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DOJ Pardon Scandal Deepens as Whistleblower Alleges Biden Allies Profited from Autopen Access

A deepening scandal tied to former President Joe Biden’s final acts has sparked a Justice Department (DOJ) probe into a last-minute pardon spree, with critics pointing to signs of a mechanical signature on every order.

Ed Martin, the DOJ’s pardon attorney, revealed that a whistleblower from within the Democratic Party has alleged that several high-ranking Biden aides financially benefited from managing access to the president’s autopen.

The explosive claim comes as concerns mount over whether Biden was mentally fit when he authorized dozens of controversial pardons on his final day in office.

Martin recently appeared on the “2WAY Tonight” podcast with journalist Mark Halperin to shed light on the deepening controversy. 

“I had a whistleblower in my office 10 days ago, senior, senior Democrat saying, ‘Look, it was these three people that controlled access, and they were making money off of it,’” Martin said, according to The Gateway Pundit. 

“I don’t know if I believe it yet, but the point is I think we have to get to the bottom of it for the American people and to protect the process. And that’s what we’re doing.”

Though Martin declined to name the whistleblower, he described the source as a “high level advisor” from Biden’s 2020 campaign. 

The claims focus on alleged misconduct by Biden’s former Chief of Staff Ron Klain, senior adviser Anita Dunn and Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer. 

Former White House counselor Steve Ricchetti and First Lady Jill Biden were also described by Martin as “lead characters” in the decision-making process.

The core of the investigation centers on Biden’s widespread use of an autopen to sign last-minute clemency orders on Jan. 19, just one day before President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term. 

According to watchdog group the Oversight Project, every single pardon issued that day featured identical autopen signatures from Biden.

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Iran Will Hold US Responsible For Any Israeli Attack On Nuclear Sites: Foreign Minister

Earlier this week CNN had issued an alarming report claiming that Israel is currently preparing possible preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. It underscored that at this moment it has become very clear that Netanyahu could care less about ‘pressure’ from Western allies the US, UK, and Canada regarding the Gaza crisis. Israel continues to essentially be at war on multiple fronts.

Parallel to all of this, Washington and Iran have been engaged in productive talks on potentially reaching a fresh nuclear deal – which the Netanyahu fundamentally sees as but an Iranian ploy to buy time as it secretly develops nukes (in Tel Aviv’s thinking). But Iran’s leaders are calling for the United States to essentially ‘keep its dog on a leash’ – as Israel wishes to torpedo a deal.

In fresh statements, Iran now says it will hold the United States responsible in the event of an unprovoked Israeli attack on its nuclear energy sites. Certainly any such attacks would completely derail efforts to reset relations with Washington.

“Iran strongly warns against any adventurism by the Zionist regime of Israel and will decisively respond to any threat or unlawful act by this regime,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated in a letter addressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“I have called on the international community to take effective preventive measures against the continuation of Israeli threats, which if unchecked, will compel Iran to take special measures in defense of our nuclear facilities and materials,” Araghchi said.

And as cited in Reuters:

Araqchi said Iran would view Washington as a “participant” in any such attack, and Tehran would have to adopt “special measures” to protect its nuclear sites and material if threats continued, and the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency would be subsequently informed of such steps.

“The nature, content, and extent of our actions will correspond and be proportionate to preventive measures taken by these international bodies in accordance with their statutory duties and obligations,” the Iranian top diplomat added.

Washington and Tehran are gearing up for a fifth round of nuclear talks to be held in Rome this Friday.

Lately the Ayatollah has weighed in following reports that Iran is ready to halt enrichment altogether and in return get sanctions lifted. Ali Khamenei had called the latest US demands that Iranian enrichment be taken down to zero “excessive and outrageous,” according to state media on Tuesday. He further expressed doubts that current nuclear talks with the Trump administration will actually lead anywhere.

Meanwhile in Tehran, the parliament has “reaffirmed the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, saying that the Islamic Republic has never sought, nor will it seek, to build an atomic bomb.”

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A Top Antitrust Enforcer Is Open To Prosecuting People Who Disagree With Him

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Mark Meador recently insinuated that his agency may investigate nonprofits and academic institutions that object to antitrust enforcement actions without disclosing their donors for deceptive practices. While Meador may think it’s OK to probe parties for disagreeing with him, the FTC’s consumer protection remit does not sanction prosecuting those who reject the commissioner’s antitrust ideology.

Meador recently reposted a video of him discussing the “academic whitewashing” of antitrust during an event hosted by American Compass and the Conservative Partnership Institute on May 1. (While no full recording of the event exists at press time, an employee of American Compass tells Reason that the clip is from the aforementioned event.)

Meador complains about academics “renting out their Ph.D. [and] their reputation to advocate for the interests of giant corporations.” He rightly acknowledged that people are free to do whatever they want but then said that the FTC brings “enforcement actions against influencers and reviewers who advocate for products without disclosing that they’re being paid for it.”

Meador wondered aloud whether nonprofit employees and academics who advocate “for the interests of certain corporations or mergers in their white papers and their op-eds without ever disclosing that they’re being paid to do so” may also be guilty of deceptive practices. He did not state that the FTC would bring enforcement actions against academics but said it’s “worth investigating.”

