A preliminary investigation into the deadly Washington D.C. plane crash found that staffing levels in the air traffic control tower were "not normal" at the time of the collision.
The Federal Aviation Administration's report determined that one air traffic controller was essentially doing the job of two people.
"The position configuration was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic," the report says.
Usually, two individuals are monitoring helicopter and plane traffic separately, but those jobs were combined after a supervisor left their shift early, according to reports.
A single person normally performs both roles when traffic slows down at night, but it was still too early when the air traffic tower lost essential manpower before the 8:48 p.m. collision.
The crash killed all 67 people, including 64 on board an American Airlines flight and three soldiers in a Black Hawk helicopter.
In the wake of the tragedy, many are looking at a chronic shortage of qualified air traffic controllers as a factor leading up to the disaster.
The air traffic tower at Reagan National Airport has 19 fully certified air traffic controllers, less than the 30 recommended by the FAA and the Air Traffic Controllers Union.
An air traffic controller shortage had been a concern leading up to the crash, as an uptick in near misses led to fears of a disaster like the tragedy that occurred Wednesday night.
The focus on understaffing could boost President Trump's suggestion that lowered standards contributed to the collision.
The president has been criticized for speculating that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy played a role, but race-based hiring under the Obama and Biden administrations may have worsened the staffing shortage.
The FAA is facing a class-action lawsuit from job applicants who allege they were discriminated against based on race. The lead plaintiff in the case, who is white, was turned away despite getting a perfect score on his training exam.
“He [Trump] obviously sees the issue at hand and if he didn’t, I’m sure people that work in the Department of Transportation and the FAA informed him that there is an issue with staffing and air traffic control and I’m hoping they can work on it immediately,” the man, Andrew Brigida, told the Telegraph.
Meanwhile, investigators have told numerous outlets that the Black Hawk helicopter did not follow the approved flight path. The helicopter traveled above 300 feet, well above the 200-foot limit.
"The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "It was far above the 200 foot limit. That's not really too complicated to understand, is it???"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Propaganda pronouns, those pronouns chosen by people who want to promote their LGTB ideologies, especially the transgender beliefs, in their government email signatures, are going away.
In fact, under an order from the Office of Personnel Management, they are to be gone by end of business Friday.
A commentary at NottheBee said, "I can just feel the sanity returning to D.C. And I can also feel half of the Swamp writhing in pain when they read this memo."
The order comes from the OPM, over the signature of Chuck Ezell, acting director.
The "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government" sets out specific instructions.
Federal agencies and bureaucracies are to review all their programs, contracts, grants and more and end those that "promote or inculcate gender ideology."
Workers doing those programs are on administrative leave with notification that the efforts are being ended.
Online sites promoting the ideologies must be unplugged.
And a review is mandated of agency email systems such as Outlook and those features that prompt users for their pronouns must be turned off.
Gender training is canceled. And "resource" groups focusing on gender ideologies are disbanded.
On forms, "gender" cannot be used, only "sex" being male or female.
And the federal managers must "ensure that intimate spaces designated for women, girls, or females (or for men, boys, or males) are designated by biological sex and not gender identity."
A report on everything that's done is due in a week.
NottheBee reported, "Hear that woke D.C. losers? By the end of the day, you better be deleting all vestiges of your woke religious shibboleths from public sight. We are done playing this nonsense game."
It cited the orders that, "Employees at multiple federal agencies were ordered to remove pronouns from their email signatures by Friday afternoon, according to internal memos obtained by ABC News that cited two executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office seeking to curb diversity and equity programs in the federal government."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, is two for two in recent claims, getting publicly corrected on one topic and "community noted" on another.
The Post Millennial documented her insistence that all of those extreme crimes, or at least almost all, are done by "white supremacists."
Commenting on President Donald Trump's agenda to find and arrest – and deport – illegal alien criminals, she said, "And honestly, I don't know how else to describe this, other than evil. It's evil that is literally sitting in the highest seat in the world."
