Customs Busts $400M Duty-Evasion Ring Tied to China and Global Network

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has dismantled a massive duty-evasion operation designed to circumvent President Trump’s tariffs, uncovering more than $400 million in unpaid trade duties — with that number expected to climb as investigations continue, FOX Business has learned.

The bust was carried out under the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA), a key enforcement tool used to detect and halt illegal transshipments, false origin claims, and other schemes intended to defraud the U.S. government.

“CBP’s EAPA program is a critical component of our trade enforcement efforts. We’re working tirelessly to prevent evasion and ensure a level playing field for U.S. companies,” said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott. “Our mission, under the leadership of President Trump, is to support economic fairness, protect domestic industry, and uphold the integrity of U.S. supply chains.”

A source said investigators deployed personnel to mattress factories in Taiwan and Indonesia — only to find no production taking place at all.

The investigation revealed that over half of the unpaid duties — roughly $250 million — came from a network of 23 Chinese shell companies. These companies repackaged goods to appear as though they originated from other Asian nations such as South Korea, Indonesia, and Vietnam, all in an effort to dodge U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD).

“Never before has CBP identified this many importers evading AD/CVD in a single consolidated EAPA investigation,” said Susan S. Thomas, acting Executive Assistant Commissioner for CBP’s Office of Trade. “The revenue identified for collection exceeds $250 million, but this figure may increase as we uncover additional importers in the scheme.”

The operation has already triggered 89 additional cases flagged for suspicion of duty evasion, with CBP warning that monetary recovery will likely exceed $400 million once the full extent of the fraud is uncovered.

CBP says its crackdown sends a clear message: tariff evasion will not be tolerated, and those attempting to cheat U.S. trade laws will face aggressive enforcement.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Judge Orders RFK Jr’s HHS to Stop Sharing Medicaid Data With Immigration Officials

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A federal judge ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to stop providing access to Medicaid enrollees’ personal data, including their home addresses, to immigration officials.

District Judge Vince Chhabria, an Obama appointee, granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Homeland Security from using Medicaid data obtained from 20 states that filed a lawsuit to stop the data sharing.

The order, handed down Tuesday, blocks HHS from sharing data on Medicaid enrollees in these states with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the purpose of targeting migrants for deportation.

“Using CMS data for immigration enforcement threatens to significantly disrupt the operation of Medicaid—a program that Congress has deemed critical for the provision of health coverage to the nation’s most vulnerable residents,” Chhabria wrote.

The judge wrote that while there is nothing “categorically unlawful” about DHS collecting data from other agencies for immigration enforcement purposes, ICE has had a policy against using Medicaid data for that reason for 12 years. (Read more from “Judge Orders RFK Jr’s HHS to Stop Sharing Medicaid Data With Immigration Officials” HERE)

Fact-Checker Admits He ‘Screwed Up’ on COVID-19 Lab Leak Headline

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Former Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler publicly acknowledged on Thursday that he was “completely wrong” to dismiss the COVID-19 lab leak theory as “doubtful” in a 2020 headline.

In a conversation with theeditors.com founder Ira Stoll, Kessler addressed growing skepticism toward mainstream fact-checkers—especially among conservatives—using his own 2020 piece as an example. That Washington Post fact check, titled “Was the new coronavirus accidentally released from a Wuhan lab? It’s doubtful,” became a flashpoint in debates over media bias and pandemic narratives.

Kessler admitted the article’s framing was his mistake, explaining that while the fact check focused primarily on debunking claims that the virus was a bioweapon, his addition of “it’s doubtful” in the headline went too far.

“One of the reporters on the piece came up to me the next day and said, ‘I think you made a real mistake by putting ‘it’s doubtful’ here. Because I’m uncertain where it stands, and you framed it in a way that made it seem more definitive than what we came up with,’” Kessler recalled. “That’s on me. I screwed up.”

He singled out co-author Sarah Cahlan, who challenged his decision at the time. “In my goodbye remarks [to her], I said this explains why you should always listen to Sarah—because she’s right, and I was completely wrong about this.”

Kessler emphasized that the intent of the piece was to address the bioweapon theory, not the broader question of whether the virus came from nature or a laboratory.

“It’s the headline. The piece itself…” Kessler began, before Stoll interjected, “People only remember the headline.”

“Like I said, that’s on me,” Kessler replied.

This admission comes as more public health officials, intelligence agencies, and scientists acknowledge that the lab leak theory remains a plausible explanation for the pandemic’s origins—contradicting the certainty with which many media outlets initially dismissed it.

Trump Task Force Cuts DC Gun Permit Wait Times from Months to Days

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The concealed carry permitting process and firearm registration process in the deep blue city have been slashed from months down to days via Trump’s Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which was established via an executive order in March to revitalize the nation’s capital. The working group’s work to clean up the city did not include changing local gun laws, but instead streamlines the city’s already established process, so law-abiding residents can more easily navigate the firearms system.  

