Seth Stern, the Freedom of the Press Foundation’s director of advocacy, said in a separate statement that “when the government claims it needs to investigate journalists to protect national security, it really means its own reputational security”.
“The administration’s embarrassment” over the reported security concerns “does not supersede the need for a free and independent press”, Stern’s statement also said...
The US military launched a series of “powerful” strikes against Iran, it announced on Tuesday night, in response to what it said were “unwarranted, dangerous” Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels in the strait of Hormuz…
Iran blamed the US for the incident on Tuesday, saying Washington’s efforts to open up new routes through the strait constituted a breach of the memorandum of understanding the two parties had signed…
Paramount left out a significant fact in the press release announcing its offer: the bid includes funding from the private equity firm owned by Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, as well as three Arab monarchies, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which collectively have billions of dollars in ongoing ventures involving the Trump family business. Those details were buried in required paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/11/jared-kushner-paramount-warner-bros-deal
"The perception in the Gulf is that at worst is that the US didn't want to stop Israel and gave it a green light, or at best, that it doesn't care about the sovereignty of its Gulf allies," said Yasmine Farouk, project director at the International Crisis Group…
The uproar around Epstein is just the latest in a number of bubbling Trumpworld concerns. For Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host who now streams on X, it was the bombing of Iran. For Laura Loomer, a noted conspiracy theorist who has Trump's ear, it was Trump's acceptance of a luxury plane from Qatar. For Ben Shapiro, a pro-Trump podcaster, it was tariffs. For Joe Rogan, a massively popular podcaster, it was ICE raids targeting noncriminal, migrant workers. For Elon Musk, who recently left his role in DC as a special government employee, it was the Big Beautiful Bill...
https://www.wired.com/story/jeffrey-epstein-list-maga-angry-trump/
"My case is that so long as the relationship is corrupted by the gifts to Trump, we can't move forward on these arms sales," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told reporters earlier this week. "There are legitimate underlying policy debates on the two sales, but my case here is you should look beyond the merits of the sale and really focus on the corruption...
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5344818-senate-republicans-block-trump-jet-deal/
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, joined a chorus of detractors who highlighted questions about the gift's implications and Qatar's ties to Hamas.
"Accepting gifts from foreign nations is never a good practice. It threatens intelligence and national security," she wrote. "Especially when that nation supports a terrorist organization and allows those terrorist regimes to live on its soil."…
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and GOP firebrand senators are among those voicing discomfort with the deal...
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/13/senate-republicans-qatar-trump-jet-00345435
