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DNI Gabbard presses to declassify secret but critical court opinion during FISA renewal debate

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is pushing to declassify a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinion expected to reveal major compliance failures in the government’s use of Section 702 surveillance powers, Just the News has learned.

The effort comes as Congress is debating whether to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits the government to collect communications of foreign targets located abroad.

Civil liberties advocates and constitutional scholars have long argued the program also sweeps in large volumes of Americans’ communications without warrants, creating what critics describe as a loophole around Fourth Amendment protections.

At the center of the controversy is the government’s ability to conduct so-called backdoor searches, in which analysts query databases containing incidentally collected American communications. 

The pending court opinion is expected to detail concerns over how federal agencies have managed queries of Section 702 databases and whether internal guardrails designed to prevent abuse were circumvented, according to a senior intelligence official.

The Justice Department reportedly discovered in 2024 that the FBI had used a filtering mechanism that enabled personnel to query Section 702 data without fully complying with oversight requirements established under the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act. 

Investigators reportedly found the system lacked adequate counting, tracking, and approval procedures that are required under the law.

Although officials said the specific tool was later shut down, the still-classified court opinion reportedly indicates that similar tools may continue to exist elsewhere within the intelligence community, including at the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Gabbard announced Friday she is stepping down June 30 to spend more time with her husband, Abraham, who was recently diagnosed with bone cancer.

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Husband of Former Scottish PM Sturgeon Pleads Guilty to Embezzling Over $540,000 in Party Funds – Peter Murrell in Custody Pending Sentencing

The former chief executive of SNP used stolen funds to finance his luxurious lifestyle.

Another ‘progressive’ politician has been shown to be pocketing money to advance himself.

The husband of former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pleaded guilty today (25) to embezzling more than half a million dollars (400,000 pounds) from the Scottish National Party.

Associated Press reported:

“Peter Murrell, 61, who was remanded into custody in the High Court in Edinburgh after his plea, admitted using party funds to buy a high-priced motorhome, two cars, including a Jaguar, and luxury goods, including Bremont watches and household items that included two toilet seats.

‘By embezzling from the SNP, Peter Murrell was stealing the hopes, the dreams and the aspirations of thousands of people all over Scotland, people who gave what they could over many years in the hope that it would help contribute to a better country’, SNP leader John Swinney told a press conference. ‘I am horrified; I am betrayed’.”

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Western Democracy?

Two pronounced — and inverse — trends in Western societies have long been observable, and yet they are rarely noticed or discussed.

There is a reason for that. These trends tell us something deeply revealing about how our societies are shaped by structural forces — forces that individual office holders can do little to shape through their own values or personalities.

These forces operate rather like laws of nature — though there is nothing natural about them. They are the very opposite of how most Westerners imagine power works — that is, that it derives from the will of the people and is democratically accountable.

The first trend is this: the nearer to power a politician or official gets, the more their behaviour has to align with the structural interests of the billionaire class. Or put another way, the only route to power for any individual in our societies is by subordinating their personal beliefs and values to the interests of a rapacious, predatory class of capitalists.

The second trend illuminates the first. The further a former office holder moves away from the centre of power, the more room there is for their humanity to resurface — assuming they were not a hollow vessel for power to begin with, or turned permanently sociopathic through years of service to elite interests. (Yes, Tony Blair — I’m looking at you.)

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China and Russia Issue New World Order Declaration: All Talk, No Action

Russia and China just released two documents outlining how they want to remake the world order and displace the United States as the leader of the global system. The documents are heavy on aspirations but absent any means of achieving those goals.

One of the key themes in the documents is increased defense cooperation. However, there is still no mutual defense agreement between the two countries. Essentially, the documents confirm what China and Russia want and what they have already been doing, while the United States remains the world’s leading economic, military, and diplomatic power.

On May 20, 2026, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin met the press at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing following two days of talks. The visit marked Putin’s 25th trip to China. The summit produced two distinct joint statements, issued simultaneously as a package, along with more than 40 bilateral agreements. The first was a Joint Statement on Further Strengthening Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Cooperation, which focused on the practical bilateral relationship.

The second was a Joint Declaration on Advocating a Multipolar World and New Types of International Relations, ideological in nature and targeted at the existing U.S.-led international order. The two sides also agreed to extend the 2001 Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the China-Russia strategic partnership.

