Good evening, and welcome to Raw America. I’m British Chris.
Kash Patel’s alleged drinking habit is so bad that even Trump is griping about it. Laura Loomer just had her defamation lawsuit thrown out. Trump’s new Navy secretary pick has a lot of skeletons in his closet. And Democrats are fighting back against the administration’s plan to jail immigrants in warehouses. Let’s get into it.
But before we dive in, take a moment to support Raw America’s independent journalism. You’ve seen what happens when billionaires like Jeff Bezos and David Ellison buy up media outlets. They use their immense wealth and power to gut newsrooms, silence reporters, and make sure that the stories that hold them and their friends accountable never get published. The only way to counter that is by directly supporting independent news outlets like Raw America.
Raw America is fully reader-supported. That means no billionaires are calling the shots, and no advertisers are telling us what we can and can’t say. We answer only to you. If that matters, please click the button below and become a paying subscriber today. It’s the most direct way to fight back against the billionaires’ conquest of the media.
Trump Privately Fuming About FBI Director’s Drinking Habit
By now most people have seen the footage: Kash Patel in the Team USA men’s hockey locker room, slamming beers after the gold medal win over Canada at the Milan Olympics. It went viral. It was embarrassing. And according to CNN, Donald Trump is privately furious about it.
Trump has publicly defended Patel. But behind closed doors, he’s been venting to confidants about both the locker room spectacle and the flood of bad press that followed. The optics were rough from the start. Patel skipped the official U.S. delegation in Milan — the one that included Vice President JD Vance — and flew out on his own, arriving only after Vance and his team had already left.
Things got stranger from there. Patel called Trump on speakerphone from the locker room, and Trump made a joke about having to invite the women’s hockey team to the White House to avoid impeachment. Several players later apologized for the awkward moment.
The Atlantic published a report last week alleging that Patel had unnerved colleagues by drinking heavily and going missing from work. Patel’s response was to sue the magazine for $250 million. The White House says he’s still a “critical player” on the administration’s team. But Trump’s private frustration tells a different story.
Judge Throws Out Laura Loomer’s Defamation Suit Against Bill Maher
A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Laura Loomer’s defamation lawsuit against Bill Maher and HBO. The suit stemmed from comments Maher made on his show “Real Time” in September 2024, when he speculated that Trump might be having an affair and suggested Loomer could be involved.
Judge James Moody ruled that any reasonable viewer of “Real Time” would have understood Maher was making a joke, not stating a fact. He also found that Loomer failed to demonstrate any actual financial or reputational harm from the comments.
In fact, Loomer’s own testimony worked against her. The judge noted that her income actually increased in 2024 compared to prior years, that she continues to meet regularly with Trump, and that she still receives White House invitations. That’s not exactly the picture of someone whose reputation was destroyed.
Maher had explained in a deposition that the joke was rooted in the genuine buzz at the time about Loomer and Trump’s unusual closeness. She’d accompanied him on his private jet multiple times and attended a 9/11 memorial with him. The comedian said the dynamic was noticeable enough that it inspired the bit.
Loomer’s influence in MAGA circles has been real. Since Trump returned to office, she’s been one of the more aggressive voices pushing to purge administration officials she views as insufficiently loyal. A significant number of staffers she’s targeted have been fired or had their nominations withdrawn.
Trump’s New Navy Secretary Once Joked About Wanting a KKK Hood with Slits for Eyes
John Phelan was abruptly fired as secretary of the Navy on Wednesday. His replacement is Hung Cao, currently the undersecretary of the Navy and a failed 2024 Senate candidate from Virginia.
During his 2024 Senate campaign, Cao appeared on far-right network Real America’s Voice and made a joke about the KKK that should have ended his political career on the spot. He quipped about wanting “little slits” instead of “circles” in his hood so he could see better. That’s not edgy humor. That’s a KKK reference, and he made it voluntarily.
Cao has also claimed multiple times in interviews that he was shot at and blown up during his Navy service, describing himself as “100% disabled” with scars to prove it. But his service record doesn’t reflect a Purple Heart or a Combat Action Ribbon, both of which are awarded to service members injured by enemy fire. When USA Today asked him to account for the discrepancy in 2024, he responded with an angry statement framing the question itself as an attack on veterans.
