Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.), Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.), and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)—who chair the House committees probing shady Democratic fundraising giantActBlue—have issued a subpoena to former executive Alyssa Twomey, ordering her to testify on the platform's handling of fraud prevention. The subpoena follows multiple attempts to obtain her voluntary cooperation since March.
It is important to note from the subpoena letter to Twomey that House Republicans from the Committees on House Administration, Judiciary, and Oversight are leading the investigation into the highly questionable online donation platform, which may have received foreign and fraudulent contributions for political fundraising purposes.
"In light of allegations that online fundraising platforms that serve as conduits for political donations have accepted fraudulent donations from domestic and foreign sources, the Committees are conducting oversight to inform potential legislative reforms," Comer and the other lawmakers wrote in the letter.
Key points from the letter:
Twomey's Role: As ActBlue's former VP of Customer Service, she oversaw the fraud-prevention team during a period when the platform allegedly weakened fraud controls despite knowing about vulnerabilities.
Committee Findings: Internal documents show ActBlue prioritized accepting donations over fraud detection, ignored red flags from foreign actors, and had internal assessments acknowledging potential for abuse.
Justification for Subpoena: The committees rejected arguments that the DOJ's parallel investigation justified refusal to testify. They emphasized that Congress has independent constitutional oversight authority even amid executive investigations.
Rebuttal to Legal Claims: The GOP committees dismissed ActBlue's constitutional defenses (First Amendment, Equal Protection) as unfounded and asserted that legislative oversight is being conducted to inform potential campaign
Read Full Subpoena Letter to Alyssa Twomey (ActBlue)
According to Elon Musk in March—when rogue leftist NGOs were targeting Tesla—he stated: "ActBlue is currently under investigation for allowing foreign and illegal donations in criminal violation of campaign finance regulations. This week, seven ActBlue senior officials resigned, including the associate general counsel."
Separate but likely connected in some way, the FBI has launched an investigation into the dark-money-funded NGOs that transformed parts of Los Angeles into a warzone earlier this month.
Federal investigators are accelerating efforts to map the command-and-control structures of the rogue Democratic Party. A primary focus includes identifying whether funds—possibly originating from adversarial foreign actors (see here)—were funneled through digital donation platforms to support not only political campaigns but also unrest in city streets.
In an era where geopolitical shocks and tariff news push US stocks around by the hour, investors can be forgiven for remaining on the sidelines, though such a decision has been costly given the equity rebound this year. Now an $80 billion fund manager is introducing a new strategy for those looking to play defense while staying in the game.
The new suite of so-called buffer funds, managed by ProShares and launching on Thursday, aims to protect holders against modest losses in the equity market while still offering a measure of upside. The funds’ risk levels reset with every trading session, a feature the company says makes them the first of their kind.
Summary: As expected Hegseth during the Thursday morning Pentagon press conference excoriated the mainstream media for its coverage of the Trump-ordered attacks on Iran's nuclear sites. This after repeatedly praising Trump's leadership at yesterday's NATO summit.
"Again, it was preliminary, a day and a half after the actual strike, when it admits itself in writing that it requires weeks to accumulate the necessary data to make such an assessment," the defense secretary said. The president "created the conditions to end the war, decimating – choose your word – obliterating, destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities," he asserted, before reading aloud the assessments of various US and foreign intelligence heads.
Much of the press conference consisted of a highly detailed narrative of what it was like for troops - from officers to enlisted privates - in the Middle East as Iran's very brief retaliatory missile strike rained down on Qatar, and US-manned anti-air batteries intercepted the inbound projectiles. There was also a lot of focus on the pilots and crew of the B-2s and their marathon 37-hour bombing run all the way from Missouri to Tehran and back. The presser, especially while Hegseth was speaking, was charged with patriotism and emotion - much more than is normal for a Pentagon press briefing.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine emphasized in a detailed way the specs of the 30,000 pound bombs dropped on the Iranian sites, and they "functioned as designed, meaning they exploded."
Among the more interesting assertions and revelations was that the Pentagon has been working intensely on the operation, particularly to take out the Fordow site, for-15 years. While the US military often spends a lot of time on various 'contingency' options to present to the Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Caine's description of two Pentagon analysts who devoted a decade-and-a-half of their lives to studying just Fordow strongly suggests the US long ago knew it would pull the trigger at some point.
"In the days preceding the attack against Fordow, the Iranians attempted to cover the shafts with concrete to try to prevent an attack. I won’t share the specific dimensions of the concrete cap, but you should know that we know what the dimensions of those concrete caps were," Caine said. "The planners had to account for this, they accounted for everything. The cap was forcibly removed by the first weapon, and the main shaft was uncovered."
And President Trump soon after the Pentagon briefing ended, wrote the following on Truth Social:
Meanwhile, Fox is reporting that the Senate has finally received a delayed Iran briefing. This seems to continue a long GWOT era tradition of presidents across administrations bombing first, and then notifying Congress later.
