Tag: corruption

Trump admin drops Israel boycott conditions from disaster aid guidance after intense backlash

The Trump Administration on Monday dropped language from the Department of Homeland Security that would have denied disaster aid funding to cities and states that boycotted Israeli companies, following intense backlash from both sides of the aisle.

The DHS Standard Terms and Conditions on Monday morning, included the following statement:

“Discriminatory prohibited boycott means refusing to deal, cutting commercial relations, or otherwise limiting commercial relations specifically with Israeli companies or with companies doing business in or with Israel or authorized by, licensed by, or organized under the laws of Israel to do business.”

That language has since been removed from the DHS’s most up to date version. The original post with the Israel-related language may be found here.

The removal followed intense online backlash from right-wing and left-wing advocates online, many of whom deemed it evidence of Israeli capture of the American government.

“Denying American victims of natural disasters aid if they are insufficiently supportive of Israel. Absolute insanity,” wrote podcast Krystal Ball.

“I’ve never seen someone tank their legacy so fast. This is not America first and anyone advising him on this should be fired,” musician Alexandra Lains wrote.

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Jeffrey Epstein victims rip FBI, DOJ over handling of case — claim ‘wealthy men’ being protected

Two victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring blasted the Trump administration over the notorious case Monday, with one accusing the Justice Department of prioritizing protection of the dead pedophile’s rich friends over the women he abused.

“I am not sure the highest priority here is the victims, justice for the victims or combating child exploitation,” read one of the two letters submitted in Manhattan federal court.

“… Rather, I feel like the DOJ’s and FBI’s priority is protecting the ‘third-party,’ the wealthy men by focusing on scrubbing their names off the files.”

The second letter slammed the feds for meeting last month with Epstein’s convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell — who was subsequently rewarded with a prison transfer one week after the shocking sitdown.

Two judges are now weighing the government’s bid to unseal transcripts of testimony by law enforcement agents before grand juries who handed up indictments of Epstein and Maxwell in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

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Prosecutors accuse Smartmatic executive of bribing Venezuelan election official with luxury home

Federal prosecutors have accused Smartmatic co-founder Roger Piñate of bribing the top Venezuelan election official with a luxury residence in Caracas in exchange for political favors.

Piñate, who was charged with multiple counts of money laundering and bribery related to contracts in the Philippines, according to the Miami Herald, has been accused of transferring the home to election chief Tibisay Lucena Ramírez in order to secure her help in resolving a commercial dispute with the Venezuelan government.

The alleged dispute comes after Smartmatic claimed in 2017 that Nicolás Maduro’s administration committed fraud in the National Constituent Assembly election, which led the company to conclude its business in the country later that year. 

The new revelations occurred in a court filing related to the Philippines’ case on Friday, where prosecutors attempted to show a pattern of allegedly criminal behavior and alleged intent to commit bribery.

Pinate-VenezuelaBribeAllegationDocument.pdf

Piñate was charged in a $1 million bribery scheme in the Philippines for allegedly inflating the prices of voting machines and diverting the excess funds into secret accounts used to pay off Philippine election official Juan Andrés Donato Bautista.

Prosecutors claimed the home was allegedly transferred to Lucena Ramírez through a foreign shell company with the help of an unnamed co-conspirator. The transfer was allegedly completed between April and July 2019, after the company supposedly ended its business in Venezeula. 

Smartmatic denied the accusations in a statement to the Miami Herald, claiming the filing was riddled with “misrepresentations,” including with the timeline. 

“As an example, the government’s citation of an alleged bribe in Venezuela in 2019 is untethered from reality. Smartmatic ceased all operations in Venezuela in August 2017 after blowing the whistle on the government and has never sought to secure business there again,” the company said in an email. “We have always operated lawfully, ethically, and transparently. We stand by our two-decade track record of integrity.”

