Ted Cruz GOES OFF on TMZ’s Charlie Cotton for Attacking Trump’s $1.776B Fund to Compensate Pardoned J6

Ted Cruz GOES OFF on TMZ’s Charlie Cotton for Attacking Trump’s $1.776B Fund to Compensate Pardoned J6

by | May 20, 2026 | Aggregate

Ted Cruz GOES OFF on TMZ’s Charlie Cotton for Attacking Trump’s $1.776B Fund to Compensate Pardoned J6
May 20, 2026

A man in a green plaid shirt and hat holds a phone while conversing with a suited politician in a brick hallway.

Hallways on Capitol Hill on Tuesday were buzzing with tension as left-wing journalists, visibly agitated with the Trump administration’s newly announced 1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, swarmed Republicans senators with gotcha questions about potential payments to pardoned January 6 defendants.

In one of the most heated confrontations of the day, TMZ reporter Charlie Cotton aggressively pressed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, demanding a yes-or-no answer on whether “violent” January 6 “rioters” should receive taxpayer money from the fund.

“I’m a little concerned that January 6th rioters — violent January 6 rioters who were convicted and then pardoned — I’m a little worried that they’re going to be entitled to taxpayer money. That money’s going to come out of my pocket and go into their pockets,” Cotton said. “Do you think violent, convicted, and then pardoned January 6 rioters… do you think they should be eligible for this sort of slush fund?”  
Cruz immediately fired back: “Yeah, you know, I’m not surprised you’re worried about that, but I’m curious,” the GOP lawmaker said. “Were you worried at all when Joe Biden was weaponizing the Justice Department against peaceful protesters as well as President Trump himself?”
When Cotton insisted, ” I don’t want to to discuss the prior administration,” Cruz accused the reporter of having “a political agenda.”
A journalist captures a moment with a politician in a brick corridor, highlighting a candid interaction during a public event.
“I know you don’t,” Cruz said. “I understand you’ve got a political agenda.”

The exchange grew increasingly testy as Cotton repeatedly interrupted, demanding a direct answer. Cruz responded by drawing a clear distinction between violence and peaceful protest while defending victims of politicized prosecutions.

“I believe people who engage in actual violence should be prosecuted and face consequences,” Cruz said. “I believe people who engage in peaceful protests are protected by the First Amendment. The Biden Department of Justice deliberately targeted people who engaged in peaceful protests.”

Cruz also referenced his book Justice Corrupted while continuing to push back.

The facts surrounding January 6 paint a far different picture than the corporate narrative. Police initiated the violencehttps://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/exclusive-j6-footage-defense-attorney-exposes-exact-moment/ that day by employing excessive force—shooting innocent Americans in the face or neck with rubber bullets without issuing proper dispersal orders, in violation of state and federal law. This reporter and The Gateway Pundit have extensively documented these incidents.

Victims like Joshua Black, who was shot in the face while simply standing on the Capitol lawn, later served prison time.

FILE - Joshua Matthew Black, a supporter of then-President Donald Trump, is shown injured after shot by a police crowd-control munition during clashes with police at the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The Alabama man has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol and invading the Senate floor with a knife on his hip and a gaping wound on his face. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Defendants faced grotesque over-prosecution. Proud Boys leaders received sentences of 22, 18, 17, and 15 years for non-violent offense—sentences the Justice Department appealed in attempts to impose life sentences. Notably, Enrique Tarrio, who received the longest sentence, was not even present at the Save America rally.

Many endured documented: diesel therapy, prolonged solitary confinement and inhumane conditions.

The Anti-Weaponization Fund, formally announced by the Department of Justice on Monday, totals $1.776 billion transferred from the Judgement Fund as part of the settlement President Trump’s IRS lawsuit over the illegal leak of his tax returns.

Trump and his family received a formal apology but no monetary damages are ineligible for the fund.

“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again…a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated in a press release published Monday, describing the fund’s purpose.

