Jennifer Bowers Bahney

Journalist with 30 years in news writing for CNN, KLAS-TV, WCMH-TV, Newsweek, Mediaite, and RawStory. Author of the award-nominated non-fiction book, "Stealing Sisi's Star," now a serial podcast for Blanchard House Productions. MSJ from The Medill School of Journalism.

MAGA rep accused of threatening ex-girlfriend with nude photo dump

Florida Rep. Cory Mills (R) is firing back at accusations he threatened to release nude photos and videos of a woman after she says she broke up with the married lawmaker, according to Politico.

Lindsey Langston, a Florida Republican state committee member and 2024 winner of the Miss United States beauty pageant, told police that following the break-up, "Mills contacted her multiple times threatening to release nude images and videos of them having sex, according to the report, which said she provided law enforcement with messages that allegedly backed up her claims."

Langston also told authorities that Mills "threatened to harm any of her future romantic partners," according to the police report obtained by Politico.

The report reveals that Langston began a relationship with Mills in 2021 after he allegedly told her he was separated from with wife. Langston said she broke it off this year "after seeing media reports that police in Washington were called to investigate an alleged assault by the representative against a woman."

Mills was not charged in that incident.

When contacted by Politico, Mills said he was unaware of Langston's police report.

“We have not been made aware of any report or allegations from law enforcement or the alleged complainant,” Mills said in a statement. “These claims are false and misrepresent the nature of my interactions. I have always conducted myself with integrity, both personally and in service to Florida’s 7th District.”

A recent report by The Daily Beast said Mills was being evicted from his Washington, D.C., penthouse after failing to pay rent. The report continued that "on Feb. 20, Mills' girlfriend reported him to police for attacking her at the penthouse. She later recanted the report." It wasn't clear whether that girlfriend was Langston.

Langston's attorney, Anthony Sabatini, is a Lake County, Florida commissioner who challenged Mills for Congress in 2022. Mills told Politico, "he believes Sabatini is 'weaponizing the legal system to launch a political attack.'"

Mills has not been charged in relation to Langston's claims.

Read the full Politico story here.

GOP trolled as planes circle major cities with three-word taunt

Some daring pilots took to the friendly skies over the capitals of Democratic-led states Monday with a three-word taunt meant to troll President Donald Trump and Texas Republicans, according to HuffPost.

Several planes were spotted over Albany, New York; Springfield, Illinois; and Annapolis, Maryland, while trailing banners that said simply, “Mess with Texas.”

Planes towing the message were also seen over Augusta, Maine; Trenton, New Jersey; and Sacramento, California, Politico reported.

The banners were a play on the Texas slogan, "Don't Mess With Texas," which is seen as a declaration of state pride.

But the "anonymous group of self-described democracy advocates" altered the slogan in a plea to lawmakers in Democratic states "to help fight what many view as a gerrymandering scheme going down in Texas that will help secure Republicans’ control in the U.S. House after the midterm elections in 2026."

Some 56 Democratic lawmakers fled Texas for blue states to prevent a quorum as Republicans sought to vote for a redistricting map that could give the GOP up to five new congressional seats. The ploy was orchestrated by President Donald Trump, who told CNBC on Tuesday that Republicans "had the right" to the seats because he swept the state so soundly in the 2024 presidential elections.

The Democrats say they're hunkered down for the long haul away from home, even as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton issued warrants for the arrests. Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) asked the FBI to get involved in the hunt in a letter to MAGA director Kash Patel.

Read the HuffPost article here.

Fox News host turns colleagues' selective outrage back on them: 'Heard no complaints!'

Jessica Tarlov is no stranger to being the sole liberal voice on a Fox News panel, and she used that voice Tuesday to turn her colleagues' conservative outrage back on them.

Tarlov cried hypocrisy during a discussion with Martha MacCallum and Tomi Lahren about Texas Democrats shirking their duties by fleeing to so-called "blue states" to prevent a quorum for a redistricting vote that favored the GOP.

President Donald Trump claimed on CNBC Tuesday that Republicans were "entitled to five more" congressional seats from the state because he said he won Texas "decisively" in last year’s presidential election.

The Texas Democratic lawmakers defied the governor and Texas attorney general's threats of arrest, with no plans to return to the state until the obvious gerrymandering is addressed.

