Tag: corruption

Democrats Campaign Against Their Own Congressional Nominee Who Happens to Be in Federal Prison

Eric Hafner, 35, is running to strip Alaska’s lone House seat away from Republican incumbent Rep. Nicholas Begich. But can he win? After all, Hafner is the only Democrat on the ticket, and midterms historically punish the president’s party.

There’s just one problem: Eric Hafner is nearly 3,000 miles away from Juneau, serving out a 20-year prison sentence in Otisville, New York.

According to U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger, Hafner repeatedly threatened elected representatives, judges, law enforcement officers, and private citizens.

“He further victimized these public officials, private citizens, and the public generally by calling in numerous false bomb threats to a courthouse, a police department, law firms, businesses, and an elected official’s office,” Sellinger said.

Reporting by The Blue Alaskan revealed that in 2016, Inmate #00932-005 told a police department that the officer who arrested him “deserves to get shot,” that he knew where the officer lived, and that the officer’s minor child would “get his head bashed in.”

Data from Ballotpedia suggests that just 3.8 percent of voters filled in the bubble next to this man’s name.

It is unclear whether these voters knew Hafner’s background. The ballot may have been a protest vote or a knee-jerk reaction to the “D” next to his name.

Keep reading

American Express Hit With $350 Million Fine For Anti-Money Laundering Lapses

American Express has been ordered to pay a $350 million penalty over what federal regulators described as “critical deficiencies” in its anti-money laundering controls.

The regulators said it missed about $13 billion in suspected activity over more than a decade.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced the civil penalty and a cease-and-desist order on Thursday against American Express National Bank, the Utah-based banking subsidiary of the credit-card company.

The Federal Reserve separately issued a concurrent enforcement action against parent company American Express and its subsidiaries, citing significant deficiencies in the company’s enterprise-wide anti-money-laundering compliance program.

According to the OCC, American Express National Bank failed to tailor its federally mandated anti-money laundering risk assessment to the way it actually did business.

The regulator said the bank focused too much on its “relatively narrow” demand deposit account products and services while not giving enough attention to the risks associated with its “more dominant” credit and charge card products.

The bank also experienced what the OCC described as “systemic breakdowns” in its processes for monitoring and reporting suspicious activity.

Those deficiencies led to failures to identify and report roughly $13 billion in suspected trade-based money-laundering activity, including card charges and repayments associated with those charges, according to the OCC.

Trade-based money laundering generally involves using commercial transactions to disguise the proceeds of crime or move illicit value, including through manipulating the price, quantity, or quality of goods involved in trade.

In some cases, the transactions involved accounts associated with bank insiders, according to the OCC.

Keep reading

Biden-Appointed Activist Judge Sparkle Sooknanan Blocks Trump DOJ’s Nationwide Voter Roll Cleanup Effort — Even in States That Voluntarily Cooperated

A Biden-appointed federal judge has once again stepped in to shield dirty voter rolls from federal scrutiny, striking down the Justice Department’s nationwide effort to collect registration records and identify suspected non-U.S. citizens on the rolls.

U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, ruled that the Department of Justice overstepped its bounds by demanding unredacted voter registration lists and cross-referencing them using federal databases.

According to the 78-page ruling, the DOJ began requesting complete, unredacted statewide voter registration lists (including names, dates of birth, addresses, and driver’s license or partial Social Security numbers) from 49 states and the District of Columbia starting in May 2025. At least 18 states fully cooperated.

The department then shared the data with DHS for runs through the expanded Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system and urged states to remove voters flagged as potentially ineligible.

The Justice Department maintained that its actions were authorized by federal laws governing voter registration and election administration.

Sooknanan rejected that argument.

Sooknanan concluded that the Justice Department’s policy violated the Privacy Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act, exceeded the agency’s statutory authority, and was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Keep reading

Maricopa County Election Employees Seen Late at Night Using Flash Drives on Certified Equipment Ahead of Election Day – Maricopa Attempts Damage Control

Maricopa County election employees are believed to have been seen tampering with voting equipment late at night this week, appearing to install or download something on election equipment that has already been certified for use on November 3. 

The county claims that they were just “working on a legitimate election task, late into the night.” But according to Phoenix-based election watchdog group We the People Alliance, the employees left for the day at approximately 6:20 pm, then returned late at night around 9:08 pm until 11:15 pm.

