American intelligence officials tell the Wall Street Journal that a Wuhan virologist whose research into coronaviruses was funded by the US government became sick with an unspecified illness in November 2019 that might’ve just kind have been COVID-19, but nobody’s sure.

Ben Hu, who survived and is still living today, worked out of the Wuhan Institute of Virology – specifically on whether certain naturally occurring coronaviruses could spread from bats to humans and was the subject of US intel research into the origins of the virus. But you know some people still really love that “raccoon dogs in the wet market” theory and are hanging on tight to it.

https://youtu.be/MZDYyiLqpNk

On Tuesday piece of shit MAGA lawyer John Eastman faces disbarment in a California Bar Association ethics trial over his involvement in the plot to overturn the 2020 election.

A new CNN/SSRS survey finds 59 percent of respondents agreeing that disgraced former President Trump should end his campaign to return to the White House after getting slapped with a 37 count federal indictment for stealing classified documents while the remaining 41 percent said he should continue. Among Republican respondents 27 percent said he should drop out, as did 61 percent of independent voters and unsurprisingly 90 percent of Dem respondents.

In the same hilarious overlap we saw after the fat bastard was indicted in Manhattan, 71 percent of respondents said “politics played a role” in the decision to charge Trump which, when coupled with 61 percent who approve of the decision to charge him again shows that “politically motivated” does not actually mean “not guilty.” The survey also saw a minor but still significant slippage in Trump’s approval among Republicans at 67 percent, down from 77 percent the last time CNN polled on the question. A smaller dip was seen in his support in the GOP primary, from 53 to 47 percent.

Kev got just a little upset and flustered Tuesday when a reporter asked him why he’s bitching so much about Hunter Biden’s plea deal when the US Attorney in Delaware who accepted it was a Trump appointee held over specifically because his office was investigating Hunter. You can tell when he’s getting into defensive little bitch mode when he tries to turn questions around like he’s in a debate with a reporter. That’s Kevin’s go-to move when he feels cornered by the leftist media.

“Given defendant’s denigration of ‘the whole New York Judicial System’ – which defendant has characterized as having judges ‘just as bad or, believe it or not, worse!’ than this Court – it is not mere speculation to be concerned that recusal here would simply invite additional recusal motions until defendant is assigned a judge he likes,” writes Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office in a motion opposing Trump’s move for Judge Juan Merchan to recuse from the case over a fucking $15 donation Merchan made to Hoe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.

Tuesday’s news was a deeply unwelcome surprise to the MAGA internet, who erupted with all the impotent fury their Orange Messiah did after their hated enemy Hunter Biden copped to his crimes:

“I bet everyone on here will be totally shocked by this latest show of double standards. And of course President Trump was right YET again” – The current top comment the Gateway Pundit article titled “TWO-TIERED JUSTICE: TRUMP WAS RIGHT – DOJ Gave Serial Criminal and Pervert Hunter Biden a Slap on the Wrist After Committing Major International Financial Crimes.”

“Yet that same IRS threatened my late wife with asset seizure due to taxes on a scholarship grant she was told was tax free. The fees and penalties they racked up over a few years were almost 4 times the taxes owed on her needs based grant. The guy who skates on $1.2 million most likely ‘earned’ illegally and I’m guessing intentionally didn’t pay taxes on it barely gets a slap on the wrist? Welcome to the Death of Your Republic… Already in Progress” – Top comment on PJ Media’s story.

“He won’t have any actual consequences” – The current top comment on the Breitbart story.

“Of course Hunter pleaded guilty to these charges. Compared to what ‘he could have’ been charged with……..these are nothing by comparison” – The current top comment on the Fox News article.

“Let’s be clear: the Department of Justice’s charges against President Biden’s son Hunter reveal a two-tiered system of justice. Hunter Biden is getting away with a slap on the wrist when growing evidence uncovered by the House Oversight Committee reveals the Bidens engaged in a pattern of corruption, influence peddling, and possibly bribery. These charges against Hunter Biden and sweetheart plea deal have no impact on the Oversight Committee’s investigation. We will not rest until the full extent of President Biden’s involvement in the family’s schemes are revealed” says House Oversight Committee Chairhole James Comer in a tearful statement reacting to the news.

