Tag: taxes

‘No one is above the law.’ Former New Haven police chief admitted to stealing at least $10,000, city officials say

The city of New Haven is freezing a police bank account used to fund its confidential informant program after former police chief Karl Jacobson admitted to stealing thousands of dollars from it.

City officials shared new details about the investigation Wednesday.

The scandal began on Monday, when a group of assistant chiefs questioned Jacobson about discrepancies in withdrawals from the city’s confidential informant fund.

Mayor Justin Elicker says the former police chief admitted to stealing $10,000 from the city, but the amount could actually be more.

“Everything I’ve heard from everyone is just how shocked they are,” Mayor Elicker says. “I want to make it clear: we do not know how much money was taken.”

Jacobsen oversaw the account as assistant chief.

Despite calls for him to relinquish control when he was promoted to chief, city officials say Jacobson continued to make authorized routine withdrawals of $5,000 each month from the account to pay confidential informants.

“What the chief had done was basically make it where he would be the sole holder of the money,” acting police chief David Zannelli says, “and what he would say to us commonly is that he was doing that to protect us from any kind of liability.”

The preliminary investigation uncovered two extra $5,000 withdrawals were made by Jacobson at the end of 2025: one in November, and another in December.

Mayor Elicker was originally going to place him on administrative leave, but Jacobson said he was retiring instead.

The confidential informant program has been paused as state investigators work to find out if any other city bank accounts were affected and if any other police officers were involved.

“No one is above the law, and we are all held accountable,” acting police chief David Zannelli says. “We will move forward as a police department.”

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James Comer Says Ilhan Omar Is “At the Top of the Suspect List” in Massive Minnesota Fraud Scandal — Ethics Complaints Incoming, Claims Her Husband Profited

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer dropped a bombshell this week, suggesting that far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar sits “at the top of the suspect list” in the sprawling Minnesota fraud scandals involving taxpayer-funded daycare and healthcare programs.

The comments came during a pointed exchange with journalist Alison Steinberg, who raised serious concerns about whether members of Congress themselves may have benefited from money funneled through political action committees tied to fraudulent daycare and healthcare schemes.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn has leveled explosive allegations against Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, claiming that a lack of accountability regarding massive taxpayer fraud in Minnesota is linked to the Speaker’s own financial networks.

Minnesota has become ground zero for some of the largest pandemic-era fraud cases in U.S. history, involving the alleged theft of hundreds of millions of dollars intended to feed children and provide healthcare services.

Many of these cases have centered on networks tied to Somali-run nonprofits and daycare operations, fraud that went unchecked for years under Democrat leadership.

When asked how Americans can trust Congress to police fraud if lawmakers themselves are implicated, Comer made it clear that there is a formal mechanism to deal with corruption on Capitol Hill.

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Why Netanyahu says it’s time to cut US aid to Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a wide‑ranging interview with “The Economist,” published Friday, that he intends to completely end Israel’s reliance on U.S. security assistance within the next 10 years — and that “the move is already underway.”

In the interview, conducted during Netanyahu’s visit to Mar‑a‑Lago about two weeks ago, the prime minister publicly revealed for the first time that he will not seek a full renewal of the annual $3.8 billion security aid package set to expire in 2028. “I want to reduce military aid within the next 10 years,” he said, answering “yes” when asked if his intention was to zero out dependence. In discussions between Netanyahu and Trump at Mar‑a‑Lago, teams were agreed on to negotiate future aid.

Netanyahu explained that Israel has “matured” and developed impressive economic capabilities, with the economy expected to reach $1 trillion within the coming decade. “We want to be as independent as possible,” Netanyahu stressed, adding that he will continue “to fight for the loyalty and support of the American people” — but greater independence could also help in the battle against the “propaganda war” against Israel.

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ICE Resistance Groups Growing, Some Funded by Soros, U.S. Government, and Linked to Terrorism

Anti-ICE activism has evolved into coordinated resistance networks that employ surveillance, harassment, and interference tactics. Organizations train activists in resistance methods, track ICE agents’ movements through mobile apps and crowdsourced databases, and conduct campaigns designed to obstruct immigration enforcement operations.

These efforts include doxing ICE agents, issuing threats against their homes and families, and running coordinated online propaganda campaigns that rely on altered or misleading videos. Posts may show ICE breaking a window while omitting that the occupant refused to open it, or claim agents “chased” someone without noting the individual was fleeing to evade arrest. Videos of agents wrestling with arrestees are circulated without acknowledging that the person resisted arrest, and outrage is expressed when a U.S. citizen is arrested while omitting that the citizen assaulted or interfered with federal officers.

Activists also claim there is no due process, despite the fact that a large percentage of deportees have outstanding final orders of deportation that were never enforced. They argue people are being denied access to courts when, in reality, many individuals are already in the country illegally and are arrested after attempting to legalize their status through a green card application or marriage to a citizen. Activists then claim the individual “showed up for a regular immigration hearing” or was “trying to do it the right way,” even though once someone is in the country illegally, there is generally no legal path to adjust status.

