Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin confronted a New York Times reporter during a press conference Monday for claiming that he presented “no evidence” to back up his claims of waste, fraud, and abuse from the previous Biden administration.

“I have a duty to make sure that we don’t light on fire billions of dollars of tax dollars,” Zeldin said. “And I’m not going to stand before any member of the media and get bullied into lighting billions of dollars on fire.”

Zeldin hosted the news conference Monday morning at the EPA headquarters, announcing his forthcoming Earth Day trip to San Diego to investigate the crisis of Mexico pouring five million gallons of wastewater daily into the Tijuana River.

At the end of the conference, Zeldin mentioned the media bias against his claims of waste, fraud, and abuse in the Biden EPA.

The waste and self-dealing

He mentioned a video unearthed by Project Veritas in December 2024 in which a Biden administration political appointee at EPA said that bureaucrats were rushing to get billions of dollars out the door like “throwing gold bars off the Titanic.” Zeldin pledged to Congress that he would investigate the matter.

“As we overturn different rocks and we find more evidence of waste and abuse, there are some members of the media who have dug in further into saying that there’s no evidence,” he said. “Every time a new piece of evidence comes out, there’s some in the media saying even with more conviction that there’s no evidence.”

Zeldin mentioned “self-dealing and conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients and reduced oversight” in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion fund administered through CitiBank as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

The EPA under Biden managed the fund and rushed $20 billion to eight nonprofit groups after Trump won the 2024 election.

Zeldin has repeatedly flagged examples of alleged corruption involving the fund.

As the Free Press reported, the reduction fund allocated $6.9 billion to the Climate United fund, a coalition of three nonprofits that joined together in June 2023. Climate United’s CEO, Beth Bafford, served in the Obama administration as a special assistant in the Office of Management and Budget. Climate United’s chief strategy officer, Phil Aroneau, served as a “strategic advisor” to the Department of Energy in the last two years of the Biden administration.

The reduction fund allocated $5 billion to the Coalition for Green Capital, even though its total expenditures in 2023 only rose to $2.42 million. Jahi Wise, who joined Biden’s Climate Policy office in 2021 and oversaw the reduction fund, previously served as a policy director at the coalition. The coalition’s CEO, Richard Kauffman, has donated more than $600,000 to Democrats since 2020. Kauffman previously served as senior adviser to in the Department of Energy under Obama and served as then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “energy czar.” Cecilia Martinez, a member of the coalition’s board, previously served as the senior director of environmental justice at the White House Council on Environmental Quality under Biden.

The fund also allocated $2 billion to Power Forward Communities, an entity comprised of five nonprofits including Rewiring America. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams joined Rewiring America as special counsel in March 2023.

After listing many of these names, Zeldin mentioned that EPA officials amended the account control agreement for the fund on Jan. 13, a week before Trump took office.

“They were amending it to reduce EPA oversight,” he said.

‘No evidence?’

The administrator noted that many news stories have claimed he presented “no evidence” to back up his claims.

While Zeldin had run out of time allotted for the conference, he posed a question for the reporters present. He dared them to justify reporting that there was “no evidence.”

“If anyone can defend, please, just like, how is that zero evidence?” he asked. He noted that The Washington Post and The New York Times have written that there is no evidence.

“And now we are all together. I’m glad that we are,” he said. “It’s April 21st, 2025. Why should any story get written that says no evidence?”

Lisa Friedman, a New York Times reporter focused on climate change, raised her hand and asked, “Where has a judge said that this is a problem?”

“Lisa, if The New York Times is going to write that there is no evidence…”

Friedman responded, “We’ve written that judges have not found.”

Zeldin quoted her words from an April 2 story on the issue.

“Over the last few months, Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has made explosive—you know this because you wrote it—has made explosive accusations against the Biden administration, accusing it of ‘insane’ malfeasance in its handling of $20 billion in climate grants,” he read. “Now, as a legal battle ensues over those funds, many of Mr. Zeldin’s claims remain unsupported, and some are flat-out false.”

“Why wouldn’t you write that there is any evidence?” he asked.

