'Hypocrisy is palpable': Former Trump lawyer blows up liberals' gaslighting about Antifa crackdown



Democrats, deep-staters, and the legacy media gleefully cheered on the Biden administration as it confronted imagined far-right terrorism here in America and brought the weight of the government down on supposed extremist groups, including peaceful pro-life protesters and traditional Catholics.

At the time, lawmakers such as then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) demanded a more liberal application of foreign terrorist designations, while Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and other Democrats championed legislation that would define domestic terrorism as a crime.

Now that Democrats are no longer in control of the White House or Congress, the left is far more circumspect about beefing up the government's ability to identify and act against domestic terrorist groups.

Fresh off designating Antifa as a terrorist organization, President Donald Trump issued a national security memorandum on Thursday establishing a strategy to "investigate, disrupt, and dismantle all stages of organized political violence and domestic terrorism."

Citing the deadly attacks on U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the deadly Black Lives Matter riots, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and the two known attempts on his own life, Trump stressed that "this political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically."

'"Instead, it is a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society," Trump noted in the memo. "A new law enforcement strategy that investigates all participants in these criminal and terroristic conspiracies — including the organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources, and predicate actions behind them — is required."

RELATED: The Zizians’ violent spiral: A trans group tied to killings across America

Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Trump's memo sets the stage for the relevant authorities not only to go after those who are recruiting, grooming, and funding would-be terrorists but to revoke tax-exempt status for NGOs linked to domestic terrorism and to designate qualifying groups as "domestic terrorist organizations."

Liberals of various stripes have concern-mongered about the president's memorandum.

For instance, Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow at the libertarian CATO Institute, suggested that Trump's memo made former President Harry Truman's Executive Order 9853 — an order designed to root out communists and Soviet sympathizers in the federal workforce during the Cold War — "look tame by comparison."

Pulling a similar thread, Douglas Charles, a history professor at Penn State Greater Allegheny, insinuated to the Los Angeles Times that this initiative might be a "McCarthyism redux."

The NGO Human Rights First claimed that the president's strategy "presents a serious threat to our core freedoms."

Uzra Zeya, CEO of Human Rights First, suggested further that the Trump administration was using the "scourge of political violence as a pretext to seek to silence voices it sees at odds with its political agenda."

'This is a shameful and dangerous move.'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office claimed within hours of the order's signing on Thursday, "Trump is waging a crusade of retribution — abusing the federal government as a weapon of personal revenge. Today it's his enemies. Tomorrow it may be you."

Hina Shamsi, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Security Project, characterized the initiative as an attempt to intimidate Trump's critics.

"After one of the most harrowing weeks for our First Amendment rights, the President is invoking political violence, which we all condemn, as an excuse to target non-profits and activists with the false and stigmatizing label of 'domestic terrorism,'" Shamsi said. "This is a shameful and dangerous move. But the president cannot rewrite the Constitution by memo."

The White House has suggested that such critics are effectively political hacks engaged in another gaslighting campaign.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Blaze News, "Left-wing organizations have fueled violent riots, organized attacks against law enforcement officers, coordinated illegal doxxing campaigns, arranged drop points for weapons and riot materials, and more."

'The fact of the matter is that there is a concerted effort, by enemies of the United States both foreign and domestic, to destabilize our country.'

"The Trump qdministration will get to the bottom of this vast network inciting violence in American communities, and the president’s executive order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization is just the beginning," Jackson continued. "Anyone attempting to downplay left-wing political violence or point the finger at Republicans following the slew of left-wing violent attacks are not credible at all; they're simply partisan actors ignoring reality."

John Eastman, a former Trump lawyer and the founding director of the Claremont Institute's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, emphasized the timeliness and importance of the president's counterterrorism initiative, calling it "a much-needed and perfectly legal response to the recent spate of domestic political violence and, as importantly, the coordinated conspiracy that funds and incites it."

RELATED: DOJ preparing probes into Soros' Open Society Foundations following bombshell exposé by Ryan Mauro, Glenn Beck

AMY OSBORNE/AFP via Getty Images

Eastman also rebutted Eddington's suggestion that the memo was reminiscent of Truman's executive order.

