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Suspect who Allegedly Fired at Secret Service Agents near White House Identified — and Charging Docs Include Possible Motive

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The man arrested for a shooting Monday at the National Mall that led to a White House lockdown has been identified in a federal criminal filing.

Michael Marx, 45, was spotted at about 3:30 p.m. by a plainclothes officer who believed he was carrying a gun. When he was approached by uniformed officers, he fled and allegedly fired a gun at them.

The suspect was shot, captured, and arrested, but a juvenile bystander was also shot during the altercation.

Investigators confirmed an initial report that the motorcade for Vice President JD Vance had just passed by before the shooting.

The gunshot victim was described as a civilian witness who was standing behind an officer and was shot in the leg. The officers returned fire and shot the suspect in the hand, left arm, and upper abdomen.

As he was being transported in an ambulance to a hospital, Marx allegedly said, “F**k the White House,” as well as, “Kill me, kill me, kill me.”

(Read more from “Suspect who Allegedly Fired at Secret Service Agents near White House Identified — and Charging Docs Include Possible Motive” HERE)

Judge Apologizes to Alleged WHCD Attacker for Treatment in Jail

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A judge issued an apology to Cole Tomas Allen, the alleged White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner attacker, for how he has been treated while being held in jail.

During a hearing on Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui expressed his apologies to Allen, who has been “held in the safe cell,” according to ABC7 News. Faruqui reportedly said the safe cell was “tantamount to solitary confinement.”

The judge also gave the Washington, DC, Department of Corrections a deadline of Tuesday “to notify when the jail’s housing board will” make a decision regarding “which section of the jail” Allen will be placed in, according to the outlet.

Faruqui’s apology to Allen comes after Allen’s attorneys said in court filings that Allen “was placed on suicide watch shortly after arriving at the D.C. jail.”

Due to Allen being placed on suicide watch, he was put in “what’s known as a ‘safe cell,’ a padded room with constant lighting and 24-hour lockdown conditions,” according to the outlet. Allen’s attorneys claimed that he showed “no signs of being a risk.” (Read more from “Judge Apologizes to Alleged WHCD Attacker for Treatment in Jail” HERE)

Guest Caught Casually Munching on Salad as Others Took Cover During Shooting Explains Himself

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A White House Correspondents’ Dinner guest who went viral for casually munching on his burrata salad as others ducked for cover at the sound of gunfire explained his calm demeanor Sunday.

“First of all, I have a bad back. I couldn’t get on the floor, and if I did get on the floor, they’d have to bring in people to get me off the floor,” Creative Artists Agency agent Michael Glantz told the New York Times.

“And No. 2, I’m a hygiene freak. There was no freaking way I was getting my new tux on the dirty Hilton floor. It was not happening.”

Glantz was captured on CNN sneaked a fork full of salad despite the chaos and commotion at the DC gala Saturday night.

He quickly went viral for his even-keel approach, which he further elaborated on. (Read more from “Guest Caught Casually Munching on Salad as Others Took Cover During Shooting Explains Himself” HERE)

Report: Alleged White House Correspondents’ Dinner Attacker Hid Guns at Parents’ Home Without Their Knowledge

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A report from NBC News says the alleged White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner attacker kept his guns hidden in his parents’ home without their knowledge.

Breitbart News reported that the alleged attacker, Cole Tomas Allen, bought his guns legally. The Los Angeles Times noted that Allen made the purchases in California.

According to NBC News, “Allen’s sister confirmed he purchased two handguns and a shotgun from CAP Tactical Firearms and kept them stored at their parents’ home.”

She also indicated their parents did not know that Allen kept his guns in their home.

He allegedly went to a shooting range “regularly” to hone his shooting skills and law enforcement recovered a shotgun and handgun when apprehending Allen after the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner attack. (Read more from “Report: Alleged White House Correspondents’ Dinner Attacker Hid Guns at Parents’ Home Without Their Knowledge” HERE)

Ex-Jihadist Syrian President Due at White House for Landmark Talks

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Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa is to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday for unprecedented talks just days after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist.

Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, will be the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since the country’s independence in 1946.

Formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was itself only delisted as a terrorist group by Washington in July.

Since taking power, Syria’s new leaders have sought to break from their violent past and present a more moderate image to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers. (Read more from “Ex-Jihadist Syrian President Due at White House for Landmark Talks” HERE)

Senator Chris Murphy Says Trump’s East Wing Demolition “Absolutely Illegal”

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Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) condemned President Donald Trump’s decision to demolish part of the White House’s East Wing to make way for a new ballroom, calling the move “absolutely illegal” and emblematic of what he described as the administration’s ongoing disregard for the rule of law.

Speaking Tuesday on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, Murphy drew a direct line between the destruction of the East Wing and Trump’s broader pattern of unilateral decision-making, including the controversial military strikes in the Caribbean that have drawn international scrutiny.

