Republicans Fail To Eliminate Chuck Schumer Carveout From Funding Package

/8 Comments/in , /by

A group of conservative Republicans failed to strip an earmark to a left-wing nonprofit supporting illegal migrants in a government funding package on Friday.

Lawmakers voted 58-42 to table an amendment that would strip a $500,000 earmark to New York City-based New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) secured by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in the five-bill appropriations package. Every Democratic lawmaker voted to table the amendment, which was sponsored by Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee.

The vote divided Republicans with 11 GOP lawmakers supporting the motion to table. Those senators include John Boozman of Arkansas, Susan Collins of Maine, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Many of those senators sit on the appropriations panel that oversees earmark requests.

NICE, located in the Queens borough of New York City, offers “empowering legal education” to noncitizens who have cases before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and immigration court. The group also provides workforce education programs to noncitizens.

“This is an organization that serves immigrants who are here illegally,” Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a leading opponent of earmarks, said in support of Lee’s amendment Friday. “Why should the American taxpayer foot the bill to support illegals in sanctuary cities when so many American citizens are struggling themselves?” (Read more from “Republicans Fail To Eliminate Chuck Schumer Carveout From Funding Package” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Epstein Helped Fund Lavish Lifestyle For Former Obama WH Counsel

/8 Comments/in , /by

Jeffrey Epstein helped fund a lavish lifestyle for former Obama White House Counsel and current Goldman Sachs general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, who he sometimes turned to for legal advice, newly released records show.

Epstein purchased a number of gifts for Ruemmler between 2014 and 2019, including designer bags worth thousands and electronics, while regularly putting down his credit card to cover experiences like facials, haircuts and spa days.

Among these gifts, Epstein purchased a $9,350 Hermes bag, a $6,790 Fendi coat and bag, as well as putting in requests for items like blue silk slippers, an Apple TV and an Apple watch. He had alerts set up on his email at times to send her flowers or purchase sushi, emails show.

A recently unsealed court filing in a civil lawsuit brought by Epstein victims suggested Ruemmler advised Epstein on legal matters, including relating to maintaining his 2008 non-prosecution agreement and public statements to the media, CNN reported Jan. 20. Ruemmler previously told CNN she “did not represent him and was not compensated by him.”

“I was one of a number of lawyers Epstein informally reached out to for advice,” Ruemmler told the outlet in December.

Previously released email correspondence revealed Ruemmler consulted Epstein when deciding whether to accept an offer to become Obama’s attorney general, as well as on smaller problems like whether she should travel first-class or business on a trip to Dubai. (Read more from “Epstein Helped Fund Lavish Lifestyle For Former Obama WH Counsel” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Report: Don Lemon Released Without Bail After Arrest

/6 Comments/in , /by

Former CNN host Don Lemon was reportedly released from custody without bail after he was arrested for live-streaming anti-ICE protesters who stormed a Minnesota church, according to multiple reports.

Matt Finn, a national correspondent for the Fox News Channel, revealed in a post on X that Lemon is “free, no bail.”

“Breaking: Don Lemon is free, no bail,” Finn wrote in a post on X. “Per producer in the courtroom.”

TMZ reported that “Lemon was released without bail,” and that he said “he looks forward to vindication at trial”:

Lemon was released without bail. He says he looks forward to vindication at trial.

Prior to addressing the media Lemon appeared in court where a judge decided he could go without having to post bail while his federal case plays out.

Lemon wore a crisp, all white suit … waving and smiling at supporters — and winking at his husband at one point.

(Read more from “Report: Don Lemon Released Without Bail After Arrest” HERE)

Local Sheriff Refuses to Help ICE With Immigration Enforcement Around the Super Bowl

/0 Comments/in , /by

Santa Clara County Sheriff Bob Jonsen bizarrely pledged not to work with federal agents while claiming such non-cooperation would result in increased safety for residents.

Ahead of Super Bowl LX at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the local sheriff said he is refusing to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The Trump administration has warned illegal aliens that there would still be enforcement around the Super Bowl, which takes place on February 8, but Sheriff Jonsen told residents he will not assist the Department of Homeland Security or its agents.

“We are gonna be here for you, side by side,” Jonsen said about his own officers. “So as you’re getting off those trains, … high probability you’re going to see somebody in uniform. But if they’re not masked, if they’re wearing tan and green or blue or black, trust me, they are there for your protection.”

Jonsen told reporters on Thursday that if residents or visitors see masked law enforcement who are “trying to hide their identity,” that means “somebody hasn’t communicated” with his department.

