🎧 Hegseth Impeachment Effort Blocked

Good morning, its Wednesday November 11th Veterans Day. and To all veterans and service members, thank you for your courage, service, and sacrifice.

• Yesterday, the House blocked an effort by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, 

•  A campaign by veteran-owned businesses pays off medical debts for veterans. 

• House Republicans elected Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as their leader in the next Congress, while their Senate counterparts reelected Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). 

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with a suspected Chinese spy lays bare the Chinese Communist Party’s well-worn tactic of using honey pots to gain intel or achieve political goals. 

• The White House and former officials denied allegations that top officials crafting policy sought or accepted money from industry.

NOW, BACK TO OUR TOP STORY:

House Rejects Rep. Massie’s Impeachment Effort Targeting Hegseth

WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives voted against advancing a procedural motion regarding a resolution to impeach War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Nov. 10.

The House voted 211–204 against advancing the impeachment resolution on Nov. 10. Following the vote, the impeachment resolution will be sent to committee.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth in the House on Nov. 9, accusing the war secretary of committing “high crimes and misdemeanors.” To impeach Hegseth, a simple majority vote would be needed in the House. However, a two-thirds majority vote in the U.S. Senate would be needed to convict him.

Massie previously introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth in September. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced an early recess for the chamber the following day, which prevented a vote on the articles. 

The Nov. 9 impeachment articles charge Hegseth with waging war in Iran without congressional authorization, continuing the war after the House and Senate both directed the removal of U.S. forces, and continuing operations in Iran after the War Powers Resolution’s 60-day termination period and any potential 30-day withdrawal period had expired.

“Operation Epic Fury has been underway for 256 days. Congress has not authorized it,” Massie wrote on X on Nov. 10. “Hegseth is breaking the law. Not even debatable.” (More)

Massie also accused Hegseth of carrying out extrajudicial killings of suspected drug traffickers, which he said resulted in at least 243 deaths; ignoring laws intended to minimize civilian casualties; and kidnapping Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

During the Nov. 10 press conference, Hegseth said no secretary of war or secretary of defense has ever been impeached in the United States for carrying out “lawful military operations.”

“The history is clear, and it’s very straightforward. And one disgruntled congressman wants to shred it over policy disagreements,” Hegseth said.

NOW, OVER TO POLITICS:

• campaign by veteran-owned businesses pays off medical debts for veterans. 

Army veteran and law enforcement officer Brooke King was recently surprised when she opened a letter in the mail informing her that her outstanding medical debt had been paid off early.

She asked her husband if he had paid the bill without telling her, but he said he hadn’t.

Only weeks later did she receive a call confirming her medical bill had indeed been paid off in full. She was the beneficiary of a debt forgiveness campaign led by a pair of veteran-owned businesses, Born Primitive and Black Rifle Coffee Company.

“It was such a massive relief,” she told The Epoch Times.

King survived a mortar blast and a separate roadside bomb attack during a deployment to Iraq in 2006. While she received a 100 percent disability rating for her military service, she said gaps in the documentation for her injuries meant the Department of Veterans Affairs hasn’t covered some of her recurring medical expenses.

As a result of the debt forgiveness campaign, King had a $3,000 doctor’s bill paid off.

Bear Handlon, the Navy SEAL veteran who co-founded Born Primitive, first launched the debt forgiveness campaign in 2024, through a partnership with ForgiveCo.

ForgiveCo is a public benefit corporation that purchases bulk unpaid debts from collection agencies at a fraction of the original cost.

Handlon’s debt forgiveness campaign entails donating the proceeds of Born Primitive purchases to pay off medical debts ForgiveCo has bought up.

In their initial 2024 campaign, Born Primitive covered $11 million in outstanding medical debts from ForgiveCo, ultimately providing relief for nearly 6,000 veterans.

Last year, Handlon expanded the debt forgiveness campaign through a Veterans Day partnership with Black Rifle Coffee Company. The pair of companies initially set out with a goal of paying off $25 million in medical debts, but exceeded that goal and ultimately paid off $35 million in medical debts.

One beneficiary from last year’s Veterans Day campaign, Army veteran Mara Collins, saw more than $340,000 in total medical debt paid off.

This year, Born Primitive and Black Rifle Coffee Company teamed up again with an even bigger debt forgiveness goal. Between Nov. 6 and Nov. 11, they hope their combined proceeds will pay off $35 million in outstanding medical debt. They also expanded the campaign to cover first responders’ medical debts.

“I think as veterans, we get thanked a lot for our service. And while it’s appreciated, I would redirect people to thank a first responder instead,” Handlon told The Epoch Times.

