This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A congressional report, just as Democrats were starting meetings aimed as formally removing him from the party's 2024 presidential ticket amid riot fears in Chicago, has dealt the outgoing Joe Biden a massive blow: a determination that he is impeachable.

"First and foremost, overwhelming evidence demonstrates that President Biden participated in a conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family. Among other aspects of this conspiracy, the Biden family and their business associates received tens of millions of dollars from foreign interests by leading those interests to believe that such payments would provide them access to and influence with President Biden," said the report.

"As Vice President, President Biden actively participated in this conspiracy by, among other things, attending dinners with his family's foreign business partners and speaking to them by phone, often when being placed on speakerphone by Hunter Biden. For example, in 2014, Vice President Biden attended a dinner for Hunter Biden with Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina. Following the dinner, Baturina wired $3.5 million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton, a firm associated with Hunter Biden. Then, months later, as Hunter Biden and his business associates continued to solicit more money from Baturina, Vice President Biden participated in a phone call with Baturina and Hunter Biden where Vice President Biden told Baturina, 'you be good to my boy.' Moreover, President Biden knowingly participated in this conspiracy. Based on the totality of the evidence, it is inconceivable that President Biden did not understand that he was taking part in an effort to enrich his family by abusing his office of public trust."

However, the House report left it unclear whether or when they would push for an impeachment vote for Biden, who already has been encouraged to walk away from the office amid his publicly recognizable issues with cognitive decline.

The report, 291 pages, was assembled by three House committees that charged Biden profited from an influence-peddling scheme to enrich not just himself but also members of his family through foreign business dealings beginning in 2014.

"The committees present this information to the House of Representatives for its evaluation and consideration of appropriate next steps," the report said.

Democrats, who staged multiple – and failed – impeach and remove attempts against President Donald Trump, including one when he already was out of office, have criticize the investigation of evidence of real crimes.

According to Reuters, "The House investigators say that Biden used his influence to benefit the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, with partners from Ukraine, China, Russia and other countries. Hunter Biden has been convicted on charges that he lied about his illegal drug use to buy a gun and is awaiting trial on charges of tax evasion, including an allegation that he accepted payments from a Romanian businessman who sought to influence U.S. government agencies in connection with a criminal probe in Romania."

The committees who contributed to the fact-finding about Biden's pay-for-play operations included the Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability. Their report concluded Biden "committed impeachable offenses."

The report details evidence to establish President Biden abused his office and violated his oaths of office as Vice President by engaging in a conspiracy to peddle influence to enrich his family. "As President, Joe Biden and the Biden-Harris Administration obstructed the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry and the criminal investigation of President Biden's son," the report states.

"Our impeachment inquiry shows conclusively that Joe Biden abused his public office for the private financial benefit of the Biden family and Biden business associates. The facts speak for themselves, and Democrats can no longer stretch the truth to cover for President Biden. As Democrats celebrate Joe Biden and crown Kamala Harris as his heir apparent this week, Americans should remember the reality of the Biden-Harris Administration: crime, chaos, and corruption," said House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chief of Oversight, added, "President Biden's legacy is marked by abuse of public office, corruption, and obstruction. The evidence produced by our impeachment inquiry is the strongest case for impeachment of a sitting president the House of Representatives has ever investigated. Americans now know Joe Biden was 'the brand' the Bidens sold around the world to enrich the Biden family, and Joe Biden knew of, benefitted from, and participated in his family's influence peddling schemes. The entire Biden influence peddling model relied on Joe Biden's presence—at meetings, on the phone, or at dinners—to demonstrate his family members' influence over him, and he repeatedly provided it. Throughout our impeachment inquiry of President Biden, the Biden-Harris Administration has sought to obstruct us every step of the way. Despite this obstruction, we have exposed the truth to the American people, and they now know the extent of President Biden's corruption."

Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chief of Ways and Means, continued, "The Biden-Harris Administration has lied to the American people time and again to cover up and obstruct the investigation into tax crimes committed by a Biden family business enterprise that capitalized on political power. The American people have been shocked to learn the magnitude of the scheme going back to the President's time as Vice President, when Biden family members were allowed to use Air Force Two as their own private business jet. None of this would have come to light had it not been for the two IRS whistleblowers who were tired of watching their investigation into the President's son become obstructed, delayed, and denied the ability to move forward as the pursuit of truth demanded. Their testimony in the face of political interference has stood up under scrutiny at every step. House Republicans' efforts have been thorough and exhaustive, uncovering reams of information that otherwise would not have seen the light of day, and ensuring that a sweetheart plea deal for the president's son never went forward. We will not tolerate a two-tiered system of justice, one for the wealthy and politically connected, and one for everyone else."