Friedman responded, “Could you point us to where a judge has found that there’s waste?”

Zeldin refused to let her off the hook.

“It’s not that easy for you, Lisa,” he said. “See, because you guys are writing stories. These are your words. These aren’t the judge’s words.”

“If you continue to write these stories that say that there is no evidence, even though I can stand before you right now and just go through the list, how do you square that?” Zeldin asked.

?BREAKING@epaleezeldin calls out a New York Times reporter and reads her article in the middle of a press conference.

He called her out for claiming he accused the Biden admin of waste, fraud, and abuse with “no evidence.”

Unreal.? pic.twitter.com/qL8fjrOY0i

— Tyler O’Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) April 21, 2025

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

Censorship has been rampant across America in recent years. The FBI interfered in the 2020 presidential election by claiming, falsely, that the Hunter Biden laptop computer scandals were Russian disinformation and saying media should suppress the information.

Facebook admitted it censored language under pressure from the Joe Biden administration.

And no one probably will ever know just how much accurate information about alternative treatments for COVID was silenced after claims from bureaucrats and pharmaceutical interests about those mRNA shots working.

The costs of those actions never have been totaled.

But now one university is learning the cost of trying to silence the speech of one professor.

It’s about $1.6 million.

That’s from a report from the ADF, which fought the case on behalf of a professor who expressed his opinion “on treatment approaches for youth experiencing gender dysphoria.”

Officials at the University of Louisville “demoted, harassed, and effectively fired a distinguished professor who successfully led the university’s child psychiatry program,” the ADF reported.

The organization said the school has agreed to pay almost $1.6 million in damages and attorneys’ fees to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of Allan M. Josephson, who warned of the harms of “transitioning” children.

It’s a popular agenda point for the “transgender” part of the LGBT community. However, following the science means no one “changes” from male to female or vice versa, as being a man or woman is embedded in the human body down to the DNA level.

“In September of last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled that Josephson’s case should proceed to trial, declaring public university officials can be held personally accountable for censoring professors or retaliating against them as the University of Louisville did in Josephson’s case,” the ADF explained.

Lawyer Travis Barham said, “After several years, free speech and common sense have scored a major victory on college campuses. As early as 2014, Dr. Josephson saw the truth behind dangerous procedures that activists were pushing on children struggling with their sex. He risked his livelihood and reputation to speak the truth boldly, and the university punished him for expressing his opinion—ultimately by dismissing him. But public universities have no business punishing professors simply because they hold different views. Dr. Josephson’s case illustrates why—because the latest and best science confirms what he stated all along. Hopefully, other public universities will learn from this that if they violate the First Amendment, they can be held accountable, and it can be very expensive.”

Josephson noted, “Children deserve better than life-altering procedures that mutilate their bodies and destroy their ability to lead fulfilling lives. In spite of the circumstances I suffered through with my university, I’m overwhelmed to see that my case helped lead the way for other medical practitioners to see the universal truth that altering biological sex is impossibly dangerous while acceptance of one’s sex leads to flourishing.”

The ADF reported his “colleagues” were angered when he expressed his views of gender dysphoria, and demanded that the school discipline him.

Officials there demoted, then fired, him.

That’s even though he had been hired for the “then-struggling” Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology.

He turned it into a “program that received a national reputation for its work.”

The legal team noted the school even had an “Allan tracking document,” recruited alumni who were coached on what to say about him, and discussed the need for “strong documentation” that would support his firing.

In the much-heralded nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.S., the Omani foreign minister has told the world the Islamic Republic has seemingly been granted approval to continue enriching uranium up to 3.67%. In addition, the New York Times reports that Iran has offered to allow the United States and certain other countries to monitor its enrichment activities at nuclear facilities.

However, the fundamental question remains: Even if such a deal is reached and Iran agrees to strict and permanent oversight, can this truly be considered a successful negotiation?

Claiming that enrichment serves “peaceful purposes” is difficult to believe when billions of dollars have been spent by Iran at the expense of a population plunged into poverty. No country, especially one as oil-rich as Iran, invests such enormous sums for a purely civilian nuclear energy program.

