los Angeles has suddenly turned into a metropolis riddled with criminal immigrants who are holding it hostage,” the Washington Post echoed. “The easiest way to understand this is that the president and his administration have been looking to California as they have been looking to crush any center of power that he views as adversarial. &#8230; the administration by all appearances seeks to make an example of California and of any leaders who oppose its efforts.”

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION

‘Just A Bunch Of People Having Fun Watching Cars Burn’: ABC News On L.A. Anti-ICE Riots

ABC News

Donald Trump

Illegal Immigration

Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times

New York Times

Riots

U.S.

The Washington Post admitted to significant errors in its reporting on Israel and Gaza on Tuesday, deleting a social media post and correcting an article that unfairly maligned Israel’s military.
The newspaper admitted to its fault in another social media post explaining that an article from Sunday fell short of the Post’s “fairness standards.” The reporting covered a disputed incident outside a Gaza aid center in which the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry accused Israel of gunning down civilians. The Israel Defense Forces have denied the claim.
“The article failed to make clear if attributing the deaths to Israel was the position of the Gaza health ministry or a fact verified by The Post,” the correction says. “The article and headline were updated on Sunday evening making it clear that there was no consensus about who was responsible for the shootings and that there was a dispute over that question.”
“While statements from Israel that it was unaware of injuries and that an initial inquiry indicated its soldiers didn’t fire at civilians near the site were included in all versions, The Post didn’t give proper weight to Israel’s denial and gave improper certitude about what was known about any Israeli role in the shootings,” it continued. “The early versions fell short of Post standards of fairness and should not have been published in that form.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Correction: We’ve deleted the post below because it and early versions of the article didn’t meet Post fairness standards.
The background: Early versions of the article on Sunday stated that Israeli troops had killed more than 30 people near a U.S. aid site in Gaza, with the… <a href="https://t.co/KseRXgJn6A">pic.twitter.com/KseRXgJn6A</a>
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1929961283593367559?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
The disputed incident took place early Sunday morning. Gaza Health Ministry officials and some Palestinian bystanders <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israeli-military-gaza-aid-group-debunk-hamas-claims-of-palestinians-killed-in-strike-at-aid-center">accused</a> Israeli soldiers of firing into an early morning crowd that was traveling to a Gaza aid center. The health ministry said that at least 31 people were killed and another 170 were wounded.
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The Israeli military and the aid organization that operates the center, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, have denied the claims. The Israeli military said that Israeli soldiers at one point fired warning shots into the air “to prevent several suspects from approaching” them overnight. The military said that there was “no connection between this incident and the false claims made against the IDF.”
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has denied that any such incident took place outside the aid center. The foundation has released video that reportedly showed an uneventful Sunday morning except for one incident of tracer fire in the distance.
“There was no gunfire in the center and also not in the surrounding area,” the foundation said in a statement. “All aid was distributed today without incident. We have heard that these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas. They are untrue and fabricated.”

