Tag: taxes

Company Owned by Ilhan Omar’s Multimillionaire Husband Owes IRS Over $200,000 in Unpaid Taxes

A company owned by Tim Mynett, the multimillionaire husband of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), failed to pay its fair share of taxes in 2021, according to a tax lien obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Mynett’s company, EStreetCo, accumulated nearly $206,000 in unpaid income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes in 2021, the IRS charged in a tax lien filed against the company in Sonoma County, Calif., in January 2023. Omar, who introduced legislation in February to “make corporations pay their fair share,” was married to Mynett when the IRS says the company failed to pay its taxes.

In her 2021 financial disclosure, the Minnesota Democrat described EStreetCo as a “creative agency” and said Mynett’s share of the company was worth no more than $1,000.

EStreetCo provided advertising, design, and public relations services, and boasted a staff of at least 17 people, according to an archived version of its website. Mynett’s business partner, former DNC adviser Will Hailer, formed EStreetCo in October 2020, and business records show the pair owned the firm until its dissolution in June 2022, about seven months before the IRS filed the lien.

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The White House Says Trump’s Tariffs Have Raised $8 Trillion in Revenue. That’s Not Even Close.

The White House celebrated Labor Day by announcing that President Donald Trump’s “protectionist trade policies have helped drive more than $8 trillion in new U.S. investment.” The accompanying photo refers to “$8 trillion in tariff revenue.” There’s a difference between $8 trillion in U.S. investment and $8 trillion in tariff revenue, but Trump’s trade policies have achieved neither.

The second claim is easier to refute. The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) calculates the gross tariff and excise tax revenue generated from January 1 to August 28 to be $158.8 billion, according to the Treasury Department’s Daily Treasury Statements. The customs and excise taxes collected from January 20, when Trump took office, to August 28 amount to about $156 billion.

According to the Treasury Department’s own data, the president’s policies have clearly not raised anywhere near $8 trillion; they’ve raised 2 percent of this figure. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the tariffs Trump has implemented since January will generate an estimated $3.3 trillion over 10 years—significantly less than the $8 trillion that the White House is claiming the tariffs have already raised.

Gross tariff revenue isn’t even the most relevant statistic; net tariff revenue is. The BPC explains that the latter “removes ‘certain other excise tax revenue’ and accounts for refunds of tariffs,” i.e., the tariff revenue that stays in federal coffers. Although net tariff revenue is not available in the Daily Treasury Statements, the BPC was able to determine that net tariff revenue was $135.7 billion from January through July 31 using the Treasury’s Monthly Treasury Statements, which account for tariff refunds. Net tariff revenue as a percentage of total imports jumped from about 2.4 percent in March to 5.73 percent in April, reflecting the impact of Liberation Day’s “reciprocal tariffs,” and climbed to 10.31 percent in June.

Still, the net tariff revenue of $135.7 billion amounts to 1.7 percent of the White House’s claimed $8 trillion in tariff revenue. (That’s neglecting the fact that the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that “$1 of excise tax revenue will lead to a $0.25 decline in income and payroll tax revenue,” according to the BPC.)

The first claim is more slippery; it’s unclear what the White House means by saying Trump’s policies “helped drive” investment. One interpretation is that it is crediting Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and hostile negotiations for producing more foreign direct investment (FDI) in the U.S. than would have otherwise existed. Even assuming that all FDI since January is the direct result of Trump’s protectionist policies, it is completely inconceivable that $8 trillion has been raised as a result.

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Trump gives green light for $2m ICE deal with notorious Israeli spyware company

The Trump administration appears to have unfrozen a stalled $2 million Biden-era contract with Paragon Solutions (US) Inc., a spyware company founded in Israel whose products have been accused of facilitating the surveillance of journalists and activists.

On Saturday, a public procurement database showed that a stop work order on the September 2024 deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been lifted, technology journalist Jack Poulson reported on his All-Source Intelligence Substack.

