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Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) offered an exasperated response to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on the Senate floor Monday night after the Texas senator opposed an amendment Kennedy introduced. The Senate was debating the Protect College Sports Act, a bill supported by the NCAA. The legislation would give the NCAA an antitrust exemption that would allow the association to restore a five-year eligibility rule and impose limits on athletes transferring between schools. A host of labor unions and athlete advocacy groups oppose the bill. Critics such as Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) noted that the bill places a cap on the cut of revenues that students receive while placing no such limit on coaches’ salaries or donations to athletic programs. President Donald Trump has urged Congress to pass the bill. Before the vote on Monday night, Kennedy introduced an amendment to the legislation that would cap yearly ticket price increases at NCAA games at four percent. Cruz spoke out against the amendment on the Senate floor, arguing it would prevent burgeoning sports programs from raising more revenue than they otherwise would. “For example, let’s say a small school has an unbelievable football season and is considered college football playoff material,” Cruz said. “The next season, that same team has a schedule that is playing well-known teams like Notre Dame or Alabama, who are drawing a significant crowd and increased fan interest and demand. This amendment would prevent that small school, whose fans believe they are playoff material, from being able to respond to that fan interest and build revenues that could be put back in the university and back into the student athletes. And critically, the revenue that is shared with student-athletes comes from ticket sales. So, capping the prices on ticket sales would reduce the revenue that is available to student-athletes. I encourage members to vote no.” Kennedy, who was not recognized by the chair, piped up loudly and indignantly. “All this bill does is fix prices,” Kennedy replied. “It fixes prices on everybody. Why don’t we do something for the fans, for God sakes? Don’t tell me this isn’t a price-fixing bill.” As Kennedy spoke, the chair attempted to restore order. “Am I out of order, Mr. President?” Kennedy asked. “Yes, substantially,” the chair replied. Kennedy’s amendment failed 42-54. The bill, which Kennedy supported, passed 77-22. The legislation will need to be taken up by the House, where… [TheTopNews] Read More.

(Photo by Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images) Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon regarding “credible reports” he had read that the Department of Justice had hired an attorney who had been convicted of election interference for hacking election websites — and to work in the election monitoring division, nonetheless. In 2016, David Levin, then a 31-year-old resident of Estero, Florida, was arrested and charged with three felony counts for “unauthorized access of any computer, computer system, computer network, or electronic device.” A press release from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announcing Levin’s arrest stated that he was “accused of gaining unauthorized access to the Lee County Elections Office website on Dec. 19, 2015 and to the Department of State Division of Elections website on Jan. 4 and 31, 2016.” He claimed he wanted to look into the “integrity of elections.” Levin later pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges, served a 20-day jail sentence, and received two years of probation. Despite this history, Levin was among the attorneys hired by DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, which Dhillon heads, to conduct election monitoring activities, according to a report by Democracy Docket. The report further noted that Levin appeared to have “taken part in a recent DOJ election monitoring operation in Minnesota.” Democracy Docket included “images and video posted online” and “publicly available facial-recognition reverse image search tools” to identify Levin’s presence at the Minnesota operations in August, as well as noting his Facebook profile photo “provides another indication of his DOJ ties,” as it “shows him standing in front of a flag bearing the DOJ insignia, with part of a woman wearing purple visible beside him. That attire appears to match an outfit worn by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon at a July 8 Civil Rights Division swearing-in ceremony.” Levin updated his Facebook profile photo earlier this month; the one Democracy Docket mentioned is still online here. Neither the DOJ nor Levin replied to Democracy Docket’s request for comment. Welch cited the Democracy Docket report in a press release and letter to Dhillon demanding answers on Levin’s apparent hire and role in the federal government’s election monitoring activities. “Deploying politically motivated individuals to carry out DOJ’s poll monitoring efforts threatens to undermine Americans’ faith in the electoral process ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections,” wrote Welch. The letter went on to emphasize that… [TheTopNews] Read More.

