Tag: Obama

Obama Claims Government Less Corrupt Than Ever as Democrats Run on Issue

Former President Barack Obama claimed Thursday that Washington runs cleaner now than through most of its past, pointing to a collapse in bribes, patronage, and favor-trading.

The former president made the argument in the third episode of A Great Book with Barack Obama, a six-episode series that premiered Thursday on Amazon’s Audible, Axios reported. The episode pairs Obama with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore for a discussion of Robert Penn Warren’s 1946 novel All the King’s Men.

Obama suggested the assessment catches listeners off guard.

“People are always surprised when I tell them the federal government is so much less corrupt than probably it’s ever been, in terms of just pure bribes or patronage or favors,” he said.

The 44th president argued that the reforms behind that decline also stripped lawmakers of tools they once used to assemble coalitions. He pointed to the Lyndon B. Johnson era, claiming reforms passed on either side of Watergate wiped out most of what party bosses once used to swap favors for votes.

He described the loss in mechanical terms.

“It’s part of the reason why things got a little harder to get done because that was sort of some lubrication … to help to bridge some of the ideological differences that were out there,” Obama said.

A record 89 percent of U.S. adults told Gallup that government corruption is widespread, according to results released Sept. 2. That figure climbed ten points from last year and sits well past the 72 to 79 percent range recorded between 2010 and 2025. Among Democrats, it reached 91 percent, up from 57 percent in former President Joe Biden’s final year in office. Republicans registered 83 percent.

Democrat officials have spent the month pressing the issue. Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) claimed on ABC’s This Week that President Donald Trump’s presidency is “the most corrupt presidency that we’ve seen in our lifetimes, maybe ever in the United States.”

“So that is one of the things that I think Democrats can run on in ’26,” the Illinois Democrat added.

Corruption ads are running in more than a dozen House races and in nearly every competitive Senate state, the Washington Sun reported. Republican pollster Robert Blizzard said frustration with politics-as-usual is “at a fever pitch.”

Obama has been shaping his party’s midterm message directly. At a private fundraiser this month, he urged House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to put artificial intelligence oversight at the center of the Democrat agenda.

The podcast is the sixth release under Higher Ground’s exclusive first-look deal with Audible, and the first the former president hosts himself.

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New Records Show Obama Admin Purchased Aborted Babies’ Heads for $515 Each

Judicial Watch announced today that it received 198 pages of records and communications from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) involving “humanized mice” research with human fetal heads, organs and tissue, including communications and contracts with human fetal tissue provider Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR). Most of the records are communications and related attachments between Perrin Larton, a procurement manager for ABR, and research veterinary medical officer Dr. Kristina Howard of the FDA.

Judicial Watch received the records through a March 2019 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, of which the FDA is a part (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department Health and Human Services (No. 1:19-cv-00876)). The lawsuit asks for all contracts and related documentation on disbursement of funds, procedural documents and communications between FDA and ABR for the provision of human fetal tissue to be used in humanized mice research. After successfully opposing the FDA’s redaction of certain information from its records, a federal court ordered HHS to release additional information about its purchases of organs harvested from aborted human fetuses – including “line item prices,” or the price per organ the government paid to ABR. The court also found “there is reason to question” whether the transactions violate federal law barring the sale of fetal organs. Documents previously uncovered in this lawsuit show that the federal government demanded the purchased fetal organs be “fresh and never frozen.”)

The records include an FDA generated contract with ABR, based on a “requisition” it issued on July 27, 2012, for $12,000 worth of “tissue procurement for humanized mice,” indicates the requisition was for a “non-competitive award.” Although the initial award was for $12,000, the total estimated amount of funds allocated for the requisition was $60,000. Under “Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition,” the FDA writes:

Scientists within the FDA and in the larger field of humanized mouse research have searched extensively over the past several years and ABR is the only company in the U.S. capable of supplying tissues suitable for HM research. No other company or organization is capable of fulfilling the need.***

Costs are estimated [for the fetal parts] at $230 per tissue x two tissues per shipment = $460 plus $95 shipping = $555 per shipment. A total of 21 shipments = $11,655.00.

