Tag: corruption

‘Public Health Betrayal’: EPA Tosses Drinking Water Limits on 4 Toxic PFAS Chemicals

U.S. regulators said Wednesday they will do away with limits on certain types of toxic chemicals in U.S. drinking water, a move that critics warn could expose millions of Americans to dangerous contaminants.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it intends to rescind limits set under President Joe Biden in April 2024 on four types of harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals widely found in drinking water — perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) and GenX.

The EPA will keep the limits of 4 parts per trillion in drinking water for two other types of PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), the agency said in a statement.

But, in another move drawing criticism from health advocates, the agency said it will delay the deadline for drinking water systems to comply from 2029 to 2031.

“This is a public health betrayal, plain and simple,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.

“Science is clear: PFAS are dangerous even in tiny amounts. The agency must protect all Americans, not just from two chemicals, but from the entire class of harmful PFAS.”

The four PFAS chemicals the EPA plans to roll back regulations for “are the ones currently in use because industry developed them to replace PFOA and PFOS, so they are the chemicals most likely to increase contamination in the future,” Betsy Southerland, a former EPA senior scientist and a former director in the agency’s Office of Water, said in a statement.

PFAS are types of chemicals that have long been used in a wide variety of products and industrial processes, but many have been linked to health problems that include certain cancers and immune system and reproductive harms.

Countries around the world have been pushing companies to eliminate the use of PFAS, known to be particularly dangerous, such as PFOS and PFOA, but the chemicals remain difficult to eradicate.

A recent study found residents of a Michigan community polluted with PFAS from a paper mill continue to have high levels of the chemicals in their blood, even though the mill closed down 25 years ago.

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CBS News President Abruptly Resigns Amid Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit For Deceptively Editing ’60 Minutes’ Interview with Kamala Harris

esident Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against the network’s parent company Paramount for deceptively editing a ’60 Minutes’ interview with Kamala Harris.

“It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on a path forward,” Wendy McMahon said in an email to staff just weeks after the top “60 Minutes” producer resigned.

President Trump originally sought $10 billion in damages, but earlier this year he amended the complaint and increased it to $20 billion.

The New York Times reported:

CBS News faced another shock wave on Monday after its president, Wendy McMahon, abruptly said that she would exit her post, the latest development in an ongoing showdown between the news division and President Trump.

Ms. McMahon, whose full title was president of CBS News and Stations, said in a memo that “it’s become clear the company and I do not agree on the path forward.”

Tensions between Ms. McMahon and CBS’s parent company, Paramount, have simmered for months, a period that Ms. McMahon described in her memo as “challenging.”

Paramount is in talks to settle a $20 billion lawsuit brought by Mr. Trump that accused “60 Minutes” of deceptively editing an interview last year with his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.

Many legal experts have called the suit baseless, but Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, has said she favors settling the case. She is seeking the Trump administration’s approval for a multibillion-dollar sale of her company to a Hollywood studio, Skydance.

CBS executives are reportedly worried ongoing litigation with President Trump will interfere with a merger with Skydance.

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Incoming DOJ Investigation? Trump Demands Investigation Into Kamala Harris’s “Illegal Payments” to Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Oprah and Bono for Endorsements Disguised as “Entertainment”

President Donald Trump is calling for an investigation into a massive illegal scheme involving Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign and a slew of left-wing celebrity endorsements deceptively framed as “entertainment services.”

In a fiery late-night post on Truth Social, Trump torched Harris and her Hollywood cronies, alleging that her campaign engaged in illegal campaign finance activities by funneling massive sums of money to entertainers like Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, and Bono in exchange for endorsements under the guise of “performances.”

Trump: “HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN’T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? …AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO???

I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter. Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment.

In addition, this was a very expensive and desperate effort to artificially build up her sparse crowds. IT’S NOT LEGAL! For these unpatriotic “entertainers,” this was just a CORRUPT & UNLAWFUL way to capitalize on a broken system. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”

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DOJ Confirms Plan to Make It Easier to Prosecute Corrupt Members of Congress

The Department of Justice has confirmed a plan that will make it easier to prosecute corrupt politicians.

Under plans currently being drawn up, the DOJ would be able indict members of Congress without approval from lawyers from its Public Integrity Section, known as PIN.

The plans were first reported by The Washington Post and confirmed by a DOJ official.

The Post explains:

Under the proposal, investigators and prosecutors would also not be required to consult with the section’s attorneys during key steps of probes into public officials, altering a long-standing provision in the Justice Department’s manual that outlines how investigations of elected officials should be conducted.

