Evening Wire: U.S. Confirms Deployment of Weapons In Space & FEDs Thwart ISIS Attack? | 9.15.26

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Energy for everything. Visit txu.com for more information. Rep number 10004. President Trump slams the Supreme Court over its mail-in voting ruling, federal agents thwart an ISIS attack, and the U.S. government has confirmed for the first time the deployment of weapons in space. The Gipper would be proud. I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Mickley with Georgia Howe. It's Tuesday, September 15th. This is Evening Wire. FBI Director Kash Patel's hearing before Congress this morning turned dramatic as senators berated the director over his job performance. Performance and private behavior. Tempers flared when Senator Peter Welsh questioned Patel on his response to an article from The Atlantic, which claimed the director would frequently become visibly intoxicated in public. She wrote, you are known to drink to the point of obvious intoxication in many cases in a private club at Ned's in Washington, D.C. She also wrote, you are known to drink to excess at the poodle room in Las Vegas. Did the FBI ever investigate the author of that article, Ms. Fitzpatrick, following that? As a U.S. citizen, I have every right to claim the truth. She printed false material. I'm taking her to court as a personal private. Let me finish. No, as a personal private citizen, I am. Other lines of questioning fell down a strange rabbit hole as senators questioned the FBI's loosening of recruiting restrictions, including allowing applicants who'd been convicted of certain crimes, including sex crimes. According to a memo issued this June, the FBI has lowered hiring standards by dropping automatic disqualification for applicants who have stolen from fire employees, paid for sex, or engaged in bestiality. Director Patel, do you believe those who have previously stolen from employers, solicited sex, or engaged in bestiality are qualified candidates that the FBI is losing? We did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked. We did not want to make it an automatic disqualification for the FBI to consider you if you are a victim of these awful, heinous acts. They still have to go to the same rigorous standards and application process. The most fiery statements, however, came from Senator Cory Booker in his closing remarks. We don't have an FBI director. We have a lackey here who is using government, and frankly, he's not even a good lackey. He's an incompetent lackey. He's like an 18-year-old kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member of, doing keg stands and chugging with friends. He's an embarrassment to the agency, and wouldn't qualify even to be an FBI agent, sir. Federal agents have arrested a 21-year-old Pennsylvania man they say was preparing to carry out an attack for ISIS. Reporter Zach Jewell has the latest. Prosecutors say Jonathan Kramer was observed outside a sporting goods store north of Pittsburgh on September 12th, carrying a rifle, five magazines, and 190 rounds of ammunition he'd bought earlier that day. He was arrested later that day in a hotel parking lot. According to the criminal complaint, Kramer pledged allegiance to ISIS on line and said he was preparing for his, quote, mission, but still needed a weapon. FBI Director Kash Patel said Kramer had been, quote, plotting a violent attack in support of ISIS and that the agency had him on its radar for years. In 2023, when he was still a minor, he faced legal consequences over a separate thwarted mass casualty plot. President Donald Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court today after the justices ruled against his administration on a major mail-in voting initiative. The president took to Truth Social, writing, quote, end quote. The president went on to praise Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who dissented from Monday's order. Trump called the pair legends. California Democratic Governor, Gavin Newsom, said he would not run for president in 2028 if former Vice President Kamala Harris enters the race. Newsom said a contest between the two California Democrats would benefit Republicans and force their overlapping allies to pick sides. Take a listen. If she runs, you will not? Of course not. Why would I? I wouldn't do that to her. I wouldn't do it to me. Why would I? I wouldn't do that to you. I wouldn't waste everyone's time. Who needs that? What do you mean? That doesn't even make sense to me. I just, I wouldn't. No, I wouldn't. First of all, electorally, it's a gift from God for everybody else. They enjoy the hell out of it. Mutual assured destruction. It services no greater good. Jake Tapper then pointed out that, quote, she had a shot and you've never run. She's run twice. Newsom conceded that if he ran, that fact would likely be the basis of his campaign approach, but said in the end that it would do the party no good. This declaration was more definitive than the answer he gave in February when CNN's Dana Bash asked him the same thing, to which Newsom said, quote, determine that. In an exclusive report from Daily Wire, Obamacare plans have been revealed to have used taxpayer money for abortions. Culture