Trump’s Border Czar Issues Chilling Threat to Democratic Cities

Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s so-called “border czar” in charge of executing his massive deportation plans, made an eerie threat to double the number of ICE agents in sanctuary cities.

During an appearance on Newsmax Wednesday, Homan issued a warning to sanctuary cities, where local policies limit coordination and information-sharing with federal immigration authorities about noncitizens, allowing them to be able to report crimes, acquire homes and jobs, and participate in society without fear of being deported.

“They don’t have to help us, but they need to get the hell out of the way cuz we’re comin’, we’re gonna do it. Which means if I gotta send twice as many resources to that sanctuary city, twice as many agents, that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Homan said.

“And I’ve been saying for the last several days that they need to study the law,” he said. “They can not help, but don’t impede us, and don’t cross certain lines.”

Homan also promised “consequences” for anyone who tried to conceal undocumented immigrants, and said that the government’s efforts to round up human beings for detainment and deportation would begin with “the worst of the worst first.”

Homan and House Speaker Mike Johnson have emphasized that Trump’s deportation plan will focus on “criminals” to start with, targeting the millions of criminals they imagine roam the streets of the country’s sanctuary cities. Trump and Homan have both said they expect the U.S. military to assist in executing their sweeping raids—promising to flood these Democratic cities with law enforcement.

During his campaign, Trump promised to end U.S. sanctuary cities even in places where they don’t currently exist.

Homan made a similar threat against these cities on Fox & Friends earlier this week, saying that if sanctuary cities “don’t want to help us, get the hell out of the way. We’re going to do it. If I got to send twice as many … resources to that city, that’s what we’re going to do.”

A woman identified as “Jane Doe” told police that she was assaulted by Pete Hegseth, a Fox News anchor nominated by Donald Trump to serve as secretary of defense, at a Republican women’s conference in 2017.

News of the accusations first surfaced last week, but the full 22-page police report was obtained by Mediaite on Wednesday, revealing the horrific extent of Hegseth’s alleged actions.

Police were only made aware of the assault after Doe, 30, submitted herself to a hospital for a rape exam some four days after the alleged attack.

Doe told police that she first spoke with Hegseth, a speaker at the convention in Monterey, California, on the final night of the conference, when she said she saw him flirting with and placing his hand on the legs of women who were drinking in a suite. She said that witnessing this compelled her to tell Hegseth that she “did not appreciate how he treated women,” according to the report.

Two different women reported the same eyewitness accounts to police, claiming they also saw Hegseth placing his hands on women. One woman who worked at the conference said she called Doe over to act as a buffer between Hegseth and the other women.

After the bar closed, Doe and Hegseth had an argument outside by the hotel pool, in which Doe reprimanded Hegseth for being loud and belligerent, according to the report. A staffer reported that around 1:30 a.m., the hotel received multiple complaints about a couple fighting by the pool. When he attempted to speak with them, Hegseth “began to curse” and complained that he had “freedom of speech,” according to the report. The report notes that Doe explained they were Republicans and apologized for Hegseth’s behavior to the staff member. The staff member believed that Hegseth was very drunk, though Hegseth denied that in his interview with police, insisting that he was instead “buzzed.”

After the pool, Doe said her memory became fuzzy. She had been drinking and believed that someone had slipped something in her drink, according to the report. The next thing she remembered, she told police, was being in an unknown room, where Hegseth took her phone and used his body to block the door to the exit when she tried to leave. She told police she said no “a lot,” but in the next moment, she was on a bed or a couch with Hegseth above her. She recalled his dog tags “hovering over her face.” He ejaculated on her stomach, threw her a towel, and told Doe to “clean it up,” according to her recollection.

Doe did not remember how she got back to her own room that night. In a second call with police, she told them that she has suffered from nightmares and memory loss since that night. Another person told police Doe would “cry secretly” and “out of the blue.”

Hegseth, through his attorney, repeatedly denied the accusations, claiming that the sex was consensual.

“This police report confirms what I have said all along that the incident was fully investigated and police found the allegations to be false, which is why no charges were filed,” Tim Parlatore, Hegseth’s attorney, told Mediaite in a statement.

In a statement to The Washington Post on Saturday, Parlatore said that Hegseth had paid his accuser in exchange for her signing a nondisclosure agreement in order to stop her from filing a lawsuit and to protect his position at Fox News.

A friend of Doe’s reportedly shared details of the attack to Trump’s transition team in a memo last week. In a statement, Trump Communications Director Steven Cheung told NPR that Trump had every intention of keeping Hegseth on board for the upcoming administration.

“Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed,” Cheung told NPR. “We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can get started on Day One to Make America Safe and Great Again.”