"There is nothing in it remotely comparable to President Truman’s 'loyalty oath' executive order, because it says nothing about federal employees (unless, of course, they are part of a conspiracy to commit violence against the United States and its citizens)," Eastman told Blaze News.

"As for those who are screaming that this violates core constitutional protections such as those in the First Amendment, inciting violence and funding violence are no part of the speech protected by the First Amendment," Eastman continued. "And the hypocrisy is palpable, coming as these complaints do from the 'silence is violence' crowd. Trump's memo targets actual violence, and those who object that it is too broad are playing semantics."

"The fact of the matter is that there is a concerted effort, by enemies of the United States both foreign and domestic, to destabilize our country. Not only is the President's memo a welcome recognition of the stakes that is well within his authority, it is also in furtherance of his solemn duty to protect the United States, its Constitution, and its citizens," Eastman added.

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America is now playing by Corkins’ rules — unless we stop it



Floyd Lee Corkins. That name should ring louder than it does.

In 2012, Corkins stormed into the Family Research Council’s Washington, D.C., offices armed and intent on mass murder. A security guard stopped him before he could carry out a massacre. He became the first person convicted of domestic terrorism in the District of Columbia.

Corkins came once. His successors will come again. ... The question is what we’re prepared to do about it.

Yet you probably don’t recall him right away. Why not? Probably because the propaganda leaflets against Chick-fil-A and Christians found in his car tied back to groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center — and the press played down the obvious connection. They helped bury what Corkins meant to announce in blood: that political rhetoric backed by violence was the new normal.

I’ve long warned that when legitimate authorities fail to punish evil, someone eventually decides to take matters into his own hands. Corkins is the left’s demonic version of that. His case teaches a simple lesson: If you’re going to call conservatives Hitler, sooner or later someone will start acting on the metaphor.

That same logic drove the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball practice, where a Bernie Sanders supporter nearly assassinated a swath of House Republicans. Rhetoric became ammunition. Talking points became bullets.

Fast-forward to 2025. The demons are autographing their shell casings. They want everyone to know exactly who wants us dead. And the corporate left-wing press winks and nods along.

Enter Jimmy Kimmel, a late-night host with fewer viewers than Glenn Beck can pull in an impromptu X Spaces session.

Kimmel should have been irrelevant years ago. But his network kept him on the air. Why? Not because he draws ratings or ad revenue — he doesn’t. He survives because of affinity advertising: the corporate and philanthropic subsidy system that props up “the right people” no matter how much red ink their shows spill. Pfizer, Disney, the Soros family — they all bankroll the propaganda they want in circulation, audience or no.

As the Joker explained while burning an enormous pile of cash, “It’s not about the money. It’s about sending a message.”

That’s why Kimmel could stand on stage and smear conservatives, even after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, and still be untouchable. His words carry the same function as Corkins’ bullets: intimidation dressed up as entertainment.

RELATED: Violence gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back

Blaze Media Illustration

The danger isn’t just one unfunny comedian. It’s the ecosystem that shields him. Advertisers and networks subsidize the message, the media excuses it, and the extremists absorb it as permission. That’s how rhetoric becomes carnage.

We face two choices. We can enforce the law, punish violent actors and those who materially enable them, and protect the marketplace of ideas. Or we can accept the Corkins rules: a culture where calling people Hitler is step one and shooting them is step two.

The notion that we can run in place like Mike Pence, emasculating ourselves for the sake of “proper tone” or one last bow to decorum, is a funeral march. Some may find comfort in that tune, but I will not bind my children’s future to it.

Corkins came once. His successors will come again. Kimmel’s sponsors and allies want you to think this is inevitable. It isn’t. The question is what we’re prepared to do about it.

How George Soros THREATENED Glenn Beck in 2009 - And Why it Matters Now More Than Ever
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How George Soros THREATENED Glenn Beck in 2009 - And Why it Matters Now More Than Ever

George Soros’ CRYPTIC threat to Glenn Beck now makes sense
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George Soros’ CRYPTIC threat to Glenn Beck now makes sense

'The counteroffensive begins': Report exposes Soros' Open Society funding of alleged pro-terror leftist groups



President Donald Trump indicated on Monday that his administration is poised to take action against violent leftist radicals and to bring racketeering charges against the liberal organizations that apparently support them.

