Author: Brick Tungsten

New York City’s got that signature perfume: burnt coffee, hot brake pads, and the faint scent of “somebody in City Hall just discovered spreadsheets.” And right on cue, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is treating public safety like it’s a Jenga tower at a vegan barbecue.

What’s on the table

Fox News reported on February 18, 2026 that Mamdani is proposing a plan that trims the NYPD budget next year and cancels the previous administration’s plan to hire 5,000 additional officers. Budgets don’t do poetry. They do priorities.

The 5,000-officer plan got scrapped

Mayor Eric Adams had proposed hiring 5,000 more NYPD officers at the end of his term. Under that plan, the NYPD was set to add 300 officers in July 2026, then 2,500 in July 2027, and eventually reach 5,000 additional officers annually by July 2028, aiming for roughly 40,000 officers.

Mamdani’s approach caps the force closer to about 35,000, near current levels.

Fox also reported that Mamdani moved to cancel all orders signed by Adams following Adams’ Sept. 26, 2024 indictment, and that sweep included the proposed personnel increase. That is not “tidying up.” That is backing an F-150 over the filing cabinet and calling it reform.

The bigger budget math, and the property tax thundercloud

The Mayor’s Office press release dated February 17, 2026 describes a $127 billion Fiscal Year 2027 Preliminary Budget. The city says projected gaps across FY 2026 and FY 2027 were roughly $12 billion, then says it lowered the deficit to a remaining two-year gap of $5.4 billion after savings, revenue adjustments, and state support.

• Savings initiatives projected at $1.77 billion across the two fiscal years
• An upward revision of $7.3 billion in tax revenue
• State support including $1.5 billion from Gov. Kathy Hochul and $97 million in Foundation Aid

If the city cannot get new revenue authority, it says it will lean on property taxes and reserves. The preliminary budget assumes a 9.5% property tax rate increase, which the city says would generate $3.7 billion in FY 2027. Gothamist reported the framework also includes drawing nearly $1 billion from reserves plus $229 million from a retiree health benefits fund.

How big is the NYPD cut?

Gothamist reported a $22 million decrease to the NYPD’s $6.4 billion budget next year. Fox also highlighted language about “significantly reducing current vacancies,” with cuts potentially coming through unfilled positions. That is how governments do it: quietly, with empty chairs and a straight face.

The “replacement” plan is not funded yet

Gothamist also reported the preliminary budget did not include funding for Mamdani’s proposed Department of Community Safety, which he has described as a mental health response alternative for some 911 calls. Mamdani said it would show up later in an executive budget due in late April. As of the preliminary numbers, it is not funded.

The squeeze play

Mamdani is betting Albany will approve raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, including higher personal income taxes on New Yorkers earning more than $1 million annually. If Albany doesn’t play ball, the property tax hammer is sitting right there.

You cannot patrol a subway platform with a promise. You cannot replace staffing with a slogan. Keep your budgets honest, keep your streets functional, and stop pretending fewer cops is some kind of moral cleanse. Live free, grill hard, and do not apologize.

I was perched on a cracked bar stool, grill smoke still glued to my hoodie like a merit badge, when Illinois got hit with a federal wake-up call loud enough to rattle the hubcaps. We are talking about who gets the privilege of piloting an 80,000-pound commerce cannon down American roads.

USDOT’s warning: 30 days, or the money starts disappearing

The U.S. Department of Transportation says the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reviewed Illinois’ non-domiciled commercial driver’s license program and found nearly 1 in 5 licenses were issued illegally. The demand is simple: come into compliance within 30 days and revoke the illegally issued licenses, or Illinois risks losing federal highway funding.

What FMCSA says it found: 150 files, 29 failures

FMCSA’s letter to Illinois is dated February 17, 2026 and ties back to an Annual Program Review that started in August 2025. Illinois told FMCSA it had 10,088 unexpired non-domiciled CLPs or CDLs on the books. FMCSA sampled 150 records and found 29 that failed to comply with federal requirements.

• Bucket one: licenses issued with expiration dates that ran past the driver’s lawful presence documents.
• Bucket two: licenses issued without evidence Illinois verified lawful presence the way the rules require.

