This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The suspected sniper believed to have intentionally set a blaze in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on Sunday to ambush firefighters and police, killing at least two, is now identified as 20-year-old Wess Roley.
"We do believe that the suspect started the fire, and we do believe that it was an ambush and it was intentional," Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris told reporters. "These firefighters did not have a chance."
Ironically, there are indications Roley himself sought to be a firefighter.
"His grandfather, Dale Roley, told NBC News that 'something must have snapped' for his grandson to have committed such violence, particularly against firefighters," the network reported.
"He actually really respected law enforcement," Dale Roley said. "He loved firefighters. It didn't make sense that he was shooting firefighters. Maybe he got rejected or something."
The grandfather speculated that Wess Roley's height of 5-foot-8 may have hindered him from becoming a firefighter.
"I know he had been in contact to get a job with a fire department," Dale Roley said. "He wanted to be part of a team that he sort of idolized."
He said his grandson attended high school in Phoenix, Arizona, where his mother lives, and lived with him in Oklahoma for several months before moving to Idaho last summer to be closer to his father, according to NBC.
He used descriptors for Wess including "nervous," "high strung" and "kind of a loner," but said those were "normal issues for kids these days."
Dale Roley also said Wess had recently lost his phone, making his life more of a mystery.
"We didn't know where he was working," he noted. "He did have a lot of heart."
"I feel real terrible for those killed," he added.
Bruce Mattare, chairman of the Kootenai County board of county commissioners, said: "I cannot fathom why anyone would commit such a heinous act."
"This kind of senseless violence is unheard of here."
CNN reported: "Court documents show that Roley had a tumultuous family life growing up. His mother filed for divorce in September 2015, when her son was 10 years old, and wrote in court documents that her husband had threatened her, pushed her to the ground, and 'punched several holes in the walls.'
"He threatened to sit outside my house with a sniper rifle or burn my house down," she wrote.
"A judge granted a protective order preventing Roley's father from having contact with his wife or son, but later amended the order to remove the son after his father wrote in a court filing that 'I am not a danger to my son or anyone else' and that his wife 'did not tell the truth in her statement.'
"The divorce was granted in November 2015, and Roley's mother was designated as his 'primary residential parent.'"
On social media, there are numerous posts about Wess Roley, with some saying he "appears to be a young man transitioning," while others say his parents, being MAGA supporters of Donald Trump, "groomed" him to be violent.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The move is designed to allow Senate Democrats more time to parse through the myriad provisions within the massive legislative text before debate commences
Despite Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi's infamous line about needing to pass a behemoth spending bill "to find out what's in it," her fellow Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Saturday it was important to read President Trump's entire 940-page "big beautiful bill" on the Senate floor before any debate on the legislation commences.
The exercise by the clerk could take 15 hours.
"I will object to Republicans moving forward on their Big, Ugly Bill without reading it on the Senate floor," Schumer said on X. "Republicans won't tell America what's in the bill.
"So Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor," he said. "We will be here all night if that's what it takes to read it."
As Fox News explains, Schumer's move is designed to allow Senate Democrats more time to parse through the myriad provisions within the massive legislative text. It also serves as a significant delaying tactic. Trump has said he expects the Senate to approve the bill before July 4th.
Once the bill reading is done, 20 hours of debate evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans will begin, likely early Sunday morning. Democrats are expected to use their entire 10-hour chunk, while Republicans will go far under their allotted time, Fox reported.
Then comes the "vote-a-rama" process, where lawmakers can offer an unlimited number of amendments to the bill.
The last time clerks were forced to read the entirety of a bill during the budget reconciliation process was in 2021, when Democrats held the majority in the Senate.
At the time, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., demanded that the entire, over-600-page American Rescue Act be read aloud. At the time, Schumer, who was then the Senate majority leader, objected to the reading.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The American media missed, "or intentionally ignored," something that came out of the White House, something that probably never before has happened in the modern era.
It occurred during the aftermath of the American strike on facilities in Iran that were intended to help the rogue Islamic regime create and use nuclear weapons against Israel.
It was documented in a commentary from the James Dobson Family Institute that was authored by Gary Bauer, president of the Family Research Council and longtime associate of Dobson.
He explained, "We join the American people in thanking God that the U.S. military was able to strike Iranian nuclear sites on June 21. One of the world's most dangerous regimes must not be allowed to have the world's most deadly weapons. The operation was carried out flawlessly and with precision."