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Tulsi Gabbard Now Supports FISA-702 In Order To Get Confirmed As Director Of National Intelligence

As the story is told [SEE HERE], and it aligns with every scintilla of researched data on the darkest and deepest elements of the Deep State, DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard has reversed her position and will now support FISA-702, the warrantless searches of American communication and electronic metadata.

Apparently the FISA process and the 702 aspect (specific to American citizens) is the line in the sand the Senate Select Intelligence Committee has drawn.  If Tulsi Gabbard does not support it, her confirmation is in doubt.  As a result, she has reportedly reversed her position and now supports it.

This is absolutely par for the course.

It should be remembered, in the last reauthorization of FISA-702 congress exempted themselves from the warrantless search and surveillance system used by the U.S. Intelligence Apparatus.  Congress forbids the FBI or any entity with access to the NSA database, from being allowed to use the process to search themselves or their staff.  However, every other American does not enjoy this same protection.

After spending years asking every representative of consequence why they support the FISA-702 process, I can tell you every one of them says they believe it is needed because the IC tells them there are just too many domestic terror threats that need to be monitored.

It is impossible to find a person in DC who will forcefully try to stop FISA-702 reauthorization.

If you ask me why in hindsight, I now take the position that FISA-702 is the gateway to the massive surveillance system currently being put into place using Real ID and the AI facial recognition software provided by Palantir (CIA exploit).  In essence, the gateway that allows the full-scale surveillance state, is opened by the prior authorization of FISA-702 that negates any 4th amendment protection.

Why? Because all of the surveillance mechanisms within the network being updated and enhanced by AI search and capture, comes from the IC being allowed to exploit the NSA database.  That same database access allowance is the targeting mechanism for FISA-702.  If warrantless searches of the NSA database were stopped, the Palantir/IC and Tech Bro collaboration could hit a brick wall.

Against this backdrop, the SSCI telling Tulsi Gabbard that her nomination approval is contingent upon her support for FISA-702, simply makes sense.

WASHINGTON DC – […] Multiple senators from both parties who met with the former Hawaii lawmaker in recent days told us they emerged from those sessions unsure about Gabbard’s position on the 702 program. During these meetings, senators have pressed Gabbard on her previous public statements on the issue, as well as her votes against 702 reauthorization throughout her eight years in Congress.

GOP national security hawks in particular viewed this as problematic, we’re told, fueling renewed doubts about her confirmation prospects. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, suggested on a WSJ podcast Wednesday that Gabbard should disavow her previous opposition to the 702 program.

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Company advised by Trump sons said it hoped to benefit from fed money, then took it back

A public document filed by a company that just hired President Donald Trump’s two oldest sons as advisers included a sentence early Monday that said it hoped to benefit from grants and other incentives from the federal government, which their father happens to lead.

But when The Associated Press asked the Trump family business about the apparent conflict of interest, the document was revised and the line taken out.

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are getting “founder shares” worth millions of dollars in New America Acquisition 1 Corp., a company with no operating business that hopes to fill that hole by purchasing an American company that can play “a meaningful role in revitalizing domestic manufacturing,” according to to the filing. The president has geared his trade policy toward boosting manufacturing in the U.S.

The original version of the securities filing said the target company should be “well positioned” to tap federal or state government incentives. That reference was taken out of the revised version of the filing.

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Judicial Watch Uncovers FBI and DHS Docs Revealing Biden Regime Covered Up Counterintelligence Concerns Over Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s Ties to Communist China

Newly obtained documents by Judicial Watch from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FBI reveal a disturbing and deliberate cover-up by the Biden administration of U.S. counterintelligence concerns regarding Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his deep ties to Communist China.

The 47-page document dump, obtained through a March 2025 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, exposes that federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies flagged Walz as a major concern, and yet those warnings were hidden from the public just as he was being handpicked by the Biden-Harris campaign to join the 2024 ticket.

According to emails and chat logs from DHS’s “Nation-State Threat Bi-Weekly Sync” group, federal agents openly discussed how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had cultivated Walz as a long-term asset and saw his selection as Vice President as a major win for Beijing.