Key findings included:

From 2014 to the present, as part of a conspiracy to monetize Joe Biden's office of public trust to enrich the Biden family, Biden family members and their associates received over $27 million from foreign individuals or entities. In order to obscure the source of these funds, the Biden family and their associates set up shell companies to conceal these payments from scrutiny. The Biden family used proceeds from these business activities to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to Joe Biden—including thousands of dollars that are directly traceable to China. While Jim Biden claimed he gave this money to Joe Biden to repay personal loans, Jim Biden did not provide any evidence to support this claim. The Biden family's receipt of millions of dollars required Joe Biden's knowing participation in this conspiracy, including while he served as Vice President.

The Biden wealth apparently came from Russian, Romanian, Chinese, Kazakhstani, and Ukrainian individuals and companies.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A police department in the United Kingdom is paying a woman 13,000 British pounds, about $17,000, after catching her in silent prayer and then arresting her. Twice.

A report from ADF International explains the case is a victory against censorship.

It is Isabel Vaughan-Spruce – a Christian who twice already has been on viral videos being arrested for silent prayer – who is getting the payout from the West Midlands Police, to acknowledge her unjust treatment, and the breach of her human rights.

She had filed a claim against the department for two wrongful arrests and false imprisonments; assault and battery in relation to an intrusive search of her person; and for a breach of her human rights both in respect to the arrests, and to the onerous bail conditions imposed on her, the report explained.

"There is no place for Orwell's 'thought police' in 21st Century Britain, and thanks to legal support I received from ADF UK, I'm delighted that the settlement that I have received today acknowledges that. Yet despite this victory, I am deeply concerned that this violation could be repeated at the hands of other police forces," she said in a prepared statement.

The report noted the news comes only days after reports that the Home Office will strengthen the crackdown on silent prayer near abortion facilities by expressly criminalizing it in upcoming "buffer zones" legislation.

Lawmakers and bureaucrats in the U.K. are set to review the initial guidance published by the previous government which protected the human right to freedom of thought, reading: "Silent prayer, being the engagement of the mind and thought in prayer towards God, is protected as an absolute right under the Human Rights Act 1998 and should not, on its own, be considered to be an offence under any circumstances."

Vaughan-Spruce was first arrested in November 2022 for silently praying in a censored "buffer zone," a common practice also used in the United States to provide special protections for abortion businesses and deprive people of faith of their rights.

The zone, covering several streets in the Kings Norton area of Birmingham, was installed by local authorities via a Public Spaces Protection Order and banned all expressions of "approval or disapproval with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means" within a large vicinity of an abortion facility, the report said.

Her arrests widely are considered to be prosecutions of "thoughtcrimes."

She was acquitted in February 2023, but just weeks later was arrested for the same offense again.

A police officer said at that time, "You've said you're engaging in prayer, which is the offense."

She added, "Silent prayer is not a crime. Nobody should be arrested merely for the thoughts they have in their heads – yet this happened to me twice at the hands of the West Midlands Police, who explicitly told me that 'prayer is an offense.'"

Lord Frost, the senior Conservative peer and former cabinet minister, said, "It is incredible that people have been arrested for thoughtcrime in modern Britain. I am very glad Ms Vaughan-Spruce has received compensation for her unjust arrest for this so-called offense."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

For Christians who have not given in to the ultra-liberal, progressive moves some organizations that call themselves churches have adopted, this will not be a surprise.

It's that the "Church" of England apparently has decided it no longer is a church.

Some of those leftist entities, while originally established by Bible-believing individuals, have strayed. They have LGBT-promoting ceremonies, advocate for abortion and more.

The British institute, while not as far down the progressive road as some entities, still has made it clear that its future is liberal and progressive.

It is Fox News that is reporting it is dropping the word "church," "in the hopes of drawing in more crowds."

That's based on a study, "New Things: A theological investigation into the work of starting new churches across 11 dioceses in the Church of England," which was done by the Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research in Durham.

It looked at 11 dioceses and how they described the new organizations they started.

The study found even though more than 900 new churches were established by 11 dioceses in the past 10 years, none of them used the word "church plant" or "church."

"Not one diocese used the term 'church' in their main descriptor. 'Church plant' is not used by any of the 11 dioceses. Only one diocese used 'fresh expressions' of 'pioneering' in its descriptor," the study found.

The study continued, "That the term 'church' is not used, in favor of other terms (community, congregation etc.) is worthy of theological reflection. We explore whether the question, 'what is church?' is worth asking."