The deal does not specify what ICE will be getting as part of the deal, beyond describing an agreement for a “fully configured proprietary solution including license, hardware, warranty, maintenance, and training.”

An individual who answered a phone number listed for Paragon on the contract declined to comment.

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Cabinet’s aim to plant two billion trees was a farce

The federal government’s 2019 initiative to plant two billion trees over 10 years, led by then-Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, is 89% short of its target and has cost $267.7 million to date.

Natural Resources Canada reported only 228 million trees planted, far short of the two-billion-tree pledge and less than half of what forestry companies plant annually, according to Blacklock’s.

“The government remains committed to restoring and conserving nature and biodiversity,” said the department. “Nature is part of Canada’s identity.”

Documents show the feds did not intend for the “two billion trees” target to be taken literally. “The government sought a name that would inspire that commitment and participation,” said a February 15 Department of Natural Resources memo. “So far that has worked.”

The point was to “rally interest,” testified Monique Frisson, director general responsible for tree planting. “How many trees is the two billion trees program supposed to plant?” asked Conservative MP Michael Kram. “I mean, 1.85 billion, 1.9 billion,” replied Frisson.

MP Kram then questioned if the two billion trees program would achieve its goal. Frisson clarified that the initiative always intended to count trees planted across various government programs, not solely those under the specific “two billion trees” program.

Director Frisson noted roughly 50 public servants are involved in the program, which aims to create 3,500 annual seasonal jobs to combat climate change.

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Federal Court Vacates Injunction on $16B in EPA Climate Grants

A federal appeals court on Tuesday vacated a lower court order requiring the Environmental Protection Agency and Citibank to continue funding $16 billion in climate-related grants, ruling that the grantees are unlikely to prevail in their lawsuit.

Judge Neomi Rao, writing for the panel, said the district court “abused its discretion” in issuing a preliminary injunction after five nonprofits sued the agency over its March 2025 decision to terminate the awards.

The court found that the groups’ claims were primarily contractual and must be pursued in the Court of Federal Claims, while their constitutional claim was without merit.

The case centers on grants awarded under the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. In August 2024, the EPA directed $20 billion to eight nonprofits through two new programs, the National Clean Investment Fund and the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator.

The plaintiffs include Climate United Fund, which was awarded nearly $7 billion; the Coalition for Green Capital, which received $5 billion; Power Forward Communities, $2 billion; Inclusiv, $1.9 billion; and the Justice Climate Fund, $940 million.

The grants were structured through Citibank, which was designated as the federal government’s financial agent to hold and release the funds under EPA’s direction. That arrangement later became central to the legal dispute.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama and who is often criticized by President Donald Trump, issued a temporary restraining order blocking the EPA’s attempt to terminate several of the nonprofit agreements. Her order also prohibited Citibank from disbursing funds while the case was pending.

The grants had been targeted as part of EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s campaign to claw back money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which Congress authorized under former President Joe Biden to launch pollution-reduction projects.

The EPA cited concerns about conflicts of interest and oversight in halting the program. The appeals court said the equities “strongly favor the government, which on behalf of the public must ensure the proper oversight and management of this multi-billion-dollar fund.”

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Taxpayer Dollars from NIH Used to Create ‘Transgender Monkeys’ to Inject with mRNA Vaccines

White Coat Waste Project (WCW), a watchdog group dedicated to ending taxpayer-funded animal experiments, has discovered that millions in taxpayer dollars from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the State of Florida are being spent on bizarre experiments to create “transgender” monkeys by pumping male rhesus macaques full of estrogen and then injecting them with mRNA vaccines.

The research, published in Cell Reports earlier this month, says that the experiments are aimed at modeling feminizing hormone therapy (FHT) as used by transgender biological males transitioning to “female.”

According to the paper, “To investigate the immune effects of estrogen within a male biological system, we administered exogenous E2 [estrogen] to male RMs [rhesus monkeys], modeling FHT [feminizing hormone therapy] as prescribed to TGW [transgender women].” Twelve young male monkeys were divided into groups and implanted with slow-release pellets containing either estrogen or a placebo.