"There was a bill in 2021 that all the Democrats supported that would have had a national ban on redistricting in this way, and all the Republicans opposed it," Tarlov began. "I also heard no complaints when Mike Johnson, just a couple weeks ago, decided to abdicate his job to say, 'Congress isn't in session anymore because I don't want to have to vote on turning over the Epstein files -- the bill put forward by Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie.' He said, 'Let's go home,' rather than talk about the fact that Donald Trump may or may not have been in there."

Tarlov added, "Be equal opportunity in your complaints about fleeing your job. At least they're doing this for a good reason."

The Texas Democrats have said they're defying the legislature in the name of democracy and are ready to face the consequences of their actions, even if that means fines and arrests.

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'Clearly that's his opinion': Mike Johnson swatted down by Trump admin

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) did not receive resounding support from the Trump administration over this week's comments regarding Israel and Gaza.

During Tuesday's Pentagon news briefing, a reporter asked, "Today, Speaker Johnson was in the West Bank, which he referred to as 'Judea and Samaria,' and said that it rightfully belongs to the Jewish people. Is that official U.S. policy, and if it's not, what is U.S. policy toward the West Bank?"

Johnson visited a settlement in the occupied West Bank as part of a private visit to Israel, according to Axios. He traveled with other Republican members of the Friends of Judea and Samaria caucus in Congress, "which supports Israeli settlements and advocates for annexation of the West Bank," according to the report.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce replied, "Uh, well, I've said this about other diplomats who've spoken their minds, including Ambassador Huckabee. Certainly that's not — if there's a policy in that regard, you would hear it from me. So, I think I can say that. I'm not going to speak for him or characterize his words in any ways, but clearly that is his opinion."

The reporter then asked, "But it's not the opinion of the U.S. government?"

"Well, I'm not going to speak about opinion of the government, and if there's a status in any region of the world, certainly in the Middle East, I would wait to hear it from Secretary Rubio and President Trump."

Watch the clip below via the U.S. State Department.

'Fail': CNN cracks up at nuclear expert's brutal takedown of Trump's big plan for the moon

CNN's Brianna Keilar introduced nuclear policy analyst Joe Cirincione to discuss the Trump administration's big plans to put a nuclear reactor on the moon.

She mentioned Cirincione's book, "Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the world before it is too late," before segueing into the subject at hand.

"Speaking of nuclear nightmares, last we spoke to you, it was about nuclear wasps, radioactive wasps," Keilar said. "Now we're talking about a nuclear reactor on the moon, which raises some safety concerns."

"Well, if the purpose of this announcement was to distract attention from the Epstein files, it briefly succeeded," Cirincione quipped as Keilar and co-host Boris Sanchez cracked up. "Sean Duffy was trending on social media for the last 24 hours right behind Ghislaine Maxwell."

He continued, "But if it's to propose a serious plan for the human colonization of Mars, I think it fails the test."

Cirincione said that a small, modular, launchable nuclear reactor has been in the cards for a while, but Duffy's announcement "actually resets the timeline that NASA set just five years ago of being able to have a nuclear reactor ready to launch by 2026," Cirincione said.

"Now, he's proposing 2030 for a bigger reactor, about 10 times the size of the one that was originally proposed several years ago. I just don't see the technology available. I don't think we're going to be able to make this technological leap, but we are certainly going to spend billions of dollars trying to do so, probably at the at the expense of other vital NASA missions."

Cirincione said that such a mission would "require a launch vehicle that doesn't yet exist, require a reactor that doesn't yet exist, and pose some serious safety hazards themselves, like the risk of failure of the system, the explosion of the system, or another launch failure as they try to put this in orbit and then onto the moon. I don't think the risks are worth it," Crincione said.

Watch the clip below via CNN.

FBI asked to hunt down Dems who foiled GOP redistricting scheme

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) called in the FBI on Tuesday to break the stalemate over the state's redistricting vote, according to The New York Times.

Cornyn wants agents to "round up" and arrest the 56 Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to prevent a quorum in the legislative body for what they dubbed "gerrymandering." Many traveled to the Democratic-led states of Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York as Republicans sought to pass a redistricting map in their favor.

If approved, the map could give Republicans up to five new congressional seats.

On Monday, the speaker of the Texas House issued civil warrants for the arrest of the Democrats. Shortly thereafter, Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton both ordered the arrests. However, The Texas Tribune pointed out that the warrants "apply only within state lines, making them largely symbolic."

Democrats like Rep. Gene Wu (D), chair of the Texas State House Democratic Caucus, said they were willing to face the consequences of their civil disobedience.

