Vice President JD Vance’s half-brother Cory Bowman, a Cincinnati pastor, said his mayoral run will not be “deterred” after a bullet went through the window of his church, following a string of threats against him and his family. 

In a post on X, Bowman, who is the pastor of the River Church Cincinnati, shared that an investigation is underway following the discovery of a bullet hole in the window of the church on Saturday when no one was in the building.

On Saturday, October 18th, 2025, during our preparation for service of our church at 503 Clark Street, we discovered a bullet hole that had penetrated an exterior window on the Clark Street side of the building. 

An official report has been filed with the Cincinnati Police Department, who have been very helpful. As the building was unoccupied during the incident, it has been classified as property damage.

READ MORE: Death Toll Climbs to 4 in Attack on LDS Church in Michigan, Unknown Number of Congregants Unaccounted For

MORE: ‘Disgusting!’ Amy Klobuchar Rightly Gets Destroyed After Blaming Republicans for Minnesota Mass Shooting

Bowman continued:

“It is worth noting that, over the past week, there have been several negative social media posts, specifically regarding my family’s personal residence and the church’s address,” he added. “Posts that are made due to the nature of our current mayoral campaign. Throughout this campaign, we have encountered negativity, unfortunately, including threatening messages directed at our church, business, and family.”

“Despite these challenges, we have adapted and made decisions to continually prioritize the safety and security of my family and those around us,” Bowman continued, pointing out that he would not be at the church on Sunday due to a “previously scheduled appointment at another local Cincinnati church.”

He pointed out that church services would continue and assured the congregation that the church had taken “proper security measures” with personnel in place.

“The safety of the families and individuals in our church has always been, and will continue to be, our top priority,” Bowman concluded. “We will not be intimidated or deterred by any obstacles. Our life’s work is to positively impact the people of Cincinnati, and that commitment remains unwavering.”

Bowman is a Republican running against incumbent Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval (D) in the upcoming Nov. 4 election, Ohio.news reported.

The report read:

Crime has been a focus of this year’s mayoral race, particularly following a July 26 brawl in downtown Cincinnati, which went viral as bystanders opted to record it rather than call police. In the aftermath of the viral beatdown, which took place at West Fourth and Elm streets in downtown Cincinnati, authorities charged at least eight people in connection with the fight.

Critics lambasted Pureval for his slow response to what turned into a national story.

It might be too early to declare the incident the latest example of political violence against those on the right. However, given that this happened at a church, it is fair to point out that this is another time that a church has come under attack.

SEE: Sunday Sanctuary No More: Are Church Attacks Becoming the New Normal?

ALSO: Breaking: Mass Shooting at a K-8 Minnesota Catholic School, Suspect Reportedly Dead

RedState has reported on several of those incidents around the world and here in the U.S., including the recent attack at an LDS Church in Michigan, which left four people dead, and the mass shooting at a Catholic church in Minnesota, where two children were killed and dozens of others victims injured.

At the time of this publication, Vice President Vance has yet to comment. This story is developing. Check back to RedState for updates.

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Americans are seeing a welcome sight at gas pumps across the nation as the average price falls below $3 per gallon.

GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan said Monday that costs are changing.

“Gas prices have finally fallen below $3 per gallon nationally — the earliest date we’ve seen a $2.99 national average since 2020, when COVID was the primary driver of low prices,” he explained.

“OPEC+ deserves much of the credit for this trend, having steadily raised oil production for much of 2025. Currently, 35 states have average gas prices below $2.99/gal, and GasBuddy even recorded the first $1.99 cash price at a station in Evans, Colorado, with stations in Oklahoma and Texas not far behind. Barring any major disruptions, gas prices are likely to remain slightly below year-ago levels and could stay under $3 for much of the next few months,” De Haan added.

The White House highlighted the news in a post on its website, noting that Americans are experiencing some of the lowest gas prices in over four years.

