As The Washington Post reported, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his team have been ordered to cease polygraphs to stop leaks to the corporate media after an adviser complained to the White House.

The adviser in question, Patrick Weaver, complained to White House officials this spring that he was worried about being directed by Hegseth or another member of his team to submit to a polygraph test. Hegseth’s team started administering polygraph tests to people around the defense secretary in April.

The White House then intervened to stop the practice via a phone call by an individual close to the administration. The Post refused to name this person.

The Washington Post reported:

The White House intervention, which has not previously been reported, came in the form of a phone call by an individual close to the administration after Hegseth’s team had begun administering polygraph tests to people around the defense secretary in April, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to identify the individual.

Before they were stopped, multiple tests were carried out over several weeks with approval by Hegseth and advice from Tim Parlatore, who has served as both Hegseth’s private attorney and a part-time military aide on his staff.

Weaver had previously served as a Republican congressional staff member and as an aide in the first Trump administration on the White House’s National Security Council and in the Department of Homeland Security. He remains an adviser to Hegseth.

By the time he approached the White House, polygraph tests already had been administered to members of the Joint Service Interagency Advisory Group (JSIAG), a team in Hegseth’s front office that was assembled to examine how to counter drug cartels and enhance security on the southern border, people familiar with the matter said.

The Washington Post notes that Weaver is considered a loyalist to Trump and is an associate of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

Weaver is also a hardliner on immigration.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell responded to the report with anger.

“The Department will not comment on an ongoing investigation,” Parnell said in a written statement. “The Fake News Media’s obsession with months old workplace gossip is a reflection of the sad and pathetic state of ‘journalism’ in Washington.”

Hegseth ousted three aides for leaking back in April. These aides were Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll.

Despite Hegseth’s actions, the leaks have continued.

As The Gateway Pundit’s Cassandra MacDonald previously reported, the Pentagon announced an investigation back in March into recent “unauthorized disclosures” of national security information, which may include the use of polygraph tests on Department of Defense personnel.

Hegseth’s then-chief of staff, Joe Kasper, sent a memo to DOD staff letting them know that they may be subject to lie detector tests.

“Recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) demand immediate and thorough investigation,” the memo read, according to a report from The Hill.

“I request the prompt assistance of your Director for Defense Intelligence (Counterintelligence, Law Enforcement, and Security) to support OSD in leading an investigation into unauthorized disclosures in coordination with the appropriate Department of Defense (DoD) stakeholders, including those responsible for maintaining and overseeing information security systems and in coordination with federal partners as required,” the memo continued.

The announcement’s timing prompted speculation that it may be about a New York Times report that Elon Musk was slated to receive a briefing on U.S. military strategies for a hypothetical war with China during a visit to the Pentagon.

Musk and President Donald Trump both claimed that the report was false. The X owner said it was “pure propaganda” and called for prosecuting those leaking “maliciously false information” to the media.

Other members of the Trump Administration have used polygraphs to hunt down leakers to the press, including FBI Director Kash Patel.

The post Report: Team Hegseth Ordered to Stop Using Polygraph Tests in Search of Leaks to Media Following Complaint from a Senior Adviser – Pentagon Responds appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

One month ago, in late June 2025, Senator Tom Cotton proposed legislation slashing the workforce of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) led by MAGA favorite Tulsi Gabbard.

Cotton proposed cutting the ODNI staff from 1,600 to 650 employees.

This was just weeks before Director Tulsi Gabbard released the first documents proving Barack Obama was intimately involved and calling the shots in the Trump-Russia deep state hoax.

Cotton has also been a staunch supporter in Ukraine’s losing war against Russia despite the fact that the US has spent over $180 billion on the effort and no one knows where all the money went.

So on Saturday, when Senator Cotton announced he was working with FBI Director Kash Patel in a full review of James Comey’s actions during his tenure as FBI Director, Trump supporters were completely skeptical.

Cotton wrote: “James Comey’s bias against President Trump calls into question everything he did as FBI Director. I’m working with Kash Patel on a full review of every FBI action Comey carried out during his tenure as director.”

The responses to Cotton’s partnership with Kash Patel were brutal.

Nick Sorter: “Hey, Kash, don’t give this deep state puppet anything at all.”

Hey @Kash_Patel: don’t give this deep state puppet anything at all.

Tom Cotton will just forward all the info to his deep state friends like Comey and blow the entire investigation.