• House Republicans elected Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as their leader in the next Congress, while their Senate counterparts reelected Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). Jordan, who co-founded the staunchly conservative House Freedom Caucus, will lead a significantly diminished Republican caucus. In remarks after his win, he said, “When Democrats offer more government, we’ll offer more freedom.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who also serves as leader of the House GOP conference, elected not to run for minority leader following the midterm losses.

In addition to Jordan, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) was elected House minority whip. He is currently the House majority whip.

Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) won reelection as House GOP conference chair.

Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.) said, “He is a strong conservative who will fight for this country and hold Washington accountable.”

Democrats criticized the House GOP for picking Jordan.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) reposted one of his posts from 2023 during the House speakership race to succeed McCarthy. Beyer criticized Jordan for not answering a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with a suspected Chinese spy lays bare the Chinese Communist Party’s well-worn tactic of using honey pots to gain intel or achieve political goals.

Andrew Harding, a policy analyst for China and the Indo-Pacific at The Heritage Foundation, told The Epoch Times via email.

“The use of romantic or personal relationships for intelligence gathering is nothing new,” 

 he said The latest case involving Nvidia’s CEO should serve as “a reminder that the CCP is willing to target individuals who possess information, access, or technology that could advance Beijing’s interests at the expense of the United States,” he said.

he said “As the United States’ primary strategic adversary, the CCP will exploit a wide range of vulnerabilities to gain access to sensitive information and individuals,” 

Those in public or private positions of national security importance are particularly vulnerable to such covert espionage efforts, Harding said.

The U.S. government has long required personnel with access to sensitive information to report certain relationships and other foreign contacts.

The Trump administration in October 2025 confirmed the dismissal of a U.S. diplomat who, the authorities said, admitted to concealing a “romantic relationship” with a Chinese woman linked to the CCP.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement at the time that the department maintains “a zero-tolerance policy for any employee who is caught undermining our country’s national security.”

However, members of Congress are not subject to security clearances—and for years, there have been concerns about their potential exposure to Beijing’s intelligence or influence operations.

One of the most high-profile honey trap cases involves Christine Fang, or Fang Fang, a suspected Chinese operative who entered the United States as a college student in the early 2010s and later cultivated relationships with a number of politicians in California and elsewhere. Like former Rep. Eric Swalwell 

according to Shen Ming-shih, a research fellow at the Taiwan-based Institute for National Defense and Security Research.

Aside from politicians, individuals with access to military secrets were another “traditional target” of the honey plot tactic, 

He cited a case of a former U.S. defense contractor in Hawaii who in March 2014 pleaded guilty to passing classified military information to a Chinese woman with whom he developed “a romantic relationship.”

Retired Army Lt. Col. Benjamin Pierce Bishop had a top-secret security clearance as a contractor with U.S. Pacific Command.

In 2012, the then-58-year-old emailed secret information about U.S.–South Korea joint training and planning sessions, according to the guilty plea. The recipient was an unidentified 27-year-old Chinese woman who was doing graduate studies in the United States.

Shen described honeypots as a “routine and systematic intelligence mechanism of the CCP.”

according to Shen The sophisticated operation often begins with long-term identification and surveillance of potential targets. Operatives then use social media, community activities, fundraising, and conferences to establish connections, according to Shen.

Paul Johnstone, a former Australian military and law enforcement professional, said in a 2025 interview with The Epoch Times.

“They’ve tried to lure me a number of times to write papers on Australia’s opinion about, for example, the Winter Olympics in China,” 

Johnstone said his background in the Australian Defense Force and military intelligence made him the target of several honey trap attempts. The experience prompted him to warn the public to be more cautious about what they share on social media, particularly on dating websites.

Experts say it’s hard to guard against honey trap efforts, as they are concealed within seemingly legitimate personal relationships or commercial transactions.

Feng Chongyi, a China expert and an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, told The Epoch Times on Nov. 10.

“This tactic exploits human weaknesses,” 

Feng said, Even when U.S. investigators suspect someone of setting a honey trap for the CCP, Feng said, establishing sufficient evidence for prosecution could be difficult.

AND MORE ON POLITICS:

• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that he is confident he will lead the incoming Democratic majority, shortly after two members of his caucus said they would not support him.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, told reporters at the Capitol that he has known Schumer for more than 30 years and that nobody works harder.

“But in my view, the time is now for change, and I will not be supporting Chuck to be reelected as the Democratic leader,” Sanders said.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who appeared with him, said she would not vote for any candidate who does not present a concrete plan to govern differently, including what Democrats would do in their first 100 days.

• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that multiple recent changes are paving the way for major reforms he has been unable to enact in his nearly two years as the nation’s top health official.

Kennedy told supporters at an event in Washington that key actions, such as updating the food pyramid and removing mercury from dental fillings on Indian reservations, were enacted with White House support, including backing from Susie Wiles, who was White House chief of staff until several days ago.

However, he said, other goals have not yet been implemented.

“There were things that we didn’t get done, and that was very frustrating to me,” he said. “And they are very, very important things.”

Stephen Miller, the longtime aide to President Donald Trump and the new chief of staff, met with Kennedy before the midterm elections and told Kennedy that after the midterms, he would put Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiatives at the top of his priority list, according to Kennedy.

The health secretary also said that he went to Miller’s house for dinner on Nov. 1, and Miller’s wife told guests that they had no idea how passionate Miller is on MAHA.

Miller said during a 2025 MAHA event that his wife was a MAHA mom and he had been shocked to learn of all the toxins children are exposed to, including toxins in food and the environment.

Kennedy’s new comments came after a former adviser, Calley Means, accused Wiles and other White House officials of stymying attempts by MAHA-aligned officials to implement reforms such as compelling companies to make food healthier and working with them to do so. The White House said that the Trump administration does not allow outside groups to influence policy decisions.

Kennedy said on Monday that he has faced obstacles from several areas, including Republican senators.

“Every time I try to do something robust, I would get calls saying, ‘If you do that, we’re not going to confirm your appointees,’” he recounted.

Kennedy has faced public opposition from multiple senators, including Senate Health Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who lost in a primary to Sen.-elect Julia Letlow (R-La.).

“The Senate no longer has any leverage over me, and that’s a big deal,” Kennedy said. “And then we have Steve Miller in, who’s a friend of our movement, and I don’t think anything is going to get in our way now.”

Kennedy declined to list specific developments that are being targeted.

“There’s a lot of press here, and I don’t want to unveil our strategies,” he said.

• The White House and former officials denied allegations that top officials crafting policy sought or accepted money from industry.

Calley Means, until recently a top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—and a former White House official—had said in recent interviews that Susie Wiles and others in the White House chief of staff’s office were pushing policies that didn’t align with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, such as authorizing fruit-flavored vaping devices.

Means said on Joe Rogan’s podcast on Nov. 6 that special interests were aware they could hire Ballard Partners, where Wiles used to work, to secure a meeting with Wiles.

He also said that ahead of the midterm elections, he was told certain things could not be done because they would hurt special interests.

“Calley, we can’t do this. I need sugar money,” Means quoted Wiles as saying. “I need the money from the sugar people to win the midterms.”

“There is a very concentrated group of people in the Trump administration that are antagonistic to what people voted for,” Means said. “And frankly, I think it’s very clear, are doing things for other reasons, particularly in many cases to enrich their families.”

Means said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” over the weekend that special interest groups could pay money to Continental Strategy, which employs the daughter of Wiles, to influence policy.

Wiles, who just departed the chief of staff role, could not be reached. She told CBS that she was not involved with a tobacco industry meeting with Trump at his golf club, which took place before the administration unveiled a new tobacco policy, and said Trump “did more for MAHA than any president before or likely any president in the future.”

Continental Strategy said the allegations were false.

• Florida has issued a subpoena to the Democratic Socialists of America to determine whether the organization violated fundraising laws.

“We are examining whether DSA accepted contributions or support from foreign sources of concern, including the regimes in Cuba and China, and whether its fundraising from Florida donors has been fully transparent and lawful,” Attorney General James Uthmeier said Tuesday.

Florida law requires transparency from 501c(3) nonprofits on contributors, intended purpose and final use of funds.

“The subpoena seeks the documents needed to determine compliance,” said the attorney general.

The law specifically prohibits the solicitation and acceptance of any amount of funds from a “foreign source of concern.”

The DSA touts itself as the largest socialist organization in America. Several left-leaning political candidates across the country in the 2026 midterm elections declared themselves members, including former Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon, whose bid for Ashley Moody’s Senate seat failed.

• Restrictions on the use by federal officers of tear gas and other measures in Portland, Oregon, were vacated by an appeals court.

In two rulings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned lower court orders that limited officers’ use of nonlethal munitions against crowds near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.

“Under our precedent, law enforcement agents may use nonlethal force to clear crowds and restore order—they need not wait until they face ‘an imminent threat of physical harm,’” Circuit Judge Kenneth Kiyul Lee wrote for the majority in one of the decisions.

