This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A settlement "in principle" has been reached in a lawsuit against the government brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt, the woman who was shot and killed by police during the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol
At a hearing on Friday, Department of Justice Lawyer Joseph Gonzalez and Robert Sticht, representing Babbitt's husband, Aaron, confirmed the settlement was in process, but neither revealed exact terms or whether there would be monetary compensation for the shooting by police officer Michael Byrd.
The action had sought $30 million in damages.
Byrd shot and killed Babbitt as she was part of a group of protesters who had entered the Capitol and ended up near the House chamber.
A report at WUSA said details still were being negotiated.
The lawsuit charged wrongful death and cited the Federal Tort Claims Act.
It charged Byrd "had negligently discharged his firearm and failed to warn Babbitt or de-escalate the situation. The suit also alleged negligence on the part of other officers near the Speaker's Lobby at the time of the shooting as well as the U.S. Capitol Police and the Capitol Police Board in failing to properly train Byrd in tactical decision-making."
Babbitt was an Air Force veteran but was killed during the protests that day.
The report explained, "The hearing Friday was called in response to an emergency filing by attorney Terrell N. Roberts III, who was previously retained by Aaron Babbitt to pursue a $10 million wrongful death suit. Roberts said he'd learned of the impending settlement and sought a temporary restraining order to ensure he will receive a 25% cut of any funds he says he's owed from his prior agreement with Aaron Babbitt."
The report said Roberts had worked on the case, then terminated his representation.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
PALM BEACH, Florida – The White House got seriously into the spirit of "Star Wars Day" on Sunday by posting a series of movie-inspired images and videos, including an artificial intelligence generated image of President Donald Trump as a Jedi knight.
On X, the White House stated: "Happy May the 4th to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting so hard to to bring Sith Lords, Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, & well known MS-13 Gang Members, back into our Galaxy. You're not the Rebellion – you're the Empire.
"May the 4th be with you."
The White House reposted a similar image from the U.S. Army featuring American warriors armed with A.I. generated light sabers.
"Across every galaxy – known and unknown – no force rivals our discipline, strength, and precision," the Army indicated.
"We don't just defend the world. We protect the future."
"Victory is forged, not found. May the 4th be with you."
It also reposted a video created by the U.S. Defense Department appearing to look like the scrolling text opening of "Star Wars," saying "The Force is strong with this one!" As it highlighted the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
And the White House also shared a message from the Department of Interior, saying: "Be on the LUKEout on public lands. YODA never know what or who you might JABBA into.
"Find your galaxy far, far away at a public land near you!"
Though not part of the Trump administration, actor William Shatner, who portrayed legendary Capt. James Kirk in the "Star Trek" franchise, issued a comedic post of his own, claiming he is the real father of everything "Star Wars."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Michelle Obama has been in the news much lately, what with a variety of lines of gossip pointing out and she and husband, ex-President Barack Obama, have been seen alone at various functions and speculating about a breakup.
And she's been complaining, on a podcast, about how expensive it was for her family to live in the White House.
On her show, she recently said, "It's expensive to live in the White House. Many people don't know. I mean, much is not covered. You're paying for every food, every bit of food that you eat. You're not paying for housing and the staff in it. But everything, even travel. If you're not traveling with the president, if your kids are coming on a bright star, which is the First Lady's plane, we had to pay for their travel to be on the plane. It is an expensive proposition, and you're running for two years and not earning an income."
She's even attacked how "financially sound" Barack Obama was when they married.
He "was a Harvard Law graduate working as a civil rights attorney for a major Chicago law firm when they married in 1992," a report said.
For average Americans, who were taking home salaries of about $60,000, according to Forbes, Obama was getting paid $400,000 for being president.
That would be $3.2 million for his eight years.
The family's net worth now is estimated at $70 million, some from book deals and more from a Netflix contract.
He also has a lifetime guaranteed pension from the government, constant Secret Service protection, a government allowance for staff and office, and more.
As long ago as 2004, he was being paid more than $80,000 a year from the Illinois state senate, plus $32,000 from the University of Chicago, where he talked.
His "investments" back then were estimated to be worth up to $200,000.
He got $1.9 million from Random House for a book and got another $1.2 million for other books.
On being elected, he already "owned somewhere between $1.1 million and $5.1 million in U.S. Treasury bills," a report said.
He now gets up to $400,000 for speeches, and the Obamas agreed to a $65 million book deal where each would write a project. The family bought a million-dollar home in Chicago as well as a $14 million beachfront estate after leaving the White House.
Her comments, which often have no elaboration, have left some wondering odd questions about her:
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."