Does Mike Johnson Actually Know Anything Right Now?

How much playing dumb can House Speaker Mike Johnson do before he reveals that he’s a genuine idiot?

During a press conference Friday, Johnson had an outlandish response when asked about a recent ProPublica report that found 170 U.S. citizens had been unlawfully detained by ICE, including 20 children.

“I’m not—I don’t know what you’re talking about with the children,” Johnson replied.

When the reporter interrupted to repeat the number of U.S. citizens that had been detained, Johnson doubled down. “I haven’t seen that, so I’m not going to comment on it. But I will tell you that ICE is doing the job that the American people demanded that they do.”

Johnson was also asked about Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s comments criticizing the speaker for failing to address the protective order against Representative Cory Mills for allegedly threatening to release sexually explicit materials of his ex-girlfriend.

“They expelled George Santos, Mike Johnson did. He was speaker and oversaw George Santos being expelled. Why isn’t he doing anything about Cory Mills?” Greene told Axios Thursday.

“There’s clearly proof behind her accusations that a judge is issuing a restraining order. So I would say to Speaker Johnson, this is a serious matter, and it needs to be taken seriously,” she added.

But Johnson didn’t seem interested in that. “I don’t—I try not to react to what Marjorie Taylor Greene says every day,” he replied Friday.

“I did see, somebody told me that she accused me of ousting Santos, which of course is the exact opposite of the history. Everyone can go review what happened. I opposed his expulsion from Congress. I voted against it. I advocated to my colleagues not to do that,” he said.

Johnson oversaw Santos’s expulsion in 2023, though he noted at the time he had voted against the measure because he didn’t want to set a precedent of removing members who had not been convicted of a crime. The Louisiana Republican also claimed that as Santos reported to prison, he had posted a friendly message about the speaker. In fact, Santos had accused Johnson of blocking his shot at a presidential pardon.

“So look, I don’t know what Marjorie’s talking about,” Johnson said, adding that he’d wait for the legal procedures against Mills to play out. (Johnson had dismissed a question about the Mills allegations Wednesday as not “really serious.”)

This is far from the first time Johnson has played dumb about a question, as he continues to conduct daily propaganda press briefings during the ongoing government shutdown. “I don’t know” has become his answer for everything.

Johnson claimed Thursday he had “no idea” how the government shutdown would end. When asked about reports of brutality by federal agents operating in Chicago, Johnson claimed he’d “not seen them cross the line yet.”

Lawyers for alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO–killer Luigi Mangione on Friday cited President Donald Trump’s own social media posts in court to argue the entire case should be dismissed, or at least the death penalty should be taken off the table.

Mangione’s defense team argued that the Trump administration is using their client as “a pawn to further its political agenda,” and that statements and reposts by DOJ officials have completely tarnished his right to a fair trial.  

On September 18, Trump said in a Fox News interview that Mangione looked like a “pure assassin.”  

“He shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me.… He shot him right in the middle of the back—instantly dead.… This is a sickness. This really has to be studied and investigated.” 

Everything Trump said was only alleged. 

A clip of the interview was posted by the White House social media team Rapid Response 47. Justice Department Public Affairs head Chad Gilmartin retweeted it, commenting that the president was “absolutely right,” violating the judge’s explicit orders that DOJ employees refrain from public comment about the  case. 

“The Department of Justice and the White House have coordinated to cultivate and disseminate negative public rhetoric deliberately designed to taint the prospective jury pool,” defense attorneys Karen Agnifilo and Avi Moskowitz told the court. “The significance of these prejudicial statements is that they have life or death consequences for Mr. Mangione.”

The Justice Department tried to argue that Trump’s statements are irrelevant given that he’s not related to the case, but the defense highlighted the president’s growing control of DOJ.

“Unlike any of its predecessors since the Watergate era, the Department of Justice has not acted independently of the White House in this case—or in several others,” the defense filing read. “This departure from the longstanding principle of prosecutorial independence has created a blurred and constitutionally troubling line between the Department of Justice and the Executive Office of the President.”

Prosecutors also argued that any potential jurors have plenty of time between now and Mangione’s trial to forget about Trump’s statements. Mangione’s lawyers disagreed. 

“The government has engaged in purposeful, repeated, unlawful actions specifically designed to hurt Mr. Mangione’s chances at fair legal proceedings and a fair trial and as part of a wider government effort to further a political agenda,” they said. “These same officials—whether acting directly or through their subordinates—have continued on this course even after this Court has explicitly directed them not to has caused this case to be unlike any prior death penalty case.”

