'Wild West methods'

The House of Representatives narrowly approved a spending bill Thursday funding the Department of Homeland Security — and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — over the vast majority of Democrats’ fierce objections. Lawmakers voted 220-207 to approve the standalone bill with just seven Democrats supporting the measure. House Democrats have largely opposed continuing to fund […]

'There are no snipers in the tree line'

Former special counsel Jack Smith couldn’t answer how much in tax dollars went to confidential sources in his nearly two-year investigation of President Donald Trump.  House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, pushed Smith on the topic during the committee hearing on Thursday. Jordan noted that at least $20,000 went to a single source to review video and photos of the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol, as part of Smith’s investigation into the incident. Smith answered that he couldn’t remember if there were more such expenses. “What I want to know is how much of that $35 million of taxpayer money did you give to confidential human sources?” Jodan asked. “We know you gave $20,000 to someone.” Smith said the $20,000 was a payment from the FBI to a confidential source, that he approved. “My recollection regarding the $20,000, which is not a payment from me, I was approving a payment by the FBI to a confidential human source, who was reviewing video and photography,” Smith said.   Jordan asked the identity of the source, but Smith said he did not know. President Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed Smith as special counsel to investigate Donald Trump over his challenge to the results of the 2020 election and his potentially unlawful possession of classified information.  Smith ultimately secured indictments against Trump in both investigations. Republican lawmakers grilled Smith on Thursday over his securing warrants to review congressional phone records without telling judges whom he was investigating. Jordan asked Smith how many payments went to confidential sources, to which Smith responded that he did not know. Jordan noted that Smith had information from multiple government agencies, the Republican National Committee, and members of Congress.  “Why did you have to pay people for information?” Jordan asked. “My recollection and understanding is the payment, the $20,000 that I approved, was for a confidential human source to assist in the review of video and photographic evidence showing people who were attacking the Capitol,” Smith said.  The post What Jack Smith Didn’t Say About Paid Confidential Informants appeared first on The Daily Signal.

On Thursday morning, the broadcast networks trudged out into the bone-chilling, snowy cold of Minneapolis to stir up trouble and smear Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents with their preferred narratives of the day from their allies in the deep-pocked, far-left thuggery hunting the Twin Cities for ICE agents to harass. This time, one narrative showed liberal journalists play amateur attorney and the other pulling on the heartstrings. NBC’s Today shared a lie that spread throughout the day Thursday — which led to our friend and MRC Bulldog Award winner Drew Holden naming and shaming a slew of offenders — that ICE had engaged in a mind-boggling kidnapping of a five-year-old boy. Correspondent Maggie Vespa warned “a local school district...is sounding alarms, they say, about four of their students taken into ICE custody including a five-year-old boy, who they say was detained with his father in the family’s driveway.” NBC's 'Today' on Thursday was part of the elite liberal media's disinformation campaign claiming ICE "detained" a five-year-old in Minneapolis Fact-check: The boy's father ran.@DrewHolden360, I've found another network for you to own pic.twitter.com/LAen2gDj2q — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 22, 2026 “The district alleges that another adult in the home begged agents to leave the child with them but that the agents refused. NBC News reached out to DHS about this overnight. They didn’t respond to us, but the agency did tell The Washington Post that their policy is to ask parents if they want to be removed with their children or be placed with a person designated by the parent,” she added. Fact check: Pants on fire. