The Real Reason Kristi Noem Fired (and Rehired) a Coast Guard Pilot

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s blanket fiasco may not have been about a blanket at all.

The so-called ICE Barbie allegedly had her rumored beau, expired-special-employee Corey Lewandowski, fire a Coast Guard pilot last May after Noem neglected to bring her favorite weighted blanket onto the second flight of one of her trips.

But three DHS insiders that spoke with the Daily Mail indicate that the spectacle may not have been about an abandoned blanket, but rather a mysterious bag with potentially embarrassing contents.

“This was never about a blanket,” one insider with knowledge of the incident told the Mail. “The blanket was a cover story for what really happened. The whole thing was really about the bag that was left.”

The insiders were unable to shed light on what was in the bag.

Reports of the episode began to circulate earlier this month. A maintenance issue on one of Noem’s planes had forced her to land and deboard to another aircraft. The sudden switch inspired Lewandowski to fire the pilot responsible for flying the first plane—Keith Thomas, a commanding officer for the Coast Guard—after they discovered the blanket was missing.

Thomas was told to take a commercial flight home when they reached their destination.

But moments later, Lewandowski had to backtrack on the pilot’s terminated employment, though he didn’t do so in any admission of wrongdoing. Instead, Noem tapped the pilot to fly her around again because “no one else was available to fly them home,” reported The Wall Street Journal.

Noem’s alleged affair with Lewandowski is one of the worst-kept secrets in Washington. The pair are practically inseparable, and have been spotted grinding on each other at parties and leaving each other’s apartments, despite the fact that they are both married to other people.

The arrangement has become such a MAGA meme that the DHS secretary was actually mocked for taking her husband to a black-tie White House event over the weekend instead of Lewandowski.

Newly revealed text messages from the government’s files on Jeffrey Epstein reveal that he had a long-standing relationship with the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, including getting help in a legal dispute over construction on his private islands.

In 2019, months before he was arrested, Epstein was facing possible fines over unauthorized construction on one of his islands. So he turned to Albert Bryan Jr., the Democratic governor of the territory, who reassured Epstein that he’d handle the matter. Bryan informed Epstein that he told the islands’ top environmental official to pause enforcing the infraction until they could speak.

Epstein complained further about the fines and negative media attention, to which Bryan replied that he asked the commissioner in charge of the case to recuse himself and approve all of Epstein’s previous permit requests. “We got u,” Bryan texted the billionaire.

Epstein’s vast connections are further exposed with every trove of files the government releases, and this batch shows how he was able to operate and commit crimes in the U.S. Virgin Islands: by throwing his money around to sway the people in charge. We don’t know if Bryan, who is currently in the last year of his second term as governor, actually took action to help Epstein, but further text messages indicate he was willing to keep advocating for the billionaire.

The two would meet privately, and Epstein claimed that enforcing the law against him could “kill all interest and send investors to puerto rico instead !!” Effectively, he implied that he and his friends would take their money elsewhere if he had to follow the rules.

Bryan and Epstein knew each other since at least September 2018, when Epstein, his tax attorney, employees at one of his financial services companies, and his personal assistant arranged a meeting with Bryan, then a candidate challenging the islands’ incumbent governor, and his campaign manager.

Their communications would continue through the next year, even after May 2019, when the Miami Herald exposed Epstein’s activities. The paper examined the light plea deal Epstein received in 2008 over soliciting prostitution, including from a minor. Bryan was questioned in 2023 as part of a civil lawsuit about his relationship with Epstein.

Bryan testified at the time that he thought the billionaire’s 2008 charges were settled after Epstein “copped a plea to having sex with a hooker who was under age,” and said he “wasn’t really interested” in learning about new charges from Epstein’s 2019 arrest. He denied giving Epstein special treatment but later apologized for the wording of his remarks through a spokesperson.

“I believe that we should honor and support all victims of human trafficking. That was a terrible use of language, and I should never had said that. It was disrespectful,” Bryan said in a statement.

That doesn’t change the fact that, even indirectly, Bryan helped enable Epstein far away from prying eyes in the Caribbean. It’s not known if the governor broke any laws, but at the very least, his reputation is ruined, as the U.S. Virgin Islands is another place where Epstein escaped scrutiny, investigation, and prosecution. Not a single agency on the island ever looked into him.

It’s unsurprising, but disappointing nonetheless: The president’s pick for surgeon general is a vaccine skeptic.

