Tag: corruption

Bombshell Trump Family Owns 30% of Salem Media, a Registered Agent of Israel

Max Blumenthal revealed that Lara Trump, who is married to Eric Trump and is President Trump’s daughter-in-law, and Donald Trump, Jr. own a 30% stake in Salem Media.

He said that Josh Hammer, senior editor of Newsweek, Dennis Prager, Larry Elder, Hugh Hewitt, Dinesh D’Souza, Sebastian Gorka, Brandon Tatum, Todd Starnes, Lara Trump and Donald Trump, Jr are all broadcast from Salem Media, an Israeli foreign agent [by way of Clock Tower].

Other influencers who Blumenthal says may be paid to support Israel and Trump include Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, Jillian Michaels and Laura Loomer. 

Brad Parscale is Salem Media’s chief strategy officer and he also heads Clock Tower, which is registered as as an agent of Israel. Salem Media is involved in a financial contract with Israel’s foreign ministry to produce pro-Israel content.

He said that the Trump family, through Lara Trump and Don Jr., have essentially merged with the Israeli Foreign Ministry by way of the business deal with Salem Media/ Clock Tower.

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Former Iranian State Media Editor Now Works for ‘Nonpartisan’ US Media Bias Group That Rates Conservative Publishers as Untrustworthy Compared With ‘Reliable’ Liberal Outlets

A former paid scribe for an Iranian state-affiliated newspaper now works for a U.S. media watchdog group that produces a controversial “media bias” chart that consistently rates liberal outlets as more reliable than conservative ones, the Free Beacon’s Alana Goodman reports. Universities like Cornell and journalism nonprofits like Poynter have cited and praised the media bias ratings of this organization, Ad Fontes Media, like it’s a neutral third party.

Meet Meisam Zamanabadi, an Ad Fontes Media analyst who was raised in Iran and served as an editor at Hamshahri, an Iranian newspaper owned and operated by Tehran’s municipal government that has been associated with hardline politicians and drew international condemnation after holding a Holocaust denial cartoon contest in 2006. Posts from his blog indicate that Zamanabadi worked at the paper in 2008 and 2009, when Iranian parliament speaker and chief regime negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf served as mayor of Tehran.

Zamanabadi now resides in California and works for Ad Fontes, the Colorado-based “public benefit corporation” behind the Media Bias Chart, which evaluates U.S. news outlets by political leaning and trustworthiness. The chart “consistently rates left-wing sources as more reliable and often less biased than their conservative counterparts,” writes Goodman. Socialist magazine Jacobin, for example, enjoys a higher “reliability” rating than long-established, edited publications such as National Review, the New York Post, and the Free Beacon. On television, the chart says Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham and Jesse Watters are less reliable than their MS Now counterparts Chris Hayes and Jen Psaki.

News of Zamanabadi’s work for Ad Fontes—which markets its “analysis” to schools as a tool for teaching media literacy and claims that its ratings are “non-partisan”—comes as the watchdog faces questions about its own objectivity and ethics. Last summer, the Federal Trade Commission requested records about Ad Fontes’s business practices as part of an investigation into “possible collusion” in a scheme to get advertisers to withdraw their support for conservative content, the New York Times reported. The Trump FTC says these spending pullbacks are illegal boycotts.

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Wes Moore’s ‘Climate Study’ Bankrolled by Left-Wing Rockefeller Fund As Left Looks To Force Oil Companies To Pay Damages for Climate Change

Democratic Maryland governor Wes Moore announced late last year he would commission a climate “study” aimed at assessing “the undue burden Marylanders are paying for extreme weather events” so that fossil fuel companies can be coerced into paying some sort of climate reparations. Moore didn’t mention it, but the left-wing, climate-obsessed Rockefeller Family Fund chipped in $30,000 for the study, raising questions about the study’s impartiality, the Free Beacon‘s Thomas Catenacci reports. We aren’t holding our breath for the results.

The RFF—established in 1967 by the liberal great-grandchildren of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller—says oil companies (the source of their generational wealth) “advance a business model that accelerates the climate crisis” and that the Maryland study is intended to make those companies pay up. The RFF said in a December press release that the study would “lay the groundwork for a Maryland climate superfund bill, which would require fossil fuel companies to pay for a portion of the state’s climate adaptation costs identified through the study”—which is a weird thing to say before the study is actually conducted and the findings presumably unknown—but did not disclose its role in funding the research.

Blue states like New York and Vermont have already passed “climate superfund” laws, which stipulate that oil companies helped cause extreme weather events like floods and wildfires and have to pay damages to compensate for them. Both states are facing lawsuits from the Trump administration arguing that the laws illegally usurp federal emissions regulations.

The move comes as the RFF—which sits on more than $200 million in total assets, according to its latest tax filing—also supports lawsuits seeking to compel oil companies to pay damages by holding them responsible for climate change. “Such suits have largely been unsuccessful, including in Maryland, where the state’s Supreme Court recently dismissed three lawsuits from Democratic-led jurisdictions that accused the likes of BP, ExxonMobil, and Chevron of causing costly weather events,” Catenacci writes. “The RFF-backed study, then, could be the first step toward securing payouts from oil companies through the legislative process rather than the judicial one.”

