Category: Politics

White House Signs Deal with Panama to Crack Down On Major Illegal Immigration Route to U.S.

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Panama's president-elect, José Raúl Mulino

The Biden administration on Monday inked a deal with the Panamanian government to help stop illegal migration along the Darien Gap, a sign that the country’s new president is following through on a major campaign promise.

The White House announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Panama, an initiative that will deploy American screening officers to assist their government deport migrants who cross the Darien Gap, a vast jungle region between Panama and Colombia that hundreds of thousands of migrants trek across every year en route to the U.S. The announcement followed a pledge by then-presidential candidate Jose Raul Mulino to close Panama off to illegal immigration.

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Commentary: The Federal Government Loses More Money than Could Ever Be Accounted For

RealClearWire
Accountant working on spreadsheets

Not long after Jeremy Gober started running a sleep center, he quit treating patients for narcolepsy and sleep apnea and went full-time submitting bogus insurance claims. According to Gober’s 2022 indictment, he committed at least one especially sloppy error: One of his make-believe billings included a Medicare claim for treatment in March 2018 for a patient who’d died in December 2017. Before Gober was caught, Medicare and California’s healthcare system, Medi-Cal, ended up paying him a total of $587,000 for claims that turned out to be fiction.

The payments to Gober were part of $260 million the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spent from 2009 through 2019 to reimburse healthcare providers in 15 states and Puerto Rico for services to patients who were dead, according to the inspector general of the HHS, which administers Medicare and Medicaid — programs with combined expenditures of $1.7 trillion.

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China Expands Its Surveillance Capabilities in America’s Backyard, Report Finds

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Xi Jinping

China’s surveillance efforts off the coast of America’s shores are expanding, according to a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Monday.

China has been closely collaborating with Cuba — located just about 200 miles off the coast of Florida — to expand its military and intelligence presence on the island since at least 2019. Satellite imagery reviewed by CSIS appears to show that Cuba is building on its existing infrastructure in the region and now has multiple signal intelligence (SIGINT) facilities on the island, furthering concerns that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is attempting surveillance efforts inside the U.S., according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Reporter Tom Pappert Points Out Panic Among Democrats amid President Biden’s Disastrous Debate Performance

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert and MPL

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Pennsylvania Daily Star, suggested that there is a sense of panic among Democratic candidates across the country, including Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), as the Democratic Party scrambles to explain President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week against former President Trump.

Last Thursday, during a 90-minute televised debate hosted by CNN, Biden appeared absent-minded and confused, stumbling over his words and losing his train of thought multiple times.

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Virginia A.G. Jason Miyares Teases Run for Governor at Trump Rally Where Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears was Not Invited

Tom Pappert
Virginia A.G. Jason Miyares

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares hinted he may announce his run for governor following the conclusion of the 2024 presidential election. Miyares made the remarks while attending former President Donald Trump’s rally in Chesapeake, Virginia on Friday.

Miyares made the comments after National Review asked the attorney general whether he was considering a run to succeed Governor Glenn Youngkin, who is unable to seek another term.

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Dave McCormick Named in ‘Carpetbagger’ Article Despite New York Times Confirming His Childhood in Pennsylvania

Tom Pappert
Dave McCormick

Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick was mentioned by The Washington Post among a list of Republican candidates across the United States who have faced questions about their ties to the state where they seek office, even after the New York Times confirmed the Republican nominee spent his childhood and formative years in the commonwealth.

McCormick was mentioned by the Post due to claims about his residency, which were advanced by the campaign of Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) in an advertisement that declared, “McCormick’s running for Senate in Pennsylvania but he doesn’t live here.”

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Commentary: The Lies We Have Lived Through

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Joe Biden

After last Thursday’s debate, Biden himself laid to rest the Democratic lie that he was robust and in control of his faculties. In truth, he demonstrated to the nation that he is a sad, failing octogenarian who could not perform any job in America other than apparently the easy task of President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief in charge of our nuclear codes.