To further vilify ICE and encourage resistance, media figures, activists, and public officials in sanctuary jurisdictions use loaded language such as “abducted” instead of arrested and “whisked away” instead of detained. Officials vow to protect constituents from ICE, despite the fact that ICE arrests and deports illegal aliens, not lawful residents or citizens. There would be no violence at all if people stopped interfering with lawful enforcement actions.

Against this backdrop of negative framing and propaganda, several activist organizations are actively coordinating interference with ICE operations, escalating tensions and increasing the risk of unnecessary violence.

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DOJ to investigate ‘anti-white’ taxpayer-funded ‘BIPOC youth’ swimming program in Oregon over civil rights violations

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division said it will investigate a taxpayer-funded program in Eugene, Oregon, that limits participation to “BIPOC youth.”

The social media account Libs of TikTok posted a flyer on X for the “BIPOC Water Safety and Lifeguard Cohort” in Eugene. The flyer states, “We invite BIPOC youth to join us where they are at being comfortable in the water. Whether working on increasing water safety skills or pursuing lifeguard certification, this cohort is here to support your goals. Funded by the community safety payroll tax in partnership with the Youth Empowerment Program.”

BIPOC is an acronym for “black, indigenous, people of color,” meaning the program is restricted to participants of those racial backgrounds. According to the City of Eugene’s website, the class is offered for free, unlike other youth programs, and is funded through the community safety payroll tax in partnership with the Youth Empowerment Program.

Libs of TikTok criticized the program, writing on X, “Your tax dollars are being spent on anti-White discrimination,” while tagging Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon. “This is illegal.”

Dhillon responded on X, confirming that the DOJ would look into the matter. “Racially discriminatory government programs are presumptively illegal,” she wrote.

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Fraud ignored: Former Homeland Security investigator reveals how fraud cases weren’t prosecuted

Jeremy Christenson, a former Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent, joined Liz Collin on her podcast and explained how cases of cash smuggling and fraudulent day care centers were ignored by prosecutors.

Christenson, who worked as a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent for 16 years, is also a former air marshal and police officer in Minnesota.

Christensen said many of the cases he investigated “went away into thin air.” He had concerns ever since he started investigating cases of fraud in Minnesota some 10 years ago. But with Somali fraud making national headlines, he had to bring what he witnessed as an investigator to light.

Fraudulent day care investigations, back in 2015

Christenson told Collin that “around 2015, a case landed on my desk from my supervisor. He advised me that the state was running a fraud case regarding daycare fraud in Minneapolis through Health and Human Services or Department of Human Services.”

“Over the next several weeks and months, I attended … planning meetings with this task force of about 20 personnel of various law enforcement agencies, the Health and Human Services, BCA, St. Paul PD, Minneapolis PD and it was all revolving around fraudulent daycares,” Christenson said.

“They were setting up sham daycares, fake bills, fake students, or just enrolling students that never came,” he added.

Christenson also pointed out a suspicious detail: “Never — not one of the daycares I served warrants on, not one person was ever present.”

As for evidence, he explained how investigators found “empty buildings, stacks of invoices, and student records of people that our surveillance showed never went there.”

But what happened next has bothered Christenson ever since. He said the investigative task force “all of sudden, it just evaporated — just went away into thin air.”

As for the investigation into the fraudulent day care centers in the Twin Cities, Christenson said he had “no idea whatever happened with the case.”

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Prosecutor Calls Newsom ‘King Of Fraud’ For Oversight Failures

U.S. First Assistant Attorney Bill Essayli Thursday called California Gov. Gavin Newsom “the king of fraud,” accusing him of a lack of oversight on spending to address homelessness.

Essayli made the comments on the “Fox and Friends” telecast, during which he discussed the federal fraud charges that were filed in October against real estate executives Steven Taylor and Cody Holmes for allegedly misusing grant money meant for homeless housing.

Holmes, 31, of Beverly Hills was charged with mail fraud charge that was allegedly linked to millions of dollars in grant money that the state paid Shangri-La Industries to purchase, build and operate homeless housing in Thousand Oaks, just north of Los Angeles. Holmes was Shangri-La’s chief financial officer.

Taylor, 44, of Brentwood, was charged with seven counts of bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of money laundering.

Essayli Thursday said the charges are the “tip of the iceberg” in an investigation he launched with a task force in April. He said more charges would be coming, probably later this month.

The state spent $24 billion in the last five years to address homelessness and can’t account for where the money went, Essayli said on “Fox and Friends.”

President Donald Trump on Tuesday on X said,  “California, under Governor Gavin Newscum, is more corrupt than Minnesota, if that’s possible??? The Fraud investigation of California has begun.”

Newsom’s press office fired back on X. It called Trump a liar and noted Newsom has “BLOCKED $125 billion in fraud, arrested criminal parasites leaching off of taxpayers, and protected taxpayers from the exact kind of scam artists Trump celebrates, excuses, and pardons.”