President Donald Trump’s administration also reminded citizens of the pain they experienced at the pump during former President Biden’s (D) time in office.

“President Trump understands that energy dominance is a key driver for growing our economy and lowering costs — making good on a promise he repeatedly made on the campaign trail after years of Biden-induced economic disaster. In fact, under Biden, average gas prices remained above $3 per gallon for nearly the entirety of his presidency,” the site read.

In 2022, gas prices reached another record high, hitting a national average of $4.60, Breitbart News reported at the time:

Industry experts are only expecting the situation to worsen over the “cruel summer,” predicting average gas prices well over $6.00 per gallon.

Recent surveys indicate that Americans are struggling to balance rising prices across the board. A Quinnipiac survey released at the end of March indicated over one-third of Americans were cutting back on groceries in order to afford gas. At the time, the national gas price average stood at $4.225. Around that time, Biden was still blaming Russia for rising prices.

AAA data from 2024 showed American drivers were paying 45 percent more to fuel their daily commutes after Biden took office, according to Breitbart News.

On Friday, the White House said, “President Donald J. Trump’s commitment to unleashing American energy production is bringing relief at the gas pump, with gas prices nearing a four-year low across the country.”

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) reportedly had his phone records subpoenaed as part of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into President Trump and the January 6th, 2021, protest at the Capitol.

Cruz is now the ninth known GOP senator to have had his phone records sought by Smith. 

He joins Sens. Marsha Blackburn (TN), Ron Johnson (WI), Bill Hagerty (TN), Josh Hawley (MO), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Lindsey Graham (SC), Dan Sullivan (AK), and Tommy Tuberville (AL), according to a release earlier this month by a Senate panel.

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) was also caught up in the investigation known as “Arctic Frost.”

Axios, which first reported on the Cruz revelations, reports that the Texas senator’s “phone records were ultimately not analyzed as part of Smith’s Jan. 6 Capitol attack investigation because AT&T did not comply with the subpoena.”

Good on AT&T.

READ MORE: Whoa – Jack Smith Tracked GOP Senators’ Private Comms in J6/Election Probe Per the FBI

The Lie-Able Sources Podcast: Many Examples of Biden-Era Weaponizing of the DOJ Vs. His Enemies

A clearly agitated Cruz called the attempts to target his phone records, as well as the communications of his colleagues, a “21st-century digital Watergate.”

That’s underselling it, if we’re being honest.

“This was intentional, targeted political spying that likely went to the very highest levels of the administration,” he wrote on X. “There should be the broadest possible investigations and accountability.”

The document, reviewed by Axios, was a broad search for names and addresses, along with “detail records for inbound and outbound calls, text messages, direct connect, and voicemail messages” associated with Cruz’s cellphone between January 4th and 7th of 2021.

This is the clear weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Biden. And it will go without so much as a peep of acknowledgment from the “No Kings” rubes on the left.

Sen. Hawley previously responded to reports that his phone records had been sought with the appropriate level of outrage.

“Biden’s Stasi, who claimed to be saving ‘our sacred democracy,’ in fact worked overtime to destroy it – all for power,” he wrote on X. “They spied on Catholic churches, prosecuted pro-lifers, deployed the FBI against parents at school board meetings, and tried to tap the phones of their political enemies. Including mine.”

“This is an abuse of power beyond Watergate, beyond J. Edgar Hoover, one that directly strikes at the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment.”

Hawley demanded prosecutions for those involved in trying to track the communications of he and his colleagues.

The House Judiciary Committee last week called on Smith to testify about what they have called “abusive surveillance.”

“As the Special Counsel, you are ultimately responsible for the prosecutorial misconduct and constitutional abuses of your office,” wrote Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH).

But, as Cruz notes, it likely goes higher than that.

Smith led two spectacularly failed investigations into Trump over election interference and classified documents, and is now being probed himself by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for potentially violating the Hatch Act.

