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06/03/2026

The Subway Kiss Trend has arrived in DC! Creator:

“The Justice Department is standing by an extraordinary measure giving President Trump, his family and his businesses po...
06/03/2026

“The Justice Department is standing by an extraordinary measure giving President Trump, his family and his businesses potentially lucrative protection from I.R.S. investigations, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said on Tuesday.

Mr. Blanche’s remarks about the tax protections came during an appearance in front of a House Appropriations subcommittee, in which he told lawmakers that the Trump administration was abandoning a related plan to create a $1.8 billion fund to pay restitution to people who claimed they were victims of government “weaponization.”

Mr. Blanche said the end of the fund would not affect the separate agreement shielding Mr. Trump from audits of tax returns he and his family had already filed. Both proposals had emerged in recent weeks as part of a settlement of Mr. Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the I.R.S. But now only the measure benefiting the Trumps will survive, Mr. Blanche said.

“Nothing has changed with that,” he said, referring to the tax proposal. “We’re not moving forward with the anti-weaponization fund.”

Mr. Blanche’s directive left in place a staggering public benefit to a president who has sought to bend the government toward his own financial interests. A host of thorny legal questions also remain. Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against the I.R.S. was revived last week by a judge concerned about potential deception in the agreement to withdraw the suit and to release the Trumps from any ongoing audits.

These protections could be immensely valuable to Mr. Trump and his family, who have faced repeated audits from the Internal Revenue Service. Just one investigation by the I.R.S. stemmed in part from how Mr. Trump claimed losses on his Chicago tower could have cost him more than $100 million, The New York Times has reported. The Trump Organization had recently entered settlement talks with the I.R.S. to try to resolve the audit, The Times previously reported.”
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06/03/2026

The t-shirt boys are back tonight!

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“A convicted Jan. 6 rioter who later said that he regretted his participation in the U.S. Capitol attack has been hired ...
06/03/2026

“A convicted Jan. 6 rioter who later said that he regretted his participation in the U.S. Capitol attack has been hired by the Trump administration to work inside a Pentagon office that manages highly classified military operations, according to four people familiar with the matter.

The appointment of Elias Irizarry, who was 19 at the time of the riot in 2021, to a post in the Defense Department’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office has raised alarm internally among staff who question how anyone convicted in the assault on American democracy could be trusted for such a sensitive role in the U.S. government, these people said. All spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing a fear of retaliation.

Irizarry is assigned to the office’s irregular warfare and counterterrorism section, the people familiar with the matter said. The team comprises about 40 people, and its portfolio includes operations such as embassy security, personnel recovery and hostage rescue.
Two people characterized the work as among the most delicate that the Pentagon performs. All positions, they said, require a top-secret security clearance.

“In the case of rescue/extraction missions, it can place our special operators in some of the most complex and dangerous environments we ask of them,” said one person familiar with Irizarry’s hiring. “To put someone so junior and new to DOD, and with such a checkered background, into such a sensitive portfolio raises serious questions for leadership.”

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We recently asked you all where the best neighborhood farmers’ market in the city is, and the results are in. Do you agr...
06/02/2026

We recently asked you all where the best neighborhood farmers’ market in the city is, and the results are in. Do you agree? 🧺

“The White House Correspondents’ Dinner, cut short on April 25 after authorities say a man stormed the Washington Hilton...
06/02/2026

“The White House Correspondents’ Dinner, cut short on April 25 after authorities say a man stormed the Washington Hilton armed with guns and knives and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer, has been rescheduled for Friday, July 24.

In an email to members, White House Correspondents’ Association President and CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang announced the new date for the dinner in Washington, D.C. “Rescheduling was not automatic. It was a choice that the WHCA board made after thoughtful consideration and input from our members,” Jiang wrote.

She said the event will include significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures, with additional details to be shared directly with attendees.

Authorities say Cole Tomas Allen is accused of storming the dinner while armed and firing a shotgun at a Secret Service officer who tried to stop the attack. The officer was shot once in a bullet‑resistant vest and returned fire, but no one else was struck. The attack forced an abrupt end to one of Washington’s highest‑profile annual events.”

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“A bed bug infestation at an Agriculture Department building is riling agency staff, reigniting frustrations over remote...
06/02/2026

“A bed bug infestation at an Agriculture Department building is riling agency staff, reigniting frustrations over remote work policy and making at least some employees sick.

The bugs were found in the building that houses the Animal and Plant Inspection Service, the agency responsible for containing and mitigating the spread of invasive pests in the U.S. The irony, one USDA employee said, “was lost on no one.”

