Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered the following speech Feb. 14, 2026, at the Munich Security Conference, reaffirming and reframing America’s relationship with Europe. Watch the speech below, or read his remarks, slightly edited. We gather here today as members of a historic alliance, an alliance that saved and changed the world.  When this conference began in 1963, it was in a nation—actually, it was on a continent—that was divided against itself. The line between communism and freedom ran through the heart of Germany. The first barbed fences of the Berlin Wall had gone up just two years prior.  And just months before that first conference, before our predecessors first met here, here in Munich, the Cuban Missile Crisis had brought the world to the brink of nuclear destruction. Even as World War II still burned fresh in the memory of Americans and Europeans alike, we found ourselves staring down the barrel of a new global catastrophe—one with the potential for a new kind of destruction, more apocalyptic and final than anything before in the history of mankind. At the time of that first gathering, Soviet communism was on the march. Thousands of years of Western civilization hung in the balance. At that time, victory was far from certain. But we were driven by a common purpose. We were unified not just by what we were fighting against; we were unified by what we were fighting for. And together, Europe and America prevailed and a continent was rebuilt. Our people prospered.  In time, the East and West blocs were reunited. A civilization was once again made whole.  That infamous wall that had cleaved this nation into two came down, and with it an evil empire, and the East and West became one again.  But the euphoria of this triumph led us to a dangerous delusion: that we had entered, quote, “the end of history”; that every nation would now be a liberal democracy; that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood; that the rules-based global order—an overused term—would now replace the national interest; and that we would now live in a world without borders where everyone became a citizen of the world.  This was a foolish idea that ignored both human nature and it ignored the lessons of over 5,000 years of recorded human history. And it has cost us dearly.  In this delusion, we embraced a dogmatic vision of free and unfettered trade, even as some nations protected their economies and subsidized their companies to systematically undercut ours—shuttering our plants, resulting in large parts of our societies being deindustrialized, shipping millions of working and middle-class jobs overseas, and handing control of our critical supply chains to both adversaries and rivals.  We increasingly outsourced our sovereignty to international institutions while many nations invested in massive welfare states at the cost of maintaining the ability to defend themselves. This, even as other countries have invested in the most rapid military buildup in all of human history and have not hesitated to use hard power to pursue their own interests.  To appease a climate cult, we have imposed energy policies on ourselves that are impoverishing our people, even as our competitors exploit oil and coal and natural gas and anything else—not just to power their economies, but to use as leverage against our own.  And in a pursuit of a world without borders, we opened our doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people. We made these mistakes together, and now, together, we owe it to our people to face those facts and to move forward, to rebuild.  Under President [Donald] Trump, the United States of America will once again take on the task of renewal and restoration, driven by a vision of a future as proud, as sovereign, and as vital as our civilization’s past.  And while we are prepared, if necessary, to do this alone, it is our preference and it is our hope to do this together with you, our friends here in Europe.  For the United States and Europe, we belong together. America was founded 250 years ago, but the roots began here on this continent long before. The man who settled and built the nation of my birth arrived on our shores carrying the memories and the traditions and the Christian faith of their ancestors as a sacred inheritance, an unbreakable link between the old world and the new.  We are part of one civilization—Western civilization. We are bound to one another by the deepest bonds that nations could share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made together for the common civilization to which we have fallen heir. And so, this is why we Americans may sometimes come off as a little direct and urgent in our counsel.  This is why President Trump demands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends here in Europe.  The reason why, my friends, is because we care deeply. We care deeply about your future and ours. And if at times we disagree, our disagreements come from our profound sense of concern about a Europe with which we are connected—not just economically, not just militarily. We are connected spiritually and we are connected culturally.  We want Europe to be strong. We believe that Europe must survive, because the two great wars of the last century serve for us as history’s constant reminder that ultimately, our destiny is and will always be intertwined with yours, because we know that the fate of Europe will never be irrelevant to our own.  National security, which this conference is largely about, is not merely series of technical questions—how much we spend on defense or where, how we deploy it, these are important questions. They are. But they are not the fundamental one.  The fundamental question we must answer at the outset is what exactly are we defending, because armies do not fight for abstractions. Armies fight for a people; armies fight for a nation. Armies fight for a way of life.  