This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The scandal for Democrats in Colorado, where their party member, Secretary of State Jena Griswold, posted voting machine passwords online in preparation for the 2024 vote, just got worse.

A recording has been revealed that confirms Griswold and members of her office had no intention of telling either county clerks or the voting public about the disaster, before it became public with an announcement from Republicans in the state.

It is Colorado Peak Politics that confirms the leaked recording has a deputy state official "telling election clerks they didn't plan to inform them of the online password security breach because it would cause a media frenzy of bad publicity."

WND previously reported that an investigation now is under way into the actions by Griswold.

She had schemed with all Democrats on the state Supreme Court to try to take now President-elect Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot, and was rebuked by the U.S. Supreme Court.

She also played an integral role when Tina Peters, then a clerk in Mesa County, made a copy of the 2020 election results from her county and, in the course, exposed briefly an election systems password. She was sentenced to years in prison.

It was Westword that had reported the office of the Denver district attorney is investigating, with help from the district attorney in El Paso County.

"Officials believe the leak originated in Secretary of State Jena Griswold's Denver-based office, but it involved current passwords for voting equipment in 34 Colorado counties, including El Paso," the report said.

The Peak Politics report said, "Griswold and her team kept that secret for five days before the state Republican Party blew the whistle that hundreds of passwords needed to access voting equipment once inside county election offices had been leaked online."

"The recording of Griswold's deputy state secretary, Chris Beall, telling clerks about the security breach reveals the complete lack of transparency and professionalism in how Griswold's office dealt with the crisis," the report said.

The report noted the passwords were changed "only" after the security failure became public.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A worker has won his fight with a union over its insistence on withholding "assessments" from his paycheck, claiming that the Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME applied only to "dues."

The Liberty Justice Center is the organization that announced the result for plumber Nicolo Giangrasso.

It reported the UA Local 9 in the region has agreed to settle, prompting the legal action in court to be dropped.

Liberty Justice Center had charged that it does not matter whether the union calls money "dues" or "assessments," it still has no authority to take it under Supreme Court precedent.

"In its landmark 2018 decision Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court found that public employees have a First Amendment right to decide whether to join or financially support a union. The court also held that unless workers give their 'affirmative consent' to waive that right, a union cannot legally withhold any union dues or other fees from their paychecks," the legal team explained.

At that time, Giangrasso, a New Jersey plumber employed by the Hamilton Township School District, resigned his union membership and requested the union stop deducting dues from his paychecks.

However, the legal team noted, the union simply refused, making the claim the high court impacted only "dues" and not its "assessments."

A federal lawsuit followed shortly and the Liberty Justice Center explained to the court it doesn't matter what the union calls the money it takes, it's not allowed to do that.

It's because the Supreme Court's opinion specifically cited 'any other form of payment."

The result was the union agreed to settle the fight.

"It should not have taken a lawsuit for the union to honor Mr. Giangrasso's First Amendment rights," said Jeffrey Schwab, lawyer at the Liberty Justice Center. "But we are proud to have taken a stand for his constitutional rights and will continue to challenge union policies that violate workers' rights across the country."

Details of the settlement were not immediately released.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

X ablaze with unconfirmed rumors Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamanei either died or is in a coma

Several social media posts emerged on Saturday alleging that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei slipped into a coma. As was to be expected, there was no official confirmation of a worsening of the supreme leader's health.

Report: Israel destroyed top secret Iranian nuclear testing site

The Israeli airstrikes on Iran last month destroyed a secret nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin, 19 miles southeast of Tehran, Axios reported on Friday.

"This is equipment the Iranians would need in the future if they want to make progress toward a nuclear bomb. Now they don't have it anymore, and it is not trivial. They will need to find another solution, and we will see it," an Israeli official stated.

Hezbollah media relations chief eliminated in IAF airstrike on Beirut

An IAF strike on a densely populated district of Beirut on Sunday killed Hezbollah's media relations chief Mohammad Afif, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters on Sunday.

Hezbollah rocket strikes Haifa synagogue causing extensive damage

A synagogue in the northern port city of Haifa was heavily damaged by a Hezbollah rocket strike this evening. The building is part of the Avot Ubanim synagogue complex in Haifa's Carmel quarter.

