Pelosi to Exit Congress with One of the Largest Pensions on Record

Members of Congress become eligible for a pension after at least five years of service, and the benefit calculation  depends on when they were first elected. Lawmakers first elected in 1984 or later are covered under FERS, and those who entered Congress before 2013 qualify for a higher accrual rate than members elected afterward.

Pelosi began her service in the House of Representatives in June 1987 after winning a special election to fill a vacancy. By the end of the 119th Congress on January 3, 2027, she will have served more than 39 years. Her pension is calculated based on her three highest-earning years of salary, which includes her time as Speaker of the House at $223,500 per year, compared to $174,000 for rank-and-file members. The estimated pension figure—which excludes any spousal set-aside that reduces the member pension so the surviving spouse can collect partial payments—reflects one of the most substantial benefits available to any current or former member of Congress in FERS.

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NY Times Columnist Claims Trump Lies About Democrats Wanting Healthcare for Illegals – Then Admits it’s Happening

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently appeared on the podcast of New York Times columnist Ezra Klein. During the episode, in addition to saying that he ‘wants to see trans kids’ Newsom talked about providing healthcare for illegal aliens in his state.

Ezra Klein followed up their discussion by tweeting about it, but in his tweet he says two things that completely contradict each other.

He begins by saying that Trump lies about Democrats wanting healthcare for illegals. Then he says triumphantly that Gavin Newsom is actually doing it!

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Executive Director of Black Lives Matter Oklahoma Charged with Wire Fraud and Money Laundering – 25 Counts Total – Facing DECADES in Prison

An executive director of Black Lives Matter Oklahoma was charged with wire fraud and money laundering.

A federal grand jury on December 3 returned a 25-count indictment against Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, 52.

Dickerson was charged with 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering.

“On December 3, 2025, a federal Grand Jury returned a 25-count Indictment, charging Dickerson with 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering. For each count of wire fraud, Dickerson faces up to 20 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000. For each count of money laundering, Dickerson faces up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the transaction,” the DOJ said.

According to the charging documents, Dickerson, through BLMOKC, raised more than $5.6 million, but rather than using the money to bail out George Floyd rioters, she used millions to fund her lavish lifestyle.

Federal prosecutors said Dickerson funneled over $3.5 million to her personal accounts and spent it on vacations, six properties in Oklahoma City, retail shopping, and food.

Per the DOJ:

A federal grand jury Indictment has been unsealed, charging TASHELLA SHERI AMORE DICKERSON, 52, of Oklahoma City, with wire fraud and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

According to the Indictment, beginning in at least 2016, Dickerson served as the Executive Director of Black Lives Matter OKC (BLMOKC). As Executive Director, Dickerson had access to BLMOKC’s bank, PayPal, and Cash App accounts.

The Indictment alleges that, although BLMOKC was not a registered tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, it accepted charitable donations through its affiliation with the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), based in Arizona. AFGJ served as a fiscal sponsor to BLMOKC and required BLMOKC to use its funds only as permitted by Section 501(c)(3). AFGJ also required BLMOKC to fully account upon request for the disbursement of all funds received and prohibited BLMOKC from using its funds to purchase real estate without AFGJ’s consent.

Beginning in late spring 2020, BLMOKC raised funds to support its social justice mission from online donors, as well as from national bail funds. In total, BLMOKC raised more than $5.6 million, which included grants from national bail funds, including the Community Justice Exchange, Massachusetts Bail Fund, and Minnesota Freedom Fund. Most of those funds were routed through AFGJ, as fiscal sponsor, to BLMOKC.

According to the Indictment, BLMOKC was supposed to use these national bail fund grants to post pretrial bail for individuals arrested in connection with protests for racial justice after the death of George Floyd. When bail funds were returned to BLMOKC, the national bail funds sometimes allowed BLMOKC to keep all or a portion of the grant funding to establish a revolving bail fund, or for BLMOKC’s social justice mission, as permitted by Section 501(c)(3).