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provided a comprehensive explanation of this situation. The main takeaway? The boy’s father fled on foot upon seeing ICE and thus left his child. As any sane person would, ICE’s focus shifted to the welfare of the boy: On January 20, ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. As agents approached the driver Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, fled on foot—abandoning his child. For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other… https://t.co/yJVf5B66lQ — Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 22, 2026 Vice President Vance also addressed this story’s virality as disproportionate to its factual basis: Reporter: “A local school district here is alleging ICE agents detained a five-year-old after preschool on Tuesday. We've also seen multiple American citizens detained by ICE in the last six weeks. Are you proud of how your administration is conducting this immigration crackdown… pic.twitter.com/yY4dvgL05G — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 22, 2026 Earlier in the piece, NBC huffed about a scene outside a gas station of a mob harassing federal law enforcement. Fourth hour co-host Sheinelle Jones said there were “more tenses clashes between protesters and federal agents in Minneapolis” as “demonstrators confront[ed] officers” while “the nation’s Border Patrol commander...[threw] a gas cannister” at them. Vespa also painted law enforcement as the aggressors (click “expand”): And [the Vice President’s visit] comes, as you point out, as tensions soar here on the ground. one of the latest clashes involving one of the most prominent figures in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, that is Border Patrol commander — right there — Gregory Bovino throwing a canister into an angry crowd of protesters yesterday after warning those protesters multiple times that it was gas. Now, DHS says this started because officers, including Bovino were going gas station to gas station in the area trying to use a bathroom that they kept getting turned away, the agency said, and a group of protesters, in their words, started to stalk them. They say clash happened and the situation devolved to that.  CBS Mornings continued to show that, when it comes to the AM program, the Bari Weiss-led network has a long way to go. Co-host Nate Burleson began the Minneapolis coverage by stating there was “important new information this morning on the immigration crackdown in Minnesota” as “a memo obtained by CBS News shows that ICE agents have been told that they can force their way into suspect’s homes without a judge’s search warrant.” This led into what was largely a re-racking of correspondent Nicole Sganga’s piece from Wednesday’s CBS Evening News claiming ICE is not at all banned from cooperating with or operating in Minnesota jails: Thursday's 'CBS Mornings' peddled the doomsday lie about ICE being allowed to barge into any "suspect's home without a judge's earch warrant" and insist ICE is "flat wrong" to claim they're banned from going into Minnesota jails to take illegal immigrants for deportation Tell me… pic.twitter.com/5soPqTatJT — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 22, 2026 Meanwhile, ABC’s Good Morning America had less than two minutes on the unrest their friends eagerly foment. Correspondent Matt Rivers focused on the warrant nonsense: ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ was rather upset Thursday at the idea ICE can obtain “warrant of removal/deportation” without going through a full, drawn-out trial like someone would if they had committed any other crime “Experts say it could mean less accountability and more… pic.twitter.com/M3eYZj6Pmu — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 22, 2026 What are the facts here? Leave it to Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin to explain: They have an Administrative warrant. Administrative warrants have been used for decades and recognized by the Supreme Court and lower courts. In every case that DHS uses an Administrative warrant to enter a residence, an illegal alien has already had their full due process… https://t.co/i9jxFJFgne — Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) January 22, 2026 Former Trump Justice Department chief of staff Chad Mizelle quote-tweeted a reality these liberal journalists aren’t acknowledging as they’d rather play attorney because perhaps they’ve watched some episodes of Law & Order or listened to true crime podcasts: “Final order of removal = due process complete. At that point, evading ICE isn’t activism—it’s being a fugitive.” In response to a “civil rights litigator,” Mizelle explained on the legal rationale: “They are not entering American’s houses; they are entering the houses of illegal alien fugitives. Fugitives who have been given every chance to present their claims and who received due process. So yes, it is the Govt’s position that illegal alien fugitives can’t avoid deportation by hiding in their houses.” To see the relevant transcripts from January 22, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).