88 Congressional Democrats call for sanctions on Smotrich, Ben Gvir

The letter calls for sanctions under a new executive order by the Biden administration earlier this year for individuals and groups responsible for "inciting violence" in Judea and Samaria. The lawmakers' letter calling for the aggressive move against the Israeli officials was sent at the end of October, but was not released publicly until Thursday, after the Biden administration declined to withhold additional weaponry from Israel, as some progressive Democrats had demanded.

Wikipedia editors who recently added Gaza to list of 'genocides,' found to be colluding within Israel-Palestine topic area

After heated debate, Wikipedia editors rename 'Allegations of genocide in the 2023 Israeli attack on Gaza' to 'Gaza genocide'; discussion's bias against Israel and disregard for opposing views highlight issues of political agendas on platform.

South Africa's 'genocide' case against Israel in ICJ has Iran, Qatar's fingerprints all over it

South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), brought its case against Israel on Dec. 29, 2023, just three months after Hamas's terror spree left more than 1,200 dead and hundreds more kidnapped. The suit alleges Israel is committing mass genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip but offers little evidence to support this claim. Nevertheless, more than a dozen countries have joined the suit over the last year, elevating international pressure on Israel as the Jewish state fights to survive.

Report: IDF removes northern border roadblocks as potential for residents to return home increases

The IDF has reportedly removed roadblocks on the northern border which were to prevent civilians from driving on roads that were exposed to anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon.

According to a report by Army Radio, all of the military roadblocks on the Lebanon border were removed in recent days, ahead of a possible return of the displaced residents of the north to their homes.

Canadian city cancels Sinwar vigil, whom the organizing group labeled 'our Mandela'

The anti-Israel organization 'Canadian Defenders for Human Rights' announced the cancellation of a conference in memory of the eliminated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar that was scheduled to take place in Mississauga, west of Toronto on Nov. 26.

Azerbaijan claims Israel president's non-appearance at climate confab down to Ankara's refusal to allow jet to use Turkish airspace
A news website from Azerbaijan, which is considered the government mouthpiece claims the real reason President Isaac Herzog canceled his visit to the climate conference in Baku – which officially was put down to 'security concerns' is actually because of Ankara's refusal to allow Herzog's plane – Wings of Zion – to fly across Turkish airspace on its way to the meeting.

Flares fired at Netanyahus' private Caesarea residence

For the second time in a month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private home in Caesarea has been attacked; this time following the firing of a few flares and by domestic citizens rather than a drone fired by Hezbollah. The PM and his family were not present at the time.

Pope calls for probe into whether Israel is committing 'genocide' in Gaza

Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel's attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released Sunday from an upcoming new book ahead of the pontiff's jubilee year.

It's the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel's attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been "immoral" and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

JERUSALEM – A clearer picture of Israel's remarkable attack on Iran in late October emerged over the last few days as the full extent of the targets struck – and their importance – to the Islamic Republic came into sharper focus.

The satellite imagery available shortly after the strikes (as in within a few hours) strongly suggested that Israel's unprecedented strike – which came in a wave of sorties and was carried out by anywhere between one-third and a half of Israel's entire air force – had caused significant damage to a number of critical Iranian sites, including those associated with its clandestine nuclear program.

In the immediate aftermath of the strikes, former IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus told CNN, "Of course the Iranian regime would want to play down the success of Israeli strikes, but there's a lot of visual and radar information, as well as reports from the ground, will confirm the damage at locations such as the nuclear site in Parchin."

It can now be confirmed Iran "was actively conducting research that would support construction of a nuclear device – a process known as weaponization – at a site the Israeli Air Force destroyed during its Oct. 25 counterstrike against the Islamic Republic, an Axios report revealed on Nov. 15. The small building, known as Taleghan 2, was located within Iran's Parchin military complex," according to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

The Taleghan 2 facility in the Parchin military complex which was destroyed in the strike was used prior to 2003 for testing explosives needed to set off a nuclear device, according to the Institute for Science and International Security. Both the U.S. and Israel were deeply concerned earlier this year about what appeared to be a resumption of Iranian weaponization research activities. This included unnamed U.S. and Israeli officials expressing concern Iran was engaged in computer modeling and metallurgical research useful in building nuclear weapons. However, the reports which followed these allegations from intelligence figures neither elaborated on the nature of the research nor Iran's motivation for carrying it out.