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The IDF’s Attack on Christ Reveals a Larger Pattern

Many political figures have weighed in on the latest IDF controversy this week, as images posted online clearly depict an Israeli soldier taking what appears to be a sledgehammer to the face of a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon. The IDF issued a statement condemning the attack, saying the soldier’s actions were “wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops,” and adding that a criminal investigation would be launched, assuring there would be “harsh disciplinary action” against those involved. But we’ve seen this movie before.

First, I would be remiss not to mention the hypocrisy of the situation. Israel has killed thousands of civilians in southern Lebanon since the major escalation resumed and has displaced over 1.2 million Lebanese civilians, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry and disaster management agencies. But predictably, the IDF has not issued a single statement condemning the civilian deaths or displacement of Lebanon’s citizens. The IDF has shown a consistent tolerance for the havoc wreaked upon Lebanese civilians, yet when faced with damaging PR from a vile attack on a statue of Jesus, they move almost immediately to condemn it — because Benjamin Netanyahu knows he cannot afford to lose favor in the predominantly Christian West.

The theme behind the IDF’s statue attack becomes even more apparent when you consider how Christians are treated in Israel today, where they are often met with violence or harassment. In 2025, there were reportedly more than 155 attacks against Christians in Israel, ranging from physical assaults to the vandalism of churches, according to the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue. Notably, this marks a sharp increase from 2024, when 111 incidents were reported.

The treatment of Palestinian Christians has been far worse, with both Israeli settlers and IDF soldiers carrying out relentless attacks and mass displacements of Christian communities in Palestine. These actions are often dismissed as unrelated to religion, but the pattern suggests otherwise.

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O’Keefe Media Group Releases Undercover Video of US Nuclear Scientist Leaking Sensitive National Security Information to Stranger – Update: Escorted Out of Pentagon

The O’Keefe Media Group on Tuesday released undercover footage of a top nuclear chief leaking sensitive national security information to a stranger.

Andrew Hugg, a Chief of Chemical Nuclear Surety disclosed sensitive information to a date in a public restaurant.

Hugg told an O’Keefe Media Group undercover journalist that the US still possesses nerve agents and a US Army chemist recently died from exposure.

Andrew Hugg also confirmed that Ukrainians have taken US taxpayer money and used it to buy mansions.

At one point, Hugg asked the OMG journalist, “You’re not a spy, right? Your eyes have mesmerized me so much…Almost like you’re an intelligence.”

“The easiest way to get intelligence…send a pretty girl, talk to the guy…I have to resist your eyes,” he said.

Per the O’Keefe Media Group:

Andrew Hugg, a U.S. Chief of Chemical Nuclear Surety, was caught on hidden camera casually revealing sensitive information to a stranger in a public restaurant. Andrew Hugg, Chief of Chemical Nuclear Surety, in charge of nuclear and chemical safety was caught on hidden camera releasing information regarding the U.S. Nuclear Information.

He claims the U.S. still possesses nerve agents and says a U.S. Army chemist recently died from exposure.

He also acknowledges U.S. airstrikes have killed children in Iran, calling it “collateral damage,” and revealed to the journalist how nuclear launch decisions are made in real time.

Hugg described how the United States could assassinate Iran’s next leader if he “doesn’t change,” while admitting the U.S. has no plans to use nuclear weapons: “We’re not going to nuke anybody.”

All of this was casually revealed to an undercover journalist in a restaurant. This raises serious questions about this official’s judgment, security, and what’s really happening behind closed doors.

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Virginia passes ‘egregiously’ gerrymandered redistricting map favoring Democrats

Virginians voted in favor of Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Democrats’ effort to completely overhaul the commonwealth’s congressional map to favor Democrats, the Associated Press reported Tuesday evening.

The Associated Press called the race in favor of “yes” at 8:50pm eastern time with an estimated 81% of the votes counted. At the time of the call, 50.3% voted in favor of the redistricting effort, while 49.7% voted against.

The AP called “yes” despite the slim margin because the outstanding ballots were in areas breaking hard for “yes.”

While 6 Democrats and 5 Republicans currently represent Virginia in Washington, the new Virginia congressional map will likely give Democrats a 10-1 advantage after the midterms. Democrats will hold this massive advantage despite the fact that Virginia went blue by less than 6% in the 2024 presidential election and voted for Spanberger by 15 points in the 2025 gubernatorial election.

The new congressional map is expected to result in 10 Democrats and one Republican by stretching congressional districts in Northern Virginia and areas of Charlottesville deep into southern and eastern portions of the state that are rural and reliably red.

Even prior to Tuesday night’s election result, voters in Virginia expressed concern with the language on the ballot. The Virginia Supreme Court decided to wait until after the election to hear the case over whether the language was fair. Notably, this is the same court that decided the current map was a fair one to begin with.

