This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Israel/Middle East Morning Brief
Trump's Defense Secretary pick questions why Muslim leaders deny Judaism's connection to Temple Mount
"Muslim leaders and groups deny the temple of the Bible? Why deny history? Worse, why destroy history (as has been happening on the Temple Mount in recent years)? Because if you deny (and destroy) Jewish claims to the Temple and the old city of Jerusalem, you can justify denying Jews further influence in the city. By denying the Temple, you deny the State of Israel. By denying the Temple, you rally the outside world to see Israel as an 'occupying force.'"
U.S. envoy Hochstein says 'real opportunity' to end conflict between Israel and Hezbollah
U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein urged Israel, Lebanon, and the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah to seize the present opportunity and agree to a ceasefire that would end the war that has raged since Oct. 8 of last year.
"We have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end," Hochsten told reporters in Beirut, adding, "This is a moment of decision-making."
Biden/Blinken threatened Netanyahu with cutting off military aid to prevent Rafah offensive
"The U.S. had reservations and suggested that we not enter Gaza," said Netanyahu in the Knesset plenum on Monday. "It had reservations about entering Gaza City, Khan Younis, and, most critically, strongly opposed entry into Rafah."
Hezbollah rocket strike on central Israel wounds 5, one seriously
Five people were wounded in central Israel on Monday night, one of them seriously, by a rocket launched by Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist group.
A 54-year-old woman was listed as being in serious condition, while four other people sustained moderate-to-light wounds, according to Israel's Magen David Adom emergency response organization.
IDF 'shocked' at amount of Russian-made weapons amid captured Hezbollah stockpiles
A full 60-70% of weapons found in southern Lebanon at the start of the IDF's ground invasion were Russian-made; experts were unsure whether they were taken from Syria or signaled increased cooperation between Russia and Hezbollah.
E.U., U.K. impose further sanctions on Iran over military supply to Russia; Israel calls them 'necessary steps'
The European Union and the United Kingdom announced on Nov. 18 that new sanctions were being imposed on Iranian entities due to Tehran's transfer of drones and ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine, as well as to Iranian proxies around the Middle East.
IDF artillery moved to southern Lebanon for the first time since 2000
The IDF has advanced several artillery batteries into southern Lebanon in recent days, the military stated, thus improving its firepower, possibly ahead of a broadening of the IDF's maneuvers in the area.
The IDF stated on Sunday that the 282nd artillery brigade has been fighting on the northern border in recent months, attacking targets to assist the maneuvering forces with artillery fire.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Over the last few days or so, those wondering whether the Biden administration would take out some of its frustration at Donald J. Trump's blow-out election victory, as well as a lingering dislike of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – whom they tried so desperately to remove from office – on the state he leads, received their answer.
On Monday, Biden and his team imposed a new round of sanctions against three Israeli individuals and three organizations, including the Amana development group, which it accuses of undermining "peace, security and stability" in Judea and Samaria.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the sanctions were in response to the six targets for "violence against civilians and destruction and dispossession of property in the West Bank [sic]."
He further called on Jerusalem to "take action and hold accountable those responsible for or complicit in violence, forced displacement, and the dispossession of private land."
This is a particularly sticky issue upon which to focus; as was pointed out in WND's article "Can a clash between competing claims be prevented in Judea and Samaria?" https://www.wnd.com/2024/11/can-a-clash-between-competing-claims-be-prevented-in-judea-and-samaria/
It argued there are significant parts of Judea and Samaria, which are not part of Palestinian Authority-administered land according to current international agreements, and upon which there are illegal Arab structures.
One of the main targets of the sanctions is the construction company Amana, whose founder is Ze'ev Hever.
"The sanctions we were informed of today are a result of baseless slanders hurled at Amana by hostile and extreme elements. Had the American administration bothered to examine them, rather than rely on such malicious publications, it would have discovered that they indeed lack factual basis and would have refrained from acting against us," Hever said, according to Israeli news site Arutz 7.