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Obama-Appointed Judge Hands Sanctuary City a Win, Throws Out Trump DOJ Lawsuit Against Rochester — Rules Federal Law Can’t Stop Local Officials from Blocking ICE

An Obama-appointed federal judge in Rochester, New York just handed the open-borders Left another win, tossing the Trump administration’s lawsuit against the City of Rochester’s sanctuary policies and slamming the door on the case with prejudice.

Senior U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. granted Rochester’s motion to dismiss on Tuesday and tossed the Justice Department’s amended complaint with prejudice, preventing the administration from simply revising and refiling the case in the same court.

Geraci also denied the Trump administration’s motion for summary judgment as moot.

Geraci was nominated to the federal bench by Barack Obama in 2012 and assumed senior status in 2023.

The Justice Department filed the lawsuit in April 2025 against Rochester, Democrat Mayor Malik Evans, the Rochester City Council, and Council President Miguel Meléndez Jr.

The administration argued that Rochester’s sanctuary policies intentionally obstruct federal immigration enforcement, unlawfully discriminate against federal authorities, and violate the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

The policies prohibit city personnel from using local resources to assist federal civil immigration enforcement except where specifically required by law.

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Was An Obama Energy Secretary A CCP Plant?

Before Steven Chu oversaw America’s national laboratories and nuclear-weapons complex, a group inside what U.S. officials describe as the CCP’s “political warfare” apparatus listed him as an “overseas honorary president.” He later launched landmark research and technology partnerships with Beijing from inside the Department of Energy.

The organization was not simply “China-linked.” Its own records say it was led by the CCP Central Secretariat and administered by the Central United Front Work Department—the sprawling Party organ the U.S. government says works to co-opt elites, neutralize opposition and manipulate foreign institutions in service of Beijing.

Buried inside a non-searchable image on the official website of the Western Returned Scholars Association, or WRSA, is Chu’s Chinese name: 朱棣文.

The page identifies the organization’s Fourth Council as serving from 1999 to 2003. In the official roster image, under the heading 海外名誉会长—“overseas honorary presidents”—WRSA lists ten additional prestige scientists.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences explicitly identifies 朱棣文 as “Steven Chu,” the Stanford physicist and 1997 Nobel laureate. WRSA itself later used the same Chinese name for the “former U.S. Energy Secretary and physicist” Steven Chu. The surrounding names—some of the most famous overseas Chinese scientists of the era—make the match effectively certain.

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Iowa Dem Josh Turek Advised Illegal Immigrants How to Avoid ICE Detainment in Official Newsletter

Obama-endorsed Iowa Democrat U.S. Senate nominee Josh Turek has portrayed himself as a “common-sense” moderate, even as his official legislative newsletter advised illegal immigrants on avoiding ICE detainment and as he called for an “easier pathway to citizenship.”

Turek, who has been an Iowa state representative since 2023, is running against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA). He has described himself as a “prairie populist” and a “common-sense” lawmaker capable of appealing to “Iowans of all political stripes.”

But Turek’s immigration record complicates that moderate pitch.

Turek’s official legislative newsletter included guidance for illegal immigrants on avoiding detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A section of Turek’s newsletter titled “Know Your Rights as an Immigrant,” which includes a link to the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) “Immigrants’ Rights” page, stated:

Given the recent policy changes enacted by the Trump administration on both legal and illegal immigrants, I wanted to provide a thorough list of your rights and how they apply in different scenarios. The ACLU is a great resource that provides tips on what to do in various situations. Please click here to read more.

Turek first called for “an easier pathway to citizenship” for illegal immigrants in April and used the same phrase again this month in an interview with the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

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Leftist Obama Judge Indira Talwani Goes Completely ROGUE – Spits in the Face of the Supreme Court and Rules Trump’s U.S. Postal Service is in “Complete Noncompliance” With Her Block on Mail-In Ballot Security Rules

Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani escalated her war against President Donald Trump’s election-integrity agenda Tuesday, declaring that the U.S. Postal Service violated her nationwide injunction by completing new security regulations for federal mail-in ballots.