The letter also notes 28 additional transactions where Illinois did not retain a copy of a driver’s Employment Authorization Document or note the expiration date in its system, making it unclear whether the documents were unexpired at the time or whether the CDL expiration exceeded the lawful presence window.

FMCSA’s examples identify drivers by initials, and include cases involving citizens of Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Venezuela, Eritrea, El Salvador, Nigeria, Moldova, Singapore, plus multiple cases where citizenship is listed as unknown.

The funding hammer: 4% first, then 8%

If FMCSA makes a final determination of substantial noncompliance, the letter describes withholding up to 4% of certain federal-aid highway funds beginning in FY 2027, estimated at about $64.3 million for Illinois. If noncompliance persists beyond the first fiscal year, it can go up to 8%, estimated at about $128.6 million in the second and subsequent fiscal years of noncompliance.

And if Illinois wants to keep juggling chainsaws at the DMV, the letter also raises the possibility of FMCSA decertifying Illinois’ CDL program, which would stop the state from issuing, renewing, transferring, or upgrading CLPs and CDLs until it is back in substantial compliance.

Illinois pushes back

Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias condemned the threatened funding cut and said the office believes Illinois is "substantially compliant" and will conduct its own review. Illinois argues the FMCSA letter fails to recognize an extension granted to EAD holders tied to a federal policy on backlogged EAD renewals that Illinois says existed until October 31, 2025. Illinois also says it had already adopted the SAVE system to verify lawful immigration status for non-domiciled CDL applicants and added safeguards to retain and validate application documents.

Here is the whole steak, no tofu side: either the rules mean something, or they are just decorative throw pillows for government paperwork. Fix it, prove it, and keep the roads and the funding on solid ground.

Live free, grill hard, drive legal, and stop treating compliance like a suggestion.

I have smelled a lot of things in my life: tailpipe exhaust, burnt brisket, and bureaucratic nonsense. But there is a special stink when a powerful institution spends years acting like the calendar is a get-out-of-accountability card.

What happened

Fox News reports the Diocese of Camden in New Jersey has agreed to a $180 million bankruptcy settlement framework tied to clergy sexual abuse claims. Bishop Joseph A. Williams announced the framework in a letter dated February 17, 2026.

The proposal centers on a trust that would be funded by the diocese, its parishes, and insurers that previously covered the diocese. The money would be used to resolve abuse claims, but the deal is not final until the Bankruptcy Court approves it.

The numbers and the process

• About 300 survivors are involved in the claims described in the reporting.
• Fox News notes there was an earlier $87.5 million settlement, and victims’ attorneys say the newly announced $180 million total includes those earlier funds.
• Bishop Williams also referenced a previously confirmed reorganization plan in 2024 that established a trust funded with $87.5 million from the diocese and related Catholic entities.
• The public reporting does not spell out an exact, itemized breakdown for how much comes from the diocese versus parishes versus insurers.

Why it took bankruptcy to get here

The diocese is in Chapter 11, and that is where accountability goes to move at the pace of a DMV line with robes. Still, the steps matter. Bishop Williams’ letter says the Official Committee of Tort Claimant Creditors, described as the Survivors’ Committee, unanimously agreed to accept the terms of a final bankruptcy settlement.

Fox News also reports the diocese filed for bankruptcy after New Jersey relaxed its statute of limitations, which triggered a wave of lawsuits. That is not a vibe. That is the legal system refusing to let the clock do the dirty work.

The grand jury cloud over New Jersey

Fox News notes the settlement lands as New Jersey’s Supreme Court has cleared the way for a long-delayed state grand jury investigation into decades of alleged clergy abuse to move forward. NBC10 Philadelphia reported the state Supreme Court allowed the grand jury investigation to go forward in June 2025, and that Bishop Williams ended the diocese’s years-long opposition to that investigation in May 2025.

What to watch next

Bishop Williams called what survivors suffered a grave sin and a devastating betrayal, and said the proposed deal was supported by the Diocese’s College of Consultors and the Diocesan Finance Council. Now it comes down to court approval and whether the trust is implemented in a way that is fair instead of another maze with the exit sign painted on the wall.

Live free, grill hard, tell the truth, and make the powerful pay their tab like everybody else.