An unclassified assessment sent to Congress in July by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said that since 2020, Iran has "undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so."

The ODNI assessment, meanwhile, omitted an assertion, made in its 2023 report to Congress, about Iran "not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons development activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device."

All of this serves to muddy the waters, as officially the fatwa – or religious edict – which the Islamic Republic's supposedly ailing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei imposed against the development of nuclear weapons officially remains in place. However, Iran's recent conduct would strongly suggest those pushing for the removal of the ban would seem to be winning the day.

Israel's strike against the Taleghan 2 facility is also noteworthy because of the message it sent, with arguably multiple recipients. When confirming the strike, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Biden White House the IAF had not targeted Iran's nuclear facilities. To a large extent this was true, at least not the more visible elements of it. However, Israel justified hitting Taleghan because it argued it was part of the Islamic Republic's undeclared nuclear program – and therefore, fair game.

Among a whole series of messages sent to Iran across the broad sweep of strikes dotted around the country, the targeting of Taleghan confirmed Israel had a very good idea of what was really going on – and it had the capability to not only disrupt, but severely retard the nuclear weaponization going on there. This was clearly another hit to Iran's prestige – both domestic and foreign, because it again highlighted how compromised its security apparatus is.

Targeting Taleghan also sent a more subtle message to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in particular and the wider international community in general. Israel effectively said, "We don't care what the Iranians have been telling you – and whether inspectors are permitted at Iran's official nuclear sites or not – or whether the regime is giving them the runaround – we know what's going on and where it's taking place. Not only that, we don't fully trust you to take care of this existential issue – so we are showing we have the willingness and the capability to take it on ourselves."

Despite its bellicose bluster, Iran has yet to respond – as it promised to do – to Israel's retaliation for its own Oct. 1 ballistic missile strike. Several variables have shifted – perhaps momentously – since it unleashed those 181 projectiles at the Jewish state, which might be staying its hand. Israel's strike is known to have completely taken out its most advanced air defense systems – the Russian-made S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft batteries. Images of antiquated flak guns trying to take out F-35 stealth bombers and F-15 fighter jets over the darkened skies of Tehran will linger long in the memory. Iran is effectively naked against Israel's air power. Not only do the Iranians know it, they know the Israelis know it too.

The other major – and obvious – development is the reelection of Donald J. Trump as America's 47th president. The admixture of his bombast and unpredictability, and including highly credible evidence Iran targeted him for assassination following the elimination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Qassem Soleimani, means the mullahs in Tehran are somewhat on their heels.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The state of Texas, like the rest of America, is confronted now with an exploding mental health and substance abuse crisis, with what has been called a "dire shortage" of professional social workers to help people cope.

So it banned two workers, grandmothers with master's degrees, from the industry, because they'd been involved in assault cases years ago when they both were fighting substance abuse problems.

And the state is getting sued over its restrictions.

It is the Institute for Justice that has sued the state on behalf of Katherin Youniacutt and Tammy Thompson, saying they should not be punished permanently for past mistakes during troubled times from which they have fled.

It is the Texas Constitution that protects Texans' right to earn an honest living in an occupation of their choosing without unreasonable government interference, and a state ban on them pursuing social work that appears to conflict.

"No one should be permanently barred from a job because of irrelevant criminal convictions," said IJ lawyer James Knight. "Katherin and Tammy made mistakes and paid for them. Permanently punishing them doesn't protect the public. It just makes it harder for people to pull themselves up and provide for their families. That's unconstitutional."

The substance abuse issues and related problems all came about more than a decade ago.

The institute said they have "turned their lives around and want to help people who have faced similar problems."

The lawyers noted it is a 2019 law adopted in the state that "permanently bars people with an assault conviction from obtaining a social work license," and that has destroyed plans by the two for helping people after the two worked on their dreams.

