Tag: corruption

US Deports Ex-Ecuadorian Minister Tied to Cartel Murder of Presidential Candidate

ICE overrode judge’s decision blocking José Serrano’s removal.

Ex-Ecuadorian minister José Serrano, accused of aiding a cartel murder presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in 2023, has been deported by ICE.

Ecuadorian conservative Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated at a campaign rally in August 2023.

Fernando Villavicencio was reportedly shot in the head three times.

Supporters of the popular conservative, Fernando Villavicencio, managed to capture a suspect after the assassination.

A grenade was also found at the scene.

The criminal gang “Los Lobos,” based in Ecuador, later claimed responsibility for the assassination.

José Serrano’s removal took place even after a US judge blocked Serrano’s removal arguing he may be tortured if returned to the South American nation.

Keep reading

New Documents Confirm Fauci’s NIAID Provided Cover for CIA Bioterrorism Research — CIA Helped Obtain the Viruses and Controlled What Data Could Be Shared

As The Gateway Pundit has reported for years, Fauci was never merely a public-health doctor.

After the anthrax attacks, Vice President Dick Cheney and the Bush administration remade NIAID into the civilian hub of U.S. biodefense.

Billions poured in. High-containment labs proliferated. Dual-use research on the most dangerous pathogens exploded, work that Fauci later funneled, through EcoHealth Alliance, to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The new documents fill in how early that partnership with the intelligence community really was.

According to Sen. Rand Paul:

“JUST RELEASED: The official hearing record of Anthony Fauci’s “testimony” before my Committee—which ultimately led the Committee to hold him in contempt. Beginning on page 96: previously unreleased documents I entered into the permanent congressional record, like this one showing CIA funds were transferred to Fauci’s NIAID.”

An undated interagency agreement obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation confirms that Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases worked directly with the CIA on sensitive research involving viruses and biological threats.

The eight-page agreement shows that the CIA’s Biological Technology Center initiated a collaboration with NIAID involving “forensic microbiology” research for the intelligence community.

Fauci served as director of NIAID from 1984 until 2022.

According to the documents, the CIA planned to leverage existing civilian research programs at NIH to support intelligence-related biological research.

Unclassified NIH virus research would be used to “augment and complement” the CIA’s own research and development.

The CIA would even help Fauci’s agency obtain the pathogens needed for the research.

The arrangement also gave the spy agency control over what could be released publicly.

Although the resulting research was reportedly considered sensitive rather than classified, NIAID could not share the data without first receiving permission from the CIA.

In other words, Fauci’s supposedly civilian public-health institute was working alongside America’s premier spy agency on research involving dangerous biological agents, with the CIA controlling access to the findings.

The project reportedly sought to expand the government’s ability to conduct comparative forensic analyses of complete viruses rather than examining only individual genes.

This is not ancient history. It is the origin story of the same apparatus that later funded bat-coronavirus experiments in Wuhan, steered the intelligence community away from the lab-leak hypothesis, and produced the “Proximal Origin” paper that media and public-health officials treated as gospel.

Documents released this year by Sen. Rand Paul and then-DNI Tulsi Gabbard showed Fauci briefing CIA officials, feeding the IC a hand-picked list of NIAID-funded scientists, and denying under oath that he had discussed viral research with intelligence agencies.

The new CIA–NIAID agreement shows the relationship was baked in from the start.

Keep reading

Brazil’s Lula da Silva Denies Knowing Woman Tied to Son’s Corruption Probe Despite Many Photos with Her

Socialist President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday publicly denied knowing a businesswoman embroiled in his son’s ongoing corruption probes despite extensive photographic evidence suggesting otherwise.

Several of the candidates running against Lula in the October presidential election published old photos showing Lula alongside the businesswoman, debunking the president’s claims.

President Lula’s oldest son, Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, is currently being targeted by three different probes on allegations of corruption and influence peddling at Brazilian federal government institutions, including Brazil’s National Social Security Institute (INSS). The younger Lula is commonly referred to by the nickname Lulinha (“Lil’ Lula”).