(Read more from “Local Sheriff Refuses to Help ICE With Immigration Enforcement Around the Super Bowl” HERE)

‘USADF Is Garbage’: Senior US Foreign Aid Official Will Plead Guilty to Taking Kickbacks, Lying to Feds

/0 Comments/in , /by

The U.S. African Development Foundation, a foreign aid agency that poured millions of taxpayer dollars into African initiatives over the past four decades, desperately fought the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency and audit its finances.

It’s now painfully obvious why there was so much resistance to transparency at the U.S. Agency for International Development-adjacent outfit.

Months after government watchdog Judicial Watch sued the USADF for records regarding its expenditures and in the wake of allegations that agency officials were abusing their positions and misusing funds, the USADF’s director of financial management, Mathieu Zahui, is now admitting wrongdoing.

Zahui, an official who denied DOGE access to the agency’s financial records last year, has agreed to plead guilty to taking secret payments and lying to federal law enforcement officers about those payments.

“Mathieu Zahui is charged with accepting payments from a government contractor and then abusing his position by directing USADF funds to that contractor for little-to-no work,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement on Friday. “Corruption by senior officials representing the United States cheats American taxpayers and rigs the system against honest work.” (Read more from “‘USADF Is Garbage’: Senior US Foreign Aid Official Will Plead Guilty to Taking Kickbacks, Lying to Feds” HERE)

Who Is Trump’s Nominee To Lead One Of The Most Powerful Institutions In America?

/1 Comment/in , /by

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is nominating Kevin Warsh to be the next Federal Reserve chairman, replacing Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May.

Warsh worked as an aide to former President George W. Bush, who later appointed him to the board of the Federal Reserve. The youngest ever Fed governor, Warsh served in that position from 2006 to 2011. He also previously worked as a mergers and acquisitions specialist at Morgan Stanley, and during his tenure as a Fed governor, served as a liaison between the central bank and Wall Street. He helped arrange the government’s bailout of insurance giant AIG.

The most important thing we need to know about Warsh’s background is where he stands on monetary policy, inflation, and interest rates. And, the fact that he was dead wrong about the housing market in the lead-up to the 2008/2009 Financial Crisis. . .

Roughly, the Fed hawks believe that keeping inflation low and prices stable is absolutely paramount to the U.S. economy. The Fed doves, on the other hand, are more loose with monetary policy, and believe that spurring economic and job growth by lowering interest rates and making money easier to borrow should take precedent over keeping inflation low. This dove policy is known as Quantitative Easing.

In the fallout from the 2008/2009 financial crisis, Warsh had sought to keep then-Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, a dove par excellence, at arm’s length.

In November 2010, the Fed voted on Quantitative Easing 2 to buy large amounts of treasuries, lower long-term interest rates, and re-purchase mortgage-backed securities that went bust during the housing crisis. Of course, juicing the economy by creating money out of thin air runs the risk of high inflation. Warsh voted for QE2, yet days after he wrote in The Wall Street Journal that strategy should be “necessarily limited, circumscribed and subject to regular review.” (Read more from “Who Is Trump’s Nominee To Lead One Of The Most Powerful Institutions In America?” HERE)

DOJ Removes New Epstein Files That Mention Wild Trump Allegations, Including Rape; Justice Department Says Files Include ‘Untrue and Sensationalist Claims Against President Trump’

/2 Comments/in , /by

By Mediaite. Among the latest Epstein files dump is a list of wild complaints made with the FBI that include wild allegations against President Donald Trump and others from uncorroborated tips. . .

It should be noted that these complaints are uncorroborated tips to the FBI, and the existence of those tips does not indicate eventual credibility. . .

Since their original publication, the complaints mentioning Trump have been removed from the DOJ website with a “page not found” message being given to people trying to search for them. The complaints, however, have been widely copied and shared on social media.

CNN’s Jake Tapper was among those who noted the DOJ pulling the files.

In a complaint made by a friend, the president was accused of forcing a 13-14-year-old to perform oral sex on him. (Read more from “DOJ Removes New Epstein Files That Mention Wild Trump Allegations, Including Rape” HERE)

_______________________________________________________

New Epstein Files Dump Includes Alleged Request From Elon Musk to Visit Jeffrey Epstein’s Infamous Island

By Mediaite. Friday’s release of 3.5 million additional documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes included an alleged request from Elon Musk to visit Epstein over the holidays in 2013. . .

A search of the documents for “Elon Musk” revealed multiple emails to and from [email protected], which was known to be Epstein’s private email address.

Elon Musk’s name appearing in the files does not necessarily indicate any wrongdoing.

In one email exchange on Dec. 14, 2013 with a subject line “Christmas and New Year’s,” Musk allegedly wrote, “Will be in the BVI/St Bart’s area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?”

