Politics

Kim Kardashian hasn't slowed down her efforts when it comes to prison reform ... as evidenced by her latest visit to a prison in California and the inmates she came face-to-face with during her trip.

A source with direct knowledge tells TMZ ... Kim spent a day at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent, CA earlier last week. We're told her focus was to meet with inmates in solitary confinement, speaking with them in depth about the toll the lockup can have on their mental stability.

Kim wasn't alone on her trip, actor Tobey Maguire and Scott Budnick -- the executive producer of "The Hangover" film franchise also joined. The three had a camera crew in tow, and back in 2016 Budnick did a documentary on teenagers in the prison system ... and we're told another documentary is underway.

We got a photo of Kim at a restaurant near Pelican Bay the same day as her visit ... she was deep in convo with several people as cameras rolled.

She also had some locals talking, as her custom private jet pulled up to the local airport.

As we've reported over the years, Kim's passionate about prison reform, even meeting with President Trump at The White House in 2018 in an effort to campaign for her cause and help pardon Alice Marie Johnson. She's also still working toward becoming an attorney, recently revealing she's still studying and trying to pass the California Bar Exam.

Kim has also helped Tennessee inmate Cyntoia Brown secure clemency, and played a huge role in freeing inmates like Matthew Charles and Jeffrey Stringer. In fact, Kim and her legal team wound up helping with the release of 17 prisoners over the span of 3 months.

President Joe Biden was storing even more classified documents at his home than previously thought -- this according to his lawyer.

The most recent discovery was made on Thursday, but just got disclosed Saturday by White House attorney Richard Sauber ... who said he found an extra five pages while he was in the middle of handing over a previously announced classified doc to DOJ officials.

This marks the fourth such find of classified docs that Biden had been holding onto from his Obama days. First, classified docs were found at his personal office in D.C. in November ... then, additional docs were found in his garage at his Delaware home in December -- and finally, one final classified doc was unearthed in a separate room at his house recently, which just came to light the other day. Now, we get these separate five docs to top it off.

In light of this latest batch being divulged ... the situation is starting to become a bit of a scandal ... as the DOJ has appointed a special counsel to investigate the matter.

The White House, for its part, has been a little cagey in addressing it ... but has said the docs were misplaced by accident, and that Joe meant no harm in stashing them.

He's addressed some of the documents found, but not all. His administration is also facing scrutiny for not letting everyone know about this when they were first discovered (pre-midterm elections) ... but his lawyers have defended the decision -- saying they were trying to strike a balance between being transparent and maintaining the integrity of the DOJ probe, which had already been looking into this before a special counsel was tapped this week.

Unclear what's in the docs ... and reps for the Prez have even said Joe himself is unaware of what they contain or how they even ended up at places they shouldn't have been.

Because they're classified, DOJ and National Archives officials have been called in to retrieve each new cache that's been found ... so it seems protocol's been followed in that regard.

Of course, this news is stirring up outrage among Republicans -- who see similarities between Biden's apparent mishandling of classified docs and Donald Trump's -- who's also been accused of hoarding tons of materials he should've left in D.C.

Enes Kanter Freedom -- an outspoken critic of human rights violations worldwide -- has been declared one of Turkey's most wanted terrorists ... with the government issuing a $530K bounty for information leading to the arrest of the former NBA player.

According to the Turkish Minute, Turkey's Interior Ministry issued its “Terrorist Wanted List", which included the 30-year-old longtime NBA player, accused of being a member of a terrorist organization.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the gov. also put up a reward of 10 million Turkish liras -- equivalent to around $532K U.S. dollars -- for anyone who puts Kanter behind bars.

“I’m not the only one. There are so many innocent journalists, academics, athletes, activists and educators on this list. Now their lives are in danger because of the Turkish government,” Enes told TM.

Freedom hasn't been shy when criticizing Erdogan over the years, previously referring to the leader as a "dictator" and the "Hitler of our century."

"Because of my platform, whenever I say something, it goes everywhere, and the Turkish government hates that," Freedom told the NY Post this week. "They’re really sick of it, and they said, ‘Enough is enough,’ and doing whatever they can to shut me up."