At a health care event Monday, President Trump directly addressed the fund:

“This is reimbursing people that were horribly treated…They’ve been weaponized. They’ve  been, in some cases, imprisoned wrongly,” the president said. “They’ve paid legal fees they didn’t have. They’ve gone bankrupt. Their lives have been destroyed. And they turned out to be right. It was a terrible period of time in the history of our country.”
For years, the corporate media cheered as Americans were persecuted, tortured in federal custody, and buried under outrageous sentences for getting beatdown, shot and tear gassed by police for exercising their First Amendment rights.
The American people demanded accountability, and the reckoning is just beginning.

The post Ted Cruz GOES OFF on TMZ’s Charlie Cotton for Attacking Trump’s $1.776B Fund to Compensate Pardoned J6 appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Alicia Powe

Morelos Families Extorted by Cartels Simply for Living in Their Homes as Bishop Ramón Castro Warns Organized Crime Has Taken Control

Morelos Families Extorted by Cartels Simply for Living in Their Homes as Bishop Ramón Castro Warns Organized Crime Has Taken Control

by | May 20, 2026 | Aggregate

Morelos Families Extorted by Cartels Simply for Living in Their Homes as Bishop Ramón Castro Warns Organized Crime Has Taken Control
May 20, 2026

Cardinal delivers a speech during a religious ceremony, surrounded by clergy members and a large screen displaying his image.

Mexico’s security crisis has reached a shocking new level in the state of Morelos. Bishop Ramón Castro Castro of Cuernavaca, who also serves as president of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, publicly denounced that organized crime groups are now extorting poor families merely for remaining inside their own homes.

The alarming statement was delivered during the XII Walk for Peace held in Cuernavaca, where thousands of citizens dressed in white marched to demand security and an end to the violence devastating the region.

During the event, Castro revealed that criminal organizations in the community of Huautla, located in the municipality of Tlaquiltenango, have imposed illegal “protection payments” on residents who already struggle to survive in one of the poorest areas of Morelos.

“The criminal organizations have reached a level of cruelty beyond comprehension. They charge extortion fees simply for living there, for having a house. They no longer charge only businesses — they charge people for existing,” Castro declared before parishioners and members of the press.

The bishop’s remarks reinforce longstanding accusations from residents who claim organized crime has expanded throughout Morelos while authorities fail to regain control.

Castro further disclosed that threats have become so severe that the parish priest of San Francisco de Asís Church in Huautla was forced to flee the community after receiving direct death threats from cartel-linked groups.

Castro also warned that violence in Morelos can no longer be minimized or hidden behind official rhetoric. He stressed that the state continues to suffer from high levels of insecurity, homicide, extortion, and political violence.

Several national outlets reported that during the peace march the bishop insisted that “lying about reality is also a form of violence,” referring to what many residents view as government attempts to downplay the deteriorating security situation.

IACHR Exposes Mexico’s Child Recruitment Crisis as More Than 18,000 Minors Remain Missing Under Sheinbaum Government

The post Morelos Families Extorted by Cartels Simply for Living in Their Homes as Bishop Ramón Castro Warns Organized Crime Has Taken Control appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Gateway Hispanic

Butterball Gabe Sterling Eliminated in Georgia SOS Race – After Trashing Trump for Years the Fake Conservative Suffers Very Public Drubbing

Butterball Gabe Sterling Eliminated in Georgia SOS Race – After Trashing Trump for Years the Fake Conservative Suffers Very Public Drubbing

by | May 20, 2026 | Aggregate

Butterball Gabe Sterling Eliminated in Georgia SOS Race – After Trashing Trump for Years the Fake Conservative Suffers Very Public Drubbing
May 20, 2026

Gabriel Sterling encourages voters to participate in the election with a reminder that there are only two hours left to vote today.
Loudmouth Gabe Sterling went down hard in Georgia on Tuesday night.

