Former US President Biden diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer
Doctors discovered the cancer in Joe Biden last week after urinary symptoms and the detection of a prostate nodule. Former United States President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with “aggressive” prostate cancer, his office has said in a statement. Biden was seen last week by doctors after urinary symptoms developed and a prostate nodule was found. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone, the statement released on Sunday said. “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management,” his office said. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians”, it added. The health of the 82-year-old Biden was a key concern among US voters during his time as president and became more so during the 2024 campaign. After a calamitous debate performance in June 2024, Biden abandoned his bid for a second term. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee and lost to Donald Trump, who returned to the White House after a four-year hiatus. Advertisement Biden, a self-proclaimed Zionist, was also heavily criticised in some quarters at home and overseas for his unconditional support for Israel in its punishing Gaza war after the Hamas-led October 7 attack, and for not using Washington’s leverage to rein in US ally Israel, as death and devastation wracked Palestinians in Gaza. In recent days, Biden rejected concerns about his age despite reporting in the new book Original Sin that aides had shielded the public from the extent of his cognitive decline while he served as president. Prostate cancers are given a ranking called a Gleason score that measures, on a scale of 1 to 10, how the cancerous cells look compared with normal cells. Biden’s score of 9 suggests his cancer is among the most aggressive. When prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it often spreads to the bones. Metastasised cancer is much harder to treat than localised cancer because it can be hard for drugs to reach all the tumours and completely root out the disease. Adblock test (Why?)
Centrist Trzaskowski leads first round in Poland’s tight presidential poll
The ruling party’s pro-European Union candidate and a right-wing nationalist are set for a decisive second-round showdown on June 1. Rafal Trzaskowski from Poland’s ruling centrist Civic Coalition (KO) is narrowly ahead of Karol Nawrocki, the candidate backed by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, in the first round of the country’s presidential election. It sets up a close battle to determine if the nation stays on a pro-European path or leans closer to admirers of United States President Donald Trump. On Sunday, Trzaskowski, the liberal Warsaw Mayor, placed first with 30.8 percent of the vote, ahead of Nawrocki, a conservative historian, who had 29.1 percent, the Ipsos exit poll showed. If confirmed, the result would mean the two will go head-to-head in a run-off vote on June 1. “We are going for victory. I said that it would be close, and it is close,” Trzaskowski told supporters. “There is a lot, a lot, of work ahead of us and we need determination.” Nawrocki also told supporters he was confident of victory in the second round. The campaign has largely revolved around foreign policy at a time of heightened security concerns in Poland, a key member of NATO and the European Union bordering war-torn Ukraine, and fears that the US’s commitment to European security could be wavering in the Trump era. Advertisement Commenting on X, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has forged a pro-European track, said the next two weeks will decide the future of Poland. In Poland, the president has the power to veto laws. A Trzaskowski victory in the second round would enable Tusk’s government to implement an agenda that includes rolling back judicial reforms introduced by PiS that critics say undermined the independence of the courts. However, if Nawrocki wins, the impasse that has existed since Tusk became prime minister in 2023 would be set to continue. Until now, PiS-ally President Andrzej Duda has stymied Tusk’s efforts. If the exit poll is confirmed, other candidates in the first round – including Slawomir Mentzen from the far-right Confederation Party, Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia of the centre-right Poland 2050, and Magdalena Biejat from the Left – will be eliminated. Two updated polls that take into account partial official results will be published later Sunday evening and early on Monday morning Trzaskowski has pledged to cement Poland’s role as a major player at the heart of Europe in contrast with PiS, which was frequently at odds with Brussels over rule-of-law concerns. Social issues have also been a major theme on the campaign trail, with Nawrocki framing himself as a guardian of conservative values and Trzaskowski drawing support from liberal voters for his pledges to back abortion and LGBTQ rights. Adblock test (Why?)