Kanter, who legally changed his name to Enes Kanter Freedom, spent 13 seasons in the NBA ... playing for the Jazz, Thunder, Knicks, Trailblazers, and, most recently, the Boston Celtics in 2021-22. He became a U.S. citizen in 2021.

Despite the bounty recently being issued, the Turkish government has been trying to silence Kanter for years. Now, however, Enes is concerned for his safety, believing he will now be the target of not just the government.

“That makes it so dangerous,” Kanter said to the Post.

“Before the bounty, Turkish intelligence was after the people on the list, but now everyone is after them because they want the money.”

Lawmakers may now be paying more attention to UFO sightings, but that doesn't mean they should lead the charge in investigating cases ... according to a Harvard physicist, who says it's time for scientists to take the reins.

Avi Loeb was on "TMZ Live" Friday to discuss the growing threat of UFOs ... especially since a recently-released report from the U.S. Government revealed there had been 500+ UFO reports as of August 2022. And, only 1 was able to be explained from last year.

He believes the government likely doesn't know much about the objects they're observing, and is mostly concerned with national security -- determining if the objects are from another country.

Loeb says it should be in the hands of scientists to collect their own data with instruments they can monitor and take that information to share with the public.

In his own words, if just 1 report is of alien origin it will be the most important discovery humanity has ever made.

Prince William and Kate Middleton are lookin' as unbothered as they can in their first public appearance since Prince Harry's bombshell new memoir aired out a ton of royal family dirt -- much of it related to his brother.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were smiling from ear to ear Thursday as they left Windsor Castle and took off to Liverpool ... where royal fans/subjects greeted them at the opening of a new hospital.

While their faces say everything's peachy keen, Harry's "Spare" has to be on their minds. As it's been WIDELY reported, Harry unloaded his side of the royal family drama in the book, revealing he and Wills have been bitter rivals since even before Meghan Markle came into the picture.

Of course, the Duke of Sussex says things got even more heated post-Megan -- claiming big bro William grabbed him by the collar, ripped his necklace, and knocked him to the ground during a 2019 fight sparked by William allegedly calling Meghan "difficult" and "rude."

It is an interesting coincidence Kate and William are in Liverpool ... birthplace of The Beatles. In better days, at least publicly, royal watchers referred to Harry, Megan, William and Kate as the new Fab Four.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene talked a big game after Dr. Dre went after her for using his song, "Still D.R.E.," as a music bed for her entrance to the House chamber, but after Dre. delivered a legal threat -- stop using my music, or else -- she backed down.

A Greene staffer just sent a letter to Dre's lawyer, Howard King -- obtained by TMZ -- which reads in part, "On behalf of Congresswoman Greene, please be advised that no further use of Mr. Young's copyright will be made by a political committee or via social media outlet she controls."

It's really something ... Greene responded well before the 5 PM deadline imposed by King.

It had gotten really nasty. King initially fired off a letter to Greene in which he made clear, his client would not allow Greene "to promote your divisive and hateful political agenda."

Greene fired back with a statement of her own, saying, "While I appreciate the creative chord progression, I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs."

So now Greene will have to find another artist if she wants a music bed to accompany her videos. Thoughts?

Prince Harry left some fans fuming after they went to see his much-anticipated Tuesday appearance on 'The Late Show' ... but got nothing.

The Duke of Sussex was supposed to sit down with host Stephen Colbert before a live studio audience, the Daily Mail reported. But, Colbert told the crowd they would NOT get to see the royal in the flesh for security reasons. It was pre-taped with a different live audience.

There was no explanation for the security concerns and Harry was met with major backlash. Interesting, though ... Obama was on Colbert's show in 2016 with a live audience, while he was a sitting President.

A furious fan reportedly barked, "Security issues? Really? It's not like he's Prince William or anything – he's not properly in line to the throne."

Another fumed, "Who is trying to kill Harry? I've been to a lot of these and this has never happened. I'm really surprised."

Other people summed it up this way, "F*** Prince Harry," as they exited the Ed Sullivan theater in NYC, where Colbert shoots his show.

One woman, who had traveled from far away, was clearly disappointed, saying it "wasn't worth waiting an hour in the cold for [Harry]" and "who needs Prince Harry anyway?"

