Free Republic

FIRST ON FOX: Former President Barack Obama once declared that his presidential center would be a "gift" to Chicago, but taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden costs related to the beleaguered project. A Fox News Digital investigation shows taxpayers are now stuck footing the bill for surging public infrastructure costs required to support the project — and no government agency can provide an accounting of the total public cost, despite months of queries and FOIA requests. "Illinois Republicans saw this coming a mile away. Now, right on cue, Illinois Democrats are leaving taxpayers...

Fulton County, Georgia, officials said Wednesday that the FBI seized original 2020 voting records while serving a search warrant at the county's Elections Hub and Operations Center. The FBI earlier Wednesday said they were conducting court-authorized activity at the facility. The development comes after President Donald Trump has repeatedly said there was voter fraud in the 2020 election, specifically in Georgia, that contributed to his election loss. Georgia officials audited and certified the results following the election.

Four election integrity groups filed an amicus brief in support of a case that requests the U.S. Supreme Court not allow state laws that permit counting ballots arriving after Election Day, with experts saying that the recent normalization of late ballots negatively affects trust in and efficiency of elections. Executive Director of Honest Elections Project Jason Snead told The Center Square that “this case is nothing more than a return to the norm and an enforcement of federal law against a novel scheme that illegally extends elections beyond Election Day.” Late arriving ballots “[erode] confidence in the outcome,” and “mean...

A man who worked for the company Gov. Tim Walz recently hired to audit Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS) programs at risk for fraud has been convicted of fraud. Karan Gupta, 47, a former senior director at Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, was found guilty after a six-day trial on multiple counts, including fraud and money laundering conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Daniel Rosen this week. Gupta hired an unqualified friend for a position where the friend did no work and paid half his unearned salary in kickbacks to Gupta, whose fraud totaled more than $1.2 million, a...

I grew up in a military family and lived on military bases most of my early life, five years of which were spent on Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Honestly, it was the most Americana place I’ve ever lived. Think Mayberry surrounded by minefields. Thankfully we didn’t often encounter the minefields, but we knew they were there. Fourth of July was always the biggest day of the year. We had parades with tanks and marching bands and floats and classic convertibles with pretty girls waving from the back. The rest of the day would be filled with motocross races and boxing...

A nonprofit executive is accused of stealing $132,000 in public money to pay for plastic surgeries, credit card bills and luxury vacations — including a trip to Disneyland. Amy Knox, who was COO of Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego, allegedly blew up to $30,000 of the cash on breast implants, a tummy tuck and arm and thigh lifts. The 45-year-old spent another $94,000 on buying purebred dogs, training them, martial arts classes and a trip to Hawaii, prosecutors claim. The alleged fraudster, who also went by the names Amy Hernandez and Amy Ketchum, had been living in a palatial...

California officials blasted the Trump administration’s plans to launch a full-sale investigation into unemployment fraud as ”purely political” — and blamed lost money on the feds. The US Department of Labor intends to send a “strike team” to dig into COVID-19 pandemic-era fraud involving California’s Employment Development Department, The Post exclusively reported Wednesday. California is believed to have lost as much as tens of billions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment payouts. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said the Biden administration “turned a blind eye” to stolen money and vowed to fully examine the scope of theft that occurred early in the...

Environmental scholar Bjorn Lomborg recently calculated that across the globe, governments have spent at least $16 trillion feeding the climate change industrial complex. And for what? Arguably, not a single life has been or will be saved by this shameful and colossal misallocation of human resources. The war on safe and abundant fossil fuels has cost countless lives in poor countries and made those countries poorer by blocking affordable energy. Since the global warming crusade started some 30 years ago, the temperature of the planet has not been altered by one-tenth of a degree -- as even the alarmists will...

LATEST Feb. 18, 12:45 p.m. The CEO of California’s High-Speed Rail Authority is on voluntary leave after an arrest earlier this month at his Sacramento-area home, multiple outlets reported. Politico and the Los Angeles Times both reported that the rail authority confirmed Ian Choudri’s leave. The rail authority did not respond to SFGATE’s inquiry. “While CEO Choudri has informed the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board that he is not aware of any evidence of wrongdoing, he has voluntarily agreed to take a temporary leave to allow the Board and our parent agency, the California State Transportation Agency, to fully review...

