News

Our TMZ DC staff is now ensconced in Washington, D.C. and open for business!

Our 3 intrepid producers -- Charlie Cotton, Jacob Wasserman and Jakson Buhaj -- are working The Hill. They arrived over the weekend and their first day on the job was supposed to be today -- when members of Congress return from their 2-week break.

Turns out ... members of the House aren't coming back to work until Tuesday -- gotta make sure they get 2 full weeks off, right?

As Brian Hooker sits in police custody in the Bahamas in connection with his wife Lynette's disappearance, his stepdaughter is dropping bombshell revelations about what it was like living with him prior to the tragedy.

Karli Aylesworth, Lynette's daughter, told People her stepfather has "anger issues," was "strict," and had a "need for controlling my life."

She told the publication, "He does get mad and yells a lot. One time he got mad at me about homework and threw my book across the room."

Karli went on to say that her mom basically "just kind of let him dictate my life" when she was growing up.

Billionaire businessman Stephen Cloobeck directly confronted Eric Swalwell about the sexual assault allegations against him, telling the congressman he'd "busted the trust" ... before Cloobeck gave him the boot, TMZ has learned.

In a phone interview Monday with TMZ ... Cloobeck went into detail on what led up to tossing Swalwell (D-CA) out of his California mansion, saying it all came down to "integrity."

Cloobeck said as a businessman, he does not "bust the trust" and always has integrity ... which is not the case with Swalwell.

President Trump's $10 billion legal battle with the Wall Street Journal -- over its reporting on his alleged birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein -- just took a major hit, with a judge throwing it out of court ... for now.

In Monday morning's dismissal, the federal judge said Trump's defamation lawsuit failed to plausibly allege WSJ reported with "actual malice" or reckless disregard for the truth when it published a story claiming Trump wrote a racy letter celebrating Epstein's 50th birthday.

The letter, allegedly handwritten by Trump and framed in the image of a naked woman, included a creepy convo between Trump and Epstein, and Trump's closing line ... "A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy birthday -- and may every day be another wonderful secret."

President Donald Trump isn't the only one who can use A.I. ... California Governor Gavin Newsom just savagely trolled the president with a photo portraying DT as the Grim Reaper, with an old friend looking over his shoulder.

Newsom's brutal slam follows Trump sharing an A.I.-generated image of himself resembling Jesus on Sunday after criticizing Pope Leo XIV as "weak."

In response, Newsom posted a dark image of Trump in a black cloak, with his skeletal hand gripping a scythe as Jeffrey Epstein hovers just behind him.

Pope Leo XIV is not taking any crap from President Donald Trump ... firing back at DJT's nasty Truth Social post that slammed the Pontiff for his perceived liberal-leaning views on crime and foreign policy.

Leo was speaking with journalists aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria Monday when he was asked about Trump's verbal attacks on what the Commander-in-Chief sees as the Pope's "Radical Left" beliefs.

Check out video of Leo's response ... he calmly tells reporters he has "no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do."

Leo added he and his Catholic church cronies are not politicians and "don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective" as Trump. He went on to say he believes "in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker.”

As Eric Swalwell's political career continues to crumble at lightning-fast speed ... a big-time benefactor has pretty much told him to go to hell.

Billionaire Stephen Cloobeck went scorched earth in an interview with the California Post, saying he's booted the embattled Swalwell from his Beverly Hills mansion ... and he's looking to recoup $1 million he forked over for the politician's now-defunct gubernatorial run.

The backlash comes on the heels of the Democratic Congressman from California being accused by multiple women -- some who worked for him -- of sexual assault and other alleged sexual misconduct. Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing ... but is now the target of a criminal probe.

Swalwell has been staying at the mansion as a guest ... it's where he filmed his video denial prior to dropping out of the race for California governor over the weekend. We're told Swalwell had been staying there for a few days before he was kicked out Sunday morning.

Not even Pope Leo can escape the wrath of President Trump, who excoriated the Holy Father for his views on crime and foreign policy — and a bunch of other stuff, too!

Trump posted a long-winded message on Truth Social Sunday night, kicking things off by slamming Leo for being "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."

