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Upcoming Weather Shift “Far From Drought-Breaker” For America’s Parched Breadbasket

Upcoming Weather Shift “Far From Drought-Breaker” For America’s Parched Breadbasket

Some of the worst drought conditions in a generation are plaguing America’s breadbasket just as spring planting season gets underway. Institutional desks, including UBS, have ramped up warnings about drought, fertilizer shortages, and what these current-day issues could morph into for the food supply chain later this year.

The good news: parts of the central U.S. may finally see some weather relief, with several days of rain in the forecast. Whether that will be enough to materially improve soil moisture conditions remains the key question for agricultural desks this week.

“The upcoming weather pattern in the United States, fueled by a strong subtropical jet stream, will bring some beneficial rain to the drought-stricken South,” meteorologist Ben Noll wrote on X, adding, “But it will be far from a drought-breaker.”

Noll is correct: it will take many more rounds of storms to fully erase the drought, especially given what UBS analyst Jonathan Pingle told clients last week.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Palmer Drought Severity Index hit its highest level for March since records started in 1895, and March was the third-driest month recorded, regardless of time of year, behind only the famed 1930s Dust Bowl: July and August 1934. Water levels on the Mississippi look fine, and seasonal lows are typically in the fall, but river levels in Memphis sit 24 feet below this time last year.

Here’s The Weather Channel’s forecast for rain this week across the Midwest and Southeast:

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Better than nothing. 

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/27/2026 – 20:30

Report Claims Iranian Jet Bombed American Base In Kuwait At War’s Start

Report Claims Iranian Jet Bombed American Base In Kuwait At War’s Start

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

Iranian attacks on US bases across the Middle East have caused far more damage than the Trump administration has publicly acknowledged, and an Iranian fighter jet was able to bomb at least one US base, NBC News reported on Saturday, citing unnamed US officials.

The administration has attempted to cover up the damage to US bases in the war, and has gone as far as requesting that Planet Labs and other satellite imagery companies black out war images, making it difficult to ascertain the damage.

The NBC report said that the Pentagon has also kept the information on the damage from Congress. “No one knows anything. And it’s not for lack of asking,” a Republican congressional aide told the outlet. “We have been asking for weeks and not getting specifics, even as the Pentagon is asking for a record high budget.”

Iranian missile and drone attacks have targeted US bases in seven Middle Eastern countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Jordan, and Qatar. US officials said that an Iranian F-5 fighter jet was able to bomb the US base at Camp Buehring in Kuwait despite it having air defenses, marking the first time in many years that an enemy fixed-wing aircraft struck a US military installation.

The US armed Iran with Northrop Grumman-made F-5 fighter jets before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Iran has developed its own version of the aircraft, known as the HESA Kowsar.

Kuwait was also the site of a March 1 Iranian drone attack that killed six US Army Reserve soldiers and injured more than 20. The drone targeted a makeshift operations center in Port Shuaiba, and according to survivors of the attack who spoke to CBS News, the facility was unprotected despite claims from US War Secretary Pete Hegseth that the drone was able to “squirt” through air defenses.

The Pentagon has confirmed the deaths of at least 13 US soldiers and the injuries of more than 400 in the war. The bases across the region were mostly evacuated since they were so vulnerable to attack, something The New York Times previously reported.

“Many of the 13 military bases in the region used by American troops are all but uninhabitable, with the ones in Kuwait, which is next door to Iran, suffering perhaps the most damage,” the Times reported on March 25.

The NBC report said that the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain “sustained serious damage” and that other US bases in the country also suffered serious damage that is likely repairable.

The report also cited the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington-based think tank, which said it assessed Iran hit more than 100 targets across 11 bases, and that the repairs would cost at least $5 billion, though the number doesn’t account for some of the radars, weapons systems, and other equipment that was destroyed.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/27/2026 – 19:15

“Let’s Get Ruthless”: Bulwark’s Bill Kristol Suggests Illiberal Means Are Needed To Save Liberal Democracy

“Let’s Get Ruthless”: Bulwark’s Bill Kristol Suggests Illiberal Means Are Needed To Save Liberal Democracy

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

“Let’s get ruthless.”