The redistricting effort was guided by President Donald Trump, who told CNBC on Tuesday, "We are entitled to five more seats,” because he said he won the state "decisively" in last year’s presidential election.

In his letter to MAGA FBI director Kash Patel, Cornyn wrote that “federal resources are necessary to locate the out-of-state Texas legislators who are potentially acting in violation of the law.”

The agency did not indicate whether it would move to make the arrests, the Times reported.

Cornyn also "cited an accusation by Gov. Greg Abbott that the absent Democrats and people who support them may be violating bribery laws over the funding of the walkout." Abbott referred that issue to the Texas Rangers.

Read The New York Times story here.

Trump baffles with ‘barrage of friendly fire’ on loyal GOP farmers

American farmers are openly questioning why the Trump administration has betrayed them on so many issues, from tariffs to mass deportations.

The Washington Post editorial board called the onslaught a "barrage of friendly fire," since the majority of farmers are, in fact, "solidly Republican."

One of the biggest problems for farmers has been President Donald Trump's mass deportation efforts, since "roughly half of crop farmworkers are estimated to lack legal immigration status," according to the piece.

"Produce growers report that up to 70 percent of their workforce will not show up in the days after an ICE raid, too scared to leave home."

When this happens right in the middle of the harvest season for crops like berries and leafy greens, farmers worry they'll "miss the brief window, sometimes two to three days, for harvesting before crops go past their prime."

"Such a frontal attack on agriculture is unusual in American politics," the board wrote. "Farmers are accustomed to being supported and subsidized by the government — not least via multibillion dollar income supports that are perpetually extended each time the farm bill is renewed. Indeed, Trump’s tax bill, signed into law on Independence Day, included $66 billion in new spending for farm programs."

And things may be about to get worse for farmers due to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again Movement."

RFK Jr.'s Department of Health and Human Services "issued a report warning against the supposed dangers of key pesticides, glyphosate and atrazine. But these have been used for decades and are ubiquitous in a variety of crops grown in the United States and across the world," the board wrote.

The board quoted Neil Caskey, chief executive of the National Corn Growers Association, as saying, “Our concern is that the solutions will be aimed at problems that don’t necessarily exist."

Caskey warned that, "if government recommendations expected on Aug. 12 include bans on glyphosate or atrazine," there will be even more "disruption and pain across rural America.”

Read The Washington Post report here.

'Beyond sick': Jim Acosta pummeled for stunt with AI-generated Parkland victim

Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta was derided as a "ghoul" for his virtual interview with an AI-generated avatar of Joaquin Oliver, one of 17 students and faculty killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.

Acosta promoted the event on his X account, writing, "I’ll be having a one of a kind interview with Joaquin Oliver. He died in the Parkland school shooting in 2018. But his parents have created an AI version of their son to deliver a powerful message on gun violence."

Oliver's parents created the bot "to honor their son on what would have been his 25th birthday," according to HuffPost.

“I felt like I was communicating with him, which is just so remarkable,” Acosta said of the interview. He touted it as an example of how AI "might actually do some good, it might help some people who have suffered tremendous losses like your family have a way to hold on to who this person was, which I think is a beautiful thing.”

@CollinRugg, co-owner Trending Politics, called the whole situation "Insane," while @Breaking911 posted, "WTF?! Former CNN host Jim Acosta published a fake AI interview with Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver This is beyond sick."

Conservative watchdog group the Media Research Center, wrote, "Former CNN host Jim Acosta airs macabre AI 'interview' with Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver on what would have been his 25th birthday. If you thought news couldn't get any faker, you were wrong."

@TwitchyTeam posted an article about the event, calling Acosta a "GHOUL!"

Podcaster @JoeTalkShow called Acosta a "garbage human." They added, "I don't care if the father of the innocent teen who was killed is okay with it. Maybe that's his way to deal. Acosta is a ghoul who thinks he deserves protection that teen did NOT get that day."

See Jim Acosta's Substack here.

'Widely disliked' Hegseth ally tried to boot White House liaison out of Pentagon: report

A war has erupted between the Pentagon and the White House over the actions of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's acting chief of staff, according to The Washington Post.

Ricky Buria, a recently retired Marine Corps colonel, reportedly tried and failed to oust Matthew A. McNitt, who coordinates personnel policy as White House liaison at the Pentagon. White House officials "intervened" to prevent Buria from achieving his goal, the report said.

The Post called it an "unusual dispute that marks the latest instance of infighting among a staff plagued by disagreement and distrust" that "appears to have shaken a fragile agreement between Hegseth and the White House."