Under the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran was supposed to limit enrichment to no more than 3.67%. In practice, however, the regime broke its promise and advanced enrichment to 60%, turning its nuclear progress into a tool for blackmailing the international community.

Furthermore, $150 billion in frozen assets were released to Iran, yet instead of improving the lives of ordinary Iranians, poverty worsened. By 2017, a nationwide uprising rooted in economic despair broke out.

Meanwhile, the regime redirected the newly available funds to strengthen its proxy forces across the region, turning the Middle East into a battleground of militias and deadly conflict – with Iran playing a central role. One of the bitterest consequences of this policy was the Gaza war, which left tens of thousands dead or wounded, and a whole region destabilized.

Iran’s entry into negotiations today should therefore be seen not as a sign of reform or transformation, but as an expression of total weakness – at least for the time being.

The Islamic Republic deeply fears military confrontation with the United States, especially targeted attacks on its nuclear facilities. According to sources within Tehran, in a high-level meeting of IRGC commanders and senior officials, the regime’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was reportedly advised that any military conflict could break the regime’s foundation and trigger a massive popular uprising.

Tellingly, in the most recent presidential election, only about 8% of eligible voters – most under pressure and intimidation – participated. Under such conditions, with skyrocketing inflation, 80% of the population below the poverty line and other mega-crises, another uprising could easily bring the regime to its knees.

Indeed, thousands of organized resistance units advancing objectives in the plan for a democratic Iran – put forward by the main opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran, or NCRI – are now active across the country, capable of turning any spark of protest into a nationwide uprising.

Given this, it is not surprising that the regime would temporarily retreat from enrichment and bomb development to avoid imminent collapse. Yet, just as in 2015, it is preserving all the infrastructure needed to resume nuclear weapon development – should political circumstances change, for instance with a different U.S. administration, or other favorable international shifts.

The need to avoid repeating past mistakes has never been more urgent.

In 2015, as now, the Islamic Republic insisted nuclear negotiations focus solely on the nuclear issue. Western powers accepted this framework and the result was a deal that appeared to limit Iran’s nuclear program, but in reality gave the nation the resources to intensify its destabilizing regional activities.

The “bitter fruit” of that agreement was a series of proxy wars – including the devastating Gaza conflict with thousands of casualties.

This is precisely the regime’s strategy: to restrict negotiations to the nuclear file so that its other dangerous pursuits – terror sponsorship, proxy warfare and regional aggression – remain unchecked.

The fatal mistake of the 2015 negotiators was to assume that the nuclear threat was the only danger, while ignoring the even more deadly consequences of Iran’s regional militarism and expansionism.

Has the world learned anything from the war in Gaza, the hijacking of Lebanon’s independence, its transformation into a failed state, or the destabilization of international waterways?

The regime’s strategy for survival

The Islamic Republic – an archaic construct rooted in medieval religious dogma – was thrust upon the 21st century through a historical accident. It cannot survive without continually fomenting external warfare and internal repression.

It defines its survival in terms of regional expansion. For over three decades, the regime has implemented a deterrence strategy – or more frankly, a strategy of warmongering – built on three pillars:

• The nuclear program
• Creation and support of proxy forces
• Development of ballistic missiles

These three pillars have functioned as an interconnected system, operating within a framework of hatred and hostility, fueled by slogans like “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” Their purpose has been to continually generate conflict and confrontation.

Through its proxy forces, the regime has expanded its regional presence, creating crises and bloodshed across the Middle East – effectively diverting global attention from its unparalleled repression at home.

Therefore, any negotiations aimed at achieving peace in the region must address the entire ideological and operational structure of this regime. A complete and verifiable dismantling of Iran’s malevolent regional influence must be firmly guaranteed.

Otherwise, a few years from now, the world will witness yet another cycle of bloodshed in a different corner of the Middle East, and once again – thanks to the radical regime in Tehran – it will be another nation that pays the price.

An Easter family dinner turned into a nightmare for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, as she was robbed of at least $3,000 at a Washington, D.C., restaurant despite having Secret Service protection.