Those words are, unfortunately, nothing new in this age of rage.

In just the last few weeks, various liberal pundits and politicians have been calling for radical and even violent action.

Even comedian Margaret Cho publicly declared this week that “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat.”

However, these words were reposted by Bill Kristol, the founder of the Weekly Standard and the current editor-in-chief of The BulwarkKristol was a leading conservative figure in the Republican Party.

Kristol left the Republican Party and is now a vehemently anti-Trump writer. There are certainly good-faith reasons why some conservatives have broken with Trump on a variety of issues.

However, the original column was endorsing the Democratic plan to pack the Supreme Court with an instant liberal majority to force through a slew of political changes in the country.

Various Democrats have been pledging to not only impeach Trump (and a long list of other figures), but to pack the Supreme Court as soon as they regain power.

James Carville declared, “If the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress, I think on day one, they should expand the Supreme Court to 13. F— it. Eat our dust. Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it. Just do it.”

This Nike School of Constitutional Law is catching on with a wide array of pundits and professors. Just do it.

Years ago, Harvard professor Michael Klarman laid out a radical agenda to change the system to guarantee Republicans “will never win another election.” However, he warned that “the Supreme Court could strike down everything I just described.” Therefore, the court must be packed in advance to allow these changes to occur.

Former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder has put packing the Supreme Court front and center, explaining, “[We’re] talking about the acquisition and the use of power if there is a Democratic trifecta in 2028.”

Years ago, I wrote an academic piece on the possible expansion of the Supreme Court, but there is a world of difference between that and a court-packing plan. Under my proposal, the court’s expansion would take almost two decades to ensure that no president could pack the court.

It was not just the company that Kristol is keeping on the issue, or his endorsement of the long-anathema concept of court packing, but also his rationale for the move. Kristol cited the successful Democratic gerrymandering efforts in California and Virginia as triumphs that should now propel the left to pack the Court.

Kristol reposted the call for court packing from his colleague Jonathan Last: “Expanding the Supreme Court is no different from redistricting in California and Virginia,” he said. “It is a proportionate response to Republican attempts to degrade liberal democracy and move America toward a post-liberal order.”

Praising governors Gavin Newsom and Abigail Spanberger for their “ruthless” leadership in response to Republican gerrymandering, Kristol insisted that Democrats must meet “force with force” and must now pack the Supreme Court. Being ruthless, he argues, is the “only road to preserving liberal democracy.”

There is, of course, a considerable difference between altering political districts and packing the courts. Political gerrymandering has been around since the earliest days of the Republic.

The courts are not the same political fungible units. Indeed, the favorite term on the left is “illiberal democracy” to refer to democratic systems used to curtail rights and weaken checks and balances. Yet this illiberal means is being cited by Kristol as essential to save liberal democracy.

Liberal justices have spoken out against these calls for court packing.

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said it would destroy the continuity and cohesion of the court.

She added, “If anything would make the court look partisan, it would be that — one side saying, ‘When we’re in power, we’re going to enlarge the number of judges, so we would have more people who would vote the way we want them to.’”

The political districts are precisely that: political. They are part of the two political branches in a tripartite system. It is the courts that keep these political branches within their proper constitutional orbits.

There was, of course, no movement to pack the court when a series of liberal majorities rewrote major areas of constitutional law in the 1960s and 1970s. These demands from figures like Sen. Elizabeth Warren were only heard when the court began to rule against their chosen outcomes.

Warren explained that the court had to be packed to bring its rulings in line with “widely held public opinion.”

Of course, Article III was designed precisely to blunt such pressures to rule according to “widely held public opinion.” The Supreme Court is a counter-majoritarian body that was created to protect rights against the passions or demands of the majority.

