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The Cold War-era “Warthog” was first deployed in combat during Operation Urgent Fury in 1983 and is now proving even more effective in Operation Epic Fury

Iran’s “ghost fleet” of illicit tankers moved 60 million barrels of crude oil worth an estimated $5 billion between the beginning of Operation Epic Fury and the start of the U.S. blockade of the Persian Gulf, according to shipping data analyzed by the United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) advocacy group, which noted that the bulk of that oil went to China.
Twenty-six of the ships UANI has monitored originated from Kharg Island, Iran’s main energy hub and the site of multiple U.S. military attacks last month. The Islamic Republic’s wartime exports generated “an estimated revenue of over $5 billion” for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which according to UANI “continues to fund Iran’s active missile and drone programs central to the conflict.”
The monetary value of the oil that the ghost fleet moved out of Iran before the blockade came into effect emphasizes the consequences of U.S. action. The United States is not allowing any Iranian oil tankers to leave or return to the Persian Gulf, and the presence of U.S. ships has dealt a significant blow to the Islamic Republic’s finances. The blockade has the potential to deprive Tehran of around $435 million per day, or about $13 billion per month, in “combined economic damage” by stopping both imports and exports. More than 90 percent of Iran’s hundred-billion-dollar yearly oil revenue comes from ships that traverse the Strait of Hormuz, a path the U.S. blockade has effectively choked off.
At least 34 Iranian ships are “anchored or loitering” around Southeast Asia, and these ships will have to face the blockade as they make their way back toward Iran, according to UANI. One Iranian ship, the Sobar, departed Malaysian waters on April 19 and is headed toward the Islamic Republic. Another ship, the Felicity, left the Gulf of Kutch between India and Pakistan on April 18 before turning off its location beacon, a tactic illicit that Iranian ships seeking to avoid detection often employ. UANI reviewed satellite imagery that showed the Felicity making its way back to the Persian Gulf as well.
“Whatever left the barn before the barn doors are closed, is gone already, right?” retired CIA senior operations officer Rick de la Torre told the Washington Free Beacon. “Those ships are headed towards their destination. I suspect they’ll do their transfers. The U.S. military looks like they’re serious about interdiction. They’re stopping these ships, so I don’t believe these ships will be headed back.”
The United States has conducted multiple operations to prevent Iran from carrying out its oil trade. The Pentagon announced early Tuesday that it carried out a “maritime interdiction” of a sanctioned ship called the Tifani in the Indian Ocean. That ship was carrying 1.8 million barrels of Iranian crude and was on course to perform a ship-to-ship transfer with “another tanker bound for China,” UANI noted. The United States interdicted another, the Majestic X, in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday evening, showing that the Pentagon is willing to confront Tehran’s armada outside of the Persian Gulf.
The Touska, an Iran-flagged container ship the United States seized over the weekend, made routine stops at a Chinese port linked to Tehran’s missile supply chain, additional data that UANI compiled show. The Touska, which the Treasury Department sanctioned in 2020, attempted to penetrate the U.S. blockade after routes that suggest it may have been used to transport arms.
Charlie Brown, a senior adviser at UANI who monitors Iran’s illicit shipping operations, said the Touska’s movements were “not routine commercial activity” but rather a “deliberate attempt to move possible contraband cargo through known logistics nodes despite heightened scrutiny and interdiction risk.”
“By routing through a Chinese port linked to Iran’s missile supply chain and then proceeding toward Southeast Asia, TOUSKA fits a broader pattern: probing for seams in enforcement, using container shipping as cover, and attempting to normalize traffic that may include war effort supporting or other prohibited materials,” Brown told the Free Beacon.
The oil trade, de la Torre said, is not only a cash cow but also a means of bolstering Tehran’s supply of arms.
“It was not uncommon that along with all shipments, would come military components, military parts, everything from conventional weapon systems to electronic warfare systems to ballistic missile technologies,” said de la Torre, who now advises companies on national security as a founding partner of Tower Strategy. “It all ties in together. The oil becomes the currency but also the vehicle for the literal transfer of weapons technologies.”
The post Iranian ‘Ghost Fleet’ Ferried $5 Billion in Oil, Primarily to China, Before US Blockade appeared first on .