Just one day after the United States Supreme Court UPHELD, for now, President Trump’s executive order and the new U.S. Postal Service rules designed to secure America’s mail-in ballots, this Obama-appointed radical in Boston just ruled that Trump’s Postal Service has VIOLATED her earlier injunction.

She’s going off. Aggressively. Accusing the Trump team of “complete noncompliance.”

This is pure judicial warfare against the American people and against free and fair elections.

Talwani’s nationwide injunction (entered earlier this month in League of Women Voters of Massachusetts v. Trump) explicitly barred the USPS Defendants “from implementing, giving effect to, or enforcing Section 3 of Executive Order No. 14399… or otherwise initiating or completing rulemaking to promulgate the specific regulations outlined in Section 3(b)(i)-(v) or (d) of the EO for the November 3, 2026 or any earlier election.”

On Friday evening, August 21, the USPS completed the rulemaking process. They sent a Final Rule titled “Ballot Mail for Federal Elections” to the Office of the Federal Register, with an immediate effective date of August 21 and publication set for August 26.

The Final Rule itself nods to the injunctions and states the Postal Service “will not take actions to implement the rule specifically for the 2026 election unless and until the government obtains relief from those injunctions.”

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Leftist Obama Judge Indira Talwani Goes Completely ROGUE – Spits in the Face of the Supreme Court and Rules Trump’s U.S. Postal Service is in “Complete Noncompliance” With Her Block on Mail-In Ballot Security Rules

Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani escalated her war against President Donald Trump’s election-integrity agenda Tuesday, declaring that the U.S. Postal Service violated her nationwide injunction by completing new security regulations for federal mail-in ballots.

Just one day after the United States Supreme Court UPHELD, for now, President Trump’s executive order and the new U.S. Postal Service rules designed to secure America’s mail-in ballots, this Obama-appointed radical in Boston just ruled that Trump’s Postal Service has VIOLATED her earlier injunction.

She’s going off. Aggressively. Accusing the Trump team of “complete noncompliance.”

This is pure judicial warfare against the American people and against free and fair elections.

Talwani’s nationwide injunction (entered earlier this month in League of Women Voters of Massachusetts v. Trump) explicitly barred the USPS Defendants “from implementing, giving effect to, or enforcing Section 3 of Executive Order No. 14399… or otherwise initiating or completing rulemaking to promulgate the specific regulations outlined in Section 3(b)(i)-(v) or (d) of the EO for the November 3, 2026 or any earlier election.”

On Friday evening, August 21, the USPS completed the rulemaking process. They sent a Final Rule titled “Ballot Mail for Federal Elections” to the Office of the Federal Register, with an immediate effective date of August 21 and publication set for August 26.

The Final Rule itself nods to the injunctions and states the Postal Service “will not take actions to implement the rule specifically for the 2026 election unless and until the government obtains relief from those injunctions.”

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METAPHOR ALERT: Barack Obama Elementary School in Virginia Closed Indefinitely Due to Mold and Rodents

Barack Obama Elementary School in Virginia has been closed indefinitely due to an infestation of mold and rodents. You could not make this up.

All of the other schools in the area are open for business. The school that is named for former President Obama is the only one with this issue.

At least one parent in the video report below claims that this is the second time that mold has closed the school.

CBS 6 in Richmond reports:

Mold forces indefinite closure of Barack Obama Elementary as new school year begins

Barack Obama Elementary School will not open this week due to mold, and students will temporarily relocate to Clark Springs Elementary School while remediation continues.

Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras said in a message to families Monday that teachers and staff setting up classrooms discovered “additional areas of mold growth (for example, behind bulletin board paper),” prompting the district to send everyone home for additional cleaning and testing.

“All of this is realistically going to take several days. So we will not be returning to the Obama building this week. Our goal is to do so by Monday,” Kamras wrote. “In the interim, we are working to get Clark Springs Elementary School ready as a temporary space. We’ll have more information about that by tomorrow. For now, school is closed on Tuesday.”

“Roller coaster is a good word,” said Samieh, a parent of students at the school for the past seven years, of the past five days. “The information keeps kind of cascading of ‘This is what’s going to happen. Oh, actually, it’s not what’s going to happen. Oh, we’re good. Oh, we’re not good.’.”