Despite the stated purpose of the money raised, and the terms and conditions of the grants, the Indictment alleges that beginning in June 2020 and continuing through at least October 2025, Dickerson embezzled funds from BLMOKC’s accounts for her personal benefit. The Indictment alleges Dickerson deposited at least $3.15 million in returned bail checks into her personal accounts, rather than into BLMOKC’s accounts. Among other things, Dickerson then used these funds to pay for:

  • recreational travel to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic for herself and her associates;
  • tens of thousands of dollars in retail shopping;
  • at least $50,000 in food and grocery deliveries for herself and her children;
  • a personal vehicle registered in her name; and
  • six real properties in Oklahoma City deeded in her own name or in the name Equity International, LLC, an entity she exclusively controlled.

The Indictment further alleges that Dickerson used interstate wire communications to submit two false annual reports to AFGJ on behalf of BLMOKC. Dickerson reported that she had used BLMOKC funds only for tax-exempt purposes. She did not disclose that she used funds for her personal benefit.

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Another Imported Disaster: Somali Refugee and Lewiston City Councilor Who Lied About Residency Just Indicted on Federal Gun Theft Charges

Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline is calling for the resignation of newly elected City Councilor Iman Osman after an Androscoggin County grand jury handed down an indictment charging Osman with receiving stolen property and theft by unauthorized taking.

According to court documents obtained by WMTW, the alleged crimes involve weapons taken from two separate estates between November 15, 2023, and October 11, 2024.

The indictment accuses Osman of knowingly receiving, retaining, or disposing of firearms or explosive devices that he knew, or had reason to believe, were stolen.

A separate count alleges Osman unlawfully exercised control over firearms belonging to a second estate.

“While he is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the judicial process will be lengthy and this matter has become an unwelcome distraction from the essential business of governing. Stepping down would be the right thing to do,” Sheline told WMTW.

But the indictment is only part of the controversy surrounding Osman.

Osman, 36, currently serves on the Lewiston School Committee and was elected on November 4 to represent Ward 5 on the City Council, defeating incumbent Councilor Eryn M. Soule-Leclair by just 35 votes.

However, his residency has been under intense scrutiny.

In the indictment, Osman lists his address as 210 Blake Street in Lewiston, a property that has been condemned since October 2024 following a drug raid and the use of chemical agents described as “a deterrent for humans.”

In other words, the address used by the councilor-elect is legally uninhabitable.

Despite the seriousness of the allegations, the Lewiston School Committee declined to investigate Osman’s residency claims.

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Walz Jumps Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire As Federal Probe of Massive Minnesota Welfare Scam Widens

Minnesota leftist governor and miserably failed 2024 Democrat vice-presidential nominee (laughingstock) Tim Walz. What can be said about the delusional guy that hasn’t already been said?

Sure, Walz is undeniably an out-of-touch-with-reality oddball with a propensity to say and do incredibly idiotic things, apparently without as much as a hint of his total lack of self-awareness, but the governor is so much more — and I don’t mean that as a compliment. 

While Walz possesses a bit of the iconic fumbling of the lovable deputy of fictional Mayberry, Barney Fife, Barney had not only a heart, but also a notable sense of decency about him, which the embattled governor likely doesn’t even comprehend, much less embody. 

Our latest Walz tale began on Tuesday in Seattle, when the self-anointed manly-man tried to go all Barney as a featured speaker at a fundraiser for Washington Democrat Gov. Bob Ferguson’s reelection campaign. 

While speaking about the elephant in the room — Minnesota’s massive welfare fraud scheme, and the up-to-their-eyeballs complicity of Somali immigrants — Walz predictably trotted out a bit of his “he-man” schtick, telling attendees that Somalis were being “demonized,” and that he plans to import even more Somalis into his state.

Geez, what could possibly go wrong?

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Segregation, quotas and gender ideology: Minnesota’s schools are going backward

We expect it in California and New York, but Minnesota has become one of the most aggressive states in reshaping education. Defending Education has documented the statewide leftward shift, and it is a civil-rights crisis.

In October, Defending Ed filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education over Minneapolis Public Schools’ racially segregated classes, which appeared to be available only to black students, in violation of Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

We settled this question in 1954. In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court made it clear that segregating students by race in public schools is unconstitutional.

In that same Minnesota district, students in a required Ethnic Studies class conduct a “structural analysis of racism and colonialism,” viewing everything through a race-based, anti-capitalist and Marxist lens.