As I discuss in my book, “Rage and the Republic,” the founders sought to avoid “democratic despotism” and “mobocracy” by creating barriers to direct democratic powers. The Supreme Court is essential as a bulwark against such impulse politics. Those pushing for an instant liberal majority would convert the court into the type of partisan judicial bodies seen in states like Wisconsin where jurists are selected to robotically vote for party priorities.

There is a reason why “ruthless” was not an attribute cited by anyone in the constitutional convention to be fostered in our Republic. On the contrary, the system is designed to temper ruthless passions for reasoned debate.

The court itself may be the ultimate test of the lingering capacity for reason among our citizens. Of course, we can be ruthless and tear down our institutions on the 250th anniversary of our Republic.

No democratic system is ever immune from self-inflicted wounds. That is why Benjamin Franklin reminded us that this remains our Republic if we can keep it. This year, we can celebrate that Republic, or we can ruthlessly destroy it in a fit of blind rage.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/27/2026 – 18:25

“Resurgence Of Electrification”: Goldman Says EV Demand Gaining Momentum Amid Fuel Price Shock

“Resurgence Of Electrification”: Goldman Says EV Demand Gaining Momentum Amid Fuel Price Shock

There were early signs during the third week of the U.S.-Iran conflict that EV demand was gaining traction in Asia, where the energy shock has been felt the hardest. That was followed by a separate note earlier this month confirming that EV demand was beginning to reaccelerate.

Now, Goldman analysts led by Kota Yuzawa see global EV demand gaining momentum after several years of muted demand, as the fuel-price shock at the pump pushes consumers back toward EVs.

Yuzawa noted that the share of the top 30 countries where the EV sales mix rose month over month climbed from 30% in January to 60% in February and 80% in March. This acceleration suggests the energy shock is helping pull the EV industry out of a multi-year rut. 

The reacceleration of global EV demand has likely gained further traction in April amid elevated prices. Goldman’s commodity team, led by Daan Struyven, wrote in a separate note that his WTI fourth-quarter forecast was revised from the previous $75 to $83.

This suggests the energy crisis is becoming more prolonged, and elevated fuel prices at the pump mean that EV demand will likely continue to rise – at least until Brent and WTI crater, depending on a Hormuz chokepoint reopening and a US-Iran peace deal being signed.

Yuzawa highlighted the global EV market in March:

  • We are monitoring the rise in natural gas prices in the Indian market, as we are concerned about the impact on Maruti Suzuki, which has a high share of CNG vehicles.

  • In the Thai market, both BEVs and HEVs are outperforming. The growing demand for HEVs, which offer excellent fuel efficiency, is a positive for Toyota and Denso.

  • In the Chinese market, we have confirmed a narrowing of discounts on NEVs. Exports are also expanding, which underpins our bullish view on BYD.

  • The expansion in demand for ESS is driven by the adoption of renewable energy against the backdrop of energy security. This expands the applications for automotive batteries, providing a tailwind for Tesla, BYD, and GS Yuasa.

EVs Outperform Amid Price Stabilization

Electrification Advances By Country

Really, all the EV industry needed wasn’t lower auto loan rates but a Hormuz chokepoint closure and a global fuel-price shock to jolt demand back to life. Who would’ve thought…

Professional subscribers can read the full “Resurgence of Electrification” note at our new Marketdesk.ai portal.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/27/2026 – 18:00

HUD Rejects Transgender Ideology For Women’s Shelters

HUD Rejects Transgender Ideology For Women’s Shelters

Authored by Catherine Salgado via PJMedia.com,

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is removing radical transgender ideology from dozens of regulations, which will, among other things, reserve women’s shelters only for women, not for mentally ill men.

HUD issued a press release on April 23 confirming that it is erasing “radical definitions of gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender” from some 50 regulations. Instead, HUD will apply the biological definition of sex and end the woke prohibition on “gender identity” discrimination.

The latter meant that shelters specifically for men or women were required to accept an individual’s identification as male or female regardless of biological reality. Obviously, this was a rule ripe for abuse. Therefore, HUD is taking steps to end the potential and actual abuse.