During her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, Casey Means was caught in a bind between party loyalty and medical truth after Senator Tim Kaine repeatedly asked her about a CBS article in which Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said there is “no evidence” that the flu vaccine prevents serious disease, hospitalizations, or death among children. The overwhelming medical evidence shows that the flu vaccine is safe and effective.

Means, a wellness influencer and author aligned with RFK Jr, first dodged the question by trying to generalize. “I believe vaccines save lives,” she said.

Kaine then pushed Means to answer the question about the flu vaccine specifically.

“I have not personally seen that quote or that article.… I believe that all patients should talk to their doctors,” she replied.

But Kaine wasn’t done, asking again: “Do you believe there’s no evidence that the flu vaccine has no efficacy in reducing serious injury or hospitalization?”

This time, Means paused for four seconds.

“This is an easy one, doctor,” the senator said.

“I support the CDC’s guidance on the vaccine,” Means eventually said.

“Do you think the flu vaccine reduces the risk of hospitalization or serious injury?” Kaine said.

“At the population level, I certainly think it does,” Means stammered.

Kaine then lambasted Means for her filibustering: “Three minutes in, you answered a question that had a very simple yes, or it had a very simple no.”

Means’s hesitancy to go against the conspiratorial anti-vaxxer serving as health secretary exposed the depressing ironies of her being tapped to be America’s leading public health spokesperson. As an entrepreneur and influencer, Means has profited by sowing distrust in the medical system. As The New York Times pointed out, one chapter of her best-selling book is titled Trust Yourself, Not Your Doctor.

Earlier in the hearing, Means said that while she “accepts” evidence that vaccines do not cause autism, she wants to see more research done on the matter.

“Science is never settled,” she added.

For decades, medical studies have shown that there is absolutely no link between vaccines and autism, but Means, like Kennedy, continues not to trust the work.

Means was questioned by Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican physician who voted to confirm RFK Jr. but has been outspoken in his belief that vaccines are safe.

Cassidy asked if Means thought mothers should get their children vaccinated against measles. The modern measles vaccine was created in 1954, and seven years later, was declared “100% effective” by the World Health Organization. The Centers for Disease Control reported that measles had been entirely eradicated from the U.S. in 2000, but that has changed since Trump’s second term. American communities have faced multiple measles outbreaks this year due to rising anti-vax sentiment.

Means stoked that sentiment further by declining to encourage use of the vaccine. “I do believe that each patient, mother, parent needs to have a conversation with their pediatrician about any medication they’re putting in their body, their children’s bodies,” she said.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist, then asked Means about a recent American Medical Association statement. “An abundance of evidence from decades of scientific studies shows no link between vaccines and autism,” the statement reads.

Sanders once again asked her if she believed vaccines caused autism; Means once again wouldn’t give a straight answer. “I am not going to sit here and say we should not study something in the future,” she said, pointing to rising autism rates among children.

A graduate of Stanford School of Medicine, Means previously dropped out of a surgical residency at Oregon Health and Science University. She has been criticized for repeatedly using the “Dr.” honorific though her medical license, granted in 2014, has been inactive since 2019. Without an active medical license, Means is unauthorized to practice medicine or prescribe medication.

This story has been updated.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against private prison company Geo Group, denying them a fast-track appeal of a lower court ruling that found they are not immune from being sued.

The initial lawsuit was brought about in 2014 by Alejandro Menocal and other former detainees at the Aurora Immigration Processing Center in Colorado. They filed a class action lawsuit against GEO Group claiming they were forced to clean common areas and were punished with solitary confinement if they said no. Detainees claimed that they worked at the detention center for either $1 a day or no pay at all.

Geo Group, the second-largest contractor for President Trump’s mass detention campaign, didn’t think it should even be able to be sued in the first place.

The prison company argued that it deserved “derivative sovereign immunity,” something usually reserved for the government, because it works with and for the U.S. government. It also claimed that it should have the right to immediate appeals rather than after-trial appeals, which would have allowed it to ignore unfavorable rulings.

Now, thanks to the unanimous Supreme Court ruling, the forced-labor lawsuit brought by the immigrant detainees at Geo Group can move forward.

FBI Director Kash Patel took a four-day trip to Italy on the taxpayers’ dime—but the actual contents of the visit had little to do with serving the American public.

