Fraud Is Costing Taxpayers Up To Half A Trillion Dollars A Year, And We’re Not Doing Enough To Stop It
The Trump administration has taken a series of significant steps against fraud, but so far they're mostly going it alone.The Trump administration has taken a series of significant steps against fraud, but so far they're mostly going it alone.‘FBI Does It Too’: Media Hacks Go All Out To Downplay SPLC Indictment
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche summed up the case perfectly by saying, 'The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence.'The lone Republican who could tank Trump's Fed pick
President Donald Trump's pick to overhaul the Federal Reserve has enjoyed support from the commander in chief's allies in the Senate, but one lawmaker just might shut down the nominee's confirmation.
Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve back in January after publicly feuding with current Chair Jerome Powell for failing to cut interest rates and for his multibillion-dollar renovation of the Fed building. Since then, Warsh took the first step of the confirmation process by going to Capitol Hill to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.
'Political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable.'
Warsh received glowing reviews from the seven Senate Republicans after his hearing, including from GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has butted heads with Trump in the past. Despite Tillis' endorsement of Warsh, the retiring senator drew a bold red line for the administration that could cost the confirmation.
"Kevin Warsh is a great nominee to be chairman of the Federal Reserve, and I look forward to supporting him out of committee once the DOJ drops their bogus investigation into Chairman Powell that threatens the independence of the Fed," Tillis said in a statement.
RELATED: Federal Reserve makes key decision on interest rates — and Trump won't like it
Tillis has repeatedly demanded that the administration suspend its investigation into Powell, even threatening to block nominees he supports, like Warsh. Notably, the Senate Banking Committee is composed of seven Republicans and six Democrats, meaning Tillis' vote is necessary to advance Warsh's nomination assuming the vote falls along party lines.
"The Department of Justice continues to pursue a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell based on committee testimony that no reasonable person could construe as possessing criminal intent," Tillis said following Warsh's nomination in January. "Protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable."
"My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved."
One viable "off-ramp" that has been floated by Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who chairs the committee, is to create a subcommittee to investigate and oversee the Federal Reserve's over-budget construction. This would, in effect, replace the Department of Justice's criminal probe into Powell but still allow the administration and its allies to investigate the Fed.
It's unclear whether the DOJ would drop the investigation, but Tillis expressed enthusiasm about the potential resolution.
“I not only think it’s a good off-ramp, but I also think it’s good governance,” Tillis said.
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New Records Prove Biden FBI Spying On Congress ‘Wasn’t An Isolated Incident’
If the Biden administration was defined by one thing, it was its consistent and careful targeting of Democrats’ political enemies.Flashback: Indicted SPLC Once Targeted The Federalist For Publishing An Attorney General’s Speech
The SPLC, now under indictment for fraud, once attacked The Federalist for publishing a speech given by the sitting attorney general to a civil liberties nonprofit.5 ‘Arctic Frost’ Perpetrators Chuck Grassley Is Exposing Today — Including One Still At DOJ
Sen. Chuck Grassley plans to further expose the FBI's 'Arctic Frost' plot to prosecute Trump at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.New Docs Reinforce The Newest DC District Judge Is A Legal Hack Skilled In Abusing Power
The amazingly named Sparkle Sooknanan was rewarded with judicial robes for helping violate the law and Constitution.Oath Keepers, Proud Boys feel hopeful and skeptical after Trump DOJ’s moves to end Biden-era witch hunt
The Trump administration's Department of Justice is moving to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions against several Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members who were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol.
On Tuesday, the DOJ filed unopposed motions to throw out convictions and dismiss the indictments with prejudice for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and members Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, and Jessica Watkins, as well as Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola.
'I'm excited to finally move on from January 6.'
The DOJ claimed that dismissal of the criminal cases would be "in the interests of justice."
"The government's motion to vacate in this case is consistent with its practice of moving the Supreme Court to vacate convictions in cases where the government has decided in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of a criminal case is in the interests of justice — motions that the Supreme Court routinely grants," the motions read.
Under the Biden DOJ, Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison, Meggs to 12 years, Harrelson to four years, Watkins to 8.5 years, Nordean to 18 years, Biggs to 17 years, Rehl to 15 years, and Pezzola to 10 years.
In January 2025, Trump commuted the sentences of each of the defendants. However, the president stopped short of granting a pardon, leaving the convictions on their records. Among the defendants, six are military veterans, and the continued presence of those felony convictions carries significant consequences for any VA benefits or military retirement pay for which they may previously have been eligible.
"I couldn't be happier," Rehl told Blaze News. "I'm excited to finally move on from January 6, and my family and I are looking forward to rebuilding our lives again."
Rehl thanked Trump, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, and U.S. pardon attorney Edward Martin for "making this possible!"
Carolyn Stewart, an attorney representing Meggs, stated that she is "pleased that the DOJ finally admitted there should be no further prosecution of my innocent client, Mr. Meggs — where he can go forward with his life without this shadow."
Norm Pattis, an attorney representing Biggs, expressed skepticism that the court would grant the DOJ's request but told Blaze News that he is "delighted to see the Justice Department throw in the towel," noting that it "should have done that years ago."
"I hope the courts do it, but I do think it's a head-scratching request," Pattis said, explaining that the DOJ previously poured thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of dollars into its prosecution and therefore "clearly thought that the interests of justice required that prosecution then."
