Politics
Opinion: Have Democrats finally stopped wimping out?
For years now, the single most common complaint I’ve heard from Democrats is that their party doesn’t fight as hard, and never dirty, like Republicans do — they don’t bring guns to a gunfight. Since 2016, I’ve heard that rap from Republicans too: Never-Trump types express surprise and exasperation that their Democratic comrades in arms against the former president don’t, well, take up arms politically.
Democratic pols will concede as much: They worry about how they might come off to the poli-sci profs, pundits and civic-minded idealists. Their good-government bent is commendable. But getting bested repeatedly by the likes of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is not.
Opinion Columnist
Jackie Calmes
Jackie Calmes brings a critical eye to the national political scene. She has decades of experience covering the White House and Congress.
”One of us is playing with a rolling pin, and the other is fighting with a gun,” an aide to Senate leaders once told me, frustrated that Democrats were adhering to Marquess of Queensberry rules as Republicans busted norms to pack the federal courts. “We always bring a butter knife to a gunfight,” longtime Democratic strategist Brian Fallon similarly groused not long ago.
Fallon felt that so strongly that Democrats were wimping out that in 2017 he co-founded a liberal activist group, Demand Justice, to give the left a more combative approach in judicial confirmation contests. He recently left the group for a job in the Biden campaign, as the communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris. That’s good: Democrats need scrappers, lots of ’em, and the ever-cautious Harris in particular needs communications firepower.
Even better signs of a more fired-up Democratic Party have emerged lately, just as Biden and Trump each secured their respective parties’ nominations Tuesday with wins in several states’ primary contests.
One sign was Biden’s plucky State of the Union address last week, in which he took a baker’s dozen shots at “my predecessor” and parried House Republicans’ taunts like a smiling Dark Brandon come to life, shooting red lasers from his eyes. To hear Republicans carp afterward that Biden was too partisan gave new meaning to the pot calling the kettle black.
Another indication of an amped-up Democratic offense was news of a big $30-million Biden campaign ad buy, along with the president’s busy stumping schedule in battleground states and the campaign’s plans to hire hundreds of aides. The first ad was a good one, too, featuring a lively Biden poking fun at his age, noting his achievements, drawing contrasts with Trump and, appropriately, promising “to fight for you.”
And on Tuesday came some evidence that other Democrats will have Biden’s back. Those on the House Judiciary Committee came loaded for bear to the hearing that the majority Republicans held showcasing Robert Hur, a Republican and the former special counsel whose recent report on Biden’s handling of classified materials included damaging commentary about the president’s age and alleged “diminished faculties.”
The committee’s Democrats, notably California Reps. Ted Lieu, Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell, appropriately focused less on Hur’s asides about mental lapses and more on his report’s conclusions that “no criminal charges are warranted” against Biden (compared to 41 felony counts against Trump). And that despite Republicans’ claims to the contrary, what Biden did with top-secret documents was in no way comparable to the far more serious allegations against Trump for conspiracy and false statements.
The committee Democrats didn’t ignore the issue of age and mental acuity; they simply turned it against Trump. Several of them came, yes, armed — with video montages of the former president’s verbal flubs, slurred words and non sequiturs at recent MAGA rallies.
But Democrats’ more typical lack of fight explains why Hur, a former Trump Justice Department official, was tapped as special counsel — by Biden’s Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland — in the first place. Democrats, wanting to be seen as fair, keep giving Republicans a virtual monopoly on independent counsel jobs each time Washington decides it needs another high-profile investigation. Whether the person being investigated is a Democrat (Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton) or a Republican (Donald Trump), Democrats have supported having a Republican prosecutor.
Republicans don’t reciprocate.
David Brock, now a Democratic operative but notorious in the 1990s as a ruthless, right-wing scourge of the Clintons, a few years ago confessed to me his occasional irritation with his new party for its punch-pulling, say, by rejecting a line of attack as somehow unfair.
“Now, that’s nothing that I ever experienced as a young conservative,” he told me. “There’s a different ethic.”
“Republicans just want the result, they just want to get there, they want the win,” Brock added. Democrats, on the other hand, “do a lot of hand-wringing about how to get there,” about whether they are being respectful of the “process.”
And yet, ask most Republican voters and they’ll tell you that it’s Democrats who are the dirty fighters, cheating in elections and weaponizing the government against their foes, chiefly Trump. Because that is what Trump tells them.
That’s Republicans’ dirtiest play of all. Lying to their own voters.
This election year will likely be as mean as any in memory. Here’s hoping I’m correct that Biden and the Democrats have sheathed the butter knives and shelved the rolling pins. It’s not like Trump hasn’t given them the ammunition for a gunfight.
Politics
US military announces another deadly strike against ‘narco-terrorists’
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The U.S. military announced another deadly strike against a vessel that it alleges was involved in “narco-trafficking” efforts.
“On April 19, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” U.S. Southern Command indicated in a post on X.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” the post continued.
US MILITARY KILLS 2 SUSPECTED CARTEL OPERATIVES IN LATEST EASTERN PACIFIC LETHAL STRIKE, SOUTHCOM SAYS
The U.S. military announced that it killed three “narco-terrorists” in a strike in the Caribbean on Sunday, April 19, 2026. (@Soutcom via X)
SOUTHCOM indicated that the attack killed three men.
“Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No U.S. military forces were harmed,” the post noted.
President Donald Trump’s administration has carried out dozens of deadly strikes against vessels of alleged “narco-terrorists.”
US MILITARY CONDUCTS MORE DEADLY STRIKES AGAINST VESSELS OF ALLEGED ‘NARCO-TERRORISTS’
Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Francis L. Donovan, nominee for commander of U.S. Southern Command, testifies during his Senate confirmatino hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 15, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
In a completely different part of the world, amid ongoing tensions between America and Iran, the U.S. attacked an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on April 19.
“Guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) intercepted M/V Touska as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the U.S. blockade,” U.S. Central Command noted.
US SEIZES IRANIAN SHIP AFTER OPENING FIRE; PAKISTAN TALKS IN DOUBT
President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room. Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room. U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit later boarded the non-compliant vessel, which remains in U.S. custody,” CENTCOM noted.
Politics
Uproar over mama bear killing could help launch a state wildlife coexistence program
SACRAMENTO — A month after a public uproar over a mama bear being euthanized after swiping at a resident in Monrovia, state lawmakers are considering mandating the use of nonlethal ways to help allow wildlife and humans to coexist.
Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) said she believes the bear’s death, and the state’s decision to kill four wolves last year that were preying on cattle, raised public concern.
“That made everybody realize we have to do better here,” she told The Times on Thursday. “We need to recognize the importance of seeing ourselves, humans, as part of a larger ecosystem that includes animals and plants and our world and trying to protect it.”
Senate Bill 1135, introduced by Blakespear, would direct the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to create the Wildlife Coexistence Program, which would provide public education, offer technical assistance and maintain a statewide incident reporting system. It would help communities deploy nonlethal devices to deter predators, like barriers or noise and light machines.
At a legislative hearing on Tuesday, Blakespear told the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water that a three-year state initiative offering similar services was seeing positive results — until it was discontinued two years ago after funding ran dry. She said it was time to implement a permanent program.
“Human population growth, habitat loss and the growth of industry across California inevitably leads to interaction between humans and wildlife,” Blakespear told legislators. “No two animal species are the same and each has unique behavior patterns and territories. SB 1135 recognizes these differences and gives communities the tools to prevent conflict and respond when it occurs.”
The bill would also rename a state program that reimburses ranchers who lose livestock to wolves, calling it the Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program. It would require ranchers seeking compensation to show they were using nonlethal deterrents approved by the department.
Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) stressed that life in rural areas is different than living in a city. She said some families and cattle ranchers have a genuine fear of predators.
“When these baby calves drop on the ground and then two wolves start ripping them apart, it’s not the prettiest thing you’ve ever witnessed,” said Grove, who abstained from voting on the measure. “These wolves are not puppies.”
More than 30 organizations are supporting the legislation, including the National Wildlife Federation, Defenders of Wildlife, California State Assn. of Counties, Animal Legal Defense Fund and Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife.
The California Farm Bureau and the California Cattlemen’s Assn. are in opposition due to concerns over funding.
Last month, Blakespear sent a letter to the chair of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review requesting $48.8 million to implement the legislation, with $25 million earmarked for addressing wolf encounters. Half of the money for wolf conflicts would go toward deterrents; the remainder would compensate ranchers for their losses.
Kirk Wilbur, vice president of government affairs cattlemen’s association, said the organization is concerned about that division of funding — especially if funding is reduced.
Wilbur told legislators Tuesday that the organization supports some aspects of the bill and was having productive conversations with Blakespear to address their concerns.
The bill ultimately passed the committee with a 5-to-1 vote and now heads to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
Human wildlife conflicts have made headlines in California recently, with a bear refusing to leave a basement for weeks in Altadena and a mama bear dubbed Blondie crossing paths last month with a woman walking her dog in Monrovia.
Blondie swiped the woman’s leg, and was subsequently euthanized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Her two cubs were sent to the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center. The bear’s death upset many in the community, as thousands had signed a petition calling for other solutions, like relocation.
Deadly wildlife attacks on humans, however, are rare in California.
There have been six reported human fatalities from mountain lions since 1890, according to the state Fish and Wildlife Department. The agency recorded one human fatality from a coyote in 1981 and another fatality from a black bear in 2023. The department has no recorded human fatalities from gray wolves.
Politics
Trump ally diGenova tapped to lead DOJ probe into Brennan over Russia probe origins
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The Justice Department is turning to former Trump attorney Joeseph diGenova to spearhead a probe into ex-CIA Director John Brennan and others over the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, as the department reshuffles leadership of the sprawling inquiry.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has tapped diGenova to serve as counsel overseeing the matter, according to a New York Times report, putting a former Trump attorney in a key role in the high-profile probe. A federal grand jury seated in Miami has been impaneled since late last year.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
DOJ ACTIVELY PREPARING TO ISSUE GRAND JURY SUBPOENAS RELATING TO JOHN BRENNAN INVESTIGATION: SOURCES
Joseph diGenova represented President Donald Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)
DiGenova, a former U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., who represented Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, has repeatedly accused Brennan of misconduct tied to the origins of the Russia probe—allegations that have not resulted in criminal charges.
He also said in a 2018 appearance on Fox News that Brennan colluded with the FBI and DOJ to frame Trump.
The origins of the Russia investigation have been the subject of ongoing scrutiny by Trump allies, who have argued that intelligence and law enforcement officials improperly launched the probe.
BRENNAN INDICTMENT COULD COME WITHIN ‘WEEKS’ AS PROSECUTORS REQUEST OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS
Joseph diGenova has previously said that ex-CIA chief John Brennan colluded with the FBI and DOJ to frame Trump. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)
DiGenova’s appointment follows the ouster of Maria Medetis Long, a national security prosecutor in the South Florida U.S. attorney’s office. She had been overseeing the inquiry, including a false statements probe related to Brennan and broader conspiracy-related investigations.
As the investigation continues, federal investigators have issued subpoenas seeking information related to intelligence assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
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John Brennan has denied any wrongdoing related to the Russia investigation. (William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Brennan has previously denied wrongdoing related to the Russia investigation and has defended the intelligence community’s assessment that Moscow interfered in the 2016 election.
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