Top Commentary: Commentary: Post-Election Audits Should Be the Norm for Every State
Month: January 2024
Prosecutor on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Team Shut Down FBI Investigation into the Clinton Foundation in 2016
A top prosecutor on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team recommended that the FBI shut down an investigation into the Clinton Foundation in 2016, despite ample evidence of suspicious activity related to hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign transactions, Fox News reported.
In his May 2023 report on the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, Special Counsel John Durham identified Ray Hulser, the former chief of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section (PIN), as the official who “declined prosecution” of the Clinton Foundation. Hulser now serves on Smith’s team currently prosecuting former President Donald Trump for alleged crimes related to January 6.
Read MoreFederal Diversity Trainings Cost Taxpayers in 2023 Millions of Dollars
The Biden administration spent millions on diversity trainings for federal agencies, including some for the armed forces, in 2023.
Taxpayers were on the hook for the more than $16.3 million the federal government spent on diversity trainings taking place in 2023, according to a government spending database. Past government diversity trainings have instructed federal workers that asking an Asian colleague for help with a math problem could be racist, that men can become pregnant and that “social pain” can be the same as physical pain.
Read MoreTSNN Featured: Radio Host Bradlee Dean Speaks to Arizona Tea Party Activists About His Ministry to High School Assemblies and More
Utah Gives Taxpayer-Funded Health Care to Illegal Immigrant Children
Utah is giving taxpayer-funded health insurance to illegal immigrant children, according to a law that went into effect Jan. 1.
Roughly 6,500 illegal immigrant children in Utah will qualify for care under the program, Thaiss Del Rio, a health policy analyst at Voices for Utah Children, told Axios of the new law. Utah’s move follows a decision by the state of California to provide health care for illegal immigrants up to the age of 49.
Read MoreCincinnati Children’s Internal Training Tells Doctors Ways to Avoid Parental Consent for Trans Procedures
Hospital staff at Cincinnati Children’s in Ohio explained ways for doctors to work around parental consent for transgender minor patients in an internal training video obtained by the Daily Wire.
Steve Davis, the president and CEO of the hospital, testified in December against several bills that would have banned all transgender procedures for minors, arguing that parental consent was always obtained for any treatment and that the legislation would harm families. Dr. Lee Ann Conard, director of the hospital’s Transgender Health Clinic, said, however, that if a child is reluctant to tell their family that they identify as transgender there are things that doctors and hospital staff can do to conceal treatment from the parents, according to the video.
Read MoreCommentary: Post-Election Audits Should Be the Norm for Every State
I may be dating myself, but the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
We can get much more than an ounce’s worth of prevention by engaging in post-election process audits. It is much easier to fix process problems early before they blow up and become problems that require litigation and other nasty fixes. Ahead of the 2024 election, state legislatures should require full process audits to ensure transparency and build trust in our elections.
Read MoreMore Generation Z Candidates Filing to Run for Congress
The current youngest generation may soon elect more of its members to the United States Congress.
According to The Hill, several more members of Generation Z, also known as “Zoomers,” are attempting to expand their ranks in Congress after the first Zoomer was elected in 2022. The age group, the next in line after Millennials, is generally considered to start with those born in 1997 or later. Currently, the sole Zoomer in Congress is Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), who was elected in 2022 at the age of 25.
Read MoreNation’s Capital Devastated by Crime Spike in 2023
The District of Columbia experienced a 39% increase in violent crime in 2023, according to data published by its Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
The District has long experienced issues with crime and property theft, despite having the most police officers per capitaof any jurisdiction in the country, due to the significant presence of federal law enforcement to protect the seat of the government of the United States. In 2023, overall crime increased by 26% over 2022, with 34,414 instances of violent and property crime reported to police, with property crime alone rising by 24%.
Read MoreMassive Chinese Wealth Management Firm Files for Bankruptcy amid Real Estate Crisis
Top wealth manager Zhongzhi Enterprise Group declared bankruptcy on Friday after failing to pay its debts due to its heavy investment in the country’s struggling real estate market.
