Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics,

Sen. Marsha Blackburn sent a sharply worded letter Wednesday to Secret Service Director Sean Curran demanding an immediate, top-to-bottom review of the Secret Service, a move that comes nearly two weeks after an armed gunman sprinted past a checkpoint leading to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in a third assassination attempt on President Trump.

As part of the review, Blackburn called for a “full, thorough audit of every single employee on your payroll.”

“It is blatantly clear that the Secret Service needs to be cleaned up,” the Tennessee Republican wrote. “Unless you root out the rot, our nation will suffer the consequences.”

Blackburn’s letter also comes just days after a Secret Service Uniformed Division officer was arrested in Miami after being found naked and masturbating in a hallway in yet another embarrassing spectacle.

The senator drew an explicit connection between the misconduct pattern and the agency’s core protective mission: “At a time when President Trump faces increasing threats to his safety, including yet another assassination attempt, the Secret Service cannot afford to have individuals who engage in this kind of embarrassing, disgraceful conduct on its payroll.”

Blackburn stopped short of calling for Curran’s resignation, but her demand for a full personnel audit – along with the blunt warning about consequences – signals mounting congressional pressure on an agency that has faced repeated public scrutiny since the July 2024 assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, that nearly killed him. An attempt on Trump’s life two months later at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course, was another close call.

Blackburn cited the recent arrest of the agent for indecent exposure at the Miami hotel and framed the personnel issues as symptomatic of deeper structural problems – including what she described as persistent difficulties in vetting, hiring, and maintaining agent morale.

“There are broader questions about your agency’s ability to properly vet and hire agents,” she wrote, “which has resulted in continued manpower and morale issues.”

Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect charged with multiple felonies for his aborted attack on the White House Correspondents’ dinner, managed to sprint through a checkpoint while allegedly exchanging fire with a Secret Service Uniformed Division officer. Federal prosecutors and Curran have said the officer was shot but was protected from harm by his ballistics vest.

The agents pursued Allen, who fell and then was apprehended 45 yards from the stairs to the ballroom. If the “brave” officers and agents hadn’t acted swiftly, Blackburn wrote, many attendees – including the president – “could have been seriously harmed.”

Just hours after the arrest of the naked officer on Monday, the Secret Service made headlines again – this time for engaging in a gunfight with an armed man that injured a juvenile bystander with a stray bullet near the Washington Monument, which is not far from the White House complex.

Law enforcement experts, including Fox News contributor Paul Mauro, who served 24 years with the new York Police Department, have questioned why the Secret Service didn’t provide more details sooner about Monday’s exchange of fire and the suspect’s injuries. Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged 45-year-old Michael Marx of Midland, Texas, with assaulting federal officers with a dangerous weapon, among other crimes.

“A press conference over this recent mysterious shooting in D.C. wouldn’t be a bad idea either,” Mauro remarked in an X.com post. “USSS involved in more shooting incidents than NYPD these days. And that’s…new.”

Curran has also drawn fire for telling Fox News last week that the security for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was “set-up perfectly.”

Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who led multiple investigations into the Secret Service when he was Oversight Committee chairman, strongly questioned that characterization. “Perfect? Are you kidding?” he told RealClearPolitics. “What if there were 12 guys with guns that decided to rush that point?  “And Curran’s talking about how great the training was. Are you kidding me?” he added.

Former Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, who previously served as a Secret Service agent, also expressed concern about the possibility of multiple assailants bombarding Secret Service checkpoints and argued that agents with elite training should help fortify that layer of security.

“What worries me is not the first guy going through who charges the checkpoint. It’s the second, third, and possibly tenth guy after that,” he said in an interview this week with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. “You get a counter-assault team there, you got a real force to hit back.”

The dinner incident was not the only recent security lapse Blackburn highlighted. Just 19 days before the correspondents’ dinner, sometime between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. April 6, a gunman fired shots near the White House grounds. In an RCP report cited by the senator, multiple sources said Secret Service investigators were unable to identify any information about the shooter – who, as of the letter’s writing, remains unidentified. Trump also was pressing the agency for more information, the sources said.

Blackburn cited other personnel incidents RCP reported, including a junior Secret Service agent faulted for the security planning and execution failures at the Butler rally marrying a foreign national without promptly notifying her superiors; another in which the FBI raided an agent’s home in an investigation of an alleged massive tax fraud scheme; and an agent charged for murdering his brother on New Year’s Eve.

“These are just a few of the many examples of personnel concerns that demonstrate a clear pattern of incompetence at the Secret Service that must be promptly addressed,” Blackburn wrote Curran.