Meanwhile, the international debate over just where Iran's enriched uranium stockpile is now located (if it's not destroyed) continues to intensify, despite the Trump denials that it remains:
TRUMP: NOTHING WAS TAKEN OUT OF THE FACILITY
IRAN LAW SUSPENDING IAEA COOPERATION COMES INTO EFFECT
Simultaneous to Trump issuing another statement rejecting the thesis that the uranium has been moved and hidden, Financial Times reports in a strangely worded headline ("Iran moved uranium from Fordow before US strikes, EU capitals believe") the following:
Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile remains largely intact following US strikes on its main nuclear sites, European capitals believe, calling into question President Donald Trump’s assertion that the bombing “obliterated” the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.
Two people briefed on preliminary intelligence assessments said European capitals believe Iran’s stockpile of 408kg of uranium enriched close to weapons-grade levels was not concentrated in Fordow, one of its two main enrichment sites, at the time of last weekend’s attack. It had been distributed to various other locations, the capitals believe.
This would indeed be an interesting twist - that the bulk of enriched uranium stockpiles were not even located at Fordow, which appeared to be the heaviest hit in the US operation. According to more:
The people said EU capitals were still awaiting a full intelligence report on the extent of the damage to Fordow — which was built deep beneath a mountain near the holy city of Qom — and that one initial report suggested “extensive damages, but not full structural destruction”. Iranian officials have suggested the enriched uranium stockpile was moved before the US bombing of the plant, which came after days of Israeli strikes on the country.
But again, the White House as well as Thursday Pentagon presser is sticking by the Trump claim of total and utter obliteration. Perhaps the world will learn the truth in the coming days and weeks, or possibly not at all, pending 'proof' and data from the ground, which the Iranians will likely not be willing to give. For some of our prior coverage on this pressing coverage, see--
After blasting the 'fake news' and mainstream outlets NY Times and CNN in particular in Wednesday comments at the NATO summit, President Trump will continue 'setting the record straight' on the Iran bombings, as the Pentagon is set to hold an "irrefutable" press conference on Thursday morning, providing more details on last weekend's B-2 bomber raids on the Iranian nuclear sites of (per AI summary)--
Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant: A heavily fortified, deeply buried uranium enrichment site near the northern city of Qom.
Natanz Nuclear Facility: Iran's main uranium-enrichment complex, located near Isfahan in central Iran.
Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center: A key conversion and research facility south of Isfahan city.
Very unusually, the US President claimed that 'fake news' reports upset the pilots who flew the bombs over Iran, by claiming that Iran's nuclear capability was not in fact completely destroyed.
"Secretary of Defense (War!) Pete Hegseth, together with Military Representatives, will be holding a Major News Conference tomorrow morning at 8 A.M. EST at The Pentagon, in order to fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots," Trump posted to Truth Social.
"These Patriots were very upset! After 36 hours of dangerously flying through Enemy Territory, they landed, they knew the Success was LEGENDARY, and then, two days later, they started reading Fake News by CNN and The Failing New York Times. They felt terribly," he continued.
WATCH LIVE (to start at 0800ET):
Hegseth is also expected to address a controversial leaked Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report, first revealed by CNN, which strongly suggested that the US strikes did not destroy Iran's nuclear capability:
Two of the people familiar with the assessment said Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed. One of the people said the centrifuges are largely “intact.” Another source said that the intelligence assessed enriched uranium was moved out of the sites prior to the US strikes.
“So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops,” this person added.
Most recently the CIA has since backed the Trump admin's claims, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Wednesday having sought to clarify in a statement that the agency had obtained "a body of credible evidence [that] indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged" by recent strikes. But then this too includes somewhat ambiguous language.
Of all the economic reports, the BEA's periodic update of US GDP is the most useless because not only is it politically motivated, but it gets constantly revised so much that by the time we get a somewhat accurate description of how strong the economy is, it is already one - if not two quarters - later. Today's second estimate of Q1 GDP - a quarter which ended almost two months ago - is just such an example.
Moments ago the BEA reported that in Q1, US GDP shrank at a 0.5% annualized pace, a deterioration from the -0.2% first revision (which was also the median estimate), which in turn was an improvement from the -0.3% initial print;
According to the BEA, GDP was revised down 0.3 percentage point from the second estimate, primarily reflecting downward revisions to consumer spending and exports that were partly offset by a downward revision to imports.
While there were few notable changes between the initial report and the first and second revision, the most notable one was in personal consumption which has continued to deteriorate, and was first cut by a third from 1.7% increase in the original print to 1.2% in the first revision, and today, to just 0.5%, making this the weakest quarter for personal spending since the covid crash.