And that is what we are defending: a great civilization that has every reason to be proud of its history, confident of its future, and aims to always be the master of its own economic and political destiny. It was here in Europe where the ideas that planted the seeds of liberty that changed the world were born.  It was here in Europe where the world—which gave the world the rule of law, the universities, and the scientific revolution.  It was this continent that produced the genius of Mozart and Beethoven, of Dante and Shakespeare, of Michelangelo and Da Vinci, of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.  And this is the place where the vaulted ceilings of the Sistine Chapel and the towering spires of the great cathedral in Cologne, they testify not just to the greatness of our past or to a faith in God that inspired these marvels.  They foreshadow the wonders that await us in our future. But only if we are unapologetic in our heritage and proud of this common inheritance can we together begin the work of envisioning and shaping our economic and our political future. Deindustrialization was not inevitable. It was a conscious policy choice, a decades-long economic undertaking that stripped our nations of their wealth, of their productive capacity, and of their independence.  And the loss of our supply chain sovereignty was not a function of a prosperous and healthy system of global trade. It was foolish. It was a foolish but voluntary transformation of our economy that left us dependent on others for our needs and dangerously vulnerable to crisis. Mass migration is not, was not, isn’t some fringe concern of little consequence. It was and continues to be a crisis which is transforming and destabilizing societies all across the West.  Together we can reindustrialize our economies and rebuild our capacity to defend our people. But the work of this new alliance should not be focused just on military cooperation and reclaiming the industries of the past. It should also be focused on, together, advancing our mutual interests and new frontiers, unshackling our ingenuity, our creativity, and the dynamic spirit to build a new Western century.  Commercial space travel and cutting-edge artificial intelligence; industrial automation and flex manufacturing; creating a Western supply chain for critical minerals not vulnerable to extortion from other powers; and a unified effort to compete for market share in the economies of the Global South.  Together we can not only take back control of our own industries and supply chains—we can prosper in the areas that will define the 21st century. But we must also gain control of our national borders. Controlling who and how many people enter our countries, this is not an expression of xenophobia. It is not hate. It is a fundamental act of national sovereignty. And the failure to do so is not just an abdication of one of our most basic duties owed to our people. It is an urgent threat to the fabric of our societies and the survival of our civilization itself. And finally, we can no longer place the so-called global order above the vital interests of our people and our nations. We do not need to abandon the system of international cooperation we authored, and we don’t need to dismantle the global institutions of the old order that together we built. But these must be reformed. These must be rebuilt.  For example, the United Nations still has tremendous potential to be a tool for good in the world. But we cannot ignore that today, on the most pressing matters before us, it has no answers and has played virtually no role. It could not solve the war in Gaza.  Instead, it was American leadership that freed captives from barbarians and brought about a fragile truce.  It had not solved the war in Ukraine. It took American leadership and partnership with many of the countries here today just to bring the two sides to the table in search of a still-elusive peace.  It was powerless to constrain the nuclear program of radical Shia clerics in Tehran. That required 14 bombs dropped with precision from American B-2 bombers. And it was unable to address the threat to our security from a narco-terrorist dictator in Venezuela.  Instead, it took American Special Forces to bring this fugitive to justice.  In a perfect world, all of these problems and more would be solved by diplomats and strongly worded resolutions. But we do not live in a perfect world, and we cannot continue to allow those who blatantly and openly threaten our citizens and endanger our global stability to shield themselves behind abstractions of international law which they themselves routinely violate.  This is the path that President Trump and the United States has embarked upon. It is the path we ask you here in Europe to join us on. It is a path we have walked together before and hope to walk together again.  For five centuries, before the end of the Second World War, the West had been expanding—its missionaries, its pilgrims, its soldiers, its explorers pouring out from its shores to cross oceans, settle new continents, build vast empires extending out across the globe.  But in 1945, for the first time since the age of Columbus, it was contracting. Europe was in ruins. Half of it lived behind an Iron Curtain and the rest looked like it would soon follow. The great Western empires had entered into terminal decline, accelerated by godless communist revolutions and by anti-colonial uprisings that would transform the world and drape the red hammer and sickle across vast swaths of the map in the years to come.  Against that backdrop, then, as now, many came to believe that the West’s age of dominance had come to an end and that our future was destined to be a faint and feeble echo of our past. But together, our predecessors recognized that decline was a choice, and it was a choice they refused to make.  