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Several Trump-affiliated companies distance themselves from Trump-IRS deal after Senate Democrats’ probe

July 29, 2026 / 5:04 PM EDT / CBS News

By

Jacob Rosen Justice Department Reporter
Jake Rosen is a reporter covering the Department of Justice. He was previously a campaign digital reporter covering President Trump’s 2024 campaign and also served as an associate producer for “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

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Weeks after top Senate Democrats pushed for answers on whether a provision in the controversial tax settlement between President Trump and his own administration applies to companies co-founded by or affiliated with the Trump family, several of the businesses have distanced themselves from the deal, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who launched the investigation.

As part of the settlement, which was finalized in May by the Justice Department to resolve a lawsuit brought by Mr. Trump, the Internal Revenue Service is permanently barred from pursuing claims against Mr. Trump, his oldest sons Don Jr. and Eric, and the Trump Organization based on prior tax returns.

In a one-page document signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and dated May 19, the Justice Department said the defendants in the president’s lawsuit — the IRS and the Treasury Department — are “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED” from “prosecuting or pursuing, any and all claims” related to tax returns filed before the settlement took effect. Blanche also wrote that the settlement applies to “parties including trusts, parent, sister, or related companies, affiliates, and subsidiaries.”

The settlement has become a sticking point in the push to confirm acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the role permanently after two Republican senators expressed reservations about supporting Blanche’s nomination over the IRS deal and a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund”that was also at the heart of the deal.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, one of the GOP holdouts, said Wednesday that a proposed meeting with Blanche had been called off and that the deal “provides immunity [to Mr. Trump] from audits that no other taxpayer could possibly get.” The other GOP senator who initially didn’t commit to voting for Blanche’s confirmation, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, has indicated he is closer to supporting Blanche.

Earlier this month, Warren, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden of Oregon pushed 11 businesses and organizations with ties to the Trump family to get answers for the “significant questions” the settlement raises relating to the tax audit provision, and whether the companies are included in the deal.

Mining company Kaz Resources, defense firm Powerus, cryptocurrency companies World Liberty Financial and American Bitcoin, robotics startup Foundation Future Industries, investment firm 1789 Capital and private aviation company Tag Air were among the companies receiving letters, as well as prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi.

All of the companies either were founded by Mr. Trump and his two adult sons, or list members of the Trump family as advisers, board members, or partial owners. Donald Trump Jr. sits on Polymarket’s advisory board and 1789 Capital, where he’s a partner, has invested in Polymarket. Days before Mr. Trump took office for his second term, Kalshi also announced Trump Jr. would be a strategic adviser.

Trump Media and Technology Group, which is majority owned by a trust that lists Mr. Trump as a beneficiary and operates the Truth Social platform he uses daily, also received a letter from the Democratic senators.

In letters obtained by CBS News, representatives from Trump Media and Technology Group, Kalshi, Polymarket, Kaz Resources, Powerus, and American Bitcoin all distanced themselves from the IRS audit deal.

In a letter from Trump Media and Technology Group to the senators, a lawyer representing the company said that the company “is not party to such settlement and is not aware of any applicability to TMTG.”

The senators also asked the Trump Organization in a separate letter if it believed it has “immunity from all audits, civil penalties or federal prosecution” for any crimes that could have occurred before the settlement.

The organization, as well as World Liberty Financial, 1789 Capital, Tag Air, Inc. and Foundation Future Industries also never responded, Warren’s office said.

“Several Trump-tied companies failed to respond to our basic questions about this corrupt agreement, raising real concerns that they plan to use it as a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Senator Warren said in a statement to CBS News. “Americans deserve answers and accountability now.”

Because the Democrats, who are in the minority, lack subpoena power, Mr. Trump, his children and his companies were not forced to answer the questions posed by the senators.

The settlement was announced months after Mr. Trump and two of his sons and the Trump Organization accused the IRS and Treasury Department of unlawfully allowing a government contractor to leak tax returns to media outlets in 2020.