Sometimes the market punishes a company for doing well, and then punishes it a little more for not doing well enough in the future. But most of us know that the market doesn’t really care about anything else that is not numbers. Many would tag it as foul play from the market, but at the end of the day, the market doesn’t care about our feelings toward is at hand.That’s roughly what has happened to RTX Corp (RTX) on April 22, 2026. The aerospace and defense giant reported a genuinely strong first quarter. Sales up, earnings up, guidance raised, and the stock fell 4.4% anyway. Investors weren’t reacting to what RTX did. They were reacting to what RTX might face in 2027, when elevated oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty could cool commercial aftermarket demand.Morgan Stanley (MS) watched that selloff and arrived at a different conclusion than the market did.MS trimmed its price target on RTX to $220 from $235. A mark-to-market adjustment, not a change of heart, while reiterating its Overweight rating and maintaining RTX as its top pick in the entire aerospace sector. The firm’s message to investors was direct.”We view the pullback as a buying opportunity,” Morgan Stanley said in its note, “as upside is underappreciated and valuation is attractive.”RTX Chairman and CEO Chris Calio set the tone heading into that debate. “RTX delivered a very strong start to 2026 with organic sales and adjusted operating profit growth across all three segments, driven by our continued focus on execution and delivering our backlog,” Calio said in the Q126 results statement. RTX’s Q1 2026 earnings beat across every segmentThe numbers RTX posted for the first quarter of 2026 were not ambiguous. According to the RTX’s April 21 earnings release:Sales of $22.1 billion, up 9% year over year and up 10% organicallyAdjusted EPS of $1.78, up 21% year over yearOperating cash flow of $1.9 billion; free cash flow of $1.3 billionCompany backlog of $271 billion, including $162 billion commercial and $109 billion defenseRTX also raised its full-year 2026 outlook. Adjusted sales guidance was lifted to $92.5 to $93.5 billion from $92.0 to $93.0 billion. Adjusted EPS guidance moved to $6.70 to $6.90, up from $6.60 to $6.80. Free cash flow guidance of $8.25 to $8.75 billion was confirmed unchanged, according to the earnings release.That’s a beat-and-raise quarter by any conventional measure. Yet RTX fell 4.4% on the day, underperforming the S&P 500’s 0.6% decline by a wide margin, according to Morgan Stanley’s note. GE Aerospace, which reported the same day, fell 5.6% under similar investor logic.Related: Morgan Stanley resets Microsoft stock forecast ahead of earningsThe market’s concern centers on 2027. Elevated oil prices stemming from the Iran war are raising questions about airline profitability, capacity discipline, and ultimately whether demand for commercial engine maintenance and aftermarket services will soften heading into next year. RTX’s guidance raise was modest relative to the strength of the beat, and management’s cautious commentary on certain aftermarket segments, particularly provisioning and modifications and upgrades, gave investors enough reason to worry.Morgan Stanley’s view is that this concern, while not irrational, is overstated and timing-related rather than structural.

Morgan Stanley trimmed its price target on RTX to $220 from $235LightRocket via Getty Images