According to Judicial Watch:

A Homeland Security official whose name is redacted states: Walt’s got the Vp. You all have no idea how these feeds into what prc [People’s Republic of China] has been doing here with him and local gov. It’s seriously a line of the intel. Target someone who is perceived they can get to DC

Another official responds: “this speaks too to the rin [raw intelligence] you reviewed for us”.

A participant adds: “the perception narrative that has been pushed with one of the local ngos [non-governmental organizations] had direct ties to the former Gov here in Nevada. FBI has lead on a couple of things the only issue is being in the 9th circuit.”

A participant states: “Good to know and yes there involvement with HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] and fbi on things here”.

Another adds: “If anyone has interest I can give provide context in a classified setting.”

An official noted: “But this has more of strategic impact then obviously the general public knows”.

A day later, a BBC article reporting on Chinese internet users celebrating Walz’s past ties to China—specifically his time teaching in Guangdong in 1989, the year of the Tiananmen Square massacre—was shared in the DHS chat.

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Ukraine’s Anti-Graft Agencies Say They Uncovered Major Drone Procurement Bribery Case

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies said on Aug. 2 they had uncovered a large-scale bribery scheme involving the procurement of military drones and electronic warfare equipment.

This came just days after the agencies’ independence was restored following mass protests over government efforts to curb their powers.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said in a statement on Saturday that the alleged plot involved a sitting lawmaker, current and former regional officials, National Guard personnel, and a company executive.

Investigators alleged that those involved had refined a scheme over the past two years to systematically siphon off budget funds allocated by local authorities for defense needs, and to secure “unfair benefits in particularly large quantities.”

Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, identified the accused lawmaker as Oleksii Kuznetsov of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party.

Party leader Davyd Arakhamiia later said on Telegram that Kuznetsov’s membership in the parliamentary faction would be suspended while the investigation is underway, and that a disciplinary panel was weighing his expulsion.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Ukrainian parliament’s press office with a request to forward a comment request to Kuznetsov.

In a separate statement, the party said it supported the work of NABU and SAPO, and stressed that responsibility for corrupt acts “must be borne by everyone, regardless of position, status or political affiliation.”

It said the recently passed law restoring the agencies’ independence “created additional guarantees for their work,” for them to act decisively and professionally in combating corruption.

Zelenskyy said in a statement posted on X on Saturday that he had been briefed on the investigation by the heads of NABU and SAPO, confirming that a lawmaker, local officials, and several National Guard servicemembers had been “exposed for bribery.”

“I am grateful to the anti-corruption agencies for their work,” he wrote. “There can only be zero tolerance for corruption, clear teamwork in uncovering it, and ultimately, a fair sentence. It is important that anti-corruption institutions operate independently, and the law passed on Thursday guarantees them all the tools necessary for a real fight against corruption.”

The law he referred to marked a dramatic about-face for his administration.

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Zelensky Party Lawmaker Among Ukraine Officials Arrested over Corruption: Report

Multiple military and political officials in Ukraine, reportedly including a lawmaker from President Zelensky’s party, have been accused of corruption schemes to steal money intended for the war effort and bribery.

Just weeks after thousands took to the streets of Kyiv to protest against the loosening of anti-corruption standards, forcing the Zelensky government to backtrack immediately, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said that four people have been arrested on suspicion of corruption.

According to a report from Ukrainska Pravda, this included Member of Parliament Oleksii Kuznetsov of Zelensky’s Servant of the People party. The news outlet went on to claim that the other officials included former Luhansk governor Serhii Haidai, head of Luhansk Oblast’s Rubizhne district Andrii Yurchenko, and an official from Ukraine’s National Guard.

In a statement, the NABU said that the officials established a scheme to fraudulently overcharge on defence spending, including on electronic warfare systems and on military drones, by upwards of 30 per cent.