That agreement allowed Buria to serve as temporary chief of staff after several other people refused the role.

Hegseth's first chief of staff, Joe Kasper, left earlier this year, paving the way for Buria to become "the Defense secretary's most trusted advisor," according to The Guardian. That report added that Buria -- who was "widely disliked" at the Pentagon -- was "not expected to formally receive the White House’s approval to become the permanent chief of staff to Hegseth."

Washington Post reporter Dan Lamothe wrote that Buria's actions appeared rooted in his "frustration with pushback from the White House as he has attempted to fill positions in the defense secretary’s office. It coincides, too, with the White House’s refusal to let Buria take over the powerful chief of staff job on a permanent basis."

In a department plagued by turmoil, "Buria has been at the center" of much of it, the report said, "seeking to isolate Hegseth from other senior advisers on his staff and assert control over the Pentagon’s inner workings," Lamothe wrote.

The report said it wasn't clear whether Hegseth approved of Buria's "power play" or even knew about it.

In a statement, a White House spokeswoman said that President Donald Trump is “fully supportive of Secretary Hegseth and his efforts to restore a focus on warfighters at the Pentagon,” the report said.

Read The Washington Post story here.

Epstein victims attack Trump admin in court: 'I am not some pawn'

Two victims of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein attacked President Donald Trump's administration in letters to the court where grand jury testimony in the case remains sealed, according to CNN.

The victims, who remained anonymous, both filed letters with the court Monday, "condemning the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury testimony" and citing a lack of respect toward them by Trump and the DOJ.

“Dear United States, I wish you would have handled and would handle the whole ‘Epstein Files’ with more respect towards and for the victims," one woman wrote. "I am not some pawn in your political warfare. What you have done and continue to do is eating at me day after day as you help to perpetuate this story indefinitely."

The other victim accused the administration of only caring about the “wealthy men” involved in the case.

“(I) feel like the DOJ’s and FBI’s priority is protecting the 'third-party', the wealthy men by focusing on scrubbing their names off the files of which the victims, 'know who they are,’'” she wrote.

One letter continued, “I appreciate your time reading my short thoughts and feeling and my anxiety and frustration is NOT aimed at you, obviously. It is aimed at the very government here, the ones asking to release these transcripts, exhibits, etc., of which the victims are not privy to while they have concluded that there is nothing more to see on the files they hold. Yet no one has seen them, but them," adding, "I am beside myself.”

Neither letter openly requested that federal Judge Richard Berman keep the transcripts sealed, CNN reported. However, both "strongly" urged him "to take all necessary precautions in concealing victims’ identities," the report said.

Donald Trump was informed in May that his name appeared in the files the DOJ has on the disgraced Epstein, who committed suicide in his Manhattan jail cell in 2019.

Read the CNN report here.

Texas governor orders Dems arrested as showdown escalates

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has ordered the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who left the state to avoid a quorum over a redistricting map they claim amounts to gerrymandering.

According to his X account, the governor ordered the arrests shortly after the Texas legislature cleared the way with a vote on Monday afternoon.

The redistricting map that President Donald Trump encouraged could give Texas Republicans five additional seats in the U.S. Congress.

Democrats who fled the state said they're willing to face the consequences of breaking the quorum.

"We are elected officials. We have volunteered for this," Gene Wu (D), chair of the Texas State House Democratic Caucus, told CNN Monday. "We have committed to sacrificing our lives to protect the people of the state of Texas and that is exactly what we do."

Also Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released his own statement on X, writing, "House Democrats have fled the state in a cowardly desertion of their responsibilities. These jet-setting runaways abandoned Texas and sacrificed their constituents for a publicity stunt. It’s imperative that they be swiftly arrested, punished, and face the full force of the law."

The Texas Tribune pointed out that the warrants "apply only within state lines, making them largely symbolic as most of the legislators in question decamped to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts."

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) vowed to support the Democratic lawmakers from Texas who fled to his state, writing, "Donald Trump is trying to cheat the system in Texas, but these Democratic legislators refuse to let it happen without a fight. Their fight is our fight. I’m proud to stand side-by-side with them as they protect their constituents."

Read The Texas Tribune story here.

Crowd erupts as Jasmine Crockett lets fly with profanity-laced anti-Trump tirade

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) got the crowd going at a progressive event over the weekend when she launched into President Donald Trump with a profanity-laced attack, according to The Daily Beast.