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The Chinese Communist government launched its biggest crackdown on Christians in years over the weekend, detaining dozens of pastors from “house churches,” including Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, the founder of one of China’s biggest evangelical churches.

“What just happened is part of a new wave of religious persecution this year,” said Sean Long, a U.S.-based pastor and spokesman for Jin’s Zion Church.

Long said almost 30 pastors and church members were detained across China in the crackdown, and about 20 of them remain in custody.

Pastor Jin has been detained on the charge of “illegal use of information networks.” His daughter Grace said he and the other detainees have not been allowed to meet with lawyers, and she feared her father would not receive the medicine he needs to treat his diabetes.

Jin, 56, converted to Christianity after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and founded Zion Church in 2007. His congregation grew dramatically during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic by offering sermons over the internet and by defying China’s brutal lockdowns to hold small services in person. He helped other pastors emulate his online model, and their congregations grew as well.

Zion is one of China’s underground churches or “house churches,” a movement that grew after the Chinese Communist Party took control of organized religion through a program known as “Sinicization.” Sinicized churches, temples, and mosques are controlled and licensed by the authoritarian regime in Beijing, and they are required to teach Communist Party doctrine as part of their services.

Most adherents of the five religions officially recognized by China — Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism — follow the path of least resistance and worship at state-sanctioned temples, mosques, and churches. Yet millions of Christians are willing to take the risk of belonging to unlicensed house churches.

The Communist government conducts periodic crackdowns on house churches. The last major one was in 2018, although 11 pastors from Jin’s Zion Church were detained this year and, in June, several members of another church were jailed for fraud. Jin himself has been harassed by security officials, placed under surveillance, and banned from leaving China to visit family in the United States.

According to Pastor Jin’s daughter, dozens of underground church leaders in provinces across China were either publicly arrested or quietly made to disappear over the weekend. The charges filed in most of their cases resemble those filed against Jin, accusing the detainees of distributing unlicensed religious material online.

In April, China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs imposed new regulations on the online activity of religious clergy. Among other measures, the new regulations banned religious leaders from acting as online influencers, appearing in livestreams, hosting religious discussions in chat rooms, or posting videos of their sermons — in other words, all of the activities that helped house churches grow so rapidly during the pandemic.

The new regulations also forbid clergy from “inducing minors to believe in religion via the Internet” and bar them from using artificial intelligence tools (AI) to generate religious content.

Most ominously, the Chinese government promised to take action against “collusion with foreign forces” and “foreign religious infiltration activities.” The Chinese Communist Party is very keen on charging political dissidents with collusion, and such charges are very difficult to disprove.

China Aid founder Bob Fu told Fox News Digital on Saturday that China has reached the worst level of religious persecution in 40 years.”

“Faith is not a crime. Worship is not a crime. Prayer is not a crime,” Fu insisted. “The courage of China’s urban pastors and believers will be remembered in history as a living testimony that the light of Christ cannot be extinguished by tyranny.”

The U.S. government on Sunday called on China to immediately release the imprisoned church leaders.

“This crackdown further demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday.

Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David endured systematic starvation, psychological torture, and months buried alive in Hamas tunnels before Monday’s historic hostage release after two years in captivity.

Among the 20 remaining living Israeli hostages freed early Monday morning in the final phase of the historic ceasefire and hostage-release agreement brokered by President Donald Trump were two young men whose ordeal was recounted in a detailed interview with former hostage Tal Shoham, who spoke exclusively to Breitbart News last month.

Gilboa-Dalal and David, both 22 when they were taken on October 7, walked into Israeli sunlight Monday morning after 736 days in Hamas captivity — two full years of deliberate deprivation, starvation, and abuse. The details below reflect Shoham’s testimony; he was held with them for more than eight months in a tunnel he called a “tomb,” sealed 20-30 meters underground.

