Independent News Drop

KELI From Inkwell, this is the Independent News Drop. It's Thursday, May seventh. The time is one a.m. Central. I'm Keli, joined by Hast.

HAST Good morning. We're tracking four stories for you at the top of the hour, including a continuing look at questions around a Cabinet official's past statements, a federal court split on gun regulations, and international incidents involving military conduct.

KELI We start with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. He's facing questions from House lawmakers this week over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. This is an update on testimony the Secretary gave last year. Lutnick said at that time he'd cut ties with Epstein in 2005 after the two had been neighbors. But documents from the Epstein files now indicate the men stayed in contact for years after. NPR reports there was a lunch meeting on Epstein's private island in 2012, well after the timeline Lutnick gave publicly.

HAST The Secretary's office has said he fully cooperated with authorities and that his testimony was accurate based on his recollection. The House is pressing him on when exactly contact ended and what those interactions involved. It's the third time this story's moved since the files were made public last month.

KELI Moving to courts and gun regulation. Two federal appeals courts are now in conflict over whether waiting periods violate Second Amendment rights. The First Circuit and Tenth Circuit have reached opposite conclusions on what are called cooling-off periods before gun purchase. The question is whether the constitutional text itself settles the issue or whether judges need to weigh other factors. This split typically prompts the Supreme Court to eventually take up the question to resolve it.

HAST Right now, waiting periods remain law in most states where they exist. But this circuit split means the legal ground is unstable, and we'll likely see this pressed upward through the courts over the next year or so.

KELI A story out of Florida now. A social media influencer known in the looksmaxxing community—that's online subculture focused on physical appearance optimization—has been charged after allegedly livestreaming himself firing at an alligator from an airboat. The BBC is reporting that he posted video of the incident on social platforms. Florida's wildlife commission is investigating, and he's facing charges related to the animal and potentially the discharge of a weapon.

HAST It's unclear if the alligator was hit or injured. The charge itself hinges partly on whether he had proper permits and whether the animal was killed unlawfully.

KELI In Lebanon, Israel's military has launched an investigation after a photograph shows an Israeli soldier placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary. The photo emerged this week. It's one of several incidents in recent months documented on social media involving Israeli troops and civilian property in Lebanon during operations there. The military says it takes such matters seriously and is looking into the circumstances.

HAST The image has circulated widely across Arab and international outlets. Israel's statement emphasizes that the soldier's actions don't reflect military policy, and they're pursuing the matter internally.

KELI One more on Secretary Lutnick. Hast, the temptation here is to read this story a certain way. What should listeners watch for?

HAST Right. The simple read is going to be that a senior official misrepresented his past to avoid scrutiny. The structural reality is that memory and documentation often diverge, especially over years—the files released last month contain entries from decades of interactions, and Lutnick's recollection in real time may simply have been incomplete or shaped by what he considered meaningful contact. Watch for whether the House produces evidence of deliberate concealment—emails, messages, scheduling documents that show he was aware of later meetings and chose not to disclose them. If we see Lutnick claiming no recollection of the 2012 lunch and the evidence doesn't show he received notice of it at the time, the simple read holds. If documents show he knew and didn't mention it, that's a different story.

KELI So the distinction between incomplete memory and intentional misstatement. That's what the record will ultimately tell us.

HAST Exactly.

KELI On this day in 1986, Canadian climber Patrick Morrow became the first person to summit all seven of the world's highest peaks.

KELI That's the Independent News Drop. We'll be back next hour. From Inkwell.