"Previously, the board in charge of licensing had the discretion to award licenses to those with convictions based on evidence presented to them. Now, its hands are tied, and even people like Katherin and Tammy with over a decade of good behavior and years of training must be categorically denied without a hearing," the IJ explained.

Youniacutt explained, "All I want is to help people so they won't make the same mistakes I did. Texas isn't just punishing me, it's punishing all the people I could be helping right now."

Thompson, in a statement released by her lawyers, said, "I've spent decades turning my life around and years preparing for the chance to work as a social worker. People should be able to prove they've moved on, but in Texas, the past is all that seems to matter."

The IJ said its work includes fighting those "permanent punishment laws" across the nation, and it already has handled battles in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Maryland.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A parent's criticism of a school teacher's decision to spout anti-Semitic comments about Israel is protected by the Constitution as well as state law, a top-flight legal team is arguing in defense of the parent in a defamation claim by the teacher.

A report from the American Center and Law and Justice explained the fight is over comments by Michelle Bernstein, a parent in an Illinois school district, about the anti-Semitic claims from the local school theater director.

"Our Founders recognized the paramount importance of free speech and a free press when they enshrined those liberties in the First Amendment. They understood that unfettered debate on public issues is essential for self-governance and that the free exchange of ideas is the best antidote to the darkness of censorship and tyranny," the ACLJ explained in its report.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

China's President Xi Jinping arrived in Peru Thursday, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Summit in Lima, where he will meet with U.S President Joe Biden amid a brewing trade war between the world's two largest economies,

The two presidents are scheduled to meet on Saturday, according to AFP, with one U.S. administration official stating this will likely be the last meeting between Biden and Xi before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told AFP the 21-member nations of APEC will be announcing the creation of a secretariat to ensure the alliance "will be an enduring feature of American policy in the Indo-Pacific going forward."

China has been building up its presence in developing countries under its Belt and Road Initiative, which provides infrastructure projects. One such project is the Chinese-funded building of a massive megaport north of Lima, in Chancay.

Xi virtually inaugurated the megaport from the presidential palace alongside Peru's President Dina Boluarte shortly after Xi's arrival which came with an enthusiastic amount of pageantry and fanfare.

Brian Nichols, a top U.S. diplomat to Latin America, warned Latin American nations should be vigilant on investment with China going forward. China owning one of the largest ports in South America gives it unfettered access to the East Pacific Ocean and its fishing grounds.

According to the Associated Press, the mega port project cost Chinese shipping company Cosco a reported $1.3 billion and will become an important part of the global economy.

However, some locals in Chancay have voiced concerns about the Chinese-owned port, and are saying there is little opportunity for them to prosper. One-third of the town's population does not have running water or appropriate sanitation, and Peruvian fishermen told the AP the dredging of the port has killed off fish breeding grounds.

"Our fishing spots no longer exist here. They destroyed them… I don't blame the Chinese for trying to mine this place for all it's worth. I blame our government for not protecting us," an elderly fisherman reportedly told the AP.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Voters across America already may be familiar with the case of Douglass Mackey, known online as Ricky Vaughn, who in 2016 went to social media with a joke about voting for Hillary Clinton in that year's presidential election by text message.

It was, actually, just an updated version of an election meme that's been around for years. Depending on the political persuasion, it has appeared before as "Democrats vote on Tuesday, Republicans on Wednesday," or vice versa.

But authorities failed to see Mackey's humor, charged him with election interference, specifically., "conspiring with others in advance of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election to use various social media platforms to disseminate misinformation designed to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote."

Prosecutors claimed someone "might" have believed it. He was convicted and handed a jail term although he took that to the appeals court.

Now there have been at least two similar stunts during the 2024 election, won in a landslide by President-elect Donald Trump.

But authorities seem interested in neither.

The Daily Caller outlined the latest event: The left-wing AllVote which sent text messages to voters telling them they'd already voted.

That message was: "Records show you voted. Find where to vote early by on-demand mail ballot."

The report explained, "The same Justice Department that threw a pro-Trump memesmith in prison for 'election misinformation' is currently nowhere to be found after a left-wing group sent false election information to untold numbers of swing state voters."