This is what we did together once before, and this is what President Trump and the United States want to do again now, together with you.  And this is why we do not want our allies to be weak, because that makes us weaker. We want allies who can defend themselves so that no adversary will ever be tempted to test our collective strength. This is why we do not want our allies to be shackled by guilt and shame.  We want allies who are proud of their culture and of their heritage, who understand that we are heirs to the same great and noble civilization, and who, together with us, are willing and able to defend it.  And this is why we do not want allies to rationalize the broken status quo rather than reckon with what is necessary to fix it, for we in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline. We do not seek to separate, but to revitalize an old friendship and renew the greatest civilization in human history.  What we want is a reinvigorated alliance that recognizes that what has ailed our societies is not just a set of bad policies but a malaise of hopelessness and complacency. An alliance—the alliance that we want is one that is not paralyzed into inaction by fear—fear of climate change, fear of war, fear of technology.  Instead, we want an alliance that boldly races into the future. And the only fear we have is the fear of the shame of not leaving our nations prouder, stronger, and wealthier for our children.  An alliance ready to defend our people, to safeguard our interests, and to preserve the freedom of action that allows us to shape our own destiny—not one that exists to operate a global welfare state and atone for the purported sins of past generations.  An alliance that does not allow its power to be outsourced, constrained, or subordinated to systems beyond its control; one that does not depend on others for the critical necessities of its national life; and one that does not maintain the polite pretense that our way of life is just one among many and that asks for permission before it acts.  And above all, an alliance based on the recognition that we, the West, have inherited together—what we have inherited together is something that is unique and distinctive and irreplaceable, because this, after all, is the very foundation of the transatlantic bond.  Acting together in this way, we will not just help recover a sane foreign policy. It will restore to us a clearer sense of ourselves. It will restore a place in the world, and in so doing, it will rebuke and deter the forces of civilizational erasure that today menace both America and Europe alike. So in a time of headlines heralding the end of the transatlantic era, let it be known and clear to all that this is neither our goal nor our wish—because for us Americans, our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.  Our story began with an Italian explorer whose adventure into the great unknown to discover a new world brought Christianity to the Americas—and became the legend that defined the imagination of our pioneer nation. Our first colonies were built by English settlers, to whom we owe not just the language we speak but the whole of our political and legal system. Our frontiers were shaped by Scots-Irish—that proud, hearty clan from the hills of Ulster that gave us Davy Crockett and Mark Twain and Teddy Roosevelt and Neil Armstrong.  Our great midwestern heartland was built by German farmers and craftsmen who transformed empty plains into a global agricultural powerhouse—and by the way, dramatically upgraded the quality of American beer.  Our expansion into the interior followed the footsteps of French fur traders and explorers whose names, by the way, still adorn the street signs and towns’ names all across the Mississippi Valley. Our horses, our ranches, our rodeos—the entire romance of the cowboy archetype that became synonymous with the American West—these were born in Spain.  And our largest and most iconic city was named New Amsterdam before it was named New York. And do you know that in the year that my country was founded, Lorenzo and Catalina Geroldi lived in Casale Monferrato in the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. And Jose and Manuela Reina lived in Sevilla, Spain. I don’t know what, if anything, they knew about the 13 colonies which had gained their independence from the British empire, but here’s what I am certain of: They could have never imagined that 250 years later, one of their direct descendants would be back here today on this continent as the chief diplomat of that infant nation. And yet here I am, reminded by my own story that both our histories and our fates will always be linked. Together we rebuilt a shattered continent in the wake of two devastating world wars.  When we found ourselves divided once again by the Iron Curtain, the free West linked arms with the courageous dissidents struggling against tyranny in the East to defeat Soviet communism.  We have fought against each other, then reconciled, then fought, then reconciled again.  And we have bled and died side by side on battlefields from Kapyong to Kandahar.  And I am here today to leave it clear that America is charting the path for a new century of prosperity, and that once again we want to do it together with you, our cherished allies and our oldest friends.  We want to do it together with you, with a Europe that is proud of its heritage and of its history; with a Europe that has the spirit of creation of liberty that sent ships out into uncharted seas and birthed our civilization; with a Europe that has the means to defend itself and the will to survive.  We should be proud of what we achieved together in the last century, but now we must confront and embrace the opportunities of a new one—because yesterday is over, the future is inevitable, and our destiny together awaits. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Marco Rubio in Munich: ‘We Want an Alliance That Boldly Races to the Future’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