Joe Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive form’ of prostate cancer with metastasis to the bone
Former President Joe Biden’s office confirmed on Sunday that he is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” Biden’s team shared in a statement. “On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.” “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians,” the statement continued. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Rubio teases details of potential Trump, Putin in-person meeting after Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks stall
Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the timing of a potential face-to-face meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin regarding a ceasefire deal in Ukraine in an interview that aired Sunday. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday while returning to Washington, D.C., from Abu Dhabi that no peace in Ukraine would be reached until he met with Putin in person. The president added in a Truth Social post on Saturday that he planned to speak with Putin on the phone on Monday, followed by a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some NATO leaders. Meanwhile, Rubio — who attended Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural mass in Rome on Sunday — said the Vatican has offered to host a direct meeting between Ukraine, Russia and possibly other parties. “Obviously, the Vatican has made a very generous offer to host anything — by the way, not just a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, but any meeting, including at a technical level, you know — any meetings that need to be hosted, they’ve expressed a willingness to do so. So it’s a very generous offer that may be taken up on,” Rubio told CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an interview that was recorded on Saturday. “I mean, it would be a site that all parties would feel comfortable. So hopefully we’ll get to that stage where talks are happening on a regular basis, and that the Vatican will have the opportunity to be one of the options.” ZELENSKYY SHEDS DETAILS ON MEETING WITH VANCE, RUBIO IN ROME AFTER RUSSIA PEACE TALKS STALL Rubio had a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Saturday after Putin was a no-show to a face-to-face meeting the Russian leader called with Zelenskyy in Turkey last week. Despite Putin’s absence, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations did agree to a prisoner exchange of 1,000 people from each side, though a broader ceasefire or peace deal failed to materialize. CBS host Margaret Brennan asked Rubio if he spoke with Lavrov about lining up a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin. “Well, we talked about a variety of things,” said Rubio. “I wanted to get his readout on his view of how the talks went yesterday. They were not a complete waste of time. For example, there were 1,000 prisoners that are going to be exchanged, and that, from a humanitarian standpoint, is very positive. He explained to me that they are going to be preparing a document outlining their requirements for a ceasefire that would then lead to broader negotiations.” Rubio said the Ukrainians will be working on their own proposal coming soon, and he hoped proposals from both sides would be “serious and viable.” “So we’ll have to wait and see. But he wanted me to know, and he communicated in our call, that their side will be working on a series of ideas and requirements that they would have in order to move forward with a ceasefire and further negotiations,” he said. Rubio said the U.S. is “testing” whether the Russian are just “tapping” them along, as Trump has suggested could be the case. ZELENSKYY SPEAKS WITH TRUMP, ALLIES AFTER RUSSIA PEACE TALKS BROKER NO CEASEFIRE “On the one hand, we’re trying to achieve peace and end a very bloody, costly and destructive war. So there’s some element of patience that is required. On the other hand, we don’t have time to waste,” Rubio said. “There are a lot of other things happening in the world that we also need to be paying attention to. So we don’t want to be involved in this process of just endless talks — there has to be some progress, some movement forward. And if at the end of this, in the next few days, we get a document produced by both sides, and it shows that both sides are… making concessions and being realistic and rational in their approach, then I think we can feel good about continuing to remain engaged.” “If, on the other hand, what we see is not very productive, perhaps we’ll have a different assessment. I also agree that, ultimately, one of the things that could help break this logjam — perhaps the only thing that can — is a direct conversation between President Trump and Vladimir Putin. And he’s already openly expressed a desire and a belief that that needs to happen, and hopefully that’ll be worked out soon as well,” he added. Pressed on whether the in-person talks between Trump and Putin were being planned, Rubio reiterated that the president had already made that offer publicly. “The mechanics of setting that kind of meeting up would require a little bit of work, so I can’t say that’s being planned as we speak in terms of picking a site and a date,” Rubio said. “But the president wants to do it. He wants to do it as soon as feasible. I think the