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 26, 2025

Publius: “You are conveniently leaving out another obvious traitor – Chris Wray. Why is that, Tom Cotton?”

You are conveniently leaving out another obvious traitor – Chris Wray.

Why is that @SenTomCotton?

— Publius (@OcrazioCornPop) July 26, 2025

MAHA Mom: “Stop interjecting yourself in these investigations. We know why you’re doing it. The days of ‘friendlies’ trying to sabotage the truth is over!
Director Kash, Cotton is not working in our best interest (allegedly). Keep him at arm’s length.”

Stop interjecting yourself in these investigations. We know why you’re doing it. The days of ‘friendlies’ trying to sabotage the truth is over! @FBIDirectorKash Cotton is not working in our best interest (allegedly). Keep him at arm’s length.

— Maha Mom (@MahaMom2024) July 26, 2025

Crash the Flash: “Stuff it Tom. We don’t need nor do we want your “opinion.”

Stuff it, Tom! We don’t need nor do we want, your “opinion.” https://t.co/RNsBNYuBVs

— Crash_the_Flash (@Crash_the_Flash) July 26, 2025

Southern Shaker: “Director Kash, do not bring this guy into the fold when it comes to this investigation. All he will do is leak it to the media and his deep state puppets on the left. He cannot be trusted!”

@FBIDirectorKash do not bring this guy into the fold when it comes to this investigation. All he will do is leak it to the media and his deep state puppets on the left. He cannot be trusted!

— Southern Shaker (@TexasTrucker) July 26, 2025

You get the picture.
Cotton’s entire thread is filled with comments like this! Nobody is buying it.

The post Senator Tom Cotton Says He’s Working with Kash Patel to Investigate James Comey – Trump Supporters Are Not Buying It appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference at “Alligator Alcatraz” on Friday morning and announced that hundreds of illegal aliens have already passed through the center and been deported.

DeSantis said that flights have begun taking off from the Everglades deportation center’s on-site runway and will increase.

We stood up Alligator Alcatraz in just eight days as a centralized facility for deportation staging. The facility has a two-mile runway that allows federal military aircraft to transport illegal aliens out of the country, right on site. These deportation flights operated by DHS… pic.twitter.com/o6xpaEJ753

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) July 25, 2025

“You’re going to see the numbers go up dramatically,” DeSantis said.

The flights are being operated by the Department of Homeland Security, and two or three have already departed. DeSantis did not say what country the deported migrants were sent to.

Governor DeSantis Speaks from Alligator Alcatraz https://t.co/AJeIVThH7O

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) July 25, 2025

“This was never intended to be something where people are just held and we just kind of twiddle our thumbs,”DeSantis said. “The whole purpose is to make this be a place that can facilitate increased frequency and numbers of deportations of illegal aliens.”

The governor continued, “That is the goal and one of the reasons why this was a sensible spot is that you have a runway that is right here, you don’t have to drive them to an airport, you go a couple of thousand feet and they can be on a plane.”

Alligator Alcatraz was built in just days and is currently holding 2,000 people. According to DeSantis, they can hold double that amount.

“We were able to, under Kevin Guthrie’s leadership, within record time, create a facility that could support intake, processing and eventually deporting these illegal aliens. And that’s important to deport from Florida and obviously from the United States as well, ” DeSantis said.

The Associated Press reports:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates deportation flights mainly from a few hubs, including Harlingen, Texas; Alexandria, Louisiana; and Mesa, Arizona. Others are scattered across the country.

There were just over 200 flights in June, according to Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that analyzes flight data. It was the highest tally since the group started keeping track in January 2020.

The post WATCH: DeSantis Says Hundreds of Illegal Aliens Have Already Been Deported from Alligator Alcatraz appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Republicans did the right thing by defunding PBS and NPR.

Former Trump Chief Strategist Steve Bannon sat for an interview with Mike Wiser this week for PBS.

During the interview, Wiser asked Bannon about the recent rhetoric coming from the White House and Republicans against the lawless far left district judges who have been wreaking havoc in the country since President Trump’s second inauguration.

Steve Bannon: This is going to be a showdown. It has to be a showdown.

Mike Wiser: The rhetoric about the judge, because a lot of lawyers say all of the rhetoric, calling for impeachment, the radical left lunatic, that this rhetoric, that’s not the type of thing the President should say. He should appeal.