Why Morgan Stanley’s $220 RTX target still points bullishThe price target reduction from $235 to $220 deserves context. Morgan Stanley is clear that the cut reflects a mark-to-market valuation adjustment, not a downgrade in conviction.The bank’s $220 target is derived by applying a roughly 30 times multiple to its 2027 estimated free cash flow per share. That’s in line with the average 2027 price-to-free-cash-flow multiple of large-cap commercial aerospace peers Boeing (BA) and GE Aerospace (GE), according to the firm’s note. That multiple carries a four-turn discount to GE and a four-turn premium to Northrop Grumman, reflecting RTX’s positioning between pure defense and pure commercial aerospace.More Wall StreetJPMorgan resets S&P 500 price target for the rest of 2026Vanguard challenges the S&P 500 as a one-stop strategyGoldman Sachs resets Broadcom stock forecastMorgan Stanley flags what it views as a compelling valuation argument: RTX currently trades at approximately a 24% discount to GE on a 2027 price-to-free-cash-flow basis, according to the firm. For a company Morgan Stanley describes as a “high-quality, multi-year growth story with multiple levers for upside,” that discount is the opportunity.The bank modestly raised its 2026 adjusted EPS estimate to $6.90 from $6.80, following the first-quarter results and updated company guidance. Revenue estimates for 2026 through 2028 were increased by approximately 50 basis points, and business segment operating profit was raised by roughly 80 basis points in 2026, per Morgan Stanley’s updated model.Raytheon’s defense momentum at RTX is the growth driverThe market isn’t fully pricing in on this one. While commercial aerospace dominates the near-term narrative around RTX, Morgan Stanley’s most pointed observation is about what the market is missing on the defense side.Raytheon delivered strong outperformance in the first quarter, as seen in Morgan Stanley’s note, supported by strong demand across its portfolio. MS sees clear upside potential tied to framework agreements with the Department of War, capacity expansion, and the approximately $1.5 trillion fiscal year 2027 budget request. None of which is currently embedded in RTX’s guidance.Related: Morgan Stanley resets bets on defense stocks amid warThat’s a meaningful distinction. RTX’s backlog already stands at $109 billion on the defense side alone, according to MS’s earnings release statement. As contracts tied to the DoW budget request become finalized and out-year visibility improves, Morgan Stanley expects defense momentum to become an increasingly visible earnings driver. In fact, for this one, the market isn’t yet paying for.On the commercial aerospace side, the fundamental picture remains intact despite the 2027 noise. RTX benefits from a young installed base of engines requiring consistent maintenance, repair, and overhaul activity, strong original equipment manufacturer production trends, and elevated shop visit demand from the Pratt & Whitney GTF engine fleet.RTX selloff reveals how investors view aerospace in 2026 trendsRTX’s Q1 selloff signals a broader aerospace shift. Investors are discounting the sector amid geopolitical tension, Iran-driven energy volatility, and low confidence in 2027 earnings. GE Aerospace fell more than RTX Corporation despite strong results, showing a blanket discount on commercial exposure as 2027 visibility weakens.Morgan Stanley argues this creates an entry point. RTX’s core drivers, defense demand, a young engine base, steady MRO, and a $271B backlog, remain intact. Near-term pressure from Pratt OE margins and Collins mix is manageable. At 30x 2027 FCF and a 24% discount to GE, RTX stands out as undervalued.Related: Morgan Stanley has a message for ServiceNow investors

Euthanasia Is Now 6% Of All Deaths In The Netherlands

Via Remix News,

Euthanasia is now responsible for 6 percent of all deaths in the Netherlands, and this figure is increasing every year.

According to a report by the regional euthanasia review committee (RTE), cited by the news portal Hirado, 10,341 people died by euthanasia in 2025, and while three-quarters of the applicants were over 70 years old, one case involved someone between the age of 12 and 18.

The number of those choosing to die by euthanasia due to mental illnesses decreased by almost a fifth (174 cases), but more than 85 percent suffered from physical diseases such as cancer, nervous system disorders, and lung or cardiovascular diseases.

There were 499 cases of euthanasia performed on patients with dementia, and the RTE investigated 11 cases where the patient was no longer competent. In addition, 475 cases involved the co-existence of multiple age-related illnesses, and 278 cases involved “other reasons.”

Pro-life advocates have argued that these “other reasons” often include selfish human interests, such as family members pressuring or emotionally manipulating an older relative to go through with euthanasia in order to obtain inheritance faster. In these cases, euthanasia is often carried out even when, according to supporters, it could not be justified.

Another seven cases involved doctors who did not fully comply with the required standards of care, and these are under investigation.

Just recently in Spain, a 25-year-old woman, Noelia Castillo Ramos, ended her life, despite her parents waging a two-year legal battle, fighting until the last minute for their daughter’s life. Although a ruling by the Constitutional Court in Madrid states that euthanasia cannot be used in cases where the source of suffering is mental illness, since “the state has the duty to protect these individuals from the risk of suicide,” Castillo Ramos was nevertheless was allowed to go through with euthanasia.

According to the Christian Lawyers organization, which represented the woman’s parents at various levels during the legal battle, “this case highlights the failure of the euthanasia law, since it facilitates suicide without the individual having received prior mental health treatment,” meaning that they would have had a chance to recover and live a full and happy life.

Spain’s Catholic bishops warned that “euthanasia and assisted suicide are not medical acts, but deliberate interruptions of the bond of care, and represent a social defeat when presented as a response to human suffering.”

In Castillo’s specific case, they added, “we are not dealing with a fatal illness, but with deep wounds that cry out for attention, treatment and hope.” Their call was also significant because it could help prevent further cases that lead to the taking of innocent lives.

