Mamdani Brags He Eliminated NYC’s $12 Billion Budget Deficit, But Then a New York Outlet Dug Into the Numbers

On Tuesday morning, New York City’s ultra-progressive mayor, Zohran Mamdani, took to X to take quite a boastful victory lap.

“When we came into office, we uncovered a $12 billion budget deficit,” Mamdani posted to X. “Today, I’m proud to say we brought it down to zero.”

“We didn’t close the gap on the backs of working people,” he continued. “We closed it while funding parks, libraries, safer streets and making historic investments in public housing. Call it Pothole Politics. Call it Democratic Socialism. It’s government that delivers for the people who make this city run.”

“That’s what New Yorkers deserve. And that’s what we will keep fighting for every single day.”

In a vacuum, this certainly sounded like it should’ve been a good Tuesday for NYC residents. But shortly after Mamdani’s post went up, the New York Post came out with a blistering rebuttal of Mamdani’s claims — and a much closer look at the numbers that Mamdani largely avoided delving into.

Blasted for including “a menu of hidden fee hikes” in his budget plan, the outlet pointed out that this deficit “fix” from Mamdani was anything but.

And notably, some of the harshest criticisms lobbied against Mamdani came from a fellow Democrat.

“Banking on yet to be determined revenue-raising gimmicks and identifying fake savings are not wins,” an unnamed Democratic operative told the New York outlet.

The operative savagely added, “This budget plan is as real as Kim Kardashian’s lips.”

So why is this budget plan so inauthentic?

Critics argue that the holes in Mamdani’s budget vision become glaringly obvious once you look beyond the lofty rhetoric and into the actual revenue proposals being floated by City Hall.

According to city budget documents cited by the New York Post, officials are eyeing a laundry list of new fees, fines, and enforcement crackdowns to help plug fiscal gaps.

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CIA Went Rogue, Raided Tulsi’s Office to Seize Papers

A breaking news alert from Fox News, apparently confirmed by a Republican congresswoman, states that the Central Intelligence Agency went rogue, raiding the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to seize files.

It seems from the Fox News report that the CIA seized the files just now, though a whistleblower from the agency who testified to Congress today referred to the wrongful seizure of files in his testimony. It is therefore not clear if the raid occurred today or before the testimony, or if there was more than one seizure. In either case, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is giving the CIA 24 hours to return the files in question or face consequences.

The CIA was allegedly after the files on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the MK-Ultra human experimentation scandal. The story on the raid is developing but seems to be legitimate, and illustrates the need for drastic cuts in our Deep State. Donald Trump cannot hope to prevent such egregious acts by merely replacing top leadership. The majority of employees at the CIA and FBI worked there during the Biden-era weaponization of justice and believe they are not accountable to Trump or We the People.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard was reportedly in the process of declassifying the JFK and MK-ULTRA files, and it seems the CIA gave us indirect confirmation that there is something in those files that they desperately do not want anyone to know. The problem is that we don’t know if they will be able to destroy the files or not before the Trump administration can get them back. If the raid just occurred and did not happen previously in the last couple of days, it is interesting to note that President Trump was out of the country in China, and therefore unable to be present personally to deal with the situation. Hopefully, Vice President Vance is on the job.

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Alabama AG Announces Civil Investigation into Southern Poverty Law Center Alleging Deceptive Fundraising Practices Under State’s Consumer Protection Statutes

In April, the Justice Department indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on 11 counts, including wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.

The SPLC was indicted for secretly funneling more than $3 million in funds to members of white supremacist and extremist groups, the DOJ said.

A grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned an 11-count indictment against the SPLC.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the grand jury indicted the SPLC on 6 counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Now, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has announced a civil investigation into the organization, alleging deceptive fundraising practices under the State’s consumer protection statutes.

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Stacey Abrams Dragged Into Georgia Subpoena Showdown Over Massive Campaign Finance Scandal

Stacey Abrams is once again under a harsh spotlight as Georgia lawmakers dig deep into what they call blatant campaign finance violations tied to her voter outreach network.

The state Senate’s Special Committee on Investigations announced that Abrams and two key allies have been subpoenaed, promising that they “will follow the facts wherever they lead.”

The panel’s vice chairman, Senator Greg Dolezal, made it clear that the days of political favoritism are over in Georgia.

“Georgia law requires transparency and accountability in our elections,” he said.

For a state that has endured years of Democrat-fueled election drama, many see this latest subpoena as long overdue.

The subpoenas were issued to Abrams, along with New Georgia Project figures Lauren Groh-Wargo and Nsé Ufot.

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O.J. Simpson top defense expert trained thousands of Chinese state security agents in U.S.

A forensic expert who testified in numerous high-profile American murder trials spent decades training China’s police alongside U.S. law enforcement officials at his federally-funded institutions in Connecticut, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.

