Joint Legislative Hearing on 2025 Exec. Budget Proposal: Economic Development/Arts – 02/26/2025

A former federal prosecutor warned on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is hiding the enormous cost of his most heinous scandal right under the noses of Americans.

Harry Litman, a former deputy assistant attorney general, argued in a new Substack essay that Trump's "[lurching] from scandal to scandal like a drunken sailor" had effectively distracted the American public from his intensified bombing campaigns in South America. He added that the strikes have not only killed close to 200 people, but also "violate the law and bring our country into disrepute."

"We are already giving this tinpot dictator far more attention than he deserves, and yet not nearly enough to keep vigil over the enormous costs of his lawlessness," Litman wrote.

Litman noted scandals like Signalgate — when multiple top Trump officials leaked sensitive military operation plans to Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, through a private encrypted messaging platform not approved for government use — and the heavily redacted Jeffrey Epstein files have been largely swept under the rug by Trump's repeated lawlessness.

Litman added that the bombing campaign carries an enormous cost and highlights the need for a more wide-ranging oversight regime once the Trump administration is out of office.

"Two hundred people killed in secret, in international waters, without legal authority, without evidence of effect, at a cost of nearly five billion dollars. It is still happening, under our noses as it were, but we’re focused on other things," he wrote.

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) said he thinks progressive influencer Hasan Piker should be banned from the United States after the United Kingdom blocked his visit with fellow commentator and his uncle, Cenk Uygur, TMZ reported on Wednesday.

The MAGA lawmaker was walking on Capitol Hill when a TMZ reporter asked Fine to comment on Piker's entry to the country being revoked over the weekend. The two were scheduled to speak at the SXSW London Festival but were turned away "because of their criticism of Israel," The BBC reported.

"Well I don't think he should be allowed into America, so I think that's a good start," Fine said.

The TMZ reporter responded and asked Fine, "What about freedom of speech?"

"People have freedom of speech but I think when you're a terrorist you should be held responsible for that," Fine said. "And I think he's clearly a supporter of terror. He's a walking billboard for the problem of birth tourism. He was brought here by his Turkish family, they had him, then they took him home, made him hate America, then sent him in to torment us. The guy's a horrible human being and I wouldn't let him into my country if it was up to me, so I don't blame them."

Piker, who is an American citizen, has condemned Islamophobia and been an outspoken critic of MAGA and the Trump administration. He has a large social media following, primarily through streaming on Twitch and weighing in on political topics. He frequently discusses social issues and engages in debates with commentators across the political spectrum.

The reporter pushed back again and suggested that "banning him from a country is [a] pretty crazy step for someone who is expressing his opinion."

"And by the way, they're allowed to do that," Fine said.

When the reporter pressed the Republican again on freedom of speech, he repeated his talking point.

"He promotes Muslim terror, so I think they're making the right decision," said Fine, making the unsubstantiated claim. "I'm surprised they did it but I think they did the right thing."