The Latest

Bestiality, Buffoons, And Bamboozled

Logo for The Briefing feature: text on file-folder shaped background
Briefing
by
Kyle Mantyla

Republicans are sending members of Congress home early to avoid a vote on the impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The FBI director struggled to explain a change in the agency’s hiring rules.

  • Kathryn Wilkens @ Mediaite: Kash Patel Rages About His Viral Clashes With Democrats in Wild Senate Hearing: ‘Buffoons on Capitol Hill!’

FBI Director Kash Patel tore into the Democratic senators he clashed with during a blockbuster hearing Tuesday, accusing them of acting like “buffoons on Capitol Hill” during an appearance on Fox News.

Lakepointe Church and Pastor Josh Howerton have installed a system capable of monitoring staff, tracking license plates, and destroying any expectations of privacy.

One senior official within an inspector general’s office questioned whether the public is “being bamboozled.”

[Bo French is] now openly xenophobic, an attribute that attracted national attention when, last Sunday, he posted to X that a group of nonwhite UT students celebrating at a football was “a problem” that had was “now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.” It caused a firestorm, and was enough to earn condemnation from the Texas GOP; not a small feat given that Republicans in the state have spent the last year running on demonizing Muslims.

A letter from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum revealed new details about warning signs the White House will install near the American-history museum.

On the Watchlist
Image from livestream of Kash Patel confirmation hearing: Patel in suit and tie, seated at desk with his hands folded in front of him, leaning into and speaking into microphone

Kash Patel

Trump's pick to lead the FBI is a MAGA insider who seems eager to go after Trump's enemies, including the "deep state" and mainstream media, which Patel has called "the most powerful enemy that the United States has ever seen." Patel's book "Government Gangsters" includes a long list of people he'd like to see punished, including Republicans who refused to go along with Trump's attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. Patel has promoted bogus election-fraud claims and recruited QAnon conspiracy theorists for Trump's social media company. 
Pete Hegseth

Pete Hegseth

Donald Trump's pick to run the Department of Defense, Hegseth left the military after colleagues raised concerns about his tattoos associated with the Crusades and embraced by white nationalists. As the head of a veterans' nonprofit, he reportedly led a bar crowd in chants of "Kill All Muslims." In his book "American Crusade," he wrote, “Our American Crusade is not about literal swords, and our fight is not with guns. Yet.” Hegseth attends a church associated with Doug Wilson, a Christian nationalist who wants the Apostles Creed to be incorporated into the U.S. Constitution.