Butterball Gabe Sterling was another anti-Trumper to lose his race tonight in Georgia.
For years Sterling has publicly scolded President Trump for alleging the Georgia 2020 presidential election was stolen.

On Tuesday night, Georgia voters made clear Butterball Sterling’s days in state politics was over.
Gabe Sterling finished a distant fourth in the GOP Secretary of State primary and did not even make the runoff election!

Republicans Vernon Jones and Tim Fleming will hold a runoff election in the coming weeks to decide who will take on the Democrat candidate in the 2026 election.

We’ve written about Raffensperger and Sterling multiple times at The Gateway Pundit since the 2020 Election steal in Georgia.  As of April 2021, the state still lacked the legally required chain of custody documentation for over 300,000 ballots, and yet in the weeks after the election Raffensperger signed off on the election results giving Joe Biden the win by 10,000 votes and mandating a runoff election for two US Senate seats.

We reported on the conflicting data coming out of Fulton County after the election where the numbers being reported made no sense.

We also reported that both Raffensperger and Sterling are connected to the firm Landmark Communications which grooms Democrats for Republican jobs.

BREAKING: Georgia’s Raffensperger, Sterling and Fuchs All Connected to Firm that Helps Georgia Democrats Run as Republicans

Strling took pot shots at The Gateway Pundit following the 2020 election. Tonight he lost his bid to become the next Secretary of State in Georgia. Thank you Peach Tree state voters!

The post Butterball Gabe Sterling Eliminated in Georgia SOS Race – After Trashing Trump for Years the Fake Conservative Suffers Very Public Drubbing appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Jim Hoft

EXCLUSIVE: Massie Reveals Why Epstein Co-Conspirators Enjoy ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ in America

EXCLUSIVE: Massie Reveals Why Epstein Co-Conspirators Enjoy ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ in America

by | May 20, 2026 | Aggregate

EXCLUSIVE: Massie Reveals Why Epstein Co-Conspirators Enjoy ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ in America
May 20, 2026

Man in a suit speaking outdoors in front of a building, with a serious expression, conveying information or addressing an audience.
Rep. Thomas Massie bluntly questioned why powerful figures tied to Jeffrey Epstein appear to enjoy “diplomatic immunity” in the United States while warning that comfortable lies continue to shield accountability on everything from Jan. 6 to the sprawling federal deficit.
In a wide-ranging interview recorded with The Gateway Pundit days before his election, the Kentucky Republican pulled back the curtain on the forces he says have blocked real transparency and prosecutions, even as voters in his deep-red district head to the polls Tuesday in what has become one of the most expensive and bitter Republican primaries in history.

“It’s almost like you have diplomatic immunity if you’re an Epstein co-conspirator in this country, but step into Great Britain, step into Norway, step into France, and you’ll get arrested, indicted, or investigated in America,” Massie said.

Massie pointed to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as a particular red flag.
“We saw Howard Lutnick went to Epstein Island— that guy behind Trump on the airplane when you see him, the guy whispering in his ear behind the Oval Office—was going to Epstein Island and lying to us about having never done anything with Jeffrey Epstein since he visited long ago. That should be a major red flag,” he said.

The six-term congressman — who entered the House in November 2012 — has served nearly 14 years as a libertarian-leaning conservative known for bucking party leadership on spending, foreign aid, and surveillance issues.
Trump endorsed former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein to primary him, citing Massie’s opposition to key administration priorities, including aspects of the president’s tax-and-spending agenda and his aggressive push for full Epstein file releases.
The race has shattered records, with more than $25 million in outside spending. Recent polls showed Gallrein with a narrow edge or the race deadlocked heading into Election Day.
Polls in Kentucky close at 6 p.m. ET, with initial results expected shortly thereafter and most votes counted by late evening.
Massie described a Washington culture addicted to comfortable lies.
“People up here have been tricked,” he said. “Like if you repeat a lie long enough, they start believing it and even my colleagues start believing it. So it’s easier to believe the narrative than it is to actually put in the work to determine” the truth — whether on the pipe bomb investigation, Ray Epps, COVID origins, Epstein, or the deficit.
On the lack of prosecutions, including in the Ray Epps case, Massie placed the blame squarely on Congress.
“Members of Congress have not asserted their power. They haven’t taken the reins and they’re too content to let the staffers do it,” he said. “We could bring every one of these administrative agencies to heel if we would just cut their funding, but we won’t even withhold money for one toner cartridge at the FBI. … We already have the tools we need. We got the appropriations. There’s no political will. There’s not the courage or the will.”
He added that Elon Musk “found it was easier to provide internet to Antarctica, land rockets backwards, and get cars to drive themselves than it was to fix this place.”