Zhongrong International Trust, a subsidiary of the company, told investors in November 2023 that it had at least $31 billion more in liabilities than in assets, previously having around $108 billion in assets at the end of 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal. The trust held around 11% of its assets in the property sector in 2022, with numerous developers defaulting amid a real estate crisis that began following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreCommentary: Educational Collapse and the Definition of Truth
It’s no secret that America’s students are struggling. The latest Nation’s Report Cards have not been flattering, with average scores in both math and reading declining over recent years.
It’s also no secret that pandemic restrictions have only exacerbated the learning decline in the U.S. However, scores have been falling since before the pandemic, signaling that there are more systemic problems holding back young people. In fact, this educational decline comes from a deeper philosophical brokenness about the notion of truth itself.
Read MoreCommentary: A Clean Future Does Not Exist Without Nuclear Energy
On the heels of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, it’s clear that nuclear energy’s role in achieving a clean energy future cannot be overlooked or understated.
At COP28, we heard from dozens of top minds in-person and from afar who echoed the same message: Transitioning to cleaner energy sources cannot come at the price of an unreliable power supply, and that is where nuclear energy comes in. Not only is it a reliable, proven technology, but it is also clean, producing zero carbon emissions. Already, the United States’ 94 nuclear power reactors generate around 18% of all U.S. electricity.
Read MoreFamily of Ashli Babbitt Files $30 Million Lawsuit Against the Government over Her Death on Jan. 6
The family of Jan. 6 protester Ashli Babbitt has filed a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against the government, saying she posed no threat to anyone when she was killed.
Read MoreTop Story: Federal Employees’ Political Donations Largely Went to Biden, Other Dems in 2023
Federal Employees’ Political Donations Largely Went to Biden, Other Dems in 2023
Over 60% of political donations to prominent political committees made by employees of the federal government’s 15 cabinet-level departments flowed to President Joe Biden and other Democrats in 2023, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis of Federal Election Commission records.
The DCNF filtered donations in calendar year 2023 by individuals who listed their employer as one of 15 cabinet agencies, and who donated to the Biden campaign, the Biden Victory Fund, the Trump campaign, Save America PAC, and the respective congressional and senatorial fundraising committees for each party.
Read MoreTop Commentary: Biden’s Valley Forge Theater and the Unraveling of January 6
House GOP Moves to Hold Hunter Biden in Contempt
The House Oversight Committee announced Friday it will move next week to hold Hunter Biden in contempt Congress for refusing to submit to an interview under subpoena in his father’s impeachment inquiry.
The committee’s move under Chairman James Comer sets up a high stakes showdown in the shadows of the 2024 election where Joe Biden is seeking re-election.
Read MoreEric Adams Sues Bus Companies Used by Texas to Transport Migrants
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams is suing several bus companies used by the state of Texas to send migrants to his sanctuary city, he announced Thursday.
Adams signed an executive order on Dec. 27 to restrict the arrival of migrant buses, which includes requiring at least a 32-hour notice of their arrivals. The city is now suing 17 bus companies for transporting migrants to the Big Apple, saying that they’re skirting state law.
Read MoreTSNN Featured Story: Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones Slams ‘Ridiculous Political Attack’ After Judge Tosses Effort to Remove Him from Office Over 2020 Election Contest
Leaked Donor List Confirms Far-Left Donors Backing Media Matters
A leaked list of donors proves that the far-left group Media Matters for America is backed by numerous left-wing megadonors, despite the group claiming to be an independent media watchdog.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, while Media Matters is not required to disclose its donors due to its status as a “charity,” the group may have accidentally revealed its top five biggest donors in a public filing made with the New Mexico Attorney General’s office in November.
Read MoreTrump Earns Praise from Pro-Life Activists as 2024 Election Nears
Former President Donald Trump has gained traction with several pro-life groups in his bid for the GOP nomination despite the movement’s heavy criticism of him over the last several months for changing his position on abortion, according to The Washington Post.
