This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Drudge Report long was a source of news for many. Run by the reclusive Matt Drudge and his small staff, the site was attracting more readers than the New York Times.
Then, for reasons never explained, it took a sudden turn and began advocating for leftist ideologies, and it hasn't looked back.
But now there's a counterpart, what one report calls a "dead ringer" for Drudge, and it's touting the conservative conversations in America.
And it's run by the White House.
The site is the White House Wire.
On Friday it had Trump's announcement about plans to withdraw Harvard's tax exemption, and linked to other news organizations' reports on a long list of other subjects, from protecting the rights of a South Dakota rancher to a list of accomplishments by Trump during his first 100 days in office.
According to the New York Post, the "glitzy" site "is the brainchild of the White House communications office, helmed by Steven Cheung."
"It's a com-driven thing," one White House official behind the project told the New York Post. "It's something we talked about internally. As all things are here, it's never a one-man effort, not a one-woman effort, but it's a communications product."
The report noted, "The 'wire' branding of the website comes after the White House removed the Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg from their traditional spots in the press pool following a court fight with the AP over access. A federal judge ruled the AP — which miffed the administration for its refusal to use the term 'Gulf of America' — has to have the same access as the other outlets, prompting the White House to strip wire reporters of guaranteed daily access to the commander-in-chief."
The result appears to be that the White House is treating the AP equally, along with a long list of other media organizations, in contrast to AP's privileged positions and presence for years.
One report had Drudge suggesting he was doing to sue for $1 trillion.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Democrat scheme drained supplies so fast, 'it did some damage to the facilities'
The administration of President Donald Trump has revealed plans to fix the Strategic Petroleum Reserve disaster created by Joe Biden's administration while he was in office.
The SPR, created following the 1973 energy crisis, serves as an emergency stockpile of unrefined petroleum, maintained by the Department of Energy, to mitigate the impact of supply disruptions that may occur because of world events.
The petroleum actually is stored at four sites along the Gulf Coast.
Biden stunningly ordered up 1 million barrels were to be released per day for 180 days in order to mitigate price hikes that developed because of his economic policies, and the threat reduced imports because of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Most previous releases had maxed out at some 10 million barrels.
Now U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has estimated it will take $20 billion and years to refill the reserve.
A report at Legal Insurrection described how, "The nation is still facing some issues related to Biden's destructive and senseless energy priorities."
The report noted the SPR is the world's "largest emergency crude oil stockpile with capacity to store about 727 million barrels."
It currently is at about 395 million barrels.
The report said overall, the nation's energy outlook is slightly brighter since Trump took office and issued an executive order declaring a "national energy emergency."
That directed the Department of Energy to prioritize refilling the SPR.
Administration officials how have confirmed the reserve is being refilled, after being depleted "for electoral reasons."
Wright explained. "And in fact, it was drained so fast, it did some damage to the facilities. And so, right now, we only can fill two of the four major salt caverns we have, so we are doing repair work on the other two. We're slowly filling the other two, and I'm trying to get some funds through Congress that'll give us a longer-term runway to fill the strategic petroleum reserve at the fastest rate we can."
Biden's officials had claimed they had purchased enough oil to replace what Biden ordered released.
A report in the Hill said Biden officials said they purchased 40 million barrels, and canceled the sale of 140 million barrels "accounting" for the amount taken out.
However, a report at OilPrice.com explained the details.
"On July 29, multiple news outlets reported that the Biden administration has replenished the 180 million barrels of oil it removed from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. One headline read, 'U.S. Restores SPR to pre-2022 Levels,'" the report said.
"It is absolutely false that the SPR has been replenished," it reported.
"The reporting seems to be a misreading of the following precisely-worded commentary by Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm: 'As promised, we have secured the 180 million barrels back to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve released in response to Putin's war in Ukraine – and we accomplished this while getting a good deal for taxpayers and maintaining the readiness of the world's largest Strategic Petroleum Reserve.'"