Some of the broader INSS corruption allegations against the president’s son involve businesswoman and lobbyist Roberta Luchsinger. An investigation conducted by Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) reportedly found chat messages in Luchsinger’s phone suggesting that she and Lulinha maintained a “permanent acting and coordinated action nucleus” to secure deals with public institutions.

Additionally, some of the messages obtained by the PF in the investigation reportedly state that Luchsinger told another Brazilian businessman that President Lula had “offered” her a government position. According to the alleged contents of the messages, she declined the offer to focus on her “partnership” with Lulinha. Per O Globo, some of the messages also suggest that Luchsinger received large sums of cash to cover flight ticket expenses for Lula’s son. Both Lulinha and Luchsinger have reportedly denied any wrongdoing.

According to CNN Brasil, the messages also suggest a link between Luchsinger and Marco Aurélio “Marcola” Santana Ribeiro, President Lula’s former chief of staff. Santana Ribeiro, who is also a target of the broader corruption probes, has been described as one of Lula’s closest advisers.

On Thursday, President Lula held an interview with TV Globo as part of the ongoing 2026 presidential campaign in which he is seeking reelection for a fourth term. Asked for comment on the allegations that he “offered” a government position to Luchsinger and asked if he ever met her in the Brazilian presidential palace, the incumbent president said that he “does not know” the businesswoman nor had he ever seen her in the past.

“The only thing missing was for her to say that I offered her the Ministry of Defense; the idea that the navy and air force operating here are under her command is utter nonsense,” Lula prefaced.

“I don’t know this woman. I’ve never seen her in my life. I’ve never spoken to her. She’s never been anywhere near me,” he asserted.

Keep reading

Bessent’s War On Left-Wing NGOs May Strip Soros Network, SPLC, And CAIR Of Tax-Exempt Status: Report

A new report from the New York Post maps out a multi-agency Treasury task force that could soon pursue a broad review that could strip tax-exempt status from George Soros’ far-left Open Society Foundations, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Treasury officials are drafting a framework to audit NGOs suspected of exploiting their 501(c)(3) status for political activity, illegal conduct or support of radical groups, the Post reported, citing three people familiar with the internal deliberations.

One source said Treasury Department officials were “like a dog with a bone” and reckoned that many NGOs and their donor bases could be “on borrowed time.”

Keep reading

Mayor Karen Bass: Hands Off Thousands of Migrant Food Vendors Operating Illegally in L.A.

Mayor Karen Bass just made it official: Los Angeles is a sanctuary city when it comes to enforcing food safety laws with thousands of street stands that have popped up all over the city — many of them run by illegal aliens.

Bass’s announcement this week ordering police to stop issuing violations to unpermitted vendors follows a Breitbart News investigation last month that revealed the widespread lack of enforcement of city and county food safety laws, with street food stands run by illegal migrants getting a free pass while citizen restaurateurs and licensed food stands are subject to fines, high costs, burdensome regulations and even closure.

Bass’s office told the California Post Thursday that the mayor “stands firmly with street vendors” and has directed the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to stop issuing criminal citations to unpermitted vendors.

“Street vending is a quintessential part of LA’s world-class food scene and a livelihood for thousands of hardworking Angelenos. Supporting LA’s street vendors is more important than ever given ongoing attacks by ICE,” her office told the outlet.

The message is clear, say critics. If you’re in the United States illegally and operating a business illegally, you get a free pass. If you are a citizen, you must follow all the rules or face fines and even closure.

As Breitbart News reported in July, an estimated 50,000 vendors operate throughout Los Angeles but fewer than 700 have active permits, with only 53 of those for food vendors.

Besides presenting food safety problems for America’s second largest city, the tent canopies and smokey grills that accompany many operations have become a blight on neighborhoods and business districts, contributing — along with the homeless and widespread littering — to the kind of streetscape typically found in impoverished Third World countries.

Current city statutes require a city vending permit to sell food or merchandise on city sidewalks and in city parks. It must be renewed annually. Food vendors must also obtain a county heath permit, demonstrating they have met all the requirements of food safety, such as refrigeration, sanitation stations and other commonsense practices that restaurants must follow.

