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Trump DHS Is Building Deranged Case Against Ilhan Omar

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin admitted he wants to hit Omar with RICO charges.

Markwayne Mullin wearing a dark suit and tie with an American flag pin on his lapel with 47 written on top of the pin.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin revealed Friday that the Trump administration is hoping to bring a criminal conspiracy case against Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar.

Appearing on Real America’s Voice, Mullin discussed his agency’s plan to go after the Democratic lawmaker after her home in Washington was raided Monday, just three weeks before November’s midterm elections. The federal government is reportedly investigating how Omar got her citizenship after she arrived in the United States from Somalia as a child.

“If someone comes in and claims—that fills out their paperwork illegally, and they claim that they are this person, and this is their background, and then underneath that individual, a lot of other people come in … then that can be considered a RICO case,” Mullin said.

“There was a conspiracy to deceive the American government, and therefore everything else that came in with it could then for be looked at as the same case,” the secretary said.

“Good thing about something like a case like that, is when it is a RICO case, that the statue of limitations on things, they don’t, they don’t apply. A few cases they do, but in most cases they don’t,” he added.

The probe ostensibly centers on whether Omar’s father put her age as 17 rather than 18 on her citizenship application to allow her to qualify immediately for citizenship alongside his own application. In order to strip her American citizenship, the Department of Justice has to sue in federal court and prove that the person materially lied to get their status. It’s still unclear what, if any, evidence DHS has found to support this crusade against one of the president’s most outspoken critics.

Mullin claimed that DHS “worked very closely with DOJ through the whole process.” So surely, he should know about one crucial section of the DOJ manual that bars federal prosecutors from timing any action, including investigative steps, criminal charges, or statements, for the purpose of undermining a candidate in an upcoming election. Mullin’s remarks came the same day that early voting began in Minnesota.

If the Trump administration really wants to talk about a RICO case, then maybe we should discuss how President Donald Trump is weaponizing federal agencies to go after his critics? Or if we want to just stick with a classic, we can always revisit that pesky grand jury indictment Trump and his buddies received for their efforts to overturn the results of the 2024 presidential election.

Zelenskiy Smiles as Entire EU Summit Laughs at Trump

All of Europe knows why Donald Trump is really attacking Ukraine and its president.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy walks out with a hand on his chest.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy leaves a press conference at the EU summit, on October 16.
Michael Kappeler/picture alliance/Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy leaves a press conference at the EU summit, on October 16.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy knows how to get the European Union laughing—at Donald Trump.

EU leaders met in Brussels for the conclusion of the European Council summit Friday, where they closed ranks around Ukraine in its ongoing war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. During one press conference, Zelenskiy was asked if he felt Trump was making him a “scapegoat” before America’s November midterm elections.

“President Trump is facing pretty difficult midterm elections. His personal popularity is very low, diesel prices in the U.S. are very high, and the war that he started in the Middle East is not going the way he wants it,” the Sky News reporter asked. “Do you think you are being treated as a scapegoat for his own problems?”

Zelenskiy took a long pause, glanced at the papers on his podium, and then looked up, smiling. The whole room laughed.

“This is my answer,” Zelenskiy said.

It is painfully obvious to anyone paying attention that Zelenskiy is being scapegoated for Trump’s disastrous second-term record. Only two days ago, SpaceX throttled Ukraine’s access to the Starlink satellite internet network with no warning. On Friday, The Telegraph reported that Elon Musk went to the White House to specifically discuss the cuts ahead of time. “The reality is that they were both in it,” one source said of Musk and Trump’s plan.

Trump has also recently ramped up his public criticism of Zelenskiy and Ukraine, specifically for continuing to attack Russian oil refineries after the U.S. lifted sanctions on Russian oil in a misguided attempt to bring down diesel prices before the midterms.

Judging by the laughter in Brussels, however, Trump is not fooling most of our allies. Ukraine is no more responsible for high gas prices in the U.S. than for the empty seats at the president’s rallies or the blue momentum building in deep red states. Look in the mirror, grandpa.

Anthony Scaramucci Weighs in on Katie Zacharia Breaking His Record

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is out after just five days on the job.

Anthony Scaramucci speaks into a mic while seated on a chair
Anthony Scaramucci speaks onstage at Vox Media’s Prof G Markets Tour, on June 2.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Vox Media
Anthony Scaramucci speaks onstage at Vox Media’s Prof G Markets Tour, on June 2.

Katie Zacharia’s tenure as White House press secretary only lasted five days before President Trump fired her Friday, breaking the record for shortest duration in the role.

Anthony Scaramucci, who only served for 11 days as White House communications director, had a charitable take on the firing, posting on X, “Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain,” in response to a post about Zacharia’s dismissal.

X screenshot Anthony Scaramucci @Scaramucci Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people's pain.

