Tag Archives: Donald Trump

His Name Is Jesus. He’s a Carpenter. ICE Arrested Him.

Posted on by
Reply

Seriously.

Jesus Teran fled persecution in Venezuela, seeking asylum in the United States in 2021 and joining his family in Imperial, Pennsylvania, half an hour outside Pittsburgh. He was living a version of the American Dream. Beloved by his community, he gave food to the needy, and when they created a communal garden to forge ties between a mostly white church and his more Latino one, Jesus was there, tilling the ground, repairing a faulty tiller, and watering the plants twice a week, according to the Observer-Reporter, a local paper.

Jesus, 35, trained in Venezuela to be a civil engineer. But he lacked the credentials or English skills to pursue that profession in the United States. So he made do by working at convenience stores and delivering with DoorDash. He did this all while learning English, his former teacher Barbara Hopkins told me.

It seemed his hard work was paying off when he was accepted into the carpenters apprenticeship program at the KML Carpenters Training Center in the winter of 2024. The promise of working construction wasn’t as alluring as being an engineer, but it was a step up the ladder. His family was elated.

Then, this year, Jesus’s life was thrown into chaos. On July 8, he went for a customary check-in at the ICE Pittsburgh field office. But he was detained and sent to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Phillipsburg, three hours away from where the family lives.

Jesus’s detention resembles thousands of other stories that are quickly defining American society in the age of Trump deportations. It has shaken his church community and inspired local leaders, union representatives, and Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh retired Bishop David Zubik to write more than twenty letters on his behalf.

“It’s been a heartbreaking experience. He’s been faithfully appearing at ICE appointments for more than four years, he was following the protocols of ICE, he was complying with everything he’s supposed to do. All of a sudden, he’s detained,” said Rev. Jay Donahue of St. Oscar Romero Parish, where Jesus’s family are members. “Jesus is not someone who should be subjected to this undignified experience that he’s going through. It’s a shame the way they are treating him; it is inhumane. It’s been inspiring to see the community rally around Jesus and to recognize what he means to our community.”

Jesus was denied entry into the United States in 2015, before successfully entering six years later. Still, that previous attempt to enter reduces the chances that his asylum claim would be successful. Further, a successful asylum process can take years.

Charles Kuck, a top immigration lawyer, said that even if Jesus’s asylum claim were denied during the Biden administration, it wasn’t a guarantee that he would have to be immediately removed. There are cases where people receive a withholding of removal, Kuck explained, “when they don’t want to deport you, if you’re a good person.”

Jesus’s family declined multiple requests to speak for this story, so additional details about his case are difficult to glean. But what I discovered when talking to friends, colleagues, and even his former teachers ….

His Name Is Jesus. He’s a Carpenter. ICE Arrested Him.
Seriously.

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/his-name-is-jesus-carpenter-arrested-ice-venezuela-pennsylvania-immigration

Inquisitr: Jeffrey Epstein Had ‘Dirt’ on Donald Trump—Late Convict’s Brother Accuses President of ‘Blatant Lies’

Posted on by
Reply

Mark Epstein spills the beans on his brother having “dirt” on some big-profile people.

As Donald Trump continues to face the Jeffrey Epstein files crisis, new evidence and claims are coming to light, shining the spotlight on his personal relationship with the convicted s-x offender. Despite his campaign promises otherwise, the President has not taken any efforts to release the documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. In fact, under his administration, the Department of Justice and the FBI firmly denied Epstein ever having a “client list.” The agencies also emphasized that there would not be any future public disclosures regarding him.

This announcement also sparked a civil war amongst Trump’s own MAGA base, many of whom are not happy about the government trying to “cover up” the Epstein files. Now, Jeffrey’s brother, Mark Epstein, made a bombshell revelation, claiming that the s-x offender had some “dirt” on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

“In the 2016 election, we were talking about the election and Jeffrey told me that if he said what he knew about the candidates, they would have to cancel the election,” Mark said during BBC Newsnight. This claim has created a new stir despite both Bill Clinton, Hillary’s husband, and Donald Trump denying having any knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities.

