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Trump Education Department Announces They’ve Found More Than a BILLION in Student Aid Fraud

The Trump Education Department has been focusing on identifying student loan fraud and they have a lot to show for their efforts. They just announced that they have uncovered more than a billion dollars in fraud.

Trump’s Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, may be the last cabinet official of her kind if Trump has his way. Like many Republicans going all the way back to Ronald Reagan, Trump wants to do away with the department completely.

McMahon and Trump have successfully done away with a number of horrible Bide-era policies on student loans and financial aid, which has helped them to identify all of this fraud.

The Education Department released this statement:

U.S. Department of Education Prevents More Than $1 Billion in Federal Student Aid Fraud This Year, Additional Crackdowns Expected in 2026

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) today announced that it has prevented $1 billion in Federal student aid fraud since January 2025. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration implemented enhanced fraud controls governing how institutions of higher education distribute financial assistance, including mandatory identity verification for certain first-time student applicants. This effort has halted more than $1 billion in attempted financial aid theft by fraudsters, including coordinated international fraud rings and AI bots pretending to be students.

The Biden Administration’s decision to require identity verification from less than one percent of students created a prime opportunity for fraudsters to exploit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) process and steal taxpayer funds. Colleges and universities across the country reported being under siege by highly sophisticated fraud rings and requested the Trump Administration for help.

“American citizens have to present an ID to purchase a ticket to travel or to rent a car – it’s only right that they should present an ID to access tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to fund their education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “From day one, the Trump Administration has been committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government. As a result, $1 billion in taxpayer funds will now support students pursuing the American dream, rather than falling into the hands of criminals. Merry Christmas, taxpayers!”

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OCC Says 9 Big Banks Took Part In ‘Inappropriate’ Debanking Practices

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has released a report saying that the nine largest lenders in the U.S. made “inappropriate distinctions” that it used to restrict services among certain customers.

Following the signing of an executive order by President Donald Trump in August of this year, the OCC began reviewing all banks for any current or past practices that effectively barred customers on the basis of political or religious belief.

Wednesday, the OCC released its report, saying that it had found conclusive proof that nine large banks had policies that either refused services to some industries or required higher levels of scrutiny that exceeded the actual financial risks between 2020 and 2023.

According to Bloomberg, the banks involved are accused of restricting access to firms in numerous sectors, including oil and gas exploration, coal mining, firearms, private prisons, payday lending, tobacco and e-cigarette manufacturers, adult entertainment, political action committees and digital assets.

The OCC said that many of the banks had publicly disclosed their policies, which were often tied to environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said in a statement:

“It is unfortunate that the nation’s largest banks thought these harmful debanking policies were an appropriate use of their government-granted charter and market power. While many of these policies were undertaken in plain sight and even announced publicly, certain banks have continued to insist that they did not engage in debanking.”

The Bank Policy Institute, which advocates for many of the lenders named in the OCC report, issued a statement saying, “It’s in banks’ best interest to take deposits, lend to and support as many consumers and businesses as possible to drive economic growth. The industry supports fair access to banking and is already working together with Congress and the administration to ensure banks are able to serve law-abiding customers.”

Earlier in the week, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon was dismissive of concerns about debanking, telling Fox News that the issue was mostly made up and that the people concerned about it needed to “grow up”

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Pelosi to Exit Congress with One of the Largest Pensions on Record

Members of Congress become eligible for a pension after at least five years of service, and the benefit calculation  depends on when they were first elected. Lawmakers first elected in 1984 or later are covered under FERS, and those who entered Congress before 2013 qualify for a higher accrual rate than members elected afterward.

Pelosi began her service in the House of Representatives in June 1987 after winning a special election to fill a vacancy. By the end of the 119th Congress on January 3, 2027, she will have served more than 39 years. Her pension is calculated based on her three highest-earning years of salary, which includes her time as Speaker of the House at $223,500 per year, compared to $174,000 for rank-and-file members. The estimated pension figure—which excludes any spousal set-aside that reduces the member pension so the surviving spouse can collect partial payments—reflects one of the most substantial benefits available to any current or former member of Congress in FERS.

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NY Times Columnist Claims Trump Lies About Democrats Wanting Healthcare for Illegals – Then Admits it’s Happening

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently appeared on the podcast of New York Times columnist Ezra Klein. During the episode, in addition to saying that he ‘wants to see trans kids’ Newsom talked about providing healthcare for illegal aliens in his state.

Ezra Klein followed up their discussion by tweeting about it, but in his tweet he says two things that completely contradict each other.

He begins by saying that Trump lies about Democrats wanting healthcare for illegals. Then he says triumphantly that Gavin Newsom is actually doing it!