If adopted, the changes would remove a layer of review intended to ensure that cases against public officials are legally sound and not politically motivated.

Career prosecutors in the Public Integrity Section guided and signed off on the criminal investigations into alleged corruption by New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) and former Democratic senator Bob Menendez.

A Justice Department spokesman confirmed the proposal and said that no final decisions have been made. The three people familiar with the proposal spoke on the condition of anonymity because they fear reprisals.

According to a DOJ spokesperson, the main issues lies with the power afforded to PIN, which has already shrunk significantly from 30 prosecutors under the Biden regime to just five under Trump.

“The point of the review is to ensure that equal responsibility is held in the field at U.S. Attorney’s Offices as opposed to centralizing all authority in PIN,” they explained.

PIN was created in 1976 in the wake of the Watergate scandal with the goal of reinforcing DOJ’s credibility in policing official misconduct.

According to the Justice Department’s guidelines, prosecutors in the Public Integrity Section must give formal approval—not just input—before charges can be filed against lawmakers in cases tied to their official roles or campaign conduct.

Nonetheless, the ultimate decision to proceed with an indictment rests with the attorney general.

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Does the Release of the Hur Recordings Raise More Questions About the Autopen Signings?

In his four years in office, Joe Biden pardoned or granted clemency to more than 8,000 criminals, including his own son, four times more than Barack Obama (1,927), who was in office for eight years.

Republicans raised questions about Biden’s extensive reliance on the executive autopen to sign all those pardons and acts of clemency. Indeed, it would seem to be a non-issue. All presidents have used an autopen for official and unofficial business, so what’s the big deal?

Legal experts scoffed at that idea except in one unlikely instance. Kermit Roosevelt, constitutional law expert at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “If the president doesn’t know that something was done, then it’s not a valid official act.”

Did Biden fully understand that he was pardoning and granting clemency to these 8,000 people? 

Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued a statement on Friday saying that his committee was going to revisit the autopen issue it raised during hearings last March. At that time, the Biden White House stonewalled Comer’s committee, refusing requests for documents and having aides testify. 

“The American people deserve to know who was actually calling the shots in the Biden White House, because it wasn’t Joe Biden. His mental decline was obvious to anyone paying attention. But instead of being honest, the Biden Administration, Democrats in Congress, and the legacy media lied and covered it up. They gaslit the American people while propping up a man who was unfit to lead,” the statement said.

The release of Hur’s recorded interview with Joe Biden changes everything. It raises serious questions that Democrats can’t avoid: How impaired was Joe Biden? Did he fully understand the act of pardoning so many criminals? 

Who was pulling the strings? Who was the puppetmaster? 

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Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan Launches Fundraiser After Being Charged With Aiding Illegal Alien Evade Arrest

The left-wing Milwaukee judge charged with helping an illegal alien evade arrest has launched a fundraising site as she tries to push back against the charges.

Earlier this week, a federal grand jury indicted Dugan for obstructing an ICE arrest last month.

Seemingly unable to fund her own legal costs, Dugan has set up a website asking supporters for donations to help fund a “full and aggressive defense.”

Her website states:

The Hannah Dugan Legal Defense Fund has been launched, and is aimed at raising resources to help Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan mount a vigorous defense against  the unprecedented attack on the independent judiciary by the federal government.

The fund, established consistent with Wisconsin’  Code of Judicial Conduct and Code of Ethics for Public Officials and Employees, will help raise the significant resources needed to present an appropriate defense to this extraordinary attack on Wisconsin’s  judicial branch of government.

Judge Dugan intends to return to the bench to which she was elected.  Therefore, the fund’s structure provides for stringent restrictions on contributions and strives for  consistency with state law regarding  permissible gifts.

Because the criminal charges are  unique to a member of the judiciary, and the prosecution poses a host of new questions of law, it will be critical for Judge Dugan to have the significant resources needed to defend herself and the integrity of an independent judiciary.

According to the FBI, Dugan became angry when she learned that ICE agents were waiting outside of her courtroom last week to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an illegal alien involved in a domestic abuse case she was overseeing.

She allegedly directed Flores-Ruiz to leave the courthouse through a private jury door to evade arrest.

FBI Director Kash Patel said she had “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested at her courthouse.”

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There is no climate change crisis; there’s a crisis of corrupted politicians and institutions

Kooky tales about Antarctica abound – including the presence of UFOs, a lost civilisation and a passage to Earth’s interior. All are generally dismissed as absurd. Yet, some widely accepted claims about climate change and ice sheets at the planet’s southernmost end are equally far-fetched.

