Democrats Slam Trumpist Takeover of Warner Bros.

Democratic lawmakers slammed Paramount Skydance’s advancing efforts to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, after Netflix announced Thursday that it would back away from the monthslong bidding war to purchase part of the company.

Paramount Skydance is owned by Larry Ellison, a Trump megadonor, and run by his son David, who has overseen a right-ward cultural shift at CBS since taking it over last year. If Paramount Skydance acquired Warner Bros., Trump allies would have even greater control over media, including CNN, another broadcast news company that has been regularly targeted by the president.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren condemned the potential merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. as “an antitrust disaster threatening higher prices and fewer choices for American families.”

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos had visited the White House Thursday, after President Trump demanded the streamer knock Susan Rice, a former Obama administration official, from its board of directors. Shortly after Sarandos arrived for the meeting, WBD announced that Paramount Skydance had offered the “superior deal.” Soon after, Netflix announced that it would back away from the bidding war.

“What did Trump officials tell the Netflix CEO today at the White House?” Warren pressed.

“A handful of Trump-aligned billionaires are trying to seize control of what you watch and charge you whatever price they want. With the cloud of corruption looming over Trump’s Department of Justice, it’ll be up to the American people to speak up and state attorneys general to enforce the law,” she added. At the federal level, only the Department of Justice could sue to block the deal.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker’s office pushed a reminder to Larry Ellison that he’d previously offered to testify before the Senate if his company’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. proved successful.

“In light of today’s announcement that Warner Bros. Discovery has designated Paramount’s offer a Company Superior Proposal, next week’s hearing presents a timely and appropriate opportunity for Mr. Ellison to make good on that commitment,” Booker’s aide told Deadline.

Democrats from California also weighed in on the deal that has major ramifications for the entertainment industry.

California Senator Adam Schiff said that either company’s efforts to own Warner Bros. would be subject to the “highest level of scrutiny” and should be “free from White House political influence.”

“Oligarchy in full effect,” Tom Steyer, a Democratic candidate for governor, wrote on X.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is boasting that he bullied Scouting America into altering its policies by threatening to remove DOD funding.

Hegseth posted a video on X Friday morning saying that the Pentagon would continue supporting the organization after it agreed to several “key reforms,” such as “reviewing and replacing politicized, divisive and discriminatory language throughout the organization, programs, and all publications. No more DEI. Zero.”

Scouting America also will also end its “citizenship in society” merit badge, which a DOD press release claims “made it mandatory for those with the rank of Life Scout to ‘realize the benefits of diversity, equity, inclusion and ethical leadership,’ prior to being allowed to advance to the rank of Eagle Scout.”

The organization will restrict itself to only allowing the sex designations male and female, and the sex noted on scouting applications has to match the applicant’s birth certificate. The organization will also introduce a military service merit badge, and will waive registration fees for the children of members of the military, whether active duty, reserve, or National Guard.

Hegseth warned that Scouting America had to stick to these commitments, and the DOD plans to “vigorously review” the organization’s progress in six months. If it finds that Scouting America hasn’t lived up to its commitments, the DOD will stop supporting the organization.

“We hope that doesn’t happen, but it could,” Hegseth said. “Ideally I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men. Maybe someday.”

Hegseth and his fellow conservatives had lamented that Scouting America began accepting gay youth in 2013, and ended its ban on gay adult leaders in 2015. It also announced nine years ago that it would accept transgender scouts, and began accepting girls into the Cub Scouts in 2018 and Boy Scouts (renamed Scouts BSA) the next year. Over 6,000 girls have since gone on to reach the top Eagle Scout rank.

Hegseth has had the Scouts in his crosshairs for years, saying on Fox in 2024 that the organization “has been cratering itself for quite some time.”

“This is an institution the left didn’t control. They didn’t want to improve it. They wanted to destroy it or dilute it into something that stood for nothing,” Hegseth said at the time. In November, a draft memo written by Hegseth to Congress first floated the idea of ending DOD support for Scouting America. Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced that it was reviewing its relationship with the organization.

Now, Hegseth has gotten Scouts to cave, at the expense of young people whose presence in the organization will be discouraged. A service organization with a strong history and reputation in the U.S. is now effectively in the Trump administration’s pocket.

The Pentagon used a laser to accidentally shoot a Customs and Border Protections drone out of the sky in Texas on Thursday.

