Featured

Trump: Iran asked me to be Supreme Leader, but I said no thanks

Trump’s “Iran asked me to be Supreme Leader” joke at an NRCC fundraiser uses a real, deadly leadership crisis in Iran to normalize assassination-as-policy and blur what’s confirmed about the war and succession.

Mar 26, 2026

Featured

‘Men need to be perp-walked’ after Epstein files release, Massie tells BBC

A GOP lawmaker says the Epstein document releases are still falling short—because redactions and withheld material may be blocking accountability and survivor-centered justice.

Mar 25, 2026

Buried.News

The stories buried under the noise

Primary focus

Trump fires Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary

A Cabinet secretary was forced out amid contracting and oversight scrutiny, signaling that executive control—not transparent accountability—can dictate leadership of the agency driving mass detention and deportation.

Mar 5, 2026

Featured

The Trump gold coin is not normal : Consider This from NPR

A federal design panel OK’d a Trump portrait for a commemorative gold coin, but the key question is whether Treasury can legally bypass long-standing limits meant to keep living politicians off U.S. money.

Mar 23, 2026

Featured

White House Confronted Over Huge Bets Made Minutes Before Trump’s Big War Move

A $580 million burst of oil-futures selling minutes before Trump’s Iran “talks” post raises a basic public-interest question: did anyone trade on advance knowledge of a market-moving national security decision?

Mar 24, 2026

Trump Is Quietly Trying to Free Man Who Lied About Hunter Biden

DOJ’s unusual intervention could reopen a disinformation case that fueled Biden impeachment politics.

Executive

Mar 17, 2026

Sources

https://newrepublic.com/post/207854/donald-trump-free-fbi-informant-joe-hunter-biden

Summary

The New Republic reports that the Trump Justice Department is supporting efforts by Alexander Smirnov—a former FBI confidential source who admitted fabricating bribery claims about Joe and Hunter Biden tied to Burisma—to undo his guilty plea and sentence. The piece frames DOJ’s move as extraordinary (signed by Deputy AG Todd Blanche) and politically consequential because Smirnov’s false claims were used to bolster Republican investigations and impeachment messaging.

Reality Check

There is documented, contemporaneous reporting that DOJ leadership (via a filing attributed to Deputy AG Todd Blanche on March 4, 2026) supported Smirnov’s legal bid to undo his conviction/plea—an atypical posture given Smirnov’s admitted fabrication of Biden–Burisma bribery allegations and his six-year sentence.

Detail

Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant/source, admitted he fabricated Biden–Burisma bribery allegations and pleaded guilty in a 2024 deal, per the article. ([newrepublic.com](https://newrepublic.com/post/207854/donald-trump-free-fbi-informant-joe-hunter-biden)) Smirnov received a six-year federal prison sentence, reported elsewhere in 2025 coverage. ([politico.com](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/ex-fbi-informant-who-fabricated-bribery-story-00197237)) Mother Jones reports DOJ filed an unusual March 4, 2026 brief, submitted by Deputy AG Todd Blanche, supporting Smirnov’s attempt to withdraw his guilty plea/void his sentence. ([motherjones.com](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/donald-trump-doj-justice-alexander-smirnov-russia-ukraine-burisma-fbi/)) Prior court reporting says prosecutors previously agreed to a release-pending-appeal request that a judge denied (Otis Wright, Los Angeles). ([usnews.com](https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2025-04-30/ex-fbi-informant-who-made-up-bribery-story-about-the-bidens-will-stay-in-prison-judge-rules)) The New Republic describes Smirnov’s claims as central to GOP efforts to pursue Biden-related investigations/impeachment narratives. ([newrepublic.com](https://newrepublic.com/post/207854/donald-trump-free-fbi-informant-joe-hunter-biden)) The appeal argument described centers on plea-language about credit for time served and whether the court complied with the plea’s specifications. ([newrepublic.com](https://newrepublic.com/post/207854/donald-trump-free-fbi-informant-joe-hunter-biden))