Two key GOP votes won’t commit to supporting Blanche’s nomination

2026-07-29T23:31:37.563Z / CNN Politics

By Jake Tapper, CNN

Published 7:31 PM EDT, Wed July 29, 2026

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/29/politics/video/blanche-nomination-in-limbo-lead-jake-tapper

Two key GOP votes won’t commit to supporting Blanche’s nomination

The Lead

Sen. Dick Durbin, Ranking Member on the Judiciary Committee, joins The Lead.
1:21 • Source: CNN

杜维崧50米自由泳S7级蝉联银牌 进账新加坡第二枚共运奖牌

2026年7月30日 07:32 / 新明日报

杜维崧此前两届共运会分别为新加坡摘铜夺银，本届再次收下银牌。 （新加坡共运会团队提供）

我国残障泳将杜维崧在新加坡时间星期四（7月30日）凌晨的男子50米自由泳S7级决赛中游出29秒36的佳绩，为新加坡摘得格拉斯哥共运会的第二枚银牌。

预赛全场第一晋级的南非选手沙迪（Sadie）发挥出色，以28秒06的成绩摘下金牌，并刷新大会纪录。前两届共运会在此项目中为新加坡摘铜夺银的杜维崧落后1秒30，连续第二届蝉联银牌。铜牌归属于英格兰选手布鲁·迪（Bruce Dee）。

新加坡本届赛事的首枚奖牌来自16岁体操小将叶祎琳在平衡木的一枚银牌。

在2022年伯明翰共运会上，新加坡派出66名运动员参加九个大项，最终收获四金四银四铜共12枚奖牌。

中国国家发改委原副主任徐宪平一审获刑15年

2026年7月30日 07:39 / 联合早报

中国国家发展和改革委员会原中共党组成员、副主任徐宪平因受贿，一审被判刑15年。 （互联网）

中国国家发展和改革委员会原中共党组成员、副主任徐宪平因受贿，一审被判刑15年。

据中新社报道，记者从中国最高人民法院获悉，内蒙古自治区赤峰市中级人民法院星期三（7月29日）一审公开宣判徐宪平受贿一案。

法院对被告人徐宪平以受贿罪判处有期徒刑15年，并处罚金人民币500万元（约95万新元）；对徐宪平犯罪所得财物依法予以追缴，上缴国库。

法院经审理查明，2001年至2021年，徐宪平利用担任湖南省人民政府党组成员、副省长，湖南省委常委、副省长，国家发展和改革委员会副部级干部、国务院参事等职务上的便利，为有关单位和个人在企业经营、项目承揽、职务调整等事项上提供帮助，非法收受上述单位和个人给予的财物共计折合人民币6253万余元。

法院认为，徐宪平的行为构成受贿罪，且受贿数额特别巨大，应依法惩处。鉴于徐宪平到案后如实供述罪行，主动交代办案机关尚未掌握的部分受贿事实，认罪悔罪，积极退赃，涉案赃款已全部追缴，具有法定、酌定从宽处罚情节，可对其依法从轻处罚。法庭遂作出上述判决。

公开资料显示，徐宪平生于1954年10月，湖南隆回人。2025年3月，官方通报其被查。同年11月，中央纪委国家监委通报徐宪平严重违纪违法被开除党籍，他被指“对抗组织审查”“大搞权钱交易”等。赤峰市中级人民法院于今年5月15日公开开庭审理了此案，徐宪平当庭表示认罪悔罪。

Trump taps veterans to fix illegal alien trucking problem plaguing US roadways

2026-07-29 7:06pm EDT / Fox News

The program expands CDL eligibility for veterans while removing over 24,000 licenses under English proficiency rules

By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News

Published July 29, 2026 7:06pm EDT

DHS, DOT probe truck driver schools for fraudulent licenses

Fox News’ Kevin Corke reports on a joint investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Transportation targeting truck driver schools. The probe addresses improper certifications and falsified records, especially concerning the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses to non-citizens. This initiative comes after multiple fatal truck accidents involving illegal immigrants, underscoring significant safety concerns for American roads.