The Washington Post

WaPo Retracts Unverified Hamas Smear Of Israel

Gaza

Global Politics

Hamas

Israel

World

The Kennedy Center has issued a response to the “fake news” article which was published in The Washington Post on Tuesday asserting that subscriptions dropped dramatically compared to the previous year.
“Your comparison isn’t accurate because of several factors,” the statement from Kim Cooper, Senior Vice President of Marketing, began. “We strategically launched later this year vs. last year. Our renewal campaign is just kicking off and our hard-copy season brochures have not yet hit homes.”
The statement goes on to explain how patrons often wait for the hard copy brochures to arrive before renewing.
“Also, earlier this year, and for the first time ever in Kennedy Center history, we launched a brand new option that lets subscribers mix and match genres within a single subscription,” Cooper continued. “It is a highly requested feature we’re proud to deliver as part of our commitment to giving people more choice and flexibility. It also expands our ability to reach new audiences.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Here’s our response to the fake news: <a href="https://t.co/3DSfTByY9C">pic.twitter.com/3DSfTByY9C</a>
&mdash; The Kennedy Center (@kencen) <a href="https://twitter.com/kencen/status/1929951415058751786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The statement teased upcoming announcements and new genres that will have a “strong appeal” to audiences of all ages.
This response came after the Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater/2025/06/03/kennedy-center-subscription-sales-decline/">article</a> claimed subscriptions were down $1.6 million, or 36%, compared to the year before. The anonymous staffer blamed the drop on “mismanagement by the new leadership.”
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President Trump made waves earlier this year when he promised to reform the Kennedy Center, which began when he replaced its board and was elected chairman. Trump also tapped Special Envoy Richard Grenell to serve as the Center’s president.
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote in February. “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP.”
Ever since, the Center has been pivoting to family friendly content, which has been successful thus far. Most recently, they sold out two showings of the bible-based film “The King of Kings.” It fits in with the Center’s new leadership being focused on offering high-quality entertainment that’s free from radical progressive messaging.
And so far it’s been successful. The Center broke their all-time attendance record in March of this year when 11,000 visitors showed up to see the EARTH to SPACE: Arts Breaking the Sky fireworks show, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kennedy-center-breaks-all-time-attendance-record-after-lib-meltdown-over-trump?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Kennedy+Center+Breaks+All-Time+Attendance+Record+After+Lib+Meltdown+Over+Trump">reported</a>. A majority of those attending were visiting the venue for the first time ever.

The Kennedy Center

Kennedy Center Issues Response To ‘Fake News’ WaPo Report About Subscription Sales Falling

Kennedy Center Issues Response To 'Fake News' WaPo Report About Subscription Sales Falling

Kennedy Center

Social Issues

Washington D.C.

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;
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&#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

Drugs

Fentanyl

Karoline Leavitt

Mexico

Washington Post immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti earned herself a wave of backlash when she attempted to use Saturday&#8217;s Kentucky Derby winner — Sovereignty, ridden by Venezuelan immigrant Junior Alvarado — as a cudgel with which to dishonestly attack President Donald Trump and his administration&#8217;s policies on illegal immigration and mass deportation.
Sacchetti, like so many others in broadcast and print media, conflated Alvarado — a legal immigrant from Venezuela — with the millions of illegal immigrants in the United States, suggesting that it Trump was allowed to continue deporting criminal illegals, Alvarado and others like him would be among them.
&#8220;Trump officials, who have sought to expel hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, are celebrating the victory of Sovereignty at the Kentucky Derby. Sovereignty’s jockey, Junior Alvarado, is an immigrant from Venezuela,&#8221; Sacchetti posted via X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Trump officials, who have sought to expel hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, are celebrating the victory of Sovereignty at the Kentucky Derby.
