The Religious Liberty Commission met Monday for the first time at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., to discuss faith policies. The Commission was presided over by Chairman and Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Vice Chairman Dr. Ben Carson. The commission was first established back in May by an executive order from President Trump. The executive order commissioned a panel of professionals and public religious figures under the Department of Justice and Attorney General Pamela Bondi, who spoke at this first meeting. Some notable members of the commission include Catholic Bishop Robert Barron, the founder of Word on Fire Ministry, and Pastor Paula White, the senior advisor to the White House Faith Office. Pastor Franklin Graham, a well-known Evangelical minister, Dr. Phil McGraw, host of the “Dr. Phil” talk show, and Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, a premier Orthodox rabbi based in Manhattan, also serve on the commission. The commission will run until July 4th, 2026, unless extended by Trump. Over the next year, the commission will meet periodically to hear the testimonies of prominent legal scholars and religious leaders. Patrick began the meeting by restating the commission’s purpose, as laid out in its charter. The purpose, he said, was “to advise and to report to the president” their findings on the treatment of religion in America. Carson, who has previously served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the first Trump administration, stated that the commission’s goal is to promote spirituality among Americans. “This commission promotes freedom of beliefs and that spiritual aspect of our existence that advances civilization,” Carson said. “We will strive to facilitate the maintenance of one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Kelly Shackelford, a constitutional scholar and member of the commission, remarked that, as the Founders of America believed, the first battle against dictatorial power would be fought on the grounds of religious freedom. Religious freedom, he said, is the “precipice of all of our freedoms.” Paula White, a member of the commission, leads the first White House Faith Office for the president. White commented, “The Commission will focus on long-term strategies to secure religious freedom for future generations. We will gather data, conduct legal analysis, hold public hearings to capture the stories of everyday Americans related to religious liberty.” Later in the meeting, Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on the Trump administration’s stance toward religious liberty. “From the start, the United States of America was envisioned as a place where religious liberty meant the freedom to discern good from evil without the heavy hand of the government weighing in,” she said. Bondi condemned the arrests of pro-life Christians, those who blocked access to synagogues in antisemitic protests, the prosecution of church gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Biden administration’s declaration of a transgender day of visibility on Easter in 2024, as well as other anti-religious acts. Bondi added, “This president and this administration are fully committed to restoring and defending religious liberty for all Americans. The Religious Liberty Commission will be the tip of the spear. Together we will return America to the vision of our Founders – a nation where faith merely isn’t tolerated but it’s embraced and celebrated.”

A security camera captured the moment when a tourist broke a Swarovski crystal-studded museum display dubbed the “Van Gogh” chair after sitting in it. The incident occurred in April, but has been circulating on social media after just being released by the Palazzo Maffei museum, which is located in the Italian city of Verona. The video shows a woman at first pretending to sit in the chair art piece, which was made by Italian artist Nicola Bolla. Next, her male companion gets into the same pose, only in his case puts his weight on the chair, causing both of the front legs to buckle. The man stumbles before the camera captures the pair rushing out of the room. “They waited for the staff to leave the room,” museum director Vanessa Carlon said in a video posted on its social media. “And then … off they went, indifferent to what had happened.” “Sometimes we lose our brains to take a picture, and we don’t think about the consequences,” Carlon added. “Of course it was an accident, but these two people left without speaking to us—that isn’t an accident. This is a nightmare for any museum.” “On the chair was a note warning people not to touch, and of course it is placed on a pedestal, so it’s quite clear it’s not a real chair,” Carlotta Menegazzo, an art historian who works at Palazzo Maffei, told BBC. She added that the sculpture only resembled a chair, but was actually crafted out of crystal-studded tinfoil. The piece, which was inspired by Van Gogh’s famous 1888 painting “Van Gogh’s Chair,” has since been repaired by the museum’s restoration department and is on display to the public again. Reps said the video has been released as a reminder to visitors about how to treat the artwork at their facility. “Art must be respected!” the museum said in a press release, per USA Today. They added that the video was released “to make this serious event an opportunity for reflection for everyone.” The couple has not been identified.