The spate of such incidents has fueled bipartisan alarm on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have questioned whether the agency is structurally equipped to protect its principals at a moment when threats against the president are, by Blackburn’s account, escalating.

A bipartisan push began this week to place the Secret Service under direct White House supervision. Led by Reps. Russell Fry and Jared Moskowitz, the move would transfer the Secret Service away from the Department of Homeland Security oversight and make the agency report directly to the White House. After the WHCA scare, RCP reported that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles had blocked efforts by former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s team to impose a layer of oversight at the Secret Service aimed at ensuring deeper reforms under Curran’s leadership.

After the WHCA dinner shooting, Wiles convened a meeting with Secret Service and DHS leaders to discuss “protocol and practices” for major events involving Trump. A senior White House official said the meeting was convened to plan for upcoming events commemorating America 250. Trump also has expressed interest in attending the World Cup, which kicks off June 11.

Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics’ national political correspondent.

India rejected Russia’s offer ​to sell it liquefied natural gas subject to US sanctions, despite a huge shortfall driven by Middle East tensions, leaving a tanker bound for India in limbo as talks continue on permitted cargoes, Reuters reports.

The stance highlights the fine balance the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer is seeking to strike between securing energy supplies and avoiding LNG cargoes on which the U.S. has ​placed sanctions, which are harder to disguise and carry greater compliance risk. It also underscores the limits of Moscow’s ability ​to pivot its LNG exports to new markets.

India’s reluctance has left an LNG cargo from Russia’s U.S.-sanctioned Portovaya ⁠plant in the Baltic Sea unable to discharge, despite indicating India as its destination in mid-April, one of the sources said. The ​vessel was tracked despite documentation suggesting the cargo was non-Russian, the source added.

Reuters had reported in mid-April, citing LSEG shipping data, that the ​138,200-cubic-metre tanker Kunpeng was heading to the Dahej LNG import terminal in western India. The vessel is now near Singaporean waters with no destination broadcast, according to LSEG.

India, the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne crude, conveyed its decision not to buy LNG that was under sanction to Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister Pavel ​Sorokin during his April 30 visit, when he met Indian officials including Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, one of ​the sources said. It was their second meeting in as many months, and Sorokin could return in June for further talks, said the source.

India’s purchases of Russian crude have meanwhile continued unabated, aided by a temporary waiver of U.S. sanctions introduced to help countries cope with an energy crisis resulting from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which began on February 28.

Arctic LNG 2 is Russia’s other export plant subject to U.S. sanctions. Washington stepped ​up sanctions on the LNG ​plants in early 2025 over ⁠Russia’s war on Ukraine.  

While crude oil cargoes can be hidden through ship-to-ship transfers at sea, LNG shipments are far harder to conceal from satellite tracking. 

While India is open to buying authorised ​Russian LNG, most of those volumes are committed to Europe, Reuters notes. Meanwhile, China remains ⁠a major buyer of both sanctioned and unsanctioned Russian LNG. Moscow is also seeking long-term deals to supply India with LNG and fertilizers such as potash, phosphorus and urea, the source added.

Before the Iran conflict disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, India was meeting half of its ⁠gas consumption ​through imports, about 60% of which had come through the waterway. More than ​half of its crude supplies came the same way.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to conserve fuel and foreign exchange by working from home, limiting foreign ​travel and reducing imports of gold and edible oil.

Rival submarine threats have emerged Monday amid the ongoing Strait of Hormuz showdown and as President Trump has said the ceasefire with Iran is on “massive life support”.

A US Navy nuclear-armed submarine has arrived in Gibraltar while en route into the Mediterranean Sea and likely Central Command or Middle East regional waters, in a very rare Pentagon admission of the whereabouts of one of America’s most secretive weapons.

Source: GBC News

“The port visit demonstrates U.S. capability, flexibility, and continuing commitment to its NATO allies,” the Navy announced, confirming that the submarine arrived in Gibraltar on Sunday. “Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines are undetectable launch platforms for submarine-launched ballistic missiles, providing the U.S. with its most survivable leg of the nuclear triad.”

The Wall Street Journal has emphasized, “The Pentagon almost never acknowledges the locations of its boomers [US naval slang], which are highly classified. The Navy didn’t provide the name of the submarine in Gibraltar.”

The revelation of the nuclear sub’s movements comes just atter President Trump blasted Iran’s latest counterproposal to a US peace plan as “totally unacceptable” and even called it “garbage” while threatening renewed anti-Tehran military action. It also comes as Trump is about to travel to China for a highly anticipated summit with Xi Jinping.