The director’s internal schedule for his Italian sojourn was obtained by The New York Times. The agenda revealed that Patel had scheduled “several hours of work meetings” and “a handful of meet-and-greets” during his time abroad, according to the Times—but the work was paired with hours of down time that included private meals and “cultural activities.”

Nonetheless, Patel and his team vehemently defended his spending decisions.

“Director Patel had highly productive meetings in Italy focused on strengthening joint counterterrorism coordination, transnational crime enforcement, the extradition of high value targets and Olympic security planning with our closest allies,” Ben Williamson, a spokesman for Patel, told the Times.

“The leaking of his minute-by-minute schedule is a criminal act that jeopardizes security and will not be taken lightly,” he added.

Patel’s flight history has once again become the subject of intense scrutiny since the Olympics, when a video was leaked of the FBI director partying alongside the U.S. men’s hockey team after their Olympic gold medal win. In the video, Patel is seen chugging beers inside the boys’ locker room in Milan.

But the conspiracy podcaster turned government official has been riding on the country’s dime since he was sworn in as the face of America’s largest national law enforcement agency. Weeks after a Republican-controlled Senate gave Patel the green light to run the FBI, he took several jaunts to different areas of the country, including Las Vegas and Nashville, a lifestyle he hasn’t been shy to advertise among the rank and file of the federal bureau.

Patel’s poor resource management continued for months. In September, his reliance on the bureau’s fleet waylaid the investigation into Charlie Kirk’s assassination by at least a day, preventing a critical analysis team from accessing a flight to the crime scene. His personal flights interfered with another FBI investigation on December 13, when the FBI’s shooting reconstruction team was unable to immediately respond to a shooting at Brown University due to a lack of available bureau planes at an airport in Richmond, Virginia, according to Senator Dick Durbin.

It’s a wildly hypocritical development for Patel, who used to regularly chastise politicians for needless spending before he joined the ranks of the Trump administration. Patel relentlessly hounded the financial behavior of the man who previously filled his role—FBI Director Chris Wray—even arguing in 2023 that the FBI should “ground” Wray’s private jet “that he pays for with taxpayer dollars to hop around the country.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson let slip Tuesday night just how badly President Donald Trump needs Republicans to hold onto Congress.

Following Trump’s long State of the Union address, Johnson tried to maintain an upbeat mood about the administration, telling Newsmax, “He needs all four years, not just two, to fix the mess.

“If we lost the midterms—heaven forbid, if we lost the majority in the House, it would be the end of the Trump presidency in a real effect,” Johnson said. “So we’ve got to keep this going, and I think we’re excited to put our candidates on the field to explain all of this to the people.”

Johnson seems well aware that if Democrats gain a sizable majority in at least the House, they can slow down the Trump agenda, subject the White House to investigations, slow or block funding, and even attempt to impeach administration officials. ICE could be severely curtailed from its reckless and violent deportations and detentions, and laws could be passed against Trump’s whimsical tariffs.

Trump knows this too, which is why he constantly suggests taking over elections and instituting voter suppression laws, such as the SAVE Act. Johnson and his fellow Republicans, rather than use their power as a separate branch of government to check Trump’s bad impulses, want to keep enabling everything he does because they fear him turning on any one of them. Meanwhile, the economy continues to sputter and federal agents continue to violate the Constitution.

Aliya Rahman probably thought she was done getting arrested when she attended Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Rahman, a U.S. citizen with autism and a traumatic brain injury, was previously detained by ICE while on her way to a medical appointment in Minneapolis. After stopping her car due to a traffic jam caused by ICE agents, Rahman was dragged from the car and pulled out of her vehicle, getting dangerously tangled in her seatbelt. She later stated that she blacked out in her holding cell.

Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar made Rahman one of her four guests to the State of the Union address. The other three guests were also Minnesotans who had been targeted by ICE agents, or who had helped protect their communities from the havoc.

But an hour into the event, Rahman was again arrested, this time by the Capitol Police for “disruption of Congress.” It’s unclear exactly what Rahman said or did before being detained.

“All State of the Union tickets clearly explain that demonstrating is prohibited,” the Capitol Police said. “At approximately 10:07 p.m., a person in the House Gallery started demonstrating during tonight’s State of the Union Address. The guest was told to sit down, but refused to obey our lawful orders.”

Other attendees were also escorted out over the course of the evening, though Rahman appears to be the only guest who was arrested. Before Trump’s speech, Texas Representative Al Green was removed for holding up a sign directed at Trump, reading “Black People Aren’t Apes.”

