• Gabbard’s Russiagate receipts: On Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard dropped a bombshell about the “Russia collusion” lie, promising more to come. Gabbard’s news includes a November 6, 2016, report that did “not mention Putin helping or even showing concern about Trump’s election chances.” In January 2017, acting on President Obama’s orders, CIA Director John Brennan released a new report based on “raw information,” including some that had not met “longstanding publication standards,” that alleged Russian interference for Trump. Some of the information was published over the objections of veteran officers and was based on unknown or unclear sources. Part of the release shows CIA agents did not want to release evidence that was “unremarkable” or containing “flawed information. An Obama spokesman has called these allegations a "distraction.”

• More Epstein claptrap: Of all the ridiculous issues to get caught up in, none may be a greater waste of time than the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy saga. Yet House Republicans promised more action on the so-called “Epstein files” after the August recess, if necessary. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s girlfriend and accomplice, to appear for a federal deposition in two weeks. Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg has unsurprisingly blocked Donald Trump’s effort to have Epstein’s grand jury transcripts unsealed. Rosenberg insisted “the Court’s hands are tied” because the request is not related to an ongoing trial. Trump’s DOJ had argued, “The public’s strong interest in th[e] historical investigation into Jeffrey Epstein constitutes a special circumstance justifying public disclosure,” a view that Rosenberg rejected.

• Columbia will pay up: Columbia University announced that it will pay a $200 million settlement over three years to restore federal funding. Columbia will separately pay $21 million to resolve civil rights complaints over its inability to protect Jewish students on campus after the campus riots following the October 2023 Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis. Columbia’s settlement does not include an admission of wrongdoing, “never admit fault” being an ironclad maxim among leftists. Columbia has already undertaken a series of reforms, codified by this settlement, that crack down on anti-Semitism on campus. Other reforms include ditching DEI practices, balancing the Middle East curriculum, and hiring new faculty for the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.

• Harvard probe: Harvard University has sought to fight against Donald Trump at seemingly every turn, as his administration seeks to hold the Ivy League school to account for its failure to address anti-Semitism on campus. When the DHS suspended Harvard’s Student Exchange and Visa Program (SEVP), Harvard won a stay as the issue is hammered out in the courts. On Wednesday, however, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the State Department has launched an investigation into the school’s compliance with SEVP, noting that all sponsors of Harvard’s program “must comply with all regulations, including conducting their programs in a manner that does not undermine the foreign policy objectives or compromise the national security interests of the United States.” Much of the anti-Semitism that has erupted on these Ivy League campuses has been tied to foreign students.

• Ninth Circuit Court gets it wrong on birthright citizenship: Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship hit another roadblock Wednesday when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower courts’ nationwide injunction. The court ruled 2-1 that Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional. Trump-appointed Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented in part from the decision by two Clinton appointees, Ronald Gould and Michael Daly Hawkins, arguing that the states bringing the case had no right to do so. Bumatay rightly said, “Courts must be vigilant in enforcing the limits of our jurisdiction and our power to order relief.” This decision marks a departure from the 6-3 Supreme Court decision last month, which curtailed nationwide injunctions from lower courts, though the justices didn’t weigh in on birthright citizenship.

• Another judge propitiates Kilmar Abrego Garcia: U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has ordered that illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a wife-beater and suspected MS-13 gang member who has been charged with human trafficking, must be released from custody and cannot be deported while he awaits trial. In the meantime, Xinis ordered Abrego Garcia “to his ICE Order of Supervision out of the Baltimore Field Office.” This order comes after another judge refused to revoke an order that Abrego Garcia be released to home detention, under the notion that he posed no flight risk. But Abrego Garcia won’t be released yet, as another judge in Tennessee, where he will be tried for human trafficking, ordered him to remain in custody for another 30 days “pending further order.”

• Hot air at ICJ: The United Nations’ International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled yesterday that climate change is a “universal risk” to all nations and is definitely caused by human activity, and it is the “duty” of wealthy developed countries to stop it. According to the ICJ, if wealthy nations fail to “achieve concrete emission reduction targets,” then they should be on the hook for “full reparations to injured states in the form of restitution, compensation and satisfaction provided that the general conditions of the law of state responsibility are met.” In truth, climate alarmism is a guise for installing a system of global socialism and wealth redistribution. Thankfully, the Trump administration responded by effectively telling the ICJ to pound sand: “As always, President Trump and the entire Administration are committed to putting America first and prioritizing the interests of everyday Americans.”

• New York City IED plot foiled: A 55-year-old New York City resident was caught before he could ignite the seven improvised explosive devices he had placed around Manhattan. The suspect placed the IEDs on the rooftops of apartment buildings and threw one onto the subway tracks of the Williamsburg Bridge. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said the plot was “putting countless lives at risk.” NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch credited the NYPD’s skilled detective work for capturing the suspect before he could take action. The IEDs were manufactured by ordering “precursor chemicals,” over 200 cardboard tubes, and 50 feet of fuses, as well as incorporating shotgun shells for added lethality.

Headlines

• Pentagon investigates “secret” Signal messages shared by Pete Hegseth (Daily Mail)

• SCOTUS rules Trump can remove three Democrats from Consumer Product Safety Commission (Just the News)

• Tranquilizers, mood swings, and rage: House Intel chair dishes dirt Russia dug up on Hillary (Just the News)

• Biden admin’s $7.5 billion EV initiative built fewer than 400 charging ports in three years (Washington Free Beacon)

• Three Ohio police officers shot in ambush (Daily Wire)

• NY pays $225,000 to end legal battle with Christian photographer over same-sex weddings (Christian Post)

• Saudi Arabia becomes top buyer of Russian fuel oil despite looming Trump tariffs on Moscow (Fox Business)

• Humor: Obama argues he can’t be charged with treason since he wasn’t born in America (Babylon Bee)

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