Mangione still sits in a Brooklyn jail awaiting a trial date. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pulled no punches in comments about White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt Friday morning.

Leavitt had drawn widespread outcry with an inflammatory claim Thursday that the Democratic Party’s “main constituency” consists of “Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”

Jeffries, in turn, described the press secretary as “sick” and “out of control.”

“I’m not sure whether she’s just demented, ignorant, a stone cold liar, or all of the above,” he told reporters. “But the notion that an official White House spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party consists of terrorists, violent criminals, and undocumented immigrants. This makes no sense that this is what the American people are getting from the Trump administration in the middle of a shutdown.”

Leavitt’s divisive statement has earned condemnations from other prominent Democrats as well.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut called it both “grossly dark” and “politically dumb,” writing on X, “How do they think Americans will react to being told that anyone who doesn’t support Trump is a terrorist?”

“Most Republicans are good people. Most Democrats are good people. The White House says outrageous things to make you hate your neighbor,” said Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor and previous Democratic nominee for vice president. “Your neighbor isn’t the problem. The White House is.”

Representative Greg Casar of Texas, a progressive Democrat, called on Leavitt to resign. “They try to make us hate each other,” he said, “to distract from the fact that they’re robbing us all blind.”

What President Donald Trump described as a “great and successful day” at his Alaska summit with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin two months ago was apparently a major disaster.

The Financial Times reported Friday that after the visiting autocrat’s warm welcome, ice caps quickly formed between him and Trump. Putin firmly rejected America’s offer to relieve sanctions in return for a ceasefire with Ukraine, and insisted that the bloodshed would only end if Ukraine ceded more territory to him, according to multiple people briefed.

Putin then launched into a rambling historical tirade, citing medieval princes and seventeenth-century chieftains as evidence that Ukraine and Russia were meant to be a single nation.

Trump was reportedly upset at his good buddy’s attitude and raised his voice several times, even threatening to leave, people told the Financial Times. The U.S. president ended up cutting the meeting short and canceling a lunch afterward to discuss further cooperation.

And Trump’s business partner Steve Witkoff may be partially to blame for the screwup. The U.S. special envoy reportedly traveled to Russia in August to urge Putin to come to the table, and Witkoff apparently misconstrued Russia’s openness to make a deal. “He misunderstood everything Putin said about what the summit was going to be about,” a person briefed on the talks told the FT.

Since the summit, Trump has changed his tune on making endless concessions to Russia, even suggesting that Ukraine could claw back its original borders. Trump is scheduled to host Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House Friday, to discuss the possibility of providing arms to Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia, which may be starting to expand across Europe.

The new details about Alaska have emerged as Trump prepares to meet with Putin again. Trump announced Thursday that he would sit down with his Russian counterpart in Budapest “within two weeks or so.” He did not give a more specific date.

U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro has once again failed spectacularly, as she has been unable to charge the same D.C. woman in court four different times.

On Thursday, a jury found Sidney Lori Reid not guilty on misdemeanor charges of assaulting an FBI agent. Reid was accused of assaulting FBI agent Eugenia Bates back in July while being detained. Video shows Reid outside D.C. Jail filming Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who were waiting to arrest two people.

As she was filming, ICE officer Vincent Liang took her arms and pushed her against a wall. Bates came to help Liang, and while Reid was struggling, she made a “jerk movement” with her knee that ventured near—but never touched—Bates’s groin. Pirro’s office nonetheless argued that this was an assault of an agent.

Bates, the only witness Pirro’s office called forward, had her text messages after the incident exposed in the trial, where she was seen calling Reid a “libtard.” One message was apparently missing as well.

“You should be livid that the government brought this case,” federal public defender Tezira Abe told the jury on Thursday. “They overplayed their hand on this one.” The jury ended up agreeing.

Pirro’s office had already tried three separate times before this to federally indict Reid on felony charges, which can carry up to eight years in prison. They alleged that Reid “forcibly pushed” an FBI agent’s arm off of her with the intent to injure the agent. That argument failed then, and it failed again on Thursday.

“Seeking an indictment for a third time is extremely rare and usually only reserved for the most serious of crimes,” attorney Christopher Macchiaroli told D.C.’s local WUSA9 at the time of the felony indictment attempt. “If a governmental entity cannot convince a supermajority of grand jurors that there is a fair probability that a crime was committed, it is virtually impossible to believe that twelve jurors in the same relevant jurisdiction could unanimously at a future date find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the highest standard of proof under the law.”