President Donald Trump extended an invitation to Pope Leo XIV to his "Board of Peace" charter for Gaza, according to a spokesperson for the Vatican, who said they are considering how to respond.The charter is intended to seek to end the conflict in Gaza and currently has leaders from 17 countries, including Argentina, Hungary, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.'The pope has received an invitation, and we are considering what to do.' On Wednesday, the Vatican's diplomatic official Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that Trump had invited the pope."The pope has received an invitation, and we are considering what to do," Parolin said to reporters. "I believe it will be something that requires a bit of time for consideration before giving a response."He added that nations joining the charter are asked to contribute financially but that the Vatican would not be able to do that. "We are not even in a position to do that," Parolin added. "However, evidently we find ourselves in a different situation with respect to other countries, so it will be a different consideration, but I think the request will not be to participate financially."On Thursday, many of the world leaders joined a signing ceremony for the peace charter on the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.The president has also invited other countries into the compact, including Russia, Belarus, France, Germany, Vietnam, Finland, and Ukraine.Trump is chairing the board, which will also include his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.The conflict in Gaza has raged on since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and slaughtered more than 1,000 while taking hostage more than 200 people, including some Americans. Israel has responded with an extensive military campaign to wipe out the leaders of the terror group.RELATED: Pope Leo calls out gambling addiction and 'demographic crisis' in Vatican meeting Leo is the first pope from America in the church's entire history. Some have praised him for his conservative stances, but others worry that he has displayed some sympathy for what many would consider "woke" attitudes.Reuters reported that the pope "rarely" joins international boards.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The House of Representative’s Oversight Committee has formally brought articles against the Clintons for contempt of Congress, and BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler believes it’s what the Clintons deserve.“If anyone’s in a position to know whether Jeffrey Epstein was, in fact, belonging to intelligence as is reported ... it would be the Clintons in a position to testify, and they defied that subpoena, which is a crime. It is a crime,” Wheeler says.“The Clintons’ testimony is critical to understanding Epstein’s sex trafficking network and the ways he sought to curry favor and influence to shield himself from scrutiny. Their testimony may also inform how Congress can strengthen laws to better combat human trafficking,” Comer said.“Since issuing the subpoenas, this committee has acted in good faith. We’ve offered flexibility on scheduling. The response we received was not cooperation, but defiance marked by repeated delays, excuses, and obstruction,” he continued, noting that the Clintons have claimed to have been treated “unfairly.”Comer also pointed out that photographs, flight log records, wedding invitations, and other materials serve as evidence of the couple’s well-documented relationship with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.“Remember, to defy a congressional subpoena is a crime. When two Republicans committed this crime, [Steve] Bannon and Peter Navarro, what happened to them? [Steve] Bannon was sentenced to federal prison. Peter Navarro was sentenced to federal prison,” Wheeler comments.“Why should Hillary Clinton be treated any differently? Why should there be a double standard of justice that holds Republicans to account when crimes are committed and lets Democrats off the hook?” she asks.While some critics of the move against the Clintons are warning that this might open the floor for Democrats to target Republicans politically when they’re in power, Wheeler couldn’t disagree more.“That’s nonsense. The Democrats have been targeting us already. We’ve spent the last decade being targeted by Democrats. It’s not going to suddenly give them permission and they’re going to start targeting us,” she says. “They already have.”Want more from Liz Wheeler?To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