Screenshot via Dan Scavino on Instagram White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino is facing questions over whether a bizarre AI-generated party video he posted was actually a signal to followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory. The six-second clip, posted Saturday, depicts Scavino riding a luggage cart alongside Eric Trump and two women, seemingly Lara Trump and Erin Scavino, while spraying champagne through the White House hallway. President Donald Trump appears at the end of the video, which is set to Pitbull’s “Don’t Stop the Party.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Daniel Scavino Jr. (@danscavino) Scavino described the clip on Instagram as his “post State Dinner party.” But The Bulwark’s Will Sommer reported Monday that the choice of music caught the attention of QAnon adherents for a very specific reason: One of them had publicly asked Scavino to post a Pitbull song just over a day earlier. The request came from QAnon believer Kimberly Auer amid speculation surrounding the popular pro-Trump X account “Papi Trumpo,” which some conspiracy theorists believe is secretly operated by Trump. “If Trump is Papi, then maybe @Scavino47 @DanScavino could give us a NOD and post something w/ Pitbull music…I mean, he is a PAPI. lol,” Auer wrote Friday. Scavino does not appear to follow Auer, Sommer noted, leaving open the possibility that the timing was entirely coincidental. The White House did not respond to The Bulwark’s request for comment. Sommer also pointed to Scavino’s previous social media posts that have drawn attention from QAnon followers. In 2020, The New York Times reported that Scavino repeatedly posted clock imagery and references to “tick tock,” language embraced by QAnon adherents. That same year, Scavino posted an image of Trump playing a violin containing the phrase “Nothing can stop what’s coming” — a slogan associated with QAnon. Auer initially celebrated Scavino’s Pitbull post before apparently worrying about the backlash it generated. “Did I get Dan in trouble?” she wrote. “People are pissed…”The post Dan Scavino’s AI Party Video Sparks QAnon Dog Whistle Speculation first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.

Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images Kurt Olsen, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, and several other prosecutors have left the Justice Department team investigating the so-called “grand conspiracy” against Trump, throwing the future of the sprawling probe into even more uncertainty. Olsen resigned from the department after working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida on the investigation. The probe has examined allegations that officials from the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations participated in a coordinated effort against Trump. It has yet to produce criminal charges. His exit comes weeks after Joe diGenova, another Trump ally brought in by Attorney General Todd Blanche to work on the investigation, abruptly resigned amid friction with senior DOJ officials over the handling and pace of the cases. “If you want indictments where there’s no evidence, you have an ethical problem,” diGenova told the New York Post. The Daily Mail, which first reported the latest wave of departures on Monday, said at least seven prosecutors have left the investigation, citing a source who said pressure from Justice Department officials in Washington to pursue indictments before the midterm elections helped fuel the exodus. “They started asking questions, and then they started giving orders to line attorneys about how to conduct the grand jury,” the source told the Mail. “The attorneys revolted, and then objections were made to the department, and then that’s when everything exploded.” Another source disputed that account of the staffing losses, though, telling the Mail that four attorneys had departed, including two whose temporary assignments had concluded and another who was transferred elsewhere. Two former prosecutors have also been hired to join the team, according to CBS News. The Justice Department insisted the investigation remains active. “The Department’s work on this investigation continues, and we are grateful to the talented team of attorneys, which continues to grow, doing the work each day,” a DOJ spokesperson told the Mail.The post Trump Loyalist, Several Prosecutors Exit DOJ’s ‘Grand Conspiracy’ Probe first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.

Spectrum News Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Travis Hunter notched his first career interception in the end zone, but the drama had only just begun. Late in the second quarter during Sunday’s game in Jacksonville against the New England Patriots, Hunter intercepted a pass in the end zone from Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. Maye had attempted to force the ball to Efton Chism III, who was completely blanketed by Hunter. TRAVIS HUNTER INT ALERT @NEvsJAX on CBS/Paramount+Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/wILwED2EBi — NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2026 After picking off Maye, Hunter celebrated with his teammates and he spun the ball on the ground. It was subsequently picked up by a ballboy, a term being used loosely here as it was an adult male. Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen attempted to retrieve the souvenir from the milestone personal moment for his teammate, but was loudly rebuked. My POV of Travis Hunter’s 1st career interception Weird interaction at the end between #Jaguars Josh Hines-Allen and the ball-guy when he tried to get the ball pic.twitter.com/7ByHNjK4D8 — Brandon Green (@BGreenReports) September 27, 2026 Hines-Allen attempted to wrest the ball from the man’s arm. “Don’t touch me!” the man exclaimed. Hines-Allen again tried reaching for the ball. “Hey, he pushed me!” the man told Jaguars equipment manager George Pellicer, really trying to sell it. “He can’t do that!” On Monday, the Jaguars confirmed that Hunter got the ball back. “I was just talking about it,” Jaguars coach Liam Coen told reporters on Monday. “I haven’t gotten a clean answer. We’ve been in communication with those guys over there. I think they’ve gotten it sorted out; I can’t say for certain if we got the actual ball or not.” Jacksonville ended up winning the game 35-6.The post ‘Don’t Touch Me!’ Ballboy Flips Out After Refusing To Give Back Player’s First Interception Ball  first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.