“After the contract was executed, the company’s officials handed over their ‘kickback’ to the members of the criminal group,” the agency said.

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Everything Damaging To Democrats Is ‘Russian Disinformation’ To The Media

There’s a reliable pattern: Whenever something truly devastating to Democrats comes to light, the dying news media will immediately call it “Russian disinformation,” even when the goods are 1,000 percent real; the latest being newly declassified documents this week with yet more evidence indicating that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign planned to smear Trump by connecting him to Russia — the basis of the completely fabricated Russia-Trump collusion hoax that ultimately framed President Trump and his associates with crimes they didn’t commit.

An alternate reality exists wherein the New York Times assesses the new details and concludes that one of the country’s major political parties engaged in some truly corrupt, sinister conduct, and perhaps there might be avenues to pursue legal accountability. Unfortunately, we live in this reality where the Times runs the headline, “‘Clinton Plan’ Emails Were Likely Made by Russian Spies, Declassified Report Shows,” a naked attempt to dismiss what the new information actually shows.

Senate Republicans on Thursday declassified a portion of a special counsel report that included purported communications involving the 2016 Clinton campaign and a left-wing non-profit group, which suggest the parties plotted to implicate Trump and his campaign in Russian election interference. The best part of the article, authored by Times reporters Charlie Savage and Adam Goldman, is when they brush annex revelations aside, essentially because Durham couldn’t locate the originals of a couple of emails.

Pack it up guys! Nothing to see here!

That’s not an exaggeration. “[U]ltimately, in weighing all the evidence,” the article said, “[Special Counsel John] Durham concluded that the Russians had probably faked the key emails…” But that’s not true. The immediate paragraph thereafter quotes a line included in the annex documents that literally says Duram’s office assessed the emails in question to be “a composite of several emails that were obtained through Russian intelligence hacking of the U.S.-based Think Tanks, including the Open Society Foundations, the Carnegie Endowment, and others.” As The Federalist’s Elle Purnell noted, that’s “obviously not the same thing as saying he thought the Russians completely made them up.”

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Dr. Oz exposes the nonprofit lie at the heart of US health care

American health care is a paradox. We spend more than any nation in history — nearly 20% of our GDP — yet our outcomes remain stubbornly mediocre.

New hospitals rise like monuments to excess. Their parking lots fill with luxury cars. Tax dollars pour in from every level of government. Private spending remains sky-high. But while the profits flow, patient satisfaction and results don’t keep pace.

That’s because the system doesn’t reward quality. It rewards short-term financial performance.

Health care costs keep rising faster than inflation. Voters resist higher taxes, so deficits explode. The federal government now routinely runs annual shortfalls exceeding 6% of GDP — even during boom times. Something’s got to give.

Enter Dr. Mehmet Oz. Once a fixture on daytime TV, now head of Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Trump, Oz has zeroed in on the real source of bloat: hospital executives enriching themselves under the guise of nonprofit care.

Oz recently urged Americans to review tax filings and publicly “shame” hospital administrators pulling down massive salaries. He’s right to sound the alarm.

Most hospitals claim nonprofit status — but their leadership rakes in pay packages in the tens of millions, complete with bonuses, stock perks, and golden parachutes. Those compensation schemes only make sense because the IRS grants nonprofits huge tax breaks. And the standards for maintaining that status? Laughably weak.

As a result, the federal government forfeits tens of billions of dollars annually — revenue that could support real health care reform or reduce the deficit.

Consider Nazareth Hospital in Philadelphia. It belongs to Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, a large nonprofit chain. Trinity’s CEO earns over $1.4 million a year. Yet, Nazareth carries a dismal one-star Medicare rating, charges high prices, and provides very little charity care. Despite funneling more than $160 million annually through its doors, it contributes almost nothing in taxes — while local, state, and federal governments foot the bill for many of its patients.

It’s a rigged system: Taxpayers pay, executives profit, and patients suffer.

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