Every Sunday, here at RedState, we bring you the Weekly Briefing, where we take a quick look at the week’s most-viewed stories. Since we're about to close out 2025, I thought it might be fun to take a similar look back at the top story from each month this year.
How many of these are still being talked about? How many have long since been forgotten in this whirlwind news cycle? Do any of these surprise you?
Curl up with the drink of your choice — whether it be hot cocoa, fizzy water, or something with a little more kick — and join us for the RedState Yearly Briefing:
January
Rusty Weiss kicked off the year with this feel-good story: Shortly after (re)taking office, President Trump yanked the security clearances from the infamous 51 "Spies Who Lied" (about Hunter Biden's laptop) and called for an investigation into the matter.
Trump Rips Security Clearances From the 51 Spies Who Lied, Then Hit Them With Another Bombshell — by Rusty Weiss
President Donald Trump, as expected, has signed an executive order revoking the security clearances of 51 intelligence officers who signed a letter portraying Hunter Biden’s laptop as ‘Russian disinformation’ before the 2020 presidential election.
The order also authorizes further investigation into those involved in the publication of the infamous letter. It requires the "Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency" to "revoke any current or active clearances" of the listed 51 individuals.
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Directors Mike Hayden, John Brennan, and Leon Panetta, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton are on the list.
February
In February, streiff detailed the less-than-welcome reception newly minted Secretary of Defense (now Secretary of War) Pete Hegseth received at EUCOM headquarters in Germany.
SecDef Hegseth Gets a Rude and Disrespectful Welcome by US Military Command in Germany — by streiff
I'm old school on uniforms. I think the custom of wearing BDUs (utilities, fatigues, whatever you want to call the field uniform) all the time is horrendous. When I was a young officer, you weren't allowed to wear BDUs off-post. Period. You couldn't go to a fast food place or run an errand on the way home or at lunch wearing BDUs. In my view, if you can't break out the Class A uniform to welcome the SecDef and note the color guard is in dress uniform, then there is no possible occasion that calls for them. But, if you do wear BDUs to greet the SecDef, show him the respect of wearing a fresh set. Meeting the head of the Department of Defense in wrinkled BDUs is a calculated insult because I really don't believe this four-star or his aide are that stupid.
More evidence to back up my contention that the greeting was intended to show Hegseth how little the commanding general thought of him, perhaps for the first time in the history of the Defense Department, the Secretary of Defense was heckled by military wives.
March
Bonchie brought us an update — one of many, it would turn out — in the case involving activist Mahmoud Khalil and his efforts to avoid being removed from the country. Khalil's still here, by the way. The case is on appeal before the 3rd Circuit.
It Sure Looks Like the Trump Admin Just Outfoxed the Judge Trying to Block Pro-Hamas Leader's Deportation — by Bonchie
The Trump administration sent the far-left into an apoplectic rage on Sunday when it was announced they had detained pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil. The Department of Homeland Security took him into custody with the intent to revoke his green card and deport him after he repeatedly expressed public support for terrorism.
Khalil is originally from Syria and has been one of the leaders of the antisemitic harassment campaign taking place at Columbia University. During the summer of 2024, he helped instigate and organize a group of Hamas supporters who illegally occupied public spaces around the school, becoming one of their chief "negotiators." Columbia pro-terrorist activists made headlines again recently when they surrounded a Jewish center on campus, screaming for a "global intifada." Khalil was also filmed participating in a "protest" that took over a library.
April
In April, Bonchie highlighted a disturbing lack of intellect (or intellectual honesty) from the Supreme Court's most junior justice.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Shows She's Either the Dumbest or Most Evil Justice on the Supreme Court — by Bonchie
Look, I'm not a lawyer, but I'm going to go way out on a limb and suggest that a Supreme Court justice should have some basic grasp of the details being argued in front of them before jumping into the fray. Not Jackson, though. She wasn't aware (or at least pretended she wasn't) that the Montgomery County School District, which is at the center of this argument, requires the books in question to be taught to students.
To offer further context, this case surrounds a specific LGBTQ curriculum that was mandated some years prior. The books are not just "sitting on the shelves," and even if they were, I would argue that parents have a right to object to their children being exposed to them. This is basic stuff. Schools should not be teaching things like sexuality to kids. There is no reason to do it, and it can clearly violate the religious rights of parents in the process.