Russian side has also expressed a willingness to do it. And so, now it’s just a question of bringing them, bringing everyone together, and figuring out where and when and that meeting will happen and what it will be about.” Rubio joined Vice President JD Vance in meeting with Zelenskyy at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Rome on Sunday. Vance and Rubio later met with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for discussions on trade, the war in Ukraine and NATO spending, according to a spokesperson for the vice president. “The individual countries within Europe are important allies of the United States. But, of course, we have some disagreements, as friends sometimes do, on issues like trade, and we also have many agreements and many things we can work on together, and I’m looking forward to the conversation,” Vance told reporters at the top of the meeting. After the meeting, the vice president’s office released a statement saying that “the leaders discussed their shared goal of ending
Hitchhiker’s Guide to where the ‘big, beautiful bill’ stands, and what happens Sunday in the Budget Committee
Multiple conversations are ongoing on Sunday — some in person but most on the phone — as House Republicans try to lock in agreements for the big, beautiful bill. Three areas are outstanding overall. Two are specific to the Budget Committee, which reconvenes Sunday night. Republicans are trying to work out a final pact on green energy tax credits, which could be a major payfor in the bill. The other item is work requirements for Medicaid recipients — and when those kick in. Fox News is told that prospective deals on this front will likely be handshake pacts or “gentlemen’s agreements,” as it was phrased to Fox News. REPUBLICANS READY LATE-NIGHT SESSION ON TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ AFTER GOP MUTINY The other issue in question is the SALT deduction. That refers to state and local tax breaks for high-tax states. That provision is of the utmost importance to court the votes of moderate Republicans from New York and California. The “SALT caucus” wanted a tax write-off, which might cost as much as $600 billion. The new proposal only costs $230 billion. Fox News is told they are trying to forge a compromise which grants a higher SALT deduction at the beginning of the bill’s implementation — and then dials that back over the 10-year budgetary window for the bill. Remember, this measure must not add to the deficit over that decade-long budgetary timeframe in order to qualify for a special process to avoid a filibuster in the Senate. Fox is told that nothing will change in the bill before the Budget Committee on Sunday night. The White House is currently addressing how to implement possible changes with a “manager’s amendment” before the Rules Committee later this week. That would finalize and lock in stone the actual text of the bill. Fox is told that the GOP leadership believes they are certainly within range. The GOP brass is generally feeling good at where they stand, “so long as people don’t start adding things,” said one senior House Republican leadership source. HOUSE GOP UNVEILS MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENTS IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ The overall goal is to post the text of the bill early this week and go to the Rules Committee on Wednesday with a possible vote on Thursday. But one senior GOP source told Fox the timetable could be expedited with a Tuesday Rules Committee meeting — where changes would be made — and maybe go to the floor on Wednesday. Now, on to what will likely happen on Sunday night in the Budget Committee: The resolution, mashing together the text from all the other committees, failed on Friday afternoon. The process can’t move forward unless they get the measure out of the Budget Committee. Hence, Sunday’s 10 p.m. ET meeting. There will be little if any debate — it’s only about that math. Either the GOP leadership and the White House have satisfied the concerns of those who voted nay or they haven’t. In fact, if things go swimmingly, this could be wrapped up after 20 minutes or so. Here’s what it will look like: The first vote is the “motion to reconsider” the failed Friday vote. If that fails, they are stuck. But if they get over that hurdle, it’s on to an actual re-vote of what failed on Friday. This is the key vote. If the Budget Committee greenlights the package at this stage, it’s on to the Rules Committee this week and then the floor. There will be five non-binding votes after that key vote on issues we don’t need to worry about.
Johnson pushes ‘aggressive’ timetable for House to pass Trump’s budget bill after GOP mutiny: ‘We cannot fail’