Fortunately, HUD and Secretary Scott Turner are restoring sanity to the agency’s regulations. The press release explained:

HUD’s Equal Access Rule would be adjusted to protect women’s shelters and replace the prohibition on discrimination against “gender identity” in all Community Planning and Development programs. Common terms such as father, mother, man, woman, boy, and girl would be defined consistent with biological reality across HUD’s regulations.

Turner proudly and emphatically confirmed that the biblical and biological reality is his priority.

“God created two sexes: male and female,” the secretary said.

“The Left’s war on biological reality through radical gender ideology will no longer take precedence over the safety and security of America’s most vulnerable women. This proposed rule will bring biological truth and sanity back to HUD’s policies.

This follows up on a February 2025 order from Secretary Turner: “Equal Access in Accordance With an Individual’s Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs.” This order started the process of offering services at shelters and other HUD-funded housing programs only in accordance with the biological definition of sex.

At the time, Turner stated, “We, at this agency, are carrying out the mission laid out by President Trump on January 20th when he signed an executive order to restore biological truth to the federal government. This means recognizing there are only two sexes: male and female. It means getting government out of the way of what the Lord established from the beginning when he created man in His own image.

He continued, “As I have said before, we are going to take inventory of HUD’s programs and ensure every dollar that goes out the door is advancing HUD’s mission, which is to provide quality, affordable homes for communities across the country – urban, rural and tribal –and promote economic investment to build stronger communities and a brighter future for all Americans.”

The new announcement is part of this comprehensive effort at HUD. The Biden administration flouted and rejected biblical values at every opportunity. They defied both biological reality and Scriptural morals. What a difference the new administration makes.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/27/2026 – 17:40

Bye-Bye Bibi? Israeli Opposition Leaders Join Forces In ‘Together’ Alliance To Topple Netanyahu

Bye-Bye Bibi? Israeli Opposition Leaders Join Forces In ‘Together’ Alliance To Topple Netanyahu

Former Israeli prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid unveiled Monday that they are merging their parties into a joint ticket dubbed “Together – Led by Bennett” – as a major challenge to current leader Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.

During a press conference Bennett said the alliance with Lapid is the “most Zionist and patriotic act we have ever done, for the sake of our country” – adding that the “era of division is over.” Netanyahu out soon?

Will Benjamin Netanyahu be the next Prime Minister of Israel?
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Bennett will lead the ticket as its prime ministerial candidate, and has invited Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party and a former army chief of staff, to join, saying that “our door is open for you too.”

Bennett describes himself as a “right-wing, liberal Zionist” and has emphasized he will only rely on “Zionist parties” – and so no Arab representative support will be involved in his coalition. “We’re not in the left bloc or the right bloc, we’re in the bloc of the entire Israeli nation,” he proclaimed.

And Lapid has announced, “We are uniting today to win the elections and to establish a Zionist government, strong and stable. A partnership between the center and right, between religious and secular, between north and south – without draft dodging and without extremism.”

“Israelis deserve a government that will provide security, focus on education, lower prices, fight corruption, and draft the Haredim into the army,” he added.

Lapid said he and his Yesh Atid party are “setting ego aside and doing what is right for the State of Israel,” adding that “to win the elections, the entire Israeli center must stand behind Naftali Bennett.”

Fresh polling featured in The Jerusalem Post predicts the ‘Together’ party would win 27 seats if elections were held today:

In the previous survey, Likud and “Bennett 2026” were tied at 24 seats each, and Bennett and Lapid’s parties together reached 31.

Additionally, former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot appears to benefit from the merger, with his party rising from 12 to 15 seats. The result positions him as a central player in the opposition camp.

If Eisenkot were to join Bennett and Lapid, the unified list would rise to 41 seats, making it far larger than Likud. Still, the bloc map would remain unchanged, with the opposition unable to reach a 61-seat majority without the Arab parties.