Trump is also pissed at The Pontiff for criticizing him over bombing the hell out of Iran and sparking a war between the 2 countries with the help of Israel. Over the weekend, Leo implied that a "delusion of omnipotence" is behind the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.  

Congressman Eric Swalwell is dealing with more than just sexual misconduct allegations ... he's now got an angry husband on his case after Swalwell allegedly bombarded his wife with explicit pics and showed up near their home.

Adam Parkhomenko -- husband to influencer Ally Sammarco -- posted Saturday ... "If Eric Swalwell or his attorney makes a single statement that disparages my wife, I will be filing a lawsuit against him."

He added, "I've already made clear that if he believes anything I've said is untrue, he should sue me immediately."

President Donald Trump berated a reporter on the White House Lawn Saturday ... telling her she doesn't know a darn thing about Iran.

POTUS spoke to several reporters waiting for him outside the White House round 5 PM ET today ... and, one asked a question about why the Strait of Hormuz isn't open yet.

Check out the clip ... the prez is clearly unhappy about it -- and, he tells her "You know nothing" before asking which outlet she represents.

Eric Swalwell's senior staffers are distancing themselves from him ... while acknowledging not everyone has the means to do so.

Top staffers for Swalwell's congressional office and his gubernatorial campaign released a joint statement ... which begins with indignation over his alleged abusive behavior.

The two sides stand with their former colleague who accused Swalwell of raping her in 2024 and other women who have come forward and accused the congressman of sexual misconduct.

The Artemis II crew's grateful to be back on earth ... especially the mission's commander, Reid Wiseman, who was overcome with emotion while speaking Saturday.

The crew just did a debrief in Houston, TX after landing near San Diego Friday ... and the commander delivered an impassioned speech to the crowd that really peeled back the curtain on space travel.

Wiseman says the team couldn't wait to go up before takeoff ... but, as soon as they got into the vacuum of space, they only thought about getting home to their families.

Justin Baldoni's team says Blake Lively can't have her cookies and eat them too ... arguing she's filing tons of last-minute exhibits with no relevance, like a link to a famous recipe.

The Wayfarer Studios legal team filed a ton of documents with the court Friday ... including one asking the judge for more time to review a series of exhibits only recently filed.

Among these many exhibits, Baldoni's team says, is a link to an article regarding "a Taylor Swift cookie recipe that was linked in other correspondence" ... which Baldoni's side argues "is exceptionally unlikely" to be shown to jurors at trial.

Eric Swalwell is the subject of an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney ... TMZ has confirmed.

The D.A.'s office acknowledged the investigation Saturday morning ... one day after CNN shared an interview with a staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity about an incident during which Swalwell allegedly raped her.

In a statement to TMZ, the D.A.'s office shared, "We urge survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division at 212-335-9373. Our specially trained prosecutors, investigators and counselors are well-equipped to help you in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered manner.”

5:10 PM PT -- It was a picture perfect splashdown in the Pacific Ocean ... right on time at 5:07 PM PT. The capsule floated down to the water under 3 deployed parachutes, just minutes after it was speeding through the air at more than 23,000 MPH!

Naval boats are speeding toward the capsule to recover the Artemis crew.

Artemis II is wrapping up its historic mission after nine and a half days ... and it’s all coming back down to Earth in a big way, which you can watch on the livestream here.

Astronauts -- Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, and Commander Reid Wiseman -- are set to make a Pacific splashdown off the coast of San Diego at around 8:07 PM EDT.

NASA says a U.S. Navy helicopter will track the Orion capsule as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere, with boats set to recover the crew once they’re down.

The mission already made history with its closest flyby of the Moon -- marking the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years.

Eric Swalwell's campaign for governor looks like it's on life support ... top Democrats are calling on him to drop out of the race as his campaign reportedly "implodes."

The congressman had gathered a ton of support from his fellow Dems in Congress -- but after a former staffer accused him of rape, that support quickly evaporated.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she's had a conversation with Swalwell, urging him to end his campaign, according to NBC News reporter Melanie Zanona ... so the allegations against him can be fully and fairly investigated.