GOP Senator Demands to Know Why Trump’s DHS Pick Called Him a “Snake”

Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin had a history of bad blood to answer for during his nomination hearing to run the Department of Homeland Security, facing immediate backlash from one Republican colleague for his raucous tenure and disturbing political positions while participating in the upper chamber.

The so-called “MAGA warrior” was ripped apart as soon as the hearing began Wednesday morning. Mullin faced fierce criticism from Homeland Security Committee Chair Rand Paul, who accused him of promoting violence and suffering from severe anger issues.

Paul cited Mullin’s reaction to a November 2017 incident in which Paul was attacked by his neighbor, leaving him with several broken ribs.

Paul charged that Mullin “went on to brag” that he had “completely understood and approved of the assault,” asking Mullin to “explain to the American public why they should trust a man with anger issues to set the proper example for [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and border patrol agents.”

The Kentuckian also dredged up another spat, in which he and Mullin publicly disagreed over a bill that would stop funding for refugee welfare programs. Paul had introduced the bill, while Mullin opposed it.

“You were confronted by constituents that were angry because you voted against my amendment to stop all funding for refugee welfare programs,” Paul said. “Instead of explaining your vote to continue these welfare programs for refugees, you decided to transfer the blame.”

“You told the media that I was a ‘freaking snake’ and that you completely understood why I had been assaulted. I was shocked that you would justify this violent assault that caused me so much pain and my family so much pain.

“I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force,” Paul added.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was relocated within the government two weeks ago, following months of public controversies, but her position became especially tenuous after federal officers under her purview shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota.

Mullin told Paul that he was willing to put their political differences aside.

“Let me earn your respect. Let me earn the job. I won’t fail you. I won’t back down from a challenge. And I also admit when I’m wrong,” Mullin said.

But Mullin has so far failed to take any accountability for his gross and unprofessional behavior in Congress. Paul also played a clip from a Senate hearing in 2023, in which Mullin tried to brawl with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien. The hostile exchange was halted by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, but the fallout continued in the days after as Mullin refused to back down from the violence he started. Speaking with podcasters and broadcasters, Mullin invariably escalated the conflict, claiming he would “100 percent” bite and even duel the union boss.

On page six of her printed testimony for the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard wrote that Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was “obliterated” last summer. This admission is a massive contradiction of one of the primary justifications of Trump’s deadly war on Iran—which might explain why Gabbard didn’t actually say it out loud.

Gabbard was questioned by Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who noted that he agreed with her former colleague Joe Kent, who resigned over his post as National Counterterrorism Center director because Iran was not an “imminent threat to our nation.”

“I guess what I’m concerned about, one thing is, even in your printed testimony today … in your last paragraph on page six [it] says, ‘As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was obliterated. There has been no efforts to try to rebuild their enrichment capability,’” Warner read. “You omitted that paragraph from your oral opening. Was that because the president said there was a imminent threat two weeks [ago]?”

“Sir, I recognized that the time was running long, and I skipped through some of the portions—”

“You chose to omit the parts that contradict the president,” Warner said, interrupting Gabbard before asking about what current intelligence said about the Strait of Hormuz.

Warner moved on from the question a bit too early, but the contradiction remains. U.S. war hawks of both parties have claimed that Iran is an imminent threat for decades, making it the very opposite of imminent. This war was triggered by Israeli aggression, not some incoming Iranian attack, as Marco Rubio and others within the Trump administration have made clear. Gabbard knows the truth, and she put it in writing. But she still didn’t have the guts to say it aloud.

Senator Markwayne Mullin tripped over himself Wednesday while explaining his alleged combat experience during his Senate committee confirmation hearing to become the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Michigan Senator Gary Peters questioned Mullin about his several “confusing” public statements suggesting he was involved in combat overseas despite never having enlisted, including his recent remark on the “smell of war.”

“Before your time in Congress, other than on vacations with your family, have you ever traveled to a foreign country?” Peters asked.

“No,” Mullin replied.

“You’ve never traveled to a foreign country?” Peters asked.

“Outside of vacation, or mission work? No,” Mullin said.

“Your FBI report does show some travel,” Peters said, claiming Mullin had marked trips to Georgia and Azerbaijan that were not for tourism purposes.

Mullin explained that it was “well documented” that in August 2021, he traveled abroad to “go get the Americans out of Afghanistan.” It should come as no surprise that this mission was a complete failure. Mullin attempted to enter Afghanistan by way of Greece and Tajikistan, but was reportedly denied access. At the time, Mullin said that he was asked to accompany “Delta [Force] guys,” despite his lack of military training.