The Spanish bishops also reminded society that “the dignity of the human person does not depend on their state of health, their subjective perception of life or their degree of autonomy,” but rather “is an intrinsic value that must be recognized, protected and helped in all circumstances.” For this reason, the response to human suffering “can never be to cause death, but rather to offer closeness, accompaniment, appropriate care and comprehensive support.”

“When life hurts, the answer is not to shorten the path, but to walk it together. Only in this way can we build a truly just society, where no one feels alone or excluded,” they concluded.

A group of Dutch experts in the field of child psychiatry recently called attention to the need to be particularly careful when it comes to cases of young people under the age of 25 requesting euthanasia due to psychological suffering. Their research suggests that the decision-making abilities of members of this age group can be influenced by brain development and a number of external influences.

According to the professors cited, the condition of those under the age of 25 is less likely to be considered permanent than that of those older than them. In addition, they are more exposed to social pressure and online influences, which can cause significant damage and lead them to make a compulsive and short-sighted decision.

Read more here…

Tyler Durden
Thu, 04/23/2026 – 16:20

Far-left “comedian” Margaret Cho went on another unhinged tirade on a podcast this week, first accusing President Donald Trump and his administration of having a sexual “kink” for cruelty to immigrants, trans people, children, and the poor, then wishing for a “feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat” to rise up and “punish” members of his cabinet.
Cho made the comments during an episode of The Creative Asylum podcast that was released on Tuesday.
While ranting about the government shutdown and Republican messaging, Cho claimed the Trump administration’s policies are driven by a perverse pleasure in suffering.
Cho ranted, “It really irks me that when they use our language against us, like when they were saying, ‘Oh, the Democrats are the reason why the government is shut down.’ And when Karoline Leavitt says, ‘Well, their cruelty is the point.’ No, that’s you. Your cruelty is the point. Your cruelty is why you do it, because they have a kink. Their kink is cruelty. They love to see the suffering of immigrants and trans people. And they want to put children in concentration camps, and poor people. It gets them off.”
Podcast host Daniel House then chimed in, claiming Trump’s subordinates all have “daddy issues” that fuel their supposed “kink of cruelty.”
Cho agreed before pivoting to her violent fantasy about Democratic retribution.
“I really do believe that [politics] is a pendulum and it does swing. And when it swings back, we will punish them. They will be put in prison. We cannot let up.”
She continued, “I want to believe in Democrats. I am a Democrat, but I also feel like there’s this weird attachment to decorum and taking the high road, and none of that is gonna work. We need somebody, we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat. We just need somebody who is willing to put them all in prison — do the right thing and put them all in prison.”
WATCH:

Onetime comedienne Margaret Cho is wasting away from TDS, inside and out — says “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat” in office to “punish” Trump and his Cabinet officials
Cho says of the Trump admin: “They have a kink. Their kink is cruelty. They love to see the… pic.twitter.com/ckkRZbSuPh
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 22, 2026

This is far from Cho’s first extreme outburst against Trump and conservatives.
Last month, while accepting a Queerty award, she called for a “queer revolt” against the Trump administration, labeling the president an “incontinent child molester” and claiming trans people are “facing a genocide.”
The post WATCH: ‘Comedian’ Margaret Cho Says We Need a ‘Feral, Bloodthirsty, Violent Democrat’ to Punish Trump Officials appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General announced Thursday that it would do an audit of the release of the Epstein files.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said Thursday that a recently busted international car theft ring could steal a vehicle in less than 60 seconds without swiping keys, smashing windows or hot wiring, instead using a specialized piece of technology to “rewrite the brain” of the car.”There’s no drama. And they’ve got something called an Autel… that is a very simple device that literally rewrites the brain of the vehicle,” Pirro said on “Fox & Friends.”The suspects in the car ring operated in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Once they successfully hacked into a car, they allegedly disabled tracking systems, including GPS and Bluetooth, to avoid detection, Pirro said.PIRRO WARNS CAR THEFT RING USED NEW TECH TO QUICKLY ACCESS VEHICLES: ‘GONE IN 60 SECONDS’They then transported them to a “cooling off zone,” like a Marriott hotel in Pennsylvania or another location in D.C.’s Navy Yard, Pirro said, where license plates and VINs were swapped, before the cars were allegedly loaded onto transport carriers at ports in Savannah, Georgia, and Baltimore, Maryland.”These cars are then transported to Africa. And they put them on these cargo holders where they label the holder ‘Furniture’ so that it doesn’t get the scrutiny that it would normally get if it were labeled ‘Vehicles,'” said Pirro.DRIVERS TARGETED IN EMERGING CRIME TREND HAVE ONE THING IN COMMONPirro on Wednesday announced a 15-count federal indictment targeting the ring, which she said uses Autels to recalibrate a vehicle’s internal computer, allowing them to program a blank key fob instead of using more traditional methods to steal cars.Hondas are the most popular make of car to steal in the U.S., she said, adding that authorities are pursuing about 100 more vehicles in connection with the auto theft ring.”Bang, less than 60 seconds, the car is gone. It’s cooled off, transported and then shipped to Africa. No one is looking in the container, and they’re making a fortune,” Pirro stressed.”These are old crimes being committed in new ways.”Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

