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MAGA Representative Had Affair With Aide Who Set Herself on Fire
New Republic • Feb 18, 2026

MAGA Representative Had Affair With Aide Who Set Herself on Fire

MAGA Representative Tony Gonzales reportedly had an affair with an aide in 2024. When she told the rest of the office last April, Gonzales abruptly cut her off and demoted her at work. A few months later, she set herself on fire and died. Gonzales is currently running for reelection in Texas.Regina Ann Santos-Aviles was a 35-year-old wife and mother who served as the regional director for Gonzales’s Uvalde, Texas, office. An anonymous former staffer who described himself as Santos-Aviles’s “best friend” told San Antonio Express News that Gonzales stayed at a staffer’s family cabin in Uvalde, and Santos-Aviles spent between one to two hours alone with the married congressman there on two separate occasions. On May 29, just one day after Gonzales’s primary victory, Santos-Aviles made her affair known to the rest of the staff.It appears that Santos-Aviles was punished for her admission, as meetings she set were canceled and the representative stopped traveling to Uvalde, something he had done regularly. Her husband also became aware of the affair, adding to her distress. She spiraled into depression and started taking medication for it in the summer of 2025. Her friend became concerned for her well-being, even alerting District Director John Falcon—to no avail. “She talked about Tony every day,” he said. “She went from the number one employee in the office to nothing.” In August 2025, Santos-Aviles attempted suicide but survived. The next month, she self-immolated with gasoline and died a day later at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Gonzales skipped the funeral and deflected blame when asked.  “People throwing rocks at me, saying I’m doing nasty things—I totally get that. But the rumors are completely untruthful,” he said, calling Santos-Aviles’s death a “very tragic situation.”Gonzales has mostly tried to avoid acknowledging his role in this tragedy. But now scrutiny is growing over the Trump-endorsed representative, with even MAGA sycophant Laura Loomer magnifying the situation. “A devastating report about GOP Representative Tony Gonzales and one of his former staffers named Regina Santos-Aviles who committed suicide by lighting herself on fire is set to drop this week,” she wrote. “Rep. Gonzales is married and has 6 children. Regina Santos-Aviles was also married and had a small child at the time of her suicide. I’m told the report is career ending!” San Antonio Express News has pulled its endorsement of Gonzales, signaling a tough road ahead for Gonzales’s political career. 

IHIP News: Trump's ATTACK on James Talarico BLOWS UP IN His Face! He's TERRIFIED!
15:03
I've Had It Podcast • Feb 18, 2026

IHIP News: Trump's ATTACK on James Talarico BLOWS UP IN His Face! He's TERRIFIED!

Stephen Colbert Slams CBS Defense Over Scrapped Interview
New Republic • Feb 18, 2026

Stephen Colbert Slams CBS Defense Over Scrapped Interview

Stephen Colbert blasted CBS on his late-night show Tuesday night, contradicting the network’s claim that it didn’t block his interview with Texas state Representative and Senate candidate James Talarico. On his show, Colbert displayed a printed copy of the network’s statement, which said, “THE LATE SHOW was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico.”“The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled,” the statement continued. “THE LATE SHOW decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”Colbert said that this statement was incorrect, emphasizing that “every word” of his script in the squashed Talarico interview was approved by CBS’s lawyers, as is the case with every script. “In fact, between the monologue I did last night and before I did the second act talking about this issue, I had to go backstage,” Colbert said Tuesday. “I got called backstage to get more notes from these lawyers—something that had never ever happened before—and they told us the language they wanted me to use to describe that equal-time exception. And I used that language. So, I don’t know what this is about.”’Colbert said that he didn’t “want an adversarial relationship with the network. I’ve never had one,” and lamented the fact that CBS’s parent corporation appears to have preemptively abided by the FCC’s new interpretation of the equal-time rule, which used to exempt talk shows that were not considered “bona fide news” until FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, appointed by Trump, issued new guidance last month. “I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies,” Colbert added. “Come on, you’re Paramount! No! You’re more than that, you’re Paramount Plus. Plus what? I guess we’re all going to find out pretty soon.”While Monday’s interview didn’t air, it has gotten millions of views on YouTube and other platforms that it wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Now CBS and Paramount, owned by Donald Trump ally David Ellison, are receiving negative publicity over their decision, as is the FCC, led by Trump-appointed Brendan Carr. Colbert’s contract ends in May, and the next three months are going to be interesting.

“Who the Fuck Are These Men?”
Mother Jones • Feb 18, 2026

“Who the Fuck Are These Men?”

