00:00Attorney General Pam Bondi was on Capitol Hill for what was less of a congressional hearing and
00:05more of a congressional brawl. Chief among a host of topics covered during the AG's time in the hot
00:12seat yesterday was the Department of Justice's handling of the Epstein Files release, which,
00:17as you likely know by now, has sent lawmakers, especially Democrats, railing against the DOJ.
00:23House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland,
00:27and AG Bondi, a seasoned prosecutor, really got into it. Let me set the stage. Raskin was asking
00:35the committee chairman, Republican Jim Jordan, to give back time for questions. Each lawmaker
00:40only gets an allotted amount per member. Raskin accused Bondi of ignoring questions about
00:45indicting Epstein co-conspirators by filibustering, so he wanted that time back. Here is how it all
00:51went down when Raskin made his request. You can let her filibuster all day long,
00:55but not on our watch. Not on our time. No way. And I told you about that, Attorney General,
01:01before you started. You don't tell me anything. Yeah, I did tell you because we saw what you did
01:05in the Senate. Not even a lawyer. If you didn't catch that, Bondi called the congressman a washed
01:11up loser lawyer. And that was just one of many hostile exchanges between Bondi and Democrats.
01:17Pam Bondi blasted Congressman Jerry Nadler for his role in the Mueller-Russia interference
01:21investigation, asked him if he was going to apologize to the president for that, slammed
01:26everyone involved in President Trump's two impeachments, and dissed the Dems for not grilling
01:31her predecessor, Merrick Garland, on the Epstein case, the same way they put her feet to the fire.
01:36Now, in general, congressional hearings can tend to be political performance art,
01:40but this was some real theater. If you missed it, I'll link to it in the show notes.
01:45Confusion erupted after the Federal Aviation Administration abruptly shut down airspace
01:51in Texas on Wednesday. The FAA suddenly issued a 10-day closure of the airspace around the El
01:57Paso, Texas airport, citing, quote, special security reasons. But then, just a few hours
02:02later, reopened it. Like I said, confusing. The White House initially said Mexican cartel drones
02:08breached the airspace. Okay, that, while not great, sounds reasonable. But questions
02:14began to swirl after multiple outlets reported that there were no trespassing drones. Instead,
02:20the issue was a kind of drone-adjacent dispute between the Pentagon and the FAA. The two agencies
02:26had a meeting on the books for later this month to coordinate a test of high-energy lasers
02:30meant to combat any future cartel drones. Despite that upcoming meeting, the Pentagon insisted on
02:37testing the lasers now, and so the FAA hastily announced the restriction in an effort to keep
02:42commercial traffic safe. It wasn't immediately clear if the test even took place. Now, the move
02:47to close the airspace by the FAA is the first time since 9-11 that flights were grounded into and
02:53out
02:53of a U.S.-based international airport for security reasons. An 18-year-old transgender shooter,
03:00Jesse Van Rootsalar, has been ID'd as the gunman who opened fire at a Canadian high school,
03:06killing eight. The attack, one of the deadliest shootings in Canada's history, began at a
03:12residence in the very remote, close-knit town of Tumblr Ridge in British Columbia. There,
03:17Van Rootsalar murdered his mother and stepbrother. The rampage continued at the shooter's former school,
03:23the Tumblr Ridge Secondary School. Six more victims found at that school, one female teacher,
03:28three female students, and two male students. Approximately 25 other people were injured,
03:33and a few seriously, including a 12-year-old fighting for her life after being shot in the
03:38head and neck. Van Rootsalar died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the school.
03:43The initial active shooter alert described the perpetrator as a, quote, female in a dress,
03:48and police later described Van Rootsalar as a, quote, gun person fueling the speculation that the
03:54dress-wearing shooter may have been transgender. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said later on
03:58Wednesday that the shooter was, quote, born a biological male who approximately six years ago
04:03began to transition to female and identified as female. Authorities said that police visited the
04:08family home multiple times over the last few years due to concerns about Van Rootsalar's mental health,
04:13and two years ago, police removed two firearms from the home. But the owner, who was not named,
04:19successfully petitioned to have them returned.
04:22For more on these stories and everything else you could possibly want to know,
04:26check out the New York Post in print or online. And don't forget, like and subscribe to the New
04:30York Postcast wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. I promise you'll be glad you did.
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