But Bibi’s coalition would still be ahead. Bennet has further declared, “After 30 years, it is time to part with Netanyahu and open a new chapter for Israel.”

via CNN

Indeed, Netanyahu is the longest serving prime minister in Israel’s history, but the clock is ticking as his government is now in the final months of its four-year term, with new elections required to be held by the end of October. Lapid and Bennet first united and tried to defeat Netanyahu once before, but failed.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/27/2026 – 17:20

A Feral And Savage Party

A Feral And Savage Party

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.”

– Ian Fleming

Don’t you love the way the news media pretends it can’t figure out the motive of Cole Tomas Allen, who tried to shoot-up Saturday’s White House correspondents’ gala. He was a creation of the very White House correspondents who ducked under their tables at the sound of his shots.

Cole Tomas Allen had digested and internalized the “narrative” spewage of the Democratic Party’s propaganda department. MSNOW occupied his brain like a glistening parasite.

CBS tried to amplify the shooter’s own motive on Sunday night’s 60 Minutes show when Norah O’Donnell read out-loud from his manifesto, “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” and asked President Trump “What is your reaction to that?” Mr. Trump did not fall for the ruse — which was just an opportunity to reinforce a well-worn scurrility.

“You’re a disgrace,” the president replied, and Ms. O’Donnell just continued with the interview as if his answer never registered.

There it is.

In fact, Cole Tomas Allen traveled all the way from Los Angeles to Washington for the rare chance to find Mr. Trump and most of his cabinet all together in one room where he might be able to kill as many of them as possible. He styled himself: “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen. “I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done,” he concluded in his short manifesto, reportedly composed and sent out minutes before he left his room at the Washington Hilton to perform his rash deed.

That rage, you understand, was planted in his head by the likes of Norah O’Donnell of CBS news and the scores of reporters, editors, and news producers who had to abandon the festive menu starters of spring pea and burrata salad and crab terrine with a nice Veuve Clicquot when the shots rang out. The gala is a night when the Blob’s media errand boys and call girls like to treat themselves like royalty. (Meanwhile their hated enemies back in the truck stops of MAGAland get by on lowly chili-lime jerky and Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, washed down with Red Bull — good for five-hundred miles of hauling, at least.)

The former president can’t guess Cole Tomas Allen’s motives. He is a liar, a cad, and a fraud. As for political violence in general, you have not heard Mr. Obama complain about Antifa mayhem, BLM riots, tranny school murders, harassment of ICE officers, or any other violence approved by the Lefty-left. Mr. Obama is himself a bona fide seditionist. When he repeats the shibboleth “our democracy” he means simply the Lefty-left’s malevolent will to power — which is predicated on nothing more than feeding the Democratic Party’s never-ending rackets, doling out money to its captive clients for votes, solely to remain in power: Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail. His mealy-mouthed sanctimony serves only his personal need to evade prosecution for his own crimes.

The only way Barack Obama can evade prosecution for RussiaGate and then for covertly running the “Joe Biden” White House from his HQ across town is if he is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the RICO cases to come. That will be enough for historians to understand what happened here in the early 21st century. And what about the other traitors, the long list of Blob apparatchiks who schemed to overthrow the executive from 2016 to 2021, and then labored to throw thousands in prison, ran a fake pandemic op, queered two elections, hijacked the courts, shut down opposing opinion, and poisoned the minds of several assassins?

Justice is coming for them. They know it, and their “resistance” seeks to turn feral and savage in the months leading to the midterm elections. It will start in a few days with “Mayday Strong” rallies and street marches. Their slogan, “It’s workers over billionaires,” is just another lie. The part they leave out is that these actions are funded by billionaires: George Soros, Neville Roy Singham, Hansjörg Wyss, et al. Don’t expect the action to remain “mostly peaceful,” either. The idea, of course, is to get violent so as to goad President Trump into invoking emergency powers to put down an insurrection.

I doubt that President Trump will shrink from invoking the Insurrection Act, an amalgamation of laws passed by Congress starting in 1792–1795 with the Militia Acts, then the key 1807 law signed by President Thomas Jefferson, and major amendments during and after the Civil War, including the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. It is codified in Title 10 of the United States Code, Chapter 13, specifically §§ 251–255. It is a statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act (1878), which generally prohibits using federal troops for domestic law enforcement.