But while Jackson often comes across as vapid and ill-equipped, as I mentioned, the other option is that she's just evil, and the rest is an act.
May
Then there's former First Lady Michelle Obama, who's never met a complaint whose "i" she doesn't insist on dotting enthusiastically, as Bonchie observed in this one:
Something Is Seriously Wrong With Michelle Obama — by Bonchie
When the Obamas handed over the keys to the White House, they were worth $12 million. Was it really a hardship for them to have to pay for their own food? Does Michelle Obama understand how normal people live? Not only do we pay for our food, but we pay for everything else as well. I couldn't imagine living in the White House rent-free for eight years, complete with a taxpayer-funded army of servants (excuse me...staffers) and ever uttering a complaint about it. That's not to say rich people can't have frustrations, but there's a way to express them without coming across as an ungrateful brat.
What's even weirder about this is that she expressed the opposite view back in 2018, claiming that having to pay for her food while in the White House was a good thing because presidents and their families shouldn't be "mooching" off taxpayers.
Rent is free, staff is free - we shouldn't be mooching off of the taxpayers.
Again, though, if this were an isolated incident, maybe it could be ignored. But Michelle Obama has become obsessed with painting herself as a victim of America's class system despite firmly being at the top of it. Mix in some accusations of racism, and you've got her current worldview, and it's not pretty or healthy.
June
Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar did a deep dive on the funding behind June's riots in L.A. and made a fascinating discovery:
Taxpayer-Funded Riots: Here's What We Found When We Followed the Money in Los Angeles — by Jennifer Van Laar
According to their website, their core leadership development activities are:
- Wise Up! (youth leadership development program mentoring high school students in 15 Los Angeles schools).
- California Dream Network (mobilize college students in 30 California colleges and universities around immigration reform; boasts 5,000 veteran leaders).
- Contamos Contigo Census Campaign
- Disaster Assistance for Immigrants (to distribute COVID-19 aid)
- Organizing low-wage workers, including day laborers, street vendors, and domestic workers who do not reap the benefits of labor laws.
- LA Raids Rapid Response Network (focuses on advocacy, direct action to shut down detention centers, and connecting immigrants facing detention and deportation to legal representation).
Basically, our taxpayer dollars are going to train high school and college students in how to break immigration law and become Marxist agitators, to ensure illegal aliens are counted in the U.S. Census, to organize illegal aliens already in the country, and to fund their legal representation against deportation.
July
Greg Gutfeld was mad as hell — and not going to take it anymore – as we learned more and more about the tangled Russia Collusion hoax. Bonchie gave us a rundown on Gutfeld's epic rant:
Greg Gutfeld Reaches His Breaking Point With Co-Host, Encapsulates GOP Anger Over Russia Collusion Hoax — by Bonchie
Greg Gutfeld reached his breaking point with liberal co-host Jessica Tarlov on Wednesday, launching into a heated commentary on the double standards surrounding the Russia collusion hoax. In doing so, he perfectly encapsulated broader Republican frustrations, with Democrats claiming that history is being "rewritten."
Those cries have gone forth despite the fact that the original intelligence assessment has now been proven to be a false political hit job orchestrated from the top of the Barack Obama administration. Current DNI Tulsi Gabbard revealed documents last Friday proving that the former president directed then-CIA Director John Brennan to manufacture the assertion that now-President Donald Trump had colluded with the Russians to steal the 2016 election. For the better part of a decade, that was the predominant talking point, with even Hillary Clinton adopting it.
August
By August, President Trump was settling in to his second term and pushing for some accountability for those who'd previously weaponized the government against their political enemies – him, in particular, as Bonchie noted in this OpEd:
Democrats Learn What Consequences Are, and They Aren't Happy About It — by Bonchie
But really, what did Democrats think was going to happen? At what point in Trump's political career has he shown a penchant for letting things go?