Within hours of Trump revealing that a crackdown is imminent, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller stated on "The Charlie Kirk Show," "We are going to use every resource we have at the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle, and destroy these networks and make America safe again for the American people."

'This is something that we can win.'

A new report from the Capital Research Center might make the administration's job a little easier — at least in the way of identifying nodes in the nonprofit funding network that Democratic mega-donor George Soros has bequeathed to his son Alexander and in justifying potential action against them.

The 95-page report first obtained by Blaze Media details how George Soros' Open Society Foundations has poured tens of millions of dollars into U.S.-based organizations that are allegedly engaged in activities the FBI has defined as domestic terrorism as well as into foreign outfits allegedly linked to designated foreign terrorist organizations.

Ryan Mauro, counterterrorism expert and Capital Research Center investigative researcher, told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on "The Glenn Beck Program" on Wednesday both that the findings in the report "are shocking" and "today, the counteroffensive begins."

The Capital Research Center indicated that Open Society has awarded at least $23,275,000 to seven groups that allegedly "directly assist domestic terrorism and criminality on U.S. soil"; at least $50.57 million across 41 groups that have allegedly endorsed terrorist attacks and/or are directly linked to foreign terrorist groups or their known front groups; and nearly $10 million to five nonprofits that allegedly qualify as associates of terrorist groups or pro-terrorist groups.

Blaze News has reached out to Open Society Foundations for comment.

RELATED: Media tries to protect Antifa with tired al-Qaeda talking points

AMY OSBORNE/AFP via Getty Images

Among the seven groups identified in the report that are funded by Open Society and allegedly assist in domestic terrorism are:

Capital Research Center noted that its findings "could potentially form the justification for various accountability actions, including federal investigations and prosecutions, U.S. State Department and Treasury Department sanctions, revoking of tax-exempt statuses of Open Society and its grantees by the Internal Revenue Service, congressional investigations, and civil suits."

"If you look at the IRS code, nonprofits are not allowed to be engaging in criminal activity," Mauro told Beck, adding that they're likely not permitted to even encourage criminal activity.

Beck, who expressed amazement "that these guys have gotten away with it for so long," indicated that he would personally hand the report to President Trump.

Mauro noted further that by identifying the amounts obligated, the recipients, and some of the radical activities the recipients engaged in, all in one document, it is easier to understand "that this is an infrastructure. This is a movement. And as scary as that is, it also means it can be taken down. We can confront them, and this is something that we can win."

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Congress Must Root Out Leftist Funding That Created Climate Ripe For Kirk Assassination

Influence always costs money when the an issue is not important enough to resonate with people on its own.

Can Trump spark a seismic shift in crime-ridden blue state’s sanctuary insanity?



President Donald Trump's decisive victory in November appears to have caused a seismic shift in California's Democratic leaders' sanctuary rhetoric, clearing a path for conservative local politicians to ramp up their fight against the illegal immigration crisis.

As Americans rally behind Trump's immigration crackdown, Californians are becoming increasingly outraged by the state's existing crime surge, further worsened by sanctuary laws.

Trump and others continue to battle against those targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but Democrats like Gov. Gavin Newsom — despite his recent attempts to reinvent himself as a moderate — keep thwarting those attempts with pro-sanctuary policies.

First-of-its-kind task force

Several local leaders have seized the opportunity to right the course and address the state's illegal immigration chaos.

United States Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli announced Monday the formation of a new task force dedicated to eradicating the state's destructive sanctuary laws.

'The days of giving criminal illegal aliens a free pass are over.'

Operation Guardian Angel, a program launched May 10 alongside federal partners, aims to "neutralize California's sanctuary state policy and protect Americans from criminal illegal aliens incarcerated in county jails by issuing federal arrest warrants for them," according to a Department of Justice press release.

The task force comprises assets from multiple federal agencies, including ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Border Patrol, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

RELATED: Sheriff vows to break California's sanctuary law by alerting ICE about violent illegal aliens

California Governor Gavin Newsom. Photo by ARIANA DREHSLER/AFP via Getty Images

The press release noted that Essayli's district is home to approximately 1.5 million illegal aliens, including gang members and violent felons.