The district had already pushed back Barack Obama Elementary’s first day from Monday, Aug. 24, after air quality tests showed elevated mold spore levels inside the building.

Kamras said the mold growth stemmed from an HVAC outage that caused mold to spread in the school’s basement and on some furniture. The district also received reports of rodents in several rooms.

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While Trump sharply cuts foreign aid, past abuses from the Obama-Biden era keep piling up

Ahalf billion dollar fraud and bribery scheme conducted by a USAID contract officer and three conspirators that went undetected for a decade. American-bought equipment stolen by a terror group. Millions of dollars in food that spoiled in warehouses. These are but a few of the wasteful — if not corrupt ways — millions of USAID dollars have been lost.

While President Donald Trump has sharply cut foreign aid from the auspices of USAID and shifted what remains to the State Department, the massive abuse of America’s generosity to foreign countries over a decade of Obama-Biden governance is coming into clearer focus. 

A Just the News review of audits and investigations of the USAID and State Department inspectors general over the last year chronicles billions of dollars lost, stolen, defrauded, or wasted because of mismanagement or years of neglect.

In many cases, tax money was given away without regard to whether the recipients could responsibly spend it or could keep it out of the hands of terrorists or other enemies, the audits show.

For instance, the USAID inspector general recently revealed that the federal government kept funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) despite evidence that 101 of its employees or associates had ties to terror groups like Hamas, including: 

  •  A deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion.
  • A deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion. 
  • A teacher serving as squad leader in Hamas’ military security department/intelligence unit who tracked assignment of explosive devices.
  • A teacher serving as a platoon commander of the Central Brigade/Al Quds 2nd Battalion.
  • A math & computer teacher with ties to an al-Qassam intelligence squad.
  • A teacher with expertise as a sniper for Hamas.
  • A teacher and Hamas soldier with orders to bring two anti-tank missiles to a prescribed location during the October 7 terror attacks
  • A school principal who served as an operative of the Hamas East Jabaliya Battalion, and coordinated communications with other suspected Hamas members during the October 7, 2023 atrocities committed against Israel 

Similarly, the same USAID watchdog revealed that the Yemen-based terror Ansar Allah — also known as the Houthis—walked away with about $122,000 worth of U.S. government-funded equipment from a USAID-funded aid organization.

$17 million of the $21 million of food aid stored in warehouses was not distributed to emergency food providers. Some good-intentioned aid also was wasted by bad management and logistics, the audits show.

For instance, about $17 million of the $21 million of food aid stored in Djibouti warehouses was not distributed to emergency food providers.

That included $10 million of goods at risk of reaching its best-used-by date prior to arriving at its intended destination. About $2.9 million of food aid had already spoiled due to significant packaging defects by the vendor, investigators reported.

To make matters worse, taxpayers incurred at least nearly $500,000 in storage costs for spoiled, unusable food. And another $1.5 million in food became infested because USAID “did not enforce temperature control requirements,” eventually requiring additional fumigation costs, the memos stated.

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UC Berkeley Math Professor Makes a Startling Revelation About Her Students as She Blasts School’s Woke Admissions Policy, Which an Obama Admin. Official Implemented

One of the nation’s supposedly most rigorous colleges is completely infested with unqualified students, forcing a calculus teacher to come forward with a stunning revelation.

Zvezdelina Stankova, a professor of mathematics at UC Berkeley, wrote a damning op-ed in the San Francisco Standard last week excoriating the university’s woke admissions standards, which Then-President Janet Napolitano implemented.

Back in 2020, Napolitano, who served as Homeland Security Secretary under former President Barack Obama, overruled a task force that urged the school to phase out the SAT and ACT.

She argued that doing so was proper due to pandemic disruptions and ‘equity’ concerns.

The Regents voted later that year to make testing optional. Then, a court ruling focused on access for students with disabilities required UC to become test-blind through 2025.

Due to this policy, Stankova noted that because the kids are so far behind on mathematics, she has to spend her time teaching middle-school math to them.

Not high school. Middle school.

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