The Insurrection Act (with its predecessor statutes) has been invoked approximately 30 times in U.S. history by 16 presidents — Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Arthur, Cleveland, Wilson, Harding, FD Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan, and Bush — in episodes including the Whiskey Rebellion, the Southern Secession, many violent labor strikes, several race riots, and looting in natural disasters.

President Trump might have to use the Insurrection Act to stop what has been an ongoing coup against his elected administration by an opposition party that has turned criminal and traitorous. He may have to convene extraordinary military tribunals to adjudicate crimes that include those committed by the federal judiciary itself. If he does all this, it must include an executive order mandating common sense election procedure for the midterm: citizenship and photo ID required, paper ballots only, no vote-counting machines, voting only on one day deemed Election Day, and mail-in ballots limited only to military, people required to be out of the country, and the disabled.

All this is looking increasingly unavoidable.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/27/2026 – 16:20

More Than 40 Mexican Mafia Members And Associates Indicted In California: DOJ

More Than 40 Mexican Mafia Members And Associates Indicted In California: DOJ

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A total of 43 alleged members and associates of the Mexican Mafia prison gang were arrested this week on multiple charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the central district of California said on April 23.

The Department of Justice in Washington on March 11, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the total includes individuals already in custody, with 25 of them being arrested in Orange County, California, on April 23. They face charges including kidnapping, extortion, fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking, running illegal gambling businesses, and murder.

First assistant U.S. attorney Bill Essayli said the arrests reflected joint efforts between federal and local law enforcement and their commitment to cracking down on violent felons and organized crime.

Gang members who murder, extort, kidnap, and traffic drugs and firearms are a menace to our communities and our way of life,” Essayli said in a statement.

The investigation also led to the seizure of 4 kilograms (8.8 lbs) of fentanyl, 54.4 kilograms (120 lbs) of methamphetamine, 0.9 kilograms (2 lbs) of heroin, 3 kilograms (6.6 lbs) of cocaine, 25 firearms, and more than $30,000 in cash, according to the office.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the gang sold illegal drugs in Orange County and ran illicit gambling businesses within commercial strip malls and private residences. It also collected “extortionate taxes” and used violence to safeguard those gambling businesses, the office added.

One of the defendants, identified as Luis Cardenas, was accused of overseeing the gang’s criminal activities from his prison cell using “an encrypted messaging application on contraband cell phones” between June 2024 and April 2026. Cardenas allegedly instructed gang members to kidnap and assault those “in bad standing” with him.

Two other defendants—Matthew Kundrat and Manuel Ramos—were charged with murder that occurred at the Akua Inn, a gang-run motel in Anaheim, California, on Feb. 3, 2025. Prosecutors said the two allegedly committed the murder to be part of the Mexican Mafia and increase their standing within the gang.

These defendants allegedly ran a ruthless criminal enterprise that murdered, kidnapped, extorted, and flooded our communities with deadly drugs,” FBI director Kash Patel said in a statement.

“The FBI will never stop working alongside our law enforcement partners to hold these individuals accountable and protect the people of Southern California.”

Some of the defendants made their initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana and Los Angeles on April 23, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Mexican Mafia, also known as “La Eme,” is a U.S.-based prison gang that started in the 1950s. Federal authorities said the gang exerts “immense control” over Hispanic street gangs in Southern California, directing illegal activities from within prisons and taking a portion of the proceeds from drug trafficking, illegal gambling, and other crimes.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/27/2026 – 15:45

WHCA Shooter Charged With Attempted Assassination Of Trump

WHCA Shooter Charged With Attempted Assassination Of Trump

Federal prosecutors charged Cole Tomas Allen, 31, the accused gunman in the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner shooting, with three criminal counts, including attempting to assassinate the president. 

