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), and sit down with this 21st Century Weekend Edition of your favorite (online) publication.
#1 - James Comer Drops an Eye-Opening Surprise on Hakeem Jeffries During House Debate on Epstein Legislation — by Sister Toldjah
Though that was about as pathetic as it gets, something that was intriguing to learn during the debate on the Epstein legislation was the Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) connection to Epstein.
As revealed by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (KY-01), apparently, there was a solicitation in 2013 by a Democrat consulting firm for Epstein to appear at a Jeffries aka "Brooklyn's Barack" campaign fundraiser for a possible private meeting. This was five years after Epstein's 2008 sex offense convictions:
And, unsurprisingly, Democrats have been silent about their colleague’s coordination with Epstein.
Another email shows Democrat fundraisers invited Epstein to an event, or to meet privately with Hakeem Jeffries, as part of their 2013 effort to win a majority.
So Hakeem Jeffries' campaign solicited money from Jeffrey Epstein. That's what we found in the last document batch.
#2 - PBS Claims Military Officers Are Lawyering Up Over Trump's Orders but What's Really Happening? — by streiff
The way I read that is that the military lawyers who ruled the roost in Iraq and Afghanistan, creating a maze of legal hoops that commanders had to jump through before engaging the enemy, are finding themselves sidelined. If the operators aren't concerned, then no one asking questions about the orders matters.
Stepping back, a lawyer giving you advice on carrying out an order isn't all that useful. The Orders Project produces an excellent downloadable publication called A SOURCEBOOK FOR ADVISING MILITARY PERSONNEL. Let me use their publication to demonstrate why relying on legal advice to disobey an order is a high-risk, low-payoff proposition.
First and foremost, any order you receive from a superior officer, so long as it is military related, is presumed to be lawful. You don't get to demand to see a legal opinion; you really don't even get to do the theatrical, "give it to me in writing." This is from the "Sourcebook," but it is taken directly from Article 90 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice: Willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer.
#3 - Second Lady Usha Vance Smacks Down Marriage Rumors With the Perfect Response — by Katie Jerkovich
We searched the Associated Press photo site and can vouch that there are numerous photos of Usha Vance over the last several months at various events showing her not wearing her wedding ring. So, why this got attention this time around is anyone's guess.
But I really did love her response. She's a real mom of three young kids, who washes dishes, gives them baths, and doesn't want to lose her ring in the tub or sink. Moms can definitely relate to this.
Usha is real, not fake like the last Second and then First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, and that makes her a frequent target of the left.
#4 - Yes, This Is Actually Real – Leftists Stop Trump From Power-Washing Ugly Eisenhower Exec. Office Bldg. — by Bob Hoge
White House spokesman Davis Ingle summed it up in a statement:
President Trump is making the White House beautiful and giving it the glory it deserves. Only people with a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome would find a problem with that.
Unbelievably, leftists saw this support for grime as a victory:
“The government’s temporary freeze of the president’s plans marks a significant step forward,” Greg Werkheiser, founding partner of Cultural Heritage Partners, said in a statement. “The court battle lies ahead, and we are fully conscious of just how much is at stake for this wonderful building and for the rest of America’s treasures protected under law.”
We’ve seen how the progressives have absolutely freaked out over Trump’s privately-funded White House ballroom project, even as Fed chair Jerome Powell throws billions at renovations for the Reserve’s buildings.
#5 - We *Finally* Know What Barron Trump Whispered to Joe Biden on Inauguration Day — by Teri Christoph
Once this clip hit social media, speculation was off the charts ... and quite hilarious. Conservatives, high off of Trump's return to the White House, had a great time envisioning all kinds of scenarios, with many concluding Trump's youngest child had a "gangster" aura about him after he delivered his greeting to Biden.
A thread on X asking for wrong answers only yielded some amusing guesses:
- "You forgot to pardon yourself."
- "Hello, My name is Barron Trump, You tried to kill my father..."
- "Keep your goons out of my closets."
- "Money laundering ends now."
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