The bilateral statement deepens cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and China in transport, logistics, digitalization, e-commerce, and agricultural trade, and links the Eurasian Economic Union development plans to the Belt and Road Initiative. Russia reaffirmed the one-China principle, recognizing Taiwan as an integral part of China and supporting Beijing’s actions to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The statement also commits both sides to expanding joint military exercises, increasing air and maritime coordination, and strengthening cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The only genuinely new and concrete outcome was a separate agreement to build a second railway line through the Zabaikalsk-Manzhouli crossing, an actual infrastructure project backed by a signed deal.

The military language falls well short of a defense alliance. There is no Article 5-style collective defense clause, no obligation for either country to come to the other’s aid, no defined trigger for military intervention, no integrated command structure, no basing rights, no pre-positioned forces, and no shared nuclear doctrine. Joint exercises and military-to-military contacts already existed.

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France’s Justice Minister Calls for Three-Year Immigration Moratorium, Says Nation Has ‘Reached the Limit’

France’s Justice Minister has called for a sweeping three-year halt to immigration, warning that the country has reached a breaking point after decades of mass migration.

Gérald Darmanin, a senior figure in President Emmanuel Macron’s government and a likely contender in next year’s presidential election, said France no longer has the capacity to properly integrate new arrivals.

“We have reached the limit of our capacities for integration and assimilation,” Darmanin said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche. 

”So I now have a very strong conviction: we must put an end to immigration as it is today.”

”This is why I am proposing a three-year moratorium on legal immigration.

The comments mark one of the starkest admissions yet from a senior member of the French establishment over the scale of the migration crisis.

Darmanin also called for tougher deportation enforcement.

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Residents flee southern Beirut after Netanyahu orders escalation against Hezbollah

Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for escalation in strikes against Hezbollah, an AFP correspondent reports residents fleeing the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Lebanese security sources also tell Reuters that residents are evacuating.

Except for a strike targeting a Hezbollah commander in the area earlier this month, there have been no strikes on Beirut or its surroundings since the April 16 truce.

Netanyahu did not say in his video message whether Israel planned to resume broader attacks in Beirut.

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ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: UK, France, Spain, Italy and Canada Reportedly Reject NATO Plans for Extra Funding for Ukraine

NATO’s Rutte knows the proposal is dead.

We’ve come to a point where even the most ardent supporters of the Kiev regime are starting to wonder just how much more money they will have to sink into their unwinnable war effort.

Yesterday, a report arose that Britain, France and other countries have sunk the chances for a proposal that would have NATO allies spend 0.25 percent of GDP on military aid for Ukraine.

The Telegraph reported:

“Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary-general, this week conceded his plan wouldn’t be taken forward because it didn’t have sufficient support. ‘I don’t think this one will be proposed’, he told reporters, without naming the opponents.

But now The Telegraph can reveal that the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Canada blocked the idea when it was floated in discussions for how to boost support for Kyiv.”

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UFO files reveal new evidence of secret invasion by mysterious silver spheres

The Trump Administration released a fresh wave of UFO files last week, including never-before-seen footage of mysterious metallic spheres flying throughout the world.

The latest batch in the White House‘s push for UFO disclosure arrived Friday, including 46 videos Congress has been demanding the Pentagon release for months.

Some of the clearest images seen were of strange orbs or silver spheres appearing to float or travel at extreme speeds over mountains, oceans and even military targets.

Those mysterious sightings add to the growing number of reports and physical encounters humans have allegedly had with the ball-like objects that have seemingly invaded the entire planet.

In fact, a study from the crowdsourced platform Enigma, which allows people to report sightings of UFOs, revealed more than 8,000 sightings of orbs across the US between December 2022 and June 2025.

These reports did not even include the startling recovery of a metallic sphere seen floating above South America last year before crashing to Earth in Buga, Colombia.

The new footage released last week also matched hundreds of specific reports from witnesses who have seen ‘metallic orbs’ with no visible engine quickly moving through the sky.

Despite releasing the new information, the US government has not publicly commented on where these spheres are believed to have come from, what their intentions are or if the military has recovered any of these objects.

Among the most startling new videos released by the Pentagon was one captured by a US military satellite on April 12, 2021.

US Central Command, which is responsible for military operations in the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of Africa, captured nearly five minutes of color video as the satellite chased a large silver sphere over an unknown mountain range.

The UFO could be seen traveling at high speed and moving effortlessly above the terrain despite having no clear signs of an engine or way of flying that fast.

Another sphere-shaped craft was reported to the Pentagon in 2024, when another military satellite captured infrared video of the object over a large body of water repeatedly pulsating with a blinding light.

The satellite followed the UFO as it appeared to rotate and then began flashing brightly, giving off rays of light while flying low over the water at high speed.