YouTubeCheryl Bradshaw during her infamous 1978 appearance on The Dating Game in which she selected serial killer Rodney Alcala. Cheryl Bradshaw was thrilled when producers picked her as a contestant for The Dating Game in 1978. The popular television matchmaking show provided national exposure for the drama teacher, and Bradshaw had youth and beauty on her side. Playing her role as the game’s bachelorette to pick one of three eligible men, she flirtatiously chose “bachelor number one,” Rodney Alcala. What she didn’t know was that Alcala was a convicted child predator — let alone a serial killer. Without standardized background checks, nobody behind the scenes was aware that Alcala had served time for sexually assaulting and beating an eight-year-old girl, a crime that landed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. And, by the time he appeared on television, he had already embarked on a macabre killing spree that left five people dead, although those crimes had yet to be connected to him. Charmed by his provocative retorts on the show, Cheryl Bradshaw unknowingly chose her potential killer as a romantic prospect. Instinctively turned off by his “weird vibes” following the taping, Bradshaw declined his date to go on a tennis lesson — learning only later how close she had come to a gruesome death. Cheryl Bradshaw’s Appearance On The Dating Game Introduced to the audience as a photographer and recreational skydiver, Rodney Alcala waltzed on The Dating Game stage on Sept. 13, 1978. He had joined the show’s pantheon of contestants who would become famous later on, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Farrah Fawcett. Alcala’s renown, however, was bleak. Rodney Alcala and Cheryl Bradshaw on The Dating Game. His crimes had eluded ABC executives and the show’s host John Lange. Handsome and charming at audition, he had won over talent coordinator Ellen Metzger who was adamant to cast him. Her husband, executive producer Mike Metzger, meanwhile, was the only person who sensed any danger. “No darn way was this guy going to be on my show, because I thought he had a strange personality,” Metzger told ABC’s 20/20. “He had a mystique about him that I found uncomfortable.” Rodney Alcala had spent three years in prison for assaulting two girls before getting a job at The Los Angeles Times. By September 1978, he had lured five women to his home under the pretense of a photoshoot only to beat, rape, and strangle them, becoming one of California’s most prolific serial killers. And now he was now answering Cheryl Bradshaw’s questions on stage. YouTubeCheryl Bradshaw, standing next to Rodney Alcala. Confident enough to plaster his face across TV, Alcala’s retorts were just as bold. When Cheryl Bradshaw asked him, “What’s your best time?” he said, “The best time is at night” — a chilling likely reference to his crimes, Bradshaw learned in retrospect. Bradshaw continued, telling him to imagine himself as a dish served for dinner, asking “What are you called and what do you look like?” “I’m called the banana and I look good,” said Alcala. “Peel me.” While Cheryl Bradshaw was increasingly drawn to his enigmatic aura, “bachelor number two,” Jed Mills, had a far clearer picture. Mills found Alcala “creepy” from the moment they met in the green room, where Alcala told him, “I always get my girl.” Cheryl Bradshaw Turns Rodney Alcala Down In the end, Alcala did win Cheryl Bradshaw’s affection — until they actually met face to face. YouTubeRodney Alcala and Jed Mills on The Dating Game. “I started to feel ill. He was acting really creepy,” she said. While Cheryl Bradshaw initially agreed to meet her bachelor for a date the following day, her instincts took over, and she called one of the show’s producers, Ellen Metzger. “She said, ‘Ellen, I can’t go out with this guy,'” recalled Metzger. “‘There’s weird vibes that are coming off of him. He’s very strange. I am not comfortable. Is that going to be a problem?’ And of course, I said, ‘No.'” Ted Soqui/Corbis/Getty ImagesRodney Alcala in court in 2010. After his rejection, Rodney Alcala went on to murder 12-year-old Robin Samsoe in Los Angeles in 1979. A police sketch of the suspect led investigators to Alcala’s storage locker, which held countless keepsakes of victims, including Samsoe’s earrings. He was arrested and sentenced to death — but died of natural causes on July 24, 2021. Before he died, Alcala claimed to have killed up to 100 people, and investigators continue to analyze his DNA samples to solve long-standing murder cases. To date, he has been linked to a total of ten homicides between Los Angeles and New York. As for Cheryl Bradshaw, even though her Dating Game appearance nearly cost her her life, it appears it was her natural intuition that saved it. After learning about Cheryl Bradshaw and The Dating Game, read about Pedro Rodrigues Filho, the real-life ‘Dexter.’ Then, learn the true story of Charles Van Doren and the quiz show scandals. The post Meet Cheryl Bradshaw, The ‘Dating Show’ Contestant Who Chose A Serial Killer appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Roger Wesson et al./MNRASA composite image of the Ring Nebula obtained by the WEAVE instrument, with the iron cloud represented by the red stripe at the center. Ever since it was first discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier in 1779, the Ring Nebula has been a continuous subject of study — one that continues to reveal new secrets, nearly 250 years later. Recently, researchers observed a large, bar-shaped cloud of iron atoms stretching roughly 3.7 trillion miles across the face of the nebula. This discovery was made thanks to the new WEAVE spectrograph that came online in conjunction with Spain’s William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in 2023. Although WEAVE (WHT Enhanced Area Velocity Explorer) is still very new, it has already delivered remarkable results. The Mysterious Cloud Of Iron Discovered At The Center Of The Ring Nebula NASAA telescopic image of the Ring Nebula. Looking at the face of the Ring Nebula — a glowing shell of gas and dust expelled by a dying star that sits 2,500 light-years from Earth — the instrument’s Large Integral Field Unit (LIFU) allowed astronomers to get detailed spectra across its entirety for the first time. And this is when they spotted the massive iron bar at its center. Their observations have since been published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. “When we processed the data and scrolled through the images, one thing popped out as clear as anything — this previously unknown ‘bar’ of ionized atoms, in the middle of the familiar and iconic ring,” lead study author Roger Wesson of Cardiff University and the University of London said in a statement. These iron atoms are collectively comparable to the mass of Mars. According to the study, one possible explanation for such a massive agglomeration of iron is that it could be the remnants of a rocky planet that had been vaporized when the star that created the nebula burst — a fate that could one day befall Earth and its surrounding rocky planets. Roger Wesson et al./MNRASAn outline of the iron bar observed inside the Ring Nebula. “It is exciting to see that even a very familiar object — much studied over many decades — can throw up a new surprise when observed in a new way,” Wesson told Reuters. “It’s a classic object for professional and amateur astronomers alike to observe. Although it’s too faint to see with the naked eye, it’s quite easy to spot with binoculars.” Wesson noted that iron was the only chemical element that took on this shape. No other elements form a bar shape like this. “This is weird, frankly,” said study co-author Janet Drew. “Its importance lies in the simple fact that we have no ready explanation for it, yet. The origin of the iron might trace back to the vaporization of a planet. But there could be another way to make the feature that doesn’t involve a planet.” Further study could provide some insight here, particularly about how the nebula formed after the dying star at its center shed its outer layers. What Additional Research Could Reveal About How This Cloud Of Iron Formed “We definitely need to know more — particularly whether any other chemical elements co-exist with the newly-detected iron, as this would probably tell us the right class of model to pursue,” Drew added. “Right now, we are missing this important information.” A follow-up study is in the works to explore future avenues of research. Scientists plan to obtain more data using WAVE’s LIFU at a higher spectral resolution to try and gain a better understanding of how the bar of iron formed. Eight other surveys are set to be carried out by WEAVE over the next five years as well, with Drew leading the research into other ionized nebulae across the Milky Way. Roger Wesson et al./MNRASOverlaid images of the nebula and the iron bar at its center. “It would be very surprising if the iron bar in the Ring is unique,” Wesson said. “So hopefully, as we observe and analyze more nebulae created in the same way, we will discover more examples of this phenomenon, which will help us to understand where the iron comes from.” Around 3,000 similar nebulae are known throughout our galaxy, so there is plenty of opportunity for further research. By studying these extraordinary celestial bodies, astronomers can gain a stronger understanding of how stars and planets die — and how their matter is then recycled by the universe. “Even though the Ring Nebula has been studied using many different telescopes and instruments, WEAVE has allowed us to observe it in a new way, providing so much more detail than before,” Wesson added. After reading about the iron bar found inside the Ring Nebula, check out 44 vintage NASA photos that define the Space Age. Then, check out 21 amazing photos of Earth from space. The post Astronomers Just Discovered A Mysterious Cloud Of Iron Inside The Ring Nebula That Measures 3.7 Trillion Miles Across appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Jasmine Crockett to TX Dems: If We're Gonna Lose the Senate Race Anyway, Why Not Me