Besides, "community" and "congregation," churches also were referred to as "worship."

A report at PJMedia noted, "The Church of England has apparently joined the pronoun movement. Of course, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone, but it is still a shame. According to a report in the Telegraph, the Church has decided to stop using the word 'church' in order to be more modern. I don't know what word they will use. Lodge? Club? Association? The Loyal Order of Water Buffalos?"

The report said that the word "church" was not comprehensive enough "to describe what it is that these dioceses have been starting," adding that the phrase "new things" might be more appropriate.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

An economist at Harvard who worked in Barack Obama's administration when he was in the White House is warning American voters that Kamala Harris's ideas are not based in "reality."

This comment came as Harris on Friday announced her agenda for price controls, claiming that would address the inflation that actually has been caused by the trillion dollar spending packages Joe Biden pushed, and she actually provided the critical votes to pass. That inflation is costing American consumers 20% more now for the same lifestyles they had when Bidan took office.

"This is not sensible policy, and I think the biggest hope is that it ends up being a lot of rhetoric and no reality," Jason Furman said in an interview with the New York Times about the time Harris was announcing her plan, a common device used by repressive nations to make their economies look better than they are.

"There's no upside here, and there is some downside."

Harris' "price-fixing" scheme, she said, would stop "big corporations" from taking advantage of consumers. However, the Biden-Harris team has imposed on Americans, by virtue of Harris's tie-breaking votes in the Senate, multiple trillions of dollars in spending of money the nation doesn't have.

A report at Fox News said Harris has plans to give the Federal Trade Commission and states the authority to impose penalties for setting excessively high prices.

But one commentator suggested immediately Americans would have to decide whether they want the open market to decide prices, or some bureaucrat in Washington's Deep State.

Washington Post columnist Catgherine Rampell also voiced criticism of Harris's plans.

"It's hard to exaggerate how bad this policy is. It is, in all but name, a sweeping set of government-enforced price controls across every industry, not only food. Supply and demand would no longer determine prices or profit levels. Far-off Washington bureaucrats would. The FTC would be able to tell, say, a Kroger in Ohio the acceptable price it can charge for milk."

WND reported over the weekend that a JD Vance, President Donald Trump's pick for vice president on the GOP ticket this year, warned giving Harris control over inflation policy is "like giving Jeffrey Epstein control over human-trafficking policy."

He said, ""The American people just don't buy the idea that Kamala Harris, who has been vice president for three and a half years, is somehow going to tackle the inflation crisis in a way tomorrow that she hasn't for the past 1,300 days. Giving Kamala Harris control over inflation policy, Shannon, it's like giving Jeffrey Epstein control over human-trafficking policy."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

JERUSALEM – With the threat of Iranian and Hezbollah reprisals hanging over the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, there were mixed signals about the talks' success or failure Monday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the region to try and shepherd the warring parties to some kind of halt.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Blinken for a three-hour meeting in Jerusalem – described as "positive" and "held in a good atmosphere," and which concluded with the premier releasing a statement publicly backing the latest U.S. "bridging proposal" that was presented to Israel and conveyed to Hamas at the end of talks in Doha last week. The bridging proposal is an attempt to manage the apparently wide divergence of expectations between Hamas and Israel – and in such a way, if possible, that the talks don't completely collapse.

Initial reports on Sunday suggested Netanyahu was leery of the chances of a breakthrough, his pessimism – according to cabinet ministers with knowledge of the matter – stemming from his rejection of the notion the IDF should leave the Philadelphi Corridor. This stretch of land, which crosses the Gaza-Egypt border has been revealed to be the main route through which Hamas smuggled men, weapons, and materiel to their mafia-like stronghold.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

'We have much more work to do to assess how much Kamala Harris and other senior officials knew, when they knew it, and what role they took in covering up for the empty suit in the Oval Office'

A new congressional report released by U.S. House Republicans Monday alleges there is evidence Joe Biden abused his office by engaging in a conspiracy to "peddle influence."

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., ripped into Democrats over their refusal to cooperate with congressional oversight into impeachable offenses committed by Biden.

"Today's Committee report on the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden shows overwhelming evidence that he actively took part in an influence peddling scheme throughout his time in office to enrich his family, his associates, and LIED about it! Meanwhile, Kamala Harris and the Democrats refused to cooperate with congressional oversight and assured us Joe Biden was honorable and competent, before throwing him off the bus. We have much more work to do to assess how much Kamala Harris and other senior officials knew, when they knew it, and what role they took in covering up for the empty suit in the Oval Office," Gaetz posted on X.