Seized from the Nova Festival, Beaten by a Lynch Mob

The two were violently seized from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, as Hamas terrorists carried out the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, killing some 1,200 Israelis. Shoham — abducted separately from Kibbutz Be’eri — said his cellmates later described being zip-tied, hooded, and thrown into a truck. Once in Gaza, a mob of so-called “uninvolved civilians” was allowed to beat them while armed men laughed. “For two weeks, their hands remained cinched behind their backs and their heads covered, with almost no food,” Shoham recalled.

Starved and Humiliated

Roughly 30 days into his own captivity, Shoham said Hamas guards brought Gilboa-Dalal and David into the apartment where he was being held. “They came to us in terrible shape — starved, handcuffed, terrified,” he said. “For weeks, they’d been fed almost nothing. Their hands were bound behind their backs, their ankles tied, their heads covered with plastic bags. But somehow, they still had spirit.”

The Hamas guards immediately cut food rations for all three. “After they came, we started to receive really small amounts — a pita bread every 24 hours with two flat teaspoons of cheese, and that was all,” Shoham recalled. On Fridays — the Muslim holy day — food dropped further as the guards feasted. “The starvation was so intense that just to stand up, we needed to lean on the wall not to faint,” he said.

Shoham described a sadistic daily ritual they called “the humiliation process.” Each afternoon, a Hamas guard summoned them one by one, slapping or beating them before sitting down to eat beans and meat in front of them, loudly savoring every bite while mocking them that Israel had forgotten them and their families were dead. Even so, the three refused to turn on each other. “In such an extreme environment, people tend to fight each other,” Shoham said. “We were smart enough to find ways to share the little food we had, to keep peace, and to form a brotherhood.”

Driven and Then Marched into the Tunnels

On June 24, 2024, Hamas told them they were being moved to a “better place.” Instead, the men were shaved, disguised as militants, and loaded into a Red Crescent ambulance packed with armed terrorists — a blatant abuse of humanitarian cover Shoham called a war crime. “They put a surgical mask over our eyes so we couldn’t see,” he said. “After 20 minutes, the air changed; we were rushed downhill, and I understood we were entering a tunnel — my worst fear — to be buried alive.”

After the short drive, they were forced to march for more than two hours through Hamas’s underground labyrinth. Evyatar David, whose glasses had been smashed on October 7, repeatedly stumbled on the uneven floor.

Entombed Underground

They were shoved into a concrete chamber barely three feet wide, six feet high, and forty feet long, with four thin mattresses on sand and a hole in the ground for a toilet. The iron door slammed shut behind them, sealing them inside with a fourth hostage, Omer Wenkert, who had already been alone there for six and a half months. “That was our tomb,” Shoham said. “I think that moment was the worst moment in my captivity, because then I understood we were going to stay inside those tunnels for eternity.”

The air was scarce, the humidity unbearable, and oxygen so thin that breathing itself took effort. “For the first three weeks, we were so deprived of oxygen that we could barely breathe straight,” he recalled. “Even for Omer, it was hard — now he had to share his oxygen with three other men.”

They were given only half a liter of water per day. “Sometimes I decided to skip food just to avoid the thirst afterward,” Shoham said. “The thirst was worse than the hunger.” He described the conditions as “filthy beyond words,” noting that most days there wasn’t enough water even to wash their hands after using the toilet. The hostages were forced to choose between drinking what little they had or using it to clean themselves — and, as Shoham put it, “the thirst was worse than the hunger.”

Deliberately Starved to Look “Like After the Holocaust”

Hamas deliberately starved the men as part of a propaganda strategy. “They told us openly: we are starving you so you will come out looking like after the Holocaust — skeletal, emaciated — so Israelis will feel pressure,” Shoham said.

Food rations often dropped to less than 300 calories a day. “On our best days, it was maybe 1,000 calories — less than half of what a man needs,” he said. Meanwhile, guards hoarded food stolen from humanitarian aid meant for civilians. “The Hamas guards had lots of bread there. They stole humanitarian aid from their own people, but they didn’t let us eat from it because they wanted us to suffer,” he said. Shoham said both he and David developed scurvy, a disease caused by extreme vitamin C deficiency that has been nearly eradicated in the modern world.