The Center Square reached out Thursday afternoon to the governor’s office, but did not get a response.

When The Center Square asked the White House Thursday about Newsom, the press office pointed to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments during a press briefing on Wednesday. Leavitt told reporters that Trump has directed all agencies to look at federal spending programs “in not just Minnesota, but also in the state of California, to identify fraud and to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, all those who have committed it.”

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Billions in healthcare fraud discovered in California, Minnesota ‘pales in comparison’: Dr Oz

Billions of dollars in alleged fraudulent healthcare spending is being investigated in California, specifically probing foreign nationals operating illegal hospice facilities — officials announced Friday in a bombshell press conference.

“We have witnessed a sevenfold increase in hospice in LA County, sevenfold. That doesn’t happen naturally,” Dr Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told The Post during at the press conference.

“There is not seven times more deaths in LA County than there were five years ago. These are fraudsters, and these do tend to be foreign influences, either Russian and Armenian gangs, mafia, that are leading a lot of these efforts.”

Fraudsters who run these facilities are working with about “100 bad doctors,” who convince a patient they’re dying to enroll them in hospice care, Dr Oz said, adding about 100,000 people have handed over their Medicare numbers.

“We are major focused on this issue, and I think our suspicion, our belief, is that the fraud in California will magnify whatever’s happening in Minnesota,” United States Attorney Bill Essayli said. “What’s happening in Minnesota pales in comparison to the level of fraud that we believe is occurring in California.”

Dr Oz said the Trump administration is also cracking down on taxpayer money being used to treat illegal immigrants for elective procedures.

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Biden Judge Blocks President Trump’s $10 Billion Welfare Funding Freeze in Five Blue States

A federal judge on Friday blocked President Trump’s $10 billion welfare funding freeze in five blue states.

US District Judge Arun Subramanian, a Biden appointee, issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and blocked Trump’s halt on funding for childcare and social services.

On Tuesday, President Trump sent letters to California, Colorado, New York, Minnesota and Illinois to inform them of the federal cuts.

Trump made the cuts to the welfare programs due to widespread fraud in the state’s programs.

The five states were given a January 20 deadline.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the other Democrat attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration and asked the judge for an emergency order.

Judge Subramanian halted Trump’s welfare freeze for two weeks as both sides submit arguments to the court.

Politico reported:

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from freezing $10 billion in welfare funds earmarked for five blue states.

In response to a request from the states for an emergency injunction, U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ordered that the money from three programs — Child Care Development Fund, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and Social Services Block Grants — must continue to flow to the states.

His decision, which expires in two weeks, was meant to give the two sides time to submit more extensive legal arguments on whether the cuts should be allowed or the ban kept in place, the judge wrote.

Earlier in the week, California, Colorado, Illinois, New York and Minnesota received letters from the federal Department of Health and Human Services notifying them of the cuts. California is in line to receive about half of the $10 billion in targeted funding.

The attempt to withhold the funds was in response to what the Trump Administration has alleged without evidence is widespread fraud and waste in the states’ welfare programs. Along with the cuts, administration officials are also requesting reams of information about how states administer the programs in an effort to bolster the claims of malfeasance and ineptitude.

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78% of Somali Immigrant Households Still on Welfare After a Decade, Congressman Gill Says, Citing State Welfare Stats

78 percent of Somali immigrant households remain on welfare even after a decade in the United States—a statistic that ignited a fierce debate on Capitol Hill and reopened the debate over immigration, welfare dependency, and political accountability. 

The statistic, cited by Rep. Brandon Gill, during a heated Oversight Committee hearing, has become a flashpoint in a broader reckoning over Minnesota’s sprawling welfare system and recent revelations of large-scale fraud.

The exchange unfolded as Rep. Gill pressed state officials and witnesses on disparities in welfare usage. He contrasted the figures he cited for Somali-headed households with far lower rates among native-born Minnesota households, arguing that the gap raised serious questions about policy outcomes.

When challenged, Democratic witnesses attempted to blur the distinction, insisting that many Somali Minnesotans are American-born and culturally integrated. Gill rejected that framing, returning repeatedly to the numbers and arguing that outcomes—not intentions—are what ought to matter in public policy.

The congressman went further, stating that more than 80 percent of Somali-headed households receive some form of welfare assistance. Even after ten years of residency, he said, nearly four in five remain dependent on government support—a figure he argued is incompatible with claims of successful integration.

These remarks landed amid a cascade of corruption investigations in Minnesota that have shaken public confidence. State and federal authorities have uncovered what they describe as one of the largest fraud scandals in recent US history, involving alleged abuse of childcare subsidies, food assistance programs, and healthcare funding.

Investigators estimate that as much as $9 billion may have been siphoned off through fake nonprofits and shell organizations. According to prosecutors, many of these operations inflated enrollment numbers or fabricated services while collecting taxpayer dollars.

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