WATCH: TGP’s Jordan Conradson Fires Off Questions at Press Briefing – WH Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller Scolds Leftist Media Over DOGE Attacks – Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett CONFIRMS Tariff Revenue Could Replace Income Tax

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller gave an epic response Thursday to the fake news media’s smears of Elon Musk and the DOGE team, giving them a civics lesson and schooling them on the bureaucratic corruption that the Trump Administration is tackling.

This was in response to The Gateway Pundit’s question on the media’s narrative that Elon Musk is a dangerous unelected bureaucrat.

Despite Musk’s help to cut billions in waste, fraud, and abuse, as well as unnecessary bureaucratic positions from our government, they’re attacking him while ignoring that the bureaucratic deep state has been running the country for the last four years.

“many of the people in this room, for four years, failed to cover the fact that Joe Biden was mentally incompetent and was not running the country,” Miller said before giving what he called a “brief civics lesson.”

WATCH:

Conradson: You said roughly $50 billion is set to be cut in a year of waste, fraud, and abuse by unelected bureaucrats. We’re hearing this ironic narrative from the President’s critics and the leftwing media that Elon Musk is an unelected bureaucrat and he’s doing all this terrible stuff. Isn’t one of DOGE’s objectives to get rid of the federal bureaucracy, the deep state? And also, who was running the White House when Joe Biden was in office? I don’t know a single person who believes it was Joe Biden.

Miller: You’re tempting me to say some very harsh things about some of our media friends. Yes, it is true that many of the people in this room, for four years, failed to cover the fact that Joe Biden was mentally incompetent and was not running the country. It is also true that many people in this room, who have used this talking point that Elon is not elected, fail to understand how government works. So I’m glad for the opportunity for a brief civics lesson.

A president is elected by the whole American people. He’s the only official in the entire government that is elected by the entire nation, right? Judges are appointed. Members of Congress are elected at the district or state level. Just one man, and the Constitution Article Two has a clause known as the vesting clause, and it says the executive power shall be vested in a president, singular. The whole will of democracy is imbued into the elected president. That president then appoints staff to then impose that democratic will onto the government.

The threat to democracy, indeed, the existential threat to democracy, is the unelected bureaucracy of lifetime, tenured civil servants who believe they answer to no one, who believe they can do whatever they want without consequence, who believe they can set their own agenda no matter what Americans vote for. So, Americans vote for radical FBI reform, and FBI agents say they don’t want to change. Or Americans vote for radical reform under energy policies, but EPA bureaucrats say they don’t want to change. Or Americans vote to end DEI, racist DEI policies, and lawyers at the Department of Justice say they don’t want to change. What President Trump is doing is he is removing federal bureaucrats who are defying democracy by failing to implement his lawful orders, which are the will of the whole American people.

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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/watch-wh-deputy-chief-staff-stephen-miller-schools/

Washington state lawmakers pass hate crime bill amid concerns over ‘absolute freedom of conscience’

Republicans warn bill could run afoul of the state constitution guarantee of free speech and thought.

The Washington House has passed a revised version of a bill that would expand the state’s definition of a hate crime, though concerns were raised by some lawmakers despite amendments adding clarity to the legislation.

Speaking in opposition, state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, noted the bill could run afoul of the state constitution, which guarantees “absolute freedom of conscience.”

“Sometimes in exercising absolutely freedom of conscience an individual may articulate what is perceived as ‘hate’ by other people,” he said. “We need to proceed very carefully when we regulate speech, and while I appreciate the intent of the underlying bill, Article 1, Section 11 is the highest law in our state.”

For proponents, House Bill 1052 sponsored by Rep. Cindy Ryu, D-Shoreline, would enable prosecutors to pursue hate crime charges for individuals who carry out actions for more than just prejudice. Under existing state law, a person commits a hate crime when they cause physical or property damage based on a person’s perceived identity, and that is the only cause.

Speaking on the House floor, Ryu said that “this bill strengthens our state's laws about hate crimes. This will hold defendants in hate crimes, accused of hate crimes accountable. It clarifies for jurors that the defendant's bias does not need to be the only motive for criminal activities. We are empowering jury to hold perpetrators accountable and affirming our commitment to protecting every member of a community.”

Prior to passing the bill, the House approved an amendment that would define the term “in part or the whole” to mean “that the perpetrator's bias must be a cause in fact of the offense regardless of whether other causes also exist. When multiple concurrent motives exist, the bias must be a substantial factor in bringing about the offense."

The amendment sponsor Rep. Hunter Abell, R- Inchelium, told colleagues that it is “designed to create certainty and clarity. When we're talking about hate crimes offense, we can all deplore the underlying subject matter that we're talking about while still having concerns about establishing criminal statutory regimes that appear standardless and may lead to confusion for jurors, prosecutors, defense counsel, and members of the public alike.”

“There are a few things more frightening for either a defense counsel or a prosecutor than wrapping up a case and looking at jury box, filled with jurors with confused expressions on their face,” he added.

The amendment was supported by House Community Safety Committee Chair Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, who said it was “not unreasonable and a good refinement and clarification of the bill.”