There’s current some rival ‘sub flexing’ going on among the two rival and warring powers, given also the following from Bloomberg on the same day: “The Islamic Republic has at least 16 of the Ghadir-class midget submarines, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.”

USS Alaska (SSBN 732) (tentatively identified) Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine coming into Gibraltar – May 10, 2026 SRC: X-@PeterFerrary pic.twitter.com/aU7V53tS3V

— WarshipCam (@WarshipCam) May 11, 2026

“Each has a crew of fewer than 10 people and can carry either two torpedoes or two Chinese-designed C-704 anti-ship cruise missiles,” the report described.

Iranian Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said the domestically built submarines, known as the “Persian Gulf Dolphins,” are deployed in active operational positions calibrated to confront evolving threats.

Tehran is in essence warning it still possesses the capability to take out American destroyers and warships patrolling the area, as the deployment reinforces Tehran’s broader asymmetric warfare strategy across the Persian Gulf.

State-linked Iranian outlets have characterized the submarines as “trigger-ready” – but also say they are capable of prolonged seabed-resting surveillance operations.

All of this suggests intense submarine warfare could soon come to the Hormuz Strait and Persian Gulf waters. Already most of the Iranian Navy’s surface vessels were obliterated in over a month of intense US-Israeli airstrikes.

Authored by Chase Smith via The Epoch Times,

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Friday named six Democratic states he wants to join New York in pursuing mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2028 election—a longer-term play as both parties have raced to redraw maps before the November 2026 midterms.

“It’s going to be incredibly important that states like New York, New Jersey, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Maryland and Illinois are aggressive in moving forward to ensure that there’s a fair national map, particularly in light of what the Supreme Court’s attack on the Voting Rights Act has unleashed,” Jeffries said in an interview with CNN published on May 8.

Congressional maps are slated to be redrawn after the next census in 2030.

The comments came the same day that the Virginia Supreme Court voided an April referendum that would have allowed state Democrats to redraw Virginia’s congressional map ahead of the November midterms. Democrats had said the new Virginia map could result in their having 10 congressional seats to only one for Republicans. Virginia now has six Democratic members of Congress and five Republicans.

Jeffries called the Virginia ruling “unprecedented” and “undemocratic” in a statement released by his office on Friday.

“Over three million Virginia citizens cast their votes in a free and fair election, yet the State Supreme Court has chosen to invalidate their voice, disenfranchise them and violate their due process rights,” Jeffries said in the statement.

He added, “We are exploring all options to overturn this shocking decision. No matter what it takes, House Democrats will win in November so we can help rescue this nation from the extremism being unleashed by Donald Trump and Republicans.”

Despite the setback, Jeffries told CNN that Democrats could still flip “at least two” GOP-held seats in Virginia under the existing congressional map.

“If the current map holds in Virginia, we will at minimum flip two seats. And we’re exploring other options given how unpopular the policies of the Republican party have been,” Jeffries told CNN.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court on April 29 ruled in Louisiana v. Callais that Louisiana’s congressional map was unconstitutional because race was the predominant factor in drawing the lines, a decision that limits redistricting based on race. Democrats and voting rights advocates say the decision guts the Voting Rights Act and gives Republican-led states grounds to revisit majority-minority districts.

Republicans hailed the ruling. Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton said on May 6 that the Supreme Court had “opined that redistricting, like the judicial system, should be color-blind.” He noted that the court had also indicated that “states can redistrict based off partisan politics” as the state began redrawing its districts.

Republican-led states have moved quickly.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on May 7 signed a new congressional map that splits Memphis into three districts and will probably eliminate the state’s only Democratic-held congressional seat. The Tennessee General Assembly first passed a measure repealing a state law that had previously prohibited mid-decade redistricting.

Republicans have also moved this year to redraw congressional maps in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri, and Florida. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 4 signed a new map that could add up to four Republican-leaning seats to that state’s congressional delegation.

Democrats have countered with their own mid-decade redraws in California and the now-voided Virginia attempt. On May 4, Jeffries launched what he calls the New York Democracy Project, an effort to recruit New York into the mid-decade redistricting fight.

Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), dispatched to Albany by Jeffries, pressed New York Democratic leaders to advance a constitutional amendment enabling mid-decade redistricting before the legislature adjourns the first week of June. A New York constitutional change would require passage by two consecutive legislative sessions before going to voters for ratification.

Jeffries on Monday told House Democrats in a Dear Colleague letter that he will host a caucus-wide briefing on Thursday with Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), the ranking Democrat on the House Administration Committee, to discuss what he called “the largest voter protection effort in modern American history.”