Unlike Scaramucci, who was fired for criticizing multiple Trump administration officials in a New Yorker interview, Zacharia was fired for a disastrous first press briefing, misrepresenting her credentials as a lawyer when she hasn’t passed a bar exam, and bombing an interview with pro-Trump pundit Sean Hannity on Fox News. White House staff were even trading scathing insults of her over text messages.

Scaramucci lasted long enough to get hilariously parodied on SNL by Bill Hader in 2017, but it remains to be seen whether Zacharia will have Scarlett Johansson playing her as she had hoped. She still faces a bar complaint in the state of California that could become criminal charges, and the media is dissecting her husband Tyler’s work history for a North Korean firm. Trump’s political career has been known for train wrecks, but Zacharia might be the biggest one of all.

Trump Fires His Fake Lawyer Press Secretary After Just Five Days

Katie Zacharia has officially broken the record for the shortest tenure of any White House press secretary.

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia stares off into the distance at her debut briefing.
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia at her debut briefing, on October 13
Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg/Getty Images
White House press secretary Katie Zacharia at her debut briefing, on October 13

Katie Zacharia has been fired as White House press secretary after less than one week on the job, The New York Times reported Friday, citing three anonymous sources. She hosted one 14-minute press briefing, took 3 questions, and will go down in history as the press secretary with the shortest tenure to date.

Fox News also reported that Zacharia would be “transitioning out” of the job, though it’s unclear what exactly that means.

Zacharia has faced intense media scrutiny and blowback this week regarding her bogus legal credentials, train-wreck first press briefing, and a disastrous appearance on Fox News’s Hannity where she tried to defend calling herself a “lawyer” but not an “attorney.”

The news of her exit comes shortly after President Donald Trump told reporters that the media was treating Zacharia “nastily” but admitted he had suggested she “reconsider” the position.

“I said, ‘Katie, you don’t have do this if you don’t wanna.’ She said, ‘This is a lot tougher.’ I said, ‘Welcome to the world of Trump.’”

“Katie, do you need this? I don’t think you need this,” the president said he told her.

“I said to her, honestly if I were you, I’d reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider.”

CNN White House reporter Kaitlan Collins reported that Trump was “embarrassed by the coverage of Zacharia’s briefing and when he polled other aides about her, Zacharia had few allies willing to stand up for her or defend her performance.”

“The main reason he rushed to select her after growing irritated with how long the process was taking to replace Karoline Leavitt was because he wanted more people defending him on TV,” Collins added. “When she failed to do so in a sufficient way with Sean Hannity, Trump said he knew she needed to go.”

Zacharia has spent much of her five days as press secretary attempting to justify calling herself a “lawyer,” despite never having passed the bar exam. She may face investigation in the state of California for purportedly calling herself a “lawyer” without a license after a bar complaint was filed Wednesday.

“Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people’s pain,” ex–Trump communications director Antony Scaramucci wrote on X following Zacharia’s termination. Scaramucci stood behind the White House briefing room podium in Trump’s first term for a then-record 11 days, from July 21 to July 31, 2017. Zacharia lasted about 0.4 percent of that time.

Before the news of her firing, reporters asked the president if Zacharia would remain in his administration. “In some form, but maybe a more pleasant form,” he said.

“I just want her to be happy,” he added.

This story has been updated.

Canada’s Leader Roasts Trump With Joke About “Election Interference”

Prime Minister Mark Carney joked Donald Trump might get “touchy.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney raises a fist while speaking at a podium
Allison Seto/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Canadians may be extremely divided, but there is one thing they can all agree on: They don’t like Donald Trump.

Ahead of a referendum vote that could potentially put Alberta on the path toward independence, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged province residents at a rally in Calgary Thursday night to remain united in the face of pressure from foreign actors.

“The world has become more dangerous and divided,” Carney said. “Some outside our borders are working to break us so they can own us.”

Carney’s biggest moment of the night was when he spoke about fast-tracking the Pacific Link pipeline, formerly the West Coast Pipeline, connecting oil-rich Alberta to British Columbia.

The prime minister promised that the pipeline would reduce Canada’s dependence on the United States—and the crowd exploded into cheers.

“Careful, they might think that’s election interference. A little touchy,” Carney joked, as the audience laughed and cheered. “We’re not. We’re getting on with it. We are getting on with it.”

It was a major jab—one that is sure to get under Trump’s skin. As it stands, his rallies are more likely to devolve into fistfights than standing ovations.

Since Trump launched his trade war against America’s closest neighbor—leveling tariffs of up to 50 percent on hundreds of goods—relations have been icy, and keep getting icier. The White House has issued a torrent of threats, including promises to use “economic force” to annex Canada, and hints at other more direct methods, such as forced annexation. But Carney has already begun looking to expand the country’s trade partnerships in Europe.