US air forces struck a three separate camps–two in Syria and one in Iraq–that were being used as arms depots and launch points for unmanned aerial vehicles that were attacking US troops and positions in the region, the Associated Press reports.

The attacks were “defensive” in nature, according to Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby, who stated the US had evidence the militia groups were being used to launch and control an “ongoing series of attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting U.S. interests in Iraq.”

This is the second such series of attacks US forces have undertaken in the region since President Joe Biden took office.  In February, Biden ordered attacks on camps in Syria run that were also run by Iranian-supported groups.

Axios: “Nearly three-dozen corporate PACs have donated at least $5,000 to Republicans who objected to certifying the 2020 election, yet Toyota leads by a substantial margin. Following Jan. 6, huge segments of corporate America rethought their political-giving programs. The new numbers suggest some large companies have decided to maintain support – even for members of Congress deeply enmeshed in the pro-Trump conspiracy theories that fueled the Capitol attack. Some prominent GOP objectors also have found they can replace any lost corporate support with small-dollar, grassroots donations driven by their reputations as pro-Trump hardliners. Data compiled by the left-leaning watchdog group CREW show Toyota gave $55,000 to 37 GOP objectors this year.”

“That equates to a quarter of the bloc that voted to nullify President Biden’s win after the Capitol siege. Toyota gave more than twice as much – and to nearly five times as many members of Congress – as the No. 2 company on the list, Cubic Corp., a San Diego-based defense contractor. The Japanese automaker’s donations this year included a February contribution to Rep. Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican who has been one of Congress’ most vocal election conspiracy theorists. Biggs also helped organize the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally prior to the Capitol attack. ‘We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification,’ a Toyota spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Axios. ‘Based on our thorough review, we decided against giving to some members who, through their statements and actions, undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institutions.” The spokesperson did not respond to a follow-up about the specific threshold for statements that cross that line.”

New York state and Manhattan prosecutors have given Trump Organization lawyers a Monday deadline to provide justification for the prosecutors to consider to not file charges against the company and possibly its officers, the Washington Post reports.

After two years of investigations by State Attorney General Leticia James and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., the lawyers for Donald Trump face an uphill battle to persuade prosecutors to forgo an indictment.

Law enforcement has been investigating the Trump Organization for questionable financial dealings, specifically regarding the varying valuations of properties for tax purposes versus for use as collateral for loans. 

Republican complaints about recent efforts to root members of far right extremist groups out of the US military represent an attempt by conservatives to maintain the military capabilities of those far right extremist groups, and constitute a declaration of intent to promote more January 6th style terrorist attacks on US Government facilities. For decades now, leaders of far right groups have encouraged their members to join military and police forces as a means of gaining access to weapons and training. (Rogers, A., 2021)

Axios reports JD Vance will announce a GOP primary run for Rob Portman’s seat this week.

“Three House Republicans each must pay $500 fines imposed by the sergeant-at-arms for being warned and then failing to wear a mask on the House floor,” reports RollCall.com. “Reps. Brian Mast of Florida, Beth Van Duyne of Texas and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa were all fined, according to an announcement released on Friday by the House Ethics Committee. The three were among 10 Republicans who defied House rules in May requiring the wearing of masks on the floor at the time. Warnings were issued, with the rules providing for fines in the event of a second offense.”

“On Sunday, Governor Cuomo updated New Yorkers on the state’s progress against COVID-19. Hospitalizations, patients in the ICU, and intubated patients statewide are at their lowest levels since the pandemic started. The governor also reports that 76,120 vaccine doses have been administered over the past 24 hours. There were 4 COVID-19 deaths in the state on Saturday,” reports CNYCentral.

Former attorney general Bill Barr told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl that he realized early on that Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the November 2020 election were “all bullshit,” according to a new book by Karl.

As reported in Rolling Stone, Barr claims he suspected from the beginning that Trump’s claims would prove to be untrue, but felt the Justice Department needed to unofficially investigate them to allay public skepticism in the election results.

“My attitude was: It was put-up or shut-up time. If there was evidence of fraud, I had no motive to suppress it. But my suspicion all the way along was that there was nothing there. It was all bullshit,” Barr said.