The world is told daily that rising CO2 levels are melting polar ice, shrinking crop yields and pushing humanity toward extinction. “Institute radical decarbonisation or we’re all dead!” is the cry of our enlightened overlords, as if swapping incandescent bulbs for LEDs and banning gas cars would spare us from their predicted apocalypse. They demand immediate economic hara-kiri to avoid weather predictions based on pseudoscience and outright deception.

Real-world data – from Brazil’s record harvests to the rebound of Antarctica’s ice – expose the climate crusade for the baseless hysteria that it is.

Brazil’s Agricultural Triumph

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics projects cereals, legumes and oilseeds to reach more than 325 million metric tonnes of production this year, an 11% increase over 2024.

Production of soyabeans, another cornerstone crop of global food security, is expected to hit 161 million metric tonnes in Brazil, a 6% jump from the previous year, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Brazil’s National Supply Corporation forecasts total grain production to be more than 322 million metric tonnes, up over 8% from the prior harvest, as rice leads with an increase of nearly 10% in planted area.

What does this mean for you? These numbers are evidence of a thriving agricultural sector that feeds millions worldwide. Brazil’s success challenges dire warnings from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”) of rising CO2 and temperatures disrupting agriculture.

Warmer climates and higher CO2 levels are enhancing plant growth, as warmth extends growing seasons and CO2 acts as a natural fertiliser, facts that are evident across the globe.

Antarctica’s ice rebound

Far south of Brazil, in the freezing landscape of Antarctica, another climate myth is derailed. A poster child of climate disaster forecasts, Antarctica is adding to its inventory of ice for the first time in decades. Recent data reveal that Antarctica’s ice sheet is growing. Between 2021 and 2023, Antarctic ice gained mass at a rate of approximately 108 metric gigatons per year, driven by anomalous precipitation accumulation.

This marks the first sustained ice growth in decades and should be headline news. The melting of polar ice has long been used to justify urgent policy interventions – from net-zero mandates to oil and gas restrictions to agricultural taxes. We were told rising CO₂ meant inevitable ice loss and catastrophic sea-level rise. But when the ice grows instead of shrinks, the climate establishment barely flinches.

Why are the people most entrusted with global climate policy ignoring or dismissing data like this? And more importantly, why are policymakers doubling down on economically destructive climate agendas when the physical world is contradicting their models?

Some independent researchers, farmers and energy analysts have raised red flags about flawed assumptions underlying the climate narrative. But they are often silenced or labelled “deniers” – a term designed to shut down inquiry rather than invite discussion.

Record crops and growing ice sheets are empirical evidence that challenge climate orthodoxy. Ignoring this information is not only unscientific but also immoral.

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Judicial Watch exposes Biden team pressure on Special Counsel Hur

Judicial Watch announced it received from the US Department of Justice in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit 49 pages of records detailing pressure asserted by Biden White House and Joe Biden’s personal lawyers on Special Counsel Robert Hur regarding the October 2023 interviews of  then-President Biden in the criminal investigation into his theft, retention, and disclosure of classified records. Non-disclosure agreements signed by the president’s lawyers are also included in the records.

Judicial Watch filed a July 2024 FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Justice for all communications about the Hur report with the Office of the White House Counsel and Biden’s personal lawyers (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:24-cv-02179)).

Judicial Watch has several ongoing FOIA lawsuits about Biden’s document scandals and the related unprecedented partisan prosecutorial and judicial abuses of former President Donald J. Trump.

In April 2025, Judicial Watch uncovered Justice Department records showing White House staffers suggesting edits to transcripts of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur regarding his handling of secret documents.

In February 2025, a federal court ordered the Department of Justice to declare whether it intends to continue denying Judicial Watch’s request for the full audio of former President Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. The Trump Justice Department has until May 20, 2025, to report its position on the release of the videotape.

In June 2024, the Biden administration was forced to admit that the transcripts of audio recordings of Biden’s interviews with Special Counsel Hur had been altered and are not accurate.

The new records include an October 18, 2023, letter, just a few days after Hur’s interviews of Biden, from Special Counsel to the President Richard Sauber and Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer to Hur. They express concerns about the release of the report:

At our meeting last Friday, we requested that you provide an overview of where matters stand in this case, particularly any remaining questions or concerns we should address. We also asked for the opportunity to discuss your expected report to the Attorney General at the conclusion of the investigation, including time to review it prior to its submission to the Attorney General. You advised us that you were not prepared to engage with these requests at that time but would take them under consideration.