reporter Megan Basham has more. From an investigation by the Government Accountability Office, nearly a quarter of Affordable Care Act plans cover abortions, upending a longtime Democratic talking point. Of the 6,655 qualified health plans offered on Obamacare exchanges, 1,719 covered. Cover, quote, unquote, non-accepted abortion services, meaning elective abortions that are not the result of rape, incest, or danger to the mother's life. New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith spoke to the Daily Wire, stating, today's GAO report confirms the very concerns that Republicans have raised for over 15 years. The ACA fails to apply the longstanding and bipartisan Hyde Amendment law, which protects taxpayer dollars from funding abortion, both directly and indirectly. And through federal health plans, Representative Smith, along with Roger Wicker in the Senate, are now proposing legislation to make certain that Obamacare plans abide by the Hyde Amendment. There appears to be a new deadly drug on the market. A 16-year-old was found having passed away in his bed from an overdose. Originally assumed to be fentanyl, his toxicology results revealed a substance 10 times the strength. Our reporter Lauren Baer has the details. Dante Paul LaCourte's toxicology report showed that he had consumed a lethal amount of cyclophene, an emerging synthetic opioid estimated to be up to 10 times more potent than fentanyl. The drug traces back to compounds developed in a Belgian lab during the 1960s. And while never approved for medical use because they were considered, quote, too strong and dangerous, the research was published in scientific journals that are now available online. LaCourte's death marked the first time cyclophene, appeared in a San Francisco medical examiner's report. Police later used evidence from LaCourte's phone and pills found in his bedroom to conduct undercover drug purchases and obtain arrest warrants. Police arrested four people on numerous felony charges who operated just 10 minutes from where LaCourte passed away. Authorities seized over 20,000 pills during the investigation, but warned the new drug could already be spreading through the country. Countries around the world are cracking down on online gaming for kids. Producer, and resident gamer Wyatt Harms has the details. The game was forced to implement age verification that required users to submit an Australian credit card. The approximately 30% of Australian adults who don't use credit cards, however, were locked out. Other gamers across the world voiced their concern over age verification, citing a massive 2011 data breach from Sony, the maker of PlayStation. If age verification requires submitting more personal information, many users are wary of companies' abilities to keep that data safe. A Russian warship fired two flares at a Danish military helicopter operating over international waters off Denmark, with one flare passing close to the aircraft. Denmark's foreign minister called the incident, quote, completely unacceptable, while the nation's prime minister described it as, quote, reckless action intended to intimidate and divide European countries. Russia's ambassador said Moscow would investigate, but accused the Danish military of conducting dangerous maneuvers near Russian warships. The incident comes amid a string of Russian-linked airspace incursions, drone activity, and alleged sabotage across Europe as tensions between Russia and NATO remain high. The U.S. government has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space. Air Force Secretary Troy Mink told the Air and Space Cyber Conference in Maryland on Monday that the military has fielded, quote, on-orbit space control weapons in order to defend against, quote, hostile adversary action. He did not give any details on what the weapons were or how they operate. The latest news follows years of warnings about Russian and Chinese anti-satellite programs. And has Costco begun rationing oil products? Daily Wire Costco correspondent Birch Masterson has the story. Costco has raised the price of its Kirkland synthetic motor oil from just over $30 to $57.99 while limiting members to one case per transaction and two per week. Mobile One also now has a five-per-member limit. The price hikes and shortages are tied partly to the U.S.-Iran war and disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. With Brent crude rising from about $72 a barrel in July to $109 on Monday, the U.S. gets about 40% of the Group 3 base oils used in synthetic motor oil from the Middle East, while oil companies have shifted production towards gasoline and diesel. A drone attack also damaged a major Saudi pipeline, with analyst Andy Lippow warning, quote, the longer the shutdown, the higher the price, while saying repairs could take months. Those are your drive-home updates. This evening, to learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And in case you missed it earlier today, we covered some major stories, including Mayor Zoran Mamdani suing the Trump administration, the president responding to calls for federal AI regulation, and new developments in the Hayden-Penetier investigation. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.