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FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump will launch the White House’s new “Freedom Haulers” initiative Thursday, Fox News Digital has exclusively learned, opening new pathways for military veterans to become commercial truck drivers while intensifying the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigrant and non-English-speaking truckers.

“President Trump’s administration has made our roads safer by taking illegal alien, non-English speaking truck drivers off America’s highways. Now, through the Freedom Haulers initiative, the President is expanding opportunities for our veterans by making it easier to obtain commercial driver’s licenses once they conclude their service,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital.

The Trump administration is pairing its crackdown on illegal immigrant and non-English-speaking commercial drivers with a new effort to recruit military veterans into the trucking industry. Trump, along with Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins and Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, will welcome a truck on West Executive Avenue to announce the initiative.

JOE BIDEN MANDATED ALL NEW VEHICLES COME INSTALLED WITH A ‘KILL SWITCH.’ THIS REPUBLICAN WANTS TO REPEAL IT

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump holds a press conference from inside trash hauler at Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport on October 30, 2024.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“By leading a multi-agency process spanning the Departments of Transportation, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and War, President Trump is bolstering America’s trucking industry, which is crucial to strong supply chains, while helping our nation’s heroes transition to civilian life with quality, good-paying jobs,” Kelly added.

The Department of Transportation will expand eligibility for veterans to receive expedited commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), extending the waiver period from 12 months to 24 months after active-duty service.

For veterans who have never driven a heavy commercial vehicle during their military service, CDL training will be offered.

ILLEGAL TRUCKER CASES FUEL GOP PUSH TO CRACK DOWN ON CDL MILLS AS DEMS LARGELY SILENT

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump holds a press conference from inside trash hauler at Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport on October 30, 2024.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Indiana and Wyoming will also join the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s “Even Exchange” program, allowing military truck drivers to more easily transition into civilian CDLs.

Werner Enterprises, an Omaha, Nebraska-based trucking company attending Thursday’s event, will announce plans to hire 1,400 new veteran drivers.

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The administration is also highlighting its ongoing crackdown on commercial drivers who fail to meet English-language proficiency requirements or were improperly licensed.

VIRGINIA BUS CRASH THAT KILLED FIVE INVOLVED DRIVER WHO DOESN’T SPEAK ENGLISH, SEAN DUFFY SAYS

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In an aerial view, trucks drive on Interstate 80 on Nov. 14, 2025, in Albany, Calif.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The Department of Transportation says it has removed more than 24,000 commercial driver’s licenses from the nation’s highways under stricter English-language proficiency enforcement.

More than 28,000 CDLs were also canceled after officials determined they had been improperly issued to non-citizen truck drivers.

The White House says the initiative is aimed at improving highway safety while strengthening the nation’s trucking workforce.

The announcement comes after a series of fatal crashes involving illegal immigrant truck drivers in states including Florida, California, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Earlier this month, a Pennsylvania State Police trooper was killed during a roadside inspection when a semitruck driven by a Haitian national struck him. Authorities say the driver had obtained a non-domiciled CDL before the administration’s rule changes.

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Truck drivers have seen a 7.42% increase in real wages during the Trump administration, compared to a 3% decline in real wages under President Biden, according to DOT.

DOT also says veteran truck drivers experience 42% fewer accidents and cover 98% more miles than non-veteran drivers, arguing the initiative will both improve highway safety and help strengthen America’s supply chains.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

DOJ seeks to empower immigration judges to hold lawyers and their clients in contempt

July 29, 2026 / 6:17 PM EDT / CBS News
By Ashley Burkett

The Justice Department is proposing a new rule to empower federal immigration judges to hold attorneys, their clients and witnesses in contempt if they violate court orders, in a move that departs from historical practice and which legal experts warn could be unconstitutional.

The regulatory proposal by the Executive Office for Immigration Review, an office of the DOJ that runs the immigration court system, would allow immigration judges for the very first time to impose fines ranging from $1,000 up to as much as $3,500 if an attorney or other individual continues to defy court orders.