“This reported engagement occurred when the Department of War employed counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities to mitigate a seemingly threatening unmanned aerial system operating within military airspace,” the Pentagon, CBP, and the Federal Aviation Administration said in a joint statement. “These agencies will continue to work on increased cooperation and communication to prevent such incidents in the future.”

The statement failed to mention that the “unmanned aerial system” the Pentagon shot down belonged to the U.S. government.

This incident, occurring just weeks after the CBP shut down El Paso airspace to shoot down some party balloons, continues to highlight the brash, reckless, and overly gung-ho mentality that has come to define the Pentagon in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tenure.

“Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high-risk counter-unmanned aircraft system,” ranking House Committee on Homeland Security member Bennie G. Thompson and other Democrats said in a joint statement. “We said MONTHS ago that the White House’s decision to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, DHS and the FAA was a short-sighted idea. Now, we’re seeing the result of its incompetence.”

The Department of Justice is claiming that it removed a photo of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Jeffrey Epstein from its released Epstein files because it was flagged for nudity. 

The photo was initially posted online to the public but was later removed, and shows Lutnick and Epstein walking on Little St. James, Epstein’s private island. There’s no visible nudity in the picture, which includes three other men  alongside Lutnick and Epstein. In a statement to The Daily Beast, the DOJ said the photo was “part of a batch of files that had been flagged for nudity.”

“The batch of thousands of images was pulled for review and is being uploaded with necessary redactions on a rolling basis,” a department official said. “No files are being deleted.”

It’s not a good excuse, especially considering that the DOJ has recklessly released nude photos to the public of Epstein’s victims. Lutnick used to claim that he cut off ties with Epstein in 2005, but many newly released files blatantly contradict his assertions, showing a personal and business relationship that continued for years afterward. 

Was the DOJ belatedly trying to protect the embattled Lutnick? If so, it failed, because every file in its Epstein archive is closely scrutinized, making any after-the-fact attempt to redact or retract a file easily noticed. In this case, the photo had already been logged by jmail, a website run by two tech workers who created a searchable database of Epstein’s email account. The DOJ later reuploaded the photo to its public database. 

Various high-profile figures around the world have faced consequences after the released files exposed Epstein’s relationships, including resignations and prosecutions, but not so much in the U.S. That’s because the DOJ is trying to protect people in the Trump administration and neglecting to open investigations into other powerful Americans to appease the president, who wishes it would all go away. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Pentagon officials took to X to whine about their failed deal with AI company Anthropic, whose Claude program is already deeply entrenched into the military.

The deal fell apart around Tuesday after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused to lift his restrictions on the Pentagon using his Claude AI program for mass surveillance and unmanned weapons systems.

“The Department of War has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement. This narrative is fake and being peddled by leftists in the media,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell wrote Thursday on X. “Here’s what we’re asking: Allow the Pentagon to use Anthropic’s model for all lawful purposes. This is a simple, common-sense request that will prevent Anthropic from jeopardizing critical military operations and potentially putting our warfighters at risk. We will not let ANY company dictate the terms regarding how we make operational decisions. They have until 5:01 PM ET on Friday to decide. Otherwise, we will terminate our partnership with Anthropic and deem them a supply chain risk for DOW.”

“Anthropic hates Western Civilization,” billionaire Elon Musk posted, and Hegseth reposted.

Parnell is being facetious. The Defense Department’s primary demand to Anthropic was that it remove the contractual safeguards that stopped Claude from being used for mass surveillance or unmanned weapons systems. And why would anyone over the age of 25 believe that the U.S. government—including the Pentagon—isn’t interested in mass surveillance and autonomous weapons?

“OK, if that’s true, then the Pentagon should affirmatively agree that its use of AI will not include autonomous weapon development OR mass surveillance,” civil rights attorney Patrick Jaicomo wrote back to Parnell. “That would make this ‘fake news’ response a lot more believable, Sean.”

“So weird. Anthropic says ‘you guys can use claude all you want, as long as you aren’t doing A or B,’” another user wrote. “You say ‘we’re not gonna do A or B, that’s fake leftist news. Anyway the deal saying we can’t do A or B is unacceptable. We need a deal that allows us to do A and B.’”

The Pentagon is currently searching for “alternatives” to Claude.

The Department of Justice has announced that it will investigate itself for failing to disclose documents containing allegations against President Donald Trump as part of the files on Jeffrey Epstein.