The course cites Critical Race Theory, promotes the ideas of Karl Marx and peddles the notion that capitalism and Western culture are to blame for slavery, genocide, colonialism and white supremacy. Teachers then ask students to “challenge the ‘white savior’ narrative” and complete a Youth Led Participatory Action Research project that pushes them into activism.

In 2023, lawmakers required that by 2026 every high school add an ethnic studies course that can count toward graduation along with history, geography, economics and civics.

Ethnic studies is touted as a curriculum to promote tolerance and cultural understanding, but we’ve documented how it is a trojan horse for activism in the classroom, framing society as divided between oppressors and the oppressed.

Minnesota is also fighting the Trump administration’s “Gender Ideology” and “Sports Ban” orders as unlawful rewrites of Title IX. At the same time, under the banner of a group called Gender Justice, school board candidates published a joint initiative supporting “the full inclusion of transgender and nonbinary students in school athletics,” which they claim Title IX protects.

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DEM DISGRACE: Rep. Thompson Describes Terror Attack On Guardsmen As Mere “ACCIDENT”

In a stunning display of Democrat detachment from reality, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) downplayed a brutal terrorist attack by an unvetted Afghan national as nothing more than an “unfortunate accident” during a heated House Homeland Security Committee hearing.

This blatant dismissal of American bloodshed—perpetrated by a violent individual allowed to enter the country under Biden’s treasonous regime—drew immediate fire from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

The fireworks erupted during Noem’s testimony on global security threats, where Thompson pressed her on the department’s handling of Lakanwal’s case. Instead of acknowledging the gravity, Thompson casually referred to the deadly shooting as an “unfortunate accident.”

Thompson, scrambling under the scrutiny, later backpedaled to call it an “unfortunate situation”—but the damage was done. His words exposed the callous indifference that has defined Democrat immigration stances: downplaying terror to shield failed policies that cost American lives. 

Noem, defending the Trump administration’s tough vetting reforms, blamed the initial lapses squarely on Biden’s crew, refusing to let the left rewrite history.

This isn’t just tone-deaf; it’s dangerous. Thompson, as ranking member, should be championing protections for U.S. troops, not minimizing attacks by foreign radicals. His comments echo the broader leftist playbook—excusing threats from unassimilated migrants while demonizing efforts to secure the homeland.

The fallout was swift and furious. Americans across the board are now demanding Thompson resign.

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Pritzker Signs Law Limiting Federal Immigration Enforcement In Illinois

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law on Dec. 9 that will limit federal immigration enforcement in the state, including in its courthouses and hospitals.

“With my signature today, we are protecting people and institutions that belong here in Illinois,” Pritzker said in a statement“Dropping your kid off at day care, going to the doctor, or attending your classes should not be a life-altering task.”

HB 1312, which went into effect immediately, allows people to take legal action against law enforcement officers they believe violated their constitutional rights during civil immigration operations in the state.

The legislation also bars civil arrests in and around courthouses for anyone attending certain state court proceedings and provides a pathway for affected individuals to seek damages for false imprisonment.

Hospitals are required under the new law to restrict the release of protected health information and implement policies governing interactions with law enforcement agents, according to the governor’s office.

The bill also prohibits schools and child care centers from disclosing the actual or perceived immigration status of students, employees, or anyone associated with them to third parties unless required by law.

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) welcomed the governor’s move to sign the bill, calling it a “necessary legislative step” to protect people’s constitutional rights.

“The fear of being abducted by federal immigration agents when attending a hearing in state court is disrupting people’s ability to engage with the justice system for critical matters, such as seeking a protection order in a domestic violence situation or addressing a traffic ticket,” Cecilia Mendoza, NIJC associate director of government relations, said in a statement.

Homeland Security Department (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Pritzker violated the U.S. Constitution and his oath of office when he signed the bill into law.

The bill comes as the Trump administration has expanded immigration enforcement in Illinois, sparking protests near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Chicago, which prompted President Donald Trump to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to protect ICE personnel and facilities. A federal judge later issued an injunction to temporarily block the deployment.

According to a DHS statement on Dec. 8, Illinois released about 1,768 criminal illegal immigrants back into the community this year despite federal detainer requests. Those who were released were convicted of various crimes, including homicide, burglary, serious drug offenses, weapons offenses, and sexual predatory offenses.