By nightfall, people all over America had seen the footage. It was barely a month into President Donald Trump’s second term, and a team of black-clad private security officers was violently dragging a woman out of a Republican town hall meeting in Idaho. One agent mumbled that things would get “a hundred times better” if […]

Kristi Noem Gives the Entire DHS Asbestos Poisoning
New Republic • Feb 18, 2026

Kristi Noem Gives the Entire DHS Asbestos Poisoning

When Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded the urgent demolition of her agency’s 171-year-old campus in Washington, D.C., she claimed the structures were unsafe. But it turns out the more immediate threat to workers wasn’t the presence of “malicious insiders” looking to exploit the site’s weaknesses—it’s asbestos, Migrant Insider reported Tuesday. Department of Homeland Security employees who worked at the agency’s facilities at St. Elizabeths described workers in full hazmat suits working alongside plainclothes DHS staff.“It’s surreal,” one former DHS aide told Migrant Insider. “You’ve got guys in full PPE taking out asbestos, and then DHS staff in shirts and ties walking right by, breathing the same air.”Employees were not offered masks or air quality tests—let alone remote work options. And the site lacks the proper signage alerting workers to the presence of harmful carcinogens.“There’s one small sign in a side entrance indicating the area is a health hazard,” the former aide told Migrant Insider. “If you come in the main way you’d never know you’re walking into a demolition zone with asbestos in the air.”Several staffers told Migrant Insider that they’d been largely left in the dark about construction, only receiving after the fact notices that did not mention any specific health risks. Others said they only learned about the construction after they saw sealed doorways and workers in protective gear. When staffers raised concerns about air quality to their supervisors, they were referred to building management, who offered scant answers. “There’s this attitude that because this is a high‑security campus, they can do what they want and we’ll just deal with it,” one current DHS official told Migrant Insider. “But we’re talking about cancer‑causing dust in a federal workplace. People are scared, and they should be.”The campus at St. Elizabeths is a national landmark originally built as a “Government Hospital for the Insane.” The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the D.C. Preservation League warned that Noem’s unilateral declaration to demolish the site was “problematic” and implied a “fundamental flaw” in her agency’s “security as a whole.”

MAGA Dad Shoots Daughter Over Trump Dispute...
12:43
Hasan Abi • Feb 18, 2026

MAGA Dad Shoots Daughter Over Trump Dispute...

RFK Jr. Posts Bonkers Video of Him Taking an Ice Bath in Jeans
New Republic • Feb 18, 2026

RFK Jr. Posts Bonkers Video of Him Taking an Ice Bath in Jeans

The Make America Healthy Again campaign is now hinged on the idea that America wants to see two old men strip.Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. invited Kid Rock to participate in a bizarre marketing video for his public health policy Tuesday, encouraging the nation to “GET ACTIVE + EAT REAL FOOD” by showcasing a freakish, half-naked workout montage of the duo set to the country rapper’s song “Bawitdaba” (the song that Rock definitely did not lip-sync during Turning Point USA’s alternate Super Bowl halftime show).The clip begins with Kennedy, 72, and Rock, 55, flexing without shirts before the camera pans to the taxidermied body of a brown bear wearing a gingham fedora. Cue the music.Over the next 90 seconds, the pair are depicted eating a giant plate of steak and sauerkraut (in line with Kennedy’s steak-and-ferments-only diet), doing biceps curls, using the pull-down machine (with improper form), holding each other’s ankles for sit-ups, flipping the bird while riding a stationary bike in a sauna (so badass), and climbing into a cold plunge tub while still wearing jeans. They also play pickleball, and drink “WHOLE MILK” in the pool.The video is, apparently, formally affiliated with the Department of Health and Human Services, as the end of the lifestyle advertisement prominently features the health agency’s logo, along with Kennedy’s campaign slogan, “Make America Healthy Again.”I’ve teamed up with @KidRock to deliver two simple messages to the American people: GET ACTIVE + EAT REAL FOOD. pic.twitter.com/PkK8IfkPU4— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) February 17, 2026Kennedy’s off-the-wall notions about health have already proved disastrous for the health agency.During a measles outbreak in Texas last year, the virulent conspiracist refused to endorse the tried-and-true measles vaccine, recommending instead that susceptible residents self-medicate with vitamins. He has transformed HHS, replacing independent medical experts on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel with a hodgepodge of vaccine skeptics. He also overhauled the child vaccination schedule without notifying his staffers, a decision that could potentially affect vaccine access and insurance coverage for millions of American families in the coming years.And last month, the health secretary unveiled the outcome of his department’s monthslong project to reimagine the food pyramid. The result: an upside-down triangle in which butter, steak, and cheese play a leading role.

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