“President Trump is not only stopping violent crime in Washington, D.C., he is also streamlining the permitting process for law-abiding residents who want the ability to protect themselves and their families,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. “The Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force has been working with local officials to eliminate longstanding obstacles and successfully reduced the average permit processing time from several months to just five days.”

Under the task force’s efforts, locals are able to book next-day appointments to register their firearms with the Metropolitan Police Department, while walk-in appointments are now available and advertised on the police department’s website.

Previously, applicants typically waited four months for a firearms registration appointment, a White House official told Fox Digital.

The concealed carry permit process also has been streamlined, Fox Digital learned. What used to take “several months” to obtain a concealed carry permit, has been cut down to 4.6 days, according to data compiled during the month of May by the task force, which the White House shared with Fox News Digital. (Read more from “Trump Task Force Cuts DC Gun Permit Wait Times from Months to Days” HERE)

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down California’s ‘One-Gun-Per-Month’ Law

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The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has officially overturned California’s “one-gun-a-month” restriction, issuing a mandate Thursday that makes the court’s earlier ruling enforceable.

The case, Nguyen v. Bonta, was brought by the Second Amendment Foundation, the Firearms Policy Coalition, San Diego County Gun Owners PAC, two federally licensed firearms dealers, and six private citizens, including Michelle Nguyen.

Under the overturned law, most California residents were prohibited from purchasing more than one handgun or semi-automatic centerfire rifle from a licensed dealer within any 30-day period. Supporters of the challenge argued the measure unfairly restricted law-abiding citizens’ rights under the Second Amendment.

The August 14 mandate follows a June 20, 2025, decision by a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel that affirmed a lower court ruling against the restriction. Writing for the majority, Judge Danielle Forrest stated:

“California’s law is facially unconstitutional because possession of multiple firearms and the ability to acquire firearms through purchase without meaningful constraints are protected by the Second Amendment and California’s law is not supported by our nation’s tradition of firearms regulation.”

The decision marks the first time the Ninth Circuit has issued a final judgment striking down a law under the Second Amendment, according to the Firearms Policy Coalition.

With the mandate now in effect, California’s one-gun-per-month purchasing limit is no longer enforceable.

CDC Shooter Blamed COVID-19 Vax for Making Him Depressed, Suicidal

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Newly released 911 call transcripts reveal the harrowing moments a Georgia father frantically tried to warn authorities that his own son might be responsible for a deadly attack at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Kenneth White placed multiple emergency calls last Friday as his son, 47-year-old Patrick Joseph White, unleashed a hail of gunfire at the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters, killing a police officer and shattering the quiet of an ordinary afternoon. The elder White told dispatchers he feared the worst.

“I’m very worried that he might have been involved in this shooting today,” Kenneth said in one of the recorded calls obtained by local news outlet 11Alive. “I can’t get any information from anybody. I’ve called the DeKalb County 911 number three times and left detailed information, and no one ever called us back. I don’t know if he was involved. I need some help.”

A History of Red Flags

Records indicate that the White household had been on law enforcement’s radar long before the shooting. At least ten emergency calls had been made from the home in the past two years, including reports of suicide threats and domestic disturbances. The newly disclosed information raises questions about whether warning signs were adequately addressed — and whether intervention could have prevented last week’s tragedy.

Investigators say that on the day of the rampage, Patrick White broke into a locked safe at his parents’ home and took several of his father’s firearms. Witnesses told authorities that security personnel at the CDC initially blocked his vehicle from entering the campus. Instead, White parked near a pharmacy across the street, retrieved his weapons, and opened fire from the sidewalk.

A Deadly Assault on Federal Property

Over the course of the assault, White fired more than 180 rounds, shattering roughly 150 blast-resistant windows. Officers rushed to the scene, and in the exchange of gunfire, DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was fatally shot. Rose, a veteran officer, was remembered by colleagues as a dedicated public servant who “died protecting others.”

Authorities say White’s attack was driven, at least in part, by deep resentment over COVID-19 vaccinations. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said that materials recovered from White’s home — including handwritten notes and digital records — expressed his belief that the vaccines had left him depressed and suicidal. The writings also showed a desire to “make the public aware of his discontent with the vaccine.”

White’s life ended shortly after the shooting began. Investigators say he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, leaving his father’s desperate warnings tragically unheeded.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s Reported Work-Release Deal Raises Alarming Questions

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The reported granting of work-release privileges to convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell — despite Bureau of Prisons policies barring such benefits for sex offenders — has sparked renewed scrutiny of the network surrounding Jeffrey Epstein.

For many, Maxwell’s case was supposed to represent accountability within the Epstein saga. Her 2021 conviction on multiple counts of trafficking minors for Epstein’s abuse was viewed as a partial victory for survivors and a rare win against an entrenched system that shielded the powerful. But this new development has reopened old wounds and raised new fears: that the machinery of influence protecting the Epstein network is still operational.