While Meador may think “it’s an interesting question” whether he may prosecute his ideological opponents, the Supreme Court has already provided an answer. Eugene Volokh, professor emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, understands the ruling in NAACP v. Alabama (1958) as holding that, “when it comes to speech that is neither commercial advertising for a product…nor specifically election-related, broader First Amendment precedents would indeed preclude such disclosure requirements.”

Nadine Strossen, former president of the American Civil Liberties Union and senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, tells Reason that “the Supreme Court has expressly distinguished between commercial and other communications.” Citing Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel of Supreme Court of Ohio (1985), Strossen says “compulsory disclosure regarding non-commercial expression is presumptively unconstitutional.”

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ATF Launches “New Era Of Reform”, Encourages Revoked Gun Dealers To Reapply

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has just announced that it’s “ushering in a new chapter” of “transparency, accountability, and partnership with the firearms industry” on its official web page.

The most notable of these changes is that ATF has invited those Federal Firearms Licensees who had their licenses revoked by the Biden Administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy to reapply and have their license restored. This change is apparently in accordance with President Trump’s executive order “Protecting Second Amendment Rights.”

Other major policy changes were also announced, including a pledge to cease “creating entirely new laws based on executive order.” 

This is an excellent start to improving the lives of gun owners and dealers. But not to worry, Gun Owners of America is still working on the complete and total abolishment of ATF, starting with the repealing of laws that give the agency the power to regulate. 

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Pentagon to change trans soldiers’ records to reflect biological sex—not gender identity

Transgender soldiers in the Army will now have records that state only their birth sex, an internal memo obtained by Reuters has revealed, instead of their gender identity, as was the practice under the Biden administration.

The 14-page memo stated, “Commanders will take immediate measures to update personnel records and administrative systems to reflect biological sex for all individuals.” A person’s sex is considered by the Army to be “unchanging during a person’s life.”

Pronoun use must “reflect their biological sex,” the document stated, later adding, “In keeping with good order and discipline, salutations (e.g., addressing a senior officer as ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’).”

Access to “intimate spaces” will also be determined by biological sex. “Commanders will ensure all such shared intimate spaces will be clearly designated for either male, female, or family use.”

This comes after the Supreme Court earlier in May blocked a lower court’s ruling that prevented the Trump administration from banning transgender troops in service. The Pentagon to implement the order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pending the outcome of the appeal.

In the administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court, Solicitor General John Sauer argued that the lower court’s injunction, if not blocked, would remain in place “for the duration of further review in the Ninth Circuit and in this Court—a period far too long for the military to be forced to maintain a policy that it has determined, in its professional judgment, to be contrary to military readiness and the Nation’s interests.”

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Another Layer of Nuance to the UFO Mystery: Baffling Otherworldly Encounters with Military Naval Vessels

Whereas many people might imagine a scene over a quiet country road, or possibly from the balcony of a high-rise apartment building in a metropolis-like city, or even from a moving aircraft, the fact is there are many sightings on record that occur over the seas, oceans, and other vast water networks of our planet. Although actual statistics differ, it is widely agreed that more than half of all UFO sightings occur over or near water. With this in mind, we might imagine that many of the ships and submarines, particularly military ones, would have encountered these otherworldly vehicles – and we would be right.

As usual, we will not have the time to explore every case; in fact, we only have time and space to scratch the surface of such encounters here, which could fill up entire volumes in their own right, and those are just the sightings from the modern UFO age. We will, though, explore some of the most interesting and detailed UFO encounters that have involved naval vessels in various stretches of water around the planet.

Without a doubt, one of the strangest and thought-provoking of these marine encounters was relayed in the book Military Encounters with Extraterrestrials: The Real War of the Worlds by Frank Joseph, and occurred in the late 1980s when the Cold War, albeit reduced in tensions, was still very much unfolding. According to the report, which came through an anonymous crew member of the US Navy submarine, the USS Memphis, the incident occurred ahead of a NASA space shuttle launch, with the submarine patrolling the waters around the launch site ahead of the mission.

On this particular night – October 24th going into October 25th, 1989 – the USS Memphis was around 150 miles off the coast of Florida, cruising at a depth of around 500 feet. While the mission had been completely textbook so far, on this particular evening, they were experiencing all manner of problems with their electronics. As the witness recalled, the crew quickly realized the “ship was malfunctioning…the tanks were blowing” and the “navigations ability and communication (were) totally lost!” Eventually, an order was given to bring the submarine to a stop so the crew could assess what was happening. However, moments later, the controls in the reactor began to malfunction, and orders were issued to shut it down, switch to diesel engines, and surface immediately.

As soon as the vessel broke the surface of the water, the witness made his way to his watch station. He looked out and could see that the night sky was now glowing “red like a neon sign” as heavy rain came down from above. Then, only moments after first looking out, he noticed a “large, inverted V-shaped” object moving on the port (left-hand) side of the submarine. The witness turned to the executive officer who was with him, who told him to remain at his post while he informed the captain. Several moments later, the captain arrived at the watch station.