Additionally, co-founder of We the People Shelby Busch tells The Gateway Pundit, “There are two flaws with the Maricopa County Election Department’s statement of transparency. First, they fail to disclose to the public what this ‘legitimate election task’ was that required occurring late into the night, and second, they indicate this can be viewed 24/7 by the public; however, the feed published by WTP USA does not appear to be part of the public feeds.”

We the People obtained the non-public video from a source. This view is nowhere to be found in Maricopa County’s public livestream of election activities at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center. Still, Maricopa County claimed in a statement, “You can view our tabulation center 24/7 365 days a year.”

“We do not presume to know what was on those flash drives, but what we do know is that secure computers were unlocked and external devices were inserted into highly sensitive systems late at night and without any public oversight. Additional video footage we obtained also raises heavy concern over the chain of custody of the external flash drive,” she added.

One of the employees, We the People Alliance says, is Brian Ramirez, the same employee who was previously accused of deleting election files before voting machines were delivered to Arizona Senate auditors following the stolen 2020 election. The Gateway Pundit has not independently verified that Ramirez was involved in the latest incident.

Similar concerns about Maricopa County machine tampering after logic and accuracy testing to certify the accuracy of the election equipment arose in the 2022 election, which was stolen from Kari Lake.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Maricopa County admitted during Kari Lake’s court proceedings in 2022 to “install[ing] new memory cards on its Election Day tabulators” on October 14, 17, and 18, after the statutorily required October 11 logic and accuracy (L&A) testing. The tabulators went on to fail on election day, disenfranchising thousands of voters across Maricopa County and robbing Kari Lake of her victory over then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.

Keep reading

After 3 Years, Mainstream Media Accepts That Netanyahu Knew Oct 7 Would Happen—And Allowed It

The mainstream corporate media — always a mere two to three years behind on every story — is finally coming to terms with (some of) the reality of the October 7, 2023, attack. It is suddenly acceptable for the liberal corporate pro-Israel outlets to say Netanyahu obviously knew October 7th was going to happen.

It’s been three years since the attack. For three whole years, many of us in the endlessly maligned and suppressed independent media world have been shouting from the hills that Israel’s ruling elite knew the attacks would happen, knew exactly how they would happen, facilitated them by pulling troops and security away from the border wall, then greatly amped up the death count by having the Israeli military massacre hundreds of innocent people via the Hannibal Directive.

For revealing the truth, per usual, we are mocked, suppressed, harassed and called conspiracy theorists.

And just this week, our beloved corporate media outlets such as NPR, MS Now, The Atlantic, BBC, the New York Times and more have “realized” we were right all along.

Keep reading

Mike Rogers Now Says He Welcomes AIPAC Support After Allies Previously Told Group To Butt Out

Republican Michigan Senate nominee Mike Rogers said during a Thursday debate that he welcomed support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) after allies previously reportedly discouraged the group from spending in the race.

Rogers’ allies told AIPAC in August not to advertise on his behalf after his rival Abdul El-Sayed defeated his primary opponent, Democratic Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens, who received backing from AIPAC, Axios first reported. The Republican nominee said during the debate that he welcomed all the help he could get to defeat El-Sayed.

“Do you welcome AIPAC’s public support given that you do support many pro-Israeli positions?” moderator Rick Albin, a west Michigan-based WOOD TV8 political reporter, asked.

“Anybody that wants to help my campaign, stop a guy who can’t condemn terrorism in our own country because he’s so close to the people who are supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, I’ll take all of that help,” Rogers said.

Keep reading

Guilfoyle Donor Scandal Explodes As Vance Balks, Rubio Dodges And The Donor Calls It Quid Pro Quo

The left finally has something new to sink its teeth into, as the Kimberly Guilfoyle donor scandal widens – with JD Vance keeping his distance, a donor on a media tour, and a records demand sitting on the ambassador’s desk.

The allegation, reported by the WSJ late Wednesday – is that six days before her July 9, 2025, Senate confirmation hearing, Guilfoyle texted Trump donor Eric Deters on Signal and asked him to wire $100,000 to her American Express account in a way that would not leave a paper trail, while he was seeking her help getting the new administration’s attention on personal tax and legal problems. She promised, he says, to be his “Trump ride or die, forever and ever.” He did not pay. Her lawyer, Jesse Binnall, disputes that the messages are authentic and says any earlier money was for speaking fees. Deters says he owed her nothing.