According to investigative podcast host Allison Gill, internal records indicate Maxwell’s Public Safety Factor — a designation that typically blocks sex offenders from minimum-security prison camps and outside work programs — was waived. That waiver reportedly allowed her transfer to the low-security Federal Prison Camp Bryan and gave her a custody level marked as “OUT,” enabling work assignments outside the facility.

The question gripping legal observers: who approved this exception, and why?

Federal rules are explicit — sex offenders, particularly those with Maxwell’s conviction history, are not eligible for such privileges.

The controversy over Maxwell’s work release comes just as the White House expressed disappointment over a federal court’s refusal to unseal grand jury transcripts tied to her case. Those records could contain testimony implicating individuals in Epstein’s trafficking ring who have never been charged.

This is not the first time critical evidence in the Epstein saga has been withheld from public view. The financier’s “black book” of contacts, sealed plea deal records from his 2008 Florida case, and the yet-unreleased Epstein “files” from various civil suits remain tightly controlled.

The DOJ could still appeal the decision to keep Maxwell’s grand jury records sealed.

National Guard Takes to the Streets of DC in Support of Trump’s Crime Crackdown: ‘Reporting for Duty’

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National Guard troops began deploying to the streets of Washington, DC, Tuesday, one day after President Trump signed an executive order aimed at addressing crime concerns in the nation’s capital.

“DC National Guard reporting for duty,” the US Army posted on X, including photos of several military Humvees parked near the Washington Monument on the National Mall.

Guardsmen, activated under the president’s Title 32 authority, were even spotted posing for pictures with tourists on the first night of their deployment in the district.

Earlier, the White House indicated that the National Guard was expected to “begin being on the streets starting tonight,” according to the Washington Post, citing an anonymous official.

Only a small fraction of the 800 National Guard members expected to take part in the crime crackdown mission had been mobilized as of Tuesday afternoon, with more expected to deploy in the coming days, a Department of Defense official told the outlet. (Read more from “National Guard Takes to the Streets of DC in Support of Trump’s Crime Crackdown: ‘Reporting for Duty’” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Schiff Accused Of Leaking Classified Info In ‘Treasonous’ Russiagate Plot, Memos Show

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A career intelligence officer who previously assisted House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) Democrats repeatedly told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2017 that then-Democrat California Rep. Adam Schiff allegedly approved leaking classified information in an effort to “indict President Trump,” memos from the FBI show.

The memo, exclusively obtained by Just the News, details the accusations made by the whistleblower.

The intelligence officer alleged that Schiff, as ranking member and then-chairman of HPSCI, announced the leaking of information that was, “derogatory to President of the United States Donald J. TRUMP” in an all-staff meeting, according to the documents.

When the whistleblower expressed concerns regarding the legality of the proposed leaks, the officer was allegedly reassured by members at the meeting that “they would not be caught,” according to the memo.

The whistleblower was allegedly approached in another meeting about leaking classified information, and the official described the proposal as “unethical and treasonous” to the FBI, the documents state. (Read more from “Schiff Accused Of Leaking Classified Info In ‘Treasonous’ Russiagate Plot, Memos Show” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Jeffrey Epstein IDF Sweatshirt Photo Sparks Mossad Connection Theories; Former Butler Speaks Out

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A newly surfaced photograph of Jeffrey Epstein wearing an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sweatshirt is reigniting speculation about the disgraced financier’s alleged ties to Israeli intelligence. The image—taken just months before his arrest in 2019—shows Epstein smiling aboard his private jet, a relaxed pose that sharply contrasts with the serious questions it raises. For years, rumors have swirled that Epstein may have worked with Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, a claim he reportedly laughed off.

The image, shared by Epstein’s longtime Paris butler Valdson Vieira Cotrin, was reportedly taken aboard Epstein’s private jet in January 2019. In the picture, Epstein appears relaxed, smiling, and noticeably puffy-faced. Cotrin, who worked for Epstein for 18 years as butler, chauffeur, and cook, claims it may be one of the last photographs of him before his arrest on July 6, 2019.

Cotrin, speaking to The Telegraph, insisted he did not believe Epstein died by suicide, stating his former employer “loved life too much” and was confident about securing bail before his death in August 2019. The butler also expressed fear for his own safety and suggested foul play in the April 2024 death of Virginia Giuffre, who had accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault. Authorities ruled Giuffre’s death a suicide.

In the same interview, Cotrin claimed that Epstein told him in 2016 he had been offered a position in Donald Trump’s first administration but declined. There is no evidence supporting the claim, and Trump has said he severed ties with Epstein in 2004 after a business dispute.

Cotrin remains in possession of multiple photographs with Epstein’s associates, including a shot of himself with former President Bill Clinton aboard Epstein’s notorious “Lolita Express,” the private plane prosecutors say was used to traffic underage girls.

The renewed attention to the IDF sweatshirt photo comes as pressure mounts on the Trump administration to make the Epstein files public.