National Republican Redistricting Trust Executive Director Adam Kincaid told The Epoch Times this past week that the broader push amounted to “Hochul and Jeffries’s annual attempt to illegally gerrymander New York and roll back the state’s twice-voter-approved redistricting commission.”

In a significant development announced today by the U.S. Department of Justice, Arcadia, California Mayor Eileen Wang has been charged with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government – the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Wang, 58, has agreed to plead guilty to the felony, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. She resigned from her position as mayor and Arcadia City Council member this afternoon following the unsealing of the case.

According to court filings and the DOJ’s Central District of California announcement, Wang and her former fiancé, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, operated the U.S. News Center, a website that presented itself as a news source for the local Chinese-American community. From late 2020 through 2022, they received and executed directives from PRC government officials – primarily via WeChat – to post pro-PRC propaganda. Examples include publishing pre-written articles denying forced labor or genocide in Xinjiang, editing content at the direction of Chinese officials, and sharing view counts and links in coordinated group chats. PRC officials reportedly praised the speed and effectiveness of the posts, with messages such as “So fast, thank you everyone” and “Great!”

Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang has been charged with violating 18 USC 951, acting in the United States as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China.

Wang appeared in federal court this afternoon for her arraignment. She agreed to plead guilty and resign from public office.… pic.twitter.com/toYWJ7htvG

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) May 11, 2026

Wang did not register as a foreign agent with the U.S. Attorney General, as required by law, and failed to disclose on the website that certain content originated from or was directed by the PRC government. She was elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022 (later becoming mayor on a rotating basis) with assistance from Sun, who worked on her campaign.

Linked to Previously Convicted Chinese Agent

Sun, 65, of Chino Hills, was sentenced in February 2026 to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty in October 2025 to the same charge of acting as an illegal agent of the PRC. Prosecutors said Sun monitored the 2023 visit of Taiwan’s president to California, corresponded with Chinese officials, and helped promote PRC interests while supporting Wang’s political rise. A related figure, John Chen – a high-level PRC intelligence operative who had met Xi Jinping – was sentenced in November 2024 to 20 months in prison for acting as an illegal agent and conspiracy to bribe a public official.

DOJ officials framed the case as part of broader efforts to counter Chinese influence operations. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli stated: “Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy.” FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky added that Wang “secretly served the interests of the Chinese government,” warning that such actors “will be identified, investigated, and brought to justice.”

🚨 Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang in California has been charged with acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China in the United States.

Mayor Wang admitted to acting as a foreign agent from at least 2020 through 2022 – promoting PRC propaganda in the U.S. and acting…

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) May 11, 2026

Pattern of CCP Links to Democratic Politicians

Wang’s case fits into a documented series of instances where Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence or influence operations have intersected with Democratic elected officials, particularly in California. While no widespread conspiracy has been proven, federal investigators and counterintelligence experts have repeatedly flagged “united front” work by the PRC targeting politicians, diaspora communities, and institutions.

Dianne Feinstein’s Longtime Staffer (2018 revelations): For nearly 20 years, a Chinese national served as Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) personal driver, office gofer, and liaison to the Asian-American community in her San Francisco office. The staffer reported local political information to China’s Ministry of State Security through the San Francisco consulate. The FBI alerted Feinstein around 2013 (while she chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee). She immediately fired the individual, who had no access to classified material according to her office. No criminal charges were filed against him or the senator. The story surfaced publicly in 2018 via the San Francisco Chronicle and Politico.

Rep. Eric Swalwell and Christine “Fang Fang” Fang (2020 reporting): Axios revealed that suspected Chinese MSS operative Christine Fang cultivated relationships with several rising California Democratic politicians, most notably Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). Fang raised campaign funds for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection (acting as a bundler), helped place at least one intern in his congressional office, and interacted with him socially over several years. Reports indicated a possible romantic or sexual relationship, though Swalwell has neither confirmed nor denied it in detail.

Fang abruptly left the U.S. in 2015 around the time an FBI counterintelligence investigation into her intensified. Swalwell, who later joined the House Intelligence Committee, cooperated with the FBI, received a defensive briefing, and has stated he cut off all contact upon learning of concerns. No wrongdoing was attributed to him, but the episode drew intense scrutiny given his national security role.

Other historical cases include the 1990s “Chinagate” fundraising scandals involving Democratic National Committee figures and alleged PRC-linked donors during the Clinton administration, though those centered more on illegal campaign contributions than direct agent activity.

