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Federal Grand Jury Probe Targets Newsom Travel Foundation
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of California issued subpoenas for a criminal investigation into funding of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s international travel. The requests cover six years of records from the California State Protocol Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that pays overseas trip costs with private donations. Investigators also sought communications with Newsom, travel aide Rebecca Prowda, and foundation donors. Since 2019, Newsom has directed more than $7.5 million to the group. His office called the inquiry political payback and denied wrongdoing. The foundation said it has served Republican and Democrat governors. Records will go to a grand jury. No charges have been filed.
The San Francisco Standard, The Post Millennial
🏛️ News & Politics
Senate Tests Crypto Clarity Act as Democrats Hold Out on Ethics
The Senate is moving toward a Sept. 15 cloture vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which would split federal crypto oversight between regulators. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) released updated text Thursday and said it includes more than 100 changes Democrats requested. The bill already bars the president and officials from issuing or sponsoring crypto. Democrats want tighter limits on the Trump family’s existing holdings. President Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in 2025 crypto income held in a blind account. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) called the measure a bad bill. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged senators to proceed. The House passed a version 294-134 in July 2025.
DHS Says ICE Arrested 2,150 Known or Suspected Terrorists Since 2025
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE arrested 2,150 known or suspected terrorists inside the United States between Jan. 20, 2025, and Sept. 9, 2026, and deported 2,015. He spoke at a 9/11 anniversary event at DHS headquarters and said they were not merely watch-list names, but people let into the country. Cases cited include Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, charged in a plot against a White House UFC event after overstaying a 2001 visa and later receiving DACA, and Felipe Linares De Oliveira Dell Aquilla, described as a former commander of two designated Brazilian terrorist groups. An Afghan woman was removed through the Alien Terrorist Removal Court. Mullin said more than 3 million illegal immigrants have left the country under President Trump.
San Francisco Judge Blocks FEMA Staff Cut Ordered by DHS
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee in San Francisco, ruled Friday that the Department of Homeland Security unlawfully took FEMA’s personnel authority and steered a plan to cut staffing from about 23,000 to roughly 11,383. She said the target looked as if it were pulled from thin air and cited a post-Katrina law barring DHS from substantially reducing FEMA’s functions. Unions led by the American Federation of Government Employees sued over the nonrenewal of CORE disaster contracts. Illston also faulted officials for deleting Signal chats. The order set no remedy. Parties must confer and file by Oct. 9. The administration has said the president may run the executive branch and that FEMA is overdue for an overhaul.
Editor’s Note: Notice this judge—and all like her—was deafeningly silent when Clinton, Obama, and Biden filled the federal government’s ranks to the bloated level.
Steak ’n Shake Endorses Husted as MAHA Champion Against Brown
Steak ’n Shake endorsed US Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat, saying he champions the Make America Healthy Again movement to clean up the food supply and lower consumer costs. The chain said former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) backed federal spending that fueled inflation and grocery prices. It called Husted the only candidate fighting to make Ohio healthy, safe, and affordable. An August Fox News poll of registered Ohio voters had Brown at 53 percent and Husted at 45 percent. Husted posted a video from the Dallas midterm convention on food-ingredient transparency.
Ex-CIA Officer With $40 Million in Gold Nears Plea Deal
Former CIA officer David Rush and federal prosecutors have a plea agreement in principle, a joint court filing said Friday. They asked a judge for 21 more days, until Oct. 8, to finish paperwork and avoid an indictment. Rush, 49, was arrested in May after agents seized 303 gold bars worth about $40 million, $2 million in cash and 35 luxury watches at his Ashburn, Virginia, home. He is charged with one count of theft of public money for claiming Navy leave pay after a 2015 discharge. The FBI said he requested the gold for “work-related expenses.” He remains detained as a flight risk. Plea terms were not disclosed.
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📢 The American Fifth Column
Jackson Arrest Follows Homicide Ruling After Lawmakers Called Fortune Death a Lynching
Jackson police arrested Jarques Ratliff, 51, a Black man, on Friday in the hanging death of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old mother of four found Aug. 3 behind an abandoned home. The state medical examiner classified the death as a homicide Thursday night. Chief RaShall Brackney said Ratliff had an association with Fortune, more arrests are expected, and the motive was not released. Fortune’s mother thanked police and said she did not know the suspect. US Reps. Ayanna Pressley (DS-MA) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DS-NY) had already listed Fortune’s case among “modern-day lynchings” and demanded a federal hate-crime probe. Ratliff is Black. He is charged with murder.
Mullin Says Omar Married Her Brother as DHS Probe Continues
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Thursday that Rep. Ilhan Omar married her brother to try to bring him into the United States. Speaking at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, he called the matter an ongoing investigation and said the former husband now lives in London. Mullin said lying on an immigration application has no expiration and that proven fraud could lead to deportation. He said any case would rest on lawbreaking, not politics. Omar has denied the allegation and became a naturalized citizen in 2000. A department spokesman later said DHS does not comment on ongoing investigations and that no one is above the law.