In 2019, Democratic primary candidates often hit rival Joe Biden for his apparent senior moments and incoherence. During the 2020 campaign, Biden often became in bizarre fashion animated and nasty (“you ain’t black”/“fat”/“lying dog-faced pony soldier”/“junkie”).

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Arizona Senate Primary Heats Up: Lake Leads, Lamb Continues to Fight

Christy Kelly
Kari Lake and Mark Lamb

As the primary election day in Arizona approaches, the race to replace outgoing Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-Tucson) intensifies. For the Republicans, the contest is between Kari Lake and Sheriff Mark Lamb, with the winner set to face Democrat Reuben Gallego (D-AZ-03). According to the latest poll by Noble Predictive Insights on May 24, Kari Lake leads with 46% support, while Mark Lamb trails at 21%. Additionally, 25% of voters remain unsure, and 9% support other candidates.

Many voters expressed a desire to see the Republicans square off against each other. The sole opportunity to watch the candidates is a virtual debate that was held on May 23, hosted by the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) Action. This forum provided Arizona primary voters with a clear view of their contrasting perspectives. Opting out of the Arizona Clean Elections Commission debate, Lake chose instead to engage directly with voters throughout the day at a series of events.

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Commentary: TikTok and Instagram Turned Me into a Leftist, but X Helped Me Escape

Admin
Black Lives Matter Rally

Social media plays a significant role in shaping the opinions of those 35 and under — it’s the primary news source for most in that age group, one survey found.

Some stats report that daily screen time for 16- to 24-year-olds is nearly eight hours among females and seven hours among males. To put that in perspective — that’s equivalent to the average time in a school day.

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Arizona’s 7th District Sees Butierez vs. Grijalva Showdown in Congressional Race

Christy Kelly

Daniel Butierez endured nine and a half years in jail for a crime he was never charged with or tried for. After a three-decade battle, the courts finally admitted their mistake and cleared his record. Now, driven by a deep passion for justice, Butierez is challenging Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-03), who has held the seat since 2003. As the only Republican candidate stepping up to represent Arizona’s 7th Congressional District, Butierez stands ready to face Grijalva, who announced on April 2 that he is battling cancer. Grijalva’s last confirmed public appearance was in mid-February 2024, when he placed a vote in the House of Representatives.

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Trump Moves to Reverse Verdict in New York Case After Historic Supreme Court Ruling

Just the News

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers moved quickly Monday night to take advantage of the Supreme Court ruling that he enjoyed immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts, sending a letter notifying the judge in his New York hush money case that they intend to ask to set aside the verdict reached by a jury last month, according to multiple sources.

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Tennessee to Receive Nearly $31.7 Million in New Defense Outlay

The Center Square
Arnold Engineering Development Complex

Tennessee could receive nearly $31.7 million to fund construction projects in the new defense appropriation that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

The biggest outlays for the Volunteer State would be for Arnold Air Force Base near Tullahoma. The base is the home of the Arnold Engineering Complex, which has 58 wind tunnels and other test facilities. The base would receive $21.4 million for a new testing bay and $5.5 million for a new cooling system.

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Harvard Law’s Dershowitz Compares Lawfare Against Trump to McCarthyism, Says the Future is Dark

Just the News
Alan Dershowitz

Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz say the political lawfare against former President Donald Trump is a return to the McCarthyism of the 1950s.

“I know lawyers who have been asked to defend Donald Trump on First Amendment grounds,” Dershowitz said on the Wednesday edition of the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show. “They would normally take the case, but they say, ‘we can’t afford it for our family because they’re coming after our bar license.’ It’s exactly what happened during McCarthyism.”

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Dave McCormick Slams Bob Casey for ‘Lying to Pennsylvanians’ About Joe Biden’s Fitness, Drops Ad Highlighting Senator’s Friendship with President

Tom Pappert
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)

Following the poor debate performance by President Joe Biden last Thursday, Pennsylvania U.S. Senate nominee Dave McCormick accused Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) of “lying to Pennsylvanians” about the mental and physical fitness of President Joe Biden on Friday and released a new advertisement highlighting their purported friendship on Sunday.