“It is crucial for immigration judges to have every tool available—including the authority to impose civil money penalties—to control the proceedings before them,” the Justice Department wrote in its proposal.

The proposal notably exempts federal government employees, such as Department of Homeland Security attorneys, from being subject to any contempt order by an immigration judge — in what critics say represents a lopsided and unfair scenario that would allow potential government misconduct to go unchecked.

In federal district courts, by contrast, Article III judges have the power to hold all attorneys who appear before the court in criminal or civil contempt, if warranted. In its proposal, the Justice Department argues that giving immigration judges the power to sanction government lawyers is not necessary because DHS attorneys can be disciplined by the Office of the Inspector General or the Office of Professional Responsibility.

“By proposing a completely skewed regulation that empowers judges to hold in contempt only the attorneys for immigrants but not ICE attorneys, the Administration has revealed that its goal has nothing to do with the just and balanced rule of law. Instead, this rule is another effort to target immigration attorneys that falls in line with the President’s intimidation tactics,” said Gregory Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

The new proposal marks the latest in a series of efforts by the Trump administration to more readily crack down on immigration and carry out President Trump’s mass deportation policies.

At the Executive Office for Immigration Review, hundreds of longtime federal immigration judges have left since last year, many of whom were fired abruptly without warning or cause. In 2025, EOIR lost 370 attorneys, according to government data analyzed and published by a former FBI analyst.

At the same time it has lost so many judges, the immigration court system is facing a current backlog of more than 3.5 million cases, according to the proposed rule.

Many former immigration judges have spoken publicly about pressures they faced to expedite deportations or detain people without bond. In ads seeking to hire replacement judges, the DOJ has referred to the role as being that of a “deportation judge.”

The new proposal that would allow immigration judges to hold noncitizens or their lawyers in contempt “ties into the culture of fear,” said Karen Donoso Stevens, a former longtime immigration judge. “First, scare the judges. Then the judges will scare the attorneys.”

The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register, states immigration judges would be allowed to sanction lawyers or their clients for a variety of offenses, from repeatedly failing to appear on time or failing to follow orders, up to disorderly conduct or making false statements.

Several legal experts who spoke with CBS News said the proposal is potentially unlawful because immigration courts are part of the executive branch and fall under Article II of the Constitution, which states that the executive branch has no contempt authority. That power belongs exclusively to the judicial and legislative branches.

The proposal is “constitutionally flawed,” Chen said.

The public will have 60 days to review the proposal and submit comments.

From bad to worse for Trump and his base

2026-07-29T22:04:31.265Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/29/politics/maga-trump-midterms

Republicans are starting to fret about their base’s lack of enthusiasm ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Those voters were already disproportionately less likely to vote in elections not featuring Donald Trump, and now the GOP has to contend with the president being more unpopular than ever.

And a new CNN poll drives home the problem: Large portions of Trump’s base are feeling disillusioned over more than a few of his choices lately.

Across a bevy of questions — on subjects ranging from the economy to the Iran war to Trump’s self-enrichment and efforts to makeover Washington — large percentages of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents are registering discontent. As in, often 30%, 40%, 50% or more.

Overall, the CNN poll shows 30% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents disapprove of Trump.

That number is rather high in and of itself. But it actually might undersell the level of disillusionment on some fronts.

Without question, the most troubling numbers for Trump and the GOP concern the economy.

Not only is the economy generally voters’ biggest concern; it also features Trump’s worst numbers.

To wit, among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents in the poll:

• 64% say high gas prices have caused at least a “moderate” hardship for them
• 56% say the economy is very or somewhat poor
• 56% say Trump hasn’t gone far enough to reduce the price of everyday goods
• 56% disapprove of Trump’s performance on gas prices
• 51% say Trump doesn’t have a clear plan on gas prices
• 50% say Trump’s policies haven’t improved economic conditions (with 31% saying his policies have actually made things worse)
• 47% disapprove of Trump on inflation

That’s around half or more of what should be Trump’s own supporters that have a lot of gripes about the economy and his handling of it right now.

The numbers are slightly less grim on Iran, but still pretty grim.

