That Was Fast: Hegseth Accused of War Crime, Already
Is "kill everybody" a legal order? Plus: Kash Patel's outfit anxiety. Diddy doc drops. Luigi makes a court appearance. And News That Doesn't Suck that definitely won't rage bait you.
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Over the weekend I saw Nuremberg. It’s a gripping, engaging, and deeply relevant film, and I’m surprised it’s not getting more attention.
The film is about the decision to hold the first-ever war crimes tribunal, a gamble with no precedent and no guarantee of success. If prosecutors lost, the Nazis could have walked free. Many at the time wanted to skip the trial and just execute them. Those who argued for a tribunal maintained that it would show the world what they did, create an undeniable record, and make it harder for this to ever happen again.
The movie, though, isn’t really about the courtroom. It’s about a psychiatrist who spent hours meeting with the Nazis in their cells to determine whether they were mentally fit to stand trial, and what he came to understand about how ordinary people commit monstrous acts. It’s about the banality of cruelty. The conditions that produce it. Our stubborn refusal to believe whole societies are capable of it.
Draw your own conclusions about why a movie about the machinery of dehumanization might feel inconvenient right now. So inconvenient that it gets, seemingly, no PR (at least not in my bubble). What I can tell you is that it’s exquisitely made, its performances are compelling, and its subject matter has rarely felt more urgent. Some art arrives at exactly the moment it’s needed and gets pushed aside for that reason. Since it’s possible no one else is telling you about this one, I will. I highly recommend Nuremberg. (This is not a paid promotion.)
In today’s newsletter: Even Republicans are concerned Pete Hegseth may have committed a war crime. Already. A court finds Trump’s team used seven statutes and a prayer to install his personal lawyer as US attorney. Luigi Mangione appears in court, as his lawyers move to suppress evidence. Kash Patel’s jacket tantrum. The latest on a new Diddy doc. Oxford University Press names “rage bait” the word of the year prompting… rage. And would you believe mold that thrives on radiation is our News That Doesn’t Suck?
Here Are Your Headlines
Secretary of (Illegal) War: A troubling new report by the Washington Post suggests Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could be guilty of a war crime. It relates to the US military’s deadly assaults on boats in the Caribbean. According to the report, while the US military was tracking what it claims was a small boat transporting drugs, Hegseth ordered troops to “kill everybody.” The Post says they learned of this potentially illegal order from people with direct knowledge of the operation. When two people on the boat survived the first strike, the US military struck again, killing the pair as they clung to the wreckage in the water. A former military lawyer and national security expert warned that an order to “kill everybody” “would in essence be an order to show no quarter, which would be a war crime.” Today the White House tried to distance Hegseth from the strike, saying Adm Frank Bradley, head of US Special Operations Command, gave the order for the second strike. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the President gave Hegseth the authority to kill any “narco terrorists” bringing drugs to the US. She insisted the strikes were “in accordance with the law of armed conflict,” despite the Pentagon’s own Law of War Manual clearly stating that people who are “wounded, sick, or shipwrecked” at sea must be “protected in all circumstances.” And Trump, when asked, said he “wouldn’t have wanted … a second strike.” Today former Obama Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he “doesn’t think there’s any question” that the second strike was a war crime. Now Congressional Republicans are joining Democrats in calling for bipartisan oversight of the attacks and vowing to get answers. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees promised investigations. Hegseth alleged the Post article is “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory,” but did not dispute the fact he gave the order.
Shooting Blind: The US military has killed at least 80 people so far in its strikes on small boats it claims were transporting drugs. Experts and lawmakers allege the Pentagon is conducting the operation without the usual intelligence; officials reportedly don’t even know who exactly they are killing. One former senior US diplomat who specialized in counternarcotics told the New York Times that “if what you wanted was to stop the drug trade, obviously this isn’t what you’d be doing.… You’d be capturing the people in the boats, turning them to get the next level of the organization, turning those people … and getting to the top.”
They Know: Remember, in November far-right operative and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon warned a room full of conservatives that “if we lose the midterms, if we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison, myself included.”
Not Brow-Beaten: Luigi Mangione appeared in court today for a hearing over whether prosecutors can use his statements to police. The defense argues they are inadmissible because the officers failed to inform Mangione of his right to not self-incriminate. Mangione’s lawyers are also trying to block prosecutors from using incriminating evidence supposedly found in Mangione’s backpack, accusing police of illegally searching him. Surveillance footage of his arrest in a McDonald’s was played publicly for the first time, as was audio from the 911 call made by a McDonald’s worker alerting police to Mangione’s presence. Patrons apparently recognized Mangione’s distinctive eyebrows and pressed the worker to inform police. I can’t recall seeing anyone looking quite so calm, groomed, and well-tailored after a year in prison.
Rolling In the Deep State: A bombshell new report drawing from 24 FBI sources and leaked to the press paints a worrying picture of the intelligence agency — and its leader, Kash Patel. Sources slammed Patel as “in over his head” and described the agency as being “internally paralyzed by fear.” Patel has reportedly shouted and sworn at agents, forced agents to undergo polygraph tests to identify who may have criticized him, and, in one incident, refused to disembark from his plane until agents found him a jacket and SWAT team members took off their own patches to put on the borrowed jacket. Who can’t relate to a little outfit drama?