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday defended the “aggressive” timetable he is pushing to advance President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” saying the House remains on track to pass the “historic” legislative package by Memorial Day. The House Budget Committee will reconvene at 10 p.m. Sunday night after a vote to advance the more than 1,100-page “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” failed Friday, when five Republicans sided with committee Democrats to sink Trump’s sweeping tax bill. “We’re on track, working around the clock to deliver this nation-shaping legislation for the American people as soon as possible,” Johnson said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” regarding ongoing negotiations. “All 11 of our committees have wrapped up their work, and they spent less and saved more than even we’ve projected initially. This really is a once in a generation opportunity that we have here.” WH STUDY WARNS 9 MILLION AMERICANS COULD LOSE HEALTH INSURANCE IN ‘MAJOR’ RECESSION IF TRUMP BUDGET BILL FAILS After the bill advances through the budget committee, Johnson said the plan is to move the legislative package to the House Rules Committee by mid-week and then to the House floor by the end of the week “so we meet our initial, our original Memorial Day deadline.” “It’s very important for people to understand why we’re being so aggressive on the timetable and why this really is so important,” Johnson said. “This is the vehicle through which we will deliver on the mandate the American people gave us during the last election. You’re going to have historic savings for the American people, historic tax relief for American workers, historic investments in border security. “At the same time, we’re restoring American energy dominance, and we’re rebuilding the defense industrial base, and we’re ensuring that programs like Medicaid and SNAP are strengthened for U.S. citizens who need and deserve them and not being squandered away by illegal aliens and persons who are ineligible to receive them and are cheating the system,” he added. Johnson reiterated that making Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent by 2026 is critical and stressed that the package also eliminates taxes on overtime and tips – a 2024 Trump campaign promise. He said it also includes new tax relief for seniors on Social Security and cuts taxes on “job creators, so that will help everybody across the country at the same time as incentivizing American-made production and manufacturing.” HANDFUL OF REPUBLICANS SINK TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ IN KEY HOUSE COMMITTEE “This is a big thing. We cannot fail, and we’ll get it done for the American people,” Johnson said. South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman and Texas Rep. Chip Roy are among critics from Johnson’s own party who say the speaker is not serious about cutting spending. They want work requirements for able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients to be implemented sooner than 2029 – a view Johnson told “Fox News Sunday” that he shares, but the speaker added there is concern over the ability of the states to “retool their systems and ensure the verification process” can be enforced. “We’re working through all those details, and we’ll get it done, but I’ll tell you what, this is the largest spending reduction in at least three decades, probably longer. It’s historic,” Johnson said, adding that the package has the support of Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, as well as “nearly 500 organizations across the conservative spectrum” including fiscally responsible groups who believe “that we’ve got to turn the tide in spending.” “We are. This is our opportunity to do it. It’s once in a generation, as I’ve said, and we can’t squander it,” Johnson said. The speaker said that while he is confident he will be able to reach a compromise on the Medicaid work requirement to squash internal disputes, Republican leadership does not expect a single Democrat to vote for the bill. “Which means that they will be on record apparently supporting the largest tax increase in U.S. history, which is what will happen by default after the end of this year if we do not get this job done. We have to accomplish this mission, and we will.,” Johnson said.
Who was Abu Saifullah, LeT mastermind behind deadly attacks in India, gunned down in Pakistan?
Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Razaullah Nizamani, mastermind of major attacks in India, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan’s Sindh province.
Biden’s woes converge: Last-minute pardons under fire, calls for prosecution mount following Hur tape release
The release of audio recordings of former President Joe Biden‘s interview with special counsel Robert Hur have intensified criticism of the administration’s use of an autopen on official presidential orders and pardons. The damning tapes, which bring Biden’s alarming mental decline into sharp relief, were kept under wraps by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland. Now that Biden’s cognitive problems have been bared, some are calling for Garland to face prosecution for rejecting Congressional demands to release the tapes when he ran the Department of Justice (DOJ). “Key decisions made in the final days of the Biden presidency, including using autopens to issue blanket pardons for the Biden Crime Family, must be fully examined. There are serious concerns that President Biden lacked the mental capacity to authorize those actions,” House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., posted to X on Saturday. Axios released hours of Biden’s interview with the special counsel’s office on Saturday – a year and a half after the interviews were held across a two-day period in the fall of 2023. The recordings showed the former president tripping over his words, slurring sentences, taking long pauses