Jeez, you’d think Old Man Trump would at least crack a smile over somebody else getting worked by the federal criminal justice system – a guy he’s been obsessed with for years, no less. Maybe he should see a therapist or something if he can’t express even just a little bit of joy over Hunter’s misery. Sure, it’s not everything Donald wanted, but why so negative over a “good” thing?

International criminal mastermind or irresponsible crackhead depending on who you ask Hunter Biden has taken a plea deal on two misdemeanor federal tax charges and a felony charge of lying about his drug use on a gun permit application for which he will enter a diversion program where the charge will be expunged as long as he stays out of trouble, Politico’s Kyle Cheney reports.

The fanboys will, for very obvious reasons, not be happy about this at all, as two minor tax and one gun charge are not only completely unconnected to Joe Biden, they don’t mesh politically with their ongoing shit fit over Joe’s expansion of the IRS and obviously the Second Amendment fetish. They already have these crimes priced in with Trump squealing earlier this month that federal prosecutors would “hit Hunter with something small to make their strike on me look ‘fair.'”

Florida MAGA federal Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday issued an order in United States v Donald Trump that says, literally “This case is hereby set for a Criminal Jury Trial during the two-week period commencing August 14, 2023, or as soon thereafter as the case may be called.”

We have no idea if this means she wants the trial to actually begin in less than two months from now or if it’s merely some kind of preliminary scheduling move subject to being pushed back.

Watch out ladies! Tropical Storm Bret got busy making a splash on his way to the eastern Carribbean on Monday, sauntering toward the hottest destinations and sexiest beaches in the region. Lots of men are getting nervous around Bret, knowing ladies can’t resist his bulging strength and power.

Bret’s just getting started too, as experts predict he could soon become a full-on hurricane by sheer willpower like the total alpha he is. Weaker tropical storms like Marcus and Ross simply can’t match Bret as a force of nature. Bret just blows onto the scene while those simps drifted out unnoticed.

Men’s rights activist Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan, and two of their buddies were formally indicted in Romania Tuesday on charges of human trafficking, rape, and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, CNN reports on the wonderful cherry on top of what was quite possibly the most beautiful ice cream sundae of a self-own in the history of internet shitposting.

It all began in late December when Tate, a former world-class kickboxer turned right wing social media influencer already wanted for questioning by Romanian cops for his abusive relationships with women tweeted “Hello @GretaThunberg I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions,” to which the Swedish climate activist responded “Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com,” which, as of this writing has over 3.8 million likes.

Furious over getting punked so viciously, Tate posted a video in which he questioned if all the likes to the response were authentic but the video was a box from a Romanian pizza chain, confirming to prosecutors he was still in the country. He was promptly arrested, spending the next few months in and out of jail, during which at least 15 of cars and other assets whose worth totaled upwards of $4.4 million were seized by officials. At least now he can get back into kickboxing.

House Democratic leaders are cheering as titular Speaker Kevin McCarthy is forcing his most vulnerable swing district members into having to vote for the dumbest, most extreme MAGA bullshit being brought up by the Freedom Caucasians pulling his strings, in what Politico Playbook describes as the exact opposite of how Nancy Pelosi worked to protect her frontliners from the far lefties.

“Vulnerable Republicans are going to have to answer for continuing to side with the extremists in their party,” says DCCC Chairwoman Suzan DelBene on how McCarthy has already exposed the 18 “majority makers” who hold seats in Biden-won districts to votes on cutting entitlements for millions of Americans and trying to reverse a Biden executive order on pistol braces. And it’s only going to get costlier for them in the next few months with the MAGA freaks planning an all-out assault on the Justice Department, FBI, and Trump special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation as well as tightening access to abortion drug mifepristone among other reproductive rights issues.

“Protecting or helping the vulnerable members avoid challenging votes seems incredibly low on [McCarthy’s] priority list,” said a Democratic Party official involved in House races. “In battleground districts and where the election is going to be won or lost, these are not winning issues.”

The OceanGate Expeditions touring submarine Titan is still missing as of Tuesday morning, roughly 48 hours after contact was lost with the vessel and halfway through the four day remaining oxygen supply, the BBC reports. On board are British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, Pakistani-British businessman Shahzada Dawood, and Dawood’s 19 year-old son Suleman, along with a pilot and a scientist. CBS News tech reporter David Pogue on Monday described his trip last year, which suffered a communication breakdown and was unsuccessful in making it to the Titanic wreck, as a harrowing experience and said that the sub is piloted with a modified Xbox controller.