He added that despite the challenges the settlement movement has faced over the last few years including building freezes under pressure from the Biden administration, he fully expected the sanctions to be reversed shortly after Trump assumes office.
Canada, which seems to have entirely become captured by a pro-Palestinian tilt that has infected the entire country very much including the educational system, imposed sanctions on Amana in June. In addition to Amana, the Biden administration announced it had imposed sanctions on Amana's subsidiary Binyanei Bar Amana and on the Judean Mountains Company, which are involved in construction throughout Judea and Samaria.
Additionally, sanctions were imposed on three Israelis. Shabtai Kushlevski was sanctioned for his activities in the organization Hashomer Yosh, which itself has been sanctioned in the past. This organization views its role – like its more illustrious forebear did in the Yishuv pre-state period – to protect farmers and farmland from attacks from Arabs. Meanwhile, the organization's opponents claim it is a violent driver of settler land theft in Judea and Samaria (except they would use the term West Bank).
Itamar Yehuda Levi was sanctioned for his activities in the construction company Eyal Judean Mountains Company, as well as Zohar Sabah from the town of Mevo'ot Yericho, who was also implicated in the attack on the Al-Ka'abneh elementary school near Jericho in September 2024 which injured several Palestinians at the school, Arutz 7 reported.
Samaria Regional Council governor Yossi Dagan said he wanted to work with the incoming Trump administration to remove the sanctions, and he also had words of criticism for Netanyahu, whom he accused of not pushing back hard enough against the move.
"The decision to impose sanctions on the Amana company – this is the swan song of the Biden administration," Dagan stated. "It is an act hostile and cynical toward the only democracy in the Middle East, a government that dares to extort its strategic partner, the state of Israel, which is fighting for its survival, through denial of armaments, now dares to attack the bodies and organizations of the State of Israel."
On Feb. 1, U.S. President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14115, sanctioning "persons undermining peace, security and stability in the West Bank [sic]." The order cited "high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages and property destruction." In addition, it blocks property and interests held in America which belong to any designated individual and prohibits U.S. citizens from contributing or providing funds, goods and services to or to benefit those designated.
Shortly following its implementation, the U.S. embassy in Israel would neither confirm the source nor the methodology used to determine who falls under the executive order. Israeli investigative journalist Elchanan Groner of the Hakol HaYehudi news site – who has found himself blocked on the X platform – told Israel's Channel 14 news that the sanctions are, in fact, based on statistics compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which is known to gather a significant amount of data on so-called "settler-related violence," according to journalist Josh Hasten.
OCHA, in whose interests it is to inflate the statistics regarding "settler violence," admitted the category labeled "Incidents involving Israeli settlers" included "Palestinians killed or injured during attacks or alleged attacks they perpetrated against Israeli settlers."
The announcement of sanctions follows reporting from Thursday in which 15 U.S. senators and 68 members of the House of Representatives – all from the Democratic Party – sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to impose sanctions on Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Finance and National Security ministers, respectively. In addition, they called for the imposition of sanctions on the Regavim Movement, on the ground that Regavim's "incitement" has resulted in violence, and its activities seek to "prevent Palestinian construction in the West Bank" – actions that resulted in the forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes."
A Regavim press release muscularly countered these claims. "The sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on civil society organizations, based solely on their political orientation, is tantamount to the banning of free speech. This is the definition of dictatorship. The outgoing administration has imposed sanctions on a host of Israeli individuals and organizations at the forefront of the settlement enterprise, as well as grassroots protest movements whose only "sin" is their opposition to current U.S. policy."
The movement also pointed out the use of sanctions is ordinarily reserved for "last-ditch action against drug lords, internationally sanctioned criminals, terrorists and dictators." They argued its use against ordinary civilians of an allied dictatorship was unprecedented, labeling it a "disgrace to the Biden administration."