Speaking at a MoveOn event in Arizona, the Texas congresswoman didn't mince words when it came to her feelings about Trump, who has called her a "low-IQ person."

"Listen, Donald Trump is a piece of s---, OK?” Crockett exclaimed as the crowd erupted. “We know that. Yes, yes! He is, he is! But in a functioning democracy, he still would not be able to get away with this.”

Crockett then called out Senate Republicans and even the U.S. Supreme Court for allowing Trump to operate with impunity.

“He’s been able to get away with this because the House Republicans are complicit,” she said. “He’s been able to get away with this because Senate Republicans are complicit. But most importantly, the courts—especially the Supreme Court—are complicit! “They are the highest court in the land and they have no ethics guardrails. Now you go down to the lower courts, and they do. How much sense does that make?”

Crockett then accused the Supreme Court justices of taking bribes.

“Well, we know that they’re taking money. We have the paper trail. And they refuse to put guardrails on themselves. So it’s time for us to do it for them.”

Crockett also spoke about the standoff over redistricting in her own state orchestrated by Trump, calling it “racist and anti-democratic,” and "arguing that it dilutes minority voting power and rigs the system in Republicans’ favor ahead of 2026," according to the report.

Read The Daily Beast story here.

'Putting words in my mouth!' TX Republican clashes as CNN host grills him on redistricting

CNN's Boris Sanchez went toe-to-toe with Texas state lawmaker Brian Harrison (R) on Monday over the issue of gerrymandering in his state.

Democratic lawmakers fled the state in droves over the weekend to protest new redistricting proposals that would give Republicans as many as five more congressional seats. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is demanding that they return to the statehouse by 3 p.m. CDT for a vote.

Illinois Gov. Pritzker is hosting several of the lawmakers in his state, and Harrison called him out, while also slamming CNN.

"Let's talk about this hypocrisy here!" Harrison began. "I mean, Illinois and California have been much more aggressive on redistricting than even the new maps that Texas is contemplating. These are very inconvenient facts. I mean, CNN — why don't you have on your chyron right now? Every time you play Governor Pritzker, why don't you point out that Illinois, under his leadership, 45% of the vote goes to Republicans in Illinois. but the Governor, Pritzker, only gives Republicans 15% of the congressional delegation?"

Sanchez attempted a follow-up question about whether Harrison supported a federal law to prohibit gerrymandering, but the two ended up talking over each other.

"Sir, let me ask the question!" Sanchez protested. "Why not quit the gerrymandering altogether and put the power in the hands of voters to make the Republic more efficient?"

Harrison claimed that "this type of redistricting" is perfectly legal and that he was going to do everything in his power to ensure Republicans hold their majority in Congress.

"So, then, is your objection against Pritzker or Newsom doing the same thing purely that it doesn't advantage your party?" an incredulous Sanchez asked. "That's not consistent."

"No, I've never said something like that," Harrison argued. You're putting words in my mouth!"

Watch the clip below via CNN.

Indiana GOP roiled as top officials accused of watching lewd AI video of lawmaker's wife

Indiana's Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith (R) came to the defense of top staffers accused of watching a lewd deepfake video of a state lawmaker's wife while in his statehouse office.

24sightNews reported that Beckwith's deputy chief of staff Gregg Puls and statehouse attorney Devin Norrick allegedly watched the video that used artificial intelligence to alter the woman's appearance, causing her to appear topless, "according to multiple people familiar with the incident."

The video was allegedly created following the woman’s performance at a state talent show that was recorded.

"The incident was reported at the time to Beckwith’s chief of staff, Sherry Ellis, and other state officials, including ethics officials, but it is unclear if an official complaint was ever filed with the Indiana Ethics Commission or inspector general, according to the people familiar with the incident," according to the report.

One source told 24sightNews that when "Confronted about the video at the time, Puls and Norrick brushed aside the concerns of how the woman would feel, saying that Beckwith had seen the video and laughed at it as well."

In an interview with 24sighNews, Beckwith called the report, "absolutely nonsense," adding that the employees "are good people" and "he was certain they would never look at pornography in their statehouse office."

He chalked up the incident to a rumor that was spread by a recently-fired staffer.

But, Beckwith added, “If this did happen, or if it happened in the future, that’s a fireable offense, people doing that in any state office,” Beckwith said. “We’re not going to put up with that in my office.”

The woman targeted in the video told the news outlet, “I want these people brought to justice." She and her husband "are consulting their attorneys and considering civil and criminal legal action," the report said.

Read the 24sightNews story here.