“The thief got away with Noem’s driver’s license, medication, apartment keys, passport, DHS access badge, makeup bag, blank checks, and about $3,000 in cash,” CNN reported.

Secret Service are investigating after a thief took Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s bag that included $3,000 while she dined at a restauranthttps://t.co/xOpamsauyD

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) April 21, 2025

Noem confirmed the incident with reporters at Monday’s White House Easter Egg Roll, saying the matter is still unresolved.

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin also confirmed the incident in an email to DailyMail.com and indicated the robbery occurred while Noem was out celebrating Easter dinner with her family.

“Her entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren – she was using the withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities, and Easter gifts,” McLaughlin said.

Cristina Laila at the Gateway Pundit called it “an appalling security breach.”

A law-enforcement source told CNN the Secret Service reviewed security camera footage at the restaurant and saw an unknown white male wearing a medical mask snatch her bag before leaving the restaurant.

The agency has launched an investigation to trace any use of Noem’s financial instruments, the person added.

Earlier Sunday, Noem shared a family photo online, saying: “Happy Easter! Wishing Christians around the country joyful celebrations for the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. He is risen!”

Happy Easter! Wishing Christians around the country joyful celebrations for the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

He is risen! pic.twitter.com/EKsRlvTVhW

— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 20, 2025

Is the news we hear every day actually broadcasting messages from God? The answer is an absolute yes! Find out how!

Follow Joe on X @JoeKovacsNews

WASHINGTON — They came before dawn.

Not with facts. Not with a warrant for justice. But with battering rams, AR-15s, flash grenades and the chilling certainty of a government gone rogue.

Zachary Rehl, a Marine Corps veteran and former leader of the Philadelphia Proud Boys chapter, was yanked from his home at gunpoint by an army of FBI agents as if he were a terrorist.

His wife, six months pregnant, watched helplessly as federal agents dragged away the man she loved.

His crime? Supporting President Donald Trump and walking peacefully through the U.S. Capitol building for 20 minutes on Jan. 6, 2021, a misdemeanor by every legal standard, but under a weaponized, Biden-era DOJ, that stroll became a “seditious conspiracy.”

Rehl carried no weapon. He committed no violence. Yet, he was branded an enemy of the state, stripped of his honor, his military benefits were revoked and he practically starved to death while locked in solitary confinement for nearly three years and denied bail.

His daughter was born while he rotted in a concrete box.

And now, finally free, thanks to a commutation from President Donald Trump, Rehl is exposing the truth in a battle to clear his name that could span years: The FBI didn’t just bend the law, he says. They broke it, over and over again.

And laughed while doing it.

The evidence suggests it wasn’t Rehl plotting a conspiracy – it was the FBI.

Explosive court filings containing internal FBI communications expose what appears to be a calculated, malicious campaign by activist agents within the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center to destroy Zach Rehl’s life, secure convictions at any cost and shatter his family in the process.

The documents comprise text messages between FBI agents that were accidentally disclosed to defense attorneys by federal prosecutors during the discovery phase of the 2023 seditious conspiracy trial of Rehl and co-defendants Ethan Nordean, Dominic Pezzola, Joe Biggs and Enrique Tarrio.

According to logs among the agents exhibited in two publicly accessible motions filed by the defense on behalf of Proud Boy leader Ethan Nordean – HERE and HERE – FBI agents are seen discussing spying on Rehl’s attorney-client meetings and crafting strategies to secure his conviction.

And bragging about it.

During the 2023 trial, journalist Julie Kelly reported on the accidental “‘spill’ of FBI secrets” as well as how Judge Timothy Kelly sided with the prosecution in whitewashing the incriminating text messages.

Indeed, she reported, “[Judge] Kelly, outside the eyes and ears of the jury, held a hearing with both sides on March 9 to determine how to proceed after the defense team uncovered messages indicating FBI agents doctored internal reports, destroyed evidence and tipped off prosecutors about defense strategy on the government’s highest-profile January 6 case.”

Today, in his efforts to obtain full justice and hopefully convince President Trump to turn his presidential commutation into a full pardon as so many other Jan. 6 prisoners received, Rehl is intent on publicizing how unfairly and outrageously he was treated by the Biden-era federal prosecutors and judges.