The results were grotesque.

“FHT [feminizing hormone therapy] induces physical changes in TGW [transgender women], such as breast development, fat and muscle redistribution, and reduction in facial hair. To determine whether exogenous E2 [estrogen] therapy triggered similar female characteristics in male RMs [rhesus monkeys], we evaluated body alterations in the E2-treated animals. We found that male RMs [rhesus monkeys] treated with E2 [estrogen], but not placebo, developed significantly enlarged nipples similar to those of non-pregnant non-lactating female macaques.”

The estrogen-treated males developed “significantly enlarged nipples similar to those of non-pregnant non-lactating female macaques.” Additionally, “skin in the [estrogen]-treated macaques’ hips and thighs also became increasingly reddish and vascularized in a manifestation that resembled sex skin.” To further disrupt their systems, the researchers “artificially disrupted immune homeostasis through LNP/mRNA vaccinations,” injecting the animals with mRNA-based vaccines.

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Michigan Democrats Caught in $5 Billion Fraud Scheme

Republicans in Michigan have exposed one of the most blatant examples of budgetary abuse in recent memory. 

House Republicans say their review of the state budget revealed more than $5 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse, hidden through the creation of 4,277 “phantom jobs.” 

These positions do not exist in reality but were used to justify line items that allowed Democrats to funnel money toward radical priorities rather than essential services. 

Among the spending categories tied to these fake jobs are taxpayer-funded gender surgeries for convicted criminals and millions in “arts and culture” grants for organizations that cannot even be identified.

Under complete Democrat control, Lansing has allowed the budget to balloon to over $82 billion—the largest in state history. 

Compared to just two years ago, state spending has grown by nearly 20%, and rather than delivering real benefits for taxpayers, the increase has been absorbed by programs that advance ideological goals. 

Roads remain among the worst in the nation, insurance rates continue to weigh down families, and basic services show little improvement. Yet Democrats diverted billions toward programs that would not survive public scrutiny if debated honestly.

Republicans have presented a clear alternative. Their plan eliminates the fake jobs, strips out the fraudulent spending categories, and redirects those funds to priorities that ordinary citizens actually value. 

That includes repairing infrastructure, providing real tax relief, and ensuring that schools have the resources needed to educate students rather than serve as staging grounds for partisan experiments. 

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The Price of Genocide: How US Funding Sustains an Unraveling Israeli Economy

In an important step toward the economic isolation of Israel due to its genocide in Gaza, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global has decided to divest from yet more Israeli companies.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is the world’s largest, with total investments in Israel once estimated at $1.9 billion. The decision to divest was taken gradually but is consistent with the Norwegian government’s growing solidarity with Palestine and rising criticism of Israel.

Taking a leading role along with Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia, Norway has been a vocal European critic of the Israeli genocide and man-made famine in Gaza, actively contributing to the International Court of Justice’s investigation into the genocide, and formally recognizing the state of Palestine in May 2024. This diplomatic and legal stance, coupled with its financial divestment, represents a coherent and escalating effort to hold Israel accountable for the ongoing extermination of Palestinians.

The Israeli economy was already in a state of freefall even before the genocide. The initial collapse was related to the deep political instability in the country, a result of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government’s attempt to co-opt the judicial system, thus compromising any semblance of “democracy” remaining in that country. This resulted in a significant lowering of investor confidence.

The war and genocide, beginning on October 7, 2023, only accelerated the crisis, pushing an already fragile economy to the brink. According to reports from the Israel Ministry of Finance, foreign direct investments in Israel fell by an estimated 28% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Any supposed recovery in foreign investments, however, was deceptive. It was not the outcome of a global rallying to save Israel, but rather a consequence of a torrent of US funds pouring in to help Israel sustain both its economy and the genocide in Gaza, along with its other war fronts.