Torture, Smoke, and Psychological Warfare

Every 24 hours, the guards came down to taunt them. “In a good case, they just threw the food and water and left,” Shoham said. “Most of the time they shouted, beat us — especially the young ones, Evyatar and Guy — trying to confuse us.” To destroy any sense of time, the guards told them, “There is no time here.” The lights were left on for days or suddenly cut for 15 hours, plunging the hostages into complete blackness. “You couldn’t see your own hand,” Shoham said.

At times, the abuse nearly killed them. “They set fire in front of the iron door and directed smoke into the tunnel,” he recalled. “We were minutes from suffocating to death.”

Forced to Watch as Others Were Released

In February 2025, less than a month into President Trump’s return to office, Hamas informed the four men that a hostage deal had been reached. The guards told them one of them would soon be freed — then forced them to reenact their reactions for propaganda videos, demanding they “show more emotion.” When Hamas returned a week later, cameras rolling again, they announced that two hostages — Shoham and Wenkert — would be released. The others, Gilboa-Dalal and David, were ordered to stay behind and watch.

“I gave a hug to Guy and Evyatar. I tried to cheer them up,” Shoham recalled. “I told them soon after us, they would be released also.” Shoham and Wenkert were freed on February 22, 2025, as part of the first phase of hostage exchanges negotiated after Trump’s return to office. Gilboa-Dalal and David would remain entombed in Hamas captivity for nearly eight more months.

Separated in Final Cruelty, Reunited in Freedom

According to Israeli reports, Hamas separated Gilboa-Dalal and David two months before their release — a final act of cruelty after surviving together for nearly two years. On Monday, they were reunited in an Israeli hospital, embracing for the first time since that separation. 

Shoham, who personally thanked President Trump at the White House after his release, credited the president’s decisive approach with saving his life and ultimately freeing the last hostages. “I owe my life to President Trump,” he said. “He’s the only one who actually makes peace in the Middle East. He sincerely cares.”

The Beginning of the Age of Faith and Hope

On Monday, as the final 20 hostages — including Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David — returned home under President Trump’s brokered agreement, the president addressed the Knesset in Jerusalem, declaring the moment “the beginning of the age of faith and hope.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked him directly: “Thank you for all you have done for us.”

For Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David — violently taken hostage at 22, beaten by mobs, starved to scurvy, and held for nearly two years in the depths of Gaza’s tunnels (including more than eight and a half months entombed underground with Shoham and Wenkert) — the nightmare has ended.

Shoham, reflecting on the friends he left behind, told Breitbart News last month: “I really, really hoped it would soon end and the hostages would come home — all of them.”

On Monday, that hope became reality. Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David are home.

Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.

With early voting already underway and with less than a month left before California voters take to the polls on Election Day, proponents and opponents of the controversial Prop. 50 redistricting proposal continue to make their pitches to voters, with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) using the usual scare tactics and his critics urging voters to pump the brakes on his gerrymandering scheme.

As RedState previously reported, among those who stand in opposition are 30 California District Attorneys, who say the voter-approved independent redistricting commission should be kept in place and that temporarily suspending it will effectively “silence voters.”

“In an era marked by eroding ethics and integrity—where political assassination is excused and violent rhetoric against opponents and their families is dismissed as a mere ‘mistake’—we must firmly say no. Such actions undermine democracy and fairness,” they noted, in clear references to the assassination of Charlie Kirk as well as the Jay Jones texting scandal.

READ MORE: 30 California District Attorneys Are a Hard NO on Prop. 50, Gavin Newsom’s Gerrymandering Scheme

Amid Newsom’s declaration of war over Texas’s mid-decade redistricting efforts, a mixture of blue states and red states have also joined the battle, including Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Indiana, and Florida.