Bauer continued, "No one can predict what the days and weeks ahead will bring. There are Iranian 'sleeper cells' in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are stepping up efforts to keep American families and communities safe. Notable are concerns about possible attacks on churches and synagogues."
But those were not the only significant revelations, and another "has not received the attention it deserves."
"The president said something that I believe brought joy to the heavens and our Creator. The media missed it, of course, or intentionally ignored it. Here is the quote that grabbed my attention: 'I want to just thank everybody and, in particular, God. I want to just say, we love you, God, and we love our great military. Protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel, and God bless America.'"
The comments come at about 3:40 of the following lengthy video:
"'We love you, God.' I am virtually certain that no modern president has ever uttered those powerful words. Many presidents will ask God to bless America, especially in times of trouble and fear. 'God bless America' has almost been mechanical or merely a habit. Some have pondered in recent years whether we can ask for God to bless our nation if His innocent children continue to be destroyed in the womb. Corruption has grown in our country, and our culture is more decadent. Should we expect God to bless us?" Bauer said.
Bauer, an undersecretary of Education for President Reagan, and later head of the White House Office of Policy Development, said, "President Trump's voice 'caught' almost imperceptibly when he spoke the four words. This was not an act; this was not 'bravado' or bragging. I have no doubt this was heartfelt from a man who I know believes God spared his life from an assassin's bullet."
He also warned, "We should remember the theological worldview of the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They are calling out to Allah to bring them victory. Their scholars think the 12th Imam, the Mahdi, is coming soon. They believe that when he arrives, he will immediately start slaughtering Christians and Jews. They want to hasten that day of slaughter."
"Hearing our president say those words, 'We love you, God,' is powerful and theologically significant. The God we love, and he loves, is the God who said, ' . . . I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live . . .' (Deuteronomy 30:19, ESV).
This is an important moment to turn our hearts back to the God of the Bible."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
As the Democratic Party in America continues its downward spiral, President Donald Trump says he's come up with an idea to inject some life into the politicians.
"I have an idea for the Democrats to bring them back into 'play,'" Trump said sarcastically Wednesday on Truth Social.
"After years of being left out in the cold, including suffering one of the Greatest Losses in History, the 2024 Presidential Election, the Democrats should nominate Low IQ Candidate, Jasmine Crockett, for President, and AOC+3 should be, respectively, Vice President, and three High Level Members of the Cabinet – Added together with our future Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, and our Country is really SCREWED!"
His comment comes in the wake of Tuesday's victory of socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary.
"We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford … a city where they can do more than just struggle," Mamdani said.
"And it's where the mayor will use their power to reject Donald Trump's fascism."
Trump said of the election results: "It's finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line.
"Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming Mayor. We've had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous.
"He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he's not very smart, he's got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin' Chuck Schumer, is groveling over him. Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!"
Joanna Rodriguez, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told the Daily Caller News Foundation "the New York mayoral primary proves socialist progressives are calling the shots in the Democrat Party now, and Chuck Schumer's decade-long grip on control is fading fast."
"Because Mamdani is a darling of the far left and was endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, I suspect that his victory will further divide the Democratic Party."
"As of now, the Democrats lack a clear message as the 2026 midterm elections loom. The energy seems to be on the progressive side, so I would assume that Mamdani's primary victory will help push the agenda more in their direction."
"However, I think going more left and embracing socialist policies will not bode well for the future of the Democratic Party," Talgo added.
Seth Barron, managing editor of "The American Mind," told the DCNF he believes Mamdani's election win is not likely to increase the popularity of "hard-core socialism" among Democrats.
"The victory of Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic mayoral primary election signals that a far-left Democrat can win the Democratic nomination in New York City," Barron told the DCNF.
"Socialists and their friends are excited about what Mamdani's victory means to Democrats nationwide, but his success is unlikely to travel well. NYC's ranked choice voting and public campaign financing advantaged his campaign by creating a field of challengers who were in fact running mates.
"Party organizations in other localities – and whole states – will not collapse so rapidly in the face of a hard-left primary challenger. The appetite for hard-core socialism is not as deep or broad as the [Democratic Socialists of America] imagines."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, whom many in the political world say is a "rising star" among Democrats, threw a tantrum in Congress Tuesday after she came in last place in her bid to become the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee.
In video of the committee posted online, Crockett is seen shouting foul language at her congressional colleagues who were urging her to "calm down."
"No! Because this is what y'all do! So I'm trying to get clarification," Crockett yelled.