Some Republicans might actually support a House resolution to release the Ethics report on Matt Gaetz’s alleged sexual misconduct.

After the House Ethics Committee did not agree to release the report Wednesday, Democratic Representatives Steve Cohen and Sean Casten both introduced motions to force a House vote on releasing the report.

It seems that some Republicans actually are in favor of releasing the report, which details a yearslong investigation into Gaetz for alleged sexual misconduct, even though doing so could sink his nomination to be the next attorney general and possibly go against Donald Trump’s wishes.

CNN’s Manu Raju asked Wisconsin Representative Derrick Van Orden, a Republican, whether he would vote to release the report.

“I think it’s very important that everybody has as much knowledge as possible so they can make an informed decision,” Van Orden said.

“That sounds like yes,” Raju responded.

“That’s a yes,” Van Orden said. “So if the rumors are true about Gaetz’s conduct then there should be referrals to other agencies. And if they’re not true then there’s a whole lotta people who owe him an apology.”

Nebraska Representative Don Bacon, also a Republican, said he thought the report should at the very least be passed on to the Senate, even if the House Ethics Committee did not vote to release it.

“The Senate deserves to have it, so they can make a good decision,” he told Politico.

The House will have to vote on the motions within two days of their being introduced.

Republican senators are once again falling in line to support a man they’ve publicly and privately disavowed. But instead of Donald Trump, this time it’s Matt Gaetz. 

Gaetz was on Capitol Hill with Senator JD Vance today trying to corral congressional support for his jeopardized attorney general nomination. The former Florida representative and MAGA Republican is surrounded by ongoing investigations from the House Ethics Committee and the Justice Department regarding allegations that he trafficked and had sex with a minor at a sex party in 2017. Gaetz attempted to end the probe by resigning from Congress right before the House Ethics Committee was set to release its finding. The House Ethics Committee voted on Wednesday to complete the investigation but has not decided whether to release it. 

It has also been reported that the House Ethics Committee has proof of Gaetz paying over $10,000 to two women between July 2017 and January 2019—women who later served as witnesses in the House and Justice Department probes against Gaetz.

Now Republicans are bending over backward to get ahead of the release, making incredibly flimsy excuses to defend the embattled representative. 

“I just don’t think you can deal with allegations in the past as though they’re fact,” Senator Kevin Cramer told Politico in a striking quote. Cramer has also called similar past allegations against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh “absurd.” He also noted that Donald Trump was  a “victim of lawfare” and was tried “unjustly” like Gaetz is being now.

“I support all of Trump’s Cabinet picks. That’s a whole part of the process—there’ll be a Senate confirmation, public hearings,” said Representative Nancy Mace, who is currently leading hateful efforts to stop the single transgender congressional representative from using the bathroom. “The DOJ decided not to pursue charges against our colleague. And so, there’s the media—you guys want to make him guilty, hook, line, and sinker, or be judged during an execution of a guy who’s never been charged with a crime.”

Gaetz is one of three Trump nominees to be accused directly of or accused of enabling sexual assault. And the president-elect himself has been accused of it countless times over decades, with a jury in a civil suit finding that he did in fact sexually assault E. Jean Carroll. It’s abundantly clear that this is no longer a morally disqualifying act for Republicans.

Donald Trump has nominated a Christian nationalist with ties to Project 2025 to lead the Office of Management and Budget. CBS News reported Wednesday that Trump has chosen Russ Vought to lead the office for a second time. During Trump’s first term, Vought also served as OMB director. Since then, Vought was part of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 team, writing a chapter about the “Executive Office of the President.”

It’s yet another reminder that Trump is extensively involved with the conservative manifesto, despite his repeated denials during the 2024 campaign. Vought bragged on camera to two undercover climate journalists over the summer about his ties to Trump and his love of “Christian nation-ism.”

Vought told the journalists that his organization, the Center for Renewing America, was already drafting executive orders and policy memos for Trump to use immediately after taking office, making the wild claim that the group planned to to create “shadow” agencies to solidify the “Judeo-Christian worldview value system.”

If Vought is confirmed, he’ll be tasked with putting together the president’s proposed government budget, giving him extensive influence to carry out his far-right agenda. Vought was rumored to be considered for a Cabinet position, having already gone through the Trump team’s (very flawed) vetting system. His appointment follows fellow Project 2025 alumnus Brandon Carr’s nomination as chair of the Federal Communications Commission.

The Project 2025 manifesto was frequently attacked by Democrats and other Trump opponents during the 2024 campaign, leading to Trump saying he had nothing to do with it. But Carr’s and Vought’s appointments, plus Trump’s plans to copy many of Project 2025’s proposals, suggest these denials were just for show.