Compared to the UFO seen flying over the mountains, the pulsating orb appeared to change shape and moved erratically as the satellite struggled to keep the image centered for more than three minutes.

So far, the Pentagon has released over 200 files related to UAPs, which have long been an object of public fascination, following the directive from Trump.

Officials noted, however, that many of the records lacked a fully verified chain of custody, raising questions about how the materials were obtained and authenticated.

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A Minute of Silence Isn’t Enough to Reflect on the US’s Death and Destruction

Thirty years ago, school kids touring Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C. were asked what Memorial Day meant to them. “That’s the day the pools open!” they responded, as if in a chorus. Their response rippled across the U.S. and created a bit of a moral panic among the patriotic and civil-minded. The following Memorial Day, Congress sought to put the “memorial” back into the holiday. “Taps,” a 24-note bugle call adopted by the U.S. military in the late 1800s for funerals, was played on radios and televisions throughout the United States at 3:00 pm. Those celebrating the day off paused, perhaps mid-hot dog bite, to reflect on fallen U.S. soldiers. After a minute of silence, Americans resumed their fun.

What does it mean to reflect on the soldiers who died while fighting in U.S. wars? Is such a thing possible? If it is, maybe we should start with the raw numbers.

Around 25,000 U.S. soldiers died in the War for Independence; roughly 5,600 soldiers died or were wounded as they ethnically cleansed Indigenous tribes between 1785 and 1898; approximately 20,000 died in the War of 1812, mostly of disease; 625,000 died on both sides of the Civil War; 2,446 died in the Spanish-American War; 4,200 U.S. soldiers died “annexing” the Philippines; 95 died in the Boxer Rebellion; 22 died and 70 were wounded in the Mexican Revolution; at least 86 died in the occupation of Haiti from 1915-1934; nearly 117,000 were killed in World War I; 424 U.S. troops died fighting the Bolsheviks in Russia from 1918-1920; 15,000 U.S. servicemembers lost their lives in the Mexican-American War; 405,000 were killed in World War II; more than 52,000 were killed in the Korean War; more than 58,000 were killed while committing what some call a genocide in Vietnam.

We’re a little less than halfway done with this list. It feels strange packing all this death into a single paragraph, so I imagine it feels strange reading through it quickly, too. Consider standing up and walking around for a few minutes before continuing. Or at least pausing for a minute to make an effort to “memorialize” the people behind these numbers, as the government would like us to on Memorial Day, if you believe such a thing is possible.

Fifteen U.S. soldiers were killed in Lebanon in 1958; four were killed in the Bay of Pigs invasion; eight were killed in Iran in 1980; 15 U.S. soldiers died in El Salvador’s Civil War from 1980 to 1992; 265 died in Beirut between 1982 and 1984; 39 died escorting oil tankers through the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz from 1987-1988; 19 were killed in Grenada; two died in a bombing at the LaBelle Club in West Berlin in 1986; 1,231 were killed or wounded in first Gulf War from 1990 to 1991; 19 were killed aiding Kurdish refugees fleeing Iraq in 1991 in what was known as Operation Provide Comfort; 30 soldiers were killed in Somalia from 1992-1993; four died in Haiti between 1994 and 1995.

We’re almost done. Just 30 more years of American war history left.

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US author and son of Texas politician charged with helping to provide classified information to China

The son of a prominent Texas Republican politician has been swept up in an explosive federal case accusing him of helping funnel sensitive information to China.

Thomas Pauken II, an American author and political commentator who spent years living in China, allegedly acted as a go-between for contacts linked to Beijing dangling cash incentives to influence US policy from inside the federal government.

Pauken is now facing a felony charge alleging he operated on behalf of the Chinese government inside the United States without properly registering with the attorney general.

Federal investigators claim Pauken compiled confidential reports for a Chinese intelligence-linked handler who allegedly told him the material would ultimately be passed up the chain to Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

According to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court, Pauken also delivered electronic devices to another individual seeking work in the Trump administration later offering that same person a lucrative arrangement tied to providing weekly policy-related reports.

The allegations have thrust Pauken, who wrote under the pen name Tom McGregor while working in China, into the center of an increasingly tense standoff between Washington and Beijing over espionage, foreign influence and national security.

Court documents obtained by Politico say Pauken was first confronted by US authorities after returning from China in January 2025. 

But instead of immediately arresting him, investigators allegedly instructed him to continue behaving normally out of concern that abruptly cutting ties could place him in danger from China’s Ministry of State Security.

FBI Special Agent Timothy Healy wrote in the affidavit that Pauken was specifically warned not to alert Chinese officials about his contact with American law enforcement.

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