between answers and struggling to remember key moments in his life, including the year his son Beau Biden died of cancer. The recordings have further bolstered conservative outrage stretching back years that Biden’s mental acuity had cratered and that the Delaware Democrat who had served in the Senate for decades had become a “shadow” of himself and was unfit to lead the country as president. CRITICISMS MOUNT THAT BIDEN IS A ‘SHADOW’ OF HIMSELF AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE: ‘NOT THE SAME MAN’ FROM VP ERA The flurry of pardons Biden allegedly signed by autopen in the waning days of his administration included ones for his son Hunter Biden, his siblings and their spouses, retired Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members and staff of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview on Sunday that he has long sounded the alarm over the validity of Biden’s pardons, as many lacked specifically what charges an individual was protected against. Instead, many of the pardons outlined blanket protections, such as preemptively pardoning Milley and Fauci from potential prosecution and blanket pardons for unidentified members of Congress who served on the J6 select committee. “I’ve been long of the position that the pardons, many of the pardons, are not valid based on the fact that they don’t pardon anything. It’s just a pardon for conduct that’s unnamed … it’s further confirmation that the pardons are not valid,” said Fitton, who had sued for the release of the audio recordings. WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN? THE SIGNING DEVICE AT THE HEART OF TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON BIDEN PARDONS “A competent president would say, ‘How is it I could pardon someone for nothing?’” he continued. Fitton added that “more importantly, Biden should still be prosecuted” after he was “mollycoddled” by the Biden DOJ during the investigation into the documents he possessed from his days in the Senate and when he served as vice president. “The audio shows he was mollycoddled by the Justice Department, you know, because Hur was working for the Justice Department. … There’s an argument that the records he had as vice president, he could have. But that wasn’t the position of Justice Department. But certainly he didn’t have the right to have those records from his days of the Senate,” Fitton said. President Donald Trump railed on Truth Social that the release of the audio recordings revealed a “bigger scandal” about the use of an autopen under the Biden White House. “Whoever had control of the “AUTOPEN” is looking to be a bigger and bigger scandal by the moment,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Friday. TRUMP CLAIMS BIDEN PARDONS ARE ‘VOID,’ ALLEGING THEY WERE SIGNED VIA AUTOPEN He added: “THIS IS WHY THE UNSELECT COMMITTEE OF POLITICAL THUGS, WHO WERE GIVEN A FULL AND COMPLETE PARDON BY THE PERSON WHO WIELDED THE NOW ILLEGALLY USED AUTOPEN, DELETED AND DESTROYED ALL EVIDENCE AND INFORMATION FROM THEIR CORRUPT AND VICIOUS WITCH HUNT AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE, WHOSE LIVES WERE COMPLETELY SHATTERED AND DESTROYED BY THIS HISTORICALLY CRIMINAL EVENT.” Autopen signatures are automatically produced by a machine, as opposed to an authentic, handwritten signature. The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project first investigated the Biden administration’s use of an autopen earlier this year and found that the same signature was on a bevvy of executive orders and other official documents, while Biden’s signature on the document announcing his departure from the 2024 race varied from the apparent machine-produced signature. The reports led to speculation that Biden aides had approved of executive orders and sweeping pardons, not the president. Hur led an investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents following his departure as vice president under the Obama administration. Hur announced in February 2024 that he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, citing that Biden is “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Although a transcript was released, the White House asserted executive privilege over releasing recordings after Garland urged the administration not to release the recordings, according to a letter obtained by Fox News in May of last year. BIDEN’S ‘AUTOPEN SIGNATURE’ APPEARS ON MOST OFFICIAL DOCS, RAISING CONCERNS OVER WHO CONTROLLED THE WH: REPORT “The audio recordings of your interview and Mr. Zwonitzer’s interview fall within the scope of executive privilege. Production of these recordings to the Committees would raise an unacceptable risk of undermining the Department’s ability to conduct similar high-profile criminal investigations–in particular, investigations where the voluntary cooperation of White House officials is exceedingly important,” Garland wrote in a letter to Biden last year, justifying why the recordings should not be released. PRESIDENT BIDEN PARDONS HIS SIBLINGS JUST MINUTES BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-OH, subpoenaed the
Delhi- NCR news: GRAP stage I curbs revoked after decrease in air pollution
Stage-I of GRAP was in place in the entire National Capital Region (NCR) since May 16. The AQI of Delhi has been recorded as 179 for May 18 (in ‘Moderate’ category).