She said, "I know there's a lot of propaganda that's out there, but one of the things that I made clear is that it's not immigrants that are committing all the crimes. You can go out and find any random criminal of any race, I just want to be clear, but going out and finding one terrible situation and then taking a paintbrush and saying this applies to all of them is wrong. Let me make sure y'all got the facts, most extreme crimes that take place in this country are committed by white supremacists. 80% of extreme crimes are committed by white supremacists in this country. Do you know who went up there on January 6? White supremacists. This ain't me just telling you, you can Google this if you don't believe me, but it was the Oath Keepers. It was the Neo Nazis. It was the Proud Boys. They are all white supremacists."
The report noted, "Of the 7,964 arrests for murder or non-negligent manslaughter in 2019, the latest Crime in the United States report available by the FBI, 4,078, or 51%, were black suspects, while 3,650, or 47 percent, were white suspects. An additional 125 were American Indian or Alaska Native, 83 were Asian, and 28 were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander."
She then gave her version of the facts regarding Wednesday night's midair collision between a passenger jet traveling from Wichita, Kan., to Washington, and its collision with a military helicopter, a tragedy that left all 67 people presumed dead.
Twitchy, citing Crockett's claim that President Trump froze hiring for air traffic controllers, explained, "What did Rep. Crockett know for sure? Something incorrect: Community Notes, do your stuff!"
Linked was an Office of Management and Budget memo that stated that exemptions to the hiring freeze included, "Positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Brendan Carr, recently promoted by President Donald Trump from a seat on the Federal Communications Commission to be its chair, has notified the tax-funded National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting System their acceptance of paid advertisements is going to be reviewed.
Carr previously was the agency's general counsel, and was on the commission from 2017. He's been a critic of TikTok, on national security grounds, opposes content "moderation" or censorship on digital platforms and has urged the dismantling of the "censorship cartel" that appeared under Joe Biden's administration.
Now a report from RedState says he has put PBS and NPR "on notice that he has ordered an investigation into those outlets for violating federal law by airing paid advertisements."
NPR and PBS both, in fact, have turned to the extreme left politically in America, and have been criticized for failing to present neutral reporting. Instead they support far-left ideologies and attack conservative thought.
Carr, in fact, openly wondered about their existence.
"For my own part, I do not see a reason why Congress should continue sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS given the changes in the media marketplace since the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967," he said.
The dispute over advertisements is because as tax-funded organizations they are not allowed to accept pay for ordinary ads.
They are allowed to provide acknowledgement for financial support.
"I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials. In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements," he said in a letter.
RedState explained, "NPR and PBS have for decades aired sponsorships under rules set forth by the government. While public broadcasters are restricted by law from accepting traditional commercials, the F.C.C. has become more permissive over the years about what public stations are allowed to air. The F.C.C.'s evolving stance on the issue has gradually allowed public radio stations to become less dependent on government funding."
Eric Nuzum, of production company Magnificent Noise, said in a commercial, the sponsor owns the time and can say what it wants. In an underwriting acknowledgement, "the station provides an acknowledgment of who's providing the funding, along with basic information about the underwriter."
Carr said the problem is that broadcasters "cross the line into advertisement when they 'promote the contributor's products, services, or businesses.'" Further, they are not allowed to include "inducements" to buy.
Meta agreed to settle a lawsuit Wednesday with President Donald Trump over his 2021 suspension on its social media platforms, the Daily Caller reported. The parent company of Instagram and Facebook will pay Trump $25 million after it deplatformed him following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company will pay $22 million dollars toward Trump's presidential library and give the remainder to the other plaintiffs for their legal expenses. Trump was suspended from the platforms for his supposed role in the Jan. 6 attack.
He was permanently banished from the platforms as of June 2021. "We are today announcing new enforcement protocols to be applied in exceptional cases such as this, and we are confirming the time-bound penalty consistent with those protocols which we are applying to Mr. Trump’s accounts," a statement from Facebook said at the time.
"Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr. Trump’s suspension, we believe his actions constituted a severe violation of our rules, which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols. We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 this year," it said.
Trump initiated lawsuits not long after the first suspension. His accounts were later restored in February 2023, and Meta announced that it would dispense with the "heightened suspension penalties" on Trump's accounts in July 2024.
Meta, Google, X, and other private tech companies are allowed to moderate content under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. However, many feel that they are not acting in the "good faith" required as they target Trump and other conservatives.
Trump has vowed to pursue these companies, so perhaps it's no coincidence that Zuckerberg has done an about-face since Trump's election. In November, Zuckerberg dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, the Associated Press reported.