In a statement on X Wednesday afternoon, the Department of Justice announced that it would look into reports that documents produced for Ghislaine Maxwell’s team in discovery for her criminal case “appear to be missing”—referring to three interviews the FBI conducted between July and October 2019 with a woman who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her as a child.

“As with all documents that have been flagged by the public, the Department is currently reviewing files within that category of the production,” the agency said. “Should any document be found to have been improperly tagged in the review process and is responsive to the Act, the Department will of course publish it, consistent with the law.”

The DOJ has already published one of the FBI interviews conducted with that victim, which was also included in discovery for Maxwell’s case—but it only included allegations against Epstein, not Trump.

The woman’s allegations against the president still appeared in a 21-page slideshow included in files. “[REDACTED] stated Epstein introduced her to Trump who subsequently forced her head down to his exposed penis which she subsequently bit,” the FBI said in its interview summary. “In response, Trump punched her in the head and kicked her out.” This allegedly occurred in the mid-1980s when she was “approximately 13-15 years old.”

The details of the woman’s story appeared to match details from a victim lawsuit from December 2019. In a publicly available interview, “Jane Doe 4” claimed that she was “brutally and forcibly battered, assaulted, and raped” by prominent men she met through Epstein, one of whom forcibly slapped Jane Doe 4 in the face after she was forced to perform oral sex on him. This same man forcibly raped her.

The DOJ previously dismissed accusations that it was hiding certain documents as “salaciously insane,” claiming to have restored any documents that were previously removed. Now the agency is putting itself in charge of determining its own wrongdoing—I’m sure that’ll go well.

While they’re at it, maybe they can figure out what happened to this now-disappeared photograph of Epstein that appears to show Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick smiling in the background?

Lauren Boebert successfully pissed everybody off during Hillary Clinton’s closed-door deposition Thursday.

Clinton appeared before the House Oversight Committee to share what she knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking empire (Clinton insisted she knew nothing). But Boebert couldn’t resist snapping an unauthorized pic of the former secretary of state, despite the fact that it was in clear violation of the rules. Ironically, the Colorado Republican’s own party member—House Oversight Chairman James Comer—was the one to demand the deposition remain private earlier this month, contrary to Clinton’s requests.

To make matters worse, Boebert shared the image with far-right podcaster Benny Johnson, who promptly posted it to X, temporarily derailing the proceeding.

What Boebert and Johnson believed they would achieve with the rogue stunt is unclear. But the publicity grab was wildly successful at sparking universal outrage—it angered Democrats, Republicans, and their own MAGA followers in the process, the latter of whom questioned whether the duo was trying to disrupt the process.

“Way to go. Now they are stopping the proceedings,” responded one self-identified MAGA account to Johnson’s post.

“What a fucking dumbass move … why are you purposely torpedoing this hearing for CLICKS!?!? USE YOUR DAMN BRAIN!!! The both of you are chasing wisdom, but it’s always faster than the two of you ...” fumed Trump supporter “Lady Liberty.”

“This is insane,” Johnson posted in his defense. “The deposition is being filmed. Hillary wanted it to be done LIVE on TV. The entire deposition will be released soon. Rep. Boebert gave me permission to post photo with credit. Hillary is trying to get out of answering questions about Epstein because of a pic!?!”

But X users were quick to point out the incongruity.

“You guys are so fucking dumb,” wrote the corporate account for Gay Guy Candle Company, adding a clown emoji. “‘She wanted it to be done live on television’ and ‘she’s trying to get out of it’ in the same post.”

“You posted a pic knowing doing so was in violation of the rules associated with a closed door deposition and then try to spin it as if it was orchestrated by Hillary? You’re a complete idiot,” commented another X account.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement discovered that GEO Group, the country’s largest private prison company, had falsified the death records of an inmate—but that didn’t stop the federal agency from throwing even more money at them, according to The Intercept. 

On December 6, 2023, Frankline Okpu, a 37-year-old man from Cameroon, died in solitary confinement at the GEO Group’s Moshannon Valley ICE Processing Center in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, after staff members failed to carry out orders from his physician—and then lied about it.

Okpu was placed in solitary confinement after an altercation with a guard, during which he allegedly ingested a synthetic form of cannabis mixed with a tranquilizer. After refusing treatment at the emergency department and the infirmary, Okpu was placed in solitary, and his medical provider ordered that staff members check on him every 15 minutes to ensure his safety.