Politiburo Meeting: Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to try and hash out a deal to end Putin’s war in Ukraine. Witkoff and Kushner participated in discussions with US and Ukrainian officials this weekend, held at Witkoff’s private golf club (does everyone in this story have their own golf course?) Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the talks as “productive,” but warned there’s “more work to be done.” Putin said last week he’s ready for “serious” peace talks, but repeated his demand that Ukraine withdraw from territories it holds and warned he doesn’t want to negotiate with what he called the “illegitimate” Ukrainian government. In other words, Putin is making demands Ukraine and Europe will not meet.
Make Money, Not War: Are Witkoff and Kushner in Moscow simply conducting diplomacy, or positioning themselves and their allies to profit? A bombshell new report by the Wall Street Journal details how Russia has spent months wooing senior US officials and businesspeople — including Witkoff and Kushner — with promises of multi-billion-dollar business deals to follow an end to the war in Ukraine. The deals would reintegrate Russia back into the global economy, improve US economic power in Europe and the Arctic, and make those involved a lot of money. So far we’ve seen Witkoff coach the Russians on getting Trump’s support and push a pro-Russia peace plan, reportedly drafted with Russian (but not Ukrainian nor European) input, which included provisions for long-term economic cooperation between the US and Russia.
Fake It Till You Make It: A federal appeals court on Monday unanimously ruled that Alina Habba’s appointment as US Attorney in New Jersey was unlawful and she is disqualified. Habba, a former lawyer for Trump, had no experience in criminal law before Trump appointed her to the powerful role. US Attorneys are supposed to be either approved by the Senate or appointed by district court judges. Habba was neither. Lawyers successfully argued that the Trump administration had cobbled together “a chimera of at least seven different statutes” to install her anyway. The appeals court ruled these unusual maneuvers violated multiple laws. It’s unclear what exactly will happen to Habba or the cases she has overseen in the last few months. The administration is likely to appeal the issue to the Supreme Court.
Stand Down: A separate appeals court on Wednesday unanimously dismissed Trump’s lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton and others of conspiring against his 2016 presidential campaign. The court, including one Trump appointee, upheld nearly $1 million in sanctions against Trump and Habba, who was his personal lawyer when the “frivolous” and “meritless” suit was filed.
Purgatory: Lindsey Halligan, whom a federal judge recently determined was unlawfully serving as US Attorney in Virginia, has reportedly been iced out of DOJ discussions over her future. In an internal DOJ email seen by CNN, officials were told that Halligan would remain in her position — misspelled as “Unites States Attorny” — despite the judge’s ruling. It would seem the administration is ignoring the court.
A court just disqualified Alina Habba. You’d think that news would be everywhere, right? Not quite. Over 170 outlets covered the story, but only 23 were right-leaning. Entire audiences have no idea this happened — not because they don’t care, but because it never enters their news ecosystem.
That’s a real issue: The information landscape is so fragmented that Americans are living in different realities. We need tools that make the news more transparent.
That’s why I use Ground News. It pulls coverage from thousands of outlets into one place so you can quickly see who’s covering what and how. The app and website also provide context like source bias, reliability, and ownership.
In a time when algorithms and echo chambers shape so much of what people see, Ground News gives power back to you. The News Not Noise community gets 40% off a Vantage subscription at GroundNews.com/NNN.
Diddy Do It? A documentary series exploring the rise and fall of Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose name has become synonymous with sexual assault, will premiere on Tuesday. The series includes footage of the convicted musician in the days before his arrest.
Venezuela in the Crosshairs: Trump is meeting Rubio, Hegseth, and other senior officials Monday afternoon to discuss his plans for a campaign against Venezuela. This weekend Trump declared the airspace above and around the country “CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” something he does not have the authority to do. On Thanksgiving he warned the US would strike inside the country “very soon.” In a call on Sunday with Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, Trump reportedly demanded Maduro surrender power, which Maduro refused to do.
Show of Force: The US has now assembled its largest military presence in the Caribbean since it invaded Panama in 1989. That force includes 15,000 troops; at least 15 naval vessels, including the world’s largest and most modern aircraft carrier; and dozens of aircraft. Troops have also been carrying out exercises in and upgrading a newly re-opened naval station in Puerto Rico.
Hypocrisy: Trump on Friday announced he would pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras who was convicted in 2024 of orchestrating a massive drug trafficking empire that immiserated his country and pumped at least 500 tons of cocaine into the US. Trump claimed, without evidence, that Hernández was the victim of a “Biden set up.” A former DEA chief said this “shows that the entire counter-drug effort … is a charade … based on lies.”
Violence Begets Itself: We still don’t know what incited Rahmanullah Lakanwal to shoot two National Guard troops in Washington, DC. We do know that he once served in an elite, CIA-backed combat unit in Afghanistan. Members of these “Zero Units” were extensively vetted and underwent extremely dangerous missions; many of them were evacuated from Afghanistan after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021 and went on to live under uncertain legal status in the US. Lakanwal, who entered the US in 2021, reportedly felt abandoned by the US government and struggled with mental health issues, with one case worker noting that he spent ”weeks on end in his darkened bedroom, not speaking to anyone.” He applied for asylum in December 2024 and was approved in April 2025, presumably after being vetted again — by the Trump administration, not Biden’s, no matter what Trump and his allies claim.
Counterintuitive: Trump on Friday paused issuing asylum and visas for Afghans, including those who helped the US during the war there. Officials announced they were reviewing green cards and asylum requests granted during the Biden administration.
Tragic Loss: 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guard troops shot by Lakanwal, died from her injuries on Thursday. The other victim, Andrew Wolfe, is “fighting for his life,” according to Trump.
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