Despite all the drama, Harry's interview with Colbert was broadcast Tuesday night as part of his media blitz for his just-released memoir, "Spare," about his life in the monarchy. Among the topics, Harry discussed with Colbert was the death of his mother -- Princess Diana -- and his tattered relationship with his brother, Prince William. One light moment came when Harry shared a glass of tequila with Colbert.

Dr. Dre just went in hard on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, threatening her with legal action for exploiting his music "to promote your divisive and hateful political agenda."

Dre's lawyer, Howard King, fired off a letter to Greene, saying "Mr. Young [Dre] has not, and will never, grant you permission to broadcast or disseminate any of his music."

As we reported, Greene posted a video of her walking to the House floor Monday, using Dre's song, "Still D.R.E." as the music bed.

King fired off a demand letter to Twitter, asking the company to block her post. For its part, Twitter not only blocked the post ... it also locked her Twitter account.

But King wasn't done. Dre's lawyer went after her in a blistering way, saying "you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country. It's possible, though, that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane and insufficiently populist for you to really have spent much time on."

Dre and King were not done ... "We're writing because we think an actual lawmaker should be making laws not breaking laws, especially those embodied in the constitution by the founding fathers."

And then the ultimatum ... King demanded that Green cease and desist from using any of Dre's music, and he set a time deadline ... "please provide me with written confirmation that you have complied with these demands before January 11, 2023 by 5:00 pm EST."

Before the letter was sent, Greene told TMZ, "While I appreciate the creative chord progression, I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs."

We will follow up on this ... promise!

Prince Harry is bringing receipts to back Meghan Markle's claim that it's Kate Middleton who made her cry -- not the other way around -- during an argument about dresses the week of Harry and Meg's wedding.

Harry reportedly shares the 2018 text messages between the duchesses in his new book "Spare" ... saying it started when Kate reached out to Meghan ... complaining about the fit of baby Charlotte's dress for the wedding. According to him, Kate texted, "Charlotte's dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on at home."

Apparently, the dress was sewn by hand to specific measurements without fitting ... and Harry explained it definitely rubbed Meghan the wrong way, who -- as you might remember -- had been dealing with a lot of drama with her father staging paparazzi pics.

Prince Harry says Meghan eventually wrote back, "I told you the tailor has been standing by since 8am. Here. At KP [Kensington Palace]. Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other mums are doing?"

He says they went back and forth via text, with Kate insisting all the dresses for the wedding needed to be remade, instead of just getting Charlotte's altered. In one of the texts, Kate allegedly said she'd consulted her own wedding planner about the whole mess!

In the end, Kate agreed to get Charlotte's dress fitted ... but the interaction left his wife sobbing on the floor, 4 days before she walked down the aisle.

You'll recall, Meghan told Oprah this very story, albeit with less detail ... but she denied the widely reported story that it was Meghan who made Kate cry over the dresses.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene used a Dr. Dre song to tout her political prowess -- but she didn't have the green light for it ... according to Dre himself.

The Georgia lawmaker posted a highly-produced clip to her social feeds showing her strutting her stuff through the halls of Congress, apparently flexing the fact that she helped get Rep. Kevin McCarthy elected as House Speaker ... after an excruciating process.

In the video, you see her walking around and feeling herself -- even taking a call from "DT" at one point -- and all throughout ... DD's "Still D.R.E." beat is playing in the background.

The fact she even knows the song took some by surprise, let alone her feeling free to drop it into her GOP-fueled vid. You can count Dr. Dre as one of those shocked to hear his work being used by MTG ... because he tells TMZ he never gave the okay for this to happen.

The mega-producer tells us ... "I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one." So, yeah ... he ain't a fan of her collab here in the slightest.

No word on whether he plans to do anything about it, or if he's just gonna let it be. Fact is ... Republican politicians have long used popular songs for their political purposes for years now, starting with the head honcho himself -- Donald Trump -- who does it often at rallies.

Countless artists have told us they don't condone it, and some have even demanded he stop -- but Trump has continued on anyway ... often without any real repercussions of note.

We'll see if Rep. Greene follows his lead and does the same with Dre.