Sovereignty’s jockey, Junior Alvarado, is an immigrant from Venezuela. <a href="https://t.co/vbGAGh7GS3">pic.twitter.com/vbGAGh7GS3</a>
— Maria Sacchetti (@mariasacchetti) <a href="https://twitter.com/mariasacchetti/status/1918846076922007915?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Critics quickly pointed out the fact that Alvarado was in the United States legally — and Trump&#8217;s deportation policies were aimed primarily at those who were not only in the country illegally but had also committed additional crimes since their arrival.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted, &#8220;In America, legal immigrants are awesome and many serve in the Trump administration. I am one. Junior Alvarado is leading in sports. Many like Elon change the world. Stop conflating law-abiding citizens with criminal gangbangers, drug dealers, and human traffickers. We see you.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In America, legal immigrants are awesome and many serve in the Trump administration. I am one. Junior Alvarado is leading in sports. Many like Elon change the world. Stop conflating law-abiding citizens with criminal gangbangers, drug dealers, and human traffickers. We see you. <a href="https://t.co/LX32GXPQwO">https://t.co/LX32GXPQwO</a>
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) <a href="https://twitter.com/HarmeetKDhillon/status/1919047378327257130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Great story, Maria. So the entire (dishonest) implication of your premise is that he entered the country illegally and Alvarado is now at risk of being deported. Except he came here legally,&#8221; Joe Concha added. &#8220;The &#8216;hundreds of thousands&#8217; of Venezuelans Trump is seeking to expel entered illegally.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Great story, Maria. So the entire (dishonest) implication of your premise is that he entered the country illegally and Alvarado is now at risk of being deported.
Except he came here legally. The “hundreds of thousands” of Venezuelans Trump is seeking to expel entered illegally. <a href="https://t.co/0lJPgGMOPn">https://t.co/0lJPgGMOPn</a>
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeConchaTV/status/1919063938328572353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;This article, shared by a Washington Post reporter, conflates illegal immigrants, foreigners with legal guest visas, and Latinos as a whole to pretend that cracking down on illegal immigration would exclude jockeys. An immigration attorney quoted in the article confirms there’s been no problem obtaining visas for foreign jockeys. I think these people actually believe their own propaganda,&#8221; Laura Powell said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This article, shared by a Washington Post reporter, conflates illegal immigrants, foreigners with legal guest visas, and Latinos as a whole to pretend that cracking down on illegal immigration would exclude jockeys.
An immigration attorney quoted in the article confirms there’s… <a href="https://t.co/JGL9otuuUA">https://t.co/JGL9otuuUA</a> <a href="https://t.co/r8z2tC2BTu">pic.twitter.com/r8z2tC2BTu</a>
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) <a href="https://twitter.com/LauraPowellEsq/status/1919089927884882373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;This woman is allegedly an immigration &#8216;reporter&#8217; for the Washington Post and does not understand the difference between LEGAL immigrants and ILLEGAL immigrants,&#8221; Abigail Jackson posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This woman is allegedly an immigration “reporter” for the Washington Post and does not understand the difference between LEGAL immigrants and ILLEGAL immigrants. <a href="https://t.co/RfT6AWoMbN">https://t.co/RfT6AWoMbN</a>
— Abigail Jackson 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) <a href="https://twitter.com/abigailmarone/status/1919058565370704032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I wonder if she understands that her assertion demonstrates that Trump supporters don’t hate people because of their ethnicity but instead want illegal aliens gone regardless,&#8221; Kurt Schlicter added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I wonder if she understands that her assertion demonstrates that Trump supporters don’t hate people because of their ethnicity but instead want illegal aliens gone regardless <a href="https://t.co/dcpNlC7BAM">https://t.co/dcpNlC7BAM</a>
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) <a href="https://twitter.com/KurtSchlichter/status/1919030326883430472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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151st Kentucky Derby