The report explained, "President Joe Biden inherited an SPR at 638 million barrels when he took office in January 2021. However, first in response to rising gasoline prices, and then as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Biden announced the most aggressive SPR drawdown in history. At its low point in July 2023, the SPR was drawn down by 288 million barrels, although some of that was due to congressionally-mandated sales. Since then, the Biden administration has made a few purchases to put oil back in the SPR. But, as of the week ending July 19, SPR levels had only risen 27.7 million barrels from the low point. That is only 9.6% of the oil that was removed from the SPR."
As of the date of the OilPrice report, last fall, the SPR still was 260 million barrels below the level it was when Biden took office.
The report said the misleading statement from Granholm confirmed that politicians were "taking credit for barrels" of oil that hadn't been delivered, meaning they took a "minor" purchase and made the impression they replaced 180 million barrels of oil that had been removed.
"So, it wasn't that 140 million barrels were put back, they are saying they avoided depleting it by another 140 million barrels in the future. So, it is absolutely false that the SPR has been replenished to pre-2022 levels. This reporting is based on a misunderstanding of the DOE's comments, which seem designed to imply that 180 million barrels were put back into the SPR."
Politico had raised the question during the Biden drawdowns whether the reserve left the U.S. ready for a crisis.
It noted Biden "sold off more than 40 percent of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve" to minimize rising fuel prices.
"That's fueling Republican accusations that Biden has left the U.S. vulnerable to a disruption of global oil supplies — at a time when Hamas' terrorist attacks in Israel are stoking fears of a wider regional war disrupting fuel shipments from the Middle East," the report said at the time.
"That's Joe Biden's fault for trying to lower the price of gas before the election," House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., told the publication.
The Trump administration also has been aggressive in encouraging production of oil, which had been targeted for elimination by Biden.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
'There is at least one person at this table today who had a dossier on them'
It's not a shocker anymore, as there's been a lot of evidence that Joe Biden's administration wanted, and was actively working on plans, to target individual Americans the Democrats disliked for censorship, and possibly more.
But Secretary of State Marco Rubio now has confirmed exactly that.
In fact, he said, during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, "We had an office in the Department of State whose job it was to censor Americans."
Reports revealed that Biden's State Department created dossiers with the full intention of spying on the content and censoring Americans' free speech rights.
One said, "This is NUTS: Secretary Rubio just announced that he found DOZENS of files kept by Joe Biden's State Department that classified American citizens as 'vectors of disinformation' – with the intention of censoring them."
Further, Rubio confirmed that at least one person in the Trump Cabinet meeting had been targeted and monitored.
"And by the way, there is at least one person at this table today who had a dossier on them in that building of social media posts to identify them as purveyors of disinformation," Rubio said.
The Gateway Pundit pointed out how egregious the Biden administration's actions in opposition to the U.S. Constitution actually were.
Rubio added, "We are going to be turning over these dossiers to these individuals."
He said, "Just think about it. The Department of State had set up an office to monitor the social media posts and commentary of American citizens. We know the best way to combat misinformation is freedom of speech and transparency."
The Gateway Pundit noted, "The next question is which Biden regime official was primarily responsible for carrying out this sinister act, and whether they will be held accountable."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The American Bar Association, which for now has been the only "federally recognized accreditor for Juris Doctor programs," through its Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, soon may be losing a huge amount of its influence on American lawyers.
Because others may be able to offer law schools accreditation.
The move would be a massive blow to the significance of the ABA, which has positioned itself as an extreme leftist in American society in recent years.
An analysis recently called it a "proxy for the left wing of the American legal community," and it said the ABA has been using its power as a monopoly "to promote an ideological agenda."
The change is being done through an Executive Order from President Donald Trump.