It’s clear that Pirro’s office is vindictively overcharging in a desperate attempt to make an example out of someone, to have a headline to tout for President Trump. But regardless of how many resources and indictments they throw, it doesn’t seem to be working.

House Speaker Mike Johnson doesn’t understand why Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva isn’t working—even though he’s the one holding her back.

Johnson has delayed Grijalva’s swearing-in ceremony for weeks. At first, Johnson claimed that she couldn’t start her job while Congress was in a pro forma session. But as the weeks have dragged on, it’s become clear that Grijalva—and her constituents in Arizona’s 7th congressional district—are not a priority for Republicans during the government shutdown.

Still, there’s plenty of precedent for her to join the ranks of the lower chamber, regardless of the scenario. In April, Congress swore in two Florida Republicans the day after their respective special elections. And in 2019, the entire House was sworn in during a shutdown in Trump’s first term.

But rather than try to instate Congress’s missing member, Johnson has cooked up a new offensive against Grijalva: blaming her for not doing the job that he won’t allow her to do.

“Representative Grijalva should be working for her constituents right now. I don’t know what she’s doing,” Johnson told CNN Thursday. “She should be in her office. She should be working or in the district for her constituents.

“She’s already hired 16 staffers, she should be taking constituent calls. She should be directing and helping them navigate the crisis that her colleagues here have created for her constituents,” Johnson said, adding that his party was focused on “getting the lights back on” while minimizing the political significance (and requirement) of Grijalva’s oath.

Except, although Grijalva finally got access to her congressional office, there’s nothing in it to allow her to do her job. When Grijalva got the keys to her office earlier this week, she was stunned to find “just a space”—no phone lines, no computers, and not even working internet.

Earlier Thursday, Johnson attempted to extort Grijalva’s seat, telling CNBC that the representative-elect could assume her duty as soon as Arizona’s two Democratic senators vote to reopen the government.

Grijalva became the first Latina that Arizona has sent to Congress when she won an election last month to determine the replacement for her late father, Raul Grijalva. She’s also the last signature that the House needs on a petition to force a vote on releasing government documents related to the investigation of deceased pedophilic sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

But the unending holdup has brought surged fire and fury among Arizona’s public officials. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told CNN Thursday night that she had lawyers “downstairs right now” drafting litigation to sue Johnson for refusing to swear in Grijalva.

Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Friday got President Donald Trump to admit that his newly announced tariffs on China are unsustainable brinkmanship.

After China flexed its grip on the rare earth minerals supply through new export controls, Trump last week threatened an additional 100 percent tariff on China, “over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying,” beginning on November 1.

Asking Trump about this latest escalation, Bartiromo pressed, “If you put that 100 percent tariff on top of what is in place already—if you put a 157 percent tariff on China—can that stand? What is that going to do to the economy?”

Trump was forced to admit the obvious—no—but opted not to spell out the economic consequences.

“It’s not sustainable,” the president said, “but that’s what the number is.”

According to Bloomberg Economics, Trump’s 100 percent tariff would bring rates on Chinese products to a level that not just “raises costs” but “shuts down trade.” While even the current rate is “challenging, China’s manufacturing edge has kept exports flowing.” But tariffs above 100 percent “would sever most flows.”

Continuing his answer, Trump passed the blame to China, before rambling praisefully about Chinese President Xi Jinping: “It’s probably not—and you know, it could stand—but they forced me to do that,” the president went on. “I think we’re going to do fine with China. I get along great with him. He is a very strong leader. Very—you know, amazing man if you look at what he has done, and what he is, you know, where he’s—his life is an amazing story, it’s a story for a great movie.”

Hundreds of Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice employees have been doxed in a massive hack, according to 404 Media. This hack comes as masked federal agents from ICE and DHS flood city streets, violently kidnapping and arresting people.

The hack was orchestrated by a group known as The Com, responsible for various political data leaks and high-level crimes. This most recent leak allegedly released the personal information of 680 DHS employees, personal information of over 190 Justice Department officials, and the emails of 170 FBI employees. 404 Media was able to confirm that the hack included officials’ names, office locations, and sometimes home addresses.

“Mexican Cartels hmu [hit me up] we dropping all the doxes wheres my 1m [1 million],” one of the group’s Telegram messages read, referring to an unsubstantiated DHS claim that cartels have placed information bounties on federal agents.

“U guys want IRS next?” said another.