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon had said in February that federal officers could not use munitions such as tear gas on people around the building unless the target of the munitions “poses an imminent threat of physical harm to a law enforcement officer or other person.”

“The record also does not support the plaintiffs’ claim that federal agents retaliated against them for exercising their First Amendment rights,” Lee said. “Rather, the plaintiffs appear to be unfortunate collateral casualties of federal agents’ efforts to quell an unruly and sometimes violent crowd.”

The plaintiffs in the case are peaceful protesters and freelance journalists who were exposed to tear gas or pepper balls that were deployed by federal officers to control the crowd in Portland in 2025 and 2026.

The other ruling came in an appeal of a similar order that was entered in favor of other people, including individuals who reside in an apartment complex located across the street from the federal building in Portland.

That group of people does not have a Fifth Amendment right not to be exposed to chemicals deployed by the government to control crowds, Circuit Judge Eric Tung wrote for the majority in that decision.

The majority noted that the use of crowd control devices appeared to come after the crowd barricaded officers inside the facility; destroyed cameras there; hurled rocks, glass, and metal at officers; and shone lasers at officers’ eyes.

• A federal judge allowed Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC to proceed.

The judge in the Southern District of Florida ruled that Trump had plausibly alleged that the BBC’s editing of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech caused harm to his reputation and was done with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.

“Whether President Trump can prove these claims and establish he sustained damages at summary judgment or trial is left for another day,” the judge wrote in the ruling.

Kuntz dismissed Trump’s separate claim under Florida’s unfair trade practices law. He ordered the BBC to answer the defamation claim by Dec. 1.

Trump claimed a “huge victory” in a post Tuesday on Truth Social against the BBC, citing Kuntz’s ruling.

In his post, Trump quoted Kuntz as writing that the BBC “created the story” by editing a video to make it appear the president had said something he never said.

The judge said the core of Trump’s complaint was a 12-second segment of him speaking that was spliced together from two different parts of his speech on Jan. 6.

The BBC had Trump saying, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you,” which was spliced with, “And we fight. We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

The judge laid out the conversation that BBC’s quote was taken from and noted that the 12 second clip had comments that were said nearly 55 minutes apart.

• Negotiators from the United States, Ukraine, and Russia convened in the capital of the United Arab Emirates for a new round of U.S.-brokered peace talks.

Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, said representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, NATO, and the European Commission met separately in Abu Dhabi before U.S., Ukrainian, and Russian officials began trilateral talks.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said participants discussed “how to build upon existing European security institutions and agreements” after the Ukraine war. He added that they also made clear NATO would remain central to Euro-Atlantic collective defense.

Witkoff said participants emphasized that any future arrangements aimed at ending the war must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and right to make independent decisions. They also stressed the need for “credible security guarantees” for Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in Denmark for talks with Nordic leaders, said on X that his delegation would propose de-escalation measures.

Zelenskyy also suggested that a trilateral meeting of leaders is needed to end the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted that any trilateral talks aimed at ending the war must address security guarantees for both Russia and Ukraine, along with the broader security of Europe.

Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region in the east, but Kyiv has rejected any notion that a settlement would require giving up that territory.

• A senior U.S. Army soldier suspected of spying on behalf of Russia was arrested in England near a base that houses special NATO land forces, according to UK authorities. 

The 41-year-old male soldier, whose identity was not released, was entrusted with sensitive information, according to a U.S. Army commanding general.

The UK’s counter-terrorism police were working with U.S. authorities, military, and the FBI.

The case showed the strength of the partnerships between the nations’ counterintelligence communities, said Commanding Brig. Gen. Sean Stinchon of the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command.

“The alleged conduct of a senior [soldier], entrusted with sensitive information, is a sobering reminder that insider threats are real and persistent,” Stinchon said. “I encourage anyone who thinks they’ve witnessed something suspicious to report it to their local counterintelligence office.”

The soldier was arrested in Gloucester, a city in southwest England near the Cotswolds and the Welsh border. The area is home to RAF Innsworth, managed by the British Army and serves as the headquarters for the NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the allegations of espionage were “of the utmost concern to the United States and our allies.”

“While this investigation is continuing, I want to send a clear message—this FBI has no tolerance for anyone who breaks their oath to the United States and whose actions endanger our national security and that of our partners,” Patel said in a statement.

The soldier was detained under the British National Security Act 2023 and remains in custody at a London police station, according to the Metropolitan Police.

The investigation is being led by officers from the counter terrorism policing unit in London.

And before we leave, here are some words of wisdom to start the day…Today’s quote was written by

“Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.” 

—René Descartes