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Criminalizing Bible Verses? Canadian Lawmakers Target Religious Expression With Proposed ‘Hate Speech’ Amendment

In a move that should alarm anyone who is pro-free speech, members of Canada’s Liberal Party have capitulated to pressure from Quebec’s ultra-secular separatist party by voting to strip away a longstanding religious exemption from the country’s hate-speech laws as part of the draconian Bill C-9, also known as the so-called Combating Hate Act.

Canada’s Criminal Code has long shielded good-faith religious expression with a clear exemption that speech is not hate propaganda “if, in good faith, the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.”

On Tuesday evening, that protection was casually deleted at the Bloc Québécois insistence.

CBC has the details on what happened next:

Progress appeared to stall after an initial committee meeting to go over the bill was abruptly cancelled last week. Three sources speaking to CBC News said the bill was held up because Justice Minister Sean Fraser’s office brokered the deal with the Bloc without getting buy-in from the Prime Minister’s Office. Tuesday’s meeting was scheduled last-minute after last week’s cancellation. The Bloc has long sought to remove the religious exemption, saying religion could be used as a cover for promoting hate, such as homophobia and antisemitism. Blanchet said his party would not support the bill without the amendment.

Conservatives immediately sounded the alarm. Canadian Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre warned on X that the amendment would “criminalize sections of the Bible, Qur’an, Torah and other sacred texts.”

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Dems Would Last Maybe 5 Minutes in the Civil War They Think They Want

It’s been interesting to watch how the intensifying throes of Trump Derangement Syndrome manifest themselves in various Democrats. Even more interesting is the fact that they see these symptoms as features, not bugs. 

Sad, sad little creatures. 

The Democrats and their flying monkeys in the mainstream media have made it clear that their plan to win back voters who abandoned them last year involves only resistance to President Trump. No policy. No coherent sales pitches. Just tantrums.

I should clarify: The Democrats aren’t offering any policy ideas to attract American citizens who vote. They’re working overtime crafting policy designed to make the lives of illegal alien murderers, rapists, and child traffickers better. In the Dem dreamworld, all of these criminal bottom-feeders will be voting for them regardless of legal status.

This resistance mindset has the Democrats placing a high premium on elected officials and candidates whom they perceive as “fighters.” At present, that applies to anyone who has dropped an F-bomb during a press conference when wailing about Trump. The occasional snarky post (TWEET) on X also counts towards Dem fighter cred. 

All of the posturing and potty-mouthing in front of friendly audiences has given the Democrats the mistaken impression that they actually are tough. It’s mostly amusing, especially given the fact that fey soy boy Gavin Newsom is their highest polling “fighter” right now.

One of the biggest fake tough guys is Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who’s been in a never-ending “¿Quién es más macho?” skit ever since he was added to the Democratic ticket as Kamala Harris’s white nanny last year. Earlier this week, Matt wrote about a video clip of Walz and Newsom that had resurfaced. The doughy Walz said that he scares Republicans because, in his words, “I know how to fix a truck.” 

It’s another one of those goofy Walz boasts that reeks so much of BS that flies show up as soon as he’s done speaking. Someone who had real mechanical skills wouldn’t be so vague. Great, Timmy, you can fix a truck. Fix a truck how, exactly? “I know how to replace a transmission” or “I know how to install new brakes” would give someone some truck fixin’ credentials. Walz probably once changed a tire on a truck and is basing his flex entirely on that. He strikes me as the kind of guy who would call AAA if his phone fell under the seat, though. 

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Conservative Cornell Law Prof Busts Harvard for Scholarship Program That Discriminates Against White Students

Conservative Law Professor William Jacobson of Cornell University is the creator and publisher of the Legal Insurrection blog. As an outshoot of the website, he also runs an organization called the Equal Protection Project which goes after colleges and universities for various forms of discrimination.

Jacobson recently appeared on Real America’s Voice with Amanda Head to talk about one of the EPP’s latest projects. They exposed a Harvard scholarship program that was using language that made it clear that they were discriminating against white students.

This sort of thing is far more prevalent in higher education than most Americans even realize.

Transcript via Legal Insurrection:

Head (00:49):

You know, we as a society typically applaud rebranding. Madonna reinvented herself at least a half a dozen times, and everybody was a congratulating her. But when you rebrand your anti-whiteness, your racism, it’s definitely not something to be applauded. And it still is just racism, isn’t it?

WAJ (01:07):

Yes. And sometimes they say the quiet part out loud. And that’s what we found with the Harvard Union Scholars Program.

It’s a scholarship, an internship program that’s quite lucrative for students, a summer program that nets them over $10,000 that they run with AFSCME, the Municipal Workers Union. And it’s a joint program between Harvard and the Union. And they talk about historically marginalized communities. But that’s something of a defined term. We all know what that means. That means non-whites.

And they actually admitted it on the website because in a very prominent place, they said, this is for students of color. They said the quiet part out loud, they said the euphemism of historically marginalized communities, they said out loud what we all know it really means.