Israeli secret service operatives used a fake phone call to trigger what appeared to be an “emergency meeting” among Iran’s top military leaders — and then targeted the location of the meeting. According to a report published Tuesday by The Jewish Chronicle, Mossad used Iranian communication channels as part of a coordinated disinformation campaign targeting top Iranian Air Force officials and luring them all to the same location for what they believed to be an important meeting. Amit Segal told the Call Me Back podcast on Monday: “What Israel did was create a fake phone call for 20 members of the air force senior staff an calling them to a specific bunker in Tehran.” This meant there was no one to give the order to fire the initial salvo of 1,000 ballistic missiles as Iran had previously threatened to do, he added. The added bonus for the Israelis was that Iranian military leadership was essentially crippled from the moment of Israel’s first strike against the world’s top sponsor of terrorism. As The Chronicle reported, Mossad had used “falsified communications through Iranian channels” to call the meeting — which successfully lured “the entire senior leadership of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, including Commander General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, his deputies, and key technical personnel, into a fortified bunker outside Tehran.” Shortly before the first Israeli missiles struck other targets across Iran, “that bunker was hit in a precision airstrike, eliminating Iran’s top missile command.” As a result, no one was “alive to give the command to strike back” when Israel hit Iran with the first missile barrage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country had no choice but to act as Iran has continued to pursue nuclear weapons capabilities — and President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly voiced support for Israel, has said on numerous television appearances dating back more than a decade that the Iranian regime could not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.

Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that he was feeling “optimistic” about the “One, Big Beautiful Bill” after a meeting with Senate Republicans in which they discussed the legislation that seeks to provide funding and support for President Donald Trump’s second-term priorities. In an exchange with reporters on Capitol Hill, Vance acknowledged there remain some kinks to work out. “They recognize that it’s important to prevent the largest tax increase in American history and give working families some tax relief in this country,” Vance said. “They also know we’ve gotta reform some of our important programs, and I think that they’re in a mood to do that.” He added: “They’ve got obviously some things they’re going to work through as a natural part of the legislative process, but I was very gratified and optimistic about what I just heard, so I think we’re going to be able to get this thing passed and get on with the next step of the president’s agenda.” Medicaid remains a major point of contention among GOP lawmakers who are negotiating the finer details of the bill, which passed the House last month. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), for instance, has been insistent that the program not face cuts that have been proposed. Vance, who is a former Republican senator from Ohio, said he told members that he wants to “work with” some of the concerns they have about the legislation and he understands there are “some details about how you actually work on the Medicaid reforms.” But, he stressed, there is already broad consensus in certain areas— particularly when it comes to illegal immigrants getting coverage and work requirements. “I think pretty much everybody agrees you don’t want illegal aliens to receive Medicaid,” Vance said. “You don’t want people who choose not to work to receive largess from the government. There’s broad alignment there, but some of the details are going to matter, and that’s what they’re all working on right now.” That view is shared by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). “It shouldn’t be available for illegal immigrants,” Thune recently said of Medicaid on “The Will Cain Show” on Fox News. “There are people who are ineligible. There are people, able-bodied males who are of working age, there ought to be a work requirement attached to it. These are all reforms to a program that was desperately in need of reform.” Vance said he met with Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, on Monday. “She’s got some concerns and other folks have concerns,” Vance said. “You just have to work through them. You have to identify what are the ways that we can address those concerns. If we can’t address that concern in your preferred way, is there another way that we can fix it? That’s just the legislative process, of course. A lot of these guys have seen this work for longer than I’ve seen it.” He also emphasized: “They’re all very confident we’re eventually going to get there, but we just got to work through some issues. Each member, each state is different. They’re doing a good job of constituent services for the people they represent, and part of that is making this bill as good as it possibly can [be].” While the Trump administration expressed hope for the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” making it through Congress by July 4, that may prove to be overly ambitious. Vance said he believes Congress is in a “good place” to get it passed by the “end of the July 4th recess.” Still, progress is being made. The Senate Finance Committee released on Monday text for the legislation that falls under its jurisdiction. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) touted how the panel included a provision he offered that seeks to stop taxpayer funding of transgender surgeries from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. “No American taxpayer should have to fund radical gender transition surgeries, and I am proud that my bill to prohibit federal dollars from funding these dangerous procedures has been included in the Senate’s One Big Beautiful Bill,” Cornyn said in a statement. “I will continue to fight alongside President Trump to protect our most vulnerable and ensure taxpayer dollars are no longer used to advance the far left’s woke agenda.” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has said he would consider backing the bill if its proposed debt ceiling increase is removed. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m willing to negotiate if the White House strips the massive $5 TRILLION, long-term debt ceiling increase and replaces it with short-term extensions tied to real spending reforms. Fiscal responsibility isn’t a talking point. It’s a principle,” Paul declared Monday on X.