“Bob Casey has been protecting Joe Biden for years and lying to Pennsylvanians about his ability to serve as Commander-in-Chief,” wrote McCormick in a Friday post to the social media platform X.

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Commentary: SCOTUS Rulings, Biden-Trump Debate Shake Up Political Landscape

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Jil and Joe Biden post-debate rally

What a week it’s been! We started off with Justice Amy Souter Barrett writing the SCOTUS ruling in Murthy v. Missouri.  At issue was whether it was okay for the federal government (the FBI and related elements of the American Stasi) to pressure social media and data-hoovering companies (Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.) to suppress opinions they didn’t like about things like COVID, the 2020 election, and the Jan 6 jamboree at the Capitol.

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Fetterman Argues Biden Can Recover from Poor Debate Performance, Notes Pennsylvania Voters Forgave Performance Against Dr. Oz

Tom Pappert
Sen John Fetterman (D-PA)

U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) argued on Sunday that President Joe Biden can recover from his debate performance that has Democrats questioning his candidacy, with the Pennsylvania Democrat noting his own 2022 victory followed a difficult debate against former Republican U.S. Senate nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Fetterman argued on “Fox News Sunday” that Biden will recover from his poor debate performance, which left some Democrats questioning whether he should be replaced as the party’s nominee.

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‘Social Justice Lawyers’ Told WPATH to Avoid ‘Evidence-Based Review’ of Sex-Change Guidelines for Minors, Docs Reveal

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Pediatrician with child patient

The World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) avoided “evidence-based” reviews of child sex-change procedures on the advice of “social justice lawyers,” a court filing states.

Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall of Alabama filed a motion for summary judgment in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama Wednesday, seeking to beat back a challenge to Alabama’s law restricting the procedures. The Alabama attorney general’s office accused WPATH of placing “advocacy concerns” at the forefront of the creation of the organization’s “Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8” (SOC-8), which was based in part on the advice of the “social justice” attorneys who advised the organization to avoid seeking evidence-based recommendations.

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Mean Speech Not Protected at Public Universities, Appeals Courts Rule

Just the News
Stephen Porter

Faculty at public universities in nine states may have fewer speech protections than they assume following federal appeals court rulings against professors on the political right and left who were punished for perceived lack of collegiality – strong words short of harassment.

But a private university has egg on its face after taking seven months to allegedly clear a professor of wrongdoing for telling anti-Israel campus protesters they are “ignorant” and “Hamas are murderers,” despite having immediate access to both viral video and its own surveillance.

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‘Very Unrealistic’: Replacing Biden Will Likely Land Dems in A Political and Legal Quagmire

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Joe Biden

Any effort to replace President Joe Biden with another Democratic candidate would likely be an uphill battle against practical, political and even legal obstacles.

Following Biden’s debate performance Thursday night, where he struggled to put together coherent sentences and often stared blankly away from the camera, Democrats began raising the possibility of replacing him as the party’s nominee. Biden, who has not indicated any intention to step down, would likely not be easy to replace due to internal party politics, state laws and numerous uncertainties.

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Jen Psaki Calls Steve Bannon ‘A Brain Bending Communicator’ Who Sounds ‘Almost Rational’ After Interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl

Michael Patrick Leahy
Steve Bannon

Former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday that Steve Bannon is “a brain bending communicator” who sounds “almost rational” after the program played ABC’s Jonathan Karl’s exclusive interview with the former Trump White House advisor and current WarRoom host.

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FBI Gives Vague Response to The Tennessee Star’s FOIA Request over ‘Legacy Tokens’

Peter D'Abrosca

In response to The Tennessee Star’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the agency’s policy regarding “legacy tokens” left behind by mass killers, the FBI offered a vague response to an original comment request by The Star.

“While our standard practice is not to comment on specific products, which includes addressing their veracity, the FBI regularly shares information with our law enforcement partners to assist in protecting the communities they serve,” the FBI said by email. “The FBI always encourages members of the public to be vigilant and report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.”