As Kentucky voters decide his political fate tonight, Massie framed the choice clearly.

“Do you want a bunch of rubber stamps that are following whatever the deep state up here tells them to do, or do you want somebody that votes on principle? That’s the referendum. You want somebody that serves the constituents, or somebody that serves the corporations and the [deep state]?”

WATCH:

This interview was recorded hours before explosive personal allegations surfaced against Massie.
As polls close in Kentucky’s 4th District tonight, voters will decide whether to renominate the independent-minded incumbent or support the president’s endorsed challenger, ending Massie’s nearly 14-year congressional career.
The outcome is expected to be one of the most closely watched results of the 2026 Republican primaries and could indicate the balance between institutional independence and party loyalty within the America First movement.

The post EXCLUSIVE: Massie Reveals Why Epstein Co-Conspirators Enjoy ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ in America appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Alicia Powe

Gavin Newsom Finally Cleaned Up a Homeless Encampment – In Front of the Home of One of His Rich, Connected Friends

Gavin Newsom Finally Cleaned Up a Homeless Encampment – In Front of the Home of One of His Rich, Connected Friends

by | May 19, 2026 | Aggregate

Gavin Newsom Finally Cleaned Up a Homeless Encampment – In Front of the Home of One of His Rich, Connected Friends
May 19, 2026

Screencap of Twitter/X video.

Apparently, Gavin Newsom does know how to clean up homeless encampments – as long as they’re in the way of one of his wealthy, politically connected friends. That just happened in Oakland, California.

It’s just like the time a few years ago when Newsom cleaned up the streets of San Francisco for a few days because officials from China were coming to visit the city. Some people matter. Not you, of course, just the famous and powerful people.

This is so insulting because it is a reminder that people do not have to live this way. It’s just being allowed to happen because people like Gavin Newsom don’t care about the average American. Just their connected friends in their inner circle.

Breitbart News reports:

Gavin Newsom Intervened to Clear Homeless Encampment Outside Super Bowl Champ Marshawn Lynch’s Home

Many Californians are wondering just what they have to do to get Governor Gavin Newsom to get the homeless off the streets. As it turns out, all you need to do is be one of his celebrity buddies.

According to text messages obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsom’s office became very proactive in helping clear a homeless encampment outside the home of the governor’s friend and podcast co-host, Seahawks legend Marshawn Lynch. Lynch’s agent is also friends with the governor.

The homeless encampment became an issue in 2024, when an RV, a camper, and an SUV set up shop and backed up into the freeway. Lynch was far from the only resident to register a complaint. In fact, Oakland officials received 311 requests to disperse the Dover Street encampment.

However, one particular request seemed to go further up the chain than most.

“I got a call from the Governor’s office regarding a number of RVs that are parked out in front of Marshawn Lynch’s family home,” texted then-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s chief of staff to Oakland city administrators. “The Governor’s office is requesting our support to help resolve the issues in a timely manner.”

Republican Steve Hilton, who is running to replace Newsom as governor of California, has already jumped on this story. Watch:

Newsom is a perfect example of what has gone wrong in so many parts of the country. We need more big changes.

The post Gavin Newsom Finally Cleaned Up a Homeless Encampment – In Front of the Home of One of His Rich, Connected Friends appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Author: Mike LaChance