Good evening, I’m British Chris, and this is Raw America.
Tonight, Mike Johnson is calling the Iran war a “peace operation.” The House just voted to bury sexual harassment claims against its own members. The U.S. and Israel are arming Kurdish militias to potentially invade Iran. The Justice Department is trying to stop states’ efforts to hold it accountable. And ICE’s surveillance of protesters is so brazen that agents are shouting home addresses out of car windows.
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Now let’s get into it.
Johnson Says Iran War Is Pro-Peace
Only one in four Americans approves of the U.S. strikes on Iran, according to Reuters polling. About half the country disapproves, including one in four Republicans. So naturally, House Speaker Mike Johnson went to the cameras to argue that the war is actually about peace.
That’s right. The war called “Operation Epic Fury” is, according to the man third in line to the presidency, a peace initiative.
Johnson’s remarks came after some of the loudest MAGA voices asked about Trump’s endgame. The administration has refused to set a timeline, and it hasn’t ruled out boots on the ground.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared on Wednesday that the U.S. had only “just begun to fight,” while also insisting it was winning. Those two statements are difficult to hold simultaneously, but here we are.
The speaker could have used Congress’s constitutional authority to demand oversight, limit the scope of the conflict, or at least ask what victory looks like. Instead, he delivered a full-throated endorsement. Congress’s job is to check executive power. Johnson has decided his job is to be a puppet for the White House.
DHS Shouts Protesters’ Addresses Out of Car Windows
Finally, a story that gets at something genuinely alarming about where the country is right now.
NPR has published the results of an extensive review, gathering dozens of firsthand accounts of DHS and ICE surveillance of American citizens who criticize the agency.
One woman named Emily, in Minneapolis, was following an ICE vehicle as a constitutional observer when it abruptly stopped. A masked federal agent leaned out the window, took her photo, and then yelled her name and home address at her.
Emily said the agents were “not subtle,” and that their message was meant to be a menacing way of saying: “We see you. We can get to you whenever we want to.”
ICE has also been sending administrative subpoenas to Google and Meta to unmask anonymous social media accounts that post content critical of immigration enforcement. According to the ACLU, a pattern has emerged: As soon as people criticize ICE, they get an email from their social media company saying the government has requested their data.
DHS insists it has the broad authority to issue such subpoenas. Legal experts say those subpoenas may violate the First Amendment right to criticize the government anonymously. That right is being dismantled.
In Maine, one federal agent recently told a protester she was now part of a “nice little database.” DHS denies that any such database exists.
U.S. and Israel Arm Kurdish Militias to March on Iran
Here’s a story that deserves far more attention than it’s getting.
Thousands of Iranian Kurdish militants are gathering in Iraqi Kurdistan right now, and according to multiple sources with close knowledge of the plan, the U.S. and Israel have set aside significant funds for arms and logistical support to at least six Iranian Kurdish political parties.
One party was designated a terrorist organization by the State Department before being delisted in 2012. It’s widely seen by Iranians as a cult. The main militia has alleged roots in al-Qaeda.
The fear among experts and analysts isn’t just that this won’t work. It’s that it is “almost guaranteed to end in a failed state,” in the words of expert Benham Ben Taleblu. He also warned that fostering an armed ethnic insurgency would be “the mother of all strategic, moral, and political mistakes.”
The Iranian regime has already responded. Their military sent 230 attack drones against targets in Iraqi Kurdistan this week. The regime asked 200,000 residents of the Kurdish-majority city of Marivan to evacuate.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has yet to explain publicly what any of this is supposed to achieve, how it ends, or what happens to Iran’s 80 million people if the state collapses.
House Buries Harassment Allegations Against Its Own Members
Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace brought a resolution to the House floor that would have forced the release of sexual harassment claims against lawmakers. The House voted 357 to 65 to send the resolution to the Ethics Committee, where leadership has made clear it’ll die quietly.
Ethics Chair Michael Guest, a Republican, and top Democrat Mark DeSaulnier argued Mace’s resolution would “chill” victims’ willingness to cooperate, and that the women “may be retraumatized” and could face retaliation.
That’s a concern worth taking seriously. But it’s worth noting that the resolution was also inconvenient for Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, who is currently under a probe over allegations of a romantic relationship with a staffer who later died by suicide.
Mace said after the vote that both parties “colluded to protect predators.” She lamented that Congress will “always protect itself, never the victims.” This all comes as Trump’s DOJ is pulling more than 47,000 documents from the Epstein files for “review,” including one woman’s allegation that Donald Trump assaulted her in the 1980s when she was a teen.
Whether one agrees with Mace’s approach or not, 357 members of both parties just voted to make sure this material stays buried. That’s not a partisan failure. That’s a moral one.
Giving You Context
These five stories aren’t separate. They’re the same story told five different ways.
A speaker who’s abandoned congressional oversight. A chamber that votes to protect its own members from accountability. A secret military operation with no public explanation. A justice department that wants to police itself. And a surveillance state that’s decided critics of the government are fair game.
The powerful are building systems to protect themselves from consequences in plain sight.
Corporate media will cover the loudest parts of this and bury the rest. Raw America won’t.
If you’re not yet a paying subscriber, right now is the time. Independent journalism only survives with your support, and there’s never been a moment where it matters more.
I’m British Chris for Raw America. Thanks for watching.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Pam Bondi Subpoenaed Over Handling of Epstein Files. A handful of Republicans on the House Oversight Committee joined all Democrats in voting to issue a subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has been accused of obstructing the release of files relating to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Michael Cloud (R-Texas), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.) all voted to subpoena Bondi.
15 Countries Now Involved in Iran War. The American-Israeli attack on Iran this weekend has quickly roped in more than a dozen additional countries. Axios reported that a slew of Middle Eastern countries like Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait and Lebanon, along with other European countries like Germany and the United Kingdom, have committed military resources in response to the Iranian military’s counterattacks in the region.
Kristi Noem Calls Affair Allegations ‘Tabloid Garbage.’ During a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shot down allegations that she was having an affair with Corey Lewandowski, who is an unpaid advisor at DHS. Both Noem and Lewandowski — who was President Donald Trump’s one-time campaign manager in 2016 — are married to other people, and have been haunted by allegations of an extramarital affair that even Trump himself has entertained.
GOP Senators Hoping Trump Pushes MAGA Candidate Out of Senate Race. After Tuesday night’s Republican primary in Texas between Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Attorney General Ken Paxton resulted in neither one getting enough of a majority to avoid a runoff, the two candidates will face each other in a May contest. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who chairs Senate Republicans’ election arm, said donors are expressed concerns about Paxton, and that a general election between Democrat James Talarico and Ken Paxton could be more “expensive” and put Republicans “at risk” of losing Texas. Both Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) are urging Trump to endorse Cornyn and push Paxton out of the race.
Trump’s New York Golf Resort Hit with Multiple Health Code Violations. The Westchester County Department of Health flagged multiple issues at the Trump National Golf Club in New York last November. According to NOTUS, health officials found evidence of “insects” and “rodents,” and that food was “uncovered, mislabeled, [and] stored on [the] floor.” Officials also noted “missing or inadequate sneeze guards” and “poorly constructed” rooms that were “in disrepair.”