Dr. Henry C. Lee, who was born in China and became famous testifying as an expert defense witness in O.J. Simpson’s 1995 murder trial, served as Connecticut State Police commissioner and investigated dozens of notorious cases including the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart and the murders of JonBenét RamseyChandra Levy and Laci Peterson.

At least a decade before joining O.J.’s “dream team,” Lee also began sharing his expertise with “China’s FBI,” the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), and its local subordinate, the Public Security Bureau (PSB), with which he held numerous positions until his death at the age of 87 in March 2026, according to DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports.

Lee likewise held multiple positions in arms of a Chinese influence and intelligence agency called the United Front Work Department (UFWD), which arranged for Lee to be interviewed in 2019 about his work training Chinese state security personnel in both China and the U.S. at the University of New Haven (UNH), where he had served as a professor for over 50 years, according to DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports.

“Over the past 50 years, at least 1,000 teams and more than 10,000 [Chinese police] have received specialized professional training here in Connecticut at UNH,” Lee said, according to a DCNF translation of that 2019 interview. “I feel their academic drive, spirit of tireless research, and love for the cause, party and nation.”

“The allegations of UNH training students from the MPS must be thoroughly investigated and all American universities must do more to protect taxpayer-funded research from our adversaries,” Republican Rep. John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, told the DCNF.

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Former CDC Autism Scientist Extradited to U.S. on Fraud, Money Laundering Charges

A former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scientist who played a key role in research that denied any link between vaccination and autism was extradited to the U.S. last week to face charges of wire fraud and money laundering stemming from a 2011 indictment.

Poul Thorsen, 65, a Danish native, began working for the CDC in the late 1990s. In 2011, a federal grand jury indicted him for the alleged misuse of over $1 million in CDC grant money that was earmarked for autism and public health research. Thorsen is accused of redirecting the funds for his personal use.

Despite the indictment — and the existence of an extradition treaty between the U.S. and Denmark — Thorsen continued to live and work in Denmark. However, he was arrested in Germany last year on an INTERPOL warrant.

On May 8, U.S. Air Marshals escorted him from Germany to Atlanta, where he was arraigned.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which listed Thorsen on its most wanted list in 2012, posted a video of his extradition.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Thorsen faces two counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering. He is being held without bail until trial.

In 2011, studies Thorsen co-authored were used to dismiss cases filed by the parents of autistic, vaccine-injured children that were part of the Omnibus Autism Proceedings pending before the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).

A 2016 book, “Master Manipulator: The Explosive True Story of Fraud, Embezzlement, and Government Betrayal at the CDC,” focused on the Thorsen case, describing him as “a world-class villain whose manipulation of health data gave CDC and big pharma what they wanted: a report clearing thimerosal of any possible role in the autism crisis.”

Mary Holland, CEO of Children’s Health Defense (CHD), said Thorsen “was central to the CDC and Pharma lies that ‘vaccines do not cause autism.’”

Brian Hooker, Ph.D., chief scientific officer for CHD, said Thorsen’s work “set autism research back more than 20 years.”

“Previous administrations did not appear interested in pursuing Thorsen,” according to the MAHA Report. As a result, Thorsen was “living openly, apparently without concern of being captured in Denmark.”

HHS and DOJ did not respond to The Defender’s requests for comment.

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Democrat State Assembly Candidate May Be Kicked Off Primary Ballot After 90% of Her 5,258 Total Signatures Were Invalidated By City Board of Elections

Democrat State Assembly candidate Marie Mirville-Shahzada and her slate of Democratic district leaders in New York may be kicked off the ballot after the city Board of Elections invalidated 90% of her 5,258 total signatures.

Mirville-Shahzada is running for the New York State Assembly in District 46, which covers parts of Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, and Coney Island.

Signatures were invalidated for a variety of reasons, including the inclusion of two dead Brooklyn voters as well as voters who do not live in the district or were not even registered to vote.

Per the rules for appearing on the ballot, candidates must provide signatures of at least 500 verified voters for the district in question in order to run for Assembly.

After the city’s assessment, Mirville-Shahzada has been left with only 479 verified signatures.

Per a New York Post exclusive:

A review of signature petitions by The Post confirmed that at least two signatures are of dead voters while a third signature is from a woman whose family said she wasn’t even in the Big Apple on the day she allegedly put her John Hancock on the form.

Despite records showing both voters would be over 100 years old and that they passed away more than a decade ago, fresh ink was signed last month to support Mirville-Shahzada’s bid to get into the party primary.

And 99-year-old Lucia Gelbfish’s family said she didn’t sign the petition either and that her “blood pressure would go through the roof” if she knew her signature had been used fraudulently.