Prince Harry says he was so distraught over the death of his mother -- Princess Diana -- that he resorted to heavy drinking and taking drugs -- including cocaine -- to deal with all the grief.

Harry made the stunning admission to Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes" Sunday night as part of the Duke of Sussex's media blitz for his controversial memoir titled, "Spare," which is out tomorrow.

As for the relationship between Harry and his immediate family, it seems fully ruptured. Harry says he would like to clear the air and resume a familial relationship, but based on the public allegations he's made over the last 6 months, it seems like wishful thinking.

Anderson set the stage, asking Harry if he blamed the paparazzi for their alleged role in the 1997 car crash that claimed Diana's life in Paris when he was only 12.

Harry responded, "Yeah, I mean, it was obvious to us as kids the British press' part in our mother's misery and I had a lot of anger inside of me that luckily, I never expressed to anybody."

He continued ... "But I resorted to drinking heavily.  Because I wanted to numb the feeling, or I wanted to distract myself from how … whatever I was thinking. And I would, you know, resort to drugs as well."

In a voiceover, Anderson noted Harry smoked weed and ingested cocaine because the prince felt "hopeless" and "lost" in his late 20's.

Harry then revealed he was unable to cry over his mom's death due to the burden he felt, so he tried experimental treatments using hallucinogenic mushrooms and other psychedelics.

"I would never recommend people to do this recreationally," Harry said. "But doing it with the right people if you are suffering from a huge amount of loss, grief or trauma, then these things have a way of working as a medicine."

He added that the treatments wiped away the idea "that I needed to cry to prove to my mother that I missed her when, in fact, all she wanted was for me to be happy."

To close the painful chapter, Harry said he reviewed the police file containing images showing cameramen snapping photos of Diana lying dead in the car.

He also visited the accident scene to confirm his belief that the paps chasing Diana caused the deadly collision -- instead of his mom's chauffeur, whom the police said was to blame because he had been drinking.

Brazil appears to be going through its own January 6th moment -- just a couple days after the 2-year anniversary of our own, no less -- all because Jair Bolsonaro lost the election.

The ex-Brazilian Prez -- who helmed a conservative first term, and was seeking a 2nd in the 2022 Brazilian general election -- was top of mind Sunday for thousands of his supporters ... who descended upon the National Congress in Brasilia during what quickly became a riot.

Tons of video is surfacing online that shows the mob breaching barriers and storming past officers to break into the Congress building, as well as the Supreme Federal Court and even the Presidential Palace itself, where just-sworn in President Luiz Lula da Silva now resides.

It seems all the buildings in question were empty prior to the break-ins, but this sight is an ugly one to say the least -- and very reminiscent to what happened at our Capitol.

The rioters are turning the grounds upside down ... destroying property and entering areas where they would obviously never be able to reach under normal circumstances. Just like here in the States, they seem to have busted through windows and locked doors -- and are making themselves at home in a chaotic scene. A lot of them are draped in Brazilian flags.

Some reports indicate that a good amount of these folks are actually armed, and threatening to occupy the premises for as long as it takes for their demands to be met -- which seem to lie in the fact that they think the election was stolen. Why does that sound familiar?

As for the response ... Brazil's Minister of Justice, Flavio Dino, is reported to have said he'll use the full extent of the law to prosecute these vandals -- but at the moment, it doesn't look like the police on the ground are having much luck in getting 'em the hell out of there.

Just like they were here, law enforcement is completely outnumbered and being overrun by civilians ... and some of the clashes have turned quite violent.

It's actually astonishing how much this parallels what happened here in the States -- some of the snapshots are almost identical -- with rioters entering offices, taking computers and posing for selfies all throughout the area and celebrating their unlawful infiltration.

Remember, we saw this exact type of behavior ourselves ... the only difference being that our lawmakers were in the middle of a live session, and had to go into hiding.

This current attempted coup is taking place on the weekend -- when federal workers and elected officials aren't around, it seems -- but it's no less discomforting to watch unfold live.