Keep reading

Appeals court blocks Minnesota’s censorship of election integrity group over felon voting

Minnesota is a leader among states testing First Amendment limits on regulating speech and expression in the name of protecting the public, with its mandatory social media warning labels and criminal bans on AI-generated “nudification” – including barechested men – and election-related “deepfakes” that mock politicians.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which refused to block the deepfake law by reading an unwritten parody exception into it, wasn’t so tolerant when it came to Minnesota’s potential censorship of an election integrity group.

A three-judge panel ordered a lower court to block a voter-interference law as applied to the Minnesota Voters Alliance and its members as their case moves forward, leaving them free to publicly assert — without risking prosecution — that the Land of 10,000 Lakes violates its constitution by letting felons vote before their “civil rights” have been “restored.”

“A group of Minnesotans want to express their belief that certain felons cannot vote. Can the state criminalize their speech? In denying a preliminary injunction, the district court thought so. We disagree,” Judge David Stras wrote for the unanimous panel, nominated by presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, faulting the law as a prior restraint without “procedural safeguards.”

House File 3 works in tandem with HF 28, which restores voting rights to felons whenever they are “not incarcerated for the offense” – even if they are still serving the sentence – by criminalizing the spread of certain information within 60 days of an election. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed both laws in 2023.

HF 3’s “deceptive practices” section prohibits transmitting information that “intends to impede or prevent another person from exercising the right to vote” and is known to be “materially false,” including “the qualifications for or restrictions on voter eligibility at an election.” 

“The Alliance is worried that it already has a target on its back” from both state and county prosecutors, who can “pursue gross-misdemeanor charges” against alleged violators and civil actions “to prevent or restrain a violation,” Stras’s opinion says. The law also lets anyone “injured by” a supposed violation bring civil actions.

Anoka County buttressed MVA’s case by bringing a counterclaim after it sued Attorney General Keith Ellison and Anoka County Attorney Brad Johnson, by seeking money damages and an injunction against MVA for violating the law, according to the voter integrity group.

ACLU supports election censorship law

The Upper Midwest Law Center and Liberty Justice Center, which represent MVA and its members, cheered the ruling. 

“The First Amendment does not allow the government to end an argument by threatening prosecution,” UMLC President Doug Seaton said. 

Minnesota cannot “silence political debate simply because an election is near,” LJC senior counsel Reilly Stephens said.

Ellison’s office told Just the News “we’re evaluating all of our options to best protect Minnesotans’ freedom to vote.” 

Protect Democracy United counsel Cameron Kister accused the 8th Circuit panel of violating its own precedent. 

“The Minnesota Deceptive Practices Provision is not a statute that targets falsity and nothing more; it is a statute that targets falsity deployed to accomplish a harm the common law has recognized for centuries,” the progressive activist wrote.

In line with its turn against free speech for select groups since the “Unite the Right” rally in 2017, the ACLU supported Ellison and Johnson in a friend-of-the-court brief, arguing the election censorship law is narrowly tailored and responded to “incidents of purposeful, targeted election disinformation aimed at preventing voters from exercising their constitutional right.”

The elected Democrats already triumphed over MVA’s constitutional challenge to the felon-voting law itself, which the Minnesota Supreme Court tossed on the grounds that the “taxpayer standing” asserted by MVA and its members “does not exist when a taxpayer simply seeks to generally restrain ‘illegal action[s] on the part of public officials.'”

Keep reading

Federal Arrests Begin for California Election Fraud

A federal U.S. attorney in Southern California has made his first arrest in what he says will be an ongoing election fraud crackdown.

Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, is a one-man fraud-fighting phenomenon. He figured out how to avoid sanctuary policies that defy ICE detainer requests by issuing federal arrest warrants against the illegal aliens, necessitating their hand-off. He has arrested numerous criminals who were stealing vast amounts of taxpayer money. And he is also trying to fix just a few of the problems with the fraud-riddled California voting system.