Some of the text messages exchanged between FBI Special Agent Nicole Miller and twang2@fbi.sgov.gov show they were fearful Rehl would take his case to trial and expose the government misconduct:

MILLER: Found an email thread with REHL and his attorney MOSELEY. The attorney raised some interesting points.

WANG: Hopefully all related to him pleaing out.

MILLER: Nope. He mentioned how we (GOV) did things improperly.

WANG: Oy.

MILLER: I need to find other emails, but his one email def indicates that they want to go to trial. But don’t freak out Jason and Luke yet or [yourself].

WANG: I’m not freaked out.

Worse, while Rehl was incarcerated, the agents targeted Rehl’s pregnant wife, Amanda, with what appeared to be a malicious scheme to break the family.

Exhibits of their logs in the publicly available court filings show many messages exchanged between agents displaying clear animosity toward the Proud Boy defendant and glee at his misfortune, including advancing a false narrative of infidelity on the part of Rehl’s wife with her husband’s friend “Aaron.”

“They better give you those calls! I want the ones from after the 8th, when we hit Aaron’s house! They are going to be SOOOOO good!” Miller wrote to Wang, giddy over the prospects of Rehl’s marriage falling apart.

“I know!” Wang replied. “I don’t see any emails from Aaron past the 6th, even though there are email as late as yesterday.

“Maybe [Aaron] sent them from Amanda’s account. She sleeps over a lot,” Miller quipped.

“Bahaha,” Wang replied.

The ploy failed – Aaron’s girlfriend was the driver – but the agents’ glee persisted:

MILLER: Just listened to about 7 min of yelling … Zach to Amanda lol.

WANG: Bahah. Did he find out she’s hooking with Aaron?! I’m waiting for this to be a legit thing. And when it is … popcorn!

MILLER: Not yet. Haven’t come across that one.”

WANG: Dang it

MILLER: Hahaha [I’ll] bring beer.

WANG: Yes.

The FBI’s vendetta didn’t stop at humiliation. Rehl’s service to his nation – years in the Marines – meant nothing. The moment “seditious conspiracy” stained his record, the government revoked his benefits and the U.S. Treasury Department demanded $100,000 in repayment, leaving Amanda, a housewife, to fend for herself.

Legal fees bled them dry, thousands a month, while the Treasury Department loomed like a vulture.

The FBI sought to bankrupt the Rehls, a violation of due process, cheering as military benefits were revoked and Amanda faced foreclosure.

“I also want to know if his house got foreclosed,” Miller said after laughing at the prospects of Amanda abandoning her marriage.

“Oooh. I wonder,” Wang replied. “I hope so.”

“I mean, if we really want to work all the PB [Proud Boy] members, he’s the one to go after especially his wife’s PayPal and her Venmo acct,” Miller continued, pushing to choke off any lifeline from supporters.

“I agree with you!!!” Wang replied.

Prosecutors, too, pounced – court records show they attempted to fine over 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants with restitution amounting to the total they would garner in donations to their legal funds, as if asking for help were a crime. In many instances, federal judges ordered defendants to pay the government money they raised for their legal defense.

This wasn’t law enforcement, but rather, a crusade to punish dissent, executed with taxpayer dollars.

The logs also hint at evidence tampering, a federal crime.

In a text message to dgsilk@fbi.sgov.gov, Miller instructed the other agent to remove evidence that would show she was working undercover as a confidential human source, or CHS.

“You need to go into that CHS report you just put and edit out that I was present,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department has offered no public proof of the Proud Boys organization’s alleged plot, yet denies Rehl’s motion to dismiss, alongside co-defendants Biggs and Pezzola.

Some legal experts call the presidential commutations – leaving felony convictions intact – baffling, but the FBI’s actions are outright lawless.

Their laughter over Amanda “probably leaving” Rehl – “I’ll bring beer,” Miller quipped – exposes a culture of cruelty that demands accountability. Congress must investigate. Were these rogue actors or does this reflect systemic rot? How many others faced similar treatment?

