Mid-Day Update: March 18, 2026

0:00The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA is heating up, March Manus is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I could follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Dallow the Bleacher Report app today, so you never miss a moment. Hello, everybody. I'm John Fawcett with this great America show Midday Update for Wednesday, March 18th, Happy Wednesday, folks. The departure of Joe Ken, who's now the former director of National Counterterrorism Center, means one less leaker in Washington, DC, according to multiple reports. Ken's writing on Twitter in his resignation last night, quote, I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it's clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.

1:01Now the problem with his statement is, if that's the only statement he's made, then fair enough. But Ken, over the last couple of years, as recently as 2024, has made multiple, multiple statements, praising President Trump, doubling down that Iran needs to be held accountable. So why the swift change and why the all of a sudden leaks, I guess we're going to have to get to the bottom of that. Now, senior administration officials inside the White House say that Joe Ken was number one, a known leaker, and he was cut off from President Trump's intelligence briefings months ago. So I guess that tells you a little bit of what you need to know. The White House also told DNI Tulsi Gaber that he should be fired for suspected leaks, which he never did. He has not been part of any Iran planning, discussions, or briefings at all since they started planning them. So I think that all tells you a little bit of what you need to know about who this fellow was. I never met him or anything, but I think it tells you who his character is.

2:01Now director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gaber swiftly crushed the narrative pushed by the outgoing counterterrorism director, making it crystal clear that President Trump acted lawfully, decisively, and with full intelligence backing when he orders strikes against Iran, Gaber put out a statement saying Donald Trump was overwhelmingly elected by the American people to be our president and commander in chief. As our commander in chief, he is responsible for determining what is and what is not imminent threat and whether or not to take action, he deems necessary to protect the safety and security of our troops, the American people and our country. The office of DNIs responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence provided to the president and commander in chief with the best information available to inform his decisions. After carefully reviewing all information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamic regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion. It doesn't get much more simple than that, folks.

3:02Joe Kent, I think, is probably going to have to explain himself and from what we're being told he's joined in Tucker Carlson tonight at 6 p.m. Eastern time, so maybe we'll get some answers to figure out what exactly his deal was. President Trump expressing great displeasure with other countries for turning down his request to send their militaries to the street of Harmoos to protect civilian ships and tankers from the radical Islamists in Iran and their minds that they're placing. President Trump is not asking these countries for boots on the ground. He's specifically called out China, France, Japan, South Korea and the UK and a few others that are affected by this artificial constraint is what he's calling it. They should have always been an effort, a team effort is what President Trump says and he says the United States will be sure to remember their refusal should they not want to help and they haven't helped. He's not asking for boots on the ground, as I say. He's asking for air patrol, he's asking for boats, minestiffing devices to not protect anybody, but civilians who are passing through the street to ship oil or other commodities

4:08that are needed to get in and out of the straits, so a great disservice to those countries are doing to the rest of the world. House oversight chairman James Comer, subpoena attorney general Pam Bondi, for a deposition on Tuesday, she comes under continued scrutiny for her handling of the Epstein files and potential non-compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The deposition is now scheduled for April 14th of this year, Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blancher also scheduled to give a private briefing to the Oversight Committee later on this afternoon and attach letter to Bondi, Comer Express concerns over non-compliance with her Transparency Act that they had passed, that was signed in a law by President Trump last November and possible mismanagement of the investigation into Epstein and his associates. It's going to be an interesting one to see folks. We said it finally doing a little bit of work. Last night successfully launched their floor takeover to put the Senate Democrats on the record against President Trump's back voter ID legislation to move to shift the spotlight

5:08from the internal GOB divisions over safeguarding American voter eligibility act and the Senate Democrats were ultimately withholding the needed votes to pass the bill. Senate Marx's dem dictator Chuck Schumer saying, quote, not a single Democrat will support the Save Act. It's a radical bill. That's their puppet master. The Senate, of course, advanced the Save Act in a vote of 51 to 48 late last night. Now we wait and see what the Democrats want to do. Speaking of the Democrats, there's one who might be in a little bit of trouble. If the Democrats buy, I don't know, some kind of like 2% chance, take back the House in November. One of their first casualties might actually be Hakeem Jeffries as their, I guess their role leader. Axios is reporting that more than 80 Democrat House candidates for 2026 are either non-committal or outright opposed to Jeffries becoming the next speaker of the House, characterizing the development as a rebellion.

6:08So I guess Jeffries doesn't really have the support of his people or the American people for that matter. Folks, please be sure to join us tonight in each and every night 6 PM Eastern time for the Great America Show, Rumble, YouTube, Twitter, wherever you guys join us. We'll see you there. I'm John Fausle, this midday update, happy Wednesday folks. Hey, this is Byard Winthrop, founder of American Giant. I started this company because I was fed up with cheap clothes that didn't last and a system that ship manufacturing overseas. We believed we could still make incredible hoodies, t-shirts and pants right here in the US, with American cotton, American factories and people earning real wages. That's what American Giant stands for, building clothes that actually last, get 20% off your first order when you use promo code giant20 at American-giant.com. That's 20% off when you use code giant20 at American-giant.com.