Nothing makes international bureaucracy move faster than a calendar conflict with President Donald J. Trump. On February 18, 2026, the United Nations Security Council shifted its scheduled Middle East session on Gaza from Thursday to Wednesday so diplomats could attend both that meeting and Trump’s inaugural Board of Peace gathering in Washington on Thursday, February 19, 2026.

What got moved, and why it matters

The plain, verified meat of the story is simple: the Security Council’s regular Middle East session was moved up a day to avoid a scheduling clash with Trump’s new Board of Peace meeting. Fox News, citing Associated Press reporting, framed the switch around diplomats trying to be in both places.

What the UN meeting is focused on

The Security Council session centers on:

• the Gaza ceasefire
• Israel’s expanding operations in the West Bank

Fox reports, again via the AP, that foreign ministers from the United Kingdom, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Indonesia are expected. The meeting was requested by Arab and Islamic nations last week.

Who is chairing and briefing

Security Council Report notes that the UK holds the Security Council presidency in February and invited minister-level participation, with UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper expected to chair. Briefers are expected to include Rosemary DiCarlo, alongside civil society voices.

Trump’s Board of Peace, the invites, and the sign-ons

The White House posted on January 22, 2026 that Trump formally ratified the Charter of the Board of Peace at Davos, Switzerland during the World Economic Forum. Fox also reports Israel formally joined the Board of Peace on February 11.

Fox reports the White House invited Russia, Belarus, France, Germany, Vietnam, Finland, Ukraine, Ireland, Greece, and China. Poland and Italy said they would not join.

Money, manpower, and “demilitarization”

Fox reports Trump announced Monday that member states pledged more than $5 billion for humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Gaza, and committed thousands of personnel to an international stabilization force and local policing efforts. PBS, carrying the AP report on February 15, 2026, also described the $5 billion pledge and the personnel commitment, while noting Trump did not detail which nations would provide the money or personnel.

Fox also reports Trump said Hamas must uphold what he described as a commitment to full and immediate demilitarization.

And that’s the tell: when the UN changes its own schedule to clear space for a Thursday meeting in Washington, the global class just admitted, with a straight face and a rescheduled agenda, that Trump’s new table is one they cannot ignore.

The Red Hat Saloon smells like hickory smoke, hot grease, and bad decisions, which is also the official perfume of modern politics. The TV is hollering, the fryer is popping like fireworks in a Walmart parking lot, and Gallup just tossed another log on the national culture-war grill.

Gallup estimates 9% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ+

Gallup’s report (dated February 16, 2026) pegs 9% of U.S. adults as identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than heterosexual. In the same data, 86% identify as heterosexual and 5% did not give a response. Three numbers, one country, and everybody already arguing like it’s a tailgate scoreboard.

The trendline is the part people pretend not to see. Gallup says the 9% figure is essentially unchanged from last year, but it is more than double the 3.5% measured in 2012, the first year Gallup tracked this. They also note the U.S. sat around roughly 7% from 2021 through 2023.

How the number was measured

This was not a vibes survey conducted outside a kombucha bar. Gallup bases the estimate on 2025 telephone interviews done by ReconMR with a random sample of 13,454 adults across all 50 states and D.C., with a reported ±1 percentage point margin of sampling error at the 95% confidence level. If you dislike the reading, yelling at the thermometer is still not medicine.

Young adults are driving the jump

The growth is not coming from your uncle Earl who thinks Wi‑Fi is a government dairy product. In Gallup’s latest breakdown:

• 23% of adults under 30 identify as LGBTQ+
• 10% of adults 30 to 49 identify as LGBTQ+
• 3% or less of adults 50 and older identify as LGBTQ+

Bisexual is the biggest slice

Gallup says the largest share of LGBTQ+ adults identify as bisexual, making up more than half of the subgroup and about 5% of the entire U.S. adult population. They report 17% of LGBTQ+ adults identify as gay, 16% as lesbian, and 12% as transgender, each representing between 1% and 2% of all U.S. adults. Another 6% cite another identity such as queer or pansexual.

Gallup also notes bisexual identification has grown sharply since 2020, rising from 3.1% of U.S. adults to the current 5.3%.