Trump has said in the past that he would not support a 15-week federal abortion ban and in September he claimed that he did not “frankly care” whether there was a federal or state ban on abortion, according to Axios. Pro-life groups such as Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America and Students for Life (SFL) had called out Trump for failing to support the pro-life movement but recently stated that while he is not the most ideal candidate, the former president has gotten the job done in the past, according to the Post.
Read MoreVirginia Del. John McGuire Claims Rep. Bob Good ‘Hates Trump,’ Cites Leaked December Video
Virginia Delegate John McGuire (R-Goochland) sharply criticized Representative Bob Good (R-VA-05) in a Thursday appearance on The John Fredericks Show, claiming Good harbors hatred for former President Donald Trump. McGuire launched a primary challenge against Good immediately after winning election to the Virginia State Senate.
McGuire argued to host John Fredericks, who is publisher of The Virginia Star, that Good is a political enemy of the former president, fails to represent the voters in his district, and contributed to Virginia Republicans’ loss of the Virginia House of Delegates in November.
Read MoreCommentary: Biden’s Valley Forge Theater and the Unraveling of January 6
Joe Biden plans to commemorate the third anniversary of the events of January 6 by giving a speech Friday morning near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, the historic site where General George Washington regrouped the Continental Army despite all odds in 1777-78.
After years of comparing Jan 6 to 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and the Oklahoma City bombing, Biden will again desecrate hallowed ground and the graves of the victims—roughly 2,000 soldiers died over a six-month period at the Valley Forge encampment—to prioritize the largely peaceful protest at the Capitol as a pivotal event in American history. Fighting Trump and his supporters, the stunt apparently is supposed to demonstrate, is just like living in subhuman conditions fighting starvation, hypothermia, and deadly diseases to prevail over the British crown. (Ironically, Biden moved up the speech from Saturday to Friday amid bad weather forecasts.)
Read More‘I Actually Feel Quite Valued’: Mentorship Program Works to Retain New Teachers
Jack Fredericks is investing in new teachers because he wants to help them stay in the classroom for the long haul.
He serves as the program coordinator for the new teacher mentorship program in the West Tallahatchie School District, something he worked with his superintendent to create after researching mentorship as a Teach Plus Mississippi policy fellow.
Read MoreSCOTUS to Take Up Trump Colorado Ballot Case
The Supreme Court on Friday announced it would hear former President Donald Trump’s appeal of a Colorado Supreme Court decision to disqualify him from the ballot under the 14th Amendment.
Read MoreWayne LaPierre Resigns as Leader of NRA
The head of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, will resign from his position at the end of the month, right before an upcoming civil suit that the group is involved in.
Read MoreTop Story: Trump’s Legal Team Says Prosecutors are Harassing Ex-President to Help Biden
Top Commentary: Politicized, Progressive Big Philanthropy
Trump’s Legal Team Says Prosecutors are Harassing Ex-President to Help Biden
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team alleged Thursday that federal prosecutors have deliberately violated a stay order in his Washington D.C. case to thwart his presidential bid.
In the defense’s clearest attack yet, they alleged special counsel Jack Smith and his team were trying to interfere with the 2024 presidential election.
Read MoreDOJ Sues Texas to Prevent State from Arresting Migrants Who Enter Illegally
The Biden administration is suing Texas to prevent the state from arresting migrants who flout U.S. immigration law to enter the state illegally, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday.
The DOJ is making good on its threat to sue Texas over enforcing S.B. 4, a new law signed in December 2023 that would permit local and state authorities to arrest and prosecute individuals suspected of entering the U.S. illegally, according to the DOJ and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Texas Illegal immigration has surged to record levels under the Biden administration, with Texas seeing a massive influx of migrants arriving at its border with Mexico.