By this point, using a laser range finder, they had determined that their vessel was around 600 feet from the nearest point of the strange craft, which was approximately 650 feet from their location. Moreover, they estimated that the furthest point of the object was around 3500 feet from them, suggesting that it was, in total, around half a mile wide.

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Inside the Brussels Showdown Over Europe’s Speech Police

On a mild Brussels morning, inside the halls of the European Parliament, a group of politicians, legal scholars, and policy skeptics gathered to talk about a piece of legislation most Europeans haven’t read, but which may soon be quietly reshaping how they speak, share, and think online.

Yesterday’s event, hosted by MEPs Stephen Bartulica and Virginie Joron, with support from ADF International, focused on the increasingly controversial Digital Services Act (DSA), a law initially sold as a digital shield against misinformation and tech giant abuse, but which critics now say has evolved into something more aggressive.

The conference title “The Digital Services Act and Threats to Freedom of Expression” tells you everything you need to know about the mood in the room.

Virginie Joron, a French MEP, opened the event with a direct shot at what she sees as the DSA’s unspoken evolution. “What was sold as the Digital Services Act is increasingly functioning as a Digital Surveillance Act,” she said. Her argument: a law intended to protect rights is now being used by institutions to regulate dissent on platforms like Facebook, Telegram, and X.

Many have previously tried to dismiss this as anti-Brussels paranoia. But even the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, & Labour has flagged the DSA’s “chilling implications” for open debate in Europe.

The devil, as always, lives in the definitions. Who decides what’s “disinformation”? What counts as “hate speech”? How far can governments go in flagging and removing content that someone, somewhere, considers problematic?

Paul Coleman, the Executive Director of ADF International, doesn’t seem particularly reassured by the current answers. “Free speech is again under threat on this continent in a way it hasn’t been since the nightmare of Europe’s authoritarian regimes just a few decades ago,” he told the room.

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Nevada Assembly Passes Resolution Urging Congress To Reschedule Psychedelics And Protect ‘Supervised Adult Use’ Of The Substances

The Nevada Assembly has amended and advanced a Senate-passed joint resolution calling on Congress to reschedule certain psychedelics, streamline research and provide protections for people using the substances in compliance with state law.

On the chamber floor on Thursday, lawmakers voted 36-6 to advance the measure—SJR 10, from Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D)—which now returns to the Senate to consider changes made in the Assembly.

The resolution cites research demonstrating the therapeutic potential of psychedelics in the treatment of serious mental health conditions and calls on the federal government to “reschedule psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, ibogaine, mescaline and MDMA to a schedule that better reflects the therapeutic value, low potential for abuse and safety for use under medical supervision of those compounds.”

It also points out that there have been federal developments on the issue, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designation of certain psychedelics as “breakthrough therapies” and research that’s being funded to explore the substances at the Department of Defense (DOD) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The measure urges Congress to increase funding for further research, establish a “streamlined process for approving and conducting research with psychedelic compounds,” and reschedule psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, ibogaine, mescaline and MDMA under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Further, it calls for the establishment of “legal protection against federal prosecution for individuals and entities complying with state law concerning the supervised adult use of psychedelic compounds and require states to enter research partnerships with the Attorney General under the Controlled Substances Act to study the public health outcomes of such state programs.”

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Liberal Boomers lined up for Carney—now their grandkids are lining up at the food bank

In 2021, 5.8 million Canadians lived in households struggling to put food on the table. By 2024, that number shot up to nearly 10 million.

Newly released data from Statistics Canada shows that food insecurity in this country has taken a horrifying leap, with a staggering 72% increase in just three years.

Among children, the picture is even bleaker. Nearly 2.5 million Canadian kids—one in three—now live in food-insecure households. That’s not some distant tragedy in a far-off land. That’s right here, in your neighbourhood, in your kid’s classroom.

And while families are rationing groceries, Liberal Boomers just handed the reins to Mark Carney—the unelected high priest of net-zero—who’s promised to keep punishing farmers, truckers, and the energy industry with his anti-energy policies. 

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Eco-Fascism – 2026 Ballot Measure Seeks “End Of Farming” In Colorado

The Trump administration, focused on delivering economic growth and food production in the U.S., is attracting the opposition of zealots and degrowth monied interests alike. 

To wit; two radically authoritarian ballot measures – which have the support of initiatives and frameworks of International Governmental Organizations (IGOs) – ask Colorado and Oregon voters to give up the family dog and hand over their private property rights in what some have called “the end of farming and ranching” in the Mile High state.

The first measure, Colorado ballot initiative 2025-2026#82, reads like a dictator’s manifesto – and is essentially a carbon copy of the CCP-backed Convention on Biological Diversity’s wildlands project.

The eight-page “Colorado Wildlife and Biodiversity Protection Act” seeks to create the Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation Commission (WECC). 

Astonishingly, the WECC would consist of nine appointed members, with the petition strictly stipulating that no member can have any financial ties to agriculture, energy, or development. The petition then goes on to (laughably) assert that these supposed “elite” members – without “financial ties” – will be appointed by universities, environmental groups, and policy institutes. Naturally,  this commission will have total control over agriculture, energy, and all future development in Colorado. 

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