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, stated on X the inquiry has exposed Biden, and Democrats will no longer be able to cover for him.

"Our impeachment inquiry shows conclusively that Joe Biden abused his public office for the private financial benefit of the Biden family and Biden business associates. The facts speak for themselves, and Democrats can no longer stretch the truth to cover for President Biden. As Democrats celebrate Joe Biden and crown Kamala Harris as his heir apparent this week, Americans should remember the reality of the Biden-Harris Administration: crime, chaos, and corruption," Jordan said on X.

The 291–page report details Biden's family business dealings since he became President Barack Obama's vice president in 2009.

"The Committees reviewed the Biden family's financial practices and sources of income from 2009 to the present. This was a complex process, as members of the Biden family – particularly Hunter Biden and James Biden – often used a complicated system of third parties' limited liability companies, delayed transfers of incremental payments, and categorized certain financial transactions as "loans" to seemingly obfuscate the source and nature of the payments to Biden family members, including Joe Biden," the full report reads.

The report goes on to state the committee accounted for over $35 million sent to Biden family members and their respective companies and business associates since 2013. However, it notes the Bidens were unable to explain why they had been given this much money, and the committee further points out the reasons that were provided do not justify the amount that was paid to them.

Additionally, the committee alleges the White House refused to cooperate with their inquiry when they sought specific documents, and interviews with certain White House personnel. The White House informed the committee it would not be providing the requested documents.

According to the report, the White House further requested the committee to withdraw all subpoenas issued in connection with their investigation into Biden and his business dealings.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

JERUSALEM – South Tel Aviv was rocked by an explosion Sunday night in what police and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) have now confirmed was an attempted terrorist attack involving "a powerful explosive device."

The incident took place at around 8 p.m. and the terrorist – who has yet to be named – is thought to be a 50-year-old man from the Samarian city of Nablus (known as Shechem in Hebrew). Sitting between the twin peaks of Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, the town is thought to be some 4,000 years old and is the site of Joseph's Tomb, after the Israelites returned his bones from Egypt and interred him in the Holy Land.

The terrorist – who is thought to have had an accomplice who transported him to Tel Aviv – was captured on CCTV wearing a backpack and walking past stores crowded with shoppers, and it was a miracle the only person wounded in the botched attack was a 33-year-old passerby riding on an electric scooter, who escaped with moderate injuries.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A court fight has erupted in Indiana because police there, inspecting a package routed by FedEx through its hub there, opened it up, found $42,000 in cash, and decided to keep it.

Even though they could not identify any law that may have been broken by those sending the payment to the owners of a jewelry distribution company that was owed the money.

It's the Institute for Justice that has brought the case in Indiana state court on behalf of Henry and Minh Cheng, who crisscross the nation selling jewelry to small business.

"They have never done business in Indiana. Yet today they are fighting in Indiana state court to get back more than $42,000 seized from their company's parcel that was routed through the FedEx shipping hub in Indianapolis," the IJ said.

The background includes allegations that police routinely "for years" have made a practice of examining FedEx packages and taking cash when they find it.

"It's a profitable practice. Since 2022 alone, Indiana has begun proceedings to forfeit more than $2.5 million from in-transit parcels, and the state has already raked in approximately $1 million from those parcels."

It's the prosecutor in Marion County that claims, in court, that there's a taint to the cash. In this case, the allegation is that it was involved in some violation of a law.

But the process forces cash owners to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to Indiana and then prove their ownership.

"The Indiana government cannot take money from people just because a shipping company routes it through Indiana," said IJ Attorney Marie Miller. "Henry and Minh have never been to Indiana or done business in Indiana, but now they have to defend against a forfeiture action in Indiana, without the state bothering to identify an Indiana crime that it can allege the money is linked to."

This situation developed because one of the company's customers, in Virginia, was slow to pay. Then suddenly the retailer said a cash payment would be possible, and they accepted.

The payment was shipped via FedEx, which routed it through Indiana, and when a dog "alerted," an officer opened the package and took the cash.

"The government can't even identify a crime that would allow them to keep the money that we need to run our business," said Henry. "We were shocked when we found out what was going on in Indianapolis and we want to put a stop to it."

"This scheme is one of the most predatory we have seen, and it's past time to put a stop to it," said IJ Senior Attorney Sam Gedge. "It's illegal and unconstitutional for Indiana to forfeit in-transit money whose only connection to Indiana is the happenstance of FedEx's shipping practices."