"If you don't want me to be … Don't tell me to calm down! Because y'all talk noise and then you can't take it. 'Cause if I come and talk sh** about her, y'all gonna have a problem."
Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., admitted having physical trouble understanding his fellow lawmakers amid the commotion.
"I don't know if you've noticed that I have two hearing aids," Comer said. "I'm very deaf. I'm not understanding. Everybody's yelling. I'm doing the best I can."
Democrats selected Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., as their ranking member on the 47-person panel.
Crockett told reporters: "It was clear by the numbers that my style of leadership is not exactly what they were looking for, and so I didn't think that it was fair for me to then push forward and try to rebuke that."
"They were clear that I was the one that made the least sense in their minds.
"I accept that, and I think that you have to make sure that you are going to be able to work with leadership if you are going to go into a leadership position," she added.
"I think the people may be disappointed, but at the end of the day, we've got to move forward in this country, we've got to move forward for this world, and I don't want to be an impediment."
This was Crockett's second defeat in looking to ascend the rungs of congressional leadership. She was looking to replace the committee's former top Democrat, Gerry Connolly of Virginia, who died in May.
Journalist Nick Sortor reacted to Crockett's tantrum, stating: "Running for Congress should require a minimum IQ. Crockett's become the face of ghetto. And she seems to enjoy that for some reason. Texas needs to dump her a**."
Others indicated:
"In the early round of voting Jasmine Crockett got 6 votes. One of them was from herself. She came in last to 76 year old Kweisi Mfume – who many people had never even heard of before. Maybe Trump should text her about this. "
"Crockett thinks being vile and vulgar is an asset. It just makes her a loser."
"Kamala 2.0."
"Can they censure her for speaking out of turn and in ebonics?"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Not thrilled with mainstream media coverage of U.S. strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities on Saturday, President Donald Trump on Monday erupted against some of the biggest names in American news.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated: "The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it.
"Only the Fake News would say anything different in order to try and demean, as much as possible – And even they say they were 'pretty well destroyed!'
"Working especially hard on this falsehood is Allison Cooper of Fake News CNN, Dumb Brian L. Roberts, Chairman of 'Con'cast, Jonny Karl of ABC Fake News, and always, the Losers of, again, Concast's NBC Fake News.
"It never ends with the sleazebags in the Media, and that's why their Ratings are at an ALL TIME LOW — ZERO CREDIBILITY!"
Trump's mention of "Allison" Cooper of CNN is actually a reference to Anderson Cooper, the openly homosexual anchor for the Cable News Network.
Trump first used the woman's first name for Cooper last October in the days before the 2024 presidential election.
"If you watched her being interviewed by Allison Cooper the other night, he's a nice person. You know Allison Cooper? CNN fake news," Trump said in Traverse City, Michigan, according to the Associated Press, before pausing and saying in a mocking voice: "Oh, she said no, his name is Anderson. Oh, no."
"They had a town hall," Trump later said at another Michigan event. "Even Allison Cooper was embarrassed by it. He was embarrassed by it."
The AP noted at the time: "In referring to Cooper with a woman's name, Trump appeared to turn to a stereotype heterosexual people have long deployed against gay men. Such rhetoric evokes the trope of gay men as effeminate and comes as Trump aims to drive up his appeal among men in the final stages of his bid to return to the White House."
As WorldNetDaily reported, CNN was forced to make a major correction to its story originally claiming Democrats in Congress were not informed in advance of the U.S. military strikes against Iran's nuclear sites.
Appearing on Fox News Monday morning, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said congressional members of both parties were informed prior to the military action.
"First of all, we did make bipartisan calls. Thomas Massie and the Democrats – he should be a Democrat because he is more aligned with them than with the Republican Party – were given notice," she began.
"The White House made calls to congressional leadership; they were bipartisan calls. In fact, Hakeem Jeffries couldn't be reached. We tried him before the strike and he didn't pick up the phone, but he was briefed after, as well as Chuck Schumer was briefed prior to the strike.
"So this notion that CNN ran with that the White House did not give a heads-up to Democrats is just completely false. In fact, both Sen. Schumer's office and CNN had to retract that story last night because it was a blatant lie, and we showed them the time stamps from those phone calls."
Brian Roberts, CEO of NBC News' parent company Comcast, was an adviser to Barack Obama on the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which "was created to provide non-partisan advice to the president on continuing to strengthen the nation's economy and ensure the competitiveness of the United States and on ways to create jobs, opportunity, and prosperity for the American people."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President Trump announced Saturday that the U.S. had successfully bombed multiple nuclear sites in Iran, representing the first time the United States has conducted a direct attack on the regime.