As of May 15, the program has already resulted in the arrest of 13 individuals by filing complaints and arrest warrants, allowing federal authorities to seize custody of defendants in state jails. The task force scans criminal databases every day to identify illegal aliens currently detained. An arrest warrant is then issued for those who can be transferred to DOJ custody for illegal re-entry before they are released from local jails.

Essayli slammed California's sanctuary laws for releasing "even the worst criminal aliens" back onto the street.

"These laws effectively render federal immigration detainers meaningless," he stated. "The days of giving criminal illegal aliens a free pass are over. While California may be presently disregarding detainers, it cannot ignore federal arrest warrants."

Essayli said in a statement to Fox News that the state's sanctuary laws "made it almost impossible for ICE to do their job, issue detainers, and get criminal illegal immigrants out of jails."

He declared, "We're going to flood the system with warrants for criminal illegal immigration that are in county jails, they can ignore a detainer, but they cannot ignore a criminal arrest warrant."

Essayli referred to California as the "testing ground" for the groundbreaking new program that could be implemented in other sanctuary jurisdictions.

He noted that he does not expect resistance from local authorities.

"They have no choice, they will comply. And if they don't comply, if they interfere in our ability to arrest a federal felon, they can expect to face consequences for that," Essayli added to Fox.

Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, told Blaze News that federal judges' criminal arrest warrants "cannot be ignored" and "are exempt from the sanctuary policies."

While Vaughan stated that she has not seen any indication that local politicians are shifting their stance on sanctuary policies, she highlighted efforts to arrest illegal aliens who were previously deported.

"ICE has taken steps to make it easier for California law enforcement agencies, most of whom have always supported cooperation with ICE, to transfer custody of certain illegal aliens who have been arrested that ICE is seeking to remove," she explained. "I'm sure most of the sheriffs and police chiefs will be fine with this arrangement."

When reached for comment, Essayli's office referred Blaze News to the previous statement in the press release and those provided to Fox News.

Local law enforcement digs in

Some of California's local law enforcement leaders have also led the charge against the sanctuary policies.

San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez came under fire late last year when she stated that her office would not comply with the San Diego County Board's decision to pass its own sanctuary measure, in addition to the state's existing policies.

Martinez's office previously told Blaze News that it would not be "expanding or changing anything we have been doing."

"We will continue to follow state law and maintain the way we have been operating for several years. The Board Action sought to impose restrictions well beyond those already provided for in-state law regarding how local law enforcement can work with immigration officials," the sheriff's office said.

However, Martinez's office stopped short of rejecting all sanctuary policies, instead stating that the "current state law strikes the right balance between limiting local law enforcement's cooperation with immigration authorities, ensuring public safety, and building community trust."

While Martinez's office has stood behind California's sanctuary laws, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a 2026 gubernatorial candidate, has come out in full force against the state, becoming the first and only sheriff to join Huntington Beach's lawsuit against California, Newsom, and Attorney General Robert Bonta.

In January, the city council members declared Huntington Beach a "non-sanctuary city," then later filed a lawsuit claiming the state's laws "drastically limit local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement authorities, shield illegal aliens, and threaten public safety."

Bianco told the Desert Sun, "Local law enforcement has not and does not enforce immigration law."

He argued that California's sanctuary policy "was only designed to protect criminals in jail from being deported."

RELATED: The Trump effect? Newsom pledges to veto Dem bill that would expand protections for illegal aliens

Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County. Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Vaughan told Blaze News that California sheriffs resisting local politicians' efforts to impose stricter sanctuary laws "should feel a bit safer doing this knowing that the Trump administration will support them."

'This is a battle that needs to be fought, both for supremacy of the federal government on immigration enforcement and for the sake of public safety.'

In response to the lawsuit, Bonta's office previously told Fox News Digital, "The Attorney General is committed to protecting and ensuring the rights of California's immigrant communities and upholding vital laws like SB 54, which ensure that state and local resources go toward fighting crime in California communities, not toward federal immigration enforcement."

"Our office successfully fought back against a challenge to SB 54 by the first Trump administration, and we are prepared to vigorously defend SB 54 again," the statement added.

Bianco's office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Recalls and electoral shifts

California locals' frustration with Democratic policies appeared to reach a tipping point late last year when several recall efforts successfully booted radical leftists.