On Monday, the red state team got another boost as North Carolina officially entered the chat on redistricting, with Republican leaders in both chambers saying in a press release that they’d be ready to vote on new maps as soon as next week that potentially could add another GOP seat:

House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) said, “President Trump earned a clear mandate from the voters of North Carolina and the rest of the country, and we intend to defend it by drawing an additional Republican Congressional seat. Our state won’t stand by while Democrats like Gavin Newsom redraw districts to aid in their effort to obtain a majority in the U.S. House. We will not allow them to undermine the will of the voters and President Trump’s agenda.”  

Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said, “President Trump delivered countless victories during his first term in office, and nine months into his second term, he continues to achieve unprecedented wins. We are doing everything we can to protect President Trump’s agenda, which means safeguarding Republican control of Congress. Picking up where Texas left off, we will hold votes in our October session to redraw North Carolina’s congressional map to ensure Gavin Newsom doesn’t decide the congressional majority.”  

As we also reported in September, Berger slapped back at a fake news story Newsom shared about how Berger had allegedly made a deal with President Trump to redraw the maps in exchange for a primary endorsement in his reelection bid. Here’s what he said at the time:

“If we have to draw one more map this year, we will. That said, I’ve never spoken to President Trump about this or an endorsement,” Berger added. “The Democrats are spreading lies to hurt President Trump.”

The good news is that the maps wouldn’t require Democrat Gov. Josh Stein’s signature. The bad news is that Democrats and their affiliated special interest groups are, as part of their “sue til blue” strategy, undoubtedly already prewriting language to include in the lawsuits that are likely to ensue if the maps pass the NC General Assembly.

As for the seat they’ll target, speculation is that they will aim for the seat held by two-term Democrat Rep. Don Davis: the First Congressional District. It’s been in Democrat hands since 1883, but prior redistricting has made it more competitive. Davis narrowly won reelection in 2024 against Trump-endorsed GOP nominee Laurie Buckhout, who lost by 6,000 votes in a race that saw the Libertarian candidate, Tom Bailey, get 10,000 votes.

The current makeup of the NC Congressional delegation is 10-4 GOP. We’ll keep you posted on new developments.

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

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The Pentagon Press corps is balking at following the new rules of conduct Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued in September; see Pentagon Limits Reporters’ Ability to Leak Classified Information, and They Are Not Happy – RedState.

At issue is detailed guidance issued by the Pentagon that requires reporters to wear badges, to be escorted when outside certain areas of the Pentagon, and to refrain from encouraging military members and civilian employees to leak classified information. 

Pentagon access is a privilege, not a right. So, here is press credentialing FOR DUMMIES:

• Press no longer roams free
• Press must wear visible badge
• Credentialed press no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts

DONE. Pentagon now has same rules as every U.S military installation

Hegseth signalled his displeasure with the Pentagon’s information security early in his tenure. Back in May, after a series of personally damaging leaks, he began tightening the rules; SecDef Hegseth Orders Pentagon to Put Press Corps on a Short Leash After Epidemic of Leaks – RedState. The effort was successful as Operation Midnight Hammer, the destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons labs, was carried off in complete surprise.

To most of us, these seem perfectly reasonable restrictions, given the deliberately destructive stories that have come from Pentagon leakers who are obviously meeting with reporters inside the Pentagon so they don’t leave any electronic tracks behind. But, to the coddled and spoiled Pentagon Press Corps, this was just a bridge too far. 

Hegseth signalled his displeasure with the Pentagon’s information security early in his tenure. Back in May, after a series of personally damaging leaks, he began tightening the rules; SecDef Hegseth Orders Pentagon to Put Press Corps on a Short Leash After Epidemic of Leaks – RedState. The effort was successful as Operation Midnight Hammer, the destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons labs, was carried off in complete surprise.