Fox News reports that Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh unsealed the case against Allen on Monday. Allen appeared in federal court wearing a prison jumpsuit and answered the judge respectfully. He did not enter a plea and was only informed of the charges. 

The three counts include attempted assassination of the president, transporting a firearm across state lines, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The attempted assassination charge could carry a life sentence if Allen is convicted. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine told the court that Allen was heavily armed when he stormed the Washington Hilton Hotel, allegedly hunting for President Trump and top-level officials. She said Allen was equipped with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol, and three knives.

Allen’s manifesto made it clear that he had a kill list (as reported by CBS News’ Jennifer Jacobs): 

Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest

“Mr. Allen has no prior arrests or convictions,” court-appointed defense lawyer Tezira Abe said. “He is presumed innocent at this time.”

Allen will remain in custody pending a Thursday hearing to determine whether he is eligible for any form of pretrial release, according to NBC News. 

Earlier today, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blasted the “left-wing cult of hatred” as fueling political violence in yet another failed assassination attempt on Trump. 

Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing earlier that political violence against Trump “stems from a systemic demonization of him and his supporters by commentators, yes, by elected members of the Democrat Party and even some in the media.”

“This hateful, constant, and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump, day after day for 11 years, has helped legitimize this violence and brought us to this dark moment,” Leavitt said.

Some of that hateful rhetoric Leavitt was referring to: 

As we noted on Sunday, Allen appears to be an ordinary Democrat who has been influenced over the past decade by left-wing corporate media and radical left-wing NGOs. This toxic ecosystem created an artificial information environment in which President Trump was labeled, around the clock, as a “fascist,” a “Nazi,” and worse, inciting an existential crisis among vulnerable Democrats who have chosen to respond with violence.

Meanwhile, Real Clear Politics’ Paul Sperry reports:

*Developing… 

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/27/2026 – 15:25

US Allows Venezuela To Fund Maduro’s Defense After Court Challenge

US Allows Venezuela To Fund Maduro’s Defense After Court Challenge

Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times,

The United States will ease sanctions on Venezuela to allow its regime to pay legal fees for former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. drug trafficking case, according to a court filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The April 24 filing states that the U.S. Treasury Department authorized an exception to existing sanctions, permitting funds to be used for Maduro’s legal defense.

Maduro is awaiting trial on federal charges, including those related to narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.

Attorney Barry Pollack, on behalf of Maduro, said in court documents filed in February that Venezuela, under its laws, had an obligation to pay Maduro’s legal expenses. Pollack said Maduro lacked his own funds to pay for legal counsel and “is being deprived of his constitutional right to counsel of his choice.”

“Mr. Maduro, as Venezuela’s head of state, has both a right and an expectation to have legal fees associated with these charges funded by the government of Venezuela,” the February court filing stated.

If declined, the cost of Maduro’s defense would be shifted from Venezuela to U.S. taxpayers even though Venezuela was willing and obligated to pay for it, Pollack stated in his brief.

“After invading another country and forcibly bringing its sovereign head of state to the United States, the government of the United States is now actively preventing him from retaining counsel of his choice and receiving a fair defense in this Court, in violation of his Sixth Amendment and Due Process rights,” the February filing stated.

Pollack had moved to get the indictment dismissed.

The United States captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a Jan. 3 raid. U.S. President Donald Trump posted a photo to social media showing Maduro in custody while blindfolded and handcuffed aboard the U.S. Navy ship USS Iwo Jima.

According to the February filing, Maduro was being held in isolation at the Metropolitan Detention Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York City pending trial on charges that “relate to alleged conduct that occurred while he was the head of state of a sovereign nation.”

The U.S. Department of State said Maduro led the Cartel of the Suns, a drug-trafficking organization that was made up of high-ranking Venezuelan officials.

In November 2025, the State Department declared Venezuela’s Cartel of the Suns as a terror organization.

Maduro took over leadership of Venezuela in 2013 and became increasingly politically hostile toward the United States as the years progressed, according to the U.S. War Department.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 04/27/2026 – 14:45