The Patriot Post® · Thursday Executive News Summary
DOJ investigates Trump accuser
The Justice Department has launched a perjury investigation into author E. Jean Carroll over her 2022 deposition in which she falsely claimed she had received no outside funding for her lawsuit against Donald Trump. In 2023, a New York jury found Trump civilly liable for defamation against Carroll over her sexual assault allegations. Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages, and in 2024, a jury awarded her an additional $83.3 million following her second defamation lawsuit against Trump. It has since been revealed that the cofounder of LinkedIn, billionaire Reid Hoffman, helped fund her defamation suit. “We didn’t encourage the lawsuit to happen; we only got on board after she’d already filed,” Hoffman claimed in 2023. “My team looked at it, thought that her voice should be heard because she was challenging someone who was so much more wealthy and powerful, it shouldn’t be squashed.”
Sharyn Alfonsi no longer at “60 Minutes”
Months after veteran CBS News journalist and “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi publicly clashed with newly installed CBS Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss over editorial content on the program, Alfonsi is off the show. While technically still employed at CBS News, Alfonsi’s “60 Minutes” contract, which expired on Saturday, has not been renewed. Alfonsi, who was on the news program for 10 years, said, “This was not a routine corporate transition; it was a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting. It sends a chilling message to the entire newsroom.” It appears that Alfonsi got sideways with Weiss, who didn’t take kindly to Alfonsi’s accusation of journalistic malpractice.
California fights fraud finding
After independent journalist Nick Shirley started rooting out fraud based overwhelmingly in immigrant communities in Minnesota and California, lawmakers jumped into action — to stop Shirley. The California Assembly just passed AB 2624, dubbed the “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” which now heads to the state Senate. Under the bill, Shirley, who investigated Armenian-run “hospices” in California and found no patients, no medical supplies, and no medical staff, could have been fined up to $10,000 for posting the evidence of his independent investigation. Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, who gave AB 2624 its clever nickname, described the bill as “designed to silence citizen journalists exposing fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars.” The bill’s author, Democrat Mia Bonta, who also happens to be the wife of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, has decried the “misrepresentation” of the bill, which she argues protects immigrant workers from unjust harm.
USA Fencing fends off transgenderism lawsuit
A federal judge tossed a lawsuit brought by former U.S. Olympic fencer Margherita Guzzi Vincenti against USA Fencing for allowing men to compete against women in the 2025 North American Cup fencing competition. Although it was dismissed without prejudice, the judge ruled that the plaintiffs didn’t allege any mistreatment or exclusion due to their gender and that they failed to provide evidence that they competed against transgender athletes. Guzzi was joined by two other female fencers in the lawsuit, Emma Griffin and Patricia Hughes, who said that USA Fencing knowingly allowed biological men to compete but didn’t disclose it to the rest of the competitors. USA Fencing changed its policy last July to comply with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s updated rules, which require that only women compete in women’s sports, per President Trump’s executive order banning men from women’s sports.
“Transgender” boy, whose case is before SCOTUS, wins girls track championship
A teenage boy who identifies as a girl has won the West Virginia state track and field championship for girls’ shot put and placed fourth in girls’ discus. The 15-year-old sophomore, who goes by the name “Becky Pepper-Jackson,” sued the state over its law banning biological males from competing in girls’ sports. That case is currently awaiting a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. The ACLU argued that his male biology did not present any substantive physiological advantage over biological female athletes. The results of the state championship debunk that absurd and patently unscientific claim. As WV Solicitor General Michael Williams observed, “As a high school sophomore, BPJ is not finishing ‘near the back of the pack,’ contra [the respondent’s brief], but is instead defeating every female … in the State.”
Tech staffers aggrieved by NYT surveillance with AI
The NewsGuild of New York has filed grievances against The New York Times over its use of AI on behalf of unionized tech workers. The chair of the Tech Guild’s Generative AI Committee, Benjamin Harnett, is offended by AI oversight, arguing that unemotional, likely less-biased Artificial Intelligence surveillance creates “a skewed, inaccurate picture of our members’ work.” The NewsGuild argues that the Times has refused to provide the Tech Guild with details on its use of AI. The New York Times has objected to the grievance and plans to respond along normal contractual procedural lines.
DeSantis moves to eliminate residential property taxes
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced his intention to make the Sunshine State the first in the U.S. to eliminate property taxes on residential properties. DeSantis called a special session of the state legislature on June 1 to approve his initiative for a ballot proposal, wherein residents can vote on implementing the property tax elimination as a constitutional amendment. With home prices across the state skyrocketing over the last few years, an increasing number of homeowners face rising property taxes that are pricing them out of their homes. As DeSantis argues, “So you have a home, and all of a sudden you’re having to pay more just because the house down the street may have sold for more.” DeSantis’s plan, if adopted, would effectively eliminate property taxes on more than 90% of the state’s homeowners.
Don Lemon plays the victim after invading a church
Despite coordinating with protesters to invade Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, pestering the pastor with biased questions, and generally participating in every action the protesters took, Don Lemon insists he was merely documenting a protest, not participating in it. And he’s crying foul at the charges leveled against him. Lemon’s lawyers point to three cases in which district judges — one in Chicago, one in Rhode Island, and a panel of three in Wyoming — rebuked the DOJ and dismissed charges as proof that the Justice Department under President Trump is untrustworthy, therefore the grand jury indictment against Lemon should be unsealed. Lemon suggests a growing distrust of the DOJ, conveniently forgetting the well-documented distrust in district judges nationwide.
Ex-CIA official arrested after $40M in gold bars found in his home
Former CIA official David Rush has united both his defense attorneys and federal prosecutors on postponing his detention hearing until June 5 after an investigation into possible fraud in his claimed educational and military background found $40 million in gold bars in his home. Rush requested permission to acquire large amounts of foreign currency and gold bars while still employed by the CIA over the winter. Later, the CIA was unable to locate either the gold or the reason for its acquisition. When FBI agents searched Rush’s home on May 18, they found 303 gold bars, over $2 million in cash, and 35 luxury watches. Rush is charged with stealing public money, making numerous false statements about his background, including a nonexistent degree from Clemson, and misrepresenting his military status to obtain additional salary and leave.
Headlines
Iran fires ballistic missile at American base in Kuwait (NY Post)
U.S. extends Temporary Protected Status for Lebanon until November (Reuters)
Pentagon slashes NATO combat commitments (Fox News)
Newsom calls for 100% tax on recipients of “anti-weaponization” fund (Just the News)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.