Israel’s Gross Domestic Product was estimated by the World Bank to be around $540 billion by the end of 2024. The war on Gaza has already taken a considerable bite out of Israel’s entire GDP. Estimates from Israel itself are complex, but all data points to the fact that the Israeli economy is suffering and will continue to suffer in the foreseeable future. Citing reports from the Bank of Israel and the Ministry of Finance, the Israeli business newspaper Calcalist reported in January 2025 that the cost of the Israeli war on Gaza had already reached more than $67.5 billion. That figure represented the costs of the war up to the end of 2024.

Keeping in mind that the ongoing war costs continue to rise exponentially, and with other consequences of the war – including divestments from the Israeli market by Norway and other countries – future projections for the Israeli economy look very grim. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics reported that the Israeli economy, already in a constant state of contraction, shrunk by another 3.5% in the period between April and June 2025.

This collapse is projected to continue, even with the unprecedented US financial backing of Tel Aviv. Indeed, without US help, the precarious Israeli economy would be in a much worse state. Though the US has always propped up Israel – with nearly $4 billion in aid annually – the US help for Israel in the last two years was the most generous and critical yet.

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Report: Trump Punishes Newsom by Canceling $427M Wind Project

President Donald Trump may have chosen to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to a California wind project to punish Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for signing a separate climate change deal with Denmark.

Last week, as Breitbart News reported, the Trump administration had canceled $679 million that was to have been spent on supposedly “doomed” offshore wind projects — $427 million of which was to have gone to a single wind project in Humboldt County, California.

The New York Times reported Friday:

The Transportation Department on Friday said it was terminating or withdrawing $679 million in federal funding for 12 projects around the country intended to support the development of offshore wind power, the latest of the Trump administration’s escalating attacks against the wind industry.

The funds, approved by the Biden administration, include $427 million awarded last year to upgrade a marine terminal in Humboldt County, Calif. The new terminal would be used to assemble and launch wind turbines capable of floating in the ocean, which the state of California had been planning to deploy to meet its renewable energy goals.

The list of targeted projects also includes $48 million for an offshore wind port on Staten Island, $39 million to upgrade a port near Norfolk, Va. and $20 million for a marine terminal in Paulsboro, N.J. Most of the projects were intended to be staging areas for the construction of giant wind turbines that would eventually be placed at sea.

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg bent over backwards to use transportation dollars for their Green New Scam agenda while ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry,” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said at the time. “Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little.”

One project, however, off the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island, was reportedly 80% complete and due to begin operations next year.

It is being developed by Danish wind farm developer Orsted.

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HUD launches nationwide review of illegal immigrants living in public housing: ‘The gravy train is over’

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner announced that the Trump administration ordered a nationwide review of public housing in an attempt to root out illegal immigrants.

The Trump administration notified every public housing authority (PHA) across the country that it will be given 30 days to share the citizenship status of its tenants or potentially face the loss of federal funding.

Every PHA is required to provide HUD with eligibility information, such as citizenship status. However, two anonymous senior HUD officials speaking with the Washington Examiner claimed that a “significant” number have opted to withhold the information from the federal government, or never collected it in the first place.

“I bet Biden HUD didn’t do anything on collecting citizenship info since they support current [regulations] that allow illegals to be in mixed-status housing, so they wouldn’t have wanted to know those numbers in the first place,” one HUD official told the outlet.

The “mixed family” units are defined as households with “one or more individuals who do not contend that they have immigration status.”

The letter, reviewed by the Washington Examiner, gives the PHAs 30 days to identify and provide the names, mailing addresses, and legal immigration status for individuals in mixed family units.

The letter also orders the PHAs to provide a “spreadsheet, analysis, or other prepared or gathered data concerning the number and/or location of tenants with ineligible immigration status in all Public Housing covered programs as well as a “full tenant file” for any tenant who was found to have “misrepresented either his or her citizenship, national, or eligible immigration status.”

Meanwhile, Turner issued a statement, announcing, “No longer will illegal aliens be able to leave citizenship boxes blank or take advantage of HUD-funded housing, riding the coattails of hardworking American citizens.”

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