Illinois Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker, eyeing a third term and potentially a run for the White House, revealed in a partial tax disclosure that he and his wife pulled in more than $10.3 million in 2024 — including $1.425 million from gambling, the Chicago Tribune reported. In a single year, Pritzker reaped more than a million dollars playing blackjack at a casino in Las Vegas. Those casino winnings don’t even capture the full picture — in prior years, his income was far lower (around $3.2 million in 2023, $2.3 million in 2022) — making 2024’s eight-figure haul all the more eyebrow‑raising. As a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels legacy, Pritzker has long had the means to bankroll his own political ambitions and fund Democratic causes across the nation. But with this gambling windfall laid bare just months before a critical Democratic primary, questions are bound to swirl about the optics — and ethics — of a governor who aggressively expanded the gambling sector while quietly profiting from the industry himself. Pritzker was a driving force behind Illinois’ sweeping gambling reforms in 2019. Shortly after taking office, he pushed through a massive infrastructure bill (roughly $45 billion) that included major gaming expansions: legalization of sports betting, six new casinos, and casino/racetrack gaming at many venues. That legislation was framed as a fiscal lifeline — a way to reclaim gambling dollars leaving the state, create jobs, and pad public revenue. Pritzker toured racetracks, made public pitches at venues like Fairmount Park, and positioned the law as a mechanism to rescue struggling horse racing communities. The promise: legal gaming would help reenergize industries fading under competition. And to many observers, he sold it as a necessary modernization of Illinois’ revenue base. Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!  While Pritzker doesn’t collect a salary as governor, he’s shown that his personal income — bolstered by trusts and investments — eclipses that of most public servants. The disclosure notes $4.5 million in state taxes and $30.2 million in federal taxes were paid by the trusts benefiting him, an arrangement he says is intended to shelter against conflicts of interest. He passed his investment control to an independent trustee in 2018, calling it a “blind trust,” though critics argue it isn’t fully opaque given disclosure rules. All of this raises a central tension: a governor who actively promoted gambling expansion now reports massive earnings from gambling. In an election year, with the records partially exposed, Pritzker’s dual role as promoter and participant in the industry is bound to draw skepticism. His political future may hinge on whether voters view him as having crossed the line between promotion and profiteering.

The Trump administration quietly greenlit a covert CIA operation in Venezuela against socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro, the New York Times reported Wednesday. The CIA will now be authorized to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela, according to the news outlet. It is not clear, however, if there are any looming plans against Maduro or his regime. President Donald Trump confirmed the plan during a press conference Wednesday, stating that he authorized enhanced action over Venezuela’s role in criminal migrants crossing the southern border and the trafficking of lethal drugs killing Americans. “They’ve allowed thousands and thousands of prisoners, people from mental institutions, insane asylums emptied out into the United States, we’re bring[ing] them back. But that’s a really bad thing,” Trump said, adding, “Many, many countries have done it, but not like Venezuela, they were down and dirty.” Trump also said that the United States will not only interdict drugs at sea, but also “by land.” “We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come through the sea, so you get to see that, but we’re gonna stop them by land also.” “I think Venezuela’s feeling heat, but I think a lot of other countries are feeling heat too. We’re not going to let this country, our country, be ruined because other people want to drop their worst. They have given us their worst, they’ve loaded up our country with prisoners, with mentally ill people that are seriously ill, criminally ill, and we’re not gonna take it,” Trump said. The Trump administration is already beefing up the presence of troops in the region, according to the Times. Most of the 10,000 U.S. troops stationed in the Caribbean are currently in Puerto Rico, while some Marines are on amphibious assault ships and a submarine in the region. The Trump administration has taken out several drug cartel vessels in recent months, killing 27 suspected narco-terrorists in five kinetic strikes. Maduro has called the strikes “a military attack on civilians who were not at war and were not militarily threatening any country,” while accusing the Trump administration of “seeking a regime change” in Venezuela. Wes Tabor, who was in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s office in Caracas in 2012, recently told The Daily Wire that the Trump administration is “squeezing” the drug cartels. “The permissive environment they long enjoyed is evaporating,” he said. The United States has also offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and conviction on drug trafficking charges, citing his alleged ties to transnational gangs and cartels. Earlier this month, President Trump called for an end to diplomatic talks with the Maduro regime over the dictator’s refusal to step down from power, according to the Times.

Kathy Griffin had her Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) on full display during a recent episode of her podcast, when she insisted that President Donald Trump stole the 2024 election. The 64-year-old comedian and plastic surgery enthusiast has a long history of animosity toward Trump — most infamously when she posed in 2017 with a prop resembling the former president’s bloodied, severed head. The stunt tanked her already fading career, but she’s continued to attack Trump at every opportunity since. “People are calling this protest the No Kings Day, because Trump thinks he’s a f***ing king,” Griffin said on Tuesday’s episode of her YouTube show, “The Un-Cancelation of Kathy Griffin.”  “And you know he’s not. He’s barely a president,” she went on.  “I’m going to say something that’s going to get me in trouble,” Griffin said before saying it may make her seem “crazy,” but she doesn’t believe Trump “won in a free and fair election.”  Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!  The comedian said she believed Trump’s win wasn’t legit because Elon Musk was “handing out million-dollar checks to people to vote for Trump,” calling the supposed act “unconstitutional and illegal.” “He’s, like, a fake geniu s… he’s a professional Nazi, in my humble opinion,” Griffin said about Musk. The D-lister also said it was “suspicious” that Trump won all seven swing states, a feat which ”has never happened in the history of the U.S.,” she claimed. There were many reactions on social media to Griffin’s allegations. “Kathy Griffin is the face of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Congressman Troy E. Nehls (R-TX) wrote on X. “Kathy Griffin is now denying the results of the 2024 election. I was told that denying election results is a threat to our democracy. Literally shaking rn,” Libs of TikTok joked. “When your fantasy world continuously doesn’t match the real world as it is, something has to give. Denial is one way for the brain to not melt down completely, even if it is degenerating,” another person chimed in.