WaPo Reporter Obliterated For Using Kentucky Derby To Bash Trump On Immigration

horse racing

Journalism

Kentucky

Tuesday marks 100 days of President Trump&#8217;s second term.
President Trump has done an enormous number of amazing things, ranging from fighting DEI in every aspect of his administration to targeting university campuses that are hotbeds of antisemitism and leftism and wokeness, to having the Secretary of Defense try to fix all the problems at the Pentagon, to establishing DOGE, which is going through all aspects of government spending with Elon Musk and attempting to cut waste, fraud and abuse.
The president has issued more executive orders in his first 100 days than any president in history. He&#8217;s been incredibly effective in terms of pushing forward many parts of his agenda.
With all of that said, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/27/trump-poll-approval-rating-100-days/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">polling</a> right now for President Trump is not good. That is a reflection of public sentiment specifically regarding the economy. And that is all before the main effect of the tariff war that he has declared kicks in.
The good news for President Trump is that he&#8217;s blessed by his enemies, because they are awful. The American people hate the people that President Trump faces down even more than they dislike President Trump.
The same Washington Post/ABC News-Ipsos <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/27/trump-poll-approval-rating-100-days/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> showing President Trump with a 39% approval rating also shows that 7 in 10 Americans say the Democratic Party is out of touch, while 6 in 10 say that about Trump.
So whatever the American people think of President Trump, they think even less about the Democratic Party.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2187-member-exclusive?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
There’s a good reason for that, which is that the Democratic Party is so unbelievably unhinged. They are truly incompetent. It is amazing. It&#8217;s a target-rich environment for Democrats out there, particularly on the economy — but they cannot help themselves because they&#8217;re constantly running to the radical left of their own base. They&#8217;re saying idiotic things on a daily basis.
Over the weekend, J.B. Pritzker — the rotund governor of Illinois who has to be lowered into the Illinois capital by crane — was <a href="https://x.com/IsaacDovere/status/1916660604577763511" target="_blank" rel="noopener">giving a speech</a> in which he suggested that anybody who is a supporter of Trump ought to be harassed on the streets.
He declared: 
<blockquote>Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I have now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and every microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box.</blockquote>
Democrats are unhinged. Instead of them simply saying, “President Trump isn&#8217;t doing the job Americans want him to do,” which would be the smart way to actually approach this, they&#8217;ve decided instead that they&#8217;re going to go psychotic.
Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader and would-be House speaker, was in the middle of a protest when he <a href="https://x.com/IsaacDovere/status/1916660604577763511" target="_blank" rel="noopener">started quoting</a> Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War, suggesting that America could break down between patriots and traitors. Presumably, the traitors in his mind would be Republicans. 
He quoted Grant saying: 
<blockquote>Whatever may have been my political opinions before, I have but one sentiment now: that is, we have a government, and laws, and a flag, and they must all be sustained. There are but two parties now: traitors and patriots.</blockquote>
This is just psychotic, because he’s not even arguing about the supposed violation of law by the Trump administration. He&#8217;s not arguing about emoluments. He&#8217;s arguing here about the budget. He&#8217;s suggesting if you&#8217;re on the wrong side of the budget negotiation, then you are a traitor. 
President Trump is blessed in his opposition. He brings out the absolute worst in all of his enemies. Jon Ossoff, the soon-to-be ex-senator from Georgia, was trying to rile up the Democratic base, and said that he&#8217;d be <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-jon-ossoff-signals-support-trump-impeachment-rcna203126" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in favor</a> of impeaching President Trump for selling meme coins as a fundraiser. 
With all of that said, it is not good news for President Trump that he&#8217;s riding so low in the polls. That&#8217;s particularly true with independents; according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/27/trump-poll-approval-rating-100-days/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a brand-new</a> Washington Post/ABC News-Ipsos poll, among independents, only 33% approve of Trump while 58% disapprove. Among independents who lean Republican, Trump&#8217;s approval has dropped from 76% to 63% since February.
There&#8217;s one reason for this drop, and that reason is not immigration. That reason is not foreign policy. That reason is the tariff war. The tariff war has absolutely crippled him.
According to that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/27/trump-poll-approval-rating-100-days/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a>, only 31% of Americans approve of the recent turmoil in the stock market. Only 34% of Americans approve of tariffs on imported goods. Only 38% approve of his relations with foreign countries, only 39% approve of his work on the economy.
The problem, however, is that whenever a president is unpopular on one issue, it tends to drag him down on a wide variety of other issues. On immigration, which is a signal issue, his key issue since 2015, President Trump is succeeding. But when it comes to the economy and expanding the power of the presidency, 64% of Americans say that he&#8217;s going too far.
If you&#8217;re hoping for President Trump&#8217;s success, as I am — as someone who voted for him and fundraised for him — he needs to succeed on the economy because if he doesn’t, everything else goes down in flames.
I&#8217;m talking to people who are in the wholesale and retail space and they are freaking out about the tariffs. They’re seeing their orders cut while prices increase. They’re seeing the supply chains break and ships arriving empty. There are a lot of fears of actual shortages and price hikes. I know people who are in the import/export business and they&#8217;re getting hammered, some looking at the possibility of actual bankruptcy. The Magnificent Seven are off to their worst start to a year.
As I’ve said before, there are preconditions to fighting a successful trade war. You need to get ready for it just like a regular war. If you&#8217;re going to win a regular war, you need to make sure your supply lines are in place. You need to make sure that you actually have the material. You have to have your allies in place.
Meanwhile, Congress needs to get the tax bill through ASAP.
President Trump&#8217;s presidency now relies on a couple of things. First, ending this trade war or recalibrating it so that it will be more likely to be successful, which will require dramatic moves. Second, passing the tax bill. If neither of those things happens, then President Trump&#8217;s presidency will continue to spin out. That’s because as the economy goes, President Trump&#8217;s promise for all of his career has been that he&#8217;s a great businessman, and he would make sure the economy was okay. 
Getting the economy right is what President Trump needs to do if he wishes to make the American people happy with his presidency again, which will give him the political capital necessary to do everything else.
That would be fantastic, because he is getting so many other things dead-right.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-TRUMP-HABBA