Politics turns identities into donor funnels

Gallup reports Democrats are much more inclined than Republicans to identify as LGBTQ+, pointing to alignment with party stances on same-sex marriage and other gay rights issues as a likely reason. They also note one of the smallest increases since 2012 is among Republicans, from 1.5% in 2012 to 1.9% today.

And here’s where I start sweating like a bald eagle over a hot propane tank: the professional activist class and the fundraising class treat these numbers like gasoline. They pour it on school boards, HR departments, and court fights, then act shocked when everything smells like smoke.

So yes, Gallup says 9% of adults identify as LGBTQ+. Fine. Put it on the scoreboard. Learn from it. Just don’t let career scolders and consultant empires turn it into a permanent emergency that clogs the courts and distracts the country from the basics. Now pass the brisket. Live free, grill hard, and do not apologize.

Tahoe Avalanche, Eight Dead: When America Ignores Warnings, the Mountain Collects
I can smell it from here, partner. That sharp, metallic cold that hits your lungs like you just licked a trailer hitch at dawn. Snow stacking up, wind hollering, and out near Lake Tahoe, the backcountry turned into a trap door with no apology and no refund.

What happened at Castle Peak

Fox News reported Wednesday, February 18, 2026, that eight skiers who went missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe were found dead, with one person still missing. Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said the mission shifted from rescue to recovery.

The wider reporting lays out the timeline: the avalanche hit Tuesday, February 17, around 11:30 a.m. in the Castle Peak area near Donner Summit, northwest of Lake Tahoe. It involved a guided backcountry group.

• 15 people total
• 6 survived and were rescued later that day
• By Wednesday, 8 confirmed dead
• 1 person still missing

No names were released in the reporting referenced here, and I am not playing guess-who with other people’s heartbreak.

This was not a resort run

This was backcountry skiing, not a groomed slope with a lift ticket and a cocoa stand. The group was returning from remote huts near Frog Lake in rugged terrain, with a storm hammering the region. Rescuers fought brutal conditions, moving carefully so they did not trigger another slide.

Associated Press coverage described survivors using their gear to shelter themselves in the cold while they waited. The sheriff’s office said two survivors were taken to a hospital, and as of Wednesday night, one remained hospitalized in that reporting.

Capt. Russell Greene with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office described the moment like this: “Someone saw the avalanche, yelled avalanche, and it overtook them rather quickly.”

The warnings were blaring

The Sierra Avalanche Center had warnings out for HIGH danger in the backcountry during this storm cycle, with messaging that traveling in, near, or below avalanche terrain was not recommended during HIGH danger. A National Weather Service avalanche watch message transmitted at the request of the Sierra Avalanche Center flagged the risk of large avalanches capable of burying or injuring people in the greater Lake Tahoe backcountry zone.

Investigators have said they will look into the decision to proceed with the trip despite the forecast, and there was no public reporting of criminal charges as of February 18, 2026.

After the snow, reality still bills you

California’s Office of Emergency Services said it was coordinating additional resources statewide to support search and rescue efforts near Castle Peak. Reporting around the storm also described major road closures and heavy snowfall in the region, including Interstate 80 closures around Donner Pass.

Eight families got the call nobody survives. One family is still waiting. Respect warnings, respect first responders, and stop treating nature like it is a customer service desk.

Teaser: Eight skiers were found dead and one is still missing after a Castle Peak avalanche near Lake Tahoe, a tragedy colliding with HIGH danger warnings and a monster storm that shut down the region.

The air in here smells like hickory smoke, hot grease, and the sweet sound of AM radio arguing with a spreadsheet. I’m perched like a tailgate prophet watching the political class do donuts, and the Democrats just hit the curb.

Democrats: about 70% favorable toward their own party

Fox News points to new AP-NORC polling showing about 70% of Democrats currently have a favorable view of the Democratic Party. Not 97. Not 90. Seventy. That is not “unity,” that is a family reunion where everybody is smiling through clenched teeth.

• September 2024: Democrats at 85% favorable toward their party
• October 2025: down to 67%
• February 2026: hovering around 70%

The poll Fox highlighted was conducted Feb. 5 to Feb. 8, 2026, among 1,156 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.9 points. For Democrats (including leaners), it’s plus or minus 6 points.

Overall party ratings: nobody’s getting a parade

In the same AP-NORC topline, the Democratic Party sits at 35% favorable overall (27% somewhat favorable, 8% very favorable) and 54% unfavorable (30% very unfavorable, 24% somewhat unfavorable).