Again, among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents:

• 64% think a long-term war with Iran is likely
• 45% say the toll of the war — in lives and money — hasn’t been worth it
• 45% say Trump doesn’t have a clear plan for Iran
• 40% disapprove of Trump overall on Iran
• 39% say his decisions about military action in Iran have hurt the US (versus 44% who say it has helped, with the rest being neutral)

And Trump’s trend line on Iran continues to be bad. Trump’s disapproval on Iran among these groups has increased from 30% in March to 40% today.

The poll also shows many members of Trump’s base simply don’t like what he’s focused on — including his personal finances and projects like the White House ballroom and Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Among these groups:

• 45% say Trump isn’t “in touch with the problems ordinary Americans face in their daily lives” — up from 34% in January
• 39% say he hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems — up from 25% in January
• Around 3 in 10 say he’s “gone too far” in changing institutions like the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center (which Trump put his name on before a judge removed it), remodeling the White House and other Washington landmarks and pursuing personal business interests while in the White House
• 30% say Trump doesn’t put the good of the country over his personal gain
• 26% say they’re angry or dissatisfied about the ballroom and the reflecting pool (compared to just 39% who are positive about these projects)

It would be bad enough for Trump if the economy were suboptimal and people didn’t think the things he did were working.

But these numbers — combined with the majority of Trump’s base that says he’s neglected inflation — make clear many of his backers think he’s preoccupied with things that either aren’t worth focusing on or are actively unpopular.

When many of these questions were asked in Trump’s first months back in office, there was a palpable sense of enthusiasm with his base.

When asked to describe their feelings looking ahead to the rest of Trump’s second term, nearly nine in 10 of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents said they were “enthusiastic” or “optimistic.”

Now, that number has dropped all the way to 70%.

And 30% say they’re either “pessimistic” or “afraid.”

That 30% who have a negative outlook is pretty remarkable. Shortly after former President Barack Obama was reelected in 2012, just 8% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said they felt pessimistic or afraid. And just before former President George W. Bush’s reelection in 2004, only 5% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents said the same about him.

Then there’s the findings of a recent Pew Research Center poll.

That poll showed 81% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said their midterm vote would be a vote against Trump, compared to just 44% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents who said theirs would be a vote for Trump.

There have been signs of this kind of malaise dating back a year, when the Jeffrey Epstein saga exploded. The latest numbers suggest it’s now taken hold in large swaths of the GOP base — at a very inopportune time for the party.

Sen. Paul says there’s a “very real chance” Fauci could be prosecuted after taking the 5th in Senate hearing

July 29, 2026 / 7:11 PM EDT / CBS News

Hours after Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to all questions during a Senate hearing, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky told CBS News he believes the former infectious disease official could be prosecuted for not answering questions.

The testimony followed years of fiery disputes between Paul and Fauci — both medical doctors — over the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the origins of the virus that caused it. Fauci has long defended his handling of both issues, and Paul has repeatedly accused him of lying. Last weekend, Paul’s office released a trove of journal entries penned by Fauci.

In a brief opening statement in Wednesday’s hearing, Fauci said he planned to assert the Fifth Amendment, arguing that Paul has an “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution” and has made “slanderous comments” about him. He then invoked the Fifth Amendment for several hours as Paul and other Republicans criticized him and Democrats defended him.

In an interview later Wednesday on CBS News’ “The Takeout with Major Garrett,” Paul argued Fauci’s lack of answers could lead to federal criminal charges for contempt of Congress or obstructing a congressional proceeding.

“I think there is a very real chance that he could be prosecuted for that,” Paul said.

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants people the right not to incriminate themselves, which generally allows them to decline to answer questions.

But in this case, Paul argues, a preemptive pardon that former President Joe Biden issued to Fauci just hours before leaving office could prevent Fauci from invoking the Fifth Amendment since he cannot be prosecuted for any of the issues that lawmakers asked about.

Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, pushed back in an email to CBS News.

“We are completely confident that Dr. Fauci has a valid Fifth Amendment privilege here and is on solid legal ground in asserting it,” he said. “Rand Paul may be a doctor, but he is not a lawyer.”