The pair likely hashed out the settlement terms that came this week. Meta also donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had a prominent seat for the president's swearing-in earlier this month.
Notably, Trump was thrown off Twitter around the same time, and Elon Musk, the CEO of the platform now called X, also appeared at the inauguration. He was joined by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, signaling a better relationship between the GOP administration and Big Tech.
The winning continues for Trump as he recently received another settlement from ABC News. The network agreed to $15 million for Trump's library following incorrect remarks suggesting that Trump was found civilly liable for raping E. Jean Carroll.
Fox News reported that CBS News may soon settle Trump's $10 billion lawsuit over election interference for selectively editing a 60 Minutes interview in favor of his opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. A preview of the interview that aired on Face the Nation showed Harris answer a question in her usual word salad.
When the segment aired on the show, her original answer was cut from the program. Producers then spliced in a later remark that sounded like a better answer, thus giving Harris an edge over Trump with unsuspecting viewers.
BREAKING: CBS News is now in settlement talks with President Trump to pay for the election interference they committed when they deceptively edited Kamala Harris's interview to make her look good.
They will pay MILLIONS!
Trump can't stop winning.
pic.twitter.com/auardejZYn— George (@BehizyTweets) January 31, 2025
Trump is finally winning against his partisan and unscrupulous opponents. He's not only made the most spectacular political comeback with his election as president, he's also notching victories against his enemies in Big Tech and the media.
Former Sen. Bob Menendez will spend 11 years behind bars after being found guilty on 16 counts of bribery, conspiracy, extortion, and obstruction of justice, The Hill reported. The disgraced New Jersey Democrat also has the distinction of being the only U.S. senator to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent while in office.
Menendez was a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and used his position to dole out favors. He and his wife, Nadine Nadine Menendez, accepted kickbacks including gold bars, thousands of dollars in cash, and other luxury gifts in exchange for the senator's influence.
One of those favors included sharing state department secrets with Egyptian businessmen to be passed to the nation's officials. Others included protecting a monopoly on halal meat certification and intervening to shield two other businessmen from legal troubles.
A New York jury convicted Bob Menendez along with three New Jersey businessmen. Nadine Menendez will stand trial as well, but hers has been delayed several times due to her undergoing treatments for breast cancer.
Federal prosecutors recommended 15 years in prison for Bob Menendez due to his "extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust" while in office. "The defendants’ crimes amount to an extraordinary attempt, at the highest levels of the legislative branch, to corrupt the nation’s core sovereign powers over foreign relations and law enforcement," the sentencing memorandum said.
The crimes normally carry up to 30 years in prison, but prosecutors factored in the 71-year-old's advanced age when making the recommendation. During sentencing, Bob Menendez tried to leverage his years as a politician for less time behind bars.
"You really don’t know the man you are about to sentence," he said to U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in his plea for leniency. An attorney for Bob Menendez tried to say that the senator, who resigned in disgrace after being convicted, was punished enough by becoming a "national punchline" after being dubbed "gold bar Bob."
The judge was not swayed but rather chastised the former senator for his fall from grace. "You were successful; powerful. You stood at the apex of our political system," Stein told Bob Menendez.
"Somewhere along the way, and I don’t know when it was, you lost your way, and working for the public good became working for your good," the judge added. Rather than take responsibility, Bob Menendez said his was a "political prosecution."
Throughout his career, Bob Menendez has been no friend to Republicans and certainly not to President Donald Trump. However, he invoked his nemesis Wednesday following sentencing.
"President Trump was right. This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core," Bob Menendez claimed, echoing Trump's objections to his actual political prosecutions.
"I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system," he said. Bob Menendez has promised to appeal his conviction.
Some stunning remarks from Menendez outside court: “President Trump was right. This process is political, and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.” pic.twitter.com/woFgHgFGqM
— Molly Crane-Newman (@molcranenewman) January 29, 2025
Nothing is shocking about a New Jersey politician being a convicted criminal. However, what Bob Menendez did was worse than the garden variety corruption as it involved working for a foreign government in a roundabout way, and he deserves every day of his sentence.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The company behind President Trump's Truth Social online platform has announced a plan to move into the financial services industry.