This hack occurred in the midst of a campaign from the Trump administration to convince the public that federal agents—not the people they are arresting, gassing, beating, and shooting at—are in imminent danger, a convenient excuse to allow these agents to remain masked. The administration has also pushed platforms to remove ICE-tracking and reporting apps like ICEBlock.

The Trump administration has yet to remark on the leak.

Republicans are seriously pissed at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for slow-walking funds for disaster aid amid her busy schedule of appearing on television, NOTUS reported.

Noem has been largely criticized for a disastrous rule she instituted requiring her to personally sign off on all DHS expenditures exceeding $100,000, which resulted in the pitifully delayed response to the deadly flooding in Texas earlier this summer. Now, Republicans are saying she’s delayed critical funding to their states.

Among the Republicans hurt by Noem’s policy was Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina, who placed a hold in September on supporting all DHS nominees until his state received federal funds promised in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. He has publicly blamed Noem’s spending policy for the holdup.

“Choke-holding this thing or stonewalling states that are hurt by hurricanes is not the way to get rid of waste fraud and abuse,” he said at the time. Noem quickly announced a $12 million grant to his state, but more than a month later, it seems the MAGA senator’s hold is still in place.

Budd told NOTUS Thursday that he was “concerned that Western North Carolina get the support that it needs.”

“I am in communication with the secretary and have great hopes that this will be resolved,” Budd told NOTUS, adding that “positive” discussions had been held over the last few weeks.

He wasn’t the only Republican lawmaker experiencing delays. Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia told NOTUS that she was “aware of one grant in our state that has been slow walked.”

Another GOP member didn’t mince words. “You would think a former member of Congress would have more fucking respect for the institution she used to serve in,” they told NOTUS, adding that Noem was “causing a lot of problems.”

One Senate Republican aide told NOTUS it was “basically impossible” to get Noem on the phone. Another source told the outlet that it was also difficult to get her to agree to appear before Congress. “The view among Republicans on the Hill is Secretary Noem is less interested in doing the blocking and tackling of her day job than she is with promoting herself in taxpayer-funded TV commercials,” another senior GOP aide told NOTUS.

A report last month revealed that Noem was more of a figurehead for the agency, and much of the real work of DHS was being done by her “handler” Corey Lewandowski, with whom she’s reportedly having an extramarital affair.

In typical DHS fashion, an agency spokesperson defended Noem’s policy and said: “Who are these members complaining? Democrats who shut down the government?”

Throwing barbs was the name of the game in New York City’s mayoral debate, but one major player left the scene more battered than bruised: Andrew Cuomo.

The disgraced former governor’s presence on the stage practically unified both major political parties Thursday evening, as Cuomo faced condemnation from Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa as well as Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani.

Cuomo’s persistence in the race (despite the fact that he lost the Democratic primary) has only served to underscore the power of money in politics. Cuomo was forced to resign from the governor’s mansion in 2021 after he was deemed too corrupt for Albany. After his resignation, the Department of Justice determined Cuomo had sexually harassed 13 women over an eight-year period. But despite those facts, Cuomo continues to enjoy hefty financial backing from wealthy conservatives.

The details of Cuomo’s resignation were not lost on his opponents, who took the opportunity on New York City’s debate stage to remind Cuomo of his local reputation when he attempted to frame himself as the candidate who could end Donald Trump’s browbeating.

“The president is going to back down to you?” Sliwa said. “Andrew Cuomo, I know you think you’re the toughest guy alive, but let me tell you something, you lost your own primary. You were rejected by your Democrats. You have a difficulty understanding what the term ‘no’ is.”

“I agree with Curtis,” Mamdani said.

Mamdani, who is Muslim, also accused Cuomo of fanning Islamophobic sentiment during his bid, and pressed him on his failure to properly address Muslim communities in New York City, which comprise about 10 percent of New York’s population.

“It took Andrew Cuomo being beaten by a Muslim candidate in the Democratic primary for him to set foot in a mosque,” Mamdani said. “He had more than 10 years and he couldn’t name a single mosque at the last debate we had that he visited.

“It took me to get you to even see those Muslims as a part of this city,” Mamdani continued, emphasizing that Muslims want “equality” and “respect” like any other community.

But that’s not the only major scandal that New Yorkers remember Cuomo for: He also attempted to cover up his own bad policy that exacerbated New York’s nursing home deaths during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mamdani faced tough questions over his lack of experience in relation to his senior debate counterparts, but he made the difference between himself and Cuomo very clear.

“What I don’t have in experience, I make up for in integrity,” Mamdani told Cuomo. “What you don’t have in integrity, you could never make up for in experience.”