D.C. Pipe Bombing Suspect Believed Trump’s Biggest Lie

The man who planted pipe bombs at the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the day before January 6 seems to have been motivated by MAGA election denialism.  

Virginia resident Brian Cole, 30, was taken into custody on Thursday after being charged with placing the bombs on January 5, 2021, the day before Congress was to certify the 2020 presidential election. 

Cole reportedly told FBI investigators that he believed unsubstantiated theories about the 2020 presidential election being stolen from Donald Trump. Sources told CNN he made multiple statements as he spent hours with the FBI.

While the FBI has yet to declare a motive or publicly comment on the report, it’s clear that Trump’s biggest lie played a role in the incident of political violence.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has reason to be optimistic about congressional redistricting in his state after a Supreme Court ruling.

On Thursday, the court ruled 6-3 that Texas can use a new legislative map that was redrawn to benefit Republicans, with conservative Justice Samuel Alito saying in his concurring opinion that rather than racial gerrymandering, which would be illegal, “the impetus for the adoption of the Texas map (like the map subsequently adopted in California) was partisan advantage pure and simple.”

This seems to suggest that the conservative majority on the high court that approved Texas’s map will also approve California’s, which is being redrawn to give Democrats possibly five more congressional seats. When Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the Supreme Court ruling on X Thursday, Newsom’s press office eagerly chimed in, asking if the Justice Department would drop its lawsuit against Newsom and the Golden State.

The DOJ’s official account didn’t seem to think the ruling applied to Democrats, posting in response, “Not a chance, Gavin—we will stop your DEI districts for 2026.” But that statement may not be how the Supreme Court sees it.

President Trump began the partisan gerrymandering wars earlier this year when he urged Texas to redraw its maps, hoping to avert Republican losses in the 2026 midterms. His efforts to get other Republican-led states on board has not gone as well. Meanwhile, California isn’t the only Democratic-led state replying to Trump: Virginia is now beginning plans to redraw its maps.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino offered up a baffling excuse Thursday for fueling conspiracy theories about the pipe bombs planted at the Democratic and Republican national headquarters five years ago.

Following the arrest earlier Thursday of a suspect in the attempted bombing, Fox News’s Sean Hannity asked Bongino about his past claims that the government had engaged in a “massive cover-up,” and that the pipe bombs were likely an “inside job.”

“You know, listen, I was paid in the past, Sean, for my opinions. That’s clear,” Bongino said. “And one day I will be back in that space. That’s not what I’m paid for now. I’m paid to be your deputy director, and we base investigations on facts.”

The former talk radio host then launched into yet more conspiracy winding about the so-called “collusion hoax.” So, it seems Bongino’s opinion days aren’t so far behind him after all.

Hannity was referring to comments Bongino initially made on X shortly after the riot on January 6, 2021, but also as recently as this past January—just one month before being tapped to help lead the FBI. Bongino suggested that the agency had identified a suspect but “just doesn’t want to tell us, because it was an inside job.”

One of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s main arguments for bombing two helpless men in the Caribbean Sea was that they possessed radios that they could have used to call back their alleged cartels. But lawmakers who saw the video said that wasn’t the case.

“There was no radio. There were two individuals clinging to flotsam, that’s what there was,” Democratic Representative Jim Himes told MS NOW. “There wasn’t weaponry of any kind. There wasn’t a radio.... There was no means for them to communicate, other than the fact that the fire and the smoke was fairly well visible for a long distance around. But there was no radio.”

CNN also reported that Admiral Frank M. Bradley—whom Hegseth has named as responsible for the strike—told lawmakers that the men had their boat completely destroyed with no way to even reach a radio. In reality, for nearly an hour, defense officials watched the two men try to overturn the remains of their boat before bombing them a second time.

This directly contradicts what defense officials told The New York Times on Wednesday, adding only more speculation to the legitimacy of this lopsided and unsubstantiated “war” on alleged drug boats.

Only time will tell if Hegseth and the Defense Department actually face any repercussions for their killing in the Caribbean Sea. As of right now, they seem content to keep on bombing.

Hardly anything pisses the president off more than hearing criticism of his mental and physical health.

Donald Trump—the oldest person to ever be elected president—was reportedly irate after he was caught dozing off during a Cabinet meeting earlier this week, fuming over the fact that his drowsy habits earned him some comparisons to his predecessor “Sleepy Joe” Biden.

“He is sensitive to being compared, even if not explicitly, to Sleepy Joe,” a Trump adviser told Zeteo Thursday. “Especially if it’s coming from a reporter he already hates.”

Trump has recently been spotted falling asleep during meetings in the Oval Office and public events. Just one scandal irks him more than reports about his ailing body and mind: the Epstein files.

Trump’s health has been a topic of concern since he was on the campaign trail, when reports circulated that he couldn’t remember the contents of cognitive exams he claimed to ace. Since then, the president has been spotted with odd discolorations on his hand, routinely appears discombobulated and lethargic during critical meetings with world leaders, and had a drooping expression during 9/11 ceremonies in September that onlookers suggested could be a result of a stroke.

The president also received MRI scans at Walter Reed Medical Center in October. Those tests are used by doctors to assess tumors, joint injuries, or heart conditions. Former White House physicians questioned the timeline of Trump’s appointment, pointing out that his four-hour visit to the hospital was far longer than would be required by an MRI test. Nonetheless, Trump said the tests came back “perfect.”

One adviser that spoke with Trump about the renewed focus on his health recalled that Trump complained the press was back on “this bullshit again.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has repeatedly brushed off concerns regarding Trump’s health. In a statement to Zeteo, she insisted that Trump was in “excellent overall health,” and blamed journalists reporting on his aging body for creating an environment of media distrust.

“President Trump’s relentless work ethic, unmatched energy, and historic accessibility stand in sharp contrast to what we saw during the past four years when the failing legacy media intentionally covered up Joe Biden’s serious mental and physical decline from the American people,” Leavitt said. “Pushing these fake and desperate narratives now about President Trump is why Americans’ trust in the media just fell to a new all-time low.”