Read MoreTSNN Featured: Arizona Lawmakers, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne Push Back of Gov. Hobbs’ ‘Half Cocked Attempt to Destroy’ the ESA Program
Natalie Winters of Bannon’s ‘War Room’ Launches Women’s Clothing Line
Natalie Winters, an on-air personality with Steve Bannon’s “War Room,” announced that she has launched a line of women’s clothing.
She’s So Right, launched earlier this week by the 22-year-old Winters, is inspired in part by the young founder’s disdain for the Chinese Communist Party and its stranglehold on the American economy.
Read MorePolice Officers Shot on the Job in 2023 Hit New High, Report Says
A new report shows the number of police officers shot on the job hit a new high in 2023.
The National Fraternal Order of Police, a national police group with nearly 400,000 members, released the report, which showed 378 officers were shot in the line of duty in 2023, up 14% from the previous year, when 330 were shot.
Read MoreCommentary: Politicized, Progressive Big Philanthropy
Steve Miller’s December 12 RealClearInvestigations article, “How Tax-Exempt Nonprofits Skirt U.S. Law to Turn Out the Democrat Base in Elections,” is both jarring and informative and helps frame many important questions facing philanthropy, conservatism, and conservative philanthropy.
Miller describes the general size and scope of activities being conducted a progressive nonprofit infrastructure that has “taken on an outsized part of the Democratic Party’s election strategy” and, specifically, how they “work around legal restrictions on nonprofits that accept tax-deductible donations by selectively engaging in nonpartisan efforts including boosting voter education and participation.”
Read MoreYoungkinWatch: Governor’s Approval Rating Remains Positive Despite November Election Defeats
Polling released on Thursday revealed the majority of Virginia voters continue to approve of Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) despite Republicans failing to hold the House of Delegates or capture the Virginia Senate last November.
The Mason-Dixon poll found 58 percent of Virginia voters approve of Youngkin’s job performance as governor, compared to 37 percent who disapprove. Just 5 percent of respondents said they are not sure about their opinion of Youngkin.
Read MoreNikki Haley Says New Hampshire Will ‘Correct’ Iowa Caucus Results as She Trails Trump in Polls
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said during an event Wednesday that New Hampshire voters will “get it right” and that they will “correct” the results of the upcoming Iowa caucuses.
The former governor of South Carolina is currently polling at 24.8% in New Hampshire and 16% in Iowa, trailing frontrunner Donald Trump, who is leading in both states at 46% and 51% respectively, according to RealClearPolitics. Haley was at a campaign stop in New Hampshire less than two weeks out from the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15 and told the audience that “they have an opportunity to get this right,” according to a video from The Citizen.
Read MoreFederal Judge Says West Point Can Continue Using Race in Admissions
A federal judge allowed the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Wednesday to continue considering race as a factor in its admissions process.
Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), the same group whose lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina prompted the Supreme Court to overturn affirmative action in June, sued West Point in September. U.S. District Judge Philip Halpern, a Trump appointee, declined to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the military school’s use of race, noting in his 27-page ruling that it is currently “mid-admissions cycle.”
Read MoreSEC Rules Tech Company Can’t Block Free Speech Resolution
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declined on Tuesday Apple’s request to block votes for a “free speech” shareholder resolution.
The resolution, submitted by the American Family Association (AFA), would have Apple investigate how it curates content and issue a report to address concerns that company policies enable restricting speech based on viewpoint. The SEC shot down Apple’s bid to exclude the resolution from the ballot at its upcoming 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, ensuring a vote on the resolution in the spring, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
Read MoreCommentary: Claudine Gay’s Resignation Is Not the End of the University of Harvard’s Dilemma
Harvard may assume the forced resignation of its president, Claudine Gay, has finally ended its month-long scandal over her tenure.
Gay stepped down, remember, amid serious allegations of serial plagiarism—without refuting the charges. She proved either unable or unwilling to discipline those on her campus who were defiantly anti-Semitic in speech and action.