In Alameda County, an area so devastated by crime that numerous businesses fled, voters removed two George Soros-backed politicians: then-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao (D) and then-Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price (D).

A similar situation played out in Los Angeles County.

After weathering failed recall efforts, former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón suffered a blistering loss in his November re-election bid.

The progressive DA was replaced by Nathan Hochman, an Independent candidate who ran on the promise to restore safety and prioritize "protecting victims' interests."

Hochman, a former Republican, shared a post on social media on May 18 stating that "the fun is over" for illegal alien criminals.

"I am standing at the border between LA County and San Bernardino County where criminals used to enjoy crossing in the LA direction, thinking that little to no consequences would occur if they stole, robbed, and engaged in criminal conduct," he wrote.

"Times have changed!" Hochman declared. "A new DA was elected. And criminals in LA County will now be prosecuted and held fully accountable for their illegal actions."

Hochman's office did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

What's next?

While it remains uncertain whether the quieted pro-sanctuary rhetoric during Trump's second term, coupled with mounting frustrations over surging crime, will ultimately eradicate sanctuary policies, it offers California's dissenting local leaders with a rare opportunity they will either seize or risk losing through inaction.

"The real test will be when the Trump administration begins imposing penalties on California, such as denying certain funding, and possibly takes legal action to challenge some of the more egregious local policies," Vaughan stated.

"This is a battle that needs to be fought, both for supremacy of the federal government on immigration enforcement and for the sake of public safety," she remarked.

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DOJ investigating after woke Minneapolis prosecutor ordered team to factor race into plea deals



The Department of Justice announced Saturday that it was opening a racial discrimination investigation into the Minneapolis-area Hennepin County Attorney's Office following its embrace of a policy that requires prosecutors to factor a criminal defendant's race into plea deal negotiations.

Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty, a leftist who has long enjoyed the support of George Soros-backed organizations including TakeAction Minnesota, recently sent a memo to prosecutors in her office titled "Negotiations Policy for Cases Involving Adult Defendants."

The memo, first reported by Lou Raguse of KARE-TV, states that "while racial identity and age are not appropriate grounds for departures [from the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines], proposed resolutions should consider the person charged as a whole person, including their racial identity and age."

"While these factors should not be controlling, they should be part of the overall analysis," continued Moriarty. "Racial disparities harm our community, lead to distrust, and have a negative impact on community safety."

Moriarty, who recently refused to charge a worker in Democratic Gov. Tim Walz's administration who allegedly vandalized multiple Teslas, added that "prosecutors should be identifying and addressing racial disparities at decision points, as appropriate."

'Lady Justice is blindfolded for a reason.'

Jill Hasday, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, told KARE that the policy "both says, 'Don't take race into account,' presumably because of the constitutional problems with taking race into account in addition to potentially political objections, but it simultaneously says this is something you should consider."

"The problem for the drafters of this policy is, once you take race into account, it doesn't really matter what else you say," continued Hasday. "The policy is going to be struck down."

The DOJ evidently took interest after the policy was brought to light and critics noted that Moriarty may be in violation of federal law 18 U.S.C. § 242, which makes it a crime for anyone — "under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom" — to willfully subject any person "to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens."

"The investigation will focus on whether the HCAO engages in the illegal consideration of race in its prosecutorial decision-making," said a May 2 letter signed by Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division.

While the DOJ will focus on the "discriminatory" policy outlined in Moriarty's memo, investigators will also review all of the HCAO's policies and practices "that may involve the illegal consideration of race in prosecutorial decision-making."

The DOJ may, for instance, take a look at Moriarty's related "collateral consequences policy," which requires prosecutors to notify a supervisor if a defendant might face "major collateral consequences" from prosecution, such as "immigration consequences" or "loss of or inability to obtain public benefits."

Dhillon noted Sunday evening, "Lady Justice is blindfolded for a reason," adding that the DOJ will "investigate and take action wherever necessary to identify government practices that may run afoul of our civil rights norms."

Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesman for the HCAO, told WCCO-TV in a statement Sunday, "We are aware of the letter from the Department of Justice posted to social media but have not received it. Our office will cooperate with any resulting investigation and we're fully confident our policy complies with the law."