The FBI’s internal messages came to light during the trial when defense attorney Nicholas Smith, representing Proud Boy co-defendant Ethan Nordean, cross-examined Agent Miller.

Miller testified that she filtered a large Excel spreadsheet of FBI messages, submitting only those she deemed relevant to prosecutors, who then shared them with defense teams as part of routine evidence disclosure during the trial’s discovery phase.

However, a “hidden” cell in the spreadsheet contained over 1,000 unfiltered messages from other agents, exposing misconduct.

Defense attorneys included a few pages of the unfiltered messages in motions to dismiss, until Judge Timothy Kelly intervened, ordering defense counsel to destroy them, shrouding the scandal that has left the Rehl family fighting to reclaim their lives after a harrowing four-year nightmare.

As WND reported, prosecutors denied Rehl and his co-defendants Joe Biggs and Dominic Pezzola’s recent motion to dismiss the Jan. 6 charges against them. Yet, not a shred of public proof shows Rehl plotting violence or orchestrating a “coup,” while mounting evidence suggests the FBI orchestrated his downfall, violating his Fourth Amendment rights and federal law in the process.

Nearly three years in solitary pretrial detention broke Rehl’s body, but not his spirit. He told the media the judicial overreach felt like “communist China” – words that earned him terror enhancements from Judge Timothy Kelly, despite his having committed no violent acts.

He and his co-defendants fight on, their motions to dismiss denied, while the FBI’s own chats expose the real conspiracy: a calculated plot to destroy lives for “wrongthink.”

Rehl’s former attorney, Carmen Hernandez, who defended him at trial, calls the FBI’s conduct unprecedented and like nothing she has seen throughout her 40 years of practicing law.

“These messages were personal, nasty – hidden glee at someone’s misfortune,” she told WorldNetDaily. “I’ve never seen such unprofessional animus from law enforcement, even against mafia or murderers. The judge blocked me from cross-examining Miller – said we were ‘showing bias.’ It was distasteful, unconstitutional.”

Hernandez slams the charges as baseless:

“Rehl, Biggs, Pezzola – veterans who own guns – could’ve brought firearms to D.C. if they’d planned a coup. They didn’t. The evidence was ridiculous.”

Was this a rogue cell or FBI policy? How many others suffered?

Hernandez argues the lack of Trump pardons for these prisoners shows “whoever reviewed J6 cases [or the president] didn’t grasp the evidence – or didn’t want to. Seditious conspiracy sounds serious, but dig in, and it’s nonsense.”

Still branded a terrorist, convicted of multiple felonies despite President Trump’s commutation, Rehl is unable to secure employment as he fights to clear his name and support his family.

*** PLEASE SUPPORT ZACHARY REHL’S LEGAL DEFENSE HERE ***

An ethics and accountability organization is calling for a special investigation into U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia, for a sweetheart deal he enjoys: A $1 million luxury home bought for him about the time he was elected and to which he has complete access.

Without paying rent.

It is the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust that charges that Warnock is living rent-free in a home that Ebenezer Baptist Church bought in 2022 for $989,000 just as he was elected to the Senate, but he “has not included any information about being provided housing on his financial disclosure report.”

He does report an annual “income” from the church of just under what the Senate determined is a maximum amount a senator can “earn” from an outside source, a limit that was about $32,000 in 2023.

In a letter to Sen James Lankford, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, the organization said, “The rules which allow for a senator to accept lodging or housing are only applicable in a narrow set of circumstances—they are not an open-ended loophole that can be abused. Aside from the letter of the law laid out here, which is extremely clear and persuasive, this is a matter of plain common sense.

“It is difficult to fathom any citizen could look at this situation (a U.S. senator being a part-time employee of an organization that happens to buy him a million-dollar house to live in for free after he was elected to Congress, and after which he sells his own house) and not think something potentially very wrong is afoot. One must ask, if the laws written do not prohibit this particular situation or, at a bare minimum, at least merit a mere investigation, then what were they even written for? It is inarguable that the known facts do not appear to comply with the Senate ethics rules.”

Implicated in the situation are ethics rules and conflicts of interest and corruption.