REUTERS–Cuban forces killed four people and wounded six others aboard a Florida-registered speedboat that entered Cuban waters on Wednesday and opened fire on a Cuban patrol, the Cuban government said at a time of heightened tensions with the United States. Cuba’s Interior Ministry said the group was comprised of anti-government Cubans, some of whom were previously wanted in Cuba. It said the group came from the U.S. armed with assault rifles, handguns, homemade explosives, ballistic vests and telescopic sights. An additional Cuban suspect was detained inside Cuban territory in connection with the plot, the statement said. “According to preliminary statements from the detainees, they intended to carry out an infiltration for terrorist purposes,” the Interior Ministry said in an official statement. The wounded were evacuated and receiving medical attention, while the Cuban patrol commander was also wounded, the ministry said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters it was not a U.S. operation and that no U.S. government personnel were involved. Cuban authorities made the U.S. aware of the incident, but the U.S. embassy in Havana would attempt to independently verify what happened, Rubio said. “We are going to have our own information on this, we are going to figure out exactly what happened, and there are a number of things that could have happened here,” Rubio said. “Suffice to say it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that,” he said. The incident took place as the U.S. has blocked virtually all oil shipments to the island, increasing pressure on the Communist-run government. American forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Jan. 3, removing a key Cuban ally from power, and Rubio reiterated his rhetoric against the Cuban government on Wednesday, calling the status quo unsustainable and saying Cuba needed to change “dramatically.” Cuba said it identified the six detainees from the boat, two of whom were previously wanted in Cuba on suspicion of planning terrorist acts against Cuba: Amijail Sanchez Gonzalez and Leordan Enrique Cruz Gomez.  In addition, Cuba said it detained another Cuban man in Cuban territory who had come from the U.S. to the island in order to receive the infiltrators. One of the dead was identified as Michel Ortega Casanova, while the other three dead had yet to be identified, Cuba said. The speedboat came within one nautical mile of a channel on Falcones Cay, on the north coast of Cuba about 120 miles east of Havana, when it was approached by five members of a Cuban border patrol unit, Cuba said. The speedboat then opened fire, wounding the commander of the Cuban vessel, the statement said. Cuba said the speedboat was registered in Florida with the number FL7726SH. “Faced with the current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its commitment to protecting its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defense is a fundamental pillar for the Cuban state in safeguarding its sovereignty and stability in the region,” the Cuban statement said.  Florida politicians called for separate investigations, saying they did not trust the Cuban account.  Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said he was ordering prosecutors to open an investigation in conjunction with other state and federal law enforcement partners.  Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a Republican whose district includes the southern tip of Florida, called for a federal investigation, saying he had asked the State Department and military to look into the matter. “United States authorities must determine whether any of the victims were U.S. citizens or legal residents and establish exactly what occurred,” Gimenez said. Originally published by Reuters The post Cuba Says It Killed 4, Wounded 6 Others Aboard Speedboat, Including Wanted Cubans Who Came From US appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Vice President JD Vance announced he is withholding Medicaid reimbursements from Minnesota while the administration investigates fraud in the state. When asked by The Daily Signal if this plan should be viewed as a playbook for fighting fraud in the rest of the country, Vance said, “I think you can, certainly.” “There are certain things that we’re doing in Minneapolis and Minnesota that I’m not gonna be able to do in other parts of the country, because the fraud is gonna be different in each place,” he said. “But yeah, I get this basic model of saying to people, ‘Hey, you get a massive amount of money to provide a service to people.’ Did you actually provide that service?” NEW?: @VP just announced he is withholding Medicaid reimbursement from MN during the fraud investigation. I asked him if this should be viewed as a playbook for fighting fraud in other states. "I think you can, certainly. There are certain things that we're doing in… pic.twitter.com/4ehGLCbl2O— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) February 25, 2026 In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump tapped Vance to lead the “war on fraud” throughout the country. Vance announced the first move in this war on Wednesday—withholding reimbursements for $259.5 million in Medicaid funds for Minnesota pending investigation. “The providers on the ground in Minnesota have actually already been paid. The state has paid those providers the money,” Vance said. “What we’re doing is we are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American taxpayer.” Curbing fraud shouldn’t be controversial, Vance told The Daily Signal. “The fact that it’s even controversial, that we’re asking these questions as a government goes to show how much the culture of fraud has permeated Washington D.C.,” Vance said. “Think about this once you heard about people who take money from from autistic children. They pretend their children, or some other person’s kid is autistic, they collect a fake check, they don’t provide an ounce of services, and then the very money that’s supposed to go to needy kids isn’t there anymore to help those needy children.” Vance shared a story about fraudsters exploiting funding meant to provide after school programs to autistic children. “The fact that we have so normalized this, and the fact that I guarantee there will be voices in the media, there’ll be voices in the state of Minnesota who say this is hurting children,” Vance said. “No, it’s hurting fraudsters.” “The way to protect kids is to go after those fraudsters,” Vance added, “which is what we’re doing.” Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has 60 days to respond to Vance about the matter. “All we need the governor and the administration of Minnesota to do is something quite simple, which is to show that before you give Medicaid funds to somebody, you’re taking seriously whether they provided the services that they say that they’re providing,” Vance said. “And the fact that there are so many people handing out millions and billions of dollars of federal Medicaid money without even confirming that they’re doing the thing that they say that they’re doing, it’s a disgrace,” Vance said. “It’s defrauding the American taxpayer, and we’re stopping it.” The post ‘It’s a Disgrace’: Vance Reveals Playbook for Combatting Fraud in United States appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Congressional Republicans are pushing to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining Commercial Driver’s Licenses in the wake of President Donald Trump acknowledging five-year-old Dalilah Coleman during his State of the Union address. Coleman was nearly killed in 2022 by Partap Singh, an illegal immigrant truck driver in California, after he did not stop his 18-wheeler at a stop sign. “Many, if not most, illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs as to direction, speed, danger, or location,” Trump said. “President Trump is spot on: left-wing lunatics like Gavin Newsom are getting Americans killed by giving out driver’s licenses to illegals,” Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., told The Daily Signal. Barr and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced the Secure Commercial Driver Licensing Act in October to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining Commercial Driver’s Licenses, or CDLs for short. The Secure Commercial Driver Licensing Act aims to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining CDLs through a more rigorous permitting process and adding accountability measures. The bill requires all testing related to the issuance or renewal of CDL’s and non-domiciled CDL’s to be conducted only in English. The bill also directs the Secretary of Transportation the authority to revoke a state’s authority to issue non-domiciled CDLs if found non-compliant with federal standards and to require individuals to hold a standard driver’s license for one year before obtaining a CDL. The president endorsing the idea of preventing illegal immigrants from obtaining CDLs at the State of the Union could serve as a boon to the Republicans’ efforts. Barr’s office confirmed with The Daily Signal that the legislation will augment efforts to achieve justice for Coleman. “That’s why Senator Cotton and I are leading the charge to put an end to this by punishing states that do this and requiring all testing for CDL’s to be in English,” Barr added. As recently reported by The Daily Signal, states like California outsource the vetting and training process for drivers to third party driving schools, which often go with little verification from government authorities. “States issue CDLs based on the say-so of driving schools. Many drivers have never had a representative from Department of Motor Vehicles with them in the vehicle during a driving test,” Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies Mark Krikorian told The Daily Signal. Cotton echoed Barr’s remarks and told The Daily Signal that by administering CDL’s to illegal migrants “who can’t read English road signs,” Democrats continue to endanger Americans. Barr described the bill as “common-sense legislation to end this dangerous practice and require commercial drivers to pass an English-only test.” Other Republican legislators, such as Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., Sen. Tommy Tubberville, R-Ala., and Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., backed conservative efforts to crack down on illegal immigrant truck drivers. “When it comes to preventing illegal aliens from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses, anyone who is against this policy has lost all semblance of common sense,” Fitzpatrick told The Daily Signal. In a statement shared with The Daily Signal, Tuberville added that in order to drive a truck, “you should be able to speak English fluently.” Today, I had the honor of meeting with the Coleman family, whose 5-year-old daughter, Dalilah Coleman, was nearly killed by an illegal trucker.We’re so grateful that Dalilah is still with us today – but this horrible accident NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED.We must ensure that… pic.twitter.com/qSJqibeImv— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) February 4, 2026 “This protects our law enforcement officers and the public. This is not only about safety and efficiency – it’s just commonsense,” Tuberville added. Earlier this month, Tuberville hosted the Coleman family in his congressional office. The post 5-Year-Old’s Near-Death Experience Moves Congress to Stop Illegals From Truck Driving appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Last week, a man who allegedly shot the