That order said, "The American Bar Association's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (Council), which is the sole federally recognized accreditor for Juris Doctor programs, has required law schools to 'demonstrate by concrete action a commitment to diversity and inclusion' including by 'commit[ting] to having a student body [and faculty] that is diverse with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity.' As the Attorney General has concluded and informed the Council, the discriminatory requirement blatantly violates the Supreme Court's decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023). Though the Council subsequently suspended its enforcement while it considers proposed revisions, this standard and similar unlawful mandates must be permanently eradicated."
The order continued, "American students and taxpayers deserve better, and my Administration will reform our dysfunctional accreditation system so that colleges and universities focus on delivering high-quality academic programs at a reasonable price. Federal recognition will not be provided to accreditors engaging in unlawful discrimination in violation of Federal law.
"The Attorney General and the Secretary of Education shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, investigate and take appropriate action to terminate unlawful discrimination by American law schools that is advanced by the Council, including unlawful 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' requirements under the guise of accreditation standards. The Secretary of Education shall also assess whether to suspend or terminate the Council's status as an accrediting agency under Federal law."
While Trump's order addressed the issue of accreditation generally, where accreditors "have … abused their enormous authority," it was the ABA that was singled out for special mention.
The order gave power to the secretary of Education to "hold accountable, including through denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination of accreditation recognition, accreditors who fail to meet the applicable recognition criteria or otherwise violate Federal law, including by requiring institutions seeking accreditation to engage in unlawful discrimination in accreditation-related activity under the guise of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' initiatives."
The secretary, along with the attorney general, shall investigate and "take appropriate action to terminate unlawful discrimination by American law schools that is advanced by the Council, including unlawful 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' requirements under the guise of accreditation standards."
In fact, the ABA could be canceled entirely as an accrediting agency.
The order also banned accreditors from "engaging in practices that result in credential inflation that burdens students with additional unnecessary costs."
A commentary at Legal Insurrection had just warned that the ABA was preparing to "mandate race-focused study as a prerequisite to graduating from law school. It's another instance of woke ideology being forced on the nation, and may necessitate that states revisit the ABA's government-granted near-monopoly accrediting power."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A county judge in Milwaukee has been arrested by the FBI and now is facing two felony charges, including obstruction, for allegedly concealing an illegal alien sought by federal authorities for deportation and helping him escape federal agents, who were waiting at the court to arrest him.
It is Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan who now finds herself on the wrong side of the courtroom desk.
The 65-year-old appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries in the federal courthouse, but made no public comments. Her lawyer, Craig Mastantuono, however, claimed Dugan "wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety."
FBI chief Kash Patel said in a statement that was posted online, deleted, then reposted, "Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week. We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest. Thankfully, our agents chased down the perp on foot, and he's been in custody since, but the Judge's obstruction created increased danger to the public."
A report at Fox News said Dugan allegedly hid the illegal alien "in her jury room in order to stop that person from being arrested by ICE."
The report explained that when Dugan found out that the federal agents were intending to make an arrest, she "demanded that the officers proceed to the chief judge's office. At that point, they say the judge left and that the undocumented individual's hearing concluded and that he had quickly left the building."
The situation developed on April 18 when the illegal was in for a court hearing.
Earlier, Dugan claimed that local reports about her behavior were not accurate.
Fox reported that state Rep. Bob Donovan, a Republican, charged, "In all my years of Milwaukee politics and public safety issues, working with cops, district attorneys, and judges, I have never seen a more irresponsible act by an officer of the court, let alone a judge, if true.
"This borders on obstruction of justice, and I hope the FBI continues a thorough investigation and, if warranted, prosecution to the fullest extent of the law."
The report said Dugan has worked with legal aid organizations over the course of her career.
The Washington Examiner said the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed Dugan was arrested at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
PALM BEACH, Florida – President Donald Trump is again touting the possibility of eliminating income taxes Americans have to pay each year.
In a Sunday morning message posted on Truth Social, Trump made a forecast about the impact of his tariffs on foreign goods.
"When Tariffs cut in, many people's Income Taxes will be substantially reduced, maybe even completely eliminated," Trump stated.
"Focus will be on people making less than $200,000 a year.