To most of us, these seem perfectly reasonable restrictions, given the deliberately destructive stories that have come from Pentagon leakers who are obviously meeting with reporters inside the Pentagon so they don’t leave any electronic tracks behind. But, to the coddled and spoiled Pentagon Press Corps, this was just a bridge too far. 

The deadline for signing the policy is the close of business on Tuesday, but all media, save One American News Network, have declared their refusal to do so.

The policy “constrains how journalists can report on the U.S. military, which is funded by nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer dollars annually,” said the New York Times’s Washington bureau chief, Richard Stevenson. “The public has a right to know how the government and military are operating.”

The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, Reuters and the Guardian, along with the trade publications Task & Purpose and Breaking Defense, said they were not signing either. Fox News, Hegseth’s former employer, has not yet said whether it would sign the pledge.

The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, who was added to a Signal group chat including Hegseth earlier this year, said the constraints on journalists violate their First Amendment rights. As a result, the magazine’s staffers won’t sign.

The media policy is the latest attempt by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to clamp down on journalists covering the Pentagon. The Defense Department’s media staff rarely conducts briefings, kicked out many mainstream news organizations from their dedicated desks, and restricted movement within the Pentagon facilities.

Multiple news organizations and the Pentagon Press Association have mumbled that they will sue over the policy. I think it is highly unlikely that the Supreme Court will rule that getting classified information while wandering around the Pentagon without an escort, and perhaps while concealing your press pass, is protected by the First Amendment, but, again, the lawsuit would not be for the purpose of winning. The purpose would be to find a tame, housebroken federal judge who can gum up the works and protect the status quo for months or years; see Federal Judges Blame Trump and SCOTUS for a Problem They Created; We Need to Fix It Now – RedState.

Anyway, at 5 p.m. Eastern today, all Pentagon access goes away. When The New York Times published its refusal on “X” yesterday, Pete Hegseth gave them an answer that indicates how much negotiating sway they hold.

A waving hand emoji. Bye.

Donald Trump is America’s Peace Time President. Support and follow RedState’s latest reporting on the president’s historic trip to the Middle East. Join RedState and use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your membership.

Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to the Israeli parliament on Monday, calling him “the best friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.”

Ohana began his remarks by welcoming those present, in Hebrew — then breaking into English to recognize members of the U.S. Cabinet and Armed Forces present. He also recognized Ron Dermer, the American-born Israeli adviser who led negotiations for the Netanyahu government; and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. He also acknowledged Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who returned to the fore as talks with the broader Arab world became salient in the final days of the diplomatic effort.

Ohana also recognized his “favorite rock star,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee; as well as Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter. He returned to Hebrew to recognize Israel’s leaders, including Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir; the head of the Mossad, David Barnea; and the leader of hostage negotiations, Gal Hirsch.

Ohana recalled Trump’s achievements, including recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the U.S. embassy to Israel, and signing the Abraham Accords, and confronting Iran over its nuclear program.

Ohana praised Trump for his approach to foreign affairs and backing allies. “America First, but not America alone,” he said.

He said that Trump stood before the Knesset “not as just another American president, but as a giant of Jewish history.” He compared Trump to the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great, who allowed Jews to return from exile to Jerusalem to rebuild the Holy Temple.

“What the world needs now is not appeasers,” he said, “… is more Trumps.”

Ohana then praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his steadfast commitment to winning the war, against pressure both outside the country and in the country.

“The right man, at the right time.”

He also acknowledged the sacrifices of the IDF soldiers who had fought for two years, before returning to Trump. He said that President Trump had done more than any individual on earth to bring about the deal to end the war, and said Israel would campaign to see Trump rewarded with the Nobel Peace Prize next year.

“Only those who are prepared to use force in the present can prevent the need to use it in the future,” he said.

He welcomed the hostages back home, and concluded, to a standing ovation: “May God bless you, President Trump, may God bless the United States of America, and may God bless the State of Israel.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — As the Schumer shutdown moves through its second week, health care providers are not being compensated for services provided to military service members and their families. Some doctors and health care providers in San Antonio who rely on TRICARE to pay for services provided to military members and dependents say they are now starting to feel the pinch.