FAILURE TO COMPLY: The Manhattan DA is being accused of coordinating with the White House, DOJ and a Democratic lawmaker about Donald Trump's prosecution. https://t.co/bBNvA6unb3 pic.twitter.com/AUniWGfstG

— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 20, 2023

Texas state Senator Angela Paxton on Monday announced she wouldn’t recuse herself from her Picasso-faced husband Attorney General Ken Paxton’s upcoming impeachment trial over charges including his securing a no-show job for a woman he was having an affair with, KHOU reports.

“I have twice been elected to represent the nearly one million Texans who reside in Senate District 8, and it is a tremendous honor and privilege to be their voice in the Texas Legislature. Each time I was elected, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of this great state, and Texas law compels each member of the Senate to attend when the Senate meets as a court of impeachment.”

“As a member of the Senate, I hold these obligations sacred and I will carry out my duties, not because it is easy, but because the Constitution demands it and because my constituents deserve it,” the pistol-packing mama said in a statement. The Texas state Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on adopting the rules of the upcoming trial, including when it will actually start.

Man, try to wedge another lettuce pun into that headline!  Anyway…  Remember Liz Truss?  She was the short-lived British Prime Minister who lasted just four Scaramuccis in office, a time so short a British tabloid put her term in office against the shelf life of a head of lettuce.  (Spoiler:  the lettuce won.)

Asked if she thought the stunt was funny, Truss snapped at the reporter who asked her the question, according to Politico, before saying, “I don’t think it was particularly funny, I think it’s puerile.”  The British tabloid The Daily Star set a live cam with Truss’s portrait next to a head of (what appears to be) iceberg lettuce.   Truss left office after her announced policies of large tax cuts coupled with unprecedented government borrowing sent the economy in a spiral.

A northern California taqueria chain hired someone to pretend to be a priest who led workers in a service where they were encouraged to pledge their loyalty to the owner and then encouraged to confess “sins” they committed against the restaurant, the Washington Post reports.  The penance:  a $140,000 fine, including paying unpaid overtime wages to workers.

According to investigators who were looking into allegations of wage theft by the company, workers said the owner brought in a man who was introduced as a priest.  The man would open sessions with a prayer, and then ask employees to participate in confession, during which the man would ask questions about whether the employee stole from the company or badmouthed management.

“As soon as the confession started, I found the conversation to be strange and unlike normal confessions, where I would tell a priest about the sins I wanted to confess,” former employee Maria Parra said in her sworn declaration. “The priest mostly had work-related questions, which I thought was strange.”

Wow, fat former President Trump was ANGRY with Fox News anchor Brett Baier having the temerity to challenge him over his claims that the 2020 election was stolen for now President Joe Biden.

There’s no point in trying to claim credit for the predictions we’ve gotten right in our nearly three years cranking out National Zero. Like when we wrote “The Red Wave’s been canceled, though Republicans were still far more likely than not to end up clinching a slim majority in the House while the Dems more likely than not would gain a seat or two in the Senate, as well as a gain in state governorships,” on August 9, 2022 that was mostly just informed luck. Other shit like saying the Durham Report was going to be a dud, that Rudy Giuliani was the source of the “Biden bribery” vaporware, and that Jim Jordan’s FBI “whistleblowers” were deranged MAGA pilled washouts who had no real evidence of political bias inside the bureau, those were all pretty easy calls.

They were all narrow situations in which past performances were good indicators if not guarantees of future results. With that, it’s pretty helpful to look at the current Robert F Kennedy Jr media hype circlejerk as not at all a sui generis effort, but a rerun of the same Jill Stein-Tulsi Gabbard-Kanye West third party “populist” scam by the same fucking fascists who oh-so desperately want Trump to return to power by capitalizing on the empty imaginations of the nihilistic lame brain no-info “voters” who may or may not show up on election day, good luck getting them to register for a Dem primary.

At 4:30 PM EDT US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger will provide an update on the search for the missing submersible owned by OceanGate Expeditions that ceased contact during a planned excursion to the Titanic. According to a statement from the Coast Guard, and not from the fucking company that took $250,000 each from the three passengers on board, the vessel actually went missing on Sunday morning, an hour and 45 minutes into its planned dive. Among the passengers was British billionaire Hamish Harding, who last year went to space on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin spacecraft, has visited both the North and South Poles, and done other rich guy stuff.