• Trump pauses Project Freedom: Two days after President Donald Trump announced Project Freedom, a plan in which the U.S. Navy would escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, he said he was pausing it. Citing “great progress” in peace talks with Iran, Trump explained that the pause comes “at the request of Pakistan and other countries” involved in the negotiations. He added that the pause would be “for a short period of time to see whether or not the [peace] agreement can be finalized and signed.” In the meantime, the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports and shipping will continue. Furthermore, despite some skirmishes, the ceasefire agreement has held, and the White House says Operation Epic Fury has ended, with the U.S. now in a new phase of its peace negotiations with Tehran.

• Denver sued for barring AR-15s: The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the city of Denver on Tuesday for its willful violation of the Second Amendment. For 37 years, Denver has banned magazines that carry over 15 rounds and “assault weapons,” a nontechnical term that Justice Clarence Thomas has pointed out was invented by anti-gun activists. The ban includes AR-15s, the most common rifle in America. Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, has directed the DOJ to hold Denver accountable for violating the Second Amendment. The DOJ’s argument rests on the 2008 Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, which affirmed Americans’ 2A right to possess weapons in common use. Dhillon expects the ultimate result of this lawsuit to be the legalization of AR-15s in every jurisdiction in America.

• Violent crime drops, but Americans’ perception remains high: The Council on Criminal Justice found that roughly 69% of Americans believe crime across the country has increased since 2005. The data, however, shows the opposite: the crime rate has fallen significantly. In 2005, there were 3,973 crimes per 100,000 people; by 2024, the rate had dropped to 2,119 per 100,000 people. Part of the perception has to do with the violent crime spike in 2021, though that has dropped significantly, with homicides having fallen by 44% since then. “Every time you open up social media,” says Violence Interrupters in Chicago Executive Director Tio Hardiman, “you see a fight where you have 20 young men beating up one or two guys or stomping people out or beating up women — you name it.” Public perception increasingly depends on social media.

• 13 DC Metro Police officers suspended for fixing crime numbers: Details are still scarce, but 13 officers with the Metropolitan Police Department of DC have been suspended and face termination by Interim Chief Jeffrey Carroll. The suspended officers include Assistant Chief LaShay Makal and Cmdr. Tatjana Savoy, whom Interim Chief Carroll says was linked to a scheme to underreport crime statistics. Former Chief Pamela Smith resigned in December after a House Oversight Committee report charged her with forcing officers under her command to manipulate crime statistics or risk demotion. The fact that the named chief, assistant chief, and commander were all women of color who rank highly on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ladder is surely a coincidence.

• Michigan Dem fraud … in their own endorsements: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessell is crying election fraud. On April 19, the Michigan Democrat Party held a convention of delegates to determine the party’s candidates for statewide office. Over 6,000 delegates cast their votes, but hundreds were ineligible because they were not physically present at the convention center. Yes, it seems that when the results went against state Senate candidate Sylvia Santana, she suddenly saw the problem with mail-in ballots and called for an independent audit. Nessell supports Santana’s claims and wants a recount. Ironically, she was also quick to point out that while fraud may have taken place in an election with 6,000 ballots, held on a single day in a single location, no one should draw any “false equivalency” to fraud claims in statewide races.

• FDA approves flavored vapes: On Tuesday, the FDA gave its first authorization to a number of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes for adult vapers. As a result, the vaping company Glas Inc. has received FDA approval to soon market these new flavors, including mango, blueberry, and two menthol varieties. Health groups have long opposed sweet-flavored vapes, arguing that they attract teens to indulge in the potentially dangerous unhealthy habit. On the other side, e-cigarette manufacturers argue that vaping has helped people stop smoking traditional cigarettes, which have been blamed for 480,000 deaths from cancer and lung and heart disease annually. The FDA pointed to a digital age-verification system that will make it difficult for underage users to both purchase and use the product. Teen vaping has been trending down since it surged in 2019.

• Pentagon contracting with ChiCom company to analyze CCP military threat: The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), an arm of the Pentagon, has contracted with Moody’s Analytics to uncover threats posed by military firms. However, Moody’s Analytics has ties to a Chinese credit rating company that has assigned top ratings to several major Chinese military companies. Critics are drawing attention to a potential conflict of interest: Moody’s owns a 30% stake in that Chinese credit rating firm, and now the Pentagon is using its data to analyze the risk posed by those companies, potentially compromising intelligence assessments. The Washington Times pointed out that it may be “actively helping to legitimize and enable Chinese military-linked companies by supporting the financial infrastructure that sustains them.” A Moody’s spokesman countered that the two organizations have separate governance and that “Moody’s does not assign domestic credit ratings in China.”

• Ted Turner, RIP: Robert Edward Turner III, the man who revolutionized the TV news media landscape in 1980 when he launched CNN, the first 24-hour cable news station, has died. He was 87 years old. Back in 2018, Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a condition that progressively affects the brain. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but growing up in Georgia, Turner was an entrepreneur who took over his father’s billboard company after his suicide and eventually expanded it into a massive media broadcasting empire. Becoming a billionaire, Turner politically morphed from a Goldwater Republican to an outspoken liberal, yet he maintained friendships with both Democrats and Republicans. Turner was also known for his philanthropy. He is survived by five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Headlines

• FAA employee charged with threatening the president (DOJ)

• Nancy Mace names six lawmakers allegedly involved in sex scandal cover-up (Daily Caller)

• Oil prices plunge amid report U.S.-Iran conflict will end soon (Just the News)

• LA spends $250,000 on useless signs telling ICE to keep out (Not the Bee)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.