In a 2023 interview, Cao told a right-wing pastor that Monterey, California had become “a very dark place” overrun by witchcraft and the Wiccan community, warning that Virginia shouldn’t let that happen.
In that same interview, he described himself as “African American” because his family lived in Africa while working for USAID.
The Republican-controlled Senate isn’t exactly blameless in all of this. They confirmed him as undersecretary. They knew. And now he’s getting a big promotion.
New Bill Would Ban ICE from Turning Warehouses Into Immigrant Prisons
Democrat Rashida Tlaib has introduced the Ban Warehouse Detention Act, which would prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from converting warehouses and other non-traditional buildings into immigrant detention centers.
The backstory here is disturbing. ICE laid out its warehouse expansion plan in February, estimating the effort would cost $38.3 billion. Since January of last year, DHS has opened 104 new facilities. ICE’s detention capacity grew by more than 75% in just the first year of Trump’s second term, reaching a record 73,000 people in mid-January. And the administration still wants more space.
The backlash has been significant, and it’s not just coming from liberal cities. Communities in New Jersey, Maryland, and Michigan have filed lawsuits stalling construction. The Atlanta city council passed a unanimous resolution opposing the plans. In Surprise, Arizona, a small community near Phoenix that backed Trump in 2024, over 100 residents showed up to a city council meeting to speak out against an ICE warehouse facility.
Tlaib and immigrant rights advocates argue that warehouses aren’t built for human habitation, that detaining people there raises serious human rights concerns, and that the staggering cost comes at the direct expense of American communities’ access to healthcare, housing, and education.
Raw America’s Independent Journalism Needs Your Support
In recent weeks, Raw America brought you exclusive interviews with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, former CNN anchor and current Substack journalist Jim Acosta, and Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. These are the conversations happening at the front lines of what’s coming next in American politics, and you heard them here.
But none of it happens without paying subscribers. If journalism free from billionaire influence is important to you, please click the button below and subscribe today. It makes a real difference.
I’m British Chris, with Raw America. Thanks for watching. We’ll see you tomorrow.
STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Trump DOJ Fires Thousands of Law Enforcement Employees. Despite basing his presidency on being tough on crime, President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has fired roughly 4,000 members of the DOJ’s workforce who worked in law enforcement agencies like the FBI, DEA, ATF and other agencies. In addition to losing workers, these agencies have been ordered to assist with Trump’s mass deportation plans rather than focus on their own respective areas. According to the New Republic, drug-related prosecutions are at their lowest in 20 years.
Special Forces Soldier Arrested After Winning $400,000 on Maduro Raid. An unnamed member of U.S. Special Forces involved in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is now in federal custody for allegedly betting on the raid. The soldier bet $32,000 that Maduro would be “out” by January on prediction market Polymarket, netting him $400,000 in profit. The soldier reportedly made the bet just before the raid took place.
Hedge Fund Billionaire Plans Retaliation Over Mamdani Tax on Empty Homes. Ken Griffin — the CEO of Citadel and market-making company Citadel Securities — may ultimately reconsider a major development project in New York City in response to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to tax unoccupied second homes worth more than $5 million. An email sent to Griffin’s employees suggested that Griffin’s company may abandon a planned redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue in Manhattan, which the company said would create 6,000 construction jobs and contribute to 15,000 permanent jobs. Mamdani featured Griffin’s $238 million penthouse — which set records for the highest price for a home ever sold in the U.S. — at 220 Central Park South in a video he posted announcing the tax.
Former Cop Arrested for Allegedly Planning Hate Crime. Authorities in Destin, Florida recently arrested former North Carolina law enforcement officer Christopher Gillum, who had a handgun and several hundred rounds of ammunition in his possession. Gillum was allegedly headed to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (also known as Jazz Fest) to commit a mass shooting against Black people. Gillum will be extradited to Louisiana to face charges.
Warner Bros. Discovery Shareholders Approve Merger with Paramount. The proposed merger of Paramount Skydance with Warner Bros. Discovery is now one step closer to reality after Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted to approve the deal on Thursday. Paramount’s offer of $31 per share would give the company — which is helmed by David Ellison, the son of Trump megadonor Larry Ellison — ownership of major media brands like CNN, HBO Max, TNT and other properties. The deal will still need to be approved by federal regulators before it becomes final.