founder of a charity 10 times while he lay in bed with his wife got off without a prison sentence—because the prosecutor, backed by groups funded by Hungarian American billionaire George Soros, agreed to let him plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Gret Glyer had founded DonorSee, a charity platform that allowed donors to support specific people while giving video updates to show the donor’s concrete impact. Joshua Danehower, 37, who had gone on one date with Glyer’s wife Heather about 10 years previously, allegedly broke into the family’s house, snuck into the bedroom, and fired 10 shots into Gret Glyer, leaving his wife a widow and his two young children fatherless. Due to the plea agreement, however, Danehower will move from a jail cell to a mental health facility. After a year, he will receive a psychological evaluation and may then gain his freedom. Danehower is far from alone, however. Steve Descano, the commonwealth’s attorney for Fairfax County, Virginia, has overseen at least 10 murder pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity. Mental Health America notes that defendants charged with a felony use the insanity plea in less than 1% of cases, and it only succeeds 25% of the time. Yet, according to the victims’ rights group Virginians for Safe Communities, fewer than 50 murder cases have been disposed in the last three years, while Descano’s office has begun the insanity plea process for at least 10 murder defendants — around a 1-in-5 ratio. Descano’s office did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. Are murder suspects in Fairfax County really over 20 times more insane than felony defendants across the country? Critics presented an alternative explanation: the bias of Steve Descano. A Strong Murder Case “Steve Descano’s office allows 1-in-5 murderers to get an insanity plea,” Gizan Glyer, the victim’s sister, told The Daily Signal Tuesday. “Gret Glyer’s admitted murderer avoiding prison is not an anomaly,” she argued. “It is part of a pattern of corruption and incompetence displayed by the Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney’s office. My family not only fears for our lives, but the lives of our community members.” “Everyone should know what Descano is getting away with,” she added. The bereaved sister noted that detectives found a trove of evidence, including “a manifesto, a map of my brother’s whereabouts, and bullet casings at the crime scene that matched bullet casings left at the gun range he visited 3 days after the murder.” “This all points to a premeditated, targeted murder of Gret,” Gizan Glyer added. Yet, due to the insanity plea, Danehower “can now be released from the mental health facility as early as next year, and every year after that will continue to appeal his release.” According to NBC4, the psychologist’s report says Danehower came to believe Grett Gyler was part of the “illuminati” and had forced Heather into marrying him, and thought that he had to kill him. ‘The Rogue Prosecutor’ Movement One expert told The Daily Signal that this trend of increased insanity pleas is “very much par for the course, where essentially you have the prosecutor functioning as another defense attorney, for the defendant, instead of seeking justice for the victims.” Zack Smith, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation and author of the book “Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers Are Destroying America’s Communities,” also noted that Descano represents part of a larger movement, funded by Hungarian American billionaire George Soros. During his 2019 election, Descano received $659,054 from two PACs funded substantially by Soros—Justice and Public Safety PAC and New Virginia Majority. This sum accounted for more than two-thirds of his approximately $950,000 in overall donations. He received $82,793 from these PACs during his 2023 re-election campaign. Neither the Justice and Public Safety PAC nor New Virginia Majority responded to The Daily Signal’s requests for comment. The Daily Signal reached out to the Open Society Foundations to see if Soros would comment, but did not receive a response. While the Justice and Public Safety PAC says it aims to “elect better prosecutors,” Smith wrote that it forms part of “a devious scheme to replace law and order prosecutors with zealots opposed to the death penalty.” In the 30 U.S. cities with the highest murder rates, Smith noted, at least 14 had prosecutors backed or inspired by Soros in 2022. “Descano has certainly been very aggressive about not prosecuting certain offenders,” Smith told The Daily Signal. Descano has refused to seek the death penalty, even when family members of victims urge him to do so. Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares released an investigative report into Descano’s office last October. Among other things, Miyares faulted the attorney for “improper plea agreements,” including falsely stating that victims had agreed to lenient plea agreements. Miyares Descano ReportDownload Descano dismissed the report as “a sad, last-ditch political stunt by a man who’s about to lose an election.” Miyares did lose his re-election campaign in November. Sean Kennedy, the president of Virginians for Safe Communities, attributed Descano’s “inordinately high rate of granting insanity pleas to murderers” to “incompetence at the law and indifference toward victims and justice.” “Under Virginia law, simply having a mental illness does not mean you are not criminally responsible,” Kennedy told The Daily Signal. “Signs of premeditation, cover-up, and clear motive all but negate the insanity defense. Virginia jurors should have been allowed to decide the fate of these killers, not Steve Descano and his handpicked shrinks.” The post Soros-Backed Prosecutor Approves Unusually High Number of Insanity Pleas in Murder Cases appeared first on The Daily Signal.