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Throughout the Biden-Harris administration, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have been thrown at the military for the promotion of controversial and divisive ideologies based on identity politics.

Recently, the Daily Wire published a story showcasing information first obtained by the nonpartisan Functional Government Initiative. According to the report, "The Biden-Harris Defense Department paid outside organizations millions of taxpayer dollars to advance diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including race-based career advancement programs, in the U.S. military."

In one example, the University of Missouri-Kansas City received $760,000 from the Department of the Navy to develop a program that would result in preferential treatment for non-white students and women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs applying for Defense Department jobs. In another, Cornell University was awarded approximately $202,000 "to provide Diversity training that is mission imperative to ensure readiness and addressing discriminatory behavior from a cognitive perspective." Shockingly, between 2022 and 2024, nearly $270 million in "taxpayer funds" was used to bolster the DEI agenda of the Pentagon.

WorldNetDaily interviewed Tom Burbage, a Naval Academy graduate, former Navy test pilot and Aerospace and Defense industry leader. He retired in 2013 and today serves as president of the Calvert Task Group, an organization that stands against divisive ideologies and identity politics found within the nation's armed forces – with a particular emphasis on the U.S. Navy and Naval Academy.

Burbage admitted that he is "not surprised" by the Defense Department's use of taxpayer funds to provide "diversity training" and more. "Over the last 10 years," Burbage told WND, "increasing levels of government funding has incentivized the growth of what is today a multi-billion-dollar DEI market."

"This has been an ongoing effort to change government institutions to support this ideology," he argued, adding, "In our opinion, and in the opinion of most veterans who have served in our armed forces, the military should be the last bastion of the government that's affected by money being directed to promote identity politics in a warrior ethos founded on creating unity."

"DEI is the antithesis to the culture of the military," he said. "Unsurprisingly and unfortunately, these financial incentives, further supported by evolving promotion criteria, have taken deep roots."

"It's difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it," Burbage said, quoting famed novelist and social reformer Upton Sinclair. "Contrast that with the evolution of the same movement within the corporate world." Once incentivized by regulatory agencies and annual report cards, he said, corporations are now moving away from the ideology movement.

"Shareholders see the clear consumption of resources without adding value, [and] they are forcing companies to take a hard look," he explained. "The result is many companies retreating and walking away."

However, in government, Burbage said, "the money is still buried within various pockets of the budget to support the ideology because there's no such thing as shareholder incentive in the government." Unfortunately, he added, "the push for DEI ideology has contributed significantly to the massive shortfalls in recruiting and readiness issues that our military is experiencing today."

He places the blame squarely at the feet of senior military leadership. Over a decade ago, he said, there was "a purge of military leadership." With the purge, he said, "leadership promotion began to focus on people who were willing carry a message like DEI forward."

Burbage suggested, "Given the very high risk of military action in the world today, the importance of understanding the cause and effect of policies supporting anything other than recruiting, retention, readiness and lethality is paramount." Furthermore, he told WND, "More and more people in military operations and military careers are realizing how detrimental DEI is to the world we live in today – a world that's more dangerous than it ever was."

For all these reasons, Tom Burbage is hopeful the increasingly divisive and unpopular DEI campaign dominating America's military institutions will begin to "flame out" sooner, rather than later.

This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

A California municipality that decided it would allow just about anybody to rent its public facilities – except anyone who wanted to have a religious gathering – has reversed itself.

Word of the change in the practice by the City of Manhattan Beach comes from the American Center for Law and Justice, which had protested the discriminatory practice that targeted residents of faith.

It was the city's facilities use policies that specifically stated any religious gathering was banned.

The policy, before the recent change, specifically stated: "The Facility Reservation Policy governs use of public facilities such as community center rooms, picnic shelters, swimming pools, basketball courts and sports fields that are available to the public for civic, social, educational, athletic, cultural activities and limited commercial use. The purpose of this policy is to provide use regulations and application and scheduling procedures to accommodate residents and individuals who would like to use City facilities. Facilities will not be used for religious worship or other religious purposes, political fundraisers, political advocacy or other partisan campaign events, or the sale of goods or services. Candidate or ballot issue forums that present all opposing viewpoints may be accepted."

A client being assisted by the ACLJ had asked to reserve a city facility for an event to sing worship songs and watch a sermon on television.

City officials refused.

"Meanwhile, residents were permitted to use the same facilities for non-religious purposes. Such a broad prohibition preventing any religious gathering solely because it's religious clearly violates the First Amendment," the legal team pointed out.

So it dispatched a letter to the city explaining its obligations under the Constitution.