Read MorePressure Grows in Congress to Determine If Bidens Got Defensive Intel Briefing on China Deal
The FBI conducted FISA surveillance on one of Hunter Biden’s Chinese business partners while other federal prosecutors secured evidence that a second Chinese associate of the first family was present when foreign bribery payments were made. And a major bank reported to the U.S. Treasury Department that in 2017 a $5 million loan the Bidens got from a Chinese energy company smacked of a Beijing influence operation targeting Joe Biden before he was president.
A fast-growing body of evidence from bank transactions to court transcripts is putting pressure on Congress to resolve an important question: Did Joe Biden or any of his family members get a defensive briefing from U.S. intelligence that some of their foreign business partners had unsavory ties or were engaged in criminal behavior?
Read More‘Multiple Gunshot Victims’ at Iowa High School, Campus in ‘No Further Danger,’ Police Say
Police confirmed Thursday that an active shooter Thursday left “multiple gunshot victims” at Perry High School in Iowa.
Read MoreTop Story: Border Residents to Congress: ‘Stop Holding Press Conferences, Shut Down the Border’
Top Commentary: The FBI-Tainted Whitmer ‘Kidnap Plot’ People Have Heard Next to Nothing About
Border Residents to Congress: ‘Stop Holding Press Conferences, Shut Down the Border’
As another Republican congressional delegation arrived in Eagle Pass, Texas, Wednesday to hold another news conference and meet local residents, many Texans living at the border say they are fed up and want Congress to shut down the border.
If Congress continues to use taxpayer dollars to fund policies that facilitate the border crisis, they argue, Congress is complicit in creating it and a national security threat.
Read MoreFeds Hide Anti-White Discrimination Complaints, Names of Policy Architects from FOIA Suits
How many anti-white discrimination complaints have been leveled by employees against the federal watchdog for workplace discrimination? Who is shaping federal policy on “indigenous knowledge” and its implications for scientific research?
The public apparently won’t get those answers unless a judge says so.
Read MoreMedia and Left-Wing Activists Ignore Claudine Gay’s Plagiarism of Carol Swain, Say Harvard President’s Ousting Is About Racism
In the wake of Harvard University’s firing of former President Claudine Gay, the mainstream news media and far-left online activists reacted by accusing their political opponents of racism, despite the fact that Gay’s ouster was preceded by public anti-semitism and plagiarism of political scientist Dr. Carol Swain.
“Harvard president’s resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism,” said a headline from Associated Press.
Read MoreTSNN Featured: Mark Meadows Hires New Lawyers, Asks Appeals Court for Second Hearing to Move Georgia Election Case to Federal Court
Federal Appeals Court Blocks Biden Admin Bid to Require ER Doctors to Perform Abortions
A federal appeals court on Tuesday sided with a coalition of Christian medical professionals who had objected to guidance from the Biden administration requiring that emergency room doctors perform abortions.
The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, as well as the state of Texas, had challenged the Department of Health and Human Services guidance and secured an initial win at the lower court, blocking the guidance.
Read MoreCommentary: The FBI-Tainted Whitmer ‘Kidnap Plot’ People Have Heard Next to Nothing About
In a fiery exchange last month, CNN anchorwoman Abby Phillip told GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that there was “no evidence” to support his claim that federal agents abetted protesters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Ramaswamy shot back that the FBI conspicuously has never denied that law enforcement agents were on duty in the crowd. He argued that federal officials have repeatedly “lied” to the American people about not only that investigation but one that has gotten much less attention: the alleged failed plot to kidnap and kill Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan in 2020.
Read MoreYoungkinWatch: Lawmakers Reportedly Receptive to Plan for Move of Wizards, Capitals to Virginia
A number of Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Virginia have expressed support for the effort by Governor Glenn Youngkin and Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson to bring the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals to Virginia, though one high profile senator has ruled out the possibility without significant action.
The plan to relocate the professional sports teams was announced on December 15, 2023, when Youngkin said it would require $1.35 billion in public dollars, making it the “largest-ever public subsidy for a project of its kind,” according to The Washington Post.
Read More