"The lame ducks in Congress are using their final moments of power to amplify and expand the most anti-democratic maneuver of the Biden Administration. As a result of the sanctions imposed under Executive Order 14115, President Biden will be judged by history for the bald-faced attempt to prevent public debate, to silence political opponents, to deny freedom of speech and to make reasoned debate impossible."
It is probable the incoming Trump administration – especially if the pick of Mike Huckabee as U.S. ambassador to Israel is a barometer of the direction of travel – will quickly dismantle the sanctions against these individuals and groups. And whether there is a ceasefire in Gaza and/ or Lebanon, the issue of Jewish sovereignty over Judea and Samaria will almost certainly become an increasingly contested issue over the length of the Trump presidency.
A guard at Buckingham Palace has been fired after losing a bullet while on patrol and then lying about it, the New York Post reported. Royal Protection Officer Stephen Cotgreave said he feels "stupid, ashamed, and embarrassed."
Cotgreave was on patrol at the palace garden on Dec. 6, 2022, when he dropped the magazine from his pistol. One of the bullets fell out, and the armed guard, unaware of what had happened, failed to retrieve it.
The blunder became apparent when he brought the weapon back to the armory at the end of his shift. Rather than admitting his mistake, the 24-year law enforcement veteran insisted that he had no idea what happened to it.
This forced officials to search for the missing bullet because it posed a risk to the royal family. Surveillance footage caught the incident, and Cotgreave later faced a disciplinary inquiry.
A Royal Mess
Cotgreave's bullet remained lost for eight days until it was found in the area where the 48-year-old had dropped the magazine to his weapon. It was then that he decided it was time to come clean and tell the truth.
Cotgreave, who had an impeccable record before this incident, called the initial lie a "moment of madness." However, the disciplinary panel was not convinced.
"We find the culpability in this matter to be high as there was a deliberate course of conduct by the officer which posed a risk to the welfare of the public and the royal household," the panel chairman Harry Ireland KC said, according to the BBC. They ruled that Cotgreave was to be dismissed immediately, and he was fired on Friday.
The panel said Cotgreave's actions were an "abuse of trust, particularly as working in the royal household" because he thought that "concealing wrongdoing for eight days and lying to fellow officers on three occasions" was the solution. Cotgreave's reluctance to tell the truth put lives at risk.
"As a result of PC Cotgreave's short round, all the magazines were emptied, and a thorough account was conducted, and the loading bay was searched," Metropolitan Police spokesperson Unyime Davies said. Coincidentally, the bullet went missing on the same day that the King had an egg thrown at him in Luton, Bedfordshire.
Trouble at the Palace
This development comes on the heels of a burglary at Windsor Castle, home to Prince William, his wife Kate, and their three children, The New York Times reported. Intruders stole two vehicles after successfully breaking into a building on the estate's grounds on Oct. 13.
"Offenders entered a farm building and made off with a black Isuzu pickup and a red quad bike. No arrests have been made at this stage and an investigation is ongoing," a spokesperson for the Thames Valley Police said.
The thieves scaled a fence to access the property where they could steal the vehicles used on the estate's farm. They escaped with the vehicles by crashing them through a fence.
Nobody was hurt in the incident, but it is believed that the royal family was home when it happened. The family has spent considerable time at Windsor Castle as of late while Kate was recovering from cancer.
The royal family must always be protected from such threats that are likely a constant concern. Unfortunately, it seems those charged with doing so have fallen short, and these are just the incidents the public is aware of.
The House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS) said over the weekend that it is likely to release its report on the investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), which could potentially throw a monkey wrench into his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump to be Attorney General.
Gaetz stepped down from the House as soon as Trump nominated him, meaning that technically, he is no longer under the purview of the committee.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) opposed releasing the report and personally conveyed this sentiment to Guest over the weekend, to no avail.
“I appreciate Mike reaching out,” Guest told Politico. “I don’t see it having an impact on what we as a committee ultimately decide.”
Impending decision
A decision on whether to release the report will happen Wednesday when the committee meets.