Surveillance footage reviewed by ICE showed that of the 219 visual inspections GEO staff members were required to perform, 94 inspections, or 42 percent, were not done properly. In 33 inspections, staff members did not look through the window into Okpu’s cell to actually observe him. In 38 inspections, the staff checked on him outside of the required 15-minute timeframe. Twenty-three of the recorded inspections never occurred at all.

When reviewing GEO Group’s death report for Okpu, ICE found that there were several inconsistencies between medical staff’s documentation and surveillance footage from that morning, The Intercept reported.  

On the morning of Okpu’s death, he was scheduled to attend a dentist appointment, but when the resident adviser went to retrieve him, he did not respond. The adviser then relayed to the dental assistant that Okpu had refused treatment, and the dental assistant filled out a refusal form. ICE determined that GEO had “failed to comply” with the requirement to obtain a signed refusal form after attempting to counsel the patient to accept treatment. 

ICE also found that medical staff at the facility failed to conduct a face-to-face encounter just an hour before Okpu was discovered unresponsive—despite claiming to have done so. Medical staff also falsely documented that they’d ensured he’d eaten both breakfast and lunch. ICE did not check to see if he’d had breakfast, and Okpu was found unresponsive when lunch was served at 11:15 a.m. After nurses attempted CPR, he was declared dead at 12:02 p.m. 

Just three months after the death report was reviewed, ICE tossed GEO Group another $4 million, according to The Intercept. In 2023, 43 percent of Geo Group’s top-line revenue, more than $2.4 billion, came from contracts with ICE. Now GEO Group operates 19 facilities for ICE, accounting for $2.6 billion in total revenue in 2025.

All of this was before the Trump administration ramped up detention numbers and cut off detainees’ health care. One can imagine the potential for abuse and neglect has only increased since Okpu’s death. 

Trump administration officials met with racist, Islamophobic, far-right U.K. activist Tommy Robinson—and gave him a tour of the State Department. 

One of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s senior advisers publicly boasted about meeting with Robinson on Wednesday. 

“Honored to have free speech warrior @TRobinsonNewEra at Department of State today,” Joe Rittenhouse wrote on X, including a picture of the two of them. “The World and the West is a better place when we fight for freedom of speech and no one has been on the front lines more than Tommy. Good to see you my friend!”

Robinson also bragged last week about meeting Kari Lake, the Trump-appointed head of Voice of America.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, co-founded the anti-Muslim “English Defence League” and founded the British National Party. He was previously imprisoned for contempt of court after his racist libel of a 15-year-old Syrian boy on his massive social media platform.  

“The Trump administration hosting Tommy Robinson must be a wake-up call,” British Member of Parliament Calum Miller wrote on X. “The government needs to include the US in their inquiry into foreign interference in UK politics. We cannot stand by while the likes of Trump and Musk meddle in our democracy.”

“Yaxley-Lennon is being touted around Washington as a ‘free speech warrior.’ We need to engage this administration on the difference between that and incitement to violence and racial hatred,” British Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Emily Thornberry said. “There should be no place in any democracy for the latter.”

Hillary Clinton was supposed to testify behind closed doors Thursday to the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Representative Lauren Boebert and conservative influencer Benny Johnson briefly blew that up.

At noon Thursday, Johnson posted a photo from the hearing on X showing Clinton seated at a table with a quizzical expression on her face. He captioned it with a siren emoji followed by “BREAKING: The first image of Hillary Clinton testifying under oath about Jeffery Epstein to the Republican Oversight Committee.

“This is the first time Hillary has had to answer real questions about Epstein. Clinton does not look happy,” the post said, and credited the photo to Boebert.

That photo was followed by another with a full view of the hearing showing most of the participants, and with Boebert’s name tag visible in the front of the image.

After Clinton and her advisers learned of the posts, the hearing was paused, as Boebert’s photos were unauthorized. The deposition has since resumed, but Clinton asked that press be allowed into the room after the leaked photos, a request that was denied.

Clinton had pushed for public hearings for herself and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, but was turned down earlier this month by Republican Representative James Comer, the committee chair, who said that open hearings are “more for entertainment than substance,” accusing the Clintons of “trying to play the victim card.”

President Trump wasn’t a big fan of the Clintons testifying before Congress. A former president and first lady (and senator and secretary of state) testifying before lawmakers means that it wouldn’t be a big deal if Trump himself gets called to testify about Epstein, a subject Trump is trying desperately to ignore. Trump’s Republican allies may have pushed for the Clintons to answer their questions, but their efforts could put him in a bind.

This story has been updated.