Democrat Congresswoman Indicted For Using FEMA Funds To Bankroll Her Campaign
Voters so far have been undeterred by her alleged crimes; the House Ethics Committee began investigating her in 2023.Voters so far have been undeterred by her alleged crimes; the House Ethics Committee began investigating her in 2023.Newsom’s Ex-Chief Of Staff Indicted For Fraud Scheme Stealing Campaign Funds With Biden Official
Dana Williamson and others allegedly conspired to steal around $225,000 from Xavier Becerra’s dormant political campaign funds.The game was fixed long before the bets were legal
The integrity of sports is in trouble again, or so the headlines say. The FBI last week arrested more than 30 people in a wide-ranging gambling probe that ensnared Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
A former Cleveland Cavaliers player, Damon Jones, was also charged in two separate cases — one involving sports betting improprieties, the other tied to Billups’ alleged participation in an illegal poker ring linked to the mafia.
Cheating is illegal. Addiction is tragic. But gambling itself isn’t a sin against the republic.
Given the timing — amid public debate over legalized sports wagering since 2018 — the FBI’s sweep might look like vindication for critics of betting. It isn’t.
Millionaires behaving badly
When federal agents arrest millionaire athletes and coaches for gambling crimes, it raises an obvious question: Is legalized sports betting really to blame?
Rozier’s salary cap for the 2025-26 season is $26.6 million. His career earnings total more than $160 million. Billups made $4.7 million during the 2024-25 NBA season. Disgraced Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, 25, had earned $2.7 million before his ban for sharing medical information to steer bets.
When people earn sums that most Americans can’t even imagine, they often invent new ways to ruin themselves. The average NBA salary in 1991 was $800,000; today it’s more than $8 million. As David Cone of Crain and Company observed, “Even if you’re just on a roster, you make more than doctors make. There’s no excuse.”
There really isn’t. This scandal is less about gambling and more about human nature — about greed, self-destruction, and the moral rot that wealth alone can’t fix. The Supreme Court’s decision to legalize small wagers didn’t make multimillionaires betray their sport for a few illegal dollars. They did that on their own.
The moral lesson that hasn’t changed
When infielder Fred McMullin went down in the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal, he earned $3,500 a year — roughly $67,000 in today’s money. Those players were underpaid and easily tempted. No one can say that about professional athletes or coaches today.
Legalized betting didn’t create this corruption, and FBI Director Kash Patel said as much during an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News.
Critics overplay their hand
A video clip from ESPN’s “Get Up” made the rounds this week after producers hastily removed an on-screen ad for ESPN Bet during coverage of the scandal. The network’s discomfort spurred an online feeding frenzy from the right’s new morality police, who pounced on the moment as proof of hypocrisy.
Saagar Enjeti circled the ad and captioned it, “Spot the problem.” But the real problem isn’t the ad; it’s addiction and bad character. Billups apparently got hooked on poker. Rozier and Jones broke the law and got caught in an era when every transaction and text leaves a trail.
Enjeti calls this “uncontrolled.” Tell that to the players facing federal indictments. Gambling today is more visible, traceable, and regulated than ever before. The temptation hasn’t changed — the surveillance has.
RELATED: The myth of the online gambling ‘epidemic’
Americans were always betting
Critics say the explosion of legal sportsbooks has opened new avenues for corruption. Maybe. But it has also pulled a massive shadow economy into the light. Americans didn’t wait for the Supreme Court’s permission to wager; by 2015, they were already betting an estimated $150 billion a year on illegal offshore sites.
Yes, the sector’s growth has been explosive. And yes, it’s unsettling to see leagues, networks, and sportsbooks growing so intertwined. But that doesn’t make moral crusaders the saviors of integrity.
The real vice
Take Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who reportedly won $1.4 million playing blackjack in Las Vegas last year — less than 1% of his net worth. Critics didn’t call that a moral crisis.
The point is simple: People should be free to spend their discretionary income as they choose. Cheating is illegal. Addiction is tragic. But gambling itself isn’t a sin against the republic.
The latest pro sports scandal offers a moral lesson, but not the one the prohibitionists want to hear. Legalized betting didn’t corrupt sports — people did. And no law can outlaw greed.
John Bolton Indicted On 18 Counts For Mishandling Classified Information
Bolton abused his position as national security advisor by sharing and retaining top secret classified information, the indictment alleges.Letitia ‘No One Is Above The Law’ James Indicted For Mortgage Fraud
A Virginia grand jury indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, according to reports. A jury of her peers in the Eastern District of Virginia made the decision to indicte James, and while the details of James’ indictment were not immediately available, Reuters reported James was indicted for bank fraud, citing a source […]Comey pleads not guilty
Former FBI Director James Comey pled not guilty at his arraignment on Wednesday.
He faces federal charges from the Department of Justice for obstructing a congressional proceeding and making false statements. The charges are related to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on 30, 2020, where he addressed the FBI's role in the Russia collusion investigation related to the 2016 election.
'No one is above the law.'
Comey was indicted on September 25 of this year. The indictment alleges that Comey lied about his role in authorizing FBI contacts to serve as anonymous media sources during the investigation and that he deliberately withheld information about the investigation from the Judiciary Committee. The case is scheduled to go to trial in January.
"No one is above the law. Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case," Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X following the announcement of Comey's indictment.
Comey has denied the accusations and said that he looks forward to a trial. His legal team also claimed the indictment amounts to vindictive persecution and that they plan to request a dismissal, according to the AP.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to Comey as a "dirty cop" as well as a "slimeball."