The Democrats’ stated priority of extending federal subsidies related to Obamacare coverage may now be endangering the health care services for United States military service members, retirees, and their dependents. Although the financial hardships facing medical providers who rely on TRICARE are of nationwide concern, the issue is perhaps more visible in San Antonio, often referred to as “Military City USA” due to the number of Department of War installations located within the city.

San Antonio is home to Joint Base San Antonio, the U.S. military’s largest joint base operation that includes Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base, Fort Sam Houston, and Camp Bullis. Soldiers and Airmen assigned to the bases and their families rely on TRICARE to reimburse civilian health care providers who are now feeling the financial impact of the shutdown. Military retirees also rely on TRICARE insurance for healthcare needs.

In a recent San Antonio News4SA report, one health care provider servicing families with children with developmental disorders was already struggling to stay open. Dr. Britt Sims, Executive Director of Integrated Behavior Solutions, told News4SA, “We can last a couple of weeks on what I have personally, but now, I’m done. I’m spent. If by some miracle, something happens, then I don’t know. We’ll keep fighting somehow.”

Another healthcare provider serving retirees, soldiers, and their families is under the same pressure as the shutdown continues. Dr. Gia Koehne, who owns a small practice called the Blossom Center for Children in San Antonio, told News4SA, “Because of all of this, everything is completely stalled and halted.”

“We have a lot of families that need services, and we just don’t have the capacity to be able to do that, because we’re not getting paid,” Koehne explained. Blossom Center for Children provides services for children with autism.

TRICARE, the government-sponsored health insurance program for active, reserve, and retired military members and their families, warned of the payment delays related to the government shutdown in a statement released on October 1. The message released by TRICARE read:

During the current lapse in government appropriations, you may continue to get care or attend currently scheduled appointments with your civilian providers. Your usual out-of-pocket costs will apply.

You may also continue to fill prescriptions at military pharmacies, retail network pharmacies, and home delivery.

However, TRICARE may not be able to process or pay medical claims received on or after October 1, 2025, until funding is restored. The Defense Health Agency is also working with our TRICARE contractors to also communicate with healthcare providers on potential delays in payment.

We understand this may cause concern and inconvenience, and we sincerely regret the disruption. We remain committed to resuming full operation as quickly as possible once appropriations are enacted.

 Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol.  Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.

After spending Sunday morning whining on talk shows about the Schumer Shutdown and faking concern for the welfare of federal workers, top Democrats are scheduled to head to California for a retreat at the ritzy Hotel Yountville in the Napa Valley. 

The retreat, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, is hosted by DSCC Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

Back on October 3, Gillibrand told the Washington Examiner that the event was still planned despite the shutdown, but that those plans could change if the shutdown dragged on. But on Friday, October 10, Punchbowl reported that the retreat was still on and that Gillibrand would attend. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), who’s listed as a co-host on the invitation, told the Washington Examiner that she’s not attending: “I’m not hosting anything. When we have a shutdown, we’re not going to be in Napa Valley.”

The itinerary includes a wine tour and dinner at the Staglin Family Vineyards in nearby Oakville. Owners Garin and Shari Staglin donated $138,600 to Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, making the list of top 15 Harris donors in the North Bay. (With competition from members of the Pritzker and Haas families, that’s an accomplishment.)

According to Politico:

A Democrat briefed on the event tells us it also is slated to include Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), who is campaigning for her state’s open Senate seat as a gritty daughter of the Midwest. A Stevens invite establishes the closest link so far between Stevens and the DSCC’s preference for her in Michigan’s three-way primary…. The event is also said to feature a crypto roundtable on its sidelines, this person said.

California’s two Democrat senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, were mum regarding their potential attendance, but it would be strange for them not to attend such an event in their state. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled to see what develops.

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

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