"The separation of powers doctrine leaves to the executive branch decisions about whether to prosecute. Once the case is gone to judgment in the judicial branch, that branch has spoken. Suggesting that, 'Well, we've changed our mind, millions of dollars, years later, in the interest of justice,' it doesn't really promote respect for the law. It makes it look like a funhouse over there and makes you wonder who's running the shop," Pattis stated.
He noted that despite Trump's decision to commute Biggs' sentence, the military veteran lost the pension that he "earned by virtue of his Purple Heart and combat injuries that he suffered."
"We want that pension back," Pattis said. "I'm not at all counting on relief. I still think this ends up back on the president's desk for a full pardon."
RELATED: Trump pardons 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, commutes the sentences of 14
Rhodes, who also spoke with Blaze News, expressed hopefulness about the DOJ's motion to vacate, calling it "very good news," adding that it would "be a blessing to have not just our convictions overturned, but the underlying charges dismissed with prejudice."
"It would wipe our records clean," Rhodes told Blaze News. "I'm a disabled veteran. … I'm service-connected disabled from a parachuting accident when I was serving as a paratrooper in the Army, and I lost all my VA benefits, along with being a felon and losing my rights to bear arms."
Rhodes speculated that the DOJ may have requested to vacate to "avoid a potentially negative outcome on appeal that could affect their ability to use a statute in the future." He noted that seditious conspiracy is "a very legally vulnerable statute" from the Civil War era that is "overbroad and vague" and "does not provide any shelter for free speech."
"It's an ancient statute that I don't believe passes muster constitutionally, but it hasn't been directly challenged on those grounds," Rhodes said.
Rhodes stated that the DOJ may realize that the statute is "vulnerable [to] being struck down" or that it may result in the "narrowing of the scope of … conspiracy charges in general."
He also pointed to the active civil claims that Jan. 6 defendants lodged against the U.S. as a possible reason the DOJ requested that the convictions be thrown out.
"If they wind up with a bad outcome in the appellate case, with the court finding that there was prosecutorial misconduct, that there was constitutional violations, that could affect them when it comes to the civil claims too. And we can point to those findings," he said.
"There was perjury in all of our cases. We caught two cops lying red-handed in our case," Rhodes said, referring to a Blaze News investigation that revealed then-U.S. Capitol Police Officers Harry Dunn and David Lazarus had testified that they were together on Jan. 6, despite video footage showing otherwise. "That's the kind of crap that would come out in the appeal."
"I don't believe this is the DOJ being nice to us," he continued. "I'm willing to give props to the DOJ for doing the right thing, even if it's not for the right reasons."
If the court accepts the DOJ's requests, Rhodes noted that it will "definitely be fantastic for the restoration of our lives."
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Tulsi Gabbard has BAD NEWS for spook whose complaint launched Trump Ukraine-call impeachment
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released documents on Monday revealing that hearsay and erroneous claims from bad actors served as the basis for President Donald Trump's impeachment over a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy in July 2019, months before the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign began in earnest.
At least two of those bad actors now face the possibility of criminal prosecution.
'Deep state actors within the Intelligence Community concocted a false narrative that was used by Congress to usurp the will of the American people.'
An Obama holdover and CIA analyst credibly identified as Eric Ciaramella filed a complaint in August 2019 alleging Trump was "using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. elections. This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country — Ukraine — to investigate one of the President's main domestic political rivals, former Vice President Biden."
Then-Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson ultimately spun the complaint as credible and rushed it to the congressional intelligence committees despite:
- Conducting only four interviews — one with the so-called whistleblower's Russia-hoaxer friend and two character references;
- Never once accessing the transcript of the call;
- Knowing that Ciaramella — whose political bias Atkinson testified to never considering — was a registered Democrat who worked closely with Vice President Biden, traveled with Biden to Ukraine, and complained about right-wing bloggers; and
- Knowing that Ciaramella had no firsthand evidence of what was being alleged.
The complaint, likely from Ciaramella and afforded a veneer of legitimacy by Atkinson, led to the House of Representatives passing articles of impeachment against the president in December 2019.
RELATED: Trump 2019 impeachment exposed: Gabbard provides damning insights into deep-state stitch-up
Gabbard stated, "Deep state actors within the Intelligence Community concocted a false narrative that was used by Congress to usurp the will of the American people and impeach the duly-elected President of the United States."
Gabbard went beyond just exposing this frame-up this week, asking the Justice Department to investigate two former government officials.
A spokeswoman for the director confirmed to CBS News that Gabbard had drafted criminal referrals for the so-called whistleblower and a "former intelligence community watchdog" but did not specify what crimes are alleged.
The referrals reviewed by Fox News noted, however, that "the possible criminal activity concerns the circumstances described in the following congressional briefings:Discussion with Intelligence Community Inspector General, House Permanent Select Comm. on Intel., 116th Cong. (2019); Briefing by the Intelligence Community Inspector General, House Permanent Select Comm. on Intel., 116th Cong. (2019)."
Blaze News has reached out to the DOJ for comment.
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Pro-Life Advocate Wins First Amendment Victory After Being Arrested By Biden Administration
The victory 'marks a significant rebuke of the DOJ’s conduct under the Biden administration.'Today's top stories
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