The Patriot Post® · Wednesday Executive News Summary
Kevin Warsh’s confirmation hearing: On Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s Federal Reserve chairman nominee Kevin Warsh appeared before the Senate Banking Committee, where he faced a litany of questions and was peppered by Democrats as to whether he could remain “strictly independent.” Soon-to-be outgoing Fed Chair Jerome Powell has been criticized by Trump for his refusal to lower interest rates as quickly as the president desired. Democrats are concerned that Warsh would simply act as Trump’s yes-man. Warsh impressed, largely avoiding falling for the Democrats’ “gotcha” questions. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis expressed his willingness to vote in favor of confirmation, though he said he would only do so after the Justice Department drops its investigation into Powell. “Let’s get rid of this investigation so I can support your confirmation,” Tillis said. Without Tillis’s vote, Warsh is unlikely to make it out of committee for a full Senate vote.
Iran ceasefire extended: President Trump opted not to return to a bombing campaign in Iran just yet, despite Iran’s inability to present a unified proposal for peace during the two-week ceasefire initially announced. Trump cited the fractured nature of the Iranian government after the extensive bombing campaign. The U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will continue along with the ceasefire until a unified Iranian peace proposal is submitted. Likely due to reading Leftmedia misinformation, the Iranians may have been gambling that Trump would extend the ceasefire and lift the blockade, which is costing the regime $400 million a day. Furthermore, internal Iranian crude oil storage capacity is likely hitting its limits, meaning Iran will need to end the blockade or start capping oil wells, a process that is not guaranteed to be reversible.
Democrat Cherfilus-McCormick resigns: Technically, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s actions to steal $5 million in FEMA funds, funnel them through various bank accounts, and then use them to make straw donations to her own congressional campaign remain allegations, but when your Democrat colleagues force you to resign from Congress, it’s not because you were falsely accused. Yesterday, Cherfilus-McCormick resigned effective immediately, just before the House Ethics Committee could meet to consider sanctions, including forcing her resignation. Naturally, Cherfilus-McCormick maintains her innocence and argues she was forced to resign because the House committee would not grant her an extension to defend herself. She argued that she could not properly defend herself from a congressional investigation and a criminal case simultaneously, both of which she describes as “witch hunts.”
Tucker apologizes … for helping Trump: A number of right-wing influencers have turned on Donald Trump in recent months, particularly over his support for Israel and especially since his military action against Iran. At the top of that list of MAGA turncoats is Tucker Carlson, who issued an apology on Monday on his podcast for having supported Trump. “We’ll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be, and I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional,” Carlson stated. He added, “It’s not enough to say, ‘Well, I changed my mind.’ Or like, ‘Oh, this is bad. I’m out.’ It’s like, in very small ways, but in real ways, you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now.” Trump recently blasted Carlson as “a low IQ person” who has “absolutely no idea what’s going on.”
DOJ withdraws subpoenas in John Brennan investigation: The Justice Department on Tuesday pulled subpoenas it had issued to officials tied to its investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan. The DOJ asked officials to voluntarily give interviews rather than testify before a grand jury. The DOJ has not given an explanation for its reversal. Brennan has been targeted for investigation due to his involvement in the Russia collusion hoax to take out Donald Trump during his first term. Brennan served as CIA director under Barack Obama and oversaw a January 2017 intelligence report concluding that Russian interference helped Trump beat Hillary Clinton.
Wikipedia circles the wagons for AOC: Wikipedia is not a reliable source. This has been common wisdom since it launched in 2001, but the reasons have changed somewhat. Nowadays, the chief reason to be wary of the site is the inherent leftist bias of the only editors that have survived purge after purge. Recently, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took issue with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s correct statement that the origins of cowboy culture trace back to the Spanish vaquero. Before AOC chided Rubio for his statement, Wikipedia correctly noted, “The vaquero tradition came from Spain.” But a self-righteous editor quickly set out to support AOC, changing the article to read “the origins of jinete horsemanship come from Spain.” An encyclopedia that will change on a dime to reflect the latest edition of newspeak is not trustworthy.
NPR’s predictable private windfall: Following Donald Trump and congressional Republicans pulling taxpayer funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which directed funds to NPR and PBS, NPR CEO Katherine Maher dubiously claimed that “large rural communities” and “large tribal communities” would have few options for receiving news and other content the Leftmedia outlet provided. Hundreds of NPR stations would supposedly go silent due to a lack of taxpayer funding. Well, far from going extinct, NPR is chugging along just fine thanks to $113 million in donations, including $80 million from Connie Ballmer, the wife of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. As many predicted, wealthy leftists could easily make up the loss of taxpayer funding, and since NPR acts as little more than a mouthpiece for leftist ideology, why shouldn’t it be leftist billionaires who foot the bill?
Alligator Alcatraz sheds bogus environmental lawsuit: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the immigration detention facility built and operated by the state of Florida is not subject to federal environmental review restrictions for such a building. Judge William Pryor explained that while a property owner may be required to obey federal laws, that does not make it a federal building; therefore, Alligator Alcatraz did not trigger the environmental law in question. Judge Nancy Gbana Abudu dissented, arguing that the court was allowing the federal government to get away with a game of semantics, explaining that just because Florida willingly constructed the facility for the government does not free it from responsibility. This ruling changes little, as the earlier decision that would’ve halted construction at the facility had already been frozen pending this decision.
The Onion again seeks to take over Infowars: The Onion, a left-wing satirical news outlet, is attempting to take over Alex Jones’s Infowars platform, which is going under due to $1 billion in defamation payments Jones owes to the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. The Onion’s plan, once approved by an Austin judge, is to obtain an exclusive but temporary six-month license to Infowars’ intellectual property, during which it will post its own content on the Infowars website and social media accounts. It’s part of a bigger comedy network, and the Sandy Hook families will receive profits from it. Although Jones and his crew are set to be kicked out of the building at the end of the month, he vows to fight the proposal. He said he has already prepared another studio where he will continue his show.
Headlines
51% of Virginia decides other 49% only gets 9% of state’s representation in Congress (Not the Bee)
Pete Hegseth scraps mandatory flu shots for U.S. service members (CBS News)
Two U.S. embassy officials killed in Mexico car accident were working for CIA (NY Post)
UMich regent candidate who praised Hezbollah wins Democrat nomination (Washington Free Beacon)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.