"We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan," Trump wrote in the post. "All planes are now outside of Iran's airspace."
He said a "full payload of BOMBS" was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.
Fox News reported that Fordow, Iran's main underground enrichment site, was difficult for the Israeli Army to destroy due to its location, leading to requests for the U.S. to use its B-2 stealth bombers and 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs.
All planes are safely on their way home, according to Trump.
"Congratulations to our great American Warriors," he wrote. "There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Four men have pleaded guilty to charges coming out of a $550 million USAID fraud scheme, pulling back the curtain on some of what went on in the federal operations that were targeted by Elon Musk when he was working with the Department of Government Efficiency.
His plan essentially gutted that program, and now some of the details are emerging.
One report confirmed that the defendants in the case "used YOUR tax dollars to buy NBA tickets, country club weddings, and laundered MILLIONS in cash through corrupt entities."
The report said, "One defendant 'exploited his position at USAID to line his pockets with bribes in exchange for more than $550 million in contracts.'"
A New York Post report said the defendants included a federal contracting officer and three businessmen.
They pleaded guilty on Thursday to participating in that scheme.
"Roderick Watson, of Maryland, is alleged to have received bribes valued in excess of $1 million while working at USAID in exchange for using his position as a trusted overseer of taxpayer money to direct 14 prime federal contracts to two consulting companies, Apprio and Vistant," the publication reported.
The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official and could get up to 15 years in prison.
Walter Barnes, owner of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, owner of Apprio, used Paul Young, the president of a subcontractor used by both Vistant and Apprio, as a middleman to conceal some of the bribes destined for Watson, the Department of Justice charged in the case.
Each of the business operators pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and Barnes pleaded to securities fraud.
The DOJ explained it was back in 2013 when Watson, working at USAID, agreed to use his influence to push contracts to Apprio, which was given the privilege of lucrative federal deals because of its status as a "socially and economically disadvantaged" business.
"When Apprio 'graduated' from the SBA 8(a) program, the scheme shifted, and Watson began awarding prime contracts to Barnes' Vistant company – an Apprio subcontractor – between 2018 and 2022, in exchange for bribes," the report said.
The money went to, among other things, an NBA game suite, a country club wedding, down payments on two homes, cell phones and even "jobs for relatives," the DOJ said.
The skimming operations where concealed with shell companies, fake invoices and fraudulent accounting documents.
The Trump administration, in its demands to shut down USAID, charged that there was widespread waste, fraud and abuse there.
A DOJ spokesman said the four "violated the public trust by corrupting the federal government's procurement process."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Not only did President Trump not host a White House celebration of Juneteenth this year – as his predecessor did – nor sign an official resolution marking the day, but his only recognition of the federal holiday didn't even mention it by name.
Posting on Truth Social, the president lamented how many "non-working holidays" there are in America, an apparent reference to the millions of federal workers at home Thursday for Juneteenth, the day meant to celebrate the end of slavery in the U.S.
Regarding the number of holidays, Trump declared, "It must change."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
After President Trump responded negatively to assertions by his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, recent media reports claim the former Democrat DNI is on thin ice with her boss.
In March, Gabbard made remarks before Congress, saying that although Iran's enriched uranium levels were at an all-time high, experts believed that Tehran was not currently seeking to develop a nuclear bomb.
Trump was asked about the remarks Tuesday and responded: "I don't care what she said. I think they were very close to having a weapon."
Another bone of contention reportedly is a video Gabbard posted on X June 10 in response to a trip she took to Hiroshima, Japan, the location of the first nuclear attack in history. She warned that "political elite and warmongers" are "carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers," placing the world "on the brink of nuclear annihilation."
The video reportedly angered the president, as it was seen as correcting the administration's policy on Iran.
Politico reported comments from anonymous sources familiar with the relationship between the two.
"I don't think [Trump] dislikes Tulsi as a person," the source said. "But certainly the video made him not super hot on her … and he doesn't like it when people are off message."
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance has defended Gabbard.
"Tulsi is a veteran, a patriot, a loyal supporter of Pres Trump and a critical part of the coalition he built in 2024," Vance said in a statement obtained by NewsNation. "She's an essential member of our nat sec team, & we're grateful for her tireless work to keep America safe from foreign threats."