Blanche Slips: Says He’s Trump’s Lawyer, Quickly ReversesActing Attorney General Todd Blanche slipped up on Wednesday during his Senate confirmation hearing, signaling to lawmakers that he still considers himself to be President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer before swiftly reversing.The stumble came when he was asked by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) whether he and Trump are friends.“I’m his lawyer... was his lawyer,” Blanche said. “And now I’m the deputy attorney general.” He went on: “So I met him as his criminal defense attorney. I’m not sure there’s very many people who have ever had a criminal defense attorney who calls that person their friend.” Blanche, who the president has picked to succeed Pam Bondi as attorney general, came to wider public prominence when he defended Trump during his hush money trial in New York.Latest Live UpdatesU.S. Mint Produces A $1 Coin Bearing Trump's FaceThe U.S. Mint has begun producing a new $1 coin bearing President Donald Trump’s face to help celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.The final design for the commemorative coin, being released in the fall, was approved earlier this year by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were appointed by Trump. But the finished product unveiled Wednesday differs from that version in a few aspects, including that it is not made of gold but rather has a gold finish.Read more from The Associated Press:NYT Files Motion To Block DOJ Subpoenas Of Its Journalists: ReportThe New York Times reportedly filed a motion Wednesday seeking to block the Trump administration’s subpoenas of its journalists who reported on security concerns surrounding President Donald Trump’s new Air Force One. In a statement, David McCraw, the newsroom’s top lawyer, said the subpoenas “violate the constitutional rights of The Times and its journalists.” “We are going to court to defend our journalists’ rights to report freely on the administration and to provide the public with stories that matter,” he said. After Trump dodged a question about flying on his old Air Force One last week, the Times reported that the president was urged not to ride in his new Qatari-gifted jet due to concerns it lacked the necessary security technology. Read more from The New York Times:Brendan Carr Accepted Pricey Gifts From Paramount While FCC Reviewed Mega-DealsThe rich and famous who filed into the Kennedy Center’s opera house in December were there to enjoy one of the nation’s most exclusive celebrations of the performing arts: the center’s annual honors gala.The black-tie event, hosted by President Donald Trump, prioritized tickets to people who donated more than $75,000 to the center. This year, it feted Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone, the legendary glam rock band Kiss and the Grammy Award-winning disco pioneer Gloria Gaynor.Among the attendees that evening were two lower-profile government officials whose regulatory decisions had been crucial to the future of the gala’s broadcast sponsor, CBS, and its parent company, Paramount.Read more from ProPublica:Elon Musk Gives $5M To Back Vivek Ramaswamy, Appearing To Settle DOGE FeudBillionaire Elon Musk gave millions to back Vivek Ramaswamy’s GOP campaign for Ohio governor, appearing to settle a rivalry the two had over leading President Donald Trump’s now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency.Musk gave $5 million to V-PAC, a super PAC sponsoring Ramaswamy’s bid for governor, in May, according to a campaign-finance filing made public on Wednesday. Ramaswamy will face Democratic nominee Amy Acton in November. The two men appeared to have a falling out in January 2025, when Ramaswamy exited DOGE shortly after being tapped, alongside Musk, to lead the cost-cutting initiative. Musk reportedly disliked Ramaswamy and pushed him out of the agency, sources told Politico. Trump Admin Sanitizes Slavery Exhibit At Philadelphia’s Independence Park: ReportThe Trump administration reportedly replaced an exhibit about slavery in Philadelphia with a new version ignoring the Founding Father’s history as slave owners, The Washington Post reported. An exhibit at Independence National Historical Park, outside an excavation of George Washington’s home, had previously included panel displays and videos about nine enslaved people who lived and worked for the first president. The National Park Service had initially started removed the panels in January, before a judge ruled they should stay in place — leaving the exhibit partially disassembled while a months long legal battle played out.But, the new panels were reportedly installed in the middle of the night this week after the Trump administration received a favorable ruling in the case. “These new panels are full of historical context and highlight the momentous events that took place in the President’s House and the other sites at Independence National Historical Park,” Interior Department spokeswoman Katie Martin in an emailed statement to the Post, adding that the new panels still “acknowledge the evils of slavery, including its injustices and hypocrisies.”JD Vance Talks In Circles While Defending 10 Commandment Requirement In SchoolsVice President JD Vance was grilled by podcaster Joe Rogan about some Republicans’ push to require the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms.Rogan said he agreed with Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico’s opposition to the requirement, which he discussed on the podcast last summer.“Even though he [Talarico] believes in the Ten Commandments, if you’re just only representing the Christian faith in these schools, you are forcing your religion into other people’s lives,” the host said.Vance said he disagrees with the idea that requiring religious texts in classrooms forces Christianity on children. “I think you never want to force things on people,” he said. “I do think one of the core Christian contributions to Western Civilization is the idea of freedom of religion.”When Rogan asked why Republicans wouldn’t also require classrooms have Buddhist, Muslim or Hindu materials, Vance acknowledged the important role other non-Christian religions have played in the country’s history, pointing to the Supreme Court’s depiction of the Prophet Muhammad on its wall of “great lawgivers.”“You recognize that a big part of sort of the lawgiving tradition in Western Civilization is some of these religious texts, not exclusively Christian religious texts,” he said.But Vance made clear that he does not agree with critics of the mandate.“Does seeing the Ten Commandments force religion on a non-Christian child? My argument would be no,” the vice president said. “There are all these ways in which you actually could try to force religion on a child, right?”Key MomentMore Than 100 Democrats Vote Against Aid To Israel In Big Symbolic VoteA plurality of House Democrats voted to discontinue sending military aid to Israel in a symbolic vote on Wednesday, showcasing how thoroughly much of the party has turned against the country since its brutal assault on Gaza began nearly three years ago.The House ultimately rejected the amendment to discontinue aid by a vote of 314–104, with 103 Democrats in favor, 98 against and 10 voting “present.” Even if the measure had passed the House, it would have stood little chance of approval by the Senate.Read more from HuffPost.'A Referendum On The Morality Of This Country': Epstein Survivors Urge Senate To Reject 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: Lindsey Graham Will Be Missed, Especially For Being Able To Wine, 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.See All Updates