Government Officials Asked To Turn In Phones As Part Of Wiles, Patel-Led Investigation: CNN

Key MomentGovernment Officials Asked To Turn In Phones As Part Of Wiles, Patel-Led Investigation: CNNSome officials have been asked to turn over their phones amid an investigation into leaks being conducted by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and FBI Director Kash Patel, CNN reported.Wiles and Patel are probing leaks to the press about security concerns surrounding the Qatari-gifted plane set to serve as the new Air Force One, according to CNN.At least one government agency told employees to contact their agency attorneys if an outside agency requested their devices or information. The report comes days after the Justice Department subpoenaed several New York Times journalists who reported the information about the plane. The news sheds light on the Trump administration’s unconventional involvement with the DOJ and attacks on the First Amendment.Read more at CNN:Latest Live Updates'A Referendum On The Morality Of This Country': Epstein Survivors Urge Senate To Reject Todd BlancheSen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) hosted a press conference Wednesday alongside several survivors of Jeffrey Epstein following the heated confirmation hearing of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Durbin, a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged his Republican colleagues to vote no on Blanche, detailing the many missteps Blanche has made while investigating Epstein and the late sex trafficker’s wealthy and powerful co-conspirators. “This vote on Todd Blanche is a referendum on the morality of this country and the real caring of American people for those who’ve been victimized,” Durbin said. “To my colleagues: Stand up, say no to Todd Blanche. Let’s move to a better place.” As the Department of Justice’s second-in-command, Blanche was in charge of overseeing the release of the Epstein files. Many, including survivors of Epstein, have criticized Blanche for mishandling the publication of the files including revealing identifying and personal information about survivors.“Jeffrey Epstein and those who enabled him stole pieces of our lives. We have spent years surviving the unspeakable, rebuilding, healing, and fighting to be seen. Our lives, our safety, and our dignity are dignity are at stake,” survivor Lara Blume McGee said. “Under Mr. Blanche’s watch, the Department of Justice has released materials tied to the Epstein investigation in ways that exposed survivors’ names, medical and financial details, and other identifying information, that should have been protected,” she continued. “For many of us, the DOJ’s redactions were not merely inadequate — they were another violation, reopening wounds we had fought to keep closed.”Durbin and others pointed out that Blanche has still not met with any Epstein survivor, despite meeting last year with Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein’s confidant and a convicted child sex trafficker. During Wednesday’s hearing, Durbin pressed Blanche on why he has not yet met with any survivors; Blanche responded that he is prohibited from meeting with survivors because they have attorneys, though it was not immediately clear if that’s true.“This is about corruption. It isn’t just about a singular instance of abuse,” said Amanda Roberts, the sister-in-law of prominent Epstein survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre who died by suicide last year. “It is about choosing who our leadership is, what direction our nation will be headed in if we decide to choose a former prosecutor who has looked at the largest investigation against sex trafficking and said that there is nothing to see here.”Vance Secret Service Detail ‘Fed Up’ With Super Expensive Personal Transport Requests: MSNOWThe Secret Service detail assigned to the second family has grown increasingly frustrated by last-minute travel demands made by Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha, according to a wild story published by MS NOW Wednesday afternoon.Among other things, that reportedly includes enlisting a military helicopter to fly one of Vance’s sons to a golf lesson (operating cost $16,000 to $24,600 per hour) and using a helicopter to go house-hunting in the suburbs, usage that far exceeds prior second families.“They change everything,” one of the people familiar with the Vance’s schedule told MS NOW. “They don’t stick to their schedules, and that costs shit-tons of taxpayer money.”Read more on MS NOW:Trump Says Lindsey Graham Will Be Missed, Especially For Being Able To Wine And Dine DemocratsPresident Donald Trump briefly brought up the late Sen. Lindsey Graham at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit on Wednesday, telling the crowd that the South Carolina Republican who passed away unexpectedly over the weekend will be missed.“Some people you don’t appreciate until they’re not here,” Trump said. “He got things done. He could even deal with Democrats. If I needed a Democrat, I could go to Lindsey, and Lindsey would take him out and wine him and dine him and say, ‘I got him for you.’ There aren’t too many people [who] could do that,” Trump added.Trump Touts Plan To Replace Undocumented Truck Drivers With 'Proud American Veterans'President Donald Trump touted that his administration will “take historic action” to replace “illegal alien truck drivers who are just killing a lot of people” with veterans.“They came in totally illegally, and we don’t want them,” Trump said at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit on Wednesday, where he also announced a $10 billion defense pledge, which will create 4,000 new jobs. Using the killing of a Pennsylvania state trooper in a semitruck crash involving an immigrant earlier this month, Trump claimed in a blanket statement that undocumented immigrant truck drivers can’t read and are abusing drugs and alcohol. “But they are driving all over American roadways, and we’re going to replace them with proud American veterans,” he said before adding, “any American who’s driven a heavy truck for our military will automatically be eligible for a commercial driver’s license.” The two-day summit gathered defense and technology leaders, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg, Lockheed Martin Chairman and CEO Jim Taiclet and more.Pete Hegseth Announces Absurd New Screening For U.S. TroopsSecretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that U.S. troops over the age of 30 will start being screened for “testosterone deficiency.”