Importantly, Essayli emphasized that this was the start of his effort to arrest election fraudsters, implying that there will be many more. This alien voter is not an anomaly, nor is his arrest a one-off incident. No doubt California Democrats from Gov. Gavin Newsom on down will have breakdowns over the new federal crackdown.

In discussing Rivera’s case, Essayli highlighted the fact that it is incredibly easy for noncitizens in California to register to vote and request a mail-in ballot. The range of identification that California accepts for registering to vote includes everything from a passport or military ID or driver’s license to a health club card, a student ID, a bank statement, a government check, a public housing card, a discount card, or a drug prescription. Many, if not most, of these are accessible to illegal aliens in California.

Keep reading

EXPOSED: You Can Register to Vote in California Today With NO Driver’s License and NO Social Security Number — Then Show a Gym Card or Insurance Card at the Polls

Fox News national correspondent Matt Finn just walked through California’s official online voter registration system.

What he found is the same gap The Gateway Pundit has been warning about for months: Democrat-run California will let you skip a California ID and skip a Social Security number, then treat a health-club card like “photo identification.”

In a post on X, Finn demonstrated that applicants using California’s online voter-registration portal can indicate that they have neither a California driver’s license or identification card nor a Social Security number.

Finn wrote:

“See it: if you register to vote online in California today you can check ‘No ID’ and ‘No Social Security number.’ The website says first time voters *may be asked to show ID at the ballot box. The CA Secretary of State lists things like a gym or insurance card as acceptable photo identification.”

The screenshots accompanying Finn’s report show both boxes checked on the state’s registration website.

California’s own Secretary of State website confirms that an applicant may leave the identification fields blank.

“If you do not have a driver license, California identification card or Social Security card, you may leave that space blank,” the state explains.

Keep reading

Florida grand jury finds DeSantis administration misused $10 million, but no charges filed

A Florida grand jury found that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration “misappropriated” $10 million in taxpayer money it diverted to a charity connected to his wife, but it declined to file criminal charges due to a lack of evidence indicating who specifically was responsible.

DeSantis on Thursday did not dispute the legitimacy of the secret grand jury report obtained and published online by CBS News Miami, but he insisted no laws were broken and said whoever leaked the sealed documents would face “consequences.”

The Leon County grand jury completed its report in January on investigations into Hope Florida, the charity started in 2021 by Florida first lady Casey DeSantis. Despite the lack of charges, the report ignited a new round of criticism aimed at DeSantis and other top state Republicans over the charity receiving $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement intended to help poor children get health insurance.

David Jolly, the Democratic nominee for governor, called for the grand jury probe to be reopened. He faces Republican Byron Donalds in November. DeSantis, under Florida law, cannot seek a third term.

The Hope Florida charity is supposed to help financially struggling families connect with churches and aid groups to help keep them off publicly-financed assistance programs. The $10 million was instead moved to political action committees that used the money to oppose a 2024 statewide ballot measure that would have legalized marijuana for adults in the state.

Keep reading

Democrat Clerk’s Office Employee in Arkansas Gets ZERO Prison Time After Pleading to Felony for Illegally Altering 132 Voter Records

A former employee of the Democrat-run Pulaski County clerk’s office in Arkansas walked out of court this week with no prison time after pleading no contest to a Class D felony for illegally altering election records.

Circuit Judge Karen Whatley on Tuesday approved a plea agreement giving 58-year-old Deborah Smith of North Little Rock a two-year suspended prison sentence and a $300 fine.

The Class D felony initially carried a maximum sentence of six years behind bars, according to Just the News.

In other words, an election worker deliberately manipulated more than 100 voter records, and walked out of court without spending a day in prison.

Smith worked in the clerk’s Voter Registration Department when the records were altered in October 2024.

The scheme affected 132 voters assigned to Precinct 051.02 in North Little Rock. Their precinct information was switched to Precinct 001.04 in Maumelle, meaning affected voters could receive ballots containing races from the wrong city while omitting contests in which they were legally entitled to vote.

The manipulation was discovered after early voting began on October 21, 2024, when a voter complained that a desired candidate was missing from the ballot.

Keep reading