100 Days: Where Does Trump Stand?

Ben Shapiro

Democrats

Hakeem Jeffries

J.B. Pritzker

Polls

Presidency

President Trump

Republicans

Tariffs

According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration is pushing the Internal Revenue Service to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status.
The Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/16/trump-harvard-tax-exempt-irs/">reported</a> that three sources informed the outlet that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration had asked the IRS to make the move, although there is no confirmation that it has done so. WaPo also reported that its sources claimed Andrew De Mello, the IRS’s acting chief counsel, was asked by the Treasury Department to take the action. Sources also claimed this is part of a feud with Ivy League schools that the Trump administration views as &#8220;woke.&#8221;
“I think they’re going to go after a whole bunch of them,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) said. “I’m not sure why we need to be funding people who aggressively refuse to give up a variety of values and structures that most Americans don’t agree with.”
On Tuesday. President Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114342374504628520">posted</a> on Truth Social, “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’ Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!”
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields stated: &#8220;Any forthcoming actions by the IRS will be conducted independently of the president, and investigations into any institution’s violations of its tax status were initiated prior to the president’s TRUTH.”
In January 2024, Rep. Jason T. Smith (R-MO), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/10/jason-smith-harvard-mit-penn-might-not-deserve-tax-exemption-00134815" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> that the responses of Harvard, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT to the antisemitism on their campuses might justify revoking their tax-exempt status. The college’s actions “raise several questions, including whether your institutions are fulfilling their educational purposes as required to receive 501c3 tax-exempt status &#8230;”
On Monday, the Trump administration’s Department of Education announced it would freeze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contract value to Harvard University after the school said it would not comply with the Trump administration’s demand that the university <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Harvard-Response-2025-04-14.pdf">claimed</a> would “invade university freedoms.”
Last Friday, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services sent a <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Letter-Sent-to-Harvard-2025-04-11.pdf">letter</a> to Harvard in which they stated, “By August 2025, the University must adopt and implement merit-based hiring policies, and cease all preferences based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin …” adding that the same attitude must prevail in admissions policies. The correspondence also declared that by the same date, the university must “prevent admitting students hostile to the American values and institutions inscribed in the American Constitution and Declaration of Independence, including students supportive of terrorism and anti-Semitism.”
The university “shall commission an external party … to audit the student body, faculty and leadership for viewpoint diversity” by August 2025, the letter continued, in order to ensure that the leftist perspective that dominates the university should be contrasted with other viewpoints.
Alan Garber, the president of Harvard University, responded with a <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2025/the-promise-of-american-higher-education/">statement</a> in which he said, “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement,” contending, “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights” and claiming the administration’s demands violated “Harvard’s First Amendment rights … threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge.”