Paul called it an unsettled legal question.

“I don’t think this has ever been truly and fully adjudicated. There aren’t that many people with pardons who have come before a congressional committee and refuse to testify,” Paul told CBS News. “A court ultimately would have to determine: Does the Fifth Amendment apply to someone who already has a pardon?”

A federal law often cited in contempt-of-Congress proceedings makes it a crime for witnesses to “willfully” refuse to answer questions when called to testify before Congress. Another law bars obstructing an investigation by a congressional committee.

Paul has said the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which he chairs, will hold a vote next week on whether to recommend holding Fauci in contempt of Congress. If the majority-GOP committee votes in favor, the matter would head to the full Senate for a vote. Final adoption of that measure would require a simple majority, but ending debate might need 60 votes, which would require some Democrats to vote in favor.

After that, whether to pursue criminal charges against Fauci would be up to the Justice Department. The department has chosen to charge people referred by Congress for contempt in a handful of cases — most recently, under the Biden administration, Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro — but it has declined to bring charges in other cases.

Senators spent Wednesday’s hearing raising some of the most controversial elements of the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including recommendations around mask-wearing, social distancing and closures of schools and businesses. But some of the most contentious moments involved the debate over the origins of the coronavirus.

Paul backs the theory that the virus emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, rather than naturally jumping from animals to humans in a wet market in that city, and he has long accused Fauci and other top health officials of downplaying the possibility of a lab leak.

The senator has also focused on whether the virus was manipulated in the lab through “gain-of-function” research, typically defined as modifying or enhancing viruses to study how they evolve. He has accused Fauci of lying to Congress about whether such research took place in Wuhan with U.S. government-funded grants. Paul argued on CBS News that the coronavirus may have been “adapted in the lab to be very transmissible.”

Fauci has denied that he rejected or downplayed the lab leak theory, insisting that he always kept an open mind about the origins of the coronavirus, though he has asserted at times that the evidence suggests a natural spillover was more likely.

He has also denied lying about the research in Wuhan, arguing the studies Paul cited did not constitute gain-of-function research under federal definitions.

Fauci has also said it would be “molecularly impossible” for the bat viruses at the center of that research to be linked to the virus that causes COVID-19.

Some entries in Fauci’s diaries that were released by Paul last weekend reflect scientists’ early efforts to understand how the virus emerged. In January 2020, he wrote that “we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier,” though he added that “somewhere the virus jumped from animals to humans.” About a week later, he described a conference call with a dozen infectious disease experts, most of whom felt it was “possible” that mutations to the virus were inserted by humans.

无人机袭击埃及港口天然气储运船 中东局势恐升级

2026年7月30日 07:12 / 联合早报

社媒视频截图显示，7月29日，埃及达米埃塔港一艘遭无人机袭击的天然气储运船正在接受水炮喷射救援。 （路透社）

英国海事安全公司安布雷周三报告，一架无人机击中了位于埃及地中海港口达米埃塔的一艘美资天然气储运船。与此同时，美国总统特朗普誓言将对伊朗的夜间袭击展开报复，中东冲突面临重大升级。

埃及石油部周三三（7月29日）发表声明证实，达米埃塔港（Damietta）发生火灾，但未说明起火原因，也未提及无人机袭击。

据三名知情贸易消息人士透露，无人机击中了浮式储运船“Energos Winter”并引发火灾，火势随后蔓延至另一艘船只。

埃及石油部称，火势已在第一时间被扑灭，未造成人员伤亡。特朗普称已听取相关简报。

此次事件发生之际，中东冲突正急剧升级。伊朗向驻约旦美军发射导弹，美国和沙特阿拉伯则打击了伊拉克境内受伊朗支持的武装组织。

除了也门胡塞武装宣布对沙特实施海上封锁外，这一连串最新的交火表明，冲突的波及范围已进一步扩大，超出了自2月美以两国开始轰炸伊朗以来的态势。

在叫停空袭数日后，特朗普誓言要就伊朗袭击美军展开报复。他周三在白宫对记者说：“现在轮到我们了。”