“Senators must conduct themselves according to the Senate Ethics Rules and the Senate ‘may discipline a member for any misconduct, including conduct or activity which does not directly relate to official duties, when such conduct unfavorably reflects on the institution as a whole.’ One theme throughout federal law and Senate Ethics rules is that members may not generally accept anything of value unless an identified exception applies, and if they do accept something it must be disclosed to the public. These laws address both conflicts of interest and corruption of members of Congress. Senator Warnock’s acceptance of lavish housing and failure to disclose it implicates federal law and several Senate rules,” the complaint explained.

A report at the Free Beacon noted that the free home for Warnock, “came equipped with a plethora of luxury accommodations, including a 100-bottle wine fridge, a bluetooth-enabled cooking range, and remote-controlled privacy curtains.”

The complaint noted the free home is “a great deal for Warnock, but it may violate Senate ethics rules that limit how much lawmakers can accept from outside employment.”

“This is a matter of plain common sense,” FACT executive director Kendra Arnold said in the complaint.

Possible standards being violated include the Ethics in Government Act.

Arnold explained the salary, plus the free housing appear to be “excessive and unreasonable for the services he is actually performing.”

The Free Beacon explained, “Arnold’s belief that Warnock’s housing benefit is excessive is shared by Dr. Albert Paul Brinson, a former associate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was ordained at Ebenezer Baptist Church by the civil rights icon in 1965. Brinson said during an interview with a local activist in March that King ‘would have never endorsed’ church funds being used to facilitate luxury living for its pastor. Brinson said Ebenezer Baptist Church’s housing allowance was designed to provide modest accommodations for its pastors.”

The report also pointed out that the church itself was involved in a scandal over housing and its costs, when, while underwriting Warnock’s living arrangements, officials there “tried to evict residents during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic for as little as $28.55 in past-due rent” from a low-income apartment building the church owns.

A new report in the Federalist is warning that the Chinese Communist Party has embarked on a new campaign with the goal of attacking, even eliminating, Christianity.

The new rules, to become effective May 1, are needed to fight “extremism,” the party charges, and will require foreign missionaries to get government approval for lectures, sermons and group activities.

“Additionally, the regulation includes a comprehensive set of restrictions that prohibit foreign missionaries from engaging in activities such as ‘Recruiting religious believers among Chinese citizens and appointing religious clergy,’ ‘Organizing and carrying out religious education and training,’ ‘accepting religious donations from Chinese organizations and citizens,’ and producing, distributing, and selling religious materials.”

Violators, the CCP charges, are criminals.

A report by Breitbart charges the agenda is “to formally end Christian missionary activity.”

And persecution.org explains the reason: Fear of churches.

“The CCP has long viewed independent religious activity with suspicion, arguing that religious loyalty is at odds with the ultimate loyalty demanded by the Communist Party. The government labels independent religious activity as cultish and extremist, regardless of its theological roots, and demands that all Christian religious activity take place within the confines of state-run churches.”

The Federalist report explained, “The new regulation is the latest example of the CCP’s deep-seated animosity toward all religions, especially Christianity. Between the 1980s and early 2000s, China’s Christian population surged significantly, with estimates in 2018 indicating it may range from 100 to 200 million — outnumbering the nearly 100 million members of the CCP itself.

“The CCP, an atheist organization, is alarmed by the rapid growth of Christians. One of the CCP’s worst fears is that the devotion to God could erode loyalty to the party and thus threaten its very legitimacy. As a result, the CCP sees Christianity as an existential threat.”

China’s chief, the report said, has worked to force all faiths and churches to “align” with the CCP agenda, to persecute believers who fail to follow his orders, and use laws the attack religion.

The report explained, “A well-known instance of the sinicization of Christianity is the CCP’s insistence on selecting Catholic bishops. This practice clearly violates the Catholic Church’s principle that only the pope has the authority to appoint bishops. Other examples of sinicization include authorities’ instruction that both Catholic and Protestant congregations must prioritize patriotism over religion. In some impoverished areas, local officials compelled villagers to replace posters of Jesus with portraits of Xi Jinping and Chairman Mao, despite Mao in particular being responsible for the worst mass murders in human history.”