Here are some other notable changes:
Personal consumption contributed just 0.31% to the bottom line GDP print, down from 0.80% in the first revision and from 1.21% in the original estimate; also down sharply from 1.21% in Q4.
Fixed Investment came at 1.31%, largely unchanged from the 1.34% in the previous revision, and driven by major data center investments
The change in private inventories was also flat, printing at 2.59% in the third estimate, down from 2.64% in the second and from 2.25% initially.
Trade or net exports (exports less imports), was generally in line, subtracting 4.76% from the GDP number, a modest improvement from the 4.9% previous revision, and from the 4.84% original print.
Finally, government subtracted 0.10% from the GDP number, a slight improvement from the -0.12% decline in the previous estimate.
And visually:
The sharp revision in personal consumption meant that Real final sales to private domestic purchasers, the sum of consumer spending and gross private fixed investment, often viewed as a much more accurate indicator of actual growth, increased by 1.9% in the first quarter, revised down 0.6% from 2.5% in the first estimate, and 1.1% from the original estimate.
While the GDP data was stale, the inflation data was especially so, even if there were even fewer changes here:
GDP price index rose 3.8%, up fractionally from the 3.7% increase in the previous estimate.
Core PCE (ex food and energy) was 3.5%, also a fractional increase from the 3.4% previously reported.
Overall, the report painted an uglier picture of the US economy in Q1, although it is likely a "kitchen sink" because in Q2 we expect that the bullwhip from the reversal in imports (a boost to GDP) coupled with the deferred surge in personal consumption to propel Q2 GDP to 3% if not higher.
Following last month's plunge in headline durable goods orders, preliminary May data was expected to surge on the back of plane orders following Trump's visit to the MidEast (and the Paris Air Show).
And they were right but the magnitude is incredible - orders rose a stunning 16.4% MoM, the biggest jump since July 2014...
Source: Bloomberg
This was all driven by non-defense aircraft orders... which rose 230% MoM..
Source: Bloomberg
...as 'ex-transports', orders rose just 0.5% MoM (still better than expected)...
Source: Bloomberg
Capital goods shipments rose 0.5%, excluding defense and commercial aircraft, better than expected, adding to Q2 GDP growth hopes.
The Trump administration is preparing to dismiss asylum claims for potentially hundreds of thousands of migrants—primarily those who crossed the southern or northern borders illegally and later applied for protection—according toCNN, citing two sources. Once dismissed, these migrants would become immediately deportable under fast-track removal procedures, bypassing immigration court.
Migrants who entered the U.S. unlawfully and sought asylum through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would be impacted if the new policy goes into effect. This could result in up to 250,000 migrants—out of the 1.45 million pending asylum cases—being slated for removal.
Here's more from the report:
The people being targeted in this case are those who entered the U.S. unlawfully and later applied for asylum, the sources said. Their cases are expected to be closed, therefore leaving them at risk of deportation. It could affect hundreds of thousands of asylum applicants.
According to a memo obtained by CNN, USCIS, which falls under the control of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, will place those migrants in fast-track deportation proceedings as well as "take additional actions to enforce civil and criminal violations of the immigration laws."
USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser told the outlet that no agency changes have been "announced at this time," adding that its "top priority remains the screening and vetting of all aliens seeking to come, live, or work in the United States. President Trump and Secretary Noem have given USCIS the ability to use all tools in our toolbox to ensure that the integrity of the immigration system is upheld, fraud is uncovered and expeditiously addressed, and illegal aliens are removed from the country."
Earlier this month, President Trump directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ramp up operations in chaotic sanctuary cities run by far-left politicians working with dark money-funded NGOs to shield criminal illegal aliens from deportations. In one extreme case, a Los Angeles official reportedly called for Mexican gangs to mobilize against ICE agents.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party's nominee for New York City mayor, 33-year-old Marxist Zohran Mamdani, is campaigning on a platform of free stuff paid for by the government (taxpayers)—even promoting his campaign in at least one foreign language. Keep in mind NYC is the mecca of sanctuary cities in America.
Foreign language ads with promises of free stuff is how you win now in New York City. Realize where we are.pic.twitter.com/froHgOK4b8
Understand where we are: Marxist-aligned Democrats are offering government handouts to migrants to establish a new, dependent voting class. This invasion—driven by a mass migration of third-worlders and supported by dark money-funded NGOs and the federal gov't during the Biden-Harris regime—has been used to reshape the electorate. The Democratic Party's political future entirely hinges on protecting criminal illegal aliens.
Altimmune stock took a huge hit after its liver disease drug, pemvidutide, failed to show strong results in reducing fibrosis during a key MASH trial. While it helped with MASH resolution and weight loss, the lack of clear fibrosis improvement spooked investors. Shares crashed over 60%, sending shockwaves through the biotech market. Investors are now waiting for FDA feedback and the next steps for pemvidutide.