The Republican Party is at 36% favorable overall (21% somewhat favorable, 15% very favorable) and 54% unfavorable (35% very unfavorable, 18% somewhat unfavorable).

Fox also flagged that roughly a quarter of Americans feel negative about both parties, and only about 1 in 10 feel good about both.

Who Americans trust on key issues

• Economy: 31% Republicans, 26% Democrats, 11% both equally, 32% neither
• Immigration: 33% Republicans, 29% Democrats, 9% both, 28% neither
• Health care: 35% Democrats, 23% Republicans, 11% both, 31% neither
• Cost of living: 27% Republicans, 27% Democrats, 36% neither

Enforcement moves: majorities say Trump has gone “too far”

The topline also shows majorities saying President Trump has gone too far on certain actions: 61% say using federal law enforcement at public protests in U.S. cities; 62% say sending federal immigration agents into U.S. cities; and 52% say deporting immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

One more tell: confidence in the military

In AP-NORC polling tied to the October 2025 shutdown fight, the public expressed the most confidence in those running the military, ahead of the Executive Branch and the Supreme Court, while Congress sat near the bottom.

So when Democrats can only pull about 70% favorability inside their own tent, it looks less like momentum and more like a check-engine light. Live free, grill hard, and do not let a broken party tell you your paycheck is imaginary.

Democrats are stuck near 70% favorability with their own voters while both parties stay unpopular overall. The mood is smoke, heat, and distrust, and the economy is the fire under every seat.

You know that holy moment when you step outside ready to light the grill, expecting pure charcoal hymnals, and instead you catch a whiff that says, “Somebody’s infrastructure just repented in public”? That is the Potomac right now.

Trump says what everyone with a nose is thinking

At a White House briefing on February 18, 2026, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt if President Trump is worried the Potomac will still smell by summer, when America250 events bring crowds to Washington. Leavitt said yes, said the federal government wants to fix it, and said it needs local cooperation.

Good. If we are throwing the country a 250th birthday bash, the river out front should not smell like a bad decision behind a gas station.

The spill is real, and it is huge

DC Water says a section of the Potomac Interceptor collapsed on January 19, 2026 along the Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County, Maryland. The collapse caused a significant overflow into the C and O Canal National Historical Park area, with wastewater escaping into the Potomac.

DC Water has said its drinking water system is separate and not impacted, and it has urged the public to avoid contact with untreated sewage.

Maryland’s Department of the Environment has estimated roughly 243 to 300 million gallons of untreated wastewater released from the 72-inch main. Fox News described it as upward of 240 million gallons. Maryland also issued precautionary health advisories and emergency shellfish closures in parts of the state tied to the incident.

Jurisdiction ping-pong: everybody wants the credit, nobody wants the bill

Leavitt called for leaders in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. to formally ask for federal intervention, with Fox reporting she mentioned a Stafford Act approach and framed the situation as an ecological disaster if the feds cannot step in.

Governor Wes Moore’s office pushed back in the same Fox report, arguing the federal government has been responsible for the Potomac Interceptor and saying the Trump administration has not acted over the last four weeks.

Fox also reported EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said DC Water is leading cleanup efforts and Maryland is providing regulatory oversight tied to water quality standards, and that local leaders had not yet asked EPA for assistance. Fox reported Zeldin posted on X that the situation must be addressed quickly and that EPA stands ready to assist.

America250 is a showcase, not a scratch-and-sniff

America250 is supposed to be families, tourists, veterans, and a red-white-and-blue flood into the capital. A sewage smell drifting over that scene is not “optics,” it is a competence test.

Fox highlighted Leavitt pointing to Maryland infrastructure grades. The American Society of Civil Engineers’ Maryland section issued a 2025 report card giving Maryland an overall grade of C, the same as 2020, with wastewater graded C+.

DC Water has described bypass work and site challenges, including an extensive rock dam blocking the pipe and the need to keep the site dry enough to work. News coverage tied to DC Water statements has said the emergency repair timeline could take several additional weeks due to complications inside the line.

Fix the pipe. Cut the alibis. Let America250 smell like fireworks and burgers, not neglect.