The George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville, Maryland, first notified employees of the situation in mid-May, according to five employees familiar with the matter and a transcript of a town hall meeting obtained by NOTUS. The department opted to send employees home and allow them to telework for a few days to fumigate the building.

When employees returned, however, they complained of noxious fumes and resulting sickness, and USDA once again authorized them to work remotely. The telework approval was a rare exception to the Trump administration’s push to require all federal workers to report to their normal workplaces five days per week.

On Friday, USDA officials notified employees that bed bugs were again observed in the building. This time around, three employees said, the department has not authorized any additional telework. Instead, department leadership told employees to take personal vacation time if they did not want to report to the office.“
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“The Trump administration is withholding tens of millions in taxpayer funds from the bipartisan group created to celebra...
06/02/2026

“The Trump administration is withholding tens of millions in taxpayer funds from the bipartisan group created to celebrate America’s 250th birthday while simultaneously directing money toward President Donald Trump’s favored projects for the anniversary.

Trump established a new organization called Freedom 250 in December to plan events for the birthday, even though Congress had already created a bipartisan commission called America250.

The bipartisan commission told Congress that it has a $100 million “funding shortfall,” according to a document obtained by NOTUS. America250 had received only $25 million of the $100 million it expected from the Trump administration as of April, and less than anticipated from other sources as well, according to that commission report.

Meanwhile, the Interior Department has given at least $68 million in taxpayer funds this year to the parent group of Freedom 250, Trump’s preferred organization, NOTUS found.

Freedom 250 bills itself as nonpartisan, but is closely aligned with Trump. It was responsible for a massive prayer event on the National Mall in May featuring Vice President JD Vance, as well as the botched rollout of a series of concerts that were quickly canceled when most of the artists backed out because of the association with Trump. The organization is in charge of the “Great American State Fair” opening on the National Mall later this month, which Trump says he will headline with a rally and which will feature multiple days themed around “Make America Healthy Again.”“
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“D.C.’s National Guard surge didn’t deter violent crime, a new report says, despite coming at a steep cost for taxpayers...
06/02/2026

“D.C.’s National Guard surge didn’t deter violent crime, a new report says, despite coming at a steep cost for taxpayers.

Why it matters: Ahead of America’s 250th birthday events, President Trump plans to double the deployment — currently costing $1.5 million a day — to 5,000 troops.
The big picture: Researchers at the Niskanen Center found last August’s deployment led to a 24% decline in “opportunistic” property crimes.

Auto thefts, for example, dropped sharply; so did other property offenses.
But violent crimes — including robberies — were already on a downward cycle pre-deployment, and the deployment didn’t measurably change anything.
Researchers have a theory: The Guard deployed to busy and touristy areas, “where opportunistic property crime tends to occur and where visible deterrence is most likely to be effective.”

But violent crime is more often the result of “interpersonal dynamics, social network conflicts, and the structural conditions of high-poverty neighborhoods,” the report says, citing criminologist research.
The Guard by and large did not deploy to neighborhoods most plagued by violence, reports at the time suggested.”
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“More than 30 gallons of fuel spilled onto the National Mall from generators that were used during a recent event celebr...
06/02/2026

“More than 30 gallons of fuel spilled onto the National Mall from generators that were used during a recent event celebrating America’s 250th anniversary that was organized by Freedom 250, a group created by the Trump administration, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The fuel from commercial generators at the May 17 event seeped into underground cisterns that collect rainwater for the purposes of irrigating the Mall, these people said. Four of these cisterns, which hold up to 250,000 gallons, are installed under the National Mall. The people familiar with the matter said efforts to clean up the spill are underway.

Representatives from Freedom 250 said the incident was the result of “vandalism.”

“Following the Freedom 250 team’s installation of temporary lighting on the National Mall, our equipment has been repeatedly targeted by vandals. The recent fuel leak was the direct result of that tampering,” Rachel Reisner, spokeswoman for Freedom 250, said in a statement provided to NBC News.

“Upon discovering damage to a generator fuel line, Freedom 250 and our vendors mobilized within minutes, coordinated an immediate cleanup response, and fully remediated the site in close partnership with the National Park Service,” Reisner said. “We take our responsibility as stewards of the National Mall seriously and are working closely with the appropriate law enforcement authorities regarding these acts of vandalism.”

The administration established Freedom 250 as a public-private partnership to fund and plan events celebrating the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. It is separate from the nonprofit America250 that was established by Congress ten years ago and is led by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and private citizens.“
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