Welcome to the RedState Weekly Briefing — where we take a quick look at the week’s most viewed stories in case you missed any of them. What do you suppose caught people’s attention in this latest whirlwind week? Grab a cup of coffee (or something stronger if you’re so inclined — it’s Super Bowl Sunday, after all), and sit down with this 21st Century Weekend Edition of your favorite (online) publication — here we go!
#1 – USAID Officials Lock DOGE Out of the Building, Trump Delivers the ‘Find Out’ Response — by Bob Hoge
Trump is refusing to stand quietly by and let these functionaries defy him, a position this latest move only reaffirms:
Three of the sources said the DOGE personnel wanted to gain access to security systems and personnel files. Two of those sources said also they wanted access to classified information.
USAID Director of Security John Voorhees and his deputy are the latest officials who have been put on leave amid fears that the agency is being intentionally dismantled by the Trump administration. Rumors are swirling that President Donald Trump intends to sign an executive order to fold USAID into the US State Department – a move that Democratic lawmakers say is illegal.
More and more people, from underlings at the General Services Administration to DEI zealots at the Pentagon, are finding out that if you mess around and work from within against this administration, there will be a “find out” response soon forthcoming.
#2 – NEW: Massive Press Scandal As USAID Funding for ‘Politico’ Revealed, and It Gets Worse From There — by Bonchie
If you’ve ever wondered how some of these left-wing news outlets stay afloat financially, what has been revealed about Politico is one big reason. Democrats use federal agencies to funnel money for the express purpose of influencing elections and pushing left-wing ideology. It’s been out in the open with organizations like NPR and PBS, but the level of corruption we are going to find out about will be mind-blowing. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Politico should not survive this. To take millions of dollars from the entity you are covering and not let your readers know about it is a huge breach of journalistic ethics. Hopefully, this leads to major investigations because does anyone actually believe it costs $447,998 for 37 subscriptions to a news site? If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.
#3 – NEW: Sen. Kennedy Decimates Dems and USAID on Senate Floor With Shocking Details — by Nick Arama
If only half of this were true, it would be horrible. Yet, in truth, this list is only scratching the surface.
Plus, as Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) has explained, USAID hasn’t been forthcoming about their actions when members of Congress ask questions. Indeed she says when she tried, they were threatened when she started asking about money going to Ukraine. Fortunately, President Trump has now launched an investigation into the USAID mess.
Kennedy said he wasn’t saying that everything USAID did was bad but that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has now taken over as the acting USAID administrator, was going to separate out the good from the bad. He also observed that Democrats want to attack Musk and the process, they don’t want to talk about all the bad things that he’s been finding.
#4 – After More Than 3 Years, Another Biden Lawfare Scheme Has Been Dismantled — by Jennifer Van Laar
One more bit of Biden administration lawfare is finally over.
Back in November 2021, the FBI raided the home of investigative journalist James O’Keefe, who was then with Project Veritas, and two other PV journalists, as part of a federal investigation into the alleged theft of a diary Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley, was storing at a rehab facility. Two people, Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander, had obtained the diary and shopped it to Project Veritas. Even though Project Veritas spoke to Ashley Biden and she verified the diary was hers, they weren’t convinced of its authenticity (thinking it might be an elaborate catfishing effort) and held off on publishing anything from it. National File published excerpts from the diary, and shortly after that, the pre-dawn raids were carried out against O’Keefe and his associates.
#5 – WATCH: Margaret Brennan Gets Laid Out by Brian Mast After Demanding ‘Evidence’ of State Department DEI — by Bonchie
You can hear the haughty disgust in her voice as she asks, “What does that mean exactly,” as if Mast saying he wants to help purge the State Department is ambiguous. What he means by that, Margaret, is exactly what he said. Democrats have long believed they get a veto over the will of American voters by controlling various bureaucracies that wield power over their lives. Brennan never once questioned former President Joe Biden’s restructuring of the State Department, yet she acts like it’s a scandal for President Donald Trump to staff it as he sees fit.
When Mast then notes that State Department officials have prioritized DEI over effective diplomacy, Brennan thinks she’s laying a trap by asking for “proof.” Instead, he turns the table on her, bringing the receipts by listing specific grants and programs that went to things like drag shows and other LGBTQ initiatives.