“I’m authorizing a new screening program for testosterone deficiency for our service members, ensuring you have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best, because it’s well-established science that as we age, testosterone levels naturally often drop,” he said in a video on X posted with the phrase “The High-T Department of War.”Read more here:U.S. Announces More Strikes On IranU.S. Central Command said it launched another wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday.In a post on X, CENTCOM said the strikes “are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.”“The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” the post added.At 3 p.m. ET, U.S. forces launched operations for a second wave of strikes today against Iran. The strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway vital to global commerce. The…— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 15, 2026Blanche Insists DOJ Is Not Attempting Get NYT To Reveal SourcesActing Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday gave a confusing explanation when he argued subpoenas issued to New York Times journalists was not an attempt to get them to reveal their sources.The newspaper’s reporters were served last weekend shortly after they reported on security concerns over President Donald Trump’s new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One.The move sparked concerns about an escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on the free press and the First Amendment.Blanche, appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, was pressed by Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) about the efforts to get reporters to “disclose who their confidential sources are.”“We’re not targeting reporters; they’re material witnesses, just like a reporter would be a material witness to a car crash,” Blanche replied.But Welch insisted the “question you want to ask them is: who were their sources. It goes to the heart of the First Amendment.”“No,” Blanche fired back. “The question we want to ask them is who provided them with classified national security information, which everybody in this body should want to protect. I would hope.”It’s worth making clear: that would amount to the reporters revealing their sources.Welch on NYT: Do you support Kash Patel's efforts to subpoena reporters to disclose who their confidential sources are?Blanche: We’re not targeting reporters. They are material witnesses. Welch: And you want to ask is who are their sources. Blanche: No. We want to ask them…— Acyn (@Acyn) July 15, 2026Trump Endorses ‘Pillow Man’ For Minnesota GovernorPresident Donald Trump has endorsed election denier Mike Lindell for Minnesota governor.In an amusing twist, Trump bungled Lindell’s nickname in his endorsement message, calling him “pillow man.”Lindell, AKA “the My Pillow Guy” on account of the pillow company he founded, is one of Trump’s most prominent supporters and longtime espouser of Trump’s election lies.Last year, a federal judge ruled Lindell defamed Smartmatic with false statements about the company’s voting machines, after he repeatedly claimed they rigged the 2020 election. He also lost a similar suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems that was ultimately settled out of court.“Nobody has sacrificed more than Mike Lindell in fighting for our country, especially when it comes to Election Integrity,” Trump wrote in his endorsement. “He truly deserves everything he gets.”Pete Hegseth Announces New Testosterone Levels Test For Service MembersDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the department is authorizing a new screening program for testosterone deficiency for service members to ensure they have the “right testosterone levels to operate” at their “absolute best.”“Because it’s well-established science that as we age, testosterone levels often naturally drop,” Hegseth said in a video posted to his social media on Wednesday. Hegseth posted the video with the tagline, “The High-T Department of War.” Service members aged 30 and older will be tested annually for testosterone levels as part of their annual health test. Service members younger than 30 can voluntarily get tested. “We owe our warriors the absolute best medical care in the world and this program delivers on that obligation,” Hegseth said. “Taking care of your long-term health means ensuring you remain strong, resilient and capable, not just for your next deployment but for the rest of your life, so you can thrive long after you take off the uniform.”Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Commits To Ending Abortion Pills By Mail In Confirmation HearingActing Attorney General Todd Blanche committed to ending abortion pills by mail during Wednesday’s Senate confirmation hearing. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) criticized the Biden administration’s decision to repeal the in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion pill mifepristone and claimed the mailing of abortion pills has been dangerous for women. She brought up a recent story of a woman who’s partner gave her the abortion pill without the woman’s consent or knowledge as an example of why the drug should not be accessible via mail, rather than penalizing the partner for drugging the woman without her consent. “Can you commit to me today that this administration and DOJ will prioritize taking meaningful and thoughtful action to address the dangers that occurred in the current status quo to women all over this country?” Britt asked Blanche. “Absolutely, senator,” Blanche responded. “And it’s not only what the Department of Justice can do, but it’s what the FDA is doing right now for the first time in a decade. Actually, doing real studies about the safety and the appropriateness of these drugs.”The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 after many peer-reviewed studies proved the drug was safe and effective. It has been used safely by millions since then, including via telehealth appointments in which a patient can speak with a physician virtually and get the medication prescribed by mail. “You know, I’ve seen video myself of what appears to be pills coming even from overseas to young women, and doesn’t matter who applies for it, anybody can get it. There’s no instructions; they just come dumped out of a little plastic bag, and and it’s it’s wrong,” Blanche continued. “And I very much commit our resources to stopping this.”See All Updates