California officials who turned a blind eye to unemployment scams — potentially worth tens of billions of dollars during the pandemic — will now be put directly under the microscope of the federal government. The US Department of Labor is set to send a letter to the state’s Employment Development Department announcing a “strike team” will soon be touching down in the Golden State to root out theft and abuse, The California Post has learned. The investigation will be similar to efforts currently underway in Minnesota. “Financial issues and potential fraud in California’s unemployment insurance program will be fully examined,”...

https://x.com/wcdispatch/status/2023987491007521081 Walter Curt@wcdispatchAlright!! Finally everything is working!Right now, the live Medicaid intelligence map covers all 50 states and includes 208 discovered billing codes, with 11 high-priority codes currently enabled for focused monitoring.The national map view currently includes 4,167 unique provider lead points and 350 hotspot tracts, with deeper investigative views tracking 3,530 high-risk entities, 1,797 T1019-focused leads, and 2,874 critical address clusters.Each lead is ranked with a confidence score and priority tier so teams can triage faster and focus on the highest-impact signals first.The scoring is based on a multi-signal model that looks at payment scale, utilization intensity, concentration patterns,...

WALLKILL - A former state auditor accused of stealing more than $400,000 from the town of Wallkill while reviewing its finances pleaded guilty to a felony public corruption charge. Tobias Otieno, 41, of Hyde Park, admitted Tuesday in Wallkill Town Court that he stole $405,843.25 from Wallkill between June 23, 2022, and Sept. 1, 2024, while assigned to audit the town on behalf of the state comptroller's office. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a prison sentence of four to 12 years when Otieno is sentenced on June 1, according to a release from Orange County District Attorney David...

A new state bill aims to shield certain information about California’s High-Speed Rail project from the public. Supporters say it’s about protecting sensitive records, but critics think it puts the brakes on transparency. ... [O]pponents...say the project is too costly. They note the state has already spent about $15 billion on it over the last decade and a half, while the total cost projections for the full project have ballooned from the original $45 billion estimate presented to voters in 2008 to anywhere between $88 billion-$128 billion today. Inside California Politics Correspondent Eytan Wallace reports a new state bill would...

Newsom knows if the true scale of CA fraud comes to light, his presidential campaign is over’ California Governor Newsom, our own International Man of Mystery has been focused on anything but California as he gallivants around the world – first to Davos, then Germany last week where he threatened “climate deniers.” Today he is in London signing a climate agreement with the UK. I’m sure Californians are relieved that Gov. Newsom is single handedly saving us from climate change. While he gallivants, California’s climate is normal, but the state of the state is a hot mess. Another $370 million...

A Democratic state auditor is taking Massachusetts legislative leaders, including members of her own party, to court after uncovering nearly $12 million in alleged fraud in public assistance programs, seeking to enforce a voter-approved audit law. "What are they hiding? If there's nothing to hide, open up the doors, let the sun shine in. Let's do this audit," Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio said on "Saturday in America." DiZoglio, a Democrat and former member of both the Massachusetts House and Senate, is filing a complaint with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to enforce a 2024 ballot measure that authorized her...

This week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) joined the many Californians now seeking their fortune elsewhere. The difference is that Newsom is planning to come back to California, even as billionaires, investors, and companies flee his state for greener pastures. Newsom and Democrats such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) were selling a brave new world that looked a lot like the broken old world. It was an ironic moment. They were addressing countries at the Munich Security Conference that had previously destroyed their economies through socialist and far-left policies. The rush of liberal Democratic officeholders to Europe was telling. A...

Federal prosecutors want to take several homes, vehicles, luxury goods and large amounts of cash from Feeding Our Future co-conspirator Salim Ahmed Said to pay toward a proposed $7.8 million judgment. Said was found guilty of 21 crimes, including wire fraud and federal programs bribery, in March 2025. He was an alleged accomplice of Feeding Our Future ringleader Aimee Bock and was the co-owner of Safari Restaurant on Lake Street, where thousands of meals were supposed to be distributed. Prosecutors argue Said’s property is connected to his crimes, which allows federal officials to seize it, according to a proposed order...

Forty-one DUI arrests made by a single Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper in Bedford County have been dismissed, with 22 of those cases involving drivers who had no alcohol or drugs in their system or were within legal limits.The dismissed cases all involved arrests made by former Trooper Asa Pearl between 2021 and 2024, according to records obtained from the Bedford County Clerk’s office.Pearl resigned from the Tennessee Highway Patrol in 2024 with no reason given.

Hidden Cameras Caught Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Dumping Tons of Food

"A million here, a million there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money," Sen. Everett Dirksen is supposed to have said more than 50 years ago, and if you do that 370 times, according to California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, you might have enough to cover the Golden State taxpayer dollars diverted into Democrat "voter machines."The details get a little technical — money laundering isn't supposed to be easy to follow, after all — so I'll break down Hilton's allegations as quickly and cleanly as possible before we get to the big picture.According to Hilton’s unofficial CAL DOGE, after...