Actor and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger slammed the violent mobs rioting across the U.S. during his Thursday appearance on “The View,” criticizing illegal aliens for not acting as “guests.” Joy Behar, one of the hosts of “The View,” attempted to bait the “Terminator” star by asking him if he had a “visceral reaction” to the ICE raids happening throughout the country, as he is an immigrant himself. Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t take the bait when The View’s Joy Behar asks him about the ICE raids in California: “I’m so, so happy to see first-hand that this IS the greatest country in the world and it IS the land of opportunity… …When you come to America, you’re a guest.… pic.twitter.com/4FKa47Q6KM — Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 17, 2025 “I am so proud and happy that I was embraced by the American people,” Schwarzenegger replied. “Every single thing — if it’s my bodybuilding career, if it’s my acting career, becoming governor, the beautiful family that I’ve created — all of this is because of America. And so this is why I’m so, so happy [to] see first hand that this is the greatest country in the world and it is the land of opportunity.” Schwarzenegger then announced that he will deliver a speech at Mount Vernon to celebrate the 250th birthday of America, where some immigrants will be sworn in as U.S. citizens, and that he is excited to celebrate the benefits of immigration. “The key thing also is, at the same time, that you’ve got to do things [legally],” he clarified. “That is the important thing. Those people that are doing illegal things in America — and they’re the foreigners — they are not smart.” As he spoke, multiple hosts attempted to interrupt him, with Sunny Hostin even placing her hand on Schwarzenegger’s arm as though she wanted him to stop speaking. “When you come to America, you’re a guest and you have to behave like a guest,” Schwarzenegger stated. “Like, when I go to someone’s house and I’m a guest, I will do everything I can to keep things clean and to make my bed and to do everything that is the right thing to do rather than committing a crime or being abusive or something like that.” Schwarzenegger has criticized the Trump administration and previously endorsed Kamala Harris’ presidential run, remaining one of the few Republicans to oppose Donald Trump. However, his rhetoric on “The View” conflicts with mainstream leftist views on the immigration crisis. “The important thing is, when you become an immigrant, to think about — okay, I go to America because I want to use America for the great opportunities that America has in education, in jobs, [and in] creating a family. … Then you have to think about — okay, if I get all of those things from America, then I have to give something back. You have a responsibility as an immigrant to give back to America and to pay back America and to go and do something for your community for no money whatsoever. … Make this country a better place.”  The hosts attempted to interrupt, but could not be heard after the audience erupted into applause.

The Justice Department announced more charges against suspects accused of taking part in the violent anti-ICE riots that rocked parts of California last week. U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli announced that federal officials had charged three more individuals over violent anti-immigration enforcement riots that broke out in Los Angeles County. Essayli was joined at a press conference by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who told rioters that “we are coming for you” and that law enforcement would track them down. “We have zero tolerance for violence. As the district attorney said, you have an absolute right to peacefully protest, you have no right to destroy property or to engage in acts of violence, especially at our law enforcement officers,” Essayli said, noting that the Justice Department had charged more than 20 individuals for engaging in violence. One of those charged was Adam Charles Palermo, who Essayli said “was caught on video participating in the attack, his social media account contained a collage of photographs and videos depicting a man holding flying debris, a California Highway patrol car on fire, and various other damage to California Highway Patrol cars.” Essayli said that Palermo posted a caption on a post about the riot that of all the “protests I’ve been involved in, which is well over 100 now, I’m most proud of what I did today.” Palermo, charged with attempted arson of a vehicle used in interstate or foreign commerce, faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 20 years behind bars. Another suspect charged by the Justice Department was Angus Johnson, who Essayli said spit on a California National Guardsman. “Johnson then spit on other federal police officers present who were trying to keep the peace,” Essayli said. “As our president said, if you spit, we hit, and we will hit you with a felony.” If convicted, Johnson could face up to eight years in prison. The press conference comes after Essayli announced last Friday that Alejandro Theodoro Orellana was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit civil disorder. Essayli alleged that Orellana distributed face shields to those taking part in the violence.