During the tell-all BBC interview, Mark was asked if he thought his brother “knew things about powerful people.” Epstein told interviewer Matt Chorley, “Absolutely. I believe so, yes. Jeffrey mentioned he had dirt on people. He didn’t tell me what he knew. But he led me to believe that he had dirt on people.”

However, Mark clarified that he does not have “any evidence” that places the POTUS in the category of crimes Epstein was accused of. “I can neither confirm nor deny that. I wasn’t there, I didn’t hang out with them in those days,” he said.

While he couldn’t link Trump to his brother’s crimes, Mark made sure to speak up about the friendship they shared. He claimed that the POTUS was “very close” to Epstein and even “used to fly in each other’s plane.”

“Donald Trump was in Jeffrey’s office many times and there’s witnesses that could point that, could testify that they saw Trump in Jeffrey’s office. So, I don’t know why he said he never was in Jeffrey’s office. That was a just blatant lie. I couldn’t believe he actually said that because it’s so provable that he was there,” Mark said.

However, according to CNN, Trump’s White House has denied these claims.

Jeffrey Epstein Had ‘Dirt’ on Donald Trump—Late Convict’s Brother Accuses President of ‘Blatant Lies’
Mark Epstein has some new bombshell claims about his brother Jeffrey Epstein. According to him, the convicted s-x offender had some dirt on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Guardian: Men freed from El Salvador mega-prison endured ‘state-sanctioned torture’, lawyers say

Posted on by
Reply

Venezuelans back home under Maduro-Trump deal tell of isolation, beatings and dirty water – ‘a living nightmare’

On 14 March, [Ramos Bastidas] shared with his family that maybe he would be able to come back to Venezuela after all …. The next day, he was flown to Cecot.

“They could have deported him to Venezuela,” Alvarez-Jones. “Instead, the US government made a determination to send him to be tortured in Cecot.”

Venezuelans that the Trump administration expelled to El Salvador’s most notorious megaprison endured “state-sanctioned torture”, lawyers for some of the men have said, as more stories emerge about the horrors they faced during capacity.

When José Manuel Ramos Bastidas – one of 252 Venezuelan men that the US sent to El Salvador’s most notorious mega-prison – finally made it back home to El Tocuyo on Tuesday, the first thing he did was stretch his arms around his family.

His wife, son and mother were wearing the bright blue shirts they had printed with a photo of him, posed in a yellow and black moto jacket and camo-print jeans. It was the first time they had hugged him since he left Venezuela last year. And it was the first time they could be sure – truly sure – that he was alive and well since he disappeared into the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (Cecot) in March.

“We have been waiting for this moment for months, and I feel like I can finally breathe,” said Roynerliz Rodríguez, Ramos Bastidas’s partner. “These last months have been a living nightmare, not knowing anything about José Manuel and only imagining what he must be suffering. I am happy he is free from Cecot, but I also know that we will never be free of the shadow of this experience. There must be justice for all those who suffered this torture.”

The Venezuelan deportees were repatriated last week following a deal between the US and Venezuelan governments. Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, negotiated a prisoner swap that released 10 American citizens in his custody and dozens of Venezuelan political prisoners in exchange for the release of his citizens from Cecot.

This week, after undergoing medical and background checks, they are finally reuniting with their families. Their testimonies of what they experienced inside Cecot are providing the first, most detailed pictures of the conditions inside Cecot, a mega-prison that human rights groups say is designed to disappear people.

Ramos Bastidas and other US deportees were told that they were condemned to spend 30 to 90 years in Cecot unless the US president ordered otherwise, he told his lawyers. They were shot with rubber bullets on repeated occasions – including on Friday, during their last day of detention.

In interviews with the media and in testimony provided to their lawyers, other detainees described lengthy beatings and humiliation by guards. After some detainees tried to break the locks on their cell, prisoners were beaten for six consecutive days, the Atlantic reports. Male guards reportedly brought in female colleagues, who beat the naked prisoners and recorded videos.