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Soros-backed leftist Sheng Thao indicted in corruption probe following ouster as Oakland mayor: Report



Over 60% of voters in Oakland, California, threw their Soros-backed Democratic mayor out of office in November, having evidently agreed with the recall campaign's assertion that Sheng Thao's "incompetence and dishonesty accelerated Oakland's decline, causing long-standing businesses to close and generational families to leave."

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Thao, who has desperately played the victim and tried to blame her downfall on "radical right-wing forces," was criminally indicted on Thursday by a federal jury following a months-long FBI corruption investigation. Thao's boyfriend, Andre Jones, has similarly been indicted.

The FBI raided Thao's house in June — confiscating both her phone and Jones' phone — as well as three properties linked to members of the affluent Duong family, who the East Bay Times indicated hold the city's curbside recycling contract through their California Waste Solutions Firm.

A spokesman for the waste company told the Chronicle that California Waste Solutions "understands that it has not been charged and is confident that it has not engaged in any wrongdoing relating to Ms. Thao or anyone else."

'She has to deal with the consequences of her actions.'

The Oakland Public Ethics Commission alleged in 2020 that the owners of California Waste Solutions, including David Duong and his son, Andy Duong, had illegally laundered campaign contributions to then-Councilwoman Thao and several of her peers.

In the wake of the raid, Thao maintained that the probe was "not about" her.

While authorities will apparently detail the nature of the charges and some of their findings later on Friday, the Chronicle noted that the charges might have something to do with Evolutionary Homes, an initiative to build container homes for the homeless that involved the Duongs and Mario Juarez, an individual accused of violating the law when trying to get Thao re-elected in 2022.

The city released hundreds of documents related to the probe to the Chronicle just weeks after Thao's ouster, revealing that Evolutionary Homes hit up Oakland City Hall for $90 million to build 300 shipping container homes. Representatives for Evolutionary Homes apparently provided city officials with a list of possible funding sources from Oakland's emergency funds — possibly some federally sourced — that could be used to bankroll their costly initiative. Thao reportedly did her best to help the shipping container venture with its scheme.

Renia Webb, Thao's former chief of staff, told KGO-TV, "I was informed there was pay-to-play behavior going on, that there was corrupt behavior going on in that administration."

"I'm honestly sad about Sheng. Again, she's a mom. She's very bright and smart," continued Webb. "She just made really foolish decisions. She has to deal with the consequences of her actions."

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Biden to award highest civilian honor to George Soros, Hillary Clinton



President Joe Biden named 19 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Saturday, including former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and billionaire globalist George Soros.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor that is awarded to those who have made significant contributions to the "prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors," according to the White House press release.

"President Biden believes great leaders keep the faith, give everyone a fair shot, and put decency above all else," the press release reads.

As Biden's presidential term comes to a close, he has also commemorated former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming with the Presidential Citizens Medal on Friday.

Biden praised Clinton for having "made history many times" and Soros for his "global initiatives" that he claims "strengthen democracy, human rights, education, and social justice" around the world.

"Secretary Clinton made history many times over decades in public service, including as the first First Lady elected to the United States Senate." the press release reads. "After serving as Secretary of State, she became the first woman nominated for president by a major United States political party."

"George Soros is an investor, philanthropist, and founder of the Open Society Foundations," the press release reads. "Through his network of foundations, partners and projects in more than 120 countries, Soros has focused on global initiatives that strengthen democracy, human rights, education, and social justice."

As Biden's presidential term comes to a close, he has also commemorated former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming with the Presidential Citizens Medal on Friday. Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, sparked controversy throughout her career for voting to impeach then-President Donald Trump and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

Other recipients include actors, athletes, and advocates.

Some philanthropists include celebrity chef José Andrés, the late civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, tech founder and LGBTQ advocate Tim Gill, and billionaire co-founder David M. Rubenstein. Biden is also awarding some former politicians like the late Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, the late U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, as well as the former Michigan governor and Secretary of Housing George W. Romney.

Some figures in pop culture will also be awarded, such as five-time NBA champion Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi, scientist and television personality Bill Nye, and primate researcher Jane Goodall. Other creatives like rock musician Bono, actors Michael J. Fox and Denzel Washington, filmmaker George Stevens Jr., as well as fashion icons Ralph Lauren and Anna Wintour will receive the medal.

The awards will be presented on Saturday.

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