Implications and Context

While we can’t imagine there are any American mayors of Chinese cities – U.S. intelligence agencies have long warned that the CCP employs sophisticated, long-term influence operations to shape narratives, gather political intelligence, and cultivate relationships with American elites – especially in states with large Chinese-American populations such as California. These efforts often involve ostensibly independent media, community organizations, and political operatives who do not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Wang’s guilty plea – following Sun’s conviction – represents one of the most direct recent examples of an elected U.S. official admitting to covertly advancing PRC interests while in or seeking public office. Her resignation and the DOJ’s swift action underscore federal prosecutors’ focus on holding accountable those who “act only for the people of the United States,” as Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg put it.

Critics argue these cases reveal insufficient vetting of political aides, campaign staff, and even romantic partners in an era of aggressive CCP espionage. Supporters of the implicated politicians emphasize that most relationships began innocently and that no classified information was compromised in the Feinstein or Swalwell matters.

As of this writing, Wang is expected to formally enter her guilty plea in the coming weeks. The case will likely fuel renewed debate in Washington and Sacramento about foreign influence transparency laws, campaign finance rules, and counterintelligence screening for candidates and staffers.

Iran has executed 29-year-old aerospace engineer Erfan Shakourzadeh on Monday on espionage charges despite his protestations that authorities tortured him into giving a false confession, according to a prison note published before his execution, as recounted in Western press reports.

Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website announced and confirmed the execution, describing that he was hanged after being convicted for allegedly collaborating with the CIA and Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.

Various human rights organizations have rejected the validity of the charges, and have decried his execution, having for weeks raised the alarm that he was on death row.

Shakourzadeh studied electrical engineering at the University of Tabriz before graduating top of his class in the master’s program in Aerospace Engineering and Satellite Technology at Iran University of Science and Technology.

He was a leading young specialist in the field and worked at a scientific organization focused on satellite technology before intelligence agents from the elite IRGC arrested him in February 2025. So the case predates the current war, but is highly significant amid the US pressure campaign.

State Mizan agency went on to allege that Shakourzadeh was “a joint CIA and Mossad spy,” stating that he had been recruited “as a project and due to his expertise.”

CBS has said he’s the latest death in a growing list of espionage cases:

He is the fifth person to be executed on espionage charges since the beginning of the war in late February.

Authorities have also since then executed 13 men charged over January protests, one more over 2022 demonstrations and 10 accused of links to banned opposition groups, according to IHR.

President Trump had weeks ago personally highlighted that eight women protesters were also set to be executed, but that he intervened with Iranian officials and threatened more military action, effectively stopping it.

However, Trump’s claims have been largely debunked. It has been confirmed that at least one among the eight is real and is likely in prison, but other details concerning the group of women have not been established or else outright disproven.

Iran executed Erfan Shakourzadeh, a 29-year-old aerospace engineering master’s student at Iran University of Science and Technology who worked on satellite projects.

He was convicted of espionage for the CIA and Mossad, accused of sharing classified satellite data, employee… pic.twitter.com/q1C1kFHl0g

— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 11, 2026

But it does remain clear that Iran has been busy hunting down alleged collaborators, also after Mossad and Israeli officials have time and again openly boasted that they are working with individuals and networks on the ground inside Iran.

Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

Chinese car sales in China fell by 21.5% in April, driven by lower demand for gasoline-powered vehicles amid higher fuel prices. EV demand failed to offset the drop in internal combustion engine vehicle sales, as well.

According to Bloomberg data, total car sales in China last month hit 1.4 million. This was the lowest since 2022, when China was still in the grip of Covid lockdowns. Internal combustion engine car sales suffered a decline of over 30%, while EV and hybrid car sales fell by a more modest 6.8%. EV sales suffered as a result of a rollback of subsidies and the reintroduction of a tax on what China calls new energy vehicles.

As a result of the slump in gasoline car sales, new energy vehicles came to account for 60% of new car sales last month. This is the highest monthly portion of EVs and hybrids of total new car sales.

In addition to the fuel prices, subsidy removal, and the return of taxes on EVs, China’s car sales declined as a result of weaker purchasing power – another consequence of the war in the Middle East.

The energy crisis has slowed down China’s economic growth, prompting job cuts and lower wages, which have in turn affected consumers’ spending appetite, Bloomberg noted in its report.

China has the world’s largest crude oil stockpiles, estimated at between 1 billion barrels and up to 1.3 billion barrels. This provides the country with quite solid insulation against supply shocks – even though it has not prevented retail fuel prices from moving higher.

Thanks to this reserve cushion and its diversification policies, despite being the top crude importer in the world, China is less exposed to the Hormuz crisis than many other buyers in Asia, including India and the developed economies of Japan and South Korea. India relies on the Middle East for about 60% of its crude supply, while Japan’s dependence is a massive 90%.