Moreover, to the extent that your report touches in any way upon procedures in this or prior administrations for the handling of sensitive national security information, your report will also be read with intense interest in every foreign capital. It could affect the national security interests of the United States in ways that none of us can anticipate.

An October 31, 2023, email from Sauber to the Special Counsel’s Office documents the repeated efforts by the Biden legal team to review the report before its release. The letter states:

In our October 18 letter to you, we asked to have the opportunity to review and comment on a draft of the “confidential” report that you are required to write under the Special Counsel regulations. We also noted that we would follow up on the subject of the Special Counsel’s “final report” requirement more broadly.

At a minimum, the report should adhere to the kind of product contemplated by the Special Counsel regulations. As discussed, in contrast to the detailed independent counsel reports setting forth a “full and complete” description of their work, the Special Counsel regulations contemplate only that the Special Counsel will “explain[] the prosecution or declination decisions.” … We support your faithful fulfillment of this requirement. But, consistent with the Department’s description of a “limited” and “summary” product, … , the report should be economical. It should include the factual information necessary to the charging decision, but facts or events that are not essential to the decision have no place….

In a December 15, 2023,  2023, letter Sauber and Bauer reiterate the request and also ask for access to the classification review of the materials found and the return of the records of a personal nature to Biden.

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US official admits misleading Trump on US troop numbers in Syria

Outgoing Ambassador Jim Jeffrey, the U.S. special envoy for Syria, admitted in an interview with Defense One to misleading President Donald Trump about the true number of U.S. troops deployed in Syria and convincing the president not to withdraw troops.

Jeffrey said, “We were always playing shell games to not make clear to our leadership how many troops we had there.” Jeffrey said the actual number of troops in northeast Syria is “a lot more than” the approximately 200 troops Trump agreed to keep in the country in 2019.

According to anonymous sources who spoke with Defense One, the true number of U.S. troops in Syria is said to be around 900, though the precise number is classified and reportedly remains unknown even to Trump and other members of his administration hoping to bring U.S. troops out of foreign engagements.

Trump called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria at the end of 2018 and again in October 2019, both times receiving pushback. Despite calling for the withdrawals, both times Trump was convinced to leave a contingent of U.S. troops in the county.

“What Syria withdrawal? There was never a Syria withdrawal,” Jeffrey told Defense One. “When the situation in northeast Syria had been fairly stable after we defeated ISIS, [Trump] was inclined to pull out. In each case, we then decided to come up with five better arguments for why we needed to stay. And we succeeded both times. That’s the story.”

After his October 2019 call for the withdrawal of troops from Syria, Trump was convinced last year to agree to keep between 200 and 400 U.S. troops in the country to maintain control of oil fields. The actual number of troops in the country is said to be much higher than Trump was led to believe.

CNN national security correspondent Jim Sciutto similarly tweeted hearing claims that Department of Defense officials deceived Trump about the true U.S. presence in Syria.

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FEMA’s Woke Disaster: $2 Billion Fraud, Reverse Discrimination, and Retaliation Buried for Six Years

For six years, FEMA has quietly buried one of the worst scandals in federal disaster response—a toxic mix of reverse discrimination, fraud, and whistleblower retaliation tied to the Hurricane Maria recovery in Puerto Rico. I led the contractor team that uncovered it firsthand.

In 2018, I deployed as the technical lead of a Lean Six Sigma team made up of straight, older, white veterans and executives.

Our mission was to bring order, transparency, and efficiency to a FEMA operation crippled by dysfunction. What we found was not just inefficiency—it was corruption: theft, favoritism, and rot embedded deep in FEMA’s culture.

We documented widespread violations of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Anti-Deficiency Act.

FEMA leadership stole contractor-developed intellectual property and inflated performance metrics in a $1.5 billion scheme to mislead Congress.

Unqualified personnel were promoted—not for merit, but for checking the right identity boxes. This was not mismanagement. It was deliberate.

FEMA’s culture was dominated by DEI politics—identity trumped merit, and promotions were rigged. One insider told us: “Straight white men are at the bottom here.” That was not just talk. It was policy.

At the heart of it was a tight-knit special interest group dubbed internally by FEMA insiders the “LGBTQ Mafia.”

They wielded outsized influence, shielded by management and FEMA’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and FOIA offices, which buried complaints and blocked accountability.

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