Edicson David Quintero Chacón, a US deportee, said that he was placed in isolation for stretches of time, during which he thought he would die, his lawyer told the Guardian. Quintero Chacón, who has scars from daily beatings, also said that he and other inmates were only provided soap and an opportunity to bathe on days when visitors were touring the prison – forcing them to choose between hygiene and public humiliation.

Food was limited, and the drinking water was dirty, Quintero Chacón and other detainees have said. Lights were on all night, so detainees could never fully rest. “And the guards would also come in at night and beat them at night,” said his lawyer Stephanie M Alvarez-Jones, the south-east regional attorney at the National Immigration Project.

In a filing asking for a dismissal of her months-long petition on behalf of her clients’ release, Alvarez-Jones wrote: “He will likely carry the psychological impact of this torture his whole life. The courts must never look away when those who wield the power of the US government, at the highest levels, engage in such state-sanctioned violence.”

Ramos Bastidas has never been convicted of any crimes in the US (or in any country). In fact, he had never really set foot in the US as a free man.

In El Tocuyo, in the Venezuelan state of Lara, and had been working since he was a teenager to support his family. Last year, he decided to leave his country – which has yet to recover from an economic collapse – to seek better income, so he could pay for medical care for his infant with severe asthma.

In March 2024, he arrived at the US-Mexico border and presented himself at a port of entry. He made an appointment using the now-defunct CBP One phone application to apply for asylum – but immigration officials and a judge determined that he did not qualify.

But Customs and Border Protection agents had flagged Ramos Bastidas as a possible member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, based on an unsubstantiated report from Panamanian officials and his tattoos. So they transferred him to a detention facility, where he was to remain until he could be deported.

Despite agreeing to return to Venezuela, he remained for months in detention. “I think what is particularly enraging for José is that he had accepted his deportation,” said Alvarez-Jones. “He was asking for his deportation for a long time, and he just wanted to go back home.”

In December, Venezuela wasn’t accepting deportees – so Ramos Bastidas asked if he could be released and make his own way home. A month later, Donald Trump was sworn in as president. Everything changed.

Ramos Bastidas began to see other Venezuelans were being sent to the military base in Guantánamo Bay in Cuba – and he feared the same would happen to him. On 14 March, he shared with his family that maybe he would be able to come back to Venezuela after all, after officials began prepping him for deportation.

The next day, he was flown to Cecot.

“They could have deported him to Venezuela,” Alvarez-Jones. “Instead, the US government made a determination to send him to be tortured in Cecot.”

Men freed from El Salvador mega-prison endured ‘state-sanctioned torture’, lawyers say
Venezuelans back home under Maduro-Trump deal tell of isolation, beatings and dirty water – ‘a living nightmare’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/26/venezuela-el-salvador-prison

Daily Beast: Schumer Explodes at Trump Sending His Trial Lawyer to Interview Ghislaine Maxwell: ‘Stinks of High Corruption’

Posted on by
Reply

Top Democrat torches Todd Blanche’s prison sit-down with Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice and gloats about an “Epstein Recess.”

Chuck Schumer blasted Donald Trump for sending his “personal lawyer” to interview Ghislaine Maxwell in prison in what he described as a clear “conflict of interest.”

“Sending Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, to interview Ghislaine Maxwell while she’s in prison, a woman who’s been convicted of abusing people, to offer some kind of corrupt deal so that she can exonerate Donald Trump just stinks of high corruption,” the Senate minority leader said in a video posted on X.

Blanche was appointed deputy attorney general in March, serving under Attorney General Pam Bondi, but he is most famous for having served as Trump’s lead counsel in his criminal case a year earlier.

The 50-year-old lawyer traveled to the Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on Thursday and spoke with Maxwell for several hours, in a meeting that was widely criticized on social media.

In his own post on X Thursday, Blanche confirmed the meeting and announced a follow-up session: “Today, I met with Ghislaine Maxwell, and I will continue my interview of her tomorrow. The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.”

Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking under-age girls for Jeffrey Epstein. The social links between her and Epstein with Trump continue to dog the president.

Blanche did not disclose what was discussed during the six-hour meeting.