The leftists later sent another text apologizing for the "error."

AllVote claimed it did not intend to mislead.

The report noted, "The DOJ has not prosecuted or made a statement on AllVote, though at least one state official raised a red flag. A government official in New Mexico said the texts are 'something that the feds really need to look at and crack down on.'"

The report pointed out the Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney's Office and the Illinois Attorney General's Office did not respond to questions about an investigation or prosecution.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The woke editorial chief of the Scientific American, apparently the nation's oldest magazine with a launch date of 1845, has delivered a vitriolic anti-Trump screed.

And then quit.

Podcaster Ian Miles Cheong explained, "Laura Helmuth, the woke imbecile who destroyed the once celebrated Scientific American by turning it into a woke propagandist rag, has resigned. Pressure from X, notably from Elon Musk, likely forced her resignation."

A report at the Post Millennial explained Helmuth quit as editor-in-chief "after going on a viral tirade against President-elect Donald Trump, calling his supporters 'fascists' and 'bigots'…"

The departure was announced in a post on a leftist social media side.

"I've decided to leave Scientific American after an exciting 4.5 years as editor-in-chief. I'm going to take some time to think about what comes next (and go bird watching), but for now, I'd like to share a very small sample of the work I've been so proud to support," she wrote.

She had been facing a multitude of calls for her to leave.

She had written, "Every four years I remember why I left Indiana (where I grew up) and remember why I respect the people who stayed and are trying to make it less racist and sexist. The moral arc of the universe isn't going to be itself."

Then she offensively added, "Solidarity to everybody whose meanest, dumbest, most bigoted high-school classmates are celebrating early results because f— them to the moon and back. I apologize to younger voters that my Gen X is so full of f—— fascists."

It was under her agenda that the previously apolitical magazine turned left, endorsing Joe Biden and then Kamala Harris.

When the outraged reaction appeared, she said, "I made a series of offensive and inappropriate posts on my personal Bluesky account on election night, and I am sorry."

The New York Post explained Helmuth was faced with "fierce backlash for her expletive-filled online tirade."

Pointedly, a social media commenter had challenged her with: "Does the editor-in-chief of Scientific American seem like someone who is entirely dedicated to uncompromising scientific integrity? Or does she seem like a political activist who has taken over a scientific institution?"

Elon Musk, a top Trump supporter, responded, "The latter."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Democrat pundits stoking fear among legal migrants, but president-elect wants to remove undocumented Chinese nationals who crossed the southern border illegally at the height of Biden's border crisis

As the threat to national security from China continues, undocumented Chinese migrants could be the first on President-elect Donald Trump's deportation list once he takes office in January.

According to NBC News, a source close to the Trump campaign said the president wants to remove undocumented Chinese nationals who crossed the southern border illegally at the height of President Joe Biden's border crisis.

The source cited the potential risk to national security, which is not unfounded as the FBI recently admitted China is using remote hackers to steal American intellectual property and other sensitive information through U.S. telecommunications companies.

Executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund Bethany Li told NBC News targeting "military age" undocumented Chinese migrants is another way to demonize China.

"We know that both the state and federal government have deemed China as a national security threat… We saw this in World War II with Japanese Americans incarcerated. We saw this post-9/11 with Muslim and South Asian men being detained and some deported."

Li further stated that Chinese migrants flee to the U.S. because of poverty and dissatisfaction with China's government.

"It's another way of casting our community as an enemy. It might not even make any logical sense from a national security perspective, but our communities on the ground here in the U.S. will feel the impact," Li said.

Since Trump's victory, Democrat pundits like MSNBC's Joy Reid have been fueling fear and reporting the Trump administration could deport green card holders and naturalized citizens, as well as undocumented migrants across the board.

Other outlets have also been stoking that fear.

However, past comments during his presidential campaign show Trump was not referring to migrants who enter the U.S. legally through a port-of-entry, and have a legal right to stay in the U.S. Trump called the rumor "fake news."

Trump has reiterated many times that the U.S. needs more people to immigrate legally, and this does not include those who would cause harm to the American people through crimes like murder and drug dealing.