“So, you have traveled overseas, despite your previous comment,” Peters said.

Mullin offered to clear up the misunderstanding, and began to describe an official—and classified—trip he took in 2015 while he was a member of Congress.

“I was asked to train with a very small contingency and go to a certain area, which was scheduled for 2016. During that time I was asked to go through, had to meet certain training qualifications,” he said, adding: “I have spoke in general about my experiences, but I have never spoken specifically on details, on dates, or on the mission.”

(Of course, it seems he has alluded to it more than once.)

Mullin claimed that a letter from Peters requesting information about his travel had specifically stated he did not have to claim any official trips he’d taken as a member of Congress.

Peters pressed him on where he’d been sent, but Mullin refused to say.

“In the FBI report I asked, ‘Is there anything in that report that is classified?’ That you are involved in any kind of classified operation at all. And there is none,” the Michigan Democrat said.

“It also said ‘excluding official duties,’” Mullin said, refusing again to answer.

“So, where did you smell war?” Peters asked.

“Sir, I just said that this was classified. And the dates, locations, and mission, I’ve never spoken specifically details about.”

“Well, we can get that information,” Peters replied, insisting he would determine whether Mullin was portraying himself truthfully.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sold a “fucked up” house to Chelsea Handler, the comedian said on her Dear Chelsea podcast.

Handler purchased the $5.9 million Los Angeles home five years ago but said she has yet to move in due to the various toxicities of the property.

“I still have not lived in this house,” Handler said. “That’s how fucked up this house was.”

She claimed that inspectors she hired had warned her the house was uninhabitable.

“The idea that this guy is in charge of the health of our country, when he didn’t even have a proper foundation at his house. And when [inspectors] opened up the house, they were like, ‘This house is the most toxic environment. You cannot live here for at least two years,’” Handler continued. “I’m not exaggerating. It was a disaster, and I didn’t know it going in because everything was under wraps.”

But the house wasn’t the only part of the estate that needed work done. Outside, Kennedy had erected an illegal outdoor storage unit that Handler claimed her inspectors told her had to go.

“There’s a unit he has—a little outdoor storage unit—that’s been there since I bought the property. And they’re like, ‘This is illegal,’” she said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ So now we have to remove his illegal bullshit from my property, and I’m like, ‘How did they not find this upon the first inspection?’”

Handler said she was not aware that Kennedy and his wife, Cheryl Hines, were the previous owners at the time she purchased it, noting that the sale was “all private” and coordinated through a trust. But that changed when she discovered a note inside the house from Hines.

“They had the audacity to leave me a note! Cheryl Hines left me a note saying, ‘Let us know if there’s anything we can do for you, Chelsea.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, how about a fucking foundation?’ That’s something you could do for me,” she said. “Anyway, I’m not angry about it or anything. I’m totally over it.”

A cluttered space is a cluttered mind: Kennedy has been running DHS with practically zero relevant experience. He has not worked in medicine, public health, or the government—rather, he is guided only by a pocketful of conspiracies that America’s foremost health experts have already thoroughly debunked, and his off-the-wall notions about health have thus far proved disastrous for the agency.

The fallout has been so bad that the Trump administration has reportedly been trying to rein in Kennedy’s influence—and his notoriously bad press—ahead of the midterm elections.

The pro-Israel lobbying organization AIPAC gloated on social media Tuesday night, after its spending efforts paid off in the Illinois congressional primaries.

While AIPAC lamented that its preferred candidate in the 9th congressional district, Laura Fine, finished third, the organization still celebrated the fact that Palestinian American former journalist Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive, finished second to Daniel Biss, the mayor of Evanston.

Biss was preferable to Abughazaleh to AIPAC as the grandson of Holocaust survivors and child of an Israeli mother, even though he has accused the group of having an agenda guided by “no-strings-attached military aid to the current Israeli government, no matter what they do in Gaza or the West Bank” and called it “toxically unpopular.”

AIPAC also celebrated wins in the Illinois 8th congressional district, where progressive Junaid Ahmed, who has called Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide, lost to former Representative Melissa Bean, thanks to the lobbying organization’s astroturfed group Elect Chicago Women. AIPAC also backed winner Donna Miller in the 2nd congressional district.

Still, the organization had to spend millions of dollars in the state and attempted to hide its involvement due to how unpopular it is among Democratic voters. Polls now show that more Americans sympathize with Palestinians than with Israel. AIPAC may celebrate now, but if Democrats successfully recapture the House in November, they will be under pressure to overhaul the U.S.-Israel relationship.