Dems’ hearing meltdowns a play to the base, analysts say, as Trump noms keep pushing back in viral moments
President Donald Trump‘s nominees consistently engage with Democrats who challenge them in increasingly viral hearing moments that analysts say are not intended as gifts to the media, but red meat for their base. The media understands Democrats have little power on a Republican-dominated Capitol Hill, according to Bill D’Agostino, senior analyst for the Media Research Center. “If you were to watch any given night on CNN or MSNBC evening shows, you’ll find a couple of panel discussion segments that are basically just Democratic strategists and the host talking shop,” he told Fox News Digital in a Thursday interview. “The discussion has focused almost entirely on how can Democrats show their voters that they’re trying to fight this, that they’re trying to make a difference, that they’re resisting the Trump administration.” WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY DEFENDS TRUMP’S FIRING OF INSPECTORS GENERAL Partisan politics has come to a point, D’Agostino suggested, where constituents send Democrats to Washington to stop Trump at every turn, regardless of ideological alignment or differences. “Obviously, as the minority party, there’s not much action they can actually offer. So instead, their political futures basically rest on how hard they’re trying to stop Trump.” One of the most contentious exchanges occurred during FBI Director Kash Patel’s January confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., dug into granular language used by Patel after the Capitol riot in regard to a song released by inmates that featured Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Patel told Schiff he stood by prior testimony that he had had nothing to do with the recording of the song, while the Burbank Democrat grilled him over a comment to former Trump adviser Stephen Bannon about “what we thought would be cool… captur[ing] audio” for the song. Schiff asked why he said that, and Patel incredulously shot back “that’s why it says, ‘we’ [as opposed to I] as you highlighted.” Patel denied participating in the digitizing of the song. The exchange was compared to former President Bill Clinton’s grammatical comments about the word “is” during the Monica Lewinsky affair. During Attorney General Pam Bondi’s confirmation, Schiff was at the fore again, demanding she disclose whether she might prosecute former special counsel Jack Smith over his Trump probe. Bondi repeatedly said she wouldn’t answer hypothetical, and dinged Schiff in response for focusing on Smith while his own California is rife with violent crime. Bondi also snapped back at Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., after a grilling on the Fourteenth Amendment and citizenship, saying, “I’m not here to do your homework and study for you.” During Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s hearing, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., delved into Hegseth’s multiple marriages and allegations of untoward behavior. Kaine said Hegseth had “casually cheated” on a former wife shortly after his daughter Gwendolyn was born. Hegseth countered that the situation had been investigated and that Kaine’s claims were “false charges.” “You’ve admitted that you had sex at that hotel in October 2017. You said it was consensual, isn’t that correct?” Kaine went on, probing further. BONDI ANNOUNCES ONE OF LARGEST FENTANYL SEIZURES IN US HISTORY Hegseth also made headlines when he interrupted Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., mid-sentence as she criticized the revolving door among military generals, Pentagon chiefs, and defense contractors. “I’m not a general, senator,” he said, prompting laughter in the gallery. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also had several similar moments, including when Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., opened his remarks by speaking about the measles and telling the nominee bluntly, “You frighten people.” Kennedy also rejected a line of questioning from Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., claiming that he had compared the Atlanta-based CDC’s work to Nazi death camps. Outbursts and grilling continued in recent oversight hearings, including this past week when Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., got into a tiff with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about Salvadoran deportee Kilmar Garcia. At one point, Swalwell informed Noem he has a “bull—t detector.” Mark Bednar, a former top aide to ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was one of many “sherpas” tasked with guiding nominees through the confirmation process, including meetings with senators. Bednar assisted EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin through his process, which, by comparison to others, was mild. Zeldin’s hearing actually included some bipartisan joking – like when Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., riffed that Zeldin’s cell phone rang unexpectedly because “the fossil fuel industry” was calling him after a line of questioning on the matter. SWALWELL WARNS NOEM HE HAS A ‘BULLS—’ DETECTOR DURING HEATED EXCHANGE ABOUT ABREGO GARCIA Bednar recounted a loud protester in the hall who remained for some time, offering conjecture that the disruptive woman hadn’t yet crossed any legal lines like protesters actually inside hearing rooms like during Kennedy’s confirmation. But Bednar said that many of the other nominees faced Democrats who would rather make a show than “be diplomatic and deliberative over policy.” “I think that is a big indicator to me that the left has no substantive answers for rebuttals to President Trump’s agenda or Republicans’ agenda. And that, to me, is a sign that if you’re a Republican, that that’s encouraging — the public’s on your side, and the far left has been unable to formulate a rational, level-headed response, much less not even be able to articulate one.” Fox News Digital reached out to other sherpas but did not hear back. Meanwhile, Bednar said that it has been interesting to watch the hearing disruptions evolve into larger scenes with similarly little substance or long-term gain. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I thought I was very rich and pun intended, that Cory Booker delivered a record-breaking speech that the Democrats were basically just grasping for anything to kind of count as a win, even though it didn’t really amount to anything,” he said, after the New Jersey Democrat held an unofficial filibuster – as there was no legislation being held up – for more than a day. That speech, however, precipitated several fundraising emails from the left, Bednar