And of course, after we filed a complaint with the Department of Justice and asked for an investigation, and after the New York Post ran an article about our complaint, what did they do? They changed the language again, but it’s a little too late because they’ve been discriminating, it’s right on their website.

We caught them, and changing it after the fact doesn’t really change anything.

[unrelated discussion removed]

Solomon (02:17):

So I want to go back to where we started this great conversation, and that is with the Harvard case and the new complaint that your great group has filed. It could have some more significant repercussions than even the issue at hand. Obviously, Harvard sued the Trump administration saying, Trump has no right to punish our university, take funding from us, because we’re just a good ally here. But if it’s shown in this case that they’ve just gone back and done discrimination again, could that strengthen the Trump administration’s hand that Harvard should be penalized the way it has been?

WAJ (02:45):

Well, it could.

Certainly the Department of Justice we hope will take our complaints seriously. It’s thoroughly documented.

The fact that they changed the language after the New York Post ran an article about it and after our complaint to me is a sign of consciousness of guilt. If they thought they were good, they wouldn’t have to change the language.

And what they’re doing is they’re changing the language to hide what they’ve been doing. But it’s too late because it’s all documented. It’s screenshotted, it’s archived. We do all those sort of things before we file a complaint so they can’t go back and change the record.

And I think the Department of Justice needs to seriously consider whether this blatant act, this open act of discrimination, is something that will factor into any deal they may strike with Harvard. Maybe they will take a tougher line or maybe they will prosecute this case. So I think it has potentially huge implications.

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REPORT: American Military Shot In Syrian Attack – Possibly ISIS

Members of a US-led coalition delegation and Syrian security forces were injured in a shooting near Palmyra while on a mission related to plans to fight ISIS, reports Al Jazeera.

US helicopters evacuated the wounded to the al-Tanf base.

An American soldier was wounded in gunfire targeting a U.S. delegation in central Syria, reported AFP

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FDA Set to Give COVID Vaccines Serious ‘Black Box’ Designation: Report

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reportedly preparing to place a serious “black box” warning on COVID-19 vaccines, according to a CNN report citing people familiar with the agency’s plans.

A black box warning is the most serious safety designation the FDA can require — appearing in bold at the top of a drug or vaccine’s prescribing information to alert doctors and patients to potentially serious risks.

According to CNN, the FDA’s proposed action would highlight major risks such as serious side effects and usage restrictions that should be weighed against benefits before administering the shots.

The report says two people familiar with the agency’s internal planning confirmed the intention to add the warning, though the plan has not yet been finalized and could change before it is publicly announced.

Dr. Vinay Prasad, the FDA’s chief medical and scientific officer and head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, is said to be leading the review of the COVID vaccine warning label.

CNN’s account indicates that officials are still determining whether the black box warning would apply to all COVID vaccines, only mRNA-based shots from manufacturers like Pfizer and Moderna, or specific age groups.

The warning is expected to be unveiled before the end of 2025, though agency officials have not publicly confirmed plans.

Black box warnings are typically reserved for medicines with evidence of serious or potentially life-threatening adverse reactions that must be clearly communicated to providers and patients.

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Confessed Child Killer, Freed for Good Behavior After Serving Half His Sentence, Arrested Again

An Indiana man released only 10 years into a 20-year-sentence after confessing to the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Kentucky boy during a home invasion was released from prison in October only to be arrested weeks later for violating his parole.

More striking, convicted felon Ronald Exantus, 42, is due to be released again in 2026, this time with no parole restrictions, the New York Post reported.

Despite confessing to killing young Logan Tipton in his Versailles home, about 15 miles west of Lexington, Exantus was found not guilty by reason of insanity at trial, according to news reports.

Instead, the jury found him guilty of assaults against other family members during the break-in.

Exantus’s parole in October came after he accumulated credits that allowed him to reduce his prison time. With the heinous homicide of a child involved, the early release even got the attention of the White House.

“Something needs to be changed because it cannot be that easy,” Logan’s sister Kora Tipton told the Post. “You’ve committed a very heinous crime, and it’s just given to you.”

Logan’s family blasted the ordeal as they prepared to commemorate what would have been the slain boy’s 16th birthday over this weekend and expressed shock that his confessed killer might be returned to the streets next year.

“There’s no reason for any of us to have to walk down the street, and possibly see our son’s murderer,” father George Tipton told Lex 18 news.

After his release, Exantus moved to Marion County, Florida, but was arrested eight days later for failing to register as a convicted felon with the local sheriff’s office within 48 hours of arriving, according to the Post.

Exantus was able to reduce his sentence “five years … for following the rules, two years for exceptional meritorious service and 10 months for educational programs he completed,” according to the Post.

Ronnie Bowling, top prosecutor in Whitley and McCreary counties and president of the Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Association, told the Lexington news outlet inmates know how to work the prison good time system.

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