The investigation involved in part whether Gaetz paid women for sex, and paid for them to travel across state lines for sex. One of the women allegedly involved said she was 17 at the time of some of the encounters.
The Justice Department investigated the allegations for several years and declined to press any charges against him.
The Trump transition team spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said of the allegations against Gaetz,
Matt Gaetz will be the next Attorney General. He's the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system. These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration. The Biden Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing.
Call for reform
At this year's CPAC convention, Gaetz was vocal about the need to stop members of Congress including Guest, from trading individual stocks.
"For the same reason you don’t let the umpire bet on the game, members of congress should not be allowed to trade individual stocks,” he said. “How about the Ethics Committee take up those reforms?"
“He has become a brilliant stock trader while in office, and I admire the obvious genius,” Gaetz said of Guest. “He knew exactly the right time to buy online gambling stocks. His purchase in Evolution Gaming Securities netted him a hefty 36 percent gain — not too shabby. Now, I’m not saying this is insider trading, but this monetary affair is perhaps the most suspicious I’ve seen since Fani Willis and Nathan Wade."
Gaetz posted on X in February about the ethics probe, “Word is, I now have problems with the Ethics Committee — which seems really odd to me because I’m the one screaming loudest for actual ethics reforms.”
It's possible that Gaetz is the only Republican congressman not to take money from PACs, for whatever that's worth.
Melania Trump's latest venture into digital artwork shows her commitment to the blockchain business despite her part-time White House presence.Melania Trump has launched a new series of digital images titled "On the Move," featuring her in various professional scenarios, Yahoo Entertainment reported.
These limited-edition photos are available for purchase on her website, signaling her ongoing involvement in the blockchain and NFT market.
The collection consists of 16 images, each portraying Melania Trump in settings such as the campaign trail and her office. This venture into digital art via blockchain technology showcases her multifaceted career beyond her role in politics.
Exploring the Technical Side of Melania's NFTs
Each digital image in the "On the Move" series is sold for nearly $200. These are not just simple pictures; they are minted on the Solana blockchain, known for its eco-friendly approach to digital transactions.
The use of the Solana blockchain is significant. Fox News, through MSN, highlights its status as an "eco-friendly proof-of-stake blockchain protocol." This choice reflects a growing awareness of the environmental impact of digital technologies.
Blockchain technology, as explained by IBM, is a system that records transactions securely online, often associated with cryptocurrencies and digital collectibles like NFTs.
Continuous Engagement in the Blockchain Space
Melania Trump's engagement with blockchain technology began in 2021, post her tenure in the White House. Since then, she has actively participated in this market by releasing various themed NFTs, including holiday ornaments.
Her consistent release of new NFTs suggests a strong commitment to her blockchain endeavors. This is part of a broader trend of celebrities entering the digital space, leveraging their images and art in new forms.
The blockchain and NFT industry, while innovative, has faced criticism. Concerns over scams, intellectual property disputes, and the environmental toll of earlier blockchain technologies linger, marking this sector as controversial.
Part-Time White House Presence, Full-Time Innovator
Despite Donald Trump's return to the White House, Melania has maintained a part-time presence there, focusing instead on her burgeoning digital enterprise.
This balance highlights her independent pursuits outside of her responsibilities as the former First Lady.
"It’s being sold on her website for nearly $200, and is being sold on Solana blockchain, which is an ‘eco-friendly proof-of-stake blockchain protocol,’ per Fox News via MSN," reports one source, emphasizing the dual focus on innovation and environmental consciousness.
Reflecting on her continued involvement in the NFT market, a commentator notes, "So it seems that despite the Trump family going back to the White House, Melania may be keeping up this side hustle, especially since she’s reportedly only been at the White House part-time."
Just when Kamala Harris' brutal loss could not get any more humiliating, a senator from her own side is coming out and acknowledging that President-elect Donald Trump has never been stronger.
John Fetterman (D), of Pennsylvania, conceded the sobering reality that Trump is the "strongest that he's been" in the three election cycles since his upset in 2016.