The Three Percenters, also known as III%, a far-right wing extremist group that falsely claims only 3% of colonial white men fought for independence from Britain in the 1700s, has been named an extremist group by the Canadian government, the Washington Post reports.

The US-based anti-government group has been linked to the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the US Capitol, a plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and terrorist attacks on a Muslim Mosque.

“We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect our country and our interests and to keep Canadians safe here at home and around the world,” Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said at a Saturday news conference.

“Sen. Ron Johnson preached unity and positivity to the party faithful at the state Republican convention on Saturday, painting Dems as an angry party bent on fundamentally changing America. Johnson said he’s ‘more panicked’ than ever about the state of the country, having run for the first time in 2010 based on the same fears. Johnson defeated Wisconsin Democratic folk hero Russ Feingold in 2010 and again in 2016, outperforming Donald Trump when the former president won Wisconsin – the first GOP presidential candidate to do so since 1984. ‘The leaders of the left talk about fundamentally transforming this nation. Do you even like, much less love, something you want to fundamentally transform? America’s not perfect; we had that original sin from slavery, but we’ve made progress. We’ve continuously improved. That’s not good enough for the left.'”

“Johnson has not yet announced whether he will seek a third term, but took the stage to chants of ‘six more years!’ He told supporters the Republican Party’s mission statement should be ‘to unify, unite and heal this nation.’ ‘We’re not going to do that by being angry. We’re not going to do that by imitating what (liberals) do, by being nasty,’ Johnson said. ‘We’re going to do that by allowing light to pierce the darkness.’ Johnson cited several examples of recent confrontations as evidence that the left has grown increasingly angry, including a man who approached him on an airplane, got in his face and called him a ‘disgrace,’ and a woman who followed him through the Milwaukee airport making the same statement. The senator also referenced Milwaukee’s Juneteenth celebration, where he said he had a generally positive experience but was booed and shouted at by a small group of ‘incredibly profane and nasty’ people as he spoke to the press” – Wisconsin Capital Times.

Spotted by Mississippi Free Press reporter Ashton Pittman.

Politico: “President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda appears back on track in Congress, with Republicans praising his newly clarified approach to their bipartisan infrastructure plan and a key Democrat endorsing work on a separate, larger spending package. Two GOP negotiators on the bipartisan infrastructure deal said Sunday that they were mollified by Biden’s Saturday statement vowing to support the bipartisan framework on its own merits, rather than withholding his signature until he also received a larger, partisan proposal. Many Republicans interpreted his remarks in the aftermath of their deal on Thursday as an implicit veto threat. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ that ‘the waters have been calmed’ by Biden’s statement Saturday that clarified he supports the bipartisan plan ‘without reservation.'”

“Romney predicted the proposal, which has not been drafted but aims to provide nearly $600 billion in new spending on roads, bridges and broadband, would have sufficient support to pass the Senate. It will need at least 60 votes, including at least 10 Republicans. Some of those needed GOP votes wavered on Friday after Biden said if the bipartisan bill ‘is the only one that comes to me, I’m not signing it.’ ‘I am glad they have now been de-linked and we can move forward with a bipartisan bill,’ said Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), the lead GOP negotiator, on ABC’s ‘This Week.’ He said Republicans ‘were glad to see them disconnected. And now we can move forward.’ Portman and Romney’s comments signal that over the two-week July Fourth recess, negotiators can start drafting legislation that provides the largest investments in physical infrastructure in U.S. history. While there are more opportunities for that effort to be derailed, Biden’s work to reassure Republicans to stay on board and his acknowledgment Saturday that they were ‘understandably upset’ with him seems to be paying off.”

From New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi.

“The Federal Election Commission fined the Senate campaign of Jeff Sessions $15,000 for failing to properly disclose a last-minute, $150,000 loan from the candidate. Campaigns are required to notify the FEC within 48 hours about any contributions or loans they receive greater than $1,000 in the 20-day period before election day. On June 30, 2020, two weeks before a Republican primary runoff against Tommy Tuberville, Sessions lent his campaign $150,000. But the campaign did not disclose the loan until July, after Sessions had lost the runoff to Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a former football coach who then went on to defeat Democrat Doug Jones in the general election.”

