
Matt Gaetz and defense secretary argue over US military capability and 'wokeism'
CNN
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Rep. Matt Gaetz got into a heated argument during Tuesday's House Armed Services hearing after the Florida Republican accused the Pentagon of being too focused on "wokeism" and not defense.
Austin charged that Gaetz appeared to be "embarrassed for his country" by questioning the US military's capability, and the two men shouted over one another at several points.
"This is the most capable, most combat critical force in the world, it has been and it will be so going forward, and this budget helps us to do that," Austin said.

One year ago this week, Joe Biden was president. I was in Doha, Qatar, negotiating with Israel and Hamas to finalize a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The incoming Trump team worked closely with us, a rare display of nonpartisanship to free hostages and end a war. It feels like a decade ago. A lot can happen in a year, as 2025 has shown.

Botched Epstein redactions trace back to Virgin Islands’ 2020 civil racketeering case against estate
A botched redaction in the Epstein files revealed that government attorneys once accused his lawyers of paying over $400,000 to “young female models and actresses” to cover up his criminal activities

The Justice Department’s leadership asked career prosecutors in Florida Tuesday to volunteer over the “next several days” to help to redact the Epstein files, in the latest internal Trump administrationpush toward releasing the hundreds of thousands of photos, internal memos and other evidence around the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The US State Department on Tuesday imposed visa sanctions on a former top European Union official and employees of organizations that combat disinformation for alleged censorship – sharply ratcheting up the Trump administration’s fight against European regulations that have impacted digital platforms, far-right politicians and Trump allies, including Elon Musk.