The addition of the amendment swayed Rep. Jenny Graham, R-Spokane, to vote in support of it, albeit “with some reservations. I hope to continue to keep working with prosecutors on this issue.”

HB 1052 has been referred to the Senate Law & Justice Committee, but is not yet scheduled for a public hearing.

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/house-passes-hate-crime-bill-amid-concerns-over-absolute-freedom

Former Kentucky AG Cameron announces bid for McConnell seat hours after senator says will retire

This announcement came the same day former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would not seek re-election.

Former Kentucky GOP Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced Thursday that he would be running for U.S. Senate in 2026.

"Kentucky, it's time for a new generation of leadership in the U.S. Senate. Let's do this," Cameron wrote on the social media platform, X.

This announcement came the same day former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced he would not seek reelection.

Cameron attempted to run for governor in 2023, but lost to current Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.

Congressman Andy Barr, R-Ky., posted on Facebook that he was also considering jumping in the Senate race.

"As I’ve said before this announcement, I am considering running for Senate because Kentucky deserves a Senator who will fight for President Trump and the America First Agenda," his post reads.

https://justthenews.com/government/local/former-kentucky-ag-daniel-cameron-announces-run-senate

Zelensky says Trump in ‘disinformation space,’ after saying Ukraine started war with Russia

Zelensky said that he wanted the Trump administration to be more truthful.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that President Donald Trump is in a Russian-made “disinformation space” following three of his top officials meeting a day earlier with Russian counterparts about ending the roughly three-year-old Russia-Ukraine war, after which Trump said Zelensky started.

Zelensky also said that he wanted the Trump administration to be more truthful, according to The Associated Press.

Zelensky spoke ahead of a meeting with U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff, President Trump's Middle East envoy, represented the U.S. in the meeting with Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/zelensky-says-trump-russian-disinformation-space-after

New transparency task force could pursue declassification on these incidents shrouded in secrecy

From the JFK assassination to Russia collusion and the 9/11 files to Jeffrey Epstein, here are several batches of documents the new House Oversight transparency task force could pursue.

The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday announced new members of the transparency task force, which aims to ensure the public release of information related to closely guarded episodes in American history, like the political assassinations that rocked the nation in the 1960s.

The new panel opens up the door to pursue sets of data for declassification that could shed light on some of the most controversial and impactful incidents during the Trump and Biden administrations, ranging from the Trump-Russia collusion probe to the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal.

“[What] all of this is about is about transparency and accountability,” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, a member of the new task force, told the "John Solomon Reports" podcast on Tuesday.

“You hear people, particularly on the left, talk about how, you know, Republicans are undermining faith in our institutions. And I think that, you know, the response is, do these institutions deserve to have faith put in them? And I think that what we want to do is restore real accountability and real faith back into our federal government,” he said.

Gill concluded, “A good way to do that is to allow the American people to see things that they've been wondering about and have legitimate concerns over.”

House Oversight Chairman James Comer formed the Declassification and Transparency Task Force to “build on” President Donald Trump’s executive order directing the declassification of files related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

“For too long, the federal government has kept information of public interest classified and the American people are demanding greater transparency. This secrecy has sowed distrust in our institutions,” Comer said in a statement announcing the formation of the task force.

Comer tapped Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., to lead the panel. She promised the task force would “also investigate UAPs/USOs, the Epstein client list, COVID-19 origins, and the 9/11 files.”

“The federal government has been hiding information from Americans for decades. We have spent years seeking information on the assassinations of President Kennedy, Senator Kennedy, Reverend King, and other government secrets without success. It is time to give Americans the answers they deserve, which is why I am honored to lead this bipartisan task force that seeks truth and transparency, Luna said in a statement.

She vowed, “From this moment forward, we will restore trust through transparency.”

In addition to the assassination documents, here are several episodes still shrouded in secrecy that the task force could pursue:

Russia investigation documents

Despite a few key declassifications, many key documents surrounding the now-discredited Russia collusion probe into the Trump campaign and presidency remain secret, even after the president promised during his first term that he would declassify all documents relevant to the investigation after the special counsel probe ended.

As Trump’s first term was ending, Just the News compiled a list of 40 important batches of documents that remained secret. These included the documents showing requests by Obama administration officials to unmask overseas phone calls of the Trump campaign, transition, and family members; documents related to the FBI’s dealings with dossier source Christopher Steele; and details surrounding the probe into former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Information about Trump assassination suspects

Since the two separate assassination attempts against then-GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump last year, little new information about either of the two suspects has been presented to the public by investigators. Earlier this month, President Trump directed the Secret Service to provide him “every bit of information” about both suspects, Thomas Crooks and Ryan Routh.

Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump at a July 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. After climbing onto the roof of a nearby building, the 20-year-old opened fire on the rally with a rifle, injuring Trump and two others and killing one rally-goer. Crooks was shot and killed by law enforcement snipers. Shortly after the shooting, the FBI told Congress that it discovered three encrypted communications apps and a photo of a school shooter on Crooks’ cell phone as well as bomb-making materials inside his vehicle.

Epstein investigation

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https://justthenews.com/accountability/new-transparency-task-force-could-pursue-declassification-these-incidents-shrouded