Since Wednesday, the people who could shut it down have not. Vice President JD Vance, asked about selling access to a high-level official, said “obviously, I don’t love that,” then said he did not know the details.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with Guilfoyle standing at the foot of his plane in Athens, refused to discuss it: “Guys, I’m not playing this game with you.” Deters went on MS NOW, CNN, TMZ and NewsNation and called the ask “absolutely a quid pro quo.” House Oversight ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) asked her for financial records and two years of communications, deadline Oct. 22. President Donald Trump has not commented. Guilfoyle’s only public post was about a speech.

What the texts say

According to messages the Journal said it reviewed, Guilfoyle wrote Deters, a former Kentucky congressional candidate, on July 3, 2025: “It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express.” She attached a PDF of American Express payment instructions. In a follow-up: “Honey please I need you to get this done for me today,” with a prayer-hands emoji. She told him she needed the balance paid down before the hearing. Background checks routinely look at a nominee’s debts.

Keep reading

Communist Cox Heir Denied Release Over Alleged Hamas Funding, Claimed Openness To “Global Terror Activities”

Local news outlet El Español reports that Spain’s National Court denied release for Jim “Fergie” Chambers, the communist centimillionaire and heir to the massive Cox media fortune, for the fourth time, citing a flight risk while US authorities seek his extradition over allegations of financing Hamas and money laundering. 

Chambers, an heir to the US billionaire family behind Cox Enterprises, has been detained since early July. He has been accused by the US government of transferring $7.5 million to Hamas from the US to Tunisia.

Here’s more from the outlet:

The events allegedly took place while Chambers was visiting Tunisia. In fact, he was received at the Iranian Embassy in that country, as revealed by the National Court in a new ruling issued this Friday.

. . . 

Furthermore, the resolution issued this Friday by the National Court details that “associates” of the defendant allegedly admitted that Iran intended to “obtain money from him” and that Chambers was open to joining “global terrorist activities”.

On the other hand, the US accuses him of having participated in “direct actions” against the company Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer , whose office allegedly became one of the “targets of the campaigns” of the accused and his “associates”.

Keep reading

Trump Escalates Effort to Oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, Launches Investigation Into Allegations of Mortgage Fraud

President Trump is escalating his effort to oust embattled Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud.

Trump announced his administrations has established a committee to investigate Lisa Cook.

“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby establish a committee of inquiry (Committee) to investigate allegations that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook made false statements in connection with one or more mortgage instruments. The Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, the Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall serve as members of the Committee,” Trump said in a memorandum.

In August, President Trump renewed efforts to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook after the Supreme Court ruled she could keep her job.

In June, the US Supreme Court said President Trump cannot fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

The high court, in a 5-4 vote, ruled that Trump cannot remove Cook.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion.

Keep reading

Liberals accused of feeding bill details to CBC and Globe before MPs

Conservative and NDP MPs are accusing the Liberal government of giving journalists advance details of legislation before parliamentarians could examine it, alleging the leaks undermine parliamentary scrutiny.

As reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, NDP MP Don Davies joined Conservative Opposition House Leader Andrew Scheer in condemning disclosures about Bill C-40, which would make the Defence Investment Agency a Crown corporation.

The government tabled the bill Tuesday. A day earlier, the Globe and Mail reported the planned change, citing three unnamed sources. CBC published a similar report that evening, citing two federal sources.

Both outlets said their sources were not authorized to speak publicly. The Prime Minister’s Office told the Globe it would not comment on legislation before it was tabled.

Davies, who represents Vancouver Kingsway, argued that the reports contained substantive details unavailable to MPs and beyond what the bill’s title disclosed on the order paper.

He accused the government of repeatedly using unauthorized disclosures to influence public debate, saying leaks become a parliamentary privilege issue when legislation is already on notice, but MPs have yet to see it.

Davies said parliamentarians must defend their right to receive legislative details before journalists do.

Scheer also raised the matter in the Commons, arguing that leaking provisions of Bill C-40 showed contempt for Parliament.

“The House must stand up for its rights,” Scheer said, criticizing a government he accused of treating Parliament as “a mere speed bump.”

The objections concern opposition allegations of a breach of parliamentary privilege. The supplied report does not identify a Speaker’s ruling on the matter.

Keep reading