Epstein’s account answered several hours later, “I will send a heli for you. Sorry for all the typos..Sent from my iPhone.” (Read more from “ew Epstein Files Dump Includes Alleged Request From Elon Musk to Visit Jeffrey Epstein’s Infamous Island” HERE)

_______________________________________________________

Justice Department Says Files Include ‘Untrue and Sensationalist Claims Against President Trump’

By The Guardian. On Friday, as Trump’s justice department moved to comply, at least in part, with the law by releasing millions of files from the federal investigations into Epstein, it has released at least some unverified allegations against him from those files.

One of the documents getting the most attention online is an email from 2020 that includes uncorroborated tips about Trump’s own alleged involvement with Epstein’s victims that were made to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center.

The document, which was briefly inaccessible after it was posted, has been described as “incriminating Trump” by some critics, but the justice department provided a statement to the Guardian calling these uncorroborated tips “fake”.

Here is the justice department statement to the Guardian:

This production may include fake or falsely submitted images, documents or videos, as everything that was sent to the FBI by the public was included in the production that is responsive to the Act. Some of the documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear, the claims are unfounded and false, and if they have a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.

(Read more from “Justice Department Says Files Include ‘Untrue and Sensationalist Claims Against President Trump’” HERE)

LinkedIn Blames ‘Error’ After Removing Pro-ICE Post Over ‘Hateful Speech’

/1 Comment/in , /by

The professional networking company LinkedIn removed a conservative organization’s post that encouraged states to cooperate with federal immigration authorities on Wednesday, later saying it did so in “error.” The company initially claimed the post constituted “hateful speech.”

In its post from earlier this week, the State Freedom Caucus Network (SCFN) underscored the “essential” work the Department of Homeland Security is doing in removing the millions of illegal aliens the Biden administration allowed into the United States. The group further noted the importance of states working alongside ICE and Customs and Border Protection officials to remove such individuals — including unlawfully present criminals — from America’s streets.

“Every state must ensure collaboration with ICE and CBP to remove [these illegal aliens]. Our caucuses are on the frontlines leading their states to support [President Trump’s] mission to keep Americans safe!” the post read in part.

SCFN President Andy Roth told The Federalist that his group received a notice from LinkedIn on Wednesday morning, informing them that the post had been removed. The company claimed in its notice that the post constituted so-called “hateful speech,” and therefore violated LinkedIn’s “Professional Community Policies.”

“Our Trust and Safety team has removed [your post] from LinkedIn and only administrators of this page can access it,” the LinkedIn notice reads. “Repeatedly creating content that doesn’t comply with our policies could lead to your LinkedIn account being restricted or your page being restricted.” (Read more from “LinkedIn Blames ‘Error’ After Removing Pro-ICE Post Over ‘Hateful Speech’” HERE)

Former Besties? Epstein Files Dump Includes Melania Trump’s Email to Ghislaine Maxwell — as Journalists Dig Dirt on ‘Melania Boyfriend’

/2 Comments/in , /by

The Jeffrey Epstein file dump on Friday included an email exchange between Melania Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell, where the now-convict called the future first lady “sweet pea.”

The note about getting together in New York City was dated October 23, 2002 and was among the three million documents the Justice Department released on Friday as part of the Epstein investigation. . .

In the email, where she calls Maxwell “G,” Melania mentions the now infamous New York magazine profile of Epstein, in which Donald Trump famously said the billionaire pedophile liked women “on the younger side.”

“Dear GI How are you? Nice story about JE in NY mag. You look great on the picture,” she wrote. “I know you are very busy flying all over the world. How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you are back in NY. Have a great time! Love, Melania”

Maxwell responded, calling Melania “sweet pea.”

“Sweet pea – thanks for your message. Actually plans changed again and I am now on my way back to NY. I leave again on Fri so I still do not think I have time to see you sadly. I will try and call though,” she wrote. (Read more from “Former Besties? Epstein Files Dump Includes Melania Trump’s Email to Ghislaine Maxwell — as Journalists Dig Dirt on ‘Melania Boyfriend’” HERE)

Muslim Official Says Working Too Hard Can Turn People Gay

/3 Comments/in , /by

Zulkifli Hasan, Malaysia’s minister for religious affairs, said Tuesday that work stress can push people into homosexuality — a claim that triggered a wave of online mockery and criticism.

In a written reply submitted to Parliament of Malaysia, the minister listed “work stress” as one of several supposed drivers of LGBT behavior while answering a question from opposition lawmaker Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, according to the South China Morning Post.

“Societal influence, sexual experiences, work stress and other personal factors come under this category [of possible causes],” Zulkifli said in the parliamentary response, the Morning Post reported. (Read more from “Muslim Official Says Working Too Hard Can Turn People Gay” HERE)_