A recent poll conducted by Heritage Action found that nearly 50% of voters were confused by the term “restore fairness.”

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What went wrong in Israel? A genocide scholar examines ‘what Zionism became’

Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, when asked to explain the apparent about-face that led him to advocate the unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, quoted a beloved Israeli pop ballad. “What you can see from there, you can’t see from here,” he said, referring to the shift in perspective he had supposedly undergone since coming to power.

Although the 2005 Gaza disengagement was perhaps less a change of heart than one of strategy, as his senior adviser later admitted, the lyric became a byword of Israeli politics, an oft-cited reminder that perspective is everything.

Israeli-born Holocaust historian Omer Bartov invoked the same line when he was asked how he had come to view Israel’s ferocious assault on Gaza as a genocide. Living in the US, where he has spent more than three decades, he said, had given him the necessary distance to see the annihilation of Gaza for what it was. “I think it’s very hard to be dispassionate when you’re there,” he said.

Bartov did more than simply apply the word genocide to Israel’s actions: he shouted it from the establishment-media rooftops, making the case in a lengthy July 2025 essay in the New York Times titled: I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It. (He had addressed some of the arguments in a Guardian essay the year prior.) Bartov’s declaration cost him several close relationships, he told me, even though subsequent events have not only validated his analysis but further demonstrated the lack of concern for Palestinian suffering that has become prevalent in Israeli society.

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Southern Poverty Law Center indicted on federal fraud charges related to past use of paid informants

The Southern Poverty Law Center has been indicted on federal fraud charges related to its past use of paid informants to infiltrate extremist groups, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday.

The civil rights group faces charges including wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in the case brought by the Justice Department in Alabama, where the organization is based.

The indictment came shortly after SPLC revealed the existence of a criminal investigation into its program to pay informants to infiltrate extremist groups and gather information on their activities. The group said the program was used to monitor threats of violence and the information was often shared with local and federal law enforcement.

SPLC CEO Bryan Fair said the organization “will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff, and our work.”

Blanche said the SPLC paid at least $3 million between 2014 and 2023 to people affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, the United Klans of America, the National Socialist Party of America and other extremist groups.

“The SPLC was not dismantling these groups. It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred,” Blanche said.

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Indicted Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick to resign from Congress amid expulsion threat

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., announced Tuesday she is resigning from the House of Representatives after Republicans vowed to force a vote to expel her from the chamber.

“Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away so I can devote my time to fighting for my neighbors in Florida’s 20th District,” she wrote on social media Tuesday afternoon. “I hereby resign from the 119th Congress, effective immediately.”

“This fight is far from over,” Cherfilus-McCormick, who was indicted by a grand jury last year for allegedly stealing COVID-19 emergency funds, added in her statement. 

She is facing 53 years in prison as part of a separate criminal indictment.

Cherfilus-McCormick’s abrupt announcement came after Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., pledged to file a motion to expel her, teeing up a vote later this week. It takes two-thirds of the House to remove a lawmaker, but a growing number of Democrats have voiced support for the expulsion effort.

It also came just minutes prior to a House Ethics Committee hearing that was slated to recommend sanctions against her for committing a bevy of violations involving financial misconduct. 

House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., announced the panel lost jurisdiction with Cherfilus-Mccormick’s eleventh-hour decision to quit Congress. 

The committee panel found “clear and convincing evidence” in March that the Florida Democrat misused federal disaster relief money that was improperly paid to her family’s healthcare company, among other misconduct. 

Cherfilus-McCormick has denied any wrongdoing and repeatedly rebuffed speculation she would resign if confronted with an expulsion vote. 

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Ukraine police chief resigns after officers allegedly fled deadly shooting

The head of Ukraine’s patrol police, Yevhen Zhukov, has resigned after two of his officers faced criticism for allegedly fleeing a deadly mass shooting in the capital, Kyiv.

Six people died and 14 others were injured on Saturday after a man opened fire on people in the street in Kyiv’s southern Holosiivskyi district before taking others hostage in a nearby supermarket. He was later killed in a shoot-out with police.

Footage has since been shared online appearing to show officers leaving civilians and running away from the scene.

Ukraine’s Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said the officers in question had been suspended and that an investigation into their actions was under way.

“‘Serve and protect’ is not just a slogan. It must be supported by appropriate professional actions. Especially at critical moments, when people’s lives depend on it,” he wrote on Telegram.

However, Klymenko cautioned: “It is not entirely correct to make generalisations about the entire police only by the actions of two employees.”

Zhukov told a news conference on Sunday that the officers had “failed to assess the situation properly and left civilians in danger”. He also said they acted “unprofessionally and unworthily”.

“As a combat officer, I have decided to submit my resignation from the position I currently hold,” Zhukov said.

The Ukrainian authorities say they are treating Saturday’ shooting as a terrorist act but have not yet spoken about a motive. Klymenko described the man’s mental state as “clearly unstable”.

Eight people remain in hospital, of whom one adult was in an “extremely serious condition” and three were in a serious condition, officials said.

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