However, Maxwell was said to have “answered every single question” during Thursday’s interview with Blanche, according to her lawyer David Markus. “She answered all questions and did not take the Fifth,” he added.

Amazingly, it appears to be the first time Maxwell—who declined to testify at her trial in 2021—has ever been formaly interviewed about the Epstein case.

Jonathan Turley, a leading legal commentator and professor at the George Washington University Law School, wrote on X that he had recently spoken with Maxwell’s counsel, Leah Saffian, and she “surprisingly maintained that neither state nor federal investigators ever interviewed Maxwell.

He added: “That struck me as curious in a scandal involving a myriad of state and federal investigations. If so, she may have new information.”

Within minutes of Schumer’s first tweet, the 74-year-old fired off a second, aimed at House Republicans, who had just departed Washington for their August break.

“It’s the first day of House Republicans fleeing town for their Epstein Recess. They high-tailed it out of here hoping to hide the story. But the story is growing louder by the hour with Trump and the administration’s lies.”

The House’s early getaway heightened Democratic accusations of a Republican Trump-Epstein cover-up.

The Daily Beast has contacted the Justice Department for comment.

Yes, it’s “fishy”, but remember that Ghislaine Maxwell is 63 and already serving a 20 year sentence.

Schumer Explodes at Trump Sending His Trial Lawyer to Interview Ghislaine Maxwell: ‘Stinks of High Corruption’
Top Democrat torches Todd Blanche’s prison sit-down with Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice and gloats about an “Epstein Recess.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/schumer-explodes-at-trump-sending-his-trial-lawyer-to-interview-ghislaine-maxwell-stinks-of-high-corruption

Maddow Blog | On Epstein, Senate Republican admits the party is trying to give Trump ‘cover’

Posted on by
Reply

When it comes to transparency and disclosures in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, arguably no Senate Democrat has been as aggressive as Sen. Ruben Gallego. In fact, last week, the Arizonan became the first senator to push a resolution to formally demand the release of documents from the Justice Department.

But because Gallego is in the Democratic minority, he had limited options to force a vote. He took the only credible step available to him: Last Thursday, Gallego went to the Senate floor and sought unanimous consent on his proposal. He knew, of course, that the effort would fail if only one Republican objected, and one did: Oklahoma’s Markwayne Mullin, an ardent Trump ally, balked.

Seven days later, as NBC News reported, the two faced off again:

In other words, Gallego rejected a narrow and toothless Republican alternative after Mullin rejected a more meaningful Democratic effort. (The Arizonan offered to back both resolutions, but the Oklahoman wouldn’t take the deal.)

As part of the back and forth, however, Mullin made an off-hand comment that stood out.

“I’m sure this would be handled just like any other thing [the Democrats] have tried to go after like the baseless impeachments. Or the baseless special counsels. Or the unbelievable amount of charges they tried to file against the president,” Mullin said. “I’m sure this would be handled the exact same way. What we’re simply wanting to do here is give [Trump] cover.”

For now, let’s not dwell on the fact that Trump’s impeachments weren’t “baseless.” Let’s also skip past the fact that the incumbent Republican president faced investigations from two special counsels — Robert Mueller and Jack Smith — and neither was “baseless.”

Rather, I’m interested in the GOP senator’s acknowledgement that “we” are trying to give the president “cover” in the Epstein scandal.

As The New Republic asked, “What exactly do Trump and his administration need cover for?”

For now, the party has not tried to answer the question, though Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut noted via Bluesky around the same time as the Gallego/Mullin exchange, “The number one priority of Republicans is protecting Donald Trump. It’s not protecting you. It’s protecting him.”

Three words: Midterms are coming!

And they’re going to be mayhem for Republicans.

On Epstein, Senate Republican admits the party is trying to give Trump ‘cover’
As observer asked, in reference to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, “What exactly do Trump and his administration need cover for?”