While President Trump ranted about tariffs, immigration, and hockey at his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Democrats were celebrating three local election victories in crucial swing states.

Ana Tiburcio of Alleghany County and Jennifer Mazzocco of Lehigh County were elected as Pennsylvania state representatives on Tuesday, securing a Democratic majority in the state legislature—a huge win for Governor Josh Shapiro.

“Congratulations to Representatives-Elect Ana Tiburcio and Jen Mazzocco on winning tonight and joining our House Democratic majority! I’ll see you both at the Capitol as we keep working to get stuff done and protect our freedoms and democracy here in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro wrote. “Folks are fired up across our Commonwealth—and ready to win up and down the ballot this November.”

And in Maine, Scott Harriman defeated Republican Janet Beaudoin and further cemented Democrats’ hold on the state House.

“Another Tuesday, another defiant round of wins for state legislative Democrats,” Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams wrote in a press release. “The split screen tonight couldn’t be starker: As President Trump drones on and tries to cover up his agenda that’s left working families behind, Democrats are winning elections.”

The State of the Union address is an opportunity for all branches of government to convene over the most pressing issues of the year. But Republicans treated Donald Trump’s sophomoric performance more like a rowdy sports game than a presidential appearance.

Practically the entire caucus participated in the rah-rah, jeering and chanting “U-S-A.” But the fanboying was especially true for Texas Representative Troy Nehls, who soundly secured the most cringeworthy moment of the night by begging the president to sign his Trump-themed tie.

As Trump exited the lower chamber, he caught a glimpse of Nehls dutifully waiting in line to greet him—but more importantly, he spotted Nehls’s tie, an American flag print with several repeated images of Trump’s face.

“Oh, look at this guy, I like that tie, I want that tie,” Trump said, grabbing Nehl’s tie while addressing someone else. “Give me that tie!”

“Thank you! Initial, just an initial,” responded the 57-year-old lawmaker, hunched over as he offered a pen to the president.

Without speaking to Nehls directly, Trump obliged.

The moment did not play well with the American public, who used the moment to highlight how sycophantic and subservient conservatives in Congress have become to the party’s White House figurehead.

“Even the die hards in North Korea don’t grovel and beg for an autograph,” wrote a self-identified progressive on X.

Other critics derided the interaction as “grotesque” and “pathetic.”

“Definitely not a cult,” remarked another X user.

One account compared Nehls to Oliver Twist, sharing a meme of the impoverished Charles Dickens character trumpeting his famous line: “Please sir, may I have some more?”

“A 57 year old asking for an autograph of his favorite sexual predator?” posted another user. “Good God.”

Their opinions are immaterial for the Texas lawmaker, regardless of whether they live in his district, as Nehls is not seeking reelection at the end of his term. Trump has endorsed Nehls’s twin brother to replace him.

In his State of the Union Tuesday night, Donald Trump claimed that he had secured $18 trillion in foreign investments for the United States. But his own website says that isn’t true.

“I secured commitments for more than $18 trillion, pouring in from all over the globe,” Trump said in the speech, complete with a graphic on the official White House stream to drive home the point. NBC News was quick to point out that this wasn’t true, and produced proof that the White House itself had posted online.

“The commitments and investments the White House touted on its own website total $9.7 trillion,” the news outlet reported, noting that the investments Trump has bragged about are in line with previous announcements, or are only slight increases.

A Bloomberg analysis has found that $2.27 trillion of that can’t be considered actual investments, but only “vague promises to increase trade or bilateral economic relationships, or purchase commitments.” And $3.5 trillion would be from sovereign pledges, with $3.5 trillion being investments from corporations.

Of that $3.5 trillion, $2.9 trillion would go toward data centers, according to Bloomberg. On top of that, more than $250 billion of the pledges Trump is claiming as a big accomplishment were actually announced or planned before he was sworn in as president last year.

All of this was part of many embellishments and half-truths in the longest State of the Union address in presidential history. Trump used the address to claim how great he was doing despite most Americans disagreeing, and Democrats let him know during the speech. One claim by Trump was even too much for Republicans to applaud: his boasting about tariffs, which were struck down by the Supreme Court. That’s because most of them agree with the court’s ruling. Too bad most GOP lawmakers are fine with every other destructive decision from the president.