What the press refuses to accept is that "retribution" is no longer a dirty word. People aren't blind. They saw what transpired over the last decade, and everything Trump is doing is being filtered through that lens. There was a time when taking a hatchet to the FBI or prosecuting your political opponents was indeed taboo. That time ended the moment Democrats tore the Overton window to shreds. They chose to put these new rules into effect, and we aren't going back to the old rules until some accountability is had.
As the saying goes, if you take a shot at the king, you'd best not miss. Democrats missed.
September
In September, we saw Ben Shapiro school a CNN panel on a whole host of issues, as Bonchie detailed here:
Ben Shapiro's Wild CNN Appearance Exposes the Psychosis of the Left — by Bonchie
Scott Jennings had some backup on Tuesday, with Ben Shapiro unexpectedly showing up on CNN. The two teamed up to thoroughly dismantle Abby Phillip's overwhelmingly left-wing panel, which included the perpetually overstimulated Ana Kasparian.
What transpired over the course of the hour was a case study in the psychosis of the Democratic Party. Shapiro was repeatedly faced with nonsensical assertions and emotional rants, both of which make up the core of left-wing ideology.
October
October saw the second "No Kings" rally, which, in turn, led to Senate Dems expressing concern over the very monster they created, as Ward Clark covered here:
Dem Senators Now Fear Fallout of 'No Kings' Absurdity — by Ward Clark
The schadenfreude, it is strong in this. When you dine at the Devil's table, you don't get to choose the menu, and Democrats have, as a party, embraced the nutcase left - now they face the consequences. Those consequences may well include electoral oblivion.
A second person familiar with the political dynamics within the Senate Democratic caucus, who spoke with The Hill ahead of the “No Kings” protests, said centrist senators are fearful of breaking with leaders while party activists are planning the anti-Trump rallies.
“We would have enough votes” to reopen the government “if people were not terrified of getting the guillotine,” the second person said.
And who would replace them? Any of these people in House and Senate who are in such a shaky position to be worried about being ousted from their phony-baloney jobs because they showed insufficient zeal in opposing Bad Orange Man will almost certainly be replaced by a creature of the loony left - or possibly by a Republican, if the electorate of the jurisdiction in question still holds a plurality of people who are not, you know, nuts. But we should remember the apocryphal caution often attributed to H.L. Mencken: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."
November
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stunner of a decision regarding President Trump's New York criminal case (yes, the one in which he was found "guilty" on 34 felony charges) in November, reversing a district court decision that denied Trump's efforts to remove that case to federal court, and opening up the possibility that the convictions might — might — not stand. Yours truly wrote that one up.
Whoa: 2nd Circuit Issues Stunning Decision on Trump's NY Criminal Case — by Susie Moore
Trump had initially attempted to remove the case from state court to federal court, which effort was shot down. But after the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Trump v. United States in July of 2024, Trump renewed his efforts to remove the case to federal court, asserting that the Supreme Court’s intervening decision rendered the State of New York's prosecution one “relating to” his official acts as president, such that the case was now removable and established "good cause" for his untimely filing.
U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein shot down that renewed effort in September 2024, and Trump again appealed to the 2nd Circuit, which heard oral argument on the matter in June of 2025. On Thursday, they issued their ruling, determining that the district court failed to properly consider the renewed motion.
December
Last, but not least, Rusty Weiss recently brought us this bombshell of a story regarding Georgia and the 2020 election:
'We Don't Dispute' It: Georgia 315k Vote Bombshell Blows a Big Hole in 2020's 'Most Secure Election' Lie — by Rusty Weiss
A Georgia State Election Board investigation substantiated that Fulton County violated election rules in 2020 by failing to have poll workers sign required tabulation tapes for early votes in 36 out of 37 advanced voting precincts, affecting approximately 315,000 ballots.
These unsigned tapes broke the chain-of-custody and certification requirements under Georgia law, which mandates signed tapes as the sole legal proof of authentic vote totals.
During a board meeting on December 9th, Ann Brumbaugh, attorney for the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, contends that Fulton County does “not dispute that the tapes were not signed.”
Oof. So much for the "most secure" and "most audited" election in the history of the world. No worries, however. Brumbaugh contends that their processes and procedures have rectified the situation since.
It's not really any wonder 2025 seems like a blur, is it? Here's to a more focused and successful 2026!
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