I am sitting here like a patriot on a bar stool, smelling hickory smoke through a busted screen door, watching Washington do something refreshingly simple: name a villain and put consequences on the table. Not a symposium. Not a feelings panel. A straight-up designation.

What happened

On February 18, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly designated Nicaraguan Prison Director Roberto Clemente Guevara Gómez over what the U.S. described as gross violations of human rights. Rubio posted about it on X, and the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua pointed to the legal hook: Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024.

That section is not poetry. It is the kind of law that turns travel into a dead end. The embassy framed this specific move as tied to a gross human rights violation involving a political prisoner.

What the reporting says, and what it does not

• Known: the designation was made under Section 7031(c).
• Known: the public rationale centers on a gross human rights violation involving a political prisoner.
• Known: Rubio called for the immediate, unconditional release of political prisoners in Nicaragua.
• Not provided in the story: a named victim or a detailed incident timeline.

And that missing detail does not magically make dictators innocent. It just means the public record in this announcement is thin, so anyone swaggering around claiming they have every last detail is selling you soy-based certainty.

La Modelo and the Murillo-Ortega machine

Multiple reports describe Guevara Gómez as the director connected to Nicaragua’s maximum-security prison known as La Modelo, also referred to as Jorge Navarro or “The Model.” Fox used imagery tied to the prison in Tipitapa. Call it whatever you want. A regime does not build cages because it loves democracy.

Pressure beyond visas: tariffs warming up

The story also points to economic pressure. In December, the U.S. Trade Representative took Section 301 action under the Trade Act of 1974 in response to Nicaragua’s acts, policies, and practices related to labor rights abuses, human rights abuses and fundamental freedoms, and the dismantling of the rule of law.

That sets up phased-in tariffs on certain Nicaraguan goods not originating under CAFTA-DR: 0% starting January 1, 2026, then 10% on January 1, 2027, then 15% on January 1, 2028. The reporting also notes this stacks on top of an existing 18% reciprocal tariff, and could be modified if Nicaragua shows a lack of progress.

Visa bans, tariffs, naming names. That is the sound of consequences on the smoker. Live free, grill hard, and do not apologize.

The White House briefing room always feels like burnt coffee, hot studio lights, and the same old script. On February 18, 2026, that script showed up again: another attempt to staple the word “racist” onto President Donald Trump and call it a day.

The question: name the moment

A reporter challenged White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to point to the exact moment Trump was “falsely called racist.” The question came after Trump posted on social media about the death of Rev. Jesse Jackson and complained he is “falsely and consistently called a racist” by what he described as “scoundrels and lunatics” on the radical left. Jackson died Tuesday at age 84, based on a family statement shared publicly.

Leavitt’s answer: “You’re kidding?”

Leavitt responded with a blunt, disbelief-soaked “You’re kidding?” She said she would pull a “plethora of examples,” including years of accusations from Democrats and from people “in this room” and on TV. She also said she was “happy to provide” the “receipts” after the briefing.

Whether those receipts were actually handed out publicly in a neat package is not something confirmed in the materials summarized here. What is clear is that the exchange happened and the quotes were reported.

What the White House pointed to instead of labels

• Black History Month: Leavitt noted Trump was scheduled to hold an event marking Black History Month that same day.

• HBCU funding: She pointed to the administration’s commitment to funding Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

• “Trump Accounts”: She cited the creation of Trump Accounts as part of the broader defense.

Trump Accounts, as described publicly

Trump Accounts are described as a real federal initiative by the administration and by the IRS. The IRS describes them as a new type of account for children under 18 created under the Working Families Tax Cuts. The program includes a pilot $1,000 contribution for eligible children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028.

What was not pinned down

This flare-up also touched Trump’s post about Jesse Jackson, where Trump highlighted helping Jackson in the past and referenced responding to a request for criminal justice reform. The specific legislation was not identified in the Fox News report referenced here.

Another report describing the same briefing said Leavitt also discussed veterans, including Black veterans, plus the Department of Veterans Affairs backlog and home loans.

From my bar stool conclusion

If the White House says it has receipts, show them. If the press thinks they are junk, explain why with specifics. But America’s tired of vibe-based courtroom theater. Live free, grill hard, and do not apologize.