Failure Harris Calls GOP Map Changes Cheating as Candidates Keep Her Off the Trail
Former Vice President Kamala Harris told Megan Rapinoe that Republicans are “cheating” by redrawing districts and tightening voting rules and that midterms occupy her work full time. She wants Democrats to take the House and Senate to “stop the madness.” New York’s Democrat-centric mid-decade map fight is part of the redistricting scramble she cited. Several Democrats running in competitive races have declined her help. Wisconsin’s Rebecca Cooke said she does not need Harris in her district. Kansas Senate nominee Adam Hamilton called a California Democrat campaigning there a bad idea. Iowa’s Rob Sand and Senate candidate Josh Turek also said no. The RNC called voter ID and proof of citizenship common sense.
Holdout Juror Background Report Draws Witch Hunt Claims
NBC10 Boston published court records and family interviews about the lone holdout in the Lindsay Clancy trial, including a dismissed 2021 assault allegation, a nephew’s restraining order and an eviction case. The juror’s name remains sealed. Fellow jurors identified him as a Black man in his 30s after an 11-1 deadlock on an insanity verdict and a mistrial. Critics called the reporting a witch hunt and said public records plus location details amount to doxxing. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said the station smeared a juror whose identity should be protected and offered Florida “asylum” if he is harassed. A judge sealed the jury list for 14 days.
Editor’s Note: One would think this type of “media doxing” would be illegal…
Fugitive Ex-Commissioner Faces Federal Wire Fraud Over PPP Loan
Former Clackamas County Commissioner Melissa Fireside (D) was charged in a federal indictment with two counts of wire fraud over pandemic-era loan applications. Prosecutors say she used her mother’s identity in 2020 and 2021, submitted fictitious tax forms and bank statements, and obtained $290,795 from the Paycheck Protection Program. The money went to an account in her mother’s name that Fireside controlled. An earlier 2020 request for $150,000 was denied. Oregon already charged her with 19 felonies. Authorities say she fled with her son before a 2025 theft trial and booked a flight from Mexico to Amsterdam on an Austrian passport. She took office in January 2025, was indicted a month later, and resigned in March.
ON THIS DAY IN 1857:
Known as the “Ship of Gold,” the steamship sank in a hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas, carrying over 400 passengers and 30,000 pounds of California Gold Rush gold. The loss caused panic on Wall Street, triggering the Financial Panic of 1857.
🌐 International
Putin Says European Troops in Ukraine Would Mean War With Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters Friday at the BRICS summit in New Delhi that talk of sending European troops onto Ukrainian territory “means a war with Russia.” He said Moscow does not threaten Europe and called the danger imaginary. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said the line had been delivered clearly to Europeans. French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that 26 countries had pledged support for a postwar reassurance force. No such deployment has occurred. Russia has long called Western troops on Ukrainian soil a red line and legitimate targets. Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes killed civilians on Saturday.
Saudis Urge U.S. Strikes as Houthis Seize Red Sea Chokepoint
Iran-backed Houthis seized Mocha, Dhubab and Mayyun Island, tightening control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged President Trump to use military force. A source said Trump offered intelligence and targeting help but declined direct U.S. strikes for now. Adm. Brad Cooper traveled to Saudi Arabia for coordination. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told an audience in New Delhi that Tehran would not surrender to U.S. pressure and had stood against the United States and Israel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for dialogue as traffic at Hormuz remains disrupted.
Editor’s Note: It looks like Trump is trying to force the Islamic world to deal with its petulant child neighbor, Iran. Good. It’s about time the Middle East, led by the Saudis, dealt with these cretins.
Peru Joins U.S. Shield of the Americas After Rubio Visit
President Keiko Fujimori said Thursday that Peru will join the U.S.-led Shield of the Americas, also called the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition. She announced the move with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Lima after talks on transnational crime. Fujimori said Peru has faced terrorism and needs faster intelligence and firmer action. Rubio called the pact a shield against criminal bands that outgun national militaries and threaten sovereignty. The coalition, launched in March, already includes more than a dozen countries. Officials also discussed El Niño aid and a 2027 visit by the hospital ship Comfort. Fujimori said Peruvian sovereignty remains intact.
Israel Levels Iran-Funded Hezbollah Fortress Under Ali al-Taher Ridge
The Israeli military demolished a Hezbollah tunnel complex under the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon on Thursday. Officials said Iran financed and planned the site for more than two decades. The network stretched more than a mile and held Iranian-made rockets, missiles, drones, anti-tank weapons, and hundreds of mines, plus a Badr unit command center. The blast registered as a magnitude 4.1 seismic event. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said it was meant as a staging base toward the Galilee. The IDF said it used about 1,100 tons of explosives after taking the ridge. About 50 fighters were trapped inside. Israel said it will remain in the security zone.
Sweden Ties Sharp Crime Drop to Deporting Foreign Gang Offenders
Sweden’s police report far fewer shootings and bombings than at the 2022 peak as voters head to the polls Sunday. First-half 2026 figures show 39 shootings and eight dead, compared with 205 shootings and 34 dead in the same period of 2022. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson took office pledging to expel noncitizens who commit serious crimes and cut asylum inflows to a four-decade low. Officers also cite tougher gun sentences, wiretaps, and information-sharing. May had no recorded shootings. Kristersson said headlines about a quiet month told the story. Social Democrats remain competitive.
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