A report from ReclaimTheNet said it is Trump Media and Technology Group that has announced an expansion with the introduction of Truth.Fi, a financial tech and investment brand.
The TMTG organization also runs Truth+ streaming operations.
The organization's board has approved a plan to diversity the company's cash reserves, which recently exceeded $700 million, and will designate up to $250 million for investments.
The report said Charles Schwab will be serving as custodian.
"The investments will span multiple asset categories, including separately managed accounts (SMAs), exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and cryptocurrency-related securities such as Bitcoin," the report said.
Yorkville Advisers, through an affiliate, will serve as the registered investment adviser, the report said.
The focus is to prioritize American growth sectors such as manufacturing and energy and companies that align with what was described as the "Patriot Economy."
Former Rep. Devin Nunes, now CEO at TMTG, said, "We look forward to launching Truth.Fi, introducing TMTG's investment vehicles, and unlocking synergies
"Truth.Fi is a natural expansion of the Truth Social movement. We began by creating a free-speech social media platform, added an ultra-fast TV streaming service, and now we're moving into investment products and decentralized finance. Developing American First investment vehicles is another step toward our goal of creating a robust ecosystem through which American patriots can protect themselves from the ever-present threat of cancellation, censorship, debanking, and privacy violations committed by Big Tech and woke corporations."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Five major American universities are being called on to release information about their part in Joe Biden's "censorship regime."
The Alliance Defending Freedom said it has sent public records requests to the University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, the University of North Carolina and the University of California-Los Angeles.
Those institutions have created "misinformation" centers, or tools intended to single out and target speech that the federal government disfavors.
While President Donald Trump has signed executive orders halting federal government censorship efforts, those campaigns were in full force during the administration of Joe Biden, who actually embedded censorship offices in multiple federal bureaucracies.
"Free speech is essential to a free society," explained ADF lawyer Phil Sechler.
"The American people have a right to know if their tax dollars were used to suppress certain voices and how involved state actors were—and are—in social media censorship," he said.
The Biden administration often pressured private organizations, especially social media corporations, to censor ideas Biden disliked. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, parent of Facebook, testified to Congress about the pressure Biden appointees put on his company, including that White House employees shouted and screamed at his employees to enforce their censorship demands.
The ADF is asking for records and communications with federal government officials, social media companies, and foundations responsible for granting funds to censorship schemes.
Sechler said the government should be defending First Amendment speech rights, not be "its greatest threat."
He said, "The American people have a right to know if their tax dollars were used to suppress certain voices and how involved state actors were—and are—in social media censorship."
Some of the university targets already have been linked to Biden's campaigns, as a report by the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government found that University of Michigan officials pitched the idea of an artificial intelligence tool called WiseDex to the National Science Foundation for "externalizing the difficult responsibility of censorship.'"
Fox News explained the censorship was operated under the guise of "'combating 'misinformation,' 'disinformation,' and 'malinformation.'"
The report said the goal of the requests is to identify "certain censorship red flags," like the words "cancel," "First Amendment" or "throttle" that could make pursuing details about the schemes faster.
In an unexpected development, the Department of Justice has terminated over a dozen prosecutors previously involved in high-profile cases targeting President Donald Trump, Breitbart reported.
This decisive action underscores the administration's commitment to reshaping its political landscape by removing officials believed to be hindering its goals.
The decision to dismiss these individuals comes as part of a broader initiative by the Trump administration to "drain the swamp," a term used to describe efforts to rid the government of perceived inefficiencies and corruption. Special attention was given to the removal of prosecutors working on cases led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, which had previously focused on President Trump's alleged misconduct.
This move, orchestrated by Acting Attorney General James McHenry, reflects a calculated effort to align the Department of Justice with the agenda of the Trump administration. McHenry reportedly questioned whether these prosecutors could be relied upon to execute the administration's objectives, given their past involvement in prosecuting the President. The Wall Street Journal cited a source within the Justice Department, affirming McHenry's drastic measures were necessary to maintain trust and compliance with the President's directives.
A memo distributed by McHenry notably highlighted his concerns about the trustworthiness of these prosecutors, citing their significant roles in cases against Trump as the basis for the firings. The administration's approach appears to be aimed at reducing what it deems as the misuse of federal authorities against political figures.