Her Democrat appointment, Chris McCreight, said in a statement, “This is why people lose faith in government, because you have people running for office who are willing to lie and cheat because they can’t compete by following the rules.”

“It’s dead wrong and should not be tolerated when anybody, of any party, does it.”

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Active CIA Whistleblower Set to Blow Lid Off Deep State COVID-19 Cover-Up in Explosive Senate Testimony Tomorrow – Sen. Rand Paul Reveals Intel Community Knew Lab Leak Origins for Years While American Taxpayers Funded Wuhan Research

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has confirmed to Fox News’ Bill Melugin that an active CIA employee will testify publicly and in person before his Senate Homeland Security Committee tomorrow morning, and this brave whistleblower is ready to expose how the Deep State has been lying to the American people about the origins of COVID-19 for years.

This bombshell revelation comes just days after The Gateway Pundit reported on Sen. Paul’s announcement of the May 13 hearing, where he vowed “the truth is coming” about the COVID cover-up, even as the statute of limitations expires on potential charges against Anthony Fauci and despite Joe Biden’s desperate preemptive pardon of his favorite bureaucrat on his way out the door in January 2025.

According to Melugin’s exclusive report on X:

“Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) tells me that the COVID-19 whistleblower who will testify publicly & in person before his committee tomorrow morning is an active CIA employee who will testify that the intelligence community has covered up the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic for years.

“I think this whistleblower will help to confirm that this was known, has been known for a long time, and that when the scientists at the CIA looked at this, they discovered or they concluded that the virus had come from the lab,” Sen. Paul tells me.

“What we’re going to find is that the cover up is a real thing, that there are members of the community, the intelligence community, that still don’t want the truth to come out. I’ve said the government was involved not only in funding this research, but then in trying to obscure the truth. And the truth is the US government funded research in Wuhan, China, and that research led to a virus that escaped, escaped the lab, in all likelihood accidentally.”

I asked Senator Paul for any more details on who this CIA whistleblower is ahead of tomorrow’s hearing?

“This is a brave person who’s spent a career in the CIA,” Sen. Paul said. “I don’t know how much can be revealed, but is actually famous within the community for being someone who, behind the scenes, has really helped our country.””

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Pete Hegseth Accuses Democrat Senator Mark Kelly of ‘Blabbing’ About ‘Classified’ Briefing

U.S. Department of War (DOW) Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) may be in deep trouble for comments he made over a classified Pentagon brief.

In a social media post on Sunday, Hegseth shared a post from Face the Nation’s Margaret Brennan in which she detailed Kelly’s comments regarding U.S. weapons stockpiles.

“After hearing the Pentagon classified brief on Iran war impact on U.S. weapons stockpiles, Senator Mark Kelly says it is ‘shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines.’ He said the Tomahawks, ATACMS, SM-3, THAAD rounds, Patriot rounds, so those interceptor rounds to defend ourselves have been hit hard. He says it’ll take years to replenish those stockpiles, which could affect a hypothetical U.S. conflict with China,” Brennan reported.

In response, Hegseth criticized the senator, who is a retired U.S. Navy captain, and said officials were taking action.

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Biden-Released Illegal Alien Accused of Raping Deceased Girlfriend’s Underage Daughter in Montana

An illegal alien, released into the United States by former President Joe Biden’s administration, is accused of raping his deceased girlfriend’s underage daughter, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials revealed.

Wualter Jesus Travieso Soto, an illegal alien from Venezuela, was arrested in Flathead County, Montana, in February and charged with felony sexual intercourse without consent with a child under 16 years old as well as strangulation of a partner or family member.

According to police, Soto’s girlfriend died in a car crash in 2024 and her three children were subsequently left in his care despite his having no relation to them. In May 2025, police received a tip from the deceased woman’s sister, who allegedly found photos and videos on Soto’s phone of him kissing the eldest daughter.

The deceased woman’s aunt got custody of the three children and that is when the girl told police Soto had raped her on several occasions and, at one point, choked her.

Soto was only able to go to Montana because of the Biden administration’s catch and release policy, carried out by Alejandro Mayorkas. Under that policy, Soto was released into the United States interior after illegally crossing the border in 2023.

“This monster repeatedly raped the child of his dead girlfriend,” the Department of Homeland Security’s Lauren Bis said in a statement:

He now faces felony charges of sexual intercourse without consent with a child under 16. He would not be in this country in the first place if it weren’t for the Biden Administration’s disastrous catch and release policies that allowed him into our country. ICE is asking officials in Montana to turn this perverted criminal over to ICE custody so that we can get him off our streets and out of our country. With cooperation from our local partners, we will ensure this predator never harms another innocent child. [Emphasis added]

Soto remains in Flathead County custody and ICE agents have lodged a detainer against him so that if he is released from local custody, he will be turned over to federal custody.

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