“‘[Sessions] gained the strategic advantage of duping his opponent into thinking his campaign had less money to spend than it actually did in the final days of the campaign,’ said Brett Kappel, an attorney specializing in campaign finance. ‘This is exactly the type of gamesmanship that the 48-hour reporting requirement was supposed to prevent.’ On Dec. 28, Sessions, who served as Trump’s attorney general but eventually lost the president’s favor, forgave the $124,000 balance of the loan. The campaign, which was notified about the fine in February, paid the $15,000 penalty in May. As of March 31 though, it had no cash on hand, so it’s not yet clear where the $15,000 came from. The campaign’s treasurer, Anita Barrera, declined to comment” – Forbes.

Daily Beast: “Two months after Republican congressional candidate Derrick Van Orden lost his 2020 race, he joined ‘stop the steal’ rioters on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol – and he paid for the trip with donor money left over from his failed campaign. Now Van Orden is running again, and has already scored major endorsements from senior GOP House leadership, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL and small-time actor, has previously acknowledged attending the Jan. 6 rally, but has repeatedly claimed he never entered the Capitol grounds. However, social media posts from the riot suggest that isn’t true.”

“A Facebook image from Jan. 6 shows Van Orden standing on a wall on the Capitol grounds that was inside a restricted area. (The Daily Beast recreated the photo on Friday and confirmed that Van Orden would have had to cross police barricades to reach that area.) As for Van Orden’s campaign expenses surrounding Jan. 6, it’s unclear how they relate to Van Orden’s attendance. Federal Election Commission regulations state that travel expenses must be ‘directly related to the campaign.’ Van Orden – who wrote off roughly $4,000 in transportation and D.C. hotel costs around Jan. 6 for him, his wife, and a campaign staffer – lost his race in November and didn’t declare his 2022 candidacy until April. Jordan Libowitz, communications director for campaign finance watchdog Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, questioned the legitimacy of the expenses. ‘Campaign accounts are not personal slush funds. They must be used for campaign-related activities. Attempting to overthrow an election you just lost is not a proper campaign activity,’ Libowitz told The Daily Beast. ‘If he did use his campaign to pay for travel for him and his staff to attend the rally-turned-insurrection, it would raise serious questions about his compliance with campaign finance laws.'”

But you’re still a commie. https://t.co/Vj5kDSDwhO

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) June 27, 2021

“Now look, we don’t need big government and Washington politicians coming into our state and trying to tell the people of Florida how to live!”

What is that?  It’s the refrain of the anti-regulation Republican, and that’s just one of the standard tropes that Republicans in Florida will be trotting out in the next few months as they insist that there’s absolutely no need for any “job killing big government regulations” regarding the condition of large residential and office towers on the Florida coast. “I mean come on!” they will insist “There was absolutely no way that anyone could have predicted something like this happening!”

This may end up being the most controversial of National Zero articles, ever.

“Johnson & Johnson will pay $230 million to resolve an opioids lawsuit, days before the company was slated to go to trial, in a settlement reached with New York Attorney General Letitia James,” reports ABC News. “The company will end the sale of all opioid products nationwide, James’ office announced Saturday.”

“Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, stopped marketing opioid medications in the U.S. in 2015 and in 2020 discontinued distributing all of its prescription pain medications in the U.S., the company said.”

The Inspector General of the Environmental Protection Agency found that two Trump appointees to the agency arranged for two people fired from the EPA to receive tens of thousands of dollars in salary after they left their jobs, Politico reports.

The payments were arranged by former chief of staff Ryan Jackson and former White House liaison Charles Munoz, two political appointees in the agency, for two other, unnamed former employees of the agency.  Additionally, the OIG report find that Munoz received more than $95,000 improperly, due to an illegitimate raise and “fraudulent timesheets” submitted.

In the case of the first employee, the person was fired from their job in 2017, but Munoz arranged for the person to continue to receive their biweekly salary, reportedly at the direction of Jackson, leading to an unwarranted $14,181.38 in payments.  Munoz told he department’s human resources management division that the person had not been fired and was instead on “extended telework.”  Jackson claimed that he arranged for the plan because he felt the employee’s termination had been unfair.  The federal government does not provide severance pay to any employee.