Steve Bannon: He should abide by the court ruling and not… Listen, by the way, was there any complaint from CBS or was there any complaint by the Democrats on the rhetoric used against the judges when the Roe v Wade decision came out and they had to have police protection at their houses? I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything about the rhetoric being too high.

You guys are so f*cking phony on the face of it! This is why we’re defeating the left. The American people, as they see this, they go, These guys are a bunch of f*cking lying scumbags, which you are a bunch of lying fucking scumbags!

You terrorize, you try to terrorize, Supreme Court justices over a decision that didn’t go your way. Now I’m a huge believer, of playing by the system. The system, we should get these judges, and I’m an advocate I’m not saying an impeach them right now. That’s for the House of Representatives to decide.

However, the Judiciary Committee should immediately get Beryl Howell and Boasberg in immediately for a public hearing about their conduct. Absolutely. Let’s put it before the American people. Let’s put what these two have done. These two are radicals.

Put them on notice. You put them through this process, whether you impede them or not, all these other judges are going to fold. Here’s what we know. If you take power and exert it, this system is not so tough. You know why? They’re all gutless cowards. They’ve all hid behind the system for decades and decades.

The post ‘You Guys Are So F***ing Phony!… You’re a Bunch of Lying F***king Scumbags!” – Honey Badger Steve Bannon UNLOADS on PBS Hack During Frontline Interview (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

For decades, school choice carried a partisan label—firmly Republican and often dismissed by the Left. But that’s starting to change. A quiet revolution is underway as a growing number of Democratic leaders begin to embrace school choice. This shift is driven by a simple reality: many public schools are failing to meet students’ needs. Families are searching for better options, and some Democratic lawmakers are responding.

In Pennsylvania, demand for alternatives to traditional public schools is rising. A 2022 survey by the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators found that about 67% of school districts cited student mental health as their top concern. At the same time, districts across the state reported shortages of substitute teachers, counselors, and special education staff—making it harder to support students effectively.

The Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School (PALCS) illustrates how families are turning to different types of schools. PALCS is the highest-rated online public high school in the state. It offers specialized programs in science, the arts, and career training. Its success reflects a broader trend: parents are looking for schools that align with their children’s unique needs and talents.

Alabama offers another compelling example. Once ranked last in the country for education, the state had climbed to 32nd by 2024. These gains were not driven by massive funding increases, but by reforms in how reading and math are taught. Updated curricula and early literacy programs played a key role in the turnaround.

In March 2024, Alabama passed the CHOOSE Act, a major expansion of educational options. The law allows eligible families to use public funds for education outside the traditional system. Families can receive $7,000 per student for private school tuition or $2,000 for homeschooling expenses.

Dakarai Larriett, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Alabama, supports school choice based on personal experience. His mother taught in public schools for 35 years and worked tirelessly to get her children into high-performing magnet programs. According to Larriett, many parents lack the time or resources to navigate such opportunities.

“It would be selfish of me to say I don’t believe in these programs, because I personally benefited from them,” Larriett said in an interview on The Patriot Perspective podcast.

While he strongly supports school choice, he also recognizes a key challenge: not every family has equal access. To help close that gap, Larriett advocates for policies focused on transparency, data tracking, and fairness. “I want to make sure it works for everyone—not just the lucky few,” he added.

Larriett isn’t alone. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro supported a $100 million school voucher program in the 2023 state budget. Although he later withdrew his support under pressure from party leadership, his initial backing marked a significant departure from traditional Democratic positions.

Critics of school choice often argue that it diverts funding from public schools. But many public schools are already struggling to meet basic educational benchmarks. In New York, for example, only 23% of eighth-grade students are proficient in math, according to state test data. SAT scores are also below the national average.

These poor results persist despite New York spending more per student than any other state—an astounding $36,000 annually.

Democratic support for school choice is growing slowly but steadily. Leaders like Larriett and Shapiro are asking tough but necessary questions: Are students actually learning? Are schools being held accountable for results? Can more options lead to better outcomes for everyone?

As of 2025, 30 states and Washington, D.C., offer some form of school choice, including charter schools, vouchers, tax-credit scholarships, or education savings accounts. Public support is also increasing.

A 2024 RealClear Opinion Research poll found that 71% of voters support school choice, including 66% of Democrats.

School choice is no longer just a conservative issue. A growing number of Democratic leaders are beginning to view it as a practical solution to improve student achievement and empower families. The focus is shifting—from ideology to impact, and from tradition to innovation

The post School Choice Shouldn’t Be a Partisan Issue appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.