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Majority of Voters Want to Throw Biden Overboard Following Disastrous Debate, Poll Shows

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Joe Biden

The majority of voters want to see President Joe Biden replaced as the Democratic nominee following his debate performance on Thursday night, according to a Morning Consult poll released Friday.

After the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle, Biden’s performance left many major Democrats scrambling to soften the blow. But even with the damage control, 60% of voters and even 47% of Democrats said Biden should be replaced as the Democratic candidate, according to the poll.

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Biden Administration Strong-Armed FDA into Fast-Tracking COVID Vaccine

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COVID Vaccine

A new report from the House of Representatives claims that the Biden Administration repeatedly pressured the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) into speeding up the approval of the Chinese Coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer.

According to the Daily Caller, the staff report from the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust alleges that the FDA did not follow the usual regulatory guidelines when it came to approving the Pfizer vaccine. As such, when the FDA gave its approval to the vaccine, it allowed the Biden Administration to more quickly issue a mandate forcing federal workers and active duty troops to take the Pfizer vaccine or else risk losing their jobs.

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Atlanta Journal Constitution in Battleground Georgia Second Major Newspaper to Call on Biden to Retire

Just the News
Joe Biden

Georgia’s largest newspaper on Saturday night published a front page editorial pleading with President Joe Biden to step aside and embrace “the shade of retirement.”

The Atlanta Constitution-Journal declared Biden’s debate performance in Atlanta on Thursday night was “excruciating” and failed to lay out a “competent and coherent vision for the future of America.”

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Chip Roy Says He Will File 25th Amendment Resolution to Yank Biden from Office After Debate Implosion

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Chip Roy

Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy said Friday that he plans to introduce a resolution geared toward removing President Joe Biden from office following Thursday night’s presidential debate.

Roy announced his intentions in a post to X on Friday morning, saying that his 25th amendment resolution would mobilize Biden’s cabinet officials to formally declare that the president is incapable of fulfilling his official duties. Biden’s performance during Thursday night’s debate against former President Donald Trump has been broadly characterized as a complete disaster, even by Democratic insiders and media outlets that have largely covered Biden’s presidency and campaign favorably.

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin Declares ‘Virginia Is in Play’ After Poor Debate Performance by President Joe Biden

Tom Pappert
Glenn Youngkin

Governor Glenn Youngkin declared in an interview that “Virginia is in play” for former President Donald Trump, following President Joe Biden’s poor debate performance on Thursday.

Youngkin said of the Thursday debate during his Friday morning “Fox & Friends” appearance, “America saw, it was on display, strength versus weakness.”

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Dave McCormick Argues White House Must Consider ‘Responsibility’ to Remove President Joe Biden with 25th Amendment

Tom Pappert
Dave McCormick

U.S. Pennsylvania Senate nominee Dave McCormick on Friday raised the possibility of White House officials using the 25th Amendment to remove President Joe Biden from office due to poor physical fitness due to his poor debate performance on Thursday.

McCormick suggested White House officials consider the 25th Amendment during an appearance on KDKA NewsRadio in Pittsburgh.

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Biden Vows After Debate Debacle to Fight on: ‘When You Get Knocked Down, You Get Back Up’

Just the News
Joe Biden Speech

President Joe Biden addressed his supporters at a campaign event in North Carolina on Friday after political analysts, Democratic commentators and political figures described his debate performance as a disaster that’s approaching a crisis.

“I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden said at the podium.

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Tennessee’s Elected Officials React to Thursday’s Presidential Debate

Peter D'Abrosca
Biden and Trump

Tennessee’s elected officials reacted positively to former President Donald Trump’s debate performance against President Joe Biden on Thursday night. 

“There is no debate about it: President Trump was the clear winner tonight and the person we need to save our country,” said a statement from Sen. Marsha Blackburn. “Under President Biden, hardworking families can’t afford basic necessities, illegal immigrants are treated better than our nation’s veterans and criminals get off scot-free while the Justice Department unfairly targets conservatives.”