“There’s a lot of history that has taken place in the East Wing,” Murphy said. “It was just destroyed without any conversation with the American public, without any consent of Congress. It was absolutely illegal.”

Murphy described the demolition as both a physical and symbolic act, warning that it illustrated the extent to which Trump views himself above the law. “That visual is powerful because you are essentially watching the destruction of the rule of law happen as those walls come down,” he said. “It’s just a symbol of how cavalier he is about every single day acting in new and illegal ways.”

The senator linked the East Wing demolition to what he characterized as a growing list of extrajudicial actions by the president — including recent strikes that have killed suspected drug traffickers at sea — saying both reflect an alarming erosion of democratic norms.

“The president just doesn’t believe that any law applies to him,” Murphy continued. “He thinks he can destroy federal property, steal from American citizens, kill with impunity, throw anyone in jail.”

Photo credit: Flickr

Donald Trump Thinking of Pardoning Diddy After Bail Decision

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Donald Trump’s White House has been in communication with Diddy’s legal team about a potential pardon for the music mogul, and we’ve learned the decision may be determined by the judge’s ruling on bail.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … Donald Trump is “more than open” to pardoning Diddy, but he wants to wait to see what Judge Arun Subramanian does with Diddy’s latest bail petition. We’re told if Diddy is granted bail, Trump will not make a decision on a pardon until Diddy is sentenced. If the judge denies bail, a decision will be made immediately. . .

Our sources say, Diddy’s case has resonated with Trump because the President believes Diddy — like him — was unfairly targeted by the feds. They note Trump’s Dept. of Justice recently fired Maurene Comey, the lead prosecutor in the Diddy case, and daughter of former FBI head/Trump nemesis James Comey.

What’s more, our sources believe the timing for a pardon would be “perfect,” because it would be a major diversion from the Epstein scandal. (Read more from “Donald Trump Thinking of Pardoning Diddy After Bail Decision” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Trump Scraps Meeting with Putin

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The White House said on Tuesday that President Trump no longer plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, following a phone call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday.

According to an official familiar with the situation, the Russians demonstrated a lack of willingness to align themselves with Trump’s plan for peace between Ukraine and Russia. The war has been ongoing for more than three years.

“Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov had a productive call,” a White House official told The New York Post on Tuesday. “Therefore, an additional-in-person meeting between the Secretary and Foreign Minister is not necessary, and there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future.”

President Trump, following a phone call with Putin on Thursday, announced that Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart would lay the groundwork for the prospective meeting between the two leaders in Budapest, Hungary. (Read more from “Trump Scraps Meeting with Putin” HERE)

Mysterious Objects Thrown from White House Window Spark Viral Speculation

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A strange scene at the White House over the weekend has ignited online buzz after a video surfaced showing unidentified objects being tossed from a top-floor window of the historic building.

The video, which quickly gained traction on social media, shows a person repeatedly hurling items from what many believe to be the Lincoln Bedroom, located on the upper floor of the executive residence. The objects fall to the ground below, though it remains unclear exactly what was being thrown or why.

According to a White House official, the individual seen in the footage is a contractor performing routine maintenance. The incident occurred while President Donald Trump was away, and there is no indication of any security breach or unusual activity beyond the video itself.

Online speculation quickly filled the gap left by the official silence, with some internet sleuths suggesting the objects could be debris from an ongoing renovation. President Trump has previously criticized the design of the Lincoln Bedroom’s adjoining bathroom, describing it as “terribly” remodeled in the Art Deco style. He confirmed last month that a makeover of the space was underway.

“We’ll be doing the Lincoln bathroom, which was Art Deco,” Trump said at the time. “We’re making it actually incredible.”

The video comes amid broader renovation plans at the White House, including the construction of a $200 million, privately funded State Ballroom. The 90,000-square-foot venue is slated to be built in the East Wing and will accommodate up to 650 guests. The project is expected to be completed before the end of Trump’s current term in early 2029.

Photo credit: Flickr

White House: Trump, Qataris Agree to $1.2 Trillion Economic Commitment

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The White House announced Wednesday that the United States and Qatar have reached an agreement that will generate at least $1.2 trillion in economic exchange.

Trump signed the deal in Doha during the second leg of his Middle East trip this week after departing Saudi Arabia earlier in the day.

“Today in Qatar, President Donald J. Trump signed an agreement with Qatar to generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion,” the White House noted in a fact sheet.

In addition to the agreement, the document states the U.S. and Qatar companies have come to terms on economic deals equaling $243.5 billion.

The $243.5 billion in deals between the nations is headlined by Qatar Airways’ $96 billion agreement with Boeing and GE Aerospace to buy as many as “210 American-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines,” a White House fact sheet noted.

This marks a record-breaking order for Boeing. (Read more from “White House: Trump, Qataris Agree to $1.2 Trillion Economic Commitment” HERE)