Some Harvard students have launched a petition urging the university to abandon plans to pursue grading reform, calling it “racist.” “This petition calls on Harvard to reject the proposed grading policy, arguing that it is not merely flawed but racially harmful in effect,” a petition on Change.org started by Angelina Agostini, a freshman at Harvard College, reads. “We center racism as a core concern, contending that although the policy is framed as neutral ‘differentiation,’ it functions as a system of ranking and sorting that mirrors and reinforces existing racial and socioeconomic hierarchies,” the petition reads. “Because first-generation, low-income (FGLI) students and students of color are disproportionately affected by structural inequities long before arriving on campus, the policy would compound those disadvantages rather than correct them.” HARVARD ALUM BLASTS DEI POLICIES AFTER ‘WOKE’ VALUES DRIVE LONGTIME PROFESSOR’S EXITOn March 30, Amanda Claybaugh, dean of undergraduate education, announced that Harvard College would postpone its controversial grading reform to fall 2027 and implement a new “SAT+” grade, The Harvard Crimson reported.The initial version of the reform was a “strict cap on A grades,” which “drew sharp backlash from students and cautious concern from faculty,” the student newspaper reported. In February, The Harvard Crimson noted that the proposal came following a October 2025 report from Claybaugh which found that more than 60% of grades Harvard undergraduates received were A’s, compared to only a quarter of grades 20 years ago.The report found that grade inflation started to increase in the late 2010s, surging during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is now leveling off.HARVARD UNIVERSITY’S ALLEGED TIES TO CHINESE PARAMILITARY GROUP, IRAN-BACKED RESEARCH SPARK GOP PROBEThe modified reform will institute three significant changes, namely delaying the implementation by a year, adjusting how the cap on A grades is estimated, and adding a new grade within the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (SAT/UNSAT) grading system.In a letter directed to “Harvard College Undergraduate Students, FAS Faculty, Amanda Claybaugh, Undergraduate Educational Policy Committee, and whomever else this may concern,” Agostini and another student wrote, “The proposed grading policy is blatantly racist. Its harms are not hypothetical and have a history of heavily harming and burdening students of color and first-generation, low-income (FGLI) students.””To everyone reading this letter, we want to reiterate that FGLI students of color are no less capable, intelligent, or deserving than their more privileged peers,” the letter continued. “What differs is the burden we are forced to carry. Policies like this shift the costs of institutional decisions onto marginalized students while dismissing the resulting harm as accidental or nonexistent. So-called ‘neutral’ standards can produce racial outcomes without discriminatory intent (Inoue, 2023). History shows where this leads, and ignoring those lessons only ensures the harm will be repeated.”FEDERAL COMPLAINT TARGETS BOSTON SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR WHITES-ONLY TEACHER TRAINING ON RACISMAgostini and her co-signer also called Harvard’s history “sexist, racist, and classist,” and urged the faculty not to repeat that history. “We urge you to center the well-being of your students rather than reputational concerns,” they wrote. “Do not act on the whims of current reputation and forget how it will be remembered. Harvard history is sexist, racist, and classist. Regardless of its intent, this policy will reinforce that legacy.”They continued, “Let us work together in shaping a future that is supportive for all students while also expanding upon Harvard’s rigorous educational environment. This means creating targeted resources that acknowledge differences in experiences and identities, embracing different educational pedagogy, and recentering the enriching academic experience that is expected of Harvard.”Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard and Agostini via Change.org for comment. 