Senator concedes to Trump
Fetterman was elected in 2022 as a progressive, but he has since emerged as an occasional critic of the left.
While many Democrats have gone looking for scapegoats to explain the 2024 outcome, Fetterman had warned before the election that Trump was connecting with Pennsylvanians.
“I have already claimed that it’s going to be incredibly close, and I’ve also claimed that Trump is the strongest that he’s been in the three cycles there,” Fetterman told CNN's State of the Union.
Fetterman attributed Trump's win to support from Elon Musk and the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump shocked the world by dodging a bullet and then raising his fist in defiance.
Now, Trump is returning to D.C. with Republican majorities in both houses of Congress.
“And now things that were really unique that happened: The assassination attempt – that was in Butler,” Fetterman said. “And then Musk. Musk is not just a typical kind of a surrogate. … Musk made himself really effective, and he was described as moving to Pennsylvania, and I do believe that helped move the needle in that too.”
Critics giving up?
Trump's victory in Pennsylvania sealed his path back to the White House, but he also swept every battleground state and even won the popular vote - a victory that eluded him in 2016.
“So Trump came in in the strongest position, and he carried Pennsylvania and carried all of the swing states. So that’s what, that’s what’s reflected, that he came in in a strong position,” Fetterman said, adding that, “it’s undeniable and here we are now because of a lot of the decisions that were made before the election.”
In another sign of Trump's strength, longtime critics of his have seemingly resigned themselves to his return.
Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the hosts of Morning Joe, reportedly met with Trump over the weekend to reconcile after years of bashing him.
Of course, some of Trump's critics have continued to challenge Trump's mandate, as a continued trickle of votes has brought his popular vote percentage below 50.
The left can quibble all they want with the results, but it won't change the outcome. Trump won, and he won big - and they're going to have to figure out where to go from here.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Israel/Middle East Morning Brief
Senate majority leader-elect warns ICC to drop Israel arrest warrants or face sanctions
U.S. Senate Majority Leader-elect Senator John Thune, R-S.D., on Sunday threatened the International Criminal Court, or ICC, with sanctions unless it reverses its pursuit of arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"If the ICC and its prosecutor do not reverse their outrageous and unlawful actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the Senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation, as the House has already done on a bipartisan basis."
Report: Hamas leaders leave NATO-allied Qatar, find safe haven in NATO member Turkey
Hamas' senior leadership has relocated from Qatar's capital Doha, to Turkey, Israel's Kan News public broadcaster reported Sunday evening. The report cited unnamed Israeli sources as confirming the move, which was said to have taken place in "recent days." Turkey has nixed the rumors suggesting the story is not true… which almost certainly means it is.
Despite ongoing war, Israel's economy grew nearly 4% in Q3 2024
Israel's economy unexpectedly received a boost in the July-September period as the country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized 3.8 percent over the third quarter. Consumer spending, one of the main drivers of economic activity, increased 8.6% in the third quarter, and investment in fixed assets soared 21.8%, while exports of goods and services rose 5.2%. Meanwhile, government spending dropped 10.8%.
In historic first, IDF female combat soldiers operate against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon
For the first time in Israel's military history, female combat soldiers entered Lebanon as part of an operational mission. Northern Command chief Maj.-Gen. Ori Gordin approved the deployment of a team from the combat intelligence battalion into southern Lebanon several weeks ago.
Families of American victims to sue Iran over Oct. 7 attack
Families of American victims of the Oct. 7 massacre and those killed in the Israel-Hamas War are suing Iran for its part in supporting the deadly attack.
The lawsuit has been brought on behalf of 256 US families and dozens of individuals against not only the Islamic Republic of Iran but also against Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Report: Iran encourages Hezbollah to accept ceasefire deal
Hezbollah submitted its response to the cease-fire proposal presented by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein Lebanon's LBCI channel reported late on Sunday. Hochstein is due to arrive in Beirut as early as Tuesday and receive the official Lebanese position.