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'Ultimate hypocrisy': Murkowski, now whining about Comey indictment, sang a different tune when Dems went after Trump
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats on Monday in complaining about ex-FBI Director James Comey's Sept. 25 indictment by a grand jury, suggesting that the White House may have applied undue influence on the Justice Department.
Murkowski's concern comes across as insincere in light of how she responded in 2023 to President Donald Trump's indictment over his handling of classified documents — an indictment made possible with the help of the Biden White House.
When asked about the senator's response, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Blaze News, "The Trump administration will continue to deliver the truth to the American people and restore integrity to our justice system. It is the ultimate hypocrisy to accuse President Trump of what Joe Biden actively did throughout his presidency: engaging in lawfare against his political opponents."
"The indictment against Comey, by a grand jury, speaks for itself, and the Trump administration looks forward to fair proceedings in the courts," added Jackson.
Quick background
Comey was indicted on Sept. 25 on charges of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.
'The charges in this case are quite serious and cannot be casually dismissed.'
Comey made the alleged false testimony to Congress on two occasions. However, owing to the relevant five-year statute of limitations, the second instance, in 2020, is at issue.
During a Senate hearing in 2017, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked Comey whether he had "ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation." Comey responded, "No."
During a Senate hearing in 2020, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) referenced Grassley's question, cited contradictory testimony provided by ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, then prompted Comey to respond. Comey said, "I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017."
"No one is above the law," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement regarding Comey's indictment. "Today's indictment reflects this Department of Justice's commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people. We will follow the facts in this case."
Claiming innocence, Comey said in response to the indictment, "Let's have a trial."
"JUSTICE IN AMERICA! One of the worst human beings this Country has ever been exposed to is James Comey," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "He has been so bad for our Country, for so long, and is now at the beginning of being held responsible for his crimes against our Nation."
Murkowski's response, this time
Democrats such as Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.) and Adam Schiff (Calif.) weren't not the only lawmakers who previously pretended the indictment of President Donald Trump was not political but that Comey's is.
Murkowski, among the seven Republican senators who voted unsuccessfully in 2021 to convict the president on impeachment charges of "incitement of insurrection," joined in, stating on Monday that "the Department of Justice has long been insulated from presidential administrations to protect public trust in the rule of law. But that independence is called into question when overt political pressure from the White House leads to unusual personnel changes and criminal charges filed just days after the president calls for them."
"Former FBI Director James Comey, like any American, is entitled to the presumption of innocence and a fair trial. As the legal process moves forward, I expect the DOJ to act in accordance with the Constitution and federal law, and to demonstrate that this case is being handled free from political interference," continued Murkowski. "If Americans come to believe that federal prosecutions are driven by politics rather than facts and evidence, the damage will be difficult to undo."
Murkowski's response, last time
Murkowski alternatively appeared receptive in 2023 to the 37-count indictment brought against President Donald Trump in the classified documents case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, whom a judge later determined had been unlawfully appointed by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Murkowski said of the indictment brought in June 2023 by Smith, "No one is above the law but every American is innocent until proven guilty. Still, the charges in this case are quite serious and cannot be casually dismissed."
"Mishandling classified documents is a federal crime because it can expose national secrets, as well as the sources and methods they were obtained through," continued the Alaska politician. "The unlawful retention and obstruction of justice related to classified documents are also criminal matters. Anyone found guilty — whether an analyst, a former president, or another elected or appointed official — should face the same set of consequences."
RELATED: 'Shut it down': Newly released FBI doc reveals who apparently killed probes into Clinton Foundation
In addition to emphasizing the gravity of the charges against Trump and suggesting they could not "be casually dismissed" — which she did not do in the case of Comey's indictment — Murkowski refrained from raising alarm about the role that the Biden White House played in the criminal probe into Trump's handling of classified documents.
For instance, a year earlier, Just the News detailed government documents showing that after Trump voluntarily returned 15 boxes of classified information and other materials to the National Archives and Records Administration in January 2022, then-White House deputy counsel Jonathan Su engaged in discussions with the Biden DOJ, the FBI, and NARA.
Su reportedly set the stage for the DOJ to get a grand jury to issue Trump a subpoena by indicating Biden would not object to waiving Trump's claims to executive privilege.
Then-acting National Archivist Debra Steidel Wall acknowledged the Biden White House's involvement in a May 10, 2022, letter to Trump's lawyers.
"The counsel to the president has informed me that, in light of the particular circumstances presented here, President Biden defers to my determination, in consultation with the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, regarding whether or not I should uphold the former president's purported 'protective assertion of executive privilege,'" wrote Wall. "I have therefore decided not to honor the former president's 'protective' claim of privilege."
While the probe leading to the indictment was clearly facilitated by the Biden White House, Murkowksi did not complain of "political interference."
She also did not appear overly concerned about political interference when Jack Smith brought another indictment against Trump in August 2023 — lawfare of the kind sources told the New York Times Biden had said he wanted to see executed by his DOJ.
Blaze News has reached out to Murkowski for comment.
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Look At NYT Coverage Of Comey, Trump Indictments To See How The Propaganda Machine Operates
When Trump was indicted and had the full weight of the weaponized justice system thrown at him, the Times hailed it as necessary to preserve the rule of law. When Comey is indicted, however, suddenly it's the entire justice system itself that is at threat.Today's top stories
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