Good evening, and welcome to Raw America. I’m British Chris.
A Republican congressman is going to war with Trump after the president insulted his fiancée on camera, and now that congressman is teaming up with Democrats to kill Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund for MAGA loyalists. Meanwhile, a federal prosecutor has been indicted for allegedly trying to smuggle Jack Smith’s secret report on Trump’s classified documents case out of the Justice Department. And the former leader of a prominent “pray away the gay” organization has been arrested for allegedly sexting with what he believed was a 14-year-old boy.
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Congressman Goes to War With Trump After President Insults His Fiancee
Donald Trump has a new enemy in the form of Pennsylvania Republican Brian Fitzpatrick.
It started when Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, who is engaged to Fitzpatrick, initially tried to ask Trump about whether he’d spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Instead of answering, Trump launched into a bizarre, rambling attack on Fitzpatrick.
Trump complained to Heinrich that her partner votes against his agenda repeatedly, saying, “I don’t know what’s with him. You better ask what’s with him. He likes voting against Trump. You know what happens with that? Doesn’t work out well.”
Fitzpatrick isn’t letting it go. By that afternoon, he told reporter Scott MacFarlane that he’s going to try to kill Trump’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” which was created to compensate January 6 rioters and other Trump loyalists. Critics, including plenty of legal scholars, are calling it a straight-up corrupt giveaway of taxpayer money to the president’s political allies.
Fitzpatrick also recoiled at one of the settlement’s most extraordinary provisions: a clause that permanently bars the IRS from ever again auditing or pursuing any tax claims against Donald Trump, his family, related trusts, or businesses. The settlement language says the IRS is “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED” from pursuing any such examinations.
Fitzpatrick was firm in his opposition, telling MacFarlane, “you can’t do that.” Keep a close eye on this story.
Democrats Move to Block Trump’s MAGA Slush Fund
Fitzpatrick isn’t alone in this fight. Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, is introducing legislation that would make it illegal to use any federal funds to create or operate Trump’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
The bill, which Raskin’s office shared with Axios, is direct: no federal money can go toward this fund, period.
And Raskin isn’t ruling out using a discharge petition to force the bill to a floor vote if Republican House leadership tries to bury it, which is exactly what leadership will likely try to do.
This is an unusual alignment. A moderate Republican from a purple Pennsylvania district and the top House Democrat are both putting pressure on the same Trump initiative on the same day. That’s the kind of bipartisan friction that’s hard for leadership to ignore entirely, even if they try. And because Republicans have such a small majority, a discharge petition could succeed.
Prosecutor Indicted for Allegedly Trying to Steal Jack Smith’s Secret Report
This one is remarkable. A grand jury has indicted Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a managing assistant U.S. attorney based in Fort Pierce, Florida, on four felony counts for allegedly attempting to steal the sealed Jack Smith report on Donald Trump’s classified documents case.
The indictment alleges that in January 2025, Lineberger downloaded a copy of the report onto her work computer and then emailed it to her personal Gmail account. Before attaching it to the email, she allegedly renamed the file “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf.”
That report has been sealed since January 2025, when Smith completed it in the final days before Trump’s inauguration. It’s a summary of Trump’s alleged crimes in the classified documents case. Judge Aileen Cannon ordered it sealed at the request of Trump’s lawyers, and the Trump DOJ has fought to keep it secret ever since. Earlier this year, Cannon issued a permanent order barring the department from ever releasing it.
Two legal organizations are currently appealing those orders, arguing the public has a right to know what’s in the document.
It’s not yet clear from the court papers whether prosecutors believe Lineberger intended to leak the report publicly or what her motivations were. She appeared in federal court in West Palm Beach on Wednesday and entered a not guilty plea. This fight is likely just getting started.
“Pray Away the Gay” Leader Arrested in Child Sex Sting
Alan Chambers, the former president of Exodus International, the Christian organization that spent decades promoting so-called “conversion therapy,” was arrested Tuesday in Orlando following a months-long undercover investigation.
Chambers, who is 54, is accused of sending sexually explicit messages to an undercover detective who was posing online as a 14-year-old boy. The messages reportedly went back and forth on Snapchat and Telegram between February and May of this year. He allegedly told the detective he wanted the boy “so much” and referenced “forbidden love.” He’s also accused of attempting to arrange an in-person meeting.
During the traffic stop Tuesday, Chambers reportedly confirmed that the accounts used to contact the detective were his, but declined to discuss the actual messages.
He’s been charged with solicitation of a minor via computer, transmission of material harmful to minors, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. He’s currently being held without bond.
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Thanks for watching. I’m British Chris, with Raw America. We’ll see you tomorrow.
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Federal Judge Orders White House Officials to Preserve Presidential Records. U.S. District Judge John Bates — an appointee of former President George W. Bush — granted an emergency order on Wednesday to force Trump White House officials to comply with the Presidential Records Act. The ruling came in response to an opinion from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel that the decades-old law was unconstitutional. Judge Bates, however, stopped short of extending the order to President Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
Senate Makes Push to Regulate Online Prediction Markets. Senators on both sides of the political aisle are reportedly mulling new legislation to rein in prediction markets, in which members of the public can place bets on sports, politics and cultural events, among other things. The proposal comes as shadowy betters on prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have made millions from betting on U.S. military operations, often creating accounts and placing wagers just before major developments are announced. Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr., is on Polymarket’s advisory board, and he’s also a a strategic advisor to Kalshi.