"Also, massive numbers of jobs are already being created, with new plants and factories currently being built or planned.
It will be a BONANZA FOR AMERICA!!! THE EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE IS HAPPENING!!!"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A former New Mexico judge and his wife, accused of harboring an alleged Tren de Aragua terror organization member who was in the United States illegally, have now been arrested.
A report at the Post Millennial said the investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations initially targeted Nancy Cano, but then also involved the former judge, who has been barred from the court system by the New Mexico state Supreme Court.
"Initially, we came back here to arrest his wife, and as we started conducting our interviews and started looking at evidence, we subsequently arrested Mr. Cano as well," explained Jason T. Stevens, special agent.
The former judge, Joel Cano, was in the courts in Dona Ana County before his abrupt resignation.
Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the two are accused of conspiracy and evidence tampering. Tren de Aragua is a violent Venezuelan gang that has been designated as a foreign terror group.
The report explained, "Cano rented out property to Cristhian Oretega-Lopez, an alleged gang member, at his wife's behest last year. They met Ortega-Lopez when he was hired by the couple to do homework for them, the criminal complaint reads."
Prosecutors also charged that Cano's daughter had firearms in the home and let Ortega-Lopez pose with them, and fire them.
Ortega-Lopez, who admitted to entering the United States illegally in 2023, was arrested, and the firearms were seized weeks ago.
Stevens explained several others were living at the residence at the time, and all three, "we believe, are alleged members of that (Tren de Aragua). Obviously, we continue just to focus on the totality of the investigation instead of just zeroing out on them."
ICE stated, "On April 24, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement executed a search warrant and probable cause arrest at a residence in the 1200 block of North Reymond Street in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Homeland Security Investigations special agents working with federal law enforcement partners took Nancy Cano into custody as part of an ongoing HSI-led criminal investigation."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The gang of violent Venezuelans known as Tren de Aragua actually is worse than that sounds, according to a new report.
Because the gang has now been linked to the Venezuelan government.
It is the Washington Stand that reported according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation study, "Venezuela's socialist president Nicolás Maduro and his deputies are using criminals from the Tren de Aragua (TdA) transnational gang as 'proxies' to 'destabilize' foreign nations, including Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and the U.S."
The report said, "The FBI anticipates that TdA members the Venezuelan government has sent to the U.S. will, within the next six to 18 months, begin targeting and killing other Venezuelan nationals who have been opponents or critics of Maduro's administration."
President Donald Trump has several times charged that the Venezuelan government is weaponizing criminals in dangerous gangs and sending foreign terrorists into the U.S.
"These findings should shock Americans but not the law enforcement community," a Trump administration official who was not identified, told Fox News.
"They reflect the sentiments of numerous other intelligence assessments across multiple agencies."
That official explained Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro "is a Marxist dictator who hijacked a once-prosperous Venezuela and brought in nothing but total economic collapse and gang takeover. He crumbled Caracas, now overrun with drugs and violence, and wants to do the same across the United States by sending his most violent and dangerous criminals into our communities."
The Trump administration has worked to utilize several laws to crack down on the illegal access to the United States by gang members and to deport those who have arrived.
The fact that the Venezuelan government is "aiding and abetting" the terror gang was confirmed, in the report, by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
An official in the ODNI assessed that the links between the terrorists and the government there mirror "the behavior of the Taliban in Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern failed states like Syria and Libya that have welcomed terrorists with open arms."
While a National Intelligence Council report accessed by the AP claimed there's no link, one expert suggested that was incorrect, based on "leakers."
The "propaganda media conveniently did not include [more accurate intelligence] because it gets in the way of their biased narrative and attempt to deceive the American people," the expert said.
DNI Tulsi Gabbard explained, "The Office of the Director of National Intelligence fully supports the assessment that the foreign terrorist organization, Tren De Aragua, is acting with the support of the Maduro Regime, and thus subject to arrest, detention, and removal as alien enemies of the United States."