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Jasmine Crockett’s Finances Exposed – Subject to Personal Liens While She Spends $50k-100k of Taxpayer Cash on Limos, Luxury Hotels Just This Year

If the new congressional maps enacted by Texas Republicans stand until 2026, which it appears that they will, Rep. Jasmine Crockett would likely be out of a seat.

To everyone else, this is pretty much a win-win; I’m going to assume that this includes Democrats, who must be tiring of her antics by now, particularly given her lack of substantive support to the party’s caucus in the lower house. For Crockett, it’s a big lose — because not only will she be out of the corridors of power, but out of ways to spend the taxpayer’s money, as well.

And boy, does she spend it. That’s why her Senate run is so important to her, and soon to be loathed by the Democrats. Not only does it put the left’s one big potential upset of 2026 out of reach for them, most likely, but it also means that Crockett’s profligate spending — while she had a three-grand lien on her condo, no less — is going to be front-page news for a while.

So, in case you missed it (no shade; keeping up on all things Jasmine-related has shaved at least 5 IQ points off my poor, addled brain), Rep. Crockett announced Monday that she was running for GOP Sen. John Cornyn’s seat in the upper chamber.

“Trump, I know you’re watching, so let me tell you directly,” Crockett at her announcement event, according to CNN. “You’re not entitled to a damn thing in Texas. You better get to work because I’m coming for you.”

Dun dun DUN! Be scared, Donald. Be very scared.

Actually, the environment is probably one of celebration rather than anxious celerity on the part of state Republicans. Unlike the usual Democratic saber-rattling about turning Texas purple, this time they looked like they actually had a shot. A divided GOP is likely to mean that Cornyn doesn’t emerge from his own primary as the nominee, with state Attorney General Ken Paxton leading the way in polls.

Paxton is a little bit more MAGA but a lot more controversial than the other Republican challengers, and while he does well in a GOP primary he’s not necessarily the candidate you want to go into a general election with.

On the other hand, pretty much every character issue you can bring up about Paxton goes out the window the moment Crockett gets the Democratic nomination — which she instantly becomes the favorite for. Paxton could be accused of the most abhorrent thing you can think of — do it on live TV, even — and he’d still be considered a near-lock to win the general election.

To that end, too, Crockett has shoved the one candidate who’s remotely electable out of the running — former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred — leaving Crockett to duel it out with James Talarico, a progressive state representative who once said during a floor speech that “God is nonbinary” and somehow managed to dodge the ensuing lightning bolt from the empyrean.

But let’s not talk about the gift that is Crockett’s statewide unelectability. Let’s instead take a look at the gift that is Crockett’s finances for a moment.

According to Fox News, the Dallas County Clerk’s website shows that Crockett — who makes $174,000 a year in her position as a congresswoman — is currently behind on her payments to the Westside Condominium Association by $3,047.79.

The unpaid lien notice dates from over a year ago.

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Justice Jackson’s History of Shilling for the Deep State

President Joe Biden’s decision to limit his Supreme Court nominees to black women was widely criticized as a product of DEI-mania, but the ensuing racial controversy was a red herring, a political sleight of hand, designed to distract Americans from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s true purpose on the bench: to protect, preserve, and defend the deep state from the constraints of the Constitution. 

The fallout from the nomination was familiar; CNN’s opinion pages called Republican Senators, including Tom Cotton (R-AR), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Ted Cruz (R-TX), “racist and sexist” for opposing Jackson; Georgetown Law Professor Ilya Shapiro was suspended for stating that the most qualified candidate was an Indian man, not a black woman; Al Sharpton threw his support behind President Biden.

But Justice Jackson’s position was never intended to be a statement of racial representation or judicial excellence; it was the Biden administration’s anointment of a praetorian guard for the unelected and unaccountable bureaucracy that seeks to prevent President Trump from gaining control of the nation. 

On Monday, the Supreme Court considered whether the President of the United States has the power to remove members of the Executive Branch. The Constitution’s Vesting Clause, which states that the “executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America,” offers an unequivocal answer.  

But Jackson, assuming her role as a corporatist advocate on a government salary, acted as the mouthpiece for those opposed to accountability for the bureaucracy that lives off the taxpayers’ wages. She warned of “the danger of allowing…the President to actually control the transportation board and potentially the Federal Reserve and all these other independent agencies.” 

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