Amsterdam mayor denies coordinated violence against Jews, Israelis was a 'pogrom'
Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said she regretted describing the violent attacks against Israeli soccer fans in her city as a pogrom, adding the term was used as a way to discriminate against the local Moroccan-Muslim community. She was not asked how else she would describe Telegram messages and recorded footage exclaiming "Hunt the Jews."
Amid regional tensions, Greece seeks $2 billion Iron Dome defense system from Israel
Greece is negotiating with Israel to develop a 2 billion euro ($2.11 billion) anti-aircraft and missile defense system similar to Israel's highly successful Iron Dome, according to Israeli and Greek officials.
Canada thwarts Iranian plot to assassinate former Jewish Canadian attorney general
According to reporting by the Globe and Mail, Canadian law-enforcement authorities recently foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate Irwin Cotler, a prominent human-rights advocate and outspoken critic of Tehran's leadership. His daughter, Michal Cotler-Wunsh, is a former member of Israel's Knesset.
Netanyahu aide jailed over security leaks put on suicide watch after noose found in cell
Eli Feldstein, a former spokesman and aide to Prime Minister Netanyahu and a central suspect in the Prime Minister's Office leaks affair, has been put under suicide prevention watch in prison, the Prison Service and Hebrew media report. The identity of the inmate was not released, although Israeli media has surmised it is Feldstein.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A priority for the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is to tackle the Deep State, the bureaucracy in Washington that is a self-perpetuating industry, to find what American taxpayers don't need or want.
And get rid of it.
One of the targets he's already identified is the Department of Education, which for the last 50 years or so has been expanding until it's now spending some $240 billion a year of taxpayer money.
And Trump's plan is getting a thumbs-up from an influential conservative leader, Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse.
"President-elect Donald J. Trump has said the Department of Education should be shut down – and I agree," Graham posted on social media. "Even President Ronald Reagan championed abolishing it and leaving decisions at the state and local level.
"The Department of Education has only existed since 1979, and we were better off without it. We have been spending billions of dollars for what? To dumb our children down? To teach them to disrespect the flag and our nation? To introduce them to sexual content at earlier ages including gay and transgender agendas? For them to be taught the lies of Critical Race Theory and DEI? To accomplish the woke agendas of teachers' unions? To have reading scores at near historic lows? To have students score lower in math than they did 20 years ago? To have 1/3 of U.S. school children score below their actual grade level? For the U.S. to rank a low 28th out of 37 countries of the world in math?
"I think we can do better. Put the parents back in the driver's seat and let schools come under state and local leadership," he explained.
The BBC noted that ridding the nation of the agency is one of the promises Trump has made.
The federal bureaucrats run student loan programs and those to help low-income students. They run the Pell grant program, support students with disabilities and enforce civil rights law.
But Republicans, for decades already, at least as far back as Ronald Reagan's campaign, have suggested getting rid of it, ending its campaign to impose "woke" politics on children such as gender ideology and Critical Race Theory.
They suggest the authority be returned to states, which run schools and other education industry components.
The report said, "Conservatives also argue that other education department functions, such as administering loans, should be handled instead by the U.S. Department of Treasury, and that civil rights infractions are the Department of Justice's domain."
The report noted Trump cannot shut down the agency by himself, and he would need congressional help.
"While Republicans have a majority in the Senate, they do not have 60 members in the upper chamber, so they would need to convince a few Democrats to vote to abolish the agency. There's zero chance of that," the report speculated.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
One of the most-talked-about plans in the coming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is the idea of "government efficiency."
In fact, he's picked billionaire business founder and leader Elon Musk to work on government waste, and now a report from the Washington Examiner lists the Internal Revenue Service as a possible target.
It's because hundreds of IRS workers still owe millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, and only a handful have been punished.
The report explained the IRS has confirmed in a letter to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, in an update of its report that 2,044 IRS workers had past-due balances of more than $12 million, and the problem remains.