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Tractor Supply Issues Statement Pledging to ‘Eliminate DEI’ and Return to Conservative Tennessee Roots

Tom Pappert
Tractor Supply

The Tractor Supply company on Thursday issued a statement announcing it will “eliminate DEI roles” and take a series of other actions in response to the backlash which followed recent reporting about the company’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

The Tractor Supply statement, posted to social media, explained, “We work hard to live up to our Mission and Values every day and represent the values of the communities and customers we serve.”

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New Evidence Turned over to Congress Disputes Hunter Biden Testimony About Controversial Firm

Just the News
Hunter Biden in front of US Capitol building (composite image)

Already accused of lying to Congress about other issues, Hunter Biden’s February impeachment inquiry testimony distancing himself from a controversial securities firm directly conflicts with evidence the FBI seized years ago, including his signature on an employment contract that made him the firm’s vice chairman.

The documents were gathered by FBI and SEC agents back in 2016 and were recently obtained by Congress and shared with Just the News, but not until after Hunter Biden had already given his deposition in February to the U.S. House as part of his father’s impeachment inquiry.

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26 States Sue Biden Admin over Rule Pushing Electric Vehicles on Americans

Admin
Electric vehicle being charged

A 26-state coalition is suing the Biden administration over a new rule that increases the average fuel economy of passenger cars and light trucks.

The states filed a legal challenge in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals against the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to block the agency’s new fuel economy requirements for passenger cars and light trucks, which the agency finalized on June 7. Provided it withstands legal challenges, the rule will require auto manufacturers to adhere to an industry-wide fleet average of approximately 50.4 miles per gallon for passenger cars and light trucks by 2031 – a move that, critics say, would force car companies to drastically increase the share of their fleets that are electric vehicles (EVs), and, in turn, would negatively impact consumer pocketbooks and American energy independence.

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin Congratulates Sen. John McGuire on Apparent Victory, Acknowledges Rep. Bob Good’s ‘Right’ to Recount in Call for Unity

Tom Pappert
John McGuire, Bob Good, Glenn Youngkin

Governor Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday night congratulated State Senator John McGuire (R-Goochland) on his apparent victory over Representative Bob Good (R-VA-05) in the close Republican primary race in Virginia’s 5th Congressional district.

Noting the candidates are separated by less than 400 votes, or about 0.6 percent of the more than 62,000 ballots cast, Youngkin stated he will respect Good’s “right tor request a recount,” but concluded his message with a call for Republican unity.

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Senate Leadership PAC Spends $24 Million on Pennsylvania Ads to Support Dave McCormick

Tom Pappert
Dave McCormick and Bob Casey

The Senate Leadership Fund confirmed on Thursday it will spend $24 million to support U.S. Senate nominee David McCormick in Pennsylvania, signaling further support for the former Trump administration official in the tight race to unseat Senator Bob Casey (D-PA).

A Thursday report by German-owned Politico described the $24 million investment by the Senate Leadership PAC, which is closely tied to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), as “going all in on Pennsylvania.”

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Pentagon Says $62 Million in Ukraine Weapons Aid Was ‘Lost or Destroyed’ — But It Doesn’t Know Which

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Ukraine Weapons

The Pentagon doesn’t know whether $62 million in missing U.S. weapons aid to Ukraine has been lost or destroyed, according to a new report released on Wednesday.

The $62 million in weapons were designated for end-use monitoring (EEUM), but problems in reporting and tracking between U.S. and Ukrainian forces left an information gap as to what equipment may have been destroyed, lost or diverted through November 2023, according to a Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General report (OIG) report. The Pentagon has had consistent problems tracking U.S. aid to Ukraine since the country’s war with Russia began in 2022.

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Arizona Court Rules Opioid Settlement Funding Is Legal

The Center Square
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs

The opioid settlement funds headed to the Arizona corrections system are legal, according to a judge’s ruling on Monday.

The part of the budget that would divert $115 million in total to support the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry with what’s outlined as substance abuse treatment. Although the original legal action from Attorney General Kris Mayes resulted in a temporary restraining order for the funds to be transferred, this recent decision from the Maricopa County Superior Court scrapped that. 

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