The report noted the CCP even has made plans to “retranslate and annotate the Bible to align with socialism and establish a correct understanding of the text.”

Primary targets of the CCP now are “house churches,” those that do not seek approval of the government to operate.

“The website of China Aid, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting for religious freedom, is filled with stories of religious persecution under the Communist regime,” the report said. “For instance, local police in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, arrested 28 Christians from a house church on charges of ‘using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law.’”

The 2025 report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, in fact, places China among the worst violators of religious freedom globally.

China previously had banned anyone under 18 from entering a religious site or getting religious education, claiming the goal is to establish “a correct worldview.”

“This draconian enforcement has led to the closure of Sunday schools and youth summer camps, as well as legal threats directed at Sunday school teachers, church leaders, and parents,” the report said.

President Donald Trump unleashed an attack on his own chairman of the Federal Reserve on Monday, calling Jerome Powell “a major loser” and “Mr. Too Late.”

His verbal assault on Truth Social focused on the possibility of cuts in interest rates.

“‘Preemptive Cuts’ in Interest Rates are being called for by many,” Trump began.

“With Energy Costs way down, food prices (including Biden’s egg disaster!) substantially lower, and most other ‘things’ trending down, there is virtually No Inflation.

“With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW.

“Europe has already ‘lowered’ seven times. Powell has always been ‘To Late,’ except when it came to the Election period when he lowered in order to help Sleepy Joe Biden, later Kamala, get elected. How did that work out?” Trump concluded.

With a history in investment banking, Powell became a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors after being nominated to the post by Barack Obama in 2012.

During his first term, President Trump elevated Powell to chairman of the Fed in 2018, succeeding Janet Yellen, and Powell was renominated to the position by Joe Biden.

Is the news we hear every day actually broadcasting messages from God? The answer is an absolute yes! Find out how!

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A federal judge has canceled a Joe Biden-era rule that required businesses to promote abortion.

The rule, perpetrated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Biden, demanded that employers provide abortion-related leave and other practices that violated the beliefs of a multitude of business operators and owners.

A report in the Washington Stand explained the impact of the ruling from Daniel Traynor, a Trump appointee to the District Court of North Dakota, is that 9,000 Catholic businesses now do not have to grant abortion leave and other practices contrary to their beliefs.

The EEOC under Biden, who promoted abortion in a multitude of ways throughout his presidency, had issued rules creating a new meaning to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act so that abortion was promoted.

“The actual language of the PWFA requires protections for ‘pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions,’” the report explained. Biden expanded that to say, “current pregnancy, past pregnancy, potential pregnancy, lactation (including breastfeeding and pumping), use of birth control, menstruation, infertility and fertility treatments, endometriosis, miscarriage, stillbirth, or having or choosing not to have an abortion, among other conditions.”

The report said that move “effectively reversed the pro-life effect of the law, and the explicit inclusion of fertility treatments also ran afoul of the religious convictions of some Catholics.”

The challenge was brought by the Catholic Diocese of Bismarck and the Catholic Benefits Association representing 9,000 Catholic businesses. They charged it violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Traynor granted a preliminary injunction last year and now has made that permanent.

In his ruling, he concluded, “The CBA is likely to succeed on the merits of the RFRA violation claim because the law forces members to choose between expressing sincerely held beliefs and compliance. This harm is irreparable and upholding constitutional rights always weighs in favor of the public interest and an injunction. The agency should have known it would not be allowed to force individuals to violate sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Other cases also had challenged Biden’s agenda.

The Washington Stand commented, “The entire scenario serves as a reminder of the Biden administration’s troubling record of anti-Catholic bias. As ironic as it may seem, political appointees of the nation’s second Catholic president distorted the meaning of a pro-life law to require employers to subsidize abortion and other practices objectionable to Catholics. These actions were not only lawless but fruitless, as they provoked Catholics to challenge the rule in court, where they easily won. But what else could we expect from an administration whose suspicion of Catholics ran so deep that they installed undercover agents in Catholic parishes to spy on their worship services?”