Good morning everyone, we are heading into one of the most consequential news days of the year. The first articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth will be filed today, just as Admiral Bradley and multiple top military officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs as Senator Jack Reed confirmed to me, testify behind closed doors in the Senate’s rapidly escalating investigation. At the same time, we are expecting the release of the unclassified SignalGate report, and I will be speaking shortly with Congressman Pat Ryan, so stay tuned for wall-to-wall coverage.
Before diving in, I need to flag something important. TikTok has begun cracking down on my reporting in ways I have never seen, with videos taken down and waves of community-guidelines strikes, all while the White House launches a tip line targeting journalists. This is exactly why I am investing more here. If you have not yet, please consider subscribing. Your support is what allows me to do this work full time and continue delivering unflinching, real-time coverage.
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Here’s what you missed:
According to NBC News, a defense official said Adm. Frank M. Bradley viewed two survivors of an initial U.S. strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat as legitimate military targets under the operation’s rules, which may have classified them as narco terrorists, leading to a second strike on Sept. 2 that killed them and triggered investigations in both the House and Senate while reporting indicates Bradley believed the survivors were attempting to continue a drug run and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed he did not see survivors during the first strike due to fire and smoke and only learned about the second strike later.
Rep. Shri Thanedar announced he will introduce impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth citing allegations tied to Signalgate and a reported follow-up strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat, with the articles accusing Hegseth of murder, conspiracy to murder, and reckless mishandling of classified information while Democratic leaders including Hakeem Jeffries dismissed the effort as impossible to advance in a Republican-controlled House.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pressured Adm. Alvin Holsey to resign after months of conflict that began shortly after Trump’s inauguration and escalated when Holsey raised concerns about the legality of lethal Caribbean drug-boat strikes, with Holsey’s early retirement effectively functioning as an ouster following their deteriorating relationship.
Former officials say Admiral Holsey “had initial concerns about the legality of lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean,” and notes from a command VTC recount Hegseth telling him, “You’re either on the team or you’re not” and “When you get an order, you move out fast and don’t ask questions.”
The US government’s new justification for intentionally killing two shipwrecked survivors is legally indefensible, highlighting that the NYT reports Hegseth approved contingency plans to target survivors, that labeling rescue communications or retrieval of cocaine as “hostile acts” violates core laws-of-war protections for shipwrecked civilians, and that invoking “war-sustaining” targeting theory cannot transform helpless survivors into lawful military targets.
Republican lawmakers are intensifying scrutiny of the Trump administration’s double strike on suspected Venezuelan drug-trafficking boats after reports that the second strike targeted survivors, prompting conflicting explanations from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the White House as key senators from both parties demand answers, call for video footage, question the legality and ethics of the operation, and prepare to question Adm. Frank Bradley in a classified briefing while some Republicans defend the strikes as necessary in combating drug trafficking.
A Newsmax legal analyst said Pete Hegseth and others involved in the disputed boat strike should be “prosecuted for a war crime,” a sign that criticism of the operation has spread even to typically pro-administration media.
The New York Times sued the Pentagon to overturn new October press rules that require reporters to sign restrictive agreements limiting questioning and publication of unauthorized information, arguing the policy violates First and Fifth Amendment rights while multiple outlets refused to sign, reporters surrendered their access badges, and the Defense Department defended the rules as necessary for protecting operational security.
According to Bloomberg, FBI headquarters is pressuring agents to open a seditious conspiracy investigation into six Democratic lawmakers who released a video reminding military and intelligence personnel that they may refuse unlawful orders, a move that would escalate the administration’s use of law enforcement against critics while career officials at the Washington Field Office push back over the lack of legal or factual basis as President Trump publicly demands a trial for what he calls their “seditious behavior,” with the proposed enterprise investigation invoking a statute typically reserved for violent extremist groups and raising concerns from former national security prosecutors about politicized misuse of a rare and serious charge.
President Trump’s administration renamed the US Institute of Peace after him despite having gutted the agency, installing his name on the building ahead of a Rwanda–DRC peace signing while former leaders denounced the move as unlawful after an armed takeover and mass firings, litigation continues over control of the institute, and the White House defended the rebrand by calling the previous organization wasteful and praising Trump’s claimed record on ending conflicts.
According to the Guardian, an Amnesty International report alleges that migrants held at Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” detention site and at Miami’s Krome processing center are suffering severe human rights violations including being shackled, confined in a tiny outdoor metal cage without water, exposed to unsanitary conditions, deprived of medical care, subjected to harsh disciplinary practices, and in some cases experiencing treatment amounting to torture while Florida officials deny the claims and Amnesty calls for the facility’s closure and an end to mass detention.
Donald Trump issued a quiet full pardon to entertainment executive Tim Leiweke, who had been indicted by Trump’s own Justice Department for allegedly conspiring to rig a public university arena bidding process in Texas, halting a corruption case that was set for trial next year and adding to a recent series of pardons for well-connected figures as prosecutors defended the original charges and Leiweke publicly thanked Trump for ending what he called a difficult ordeal.
According to ABC, federal authorities have arrested a Virginia man accused of placing the two pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC headquarters on the night before the January 6, 2021 attack, sources say.
According to the Guardian, the FDA’s top vaccines official Vinay Prasad alarmed experts by issuing a memo claiming without evidence that Covid vaccines killed at least 10 children and announcing sweeping regulatory changes that bypass normal scientific review, prompting warnings from former CDC and FDA leaders that the unsupported allegations undermine public trust, threaten access to routine vaccines such as flu shots, and could lead to more vaccine-preventable illness.
The Financial Times has confirmed that the US has halted plans to sanction a Chinese intelligence agency, pausing a previously expected punitive action and signaling a possible shift in the administration’s approach to managing tensions with Beijing, according to the Financial Times’ reporting framework.
US credit is tightening sharply as rejection rates hit record highs, with the NY Fed showing 24.8 percent of all credit applications denied over the past year, mortgage and refinance rejections surging to multi-year peaks, auto and credit card denials remaining historically elevated, and the spike unfolding as lenders tighten standards amid economic uncertainty and Trump’s proposed 50-year mortgage plan enters the national debate.
Google trends from 2025 show that Zohran Mamdani was the most googled person of the year:
Texas enacted a first-of-its-kind law allowing residents to sue anyone suspected of making, distributing, or mailing abortion pills into or within the state, imposing steep penalties on providers and even manufacturers while exempting patients, escalating conflict with shield-law states that protect telemedicine abortion services as providers vow to continue shipping pills, activists anticipate a legal showdown, and affected Texans describe fear, anger, and uncertainty under the new restrictions.
Good news:
A viral encounter between TikToker Samuel Weidenhofer and 88-year-old Detroit Army veteran Ed Bambas—who has been working full-time in a grocery store after failing to receive his pension—led to a GoFundMe that shattered its $1 million goal and raised $1.5 million in days, fueled by tens of thousands of donors including a $10,000 gift from William Ackman, with funds being placed into a trust to allow Bambas to retire and a surprise celebration planned as supporters nationwide expressed gratitude and solidarity with the veteran.
Scientists have deployed a network of acoustic sensors across rainforests in Gabon, Congo, and Cameroon and developed a lightweight AI system capable of distinguishing true gunshots from ambient jungle noise, enabling real-time alerts that can pinpoint poachers’ locations so rangers can intervene, with researchers planning to expand the model to identify gun types and other human activity as they work toward a low-cost, open-source global anti-poaching tool.