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/epstein-senate-republican-admits-party-trying-give-trump-cover-rcna221110

Bradenton Herald: City Council Considers Revoking Permit in Blow to ICE

Posted on by
Reply

The Portland City Council is reportedly considering revoking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s permit for the South Waterfront facility due to concerns regarding unlawful detentions exceeding 12 hours. Community unrest has risen amid reports of intimidation and policy violations linked to ICE operations. The council has responded by reviewing legal options in light of resident pressure for more humane immigration enforcement.

At the latest hearing, residents reported intimidation and attacks linked to ICE agents, claiming they have violated Portland’s sanctuary policy. Critics argued that ICE has disrupted housing and schools.

Protests outside the facility escalated, with federal agents using tear gas and rubber bullets. Rising vandalism has further strained tensions between residents and authorities.

City Council Member Angelita Morillo claimed that tolerating ICE’s actions could set a dangerous precedent. Morillo said, “If we allow ICE to continue to operate when they have violated their permits, that means that anything becomes permissible moving forward.”

Portland, Oregon: City Council Considers Revoking Permit in Blow to ICE

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/city-council-considers-revoking-permit-in-blow-to-ice/ss-AA1JirF2

Daily Mail: Court rules on Trump’s birthright citizenship plan

Posted on by
Reply

A federal appeals court delivered a blow to Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, deeming it unconstitutional. It’s the latest step in an ongoing battle between Trump and various judges in states far over his plan to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal migrants.

The ruling from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes after Trump´s plan was also blocked by a federal judge in New Hampshire. It brings the issue one step closer to coming back quickly before the Supreme Court.

The 9th Circuit decision keeps a block on the Trump administration enforcing the order that would deny citizenship to children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily. ‘The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order´s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree,’ the majority wrote.

The 2-1 ruling keeps in place a decision from U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour in Seattle, who blocked Trump´s effort to end birthright citizenship and decried what he described as the administration´s attempt to ignore the Constitution for political gain. The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The Supreme Court has since restricted the power of lower court judges to issue orders that affect the whole country, known as nationwide injunctions. But the 9th Circuit majority found that the case fell under one of the exceptions left open by the justices.

…

The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment says that all people born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to U.S. jurisdiction, are citizens. Justice Department attorneys argue that the phrase ‘subject to United States jurisdiction’ in the amendment means that citizenship isn´t automatically conferred to children based on their birth location alone. The states – Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon – argue that ignores the plain language of the Citizenship Clause as well as a landmark birthright citizenship case in 1898 where the Supreme Court found a child born in San Francisco to Chinese parents was a citizen by virtue of his birth on American soil.

Appeals court finds effort to end birthright citizenship illegal
It’s the latest step in an ongoing battle between Trump and various judges in states far over his plan to deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal migrants.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14934995/Court-decision-Donald-Trump-birthright-citizenship.html

Alternet: Trump DOJ sitting on ‘more than 100,000 pages’ of unreleased Epstein materials: NY Times

Posted on by
Reply

A new report is shedding light on the truly massive trove of evidence the Department of Justice (DOJ) has amassed on Jeffrey Epstein — most of which has yet to see the light of day.

The New York Times reported Thursday on what went on behind the scenes during an extensive review of the Epstein files that the DOJ conducted for several months earlier this year. According to the Times, DOJ staff combed through “more than 100,000 pages of documents” pertaining to the 2019 federal investigation into the convicted pedophile.

DOJ attorneys reviewed the trove of evidence four times between February and April, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche instructed staff to flag any mention of President Donald Trump, along with any other prominent public figures, “including former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew.” Then in May, Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed to Trump that his name was in the Epstein documents, as the Wall Street Journal reported this week.

The Times reported that senior Trump administration officials like Blanche, Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have maintained there is no evidence implicating anyone outside of Epstein in the evidence. However, Trump’s MAGA base has continued to harp on the issue, believing that a full release of the evidence may reveal the names of previously unknown co-conspirators and associates of Epstein.

ABC News reported earlier this month on the FBI’s indexing of the Epstein evidence, and what has yet to be made public. This reportedly includes “40 computers and electronic devices, 26 storage drives, more than 70 CDs and six recording devices,” which “hold more than 300 gigabytes of data.”

