Author: rpnadmin

In this July 2, 2020, file photo, Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a news conference in New York. John Minchillo/AP hide caption toggle caption John Minchillo/AP The Justice Department on Friday released what it says is the complete transcript and audio recording of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s conversations with Ghislaine Maxwell last month. Maxwell was the longtime partner of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and was sentenced to a 20-year prison term for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. Blanche met…

The Trump administration said Friday it will not defend a decades-old grant program for colleges with large numbers of Hispanic students that is being challenged in court, declaring the government believes the funding is unconstitutional.In a memo sent to Congress, the Justice Department said it agrees with a lawsuit attempting to strike down grants that are reserved for colleges and universities where at least a quarter of undergraduates are Hispanic. Congress created the program in 1998 after finding Latino students were attending college and graduating at far lower rates than white students.Justice Department officials argued the program provides an unconstitutional…

Activism / August 22, 2025 The former Washington Wizards point guard retires from the NBA, but the anti-Trump protests embody his swaggy defiance. Ad Policy Demonstrators listen to a go-go band during a “Free DC” protest in Washington, DC, on August 21, 2025.(Eric Lee / Bloomberg via Getty Images) As summer ends, masked, badgeless ICE thugs and red-state National Guard militias stalk an unnaturally quiet Washington, DC. Five years ago, the city was different. After the 2020 police murder of George Floyd, massive multiracial demonstrations filled the streets. While these protests were constant, there was one we should be remembering…

If you noticed your utility bill has gone up this summer, you’re not alone. On average, electricity costs are 5.5% higher today than they were a year ago, according to the latest federal data, and natural gas is up 13.8%. Nearly 60 utility companies are set to increase electricity rates this year by more than $38 billion, affecting more than 57 million Americans, according to analysis from the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.President Trump recently commented on the rising prices, blaming them on renewable power. He wrote on Truth Social that renewables were “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!”…

The Justice Department on Friday released transcripts of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s two-day interview with convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.The transcripts — which run for over 300 pages — came after Blanche traveled to Florida last month to meet with Maxwell, following pushback over the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein case’s fallout. The release of the transcripts came as the Justice Department also turned over thousands of pages of files in the Epstein case to the House Oversight Committee, which said it would publish, after child sexual abuse material and any information identifying victims…

A view of the newly paved Rose Garden is seen at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 6, 2025. US President Donald Trump converted the grass portion of the Rose Garden into a patio space, inspired by his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Since returning to the White House in January, President Trump has been on a mission to renovate — including an overhaul of the iconic Rose Garden, where work is nearly complete. Trump has swapped out the grass in the Rose Garden with…

The Texas Senate has passed a controversial GOP redistricting bill that triggered a weekslong standoff in the House, sending it to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for approval.The Republican-backed proposal, which cleared the House in an 88-52 party-line vote on Wednesday, aims to redraw the state’s congressional map and create five new GOP-leaning districts.The Senate approved the measure early Saturday after a heated debate, marking a major step in a mid-decade redistricting effort backed by President Trump, who urged Texas lawmakers to secure more Republican seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.Before the full Senate vote, the Texas Senate Committee on…

Politics / August 22, 2025 With every White House action, from mass deportation to domestic deployment of federal troops the “opposition party” has accepted the premise and failed to offer an alternative. Ad Policy Donald Trump visits the US Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility on August 21, 2025, in Washington, DC.(Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images) Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: As an aggressive MAGA policy initiative lurches into gear, Democrats fret over a just-so messaging response and generally dither over the prospect of alienating an increasingly mythic political center. As the initiative in question sows fear and…

Columbus, Ohio — After the death in July of their father, Dan Pelzer, at the age of 92, John and Marci Pelzer discovered something extraordinary in his things — a very long list of every book he had ever read. Dan, a social worker from Columbus, Ohio, was in the Peace Corps when he started the list in 1962. And over the next six decades, his whale-sized appetite for books took him on a journey through the likes of James Michener, Jack Kerouac and Homer. He learned about everything, from saints to sinners and prayer to prey. In total, from…

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from cutting off federal funding to dozens of “sanctuary” cities and counties — covering several of the largest cities in the U.S.The judge had previously ruled in April that it was unconstitutional for President Trump to freeze funding for local governments that limit their cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement — commonly known as sanctuary cities. That ruling applied to more than a dozen cities and counties that had sued the Trump administration for threatening to cut off funding, including San Francisco, Sacramento, Minneapolis and Seattle.On Friday, San Francisco-based U.S. District…