Harvard University

Trump Admin Wants IRS To Quash Harvard’s Tax-Exempt Status: Report

Education

Harvard

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Taxes

Wokeness

The Washington Post is probing one of its reporters over past alleged social media posts that express support for the “resistance” in Gaza and call Israel an “illegal” state.
Heba Farouk Mahfouz is a reporter in The Washington Post’s Cairo bureau and has written and contributed to dozens of articles on Israel’s war against the terror group Hamas. In addition to the war in Gaza, Mahfouz also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/heba-farouk-mahfouz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">covers</a> “human rights, gender issues, the economy, [and] religious minorities.”
Mahfouz joined the Post on 2016, but several years before, her social media account was allegedly espousing radical sentiments on Israel and Palestinians. Independent journalist Eitan Fischberger resurfaced the alleged posts recently, pointing out that Mahfouz has contributed significantly to the Post’s coverage of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
“Since the start of 2025, all 13 of the articles she&#8217;s written have focused on Israel and Hamas. The problem? She actually supports Hamas, and thinks Israel shouldn&#8217;t exist,” Fischberger posted on X, leading into a thread of some of Mahouz’s alleged old posts.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Meet Heba Farouk Mahfouz, a reporter in the <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@washingtonpost</a>&#39;s Cairo Bureau.
Since the start of 2025, all 13 of the articles she&#39;s written have focused on Israel and Hamas. 
The problem? She actually supports Hamas, and thinks Israel shouldn&#39;t exist. Let&#39;s dive in 🧵 <a href="https://t.co/XcOEKpkeyg">pic.twitter.com/XcOEKpkeyg</a>
&mdash; Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/EFischberger/status/1899549551671062659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“Isreal IS a COLONIAL, ILLEGAL (according to international law), state. It’s not a point of view. It’s a fact,” Mahfouz allegedly said in one November 2013 <a href="https://x.com/EFischberger/status/1899549563977077144" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a>.
In another alleged post, she says she does not “like Hamas’ social repression of Palestinians,” but asserts she will “always and forever support the resistance as long as it is against the Zionist entity,” according to a translation of the <a href="https://x.com/EFischberger/status/1899549602010857793" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a>.
“I am always and forever with the resistance! And with Hamas and Hezbollah too, as long as their weapons are against Israel and not Arabs like them … with Israel itself if it is fighting against Israel!” she allegedly says in another translated <a href="https://x.com/EFischberger/status/1899549614765670816" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a>.
A Washington Post spokesperson told The Daily Wire that the paper is aware of the alleged posts and is investigating. Mahfouz’s X account is locked.
The investigation into Mahfouz’s alleged past social media posts comes as members of The Washington Post’s staff have been in an uproar as owner Jeff Bezos institutes changes at the paper. In a <a href="https://x.com/JeffBezos/status/1894757287052362088" target="_blank" rel="noopener">note</a> to staff last month, Bezos said the paper would become a champion of “personal liberties and free markets.”
“We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others,” Bezos said.
The Washington Post owner has also warned about flagging American trust in media.
“We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement. Most people believe the media is biased,” Bezos wrote in an October 2024 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">op-ed</a>.

WaPo Probes Reporter Over Alleged Social Media Posts Pushing Violence Against Israel

Jeff Bezos

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Friday that she was &#8220;aggressively pursuing” individuals within the intelligence community who have leaked information to legacy media outlets, such as NBC News and The Washington Post.
Gabbard said that leakers violated the law by providing reporters with classified information about American foreign policy on Iran, Israel, and Russia. 
“Our nation’s Intelligence Community must be focused on our national security mission. Politically motivated leaks undermine our national security and the trust of the American people, and will not be tolerated,” Gabbard posted on X. “Unfortunately, such leaks have become commonplace with no investigation or accountability.  That ends now. We know of and are aggressively pursuing recent leakers from within the Intelligence Community and will hold them accountable.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Our nation’s Intelligence Community must be focused on our national security mission. Politically motivated leaks undermine our national security and the trust of the American people, and will not be tolerated.
Unfortunately, such leaks have become commonplace with no…
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) <a href="https://twitter.com/DNIGabbard/status/1900525554039939309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
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She then listed several examples of &#8220;unauthorized leaks.” 
In one case, she said a leaker had been sharing “classified information” with the liberal outlet Huffington Post but did not specify on what topic. In another example, Gabbard referenced unauthorized leaks on Iran and Israel to The Washington Post. 
Another intel worker gave NBC News information on the U.S.-Russia relationship, Gabbard said, and a different person told The Record about activities of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. 
“Any unauthorized release of classified information is a violation of the law and will be treated as such,” Gabbard said. 
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) praised Gabbard’s announcement. 
“I&#8217;m grateful that [Gabbard] is working to end leaking and the weaponization of the Intelligence Community,” he <a href="https://x.com/TomCottonAR/status/1900563534645195240" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on X. “Another promise made and promise kept.”
Gabbard was narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-confirms-tulsi-gabbard-as-director-of-national-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed</a> as DNI last month in a 52-48 vote. During her confirmation hearing, she promised to end the politicization of intelligence and restore trust in the national security apparatus tasked with protecting American citizens.

Senate Intelligence Cmte Holds Confirmation Hearing For DNI Nominee Tulsi Gabbard

Gabbard ‘Aggressively Pursuing’ Intel Community Leaks To Legacy Media

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