特朗普称，美国将视情况而定，看未来是否能与伊朗达成协议，“但我们会给予他们沉重打击。”

伊朗周三晚证实，已向驻约旦美军基地及霍尔木兹海峡船只开火，并拒绝了阿曼联合管理海峡的提议。

周三国际原油价格应声暴涨，创下这场持续五个月冲突以来最大的单日涨幅之一。布伦特原油期货大涨逾8%，推动基准油价突破每桶90美元，几乎抹平了本周早些时候的所有跌幅。此前由于特朗普上周末意外暂停空袭，曾导致油价一度大幅回落。

DHS eviscerates media for ‘absolute absurdity’ over concern about ‘worst of the worst’ activist judges list

July 29, 2026 5:02pm EDT / Fox News

James Percival said legitimate fact-based critiques of judges and their rulings are ‘fair game in a free society’

By Peter Pinedo Fox News

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A high-ranking Trump Department of Homeland Security official called out the “liberal media” for what he referred to as the “absolute absurdity” of its response to his series criticizing activist judges.

James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, posted a series on X last week, “Worst of the Worst, District Judge Edition.”

In his posts, Percival pointed to the risks that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents face while enforcing the law, saying some judges are working to “sabotage” those operations and put officers “at risk.”

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After his posts, Percival said DHS was contacted by a Chicago Sun-Times reporter about whether “a social media post like this risk[s] additional threats” in the context of “ongoing threats to federal judges.”

In response, Percival blasted the outlet in an X post in which he told followers, “Witness the absolute absurdity of the liberal media response to my new series, Worst of the Worst, District Judges.”

ICE agents knock on the door of a residence during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Chicago Jan. 26, 2025.(Bloomberg)

Percival emphasized that “legitimate fact based critiques of judges and their rulings is fair game in a free society.” He also noted that “the media has no issue with it if the judge is conservative.”

Notably, conservative judges, including Supreme Court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, have been the target of intense criticism from the left and, in some cases, violence. In 2022, Kavanaugh was the target of an assassination plot after an armed California man traveled to his home with a pistol, ammunition, zip ties, pepper spray, duct tape and burglary tools. Further, Barrett testified in a recent congressional hearing that she has had to wear a bulletproof vest in response to threats.

In his Worst of the Worst activist judges series, Percival called out district judges in the sanctuary jurisdictions of Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland and California.

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ICE agents stand guard in front of protesters outside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall in Newark, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, May 26, 2026, in Newark, N.J.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Percival said that, earlier this month, Northern District of Illinois Judge Matthew Kennelly, a Clinton appointee, ordered a nationwide pause on the termination of temporary protected status for migrants from Burma.

Percival wrote that Kennelly ordered the stay “even though these decisions are not subject to judicial review, even though we have been vindicated by the Supreme Court on TPS four times, and even though the Seventh Circuit summarily reversed him on the same issue only days before.

“This is judicial sabotage.”

Percival wrote that Central District of California Judge Hernán Vera, a Biden appointee, recently “entered an order micromanaging DHS’s use of force policy with respect to violent anti-ICE agitators in Los Angeles.”

Percival noted that the judge “described the agitators as ‘protesters’ and ‘legal observers,’ while describing DHS’s actions defending its personnel and property as ‘violent.’”

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Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival(DHS official portrait)

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Percival noted, “Agitators in Los Angeles have assaulted DHS employees, thrown objects at them, engaged in arson, and even tried to breech [sic] a federal facility.

“Judicial micromanagement of use of force in these contexts puts our officers at risk.”

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In response, Sean Lewis, a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, told Fox News Digital that “the Code of Conduct calls on federal judges not to comment publicly on pending cases. It also requires them to decide each matter independently, based on the law and the facts — not political pressure, public reaction, partisan interests or fear of criticism.”

Lewis added that “when someone disagrees with a ruling, the appropriate way to challenge it is through the appellate process.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Chicago Sun-Times and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for comment.

Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.