Democrat Senator Ruben Gallego partied all night at a Bogotá, Colombia club despite a credible threat to his life.
Gallego is currently under review after GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna alerted Senate Majority Leader John Thune to his potential sexual misconduct after Eric Swalwell resigned from Congress.
Gallego and Swalwell were very close friends; however, the Democrat Senator distanced himself from Swalwell amid allegations of sexual assault.
Last Tuesday, after a fifth Swalwell accuser came forward at a press conference in Beverly Hills and accused the California Democrat of violently raping her at a West Hollywood hotel in 2018, Gallego threw Swalwell under the bus.
“Eric Swalwell lied to all of us. He lies to the most powerful people in this country. And they trusted him,” Gallego told reporters last week.
A reporter asked Gallego if he was in the hotel room and sitting next to Swalwell on the bed in the leaked video.
Martin Shkreli and Jack Posobiec released videos of Swalwell sitting on a bed with a sex worker. A man who resembles Gallego is briefly seen sitting on the bed.

Gallego said it wasn’t him in the video.
On Thursday, NOTUS reported that Ruben Gallego partied until 3 am at a club in Colombia during a CODEL last summer despite a credible threat to his life.
Gallego allegedly walked to the nightclub after dinner and invited at least one female staffer to come out and party with him.
The next morning, a chief of staff had to use a room key to get Gallego out of his hotel room to take him to the airport.
NOTUS reported:
While on an official trip to Bogotá last summer, Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego stayed out until the wee hours of the morning partying at a club and asked multiple embassy staffers to join him, despite warnings from the U.S. Embassy in Colombia that they had identified a credible threat to his life, four sources with knowledge of the incident told NOTUS.
Gallego and Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno were on a congressional delegation to Colombia in what Gallego’s office said was an effort to “strengthen bilateral relations, as well as discuss organized crime, the business climate, and China’s growing influence in the country.” His behavior during the trip, however, raised concerns among U.S. officials.
At the conclusion of the August trip, embassy staff received what they believed to be a credible report that there was a threat to Gallego’s life. They notified Gallego’s security detail and sent additional security to discuss the matter. The Arizona Democrat was at a dinner at the time and, after some discussion, decided to stay out, three of the sources told NOTUS. Following dinner, Gallego walked to a nightclub, a source said.
While at dinner and the club, Gallego and his chief of staff messaged employees at the embassy to come meet up with them, one U.S. official, a former U.S. official and three other sources briefed on the matter told NOTUS. At least one female embassy employee told her State Department colleagues she received a message from Gallego asking her to come out. It is unclear if any employees went out with him, and there are no allegations that Gallego engaged in inappropriate behavior with any embassy staff member.
The post Democrat Senator and Swalwell BFF Ruben Gallego Partied All Night in Colombia Club Despite Credible Threat to His Life appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The Trump administration is upping its anti-fraud efforts with $300 million in funding to investigate and prosecute fraudsters and drug traffickers.
The Justice Department announced the “Special Attorneys Program,” in which state, local, tribal, and territorial governments can apply for grants for a federal prosecutor to probe crimes in their jurisdictions.
This is part of a broader whole-of-government effort following President Donald Trump’s appointment of a Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance. The task force aims to work with every department and agency to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within federal benefit programs.

TODAY: The Justice Department announced the availability of $300 MILLION in funding to prevent and prosecute fraud and other crimes nationwide.
This Justice Department’s efforts to combat fraud support @POTUS’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired… pic.twitter.com/A32pFhryBp
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) April 22, 2026

A key focus of the program would be investigating illegal aliens taking advantage of federal benefits, as well as drug and human trafficking crimes, according to the DOJ.
“This unprecedented funding opportunity is part of the Department of Justice’s historic effort to activate every available tool to secure the physical and financial security of our nation,” Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for the National Fraud Enforcement Division, said in a public statement.
“We invite prosecutors across the country to join the mission to eliminate fraud, defeat the drug cartels, and rescue victims of trafficking,” McDonald added.
Under the Special Attorneys Program, the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division will appoint a special attorney in a U.S. attorney’s office for the qualifying jurisdiction.
The Trump administration has increased its anti-fraud efforts following reports of about $9 billion in fraud in Minnesota that included several politically connected nonprofits accessing federal funds.
This week, the Justice Department secured a grand jury indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center on charges it paid about $3 million to various white supremacist organizations and misled donors and banks.
The Justice Department has also been investigating alleged hospice fraud in California.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]