Now, the IRS told Ernst, 860 workers still have not paid their overdue taxes, and only 20 of the 70 who "willfully evaded" paying taxes were removed.
The Washington Examiner said it obtained access to the letter from the IRS letter to Ernst, who said, "We haven't seen a tax revolt like this since the Boston Tea Party. If hardworking Americans dodge taxes, they are faced with steep fines and imprisonment, but it appears that tax collectors in Washington believe those rules are for thee but not for me."
It was a report back in July, requested by the senator, that found some 5,800 IRS and contractor workers owed about $50 million.
The Examiner said, "The July report prompted Ernst to introduce the Audit the IRS Act, which would require regular tax audits of agency employees and prohibit the IRS from hiring or continuing to employ tax evaders."
The controversy already has attracted Musk's attention, the report said, with his social media statement, "Looks like a lot of opportunity for @DOGE!" That refers to the Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump has picked Musk, along with onetime presidential candidate entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, to head the "efficiency" campaign to slash Washington's bureaucracy, excess rules and spending.
"While Elon Musk and the Trump administration are looking to eliminate waste, I can think of no better place to start than by firing every single IRS agent refusing to pay taxes," Ernst insisted in the Examiner report, while suggesting those scofflaws be referred to the Department of Justice.
"Our Criminal Investigation division has a well-established process for referring cases to DOJ, which includes, but is not limited to, cases involving current or former employees and contractors," IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told Ernst.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Amid the agenda imposed on Americans under the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration of racist ideology, Critical Race Theory, diversity programs and such, one of the new creations was the Racial Equity Consciousness Institute at the University of Pittsburgh.
It was to fight racism by "understanding" the "complex and pervasive ways it operates" and then teach people about a "racial equity consciousness framework" by giving them "guides, videos, articles" and more.
The founder, Ron Idoko, formerly of the school's "Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion" office, has said is work is successful and that "he has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from hundreds of participants and has also seen behavioral changes firsthand."
But, according to a report from Judicial Watch, there's "no material evidence."
So the solution, like most solutions in higher education, is to have American taxpayers spend money, in this case $5 million, "to research the effectiveness" of the special center.
Center promoters say "it is essential because 'systemic racism is an endemic public health crisis in the United States that has a profoundly negative impact on the mental and physical health of millions of people—focally, people of color.'"
Then, too, RECI reports "racism is a 'social virus' that metastasizes through a web of systems that sustains a reinforcing preponderance of racial inequities across multiple sectors of society."
"The institute claims to teach individuals about the racial equity consciousness framework by using narrative guides, videos, articles, open discussion and collaborative activities. To develop racial equity consciousness the institute teaches how to recognize racial oppression and advance racial liberation, examine racial identities and address racial biases, embrace racial diversity, and grow racial literacy, build racial empathy, and enhance racial stamina, acknowledge racial trauma, and foster racial healing, and gauge racial inequities and champion racial justice," the Judicial Watch report explained.
"This helps recognize histories and impacts of racial inequity, embraces the inclusion of all racial identity groups, builds compassionate connections across racial differences, and acknowledges emotional, mental, and physical impacts of racial oppression, among other things."
It addresses "thoughts, feelings and behaviors" through what is called a "structured cognitive behavioral training," which apparently is a therapy that "is designed to help individuals and communities actively develop and embody distinct cognitive behavioral traits toward racial equity through structured learning and practice."
Its website explains every person newly "committed to antiracism" then becomes "a source of positive change that radiates out into the world."
Judicial Watch reported, "Sounds fantastic but there is no concrete evidence that it is working. The research funded by the [National Institutes of Health] will focus on identifying the effectiveness of RECI training as well as other bias drills on diversity and attitudes that perpetuate systemic racism in healthcare outcomes, especially among marginalized communities."
Among the tests to be used is Magnetic Resonance Imaging which "looks for structural brain changes before and after the program."
So, Judicial Watch documented, "Uncle Sam will dole out millions to see if the institute actually helps combat the public health crisis of systemic racism."
