Source: Reuters
“The United States'[s] war in Iran has cost $25 billion so far, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday, providing the first official estimate of the military’s price tag for the conflict. … Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the comptroller, told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee that most of that money was for munitions. Hurst did not detail what that cost estimate included and whether it took into account the projected costs of rebuilding and repairing base infrastructure in the Middle East damaged in the conflict. … it is unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the $25 billion amount given that a source had told Reuters last month that President Donald Trump’s administration estimated that the first six days of the war had cost the United States at least $11.3 billion.” (04/29/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-war-iran-has-cost-25-billion-so-far-says-pentagon-official-2026-04-29/
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Writers in the mainstream press are describing the assassination attempt against President Trump as evil. What they fail to realize, however, is that simply because the assassination attempt was evil doesn’t necessarily mean that the actions of President Trump and the U.S. national-security establishment that apparently motivated the would-be assassin are good. It is entirely possible to have evil on both sides. For example, what about the U.S. government’s official assassinations? How often does the mainstream press condemn those as evil? Hardly ever.” (04/29/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/04/29/ignoring-official-evil/
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“Former FBI director James Comey made his first court appearance on Wednesday in a criminal case against him that legal experts say presents significant hurdles for the prosecution and will likely be a challenge for the U.S. Justice Department to win. Comey was indicted in North Carolina on Tuesday on charges of making threats against U.S. President Donald Trump related to a photograph he posted on social media last year of seashells arranged in the numbers ’86 47.’ The Justice Department contends those numbers amounted to a threat against Trump, the 47th president.” (04/29/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/comey-8647-trumo-shells-threat-indictment-9.7181694
Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley
“In the last year, coverage of former FBI Director James Comey appears to be reverting to the level of a high school yearbook. Last March, we were discussing how Comey channeled Beyoncé in a classified meeting and then may have revealed a code name in an encore performance for family. Now we are back to discussing Comey’s beach shell art on social media. The latter controversy is now at the heart of a second criminal indictment of Comey. … The problem with this indictment will be the merits. The indictment concerns an image that was later removed by Comey showing ’86 47′ in shells on a beach.” (04/28/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jonathan-turley-comeys-shell-post-may-crass-charging-free-speech-trap
Source: The Hill
“The House on Wednesday approved the renewal of the nation’s warrantless spy powers in a 235-191 vote that cleared the chamber with support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The bill, which would renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), still has to clear the Senate, another challenging hurdle before the powers expire on April 30. Section 702 of FISA allows the government to spy on foreigners located abroad, but it has long generated calls to include a warrant requirement before reviewing any information collected on Americans who communicate with overseas targets.” (04/29/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5856102-warrantless-spy-powers-fisa-702/
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Kavanagh
“The United States has long relied on ground-based air defense systems to protect U.S. personnel, infrastructure, and assets from adversary missiles. But Iran was able to effectively disable these systems, suggesting that this approach to force protection is entirely insufficient in a world of “precise mass” where even weak adversaries have advanced targeting capabilities. If the U.S. ground-based air defense network could not survive against Iran, it is most certainly inadequate for a war with China. The U.S. experience against Iran also raises questions about U.S. plans to rely primarily on stand-off weapons to strike Chinese ships and military targets in an Indo-Pacific contingency. Although this strategy evolved as a response to China’s anti-access/air denial capabilities, which will make operating close to the mainland coast impossible, the war in Iran suggests that the stand-off approach may be limited in what it can accomplish.” (04/29/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-military-unprepared-war-china/
Source: Real Clear Politics
by John R Lott Jr.
“Violence motivated by political differences has emerged as a defining, if alarming, feature of 21st -century American civil life. Neither side in our nation’s increasingly dangerous ideological divide has a monopoly. But one side, the Democratic Party and its allies, refuses to acknowledge the increase in mayhem from the left [sic]. This is true even in the face of the campus assassination of beloved conservative activist Charlie Kirk, or the very public attack against a televised banquet featuring the president of the United States in a ballroom room full of politicians and journalists. On Sunday, well after authorities released Cole Tomas Allen’s anti-Trump administration screed, former President Barack Obama posted on X that the attacker’s motive remained unclear. Actually, Allen’s writings made his radical leftist [sic] views perfectly clear, along with his rage against conservatives and President Trump himself.” (04/29/26)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/04/29/political_violence_isnt_one-sided__so_why_is_the_conversation_154071.html
Source: Time
“Former Attorney General Pam Bondi will testify next month in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Republicans on the panel announced Wednesday, shortly after Democrats moved to hold her in contempt following her failure to appear for a previously scheduled deposition. Republican lawmakers on the panel said Bondi will give testimony on May 29, calling Democrats’ filing of a civil contempt resolution ‘theater and completely unnecessary.’ … Bondi has faced widespread criticism and controversy over the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files under her leadership. The department was required to release all its files related to the disgraced financier by Dec. 19 under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed by Congress in November and signed into law by Trump soon afterward. But the DOJ failed to meet that deadline, prompting outcry from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and survivors of Epstein’s abuse.” (04/29/26)
https://time.com/article/2026/04/29/bondi-epstein-files-house-oversight-committee-deposition/
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“The Second Reason It’s Wrong To Shoot The President.” (04/29/26)
https://rumble.com/v794h8c-the-second-reason-its-wrong-to-shoot-the-president-instant-grace-with-jim-b.html
Source: Foreign Policy
by Elisabeth Braw
“Estonia is some way from the Persian Gulf. Even so, it has vocally supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s war against Iran. That has done it no good, despite Trump’s railing against NATO allies for not joining his attack on Tehran: This month, the United States canceled military deliveries to the Baltic nation because it needed the weapons for the Iran war. Other allies are encountering similar delays. The United States has the legal right to suspend weapons deliveries — but such suspensions will hardly encourage nations to buy American.” [editor’s note: So what’s the down side? Retool those factories to produce things American consumers want. “Problem” solved – TLK] (04/29/26)
https://archive.is/DIuIj