In a stunning admission that undercut weeks of Democratic spin, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) dropped a political grenade at a NewsNation town hall at the Kennedy Center this week — squarely blaming his own party for the federal government shutdown. Fetterman didn’t mince words. “That’s why shutting the government is really what the Democratic Party wants to do,” he told moderator Chris Cuomo to audible audience applause. “I follow country, then party. And it’s the wrong thing for the country.” He made clear he would not support using a shutdown as leverage in negotiations. John Fetterman just blew up Democrats’ shut down narrative. FETTERMAN: “Shutting the government is really what the Democratic Party wants to do… [Obamacare subsidies were] designed by the Democratic Party to expire … This is NOT something taken by the Republicans.” pic.twitter.com/VE4s1LRWDE — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 16, 2025 Fetterman, one of the Senate’s most outspoken members, openly criticized Democrats for structuring the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) subsidies to expire at the end of 2025. “This was designed by the Democratic Party to expire at the end of the year,” he said. “This is not something taken by the Republicans.” Translation: the expiration wasn’t some conservative plot — it was baked into the policy by Democrats themselves. Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout! He added that while he supports extending those subsidies, it should happen without holding the federal government hostage. “Let’s have a conversation to extend it and not shut the government down.” The statement sent shockwaves through Washington and drew praise from Republicans, who quickly seized on it as validation. “Senator John Fetterman said the quiet part out loud,” said RNC Chairman Joe Gruters. “Democrats caused this shutdown. They’re responsible for the expiration of their own policies, and now hardworking Americans are paying the price.” This wasn’t Fetterman’s first warning shot. Back in March, he declared flatly on X: “Never, never, never vote for a shutdown — ever.” In early October, he reinforced the same position: “When the Republicans were doing it, we rightly criticized them … Don’t shut it down. It’s fundamentally wrong.” Fetterman was so committed to avoiding a shutdown that in late September, he became one of three Democrats in the Senate to vote for the Republican-crafted continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government running — a temporary bill that kept funding flat but didn’t address Democratic healthcare priorities. He also voted for the Democratic version, which would have extended Obamacare subsidies but failed to pass. His logic? Support both if it means avoiding chaos. “My vote affirms that, despite their refusal to restore health care, I am unwilling to vote to shut down our government and unleash massive, national chaos,” Fetterman said at the time. Fetterman’s move is rare in today’s polarized Senate. The Left wants to blame House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Republicans, but Fetterman’s words shredded that narrative. In classic unfiltered fashion, Fetterman shrugged off a Trump-reposted video showing Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in a photoshopped sombrero, saying, “Somebody can put me in a sombrero and a mustache … I’ll laugh at it too.” As Democrats head into a critical election year, one of their own just admitted: the shutdown wasn’t forced on them. They chose it. And now they own it.

Former President Barack Obama endorsed Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger on Thursday, a move Republicans have dismissed as an attempt to distract voters in the waning days of a contentious campaign cycle. “Virginia’s elections are some of the most important in the country this year, and I am proud to endorse Abigail Spanberger for governor,” Obama said in the advertisement. “I’m honored to have the endorsement of President Barack Obama,” Spanberger posted on X Thursday. “He knows how high the stakes are on November 4th — and he knows that every vote counts.” “Abigail Spanberger is trying to distract from her full endorsement of Jay Jones and his violent rhetoric of wanting to murder his political opponents,” Republican Governors Association Rapid Response Director Kollin Crompton said in a statement. “Spanberger doesn’t have the courage to stand up to her party, and Virginians see right through it.” Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears’ team account posted a GIF of NBA star Lebron James pretending to act scared in response to the Obama endorsement. “Don’t worry … maybe one day a President will endorse you too,” Spanberger’s campaign account replied. Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout! The statewide races in Virginia reached a fever pitch after Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, was revealed to have texted a Republican House of Delegates colleague fantasizing about the assassination of the former House of Delegates GOP Speaker and his children in 2022. Jones has since apologized for the remarks while facing numerous calls to exit the race. In a recent debate, Spanberger said that they are running “individual races” when asked directly if she still backs Jones, but The Daily Wire reported that bumper stickers and a shirt with “Spanberger-Hashmi-Jones” are still being sold in her campaign store. Jones and Attorney General Jason Miyares are slated to debate on Thursday night, as that race is also considered extremely close. Virginia’s top statewide offices flipped red in 2021 with the election of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who cannot run for a second consecutive term, Earle-Sears, and Miyares. Election Day is November 4, but early voting is already underway until November 1. There are only a small number of high-profile races this year, including the governor’s race in New Jersey and the New York City mayoral race, which has its debate tonight.

'Driven by climate activists'

The suspect was arrested Tuesday

'powering us to victory'

'So much closer to the actual teachings of Jesus'

'$1.4 million in gambling winnings'