Time will tell what comes of this in Brazil. As we know, there was a special congressional committee formed that dug into the origins of Jan. 6 -- and they concluded by pointing the finger at Donald Trump ... claiming he incited the insurrectionists and should be prosecuted.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was feeling musical on the House floor after being elected House Minority Leader for the Democratic Party ... and he let his song be heard by all, from A to Z.

The New York congressman -- who was the clear favorite among his peers for House Speaker as 15 rounds of voting were held -- delivered his speech early Saturday morning after Rep. Kevin McCarthy finally won the gavel among a divided Republican party.

We'll get to him in a minute, but first ... listen to Jeffries' ABCs of red, white and blue. He went through the entire alphabet to compare and contrast the core tenets of his caucus.

It starts with American Values over Autocracy, Benevolence over Bigotry, the Constitution over the Cult ... and finally ends with Zealous Representation over Zero Sum Confrontation, covering every letter in between. It's got good rhythm to it, much like the real alphabet song!

Jeffries got huge applause throughout, and what sounds like a standing O at the end.

You could argue there was just as much enthusiasm within the GOP, when now-House Speaker McCarthy delivered his remarks to cap off the long night ... when he promised to push a strong conservative agenda and to reign in a lot of Pres. Biden's policies.

McCarthy's win came after an excruciating 15 rounds of voting over 4 full days ... during which he slowly started to flip enough Republican votes in his favor among holdouts.

The House of Representatives started looking like a UFC fight Friday night, when a congressman had to be physically restrained from attacking one of his colleagues.

It went down late Friday night after the 14th vote for Speaker of the House ... where Kevin McCarthy again failed to get the required number of votes.

Rep Mike Rogers (Republican, Alabama), a McCarthy supporter, was watching Matt Gaetz ... who in part spearheaded the opposition to McCarthy and voted no.

Rogers eyeballed Gaetz having a chitchat with McCarthy, and apparently saw Gaetz mouth the word "committee." It's unclear exactly what the 2 were talking about, but Gaetz was serving on the House Armed Services Committee, which Rogers chairs. It apparently looked like McCarthy and Gaetz reached some sort of agreement.

We're guessing -- but seems like a good guess -- Rogers was worried McCarthy was going to give the chairmanship to Gaetz in return for his vote, and that set Rogers off.

C-SPAN got shots of Rogers losing it, walking to the row in which Gaetz was sitting and then fully lunging at him. Other reps tried to thwart an attack by grabbing Rogers by the chin and shoulders ... holding him back.

Rogers then screamed at Gaetz, "I won't forget this!"

Prince Harry looked intense as he walked his dog along a rain-soaked path near his Montecito estate ... as he was making headlines for unloading on his family in his new book.

Harry was bundled up as he and Pula, his black Labrador, traversed an area around a public beach, then put rover in his Range Rover for the ride home.

Although he looked serious, he was clearly not surprised by the news over his book. All of the scandals he revealed were carefully orchestrated for the rollout of "Spare." He's done interviews with 'GMA' and "60 Minutes," and both shows are promoting their "big get" like crazy.

As you know by now, Harry is in full military mode, accusing members of his family of violence, racism, betrayal and a host of other misdeeds.

Prince Harry says he has a true love-hate relationship with his royal brother, William, whom he calls his archnemesis.

In his much-anticipated memoir, "Spare," The Duke of Sussex refers to William as his "beloved brother and archnemesis" -- which is not so surprising given the bumpy road they've been on the last few years.

Harry sat down with 'GMA's Michael Strahan who asked, "What do you mean by this? Harry responded, "There is always been this competition between us. It really plays into, or is played by, the heir/spare.”

Harry insisted that only sharing "the truth" can repair the long fractured relationship between him and William.

"Ultimately, what this all comes down to is, I don't think that we can ever have peace with my family unless the truth is out there," Harry said. The full interview airs Monday on 'GMA,' coinciding with the release of Harry's book.

Harry is going in hard on his bro, accusing him of insulting Meghan Markle -- calling her "rude," "difficult" and "abrasive" -- and then grabbing him by the collar and knocking him to the ground.

He also shifts blame for wearing that Nazi uniform, saying William and Kate Middleton put him up to it.

Hard to imagine how this gets repaired ... given the Oprah interview, the Netflix documentary and now the book.