The State Department earlier this year designated TdA as a foreign terror organization.
Trump has said, "TdA is closely aligned with, and indeed has infiltrated, the Maduro regime, including its military and law enforcement apparatus. Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA. The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States."
In just the past few days, several dozen TdA members and leaders have been charged under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Most of those defendants are in custody.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Dick Durbin, will not seek reelection in 2026, as he announced his retirement Wednesday after 44 years in Congress.
"The decision of whether to run for reelection has not been easy. I truly love the job of being a United States senator," Durbin said in a video he posted on X.
"But in my heart, I know it's time to pass the torch. So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking reelection at the end of my term."
"I have given more than half of my life to House and Senate congressional service, and I've always tried to stand up to power on behalf of the people of Illinois and our country," he continued.
"I am proud of what I have achieved and hope my record will speak for itself.
"But none of it would have been possible without my wife, Loretta; our children, Christine, Paul, and Jennifer; my energetic grandchildren; and my extended family, who stood with me and accepted the demands of my public career.
"I have been blessed to have them, as well as the best Senate staff anyone could ask for.
"Right now, the challenges facing our country are historic and unprecedented.
"The threats to our democracy and way of life are real, and I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to fight for Illinois and the future of our country every day of my remaining time in the Senate."
Durbin, 80, is the fourth Senate Democrat to announce their retirement this year.
"I have to be honest about this. There are good people in the wings, good people on the bench ready to serve, and they can fight this fight just as effectively as I can," Durbin told the New York Times.
"There comes a point where you have to face reality that this is the time to leave for me."
In 2018, Durbin claimed on NBC's "Meet the Press" that former President Barack Obama went eight years in office "without a major scandal."
"Under President Obama, eight years without an indictment, eight years without a major scandal," he said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A federal judge has canceled a Joe Biden-era rule that required businesses to promote abortion.
The rule, perpetrated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Biden, demanded that employers provide abortion-related leave and other practices that violated the beliefs of a multitude of business operators and owners.
A report in the Washington Stand explained the impact of the ruling from Daniel Traynor, a Trump appointee to the District Court of North Dakota, is that 9,000 Catholic businesses now do not have to grant abortion leave and other practices contrary to their beliefs.
The EEOC under Biden, who promoted abortion in a multitude of ways throughout his presidency, had issued rules creating a new meaning to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act so that abortion was promoted.
"The actual language of the PWFA requires protections for 'pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions,'" the report explained. Biden expanded that to say, "current pregnancy, past pregnancy, potential pregnancy, lactation (including breastfeeding and pumping), use of birth control, menstruation, infertility and fertility treatments, endometriosis, miscarriage, stillbirth, or having or choosing not to have an abortion, among other conditions."
The report said that move "effectively reversed the pro-life effect of the law, and the explicit inclusion of fertility treatments also ran afoul of the religious convictions of some Catholics."
The challenge was brought by the Catholic Diocese of Bismarck and the Catholic Benefits Association representing 9,000 Catholic businesses. They charged it violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Traynor granted a preliminary injunction last year and now has made that permanent.
In his ruling, he concluded, "The CBA is likely to succeed on the merits of the RFRA violation claim because the law forces members to choose between expressing sincerely held beliefs and compliance. This harm is irreparable and upholding constitutional rights always weighs in favor of the public interest and an injunction. The agency should have known it would not be allowed to force individuals to violate sincerely held religious beliefs."
Other cases also had challenged Biden's agenda.
The Washington Stand commented, "The entire scenario serves as a reminder of the Biden administration's troubling record of anti-Catholic bias. As ironic as it may seem, political appointees of the nation's second Catholic president distorted the meaning of a pro-life law to require employers to subsidize abortion and other practices objectionable to Catholics. These actions were not only lawless but fruitless, as they provoked Catholics to challenge the rule in court, where they easily won. But what else could we expect from an administration whose suspicion of Catholics ran so deep that they installed undercover agents in Catholic parishes to spy on their worship services?"