President Trump's administration has also emphasized its commitment to ending what it perceives as the weaponization of various branches of the federal government. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order that outlined the imperative to rectify past misconduct by federal authorities. This order specifically mentioned the misuse of law enforcement and intelligence resources for political purposes, aiming to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
The executive order criticized previous administrations for utilizing legal and intelligence tools in a systematic campaign against their political adversaries. It described this conduct as a deliberate effort to investigate, prosecute, and penalize individuals who opposed their policies through the federal enforcement systems. These actions were highlighted as primary examples of the departmental overreach the current administration aims to curtail.
Criticism of the perceived weaponization of federal agencies has not been limited to the administration itself. Cases surrounding the January 6th investigations and dismissals related to the Black Lives Matter protests have sparked significant scrutiny and debate. In several instances, the decisions were seen as part of a larger strategy to eliminate obstacles to the administration's vision of governance.
In addition to the Justice Department's actions, the Trump administration placed approximately 60 senior staff members at USAID on leave. This decision aligned with their perceived attempts to undermine the President's executive orders. It highlights a persistent effort to restructure federal agencies to align with the current administration's policies and strategic objectives.
The firings have sparked discussions about the potential implications these actions could have on the integrity and independence of federal prosecutions. Critics argue that such moves could erode public trust in the impartiality of the federal judiciary and law enforcement agencies. The administration, however, contends that these actions are vital to preventing the recurrence of politicized prosecutions that have plagued prior administrations.
The alterations within the Department of Justice mark a significant chapter in the Trump administration's ongoing effort to reform its federal entities. By eliminating prosecutors perceived as obstructive to the President's agenda, the department seeks to foster an environment more conducive to the execution of its policies.
As the administration continues its efforts to streamline and align federal agencies with its objectives, the question remains as to how these changes will impact the Justice Department's capacity to function independently. Proponents within the administration assert that the restructuring is essential for efficiency and accountability within the government.
Meanwhile, observers and critics are closely monitoring these developments to assess their long-term effects on the functionality and reputation of national institutions. The extent to which the Justice Department can maintain its independence while implementing the administration's agenda remains an open question, as does the broader impact on federal governance.
Through these significant efforts to "drain the swamp," the Trump administration is positioning itself to redefine the role and influence of federal agencies, aiming for a governance model that aligns more closely with its envisioned objectives and priorities.
Elon Musk is working with Boeing on speeding up the replacement of Air Force One.
"We've been engaged with Elon," Boeing's new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, told CNBC's Squawk On The Street.
President Trump signed a contract with the company during his first term to replace the president's planes, but Boeing is years behind schedule and $2 billion past its budget, CNBC reported.
The two Boeing 747s were supposed to be completed in 2024, but it's unclear if they will be ready before Trump's second term in office is over.
During his first term, Trump struck a $3.9 billion fixed-price agreement to replace the president's fleet, leaving Boeing on the hook for any extra costs. Trump had threatened to cancel Boeing's contract, accusing the company of ripping off taxpayers with its original deal.
“Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion,” Trump wrote in December 2016. “Cancel order!”
Now that Trump is back in office, the president is anxious to see his deal carried out.
Trump's close adviser Elon Musk, who owns spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX, is working with Boeing on ways to speed things up. Musk is leading President Trump's initiative on eliminating waste in the federal government, the Department of Government Efficiency.
"The president wants those planes sooner so we're working with Elon to see what can we do to pull up the schedule of those programs," Ortberg said.
“They sincerely are looking at things in the contract or in the process that are slowing us down that are not providing value,” he said.
Boeing reported heavy losses last year as a major worker's strike brought manufacturing to a halt. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The company has been plagued by production problems and safety concerns with its planes. A pair of 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed hundreds of people, and an in-flight door blowout on a 737 MAX last year brought the company under closer scrutiny.
President Trump's fondness for Air Force One is well-known, and he has expressed excitement about putting his personal stamp on the iconic plane, which hasn't been replaced in decades.
The president has long said he wants to update the baby blue color scheme, in use since the Kennedy years.
“We want power blue, not baby blue,” Trump told journalists abord Air Force One recently. “Everything has its time and place. We’ll be changing the colors.”