“The evidence also includes approximately 60 pieces of physical evidence, including photographs, travel logs, employee lists, more than $17,000 in cash, five massage tables, blueprints of Epstein’s island and Manhattan home, four busts of female body parts, a pair of women’s cowboy boots and one stuffed dog,” the ABC report continued.

The network further reported that the FBI is sitting on logbooks of visitors to Epstein’s “Little Saint James” island — which housed his private compound — along with a log of boat trips to and from the island. The famed “client list” may also be among those items, as ABC reported that the FBI had a “document with names” among its Epstein-related evidence.

Trump DOJ sitting on ‘more than 100,000 pages’ of unreleased Epstein materials: NY Times

https://www.alternet.org/trump-doj-epstein-materials

MSNBC: Maddow Blog | Investigators in Signal chat probe reportedly found damaging evidence on Hegseth

Posted on by
Reply

It’s been nearly three months since the Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General started looking into the Signal chat leak scandal, specifically examining Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s alleged use of a commercially available messaging app to discuss foreign military strikes. As NBC News reported in early April, “In addition to looking at whether Hegseth complied with rules governing classified information, the inspector general will also look at whether rules about record retention were followed.”

According to new reporting from The Washington Post, the scrutiny isn’t going especially well for the beleaguered secretary.

By now, the basic elements of the “Signalgate” controversy are probably familiar: Top members of Donald Trump’s national security team participated in an unsecured group chat about sensitive operational details of a foreign military strike — and they accidentally included a journalist, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, in their online conversation.

The final paragraph of Goldberg’s piece on the fiasco read, “All along, members of the Signal group were aware of the need for secrecy and operations security. In his text detailing aspects of the forthcoming attack on Houthi targets, Hegseth wrote to the group — which, at the time, included me — ‘We are currently clean on OPSEC,’” referring to “operations security.”

In other words, the defense secretary was certain that he and his colleagues — while chatting on a free platform that has never been approved for chats about national security or classified intelligence — had locked everything down and created a secure channel of communication.

Of course, we now know that Team Trump was most certainly not “clean on OPSEC,” Hegseth’s confidence notwithstanding.

What’s more, while there was some discussion about the nature of the shared details, there’s no denying the chat did include highly sensitive information about times and targets, much of which was put there by Hegseth himself.

“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package),” Hegseth told his colleagues in the chat. “1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME) — also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s).” At one point, the defense secretary literally wrote, “THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP.”

Now the Post, with a report that has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, tells readers that the strike plans shared by Hegseth originated from a classified email written by Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the top commander overseeing U.S. military operations in the Middle East. The article added:

CBS News ran a related report pointing to the same revelations.

Despite all of this, a Pentagon spokesperson told the Post, “The Department stands behind its previous statements: no classified information was shared via Signal. As we’ve said repeatedly, nobody was texting war plans and the success of the Department’s recent operations — from Operation Rough Rider to Operation Midnight Hammer — are proof that our operational security and discipline are top notch.”

The second part of this defense doesn’t seem to make logical sense — the success of the mission doesn’t necessarily mean that Hegseth was responsible with sensitive national security secrets — and the first part appears to be at odds with the available information about what transpired.

Complicating matters, this is not the only area of potential trouble for the former Fox News host who was confirmed despite bipartisan opposition. Politico published a report last week, which also hasn’t been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, that noted two related IG investigations that are also ongoing.

It’s worth noting for context that the existence of these reports suggests not only that Hegseth is facing serious scrutiny, but also that some officials within the Pentagon want the public to know that Hegseth is facing serious scrutiny. Watch this space.

Would somebody please just fire Hegseth’s sorry ass and get it done!!!

Maddow Blog | Investigators in Signal chat probe reportedly found damaging evidence on Hegseth
The Pentagon inspector general’s investigation into Pete Hegseth is ongoing, and new reporting suggests it’s not going well for the defense secretary.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/maddow-blog-investigators-in-signal-chat-probe-reportedly-found-damaging-evidence-on-hegseth/ar-AA1JdsxH