Trump Sticks With Disastrous New Intel Chief as Democrats Lead Revolt

House Speaker Mike Johnson failed Tuesday to convince President Donald Trump to sacrifice his crooked crony in order to save FISA.  

In a meeting at the White House, Trump indicated that he would not nominate a replacement for Bill Pulte, the wildly inexperienced housing official he appointed as acting director of national intelligence.

Pulte’s appointment prompted Democrats to pull their support for a long-term extension of FISA Section 702, which is intended to shield U.S. citizens from the country’s warrantless surveillance program overseas. Seven Senate Republicans also voted against the FISA extension last week.

The key spy power is set to expire Friday, but Trump made it clear that he felt no need to acquiesce to Democrats’ demands, people briefed on the meeting told Politico. 

The Democrats “have taken a hostage,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. In reality, Trump’s reckless actions and total disregard for his own party have put FISA into jeopardy.

Pulte has none of the military or intelligence background necessary to lead ODNI, and has instead made a name for himself by targeting the president’s political enemies and making himself wildly unpopular in the process.

Outgoing Senator Thom Tillis wrote a 15-paragraph letter excoriating his Republican colleagues for bending over backwards to the most troubling parts ofPresident Trump’s agenda.

Tillis called out Republicans pushing Trump’s vote-suppressing SAVE Act, saying the party has devolved into a “circular firing squad” over the controversial legislation.

“The real problem I have is that the president (and a few of our members?) forced us to take two more unsuccessful votes for the SAVE Act at the expense of our most vulnerable members in cycle,” Tillis wrote in the letter obtained by Punchbowl News. “The road to holding our majority is already difficult.... We cannot afford any more unforced errors like this between now and November.”

Tillis also railed against Republicans supporting the president’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” a $1.776 billion, taxpayer-funded handout for any Trump supporter who felt targeted by the Biden administration.

“We missed an opportunity to remove a political albatross (the 1776 fund) from around the necks of our colleagues who are in cycle,” Tillis said. “Instead, we added weight to that albatross by having 41 members vote to protect the program.”

This letter from Tillis comes just days after he set off Trump after his refusal to confirm Acting Attorney Todd Blanche’s until he disavows the January 6 insurrectionists.

President Trump on Tuesday mused aloud about profiting from his war on Iran.

In an interview with ABC News, Trump said, “Somebody’s going to have to build all that infrastructure, new bridges, new this, new that, new power plants. You know, they’re talking about a trillion dollars, probably more. And you know that’s why we’ll probably get involved in rebuilding, right, helping them rebuild.”

Asked if that would be like the Marshall Plan for Iran, Trump responded, “Yeah, but, we’ll get half their oil.”

While the Iranian government is demanding funds for reconstruction as part of a peace deal, the country would almost certainly reject hands-on U.S. involvement as well as any deal that hands over its oil The two countries have not had diplomatic relations in nearly 50 years, and the Iranian economy is hampered by U.S.-led economic sanctions. Any deal would have to address those stumbling blocks before a hint of U.S. involvement in rebuilding Iran.

But Trump sees dollar signs anytime he gets the opportunity to build something. He has spent much of his second term planning a new White House ballroom, a “triumphal arch” on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., and a takeover of a public golf course in the district. Iran probably looks like a golden opportunity for his business interests, as well as his family members.

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been eyeing redevelopment projects for Gaza for months, and he’d probably be involved in Iran, too. But considering that Iran’s leaders are even more hostile to the U.S. than they were before the war, Trump getting to rebuild Iran is wishful thinking.

A sweeping report released Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office found that the government spent millions of dollars more than necessary on Camp East Montana in Texas, and somehow still failed to meet its contractual requirements with regard to health care, room and board, and safety.

The GAO found that ICE’s expedited contract award and construction negatively affected the acquisition and planning of the country’s largest detention center, located on the U.S. Army base at Fort Bliss, resulting in millions of dollars in wasteful spending.

The Army spent up to $11.5 million on detainee services for an empty facility between August 1 and August 15 alone, according to the report. When Camp East Montana’s 1,600 detainees eventually arrived, the Army continued to pay the full cost for its capacity of 5,000 inmates.

By the time ICE took over the facility in October, the Army had paid an estimated $423,000 for meals it did not need. In keeping with the Army’s contract, ICE continued to pay the amount for a full capacity: roughly $7.1 million between October 1 and March 12.

More disturbing than the waste, however, are the horrific conditions at the facility. Despite the extra millions being poured into Camp East Montana, the facility’s former contractor, Acquisition Logistics LLC, which had no experience in detention services, still failed to provide a clean, safe environment for detainees.

ICE reports found food service issues and that the contractor had failed to conduct required daily cleaning of dormitories—with some officers offering detainees cookies in return for cleaning their own spaces—resulting in unsanitary conditions. The contractor also did not meet health services requirements: It failed to provide tuberculosis skin tests, comprehensive health assessments, or treatment plans for detainees with HIV or diabetes.

In some instances, the failures at Camp East Montana proved deadly. In February, ICE issued a discrepancy report for the death of a detainee whose death was ruled a homicide by asphyxia. The contractor had failed to provide use of force and death reports to ICE, and evidence was “missing or destroyed,” the GAO report found.

In March, ICE issued another discretionary report concerning the suicide of a detainee in January, who did not receive proper monitoring. After exhibiting suicidal risk factors, the detainee was kept in a medical holding room, not a suicide safe cell, and was left unattended. The contractor also failed to respond to ICE concerns that there were no vision panels on the door to maintain line of sight.

The report mentioned another particularly disturbing incident in January when a contracted security guard lost their loaded firearm in the facility—and as of March, the weapon had not been recovered.

The GAO’s report confirms everything we’ve feared about Donald Trump’s concentration camps. It is a stark warning about the administration’s plan to proceed with the construction of even more megaprisons to hold immigrants—despite ongoing legal challenges, local pushback, and a federal watchdog investigation.

President Trump went to the New York Knicks game while two U.S. soldiers were missing after Iran shot down their helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the timeline released by the U.S. CENTCOM, Iran downed two pilots operating a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter around 5:33 p.m. E.T. Trump was on his own helicopter on the way to Manhattan to share a VIP box in Madison Square Garden with his billionaire friend James Dolan at 7:02 p.m. The pilots weren’t rescued till nearly 30 minutes later.

One would think that the president would be made aware of a successful attack on a U.S. helicopter shortly after it happened, which would mean Trump found it more important to be at a Knicks game than to worry about the search for missing Americans.

Trump did seem to know about the attack after the Knicks game ended, telling media that the pilots were “fine” and that a report would be out the next day.

Even if he somehow wasn’t aware before he flew to the Knicks game, that poses bigger questions, like: Who is calling the shots if not the commander in chief?

“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted Tuesday afternoon, implying he was unaware of the attack for over 12 hours. “There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”