R&B recording artist R. Kelly was taken to the hospital after experiencing symptoms of an overdose while spending time in solitary confinement, per an emergency motion for his release. “Bureau of Prisons officials administered an amount of medication that significantly exceeded a safe dose and caused Mr. Kelly to overdose, putting his life in jeopardy,” the third supplement to the emergency motion filed by his attorney Beau Brindley says. The document also notes how the singer “takes medication for anxiety and to help him sleep, in addition to other medications.”  Brindley has been working to get his client released onto house arrest, claiming his life is in danger as long as he’s in prison, per People. Kelly’s attorney also claimed his client required surgery that the prison was hindering him from getting. “Mr. Kelly’s life is in jeopardy right now because the Bureau of Prisons denied him necessary surgery to clear clots from his lungs,” the supplement says. “He could die from this condition, and they are letting it happen. There is no legitimate explanation for that.” The 55-year-old performer was found guilty on three of four counts of child pornography by a federal jury in 2022, as The Daily Wire previously reported. The charges carry a minimum of 10 years in prison. Kelly was also found guilty on three of five counts of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. The conviction comes after a judge convicted Kelly on all nine counts of racketeering and sex trafficking in New York earlier that same year. He was already serving a 30-year sentence behind bars as a result of that trial when the second guilty verdict was handed down.  The singer has allegedly been in solitary confinement ever since Brindley filed an emergency motion seeking a temporary furlough on June 10, the outlet noted. Brindley is also trying to secure a presidential pardon for his client and claims to have spoken with contacts with ties to Trump. Kelly and the president have no previous relationship beyond the fact that Kelly once lived in Trump Tower. “He is not safe in federal custody,” Brindley said. “And to keep him in prison while he is under threat like this is cruel and unusual punishment.”

In April, Estée Lauder honored Elizabeth Hurley with the Beauty Idol Award to commemorate 30 years with the brand. Elizabeth shined on the red carpet alongside her son, Damien, and shared her excitement on social media. Just two months later, Elizabeth Hurley once again posted on Instagram about Estée Lauder, but this time, she’s grieving the loss of a loved one. Leonard Lauder, Chairman Emeritus of Estée Lauder Companies Inc., passed away at age 92. Leonard was a pioneer in the cosmetics industry and helped create some of the biggest brands in the beauty world. Leonard Lauder’s son, William P. Lauder, announced his father’s death in a news release. “He was the most charitable man I have ever known, believing that art and education belonged to everyone and championing the fight against diseases such as Alzheimer’s and breast cancer. Above all, my father was a man who practiced kindness with everyone he met,” he shared. “His impact was enormous. He believed that employees were the heart and soul of our company, and they adored him and moments spent with him. His warmth and thoughtfulness made an imprint on our company, the industry, and, of course, our family. Together with my family, The Estée Lauder Companies, and the countless people he touched, we celebrate his extraordinary life.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Elizabeth Hurley (@elizabethhurley1) Elizabeth Hurley Called The Estée Lauder Executive Her “American Daddy” Elizabeth Hurley penned a touching message on Instagram following the loss of Leonard Lauder. “I’m devastated to hear about the passing of my beloved friend and mentor, the remarkable Leonard Lauder. Since welcoming me into the Estée Lauder family in 1995, Leonard remained a beacon of constant love and support. I called him my American Daddy and I can’t imagine a world without him. We last spoke a few weeks ago, when Leonard called to congratulate me on entering my 30th year with the Estée Lauder Companies,” she wrote. “A truly kind, endlessly charming and unbelievably intelligent man… I shall cherish our memories for the rest of my life.” This story’s featured image is by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images. The post Elizabeth Hurley Grieves Death Of Longtime Friend And Mentor appeared first on InspireMore.

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