A Democrat just flipped a House seat in New Jersey. Analilia Mejia, a progressive backed by Bernie Sanders and AOC, won Mikie Sherrill's old seat 60-40 last night. Republicans now have a 218-214 working majority with three seats still vacant — the fifth special election in a row where Democrats have overperformed their 2024 numbers.

Politico published a major report this morning that Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer believes Trump will pardon her. Her attorney has direct ties to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — they've done podcasts together, they almost worked the classified documents case together, and Blanche personally flew to interview Maxwell in Tallahassee last July. We break down what that pardon push actually looks like behind the scenes.

Singer d4vd was arrested yesterday for the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose body was found in the trunk of his Tesla last September. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings announced he's leaving the board after 29 years. The acting director of ICE resigned. And an 86-year-old French widow was deported back to France yesterday after her stepson allegedly used his federal job to have her arrested by ICE during an inheritance dispute.

The BDN War Room airs live right after this show — today we're covering Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and where the blockade stands. Subscribe to The Brief with Brandon Doggett and The BDN War Room so you don't miss anything.