Free Republic

The Trump administration is moving to claw back tens of millions of dollars in pandemic relief that went to celebrities, music artists, and entertainment-industry elites. The Small Business Administration announced Tuesday that it has referred $34 million in outstanding Shuttered Venue Operators Grant(SVOG) debt to the Treasury Department, marking the first time the federal government has referred unresolved debt from the program to the Treasury for collection. The move is part of a broader effort by SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler to recover pandemic-era funds that the agency says were improperly awarded or remain outstanding. “Under the Biden Administration, the SVOG...

Nathan Cofnas, the U.S. academic who raised plagiarism concerns over the late Cambridge professor Jason Arday, said on Thursday he had been suspended by Belgium’s Ghent University and was under investigation for discrimination. Arday, once hailed as Cambridge’s youngest Black professor, was found dead, aged 41, in London last Friday, days after resigning from his post. Arday had denied the allegation of plagiarism but acknowledged making mistakes. “I was just suspended by Ghent University. They will almost certainly fire me,” Cofnas wrote on his X account. In a post a few hours earlier he said he was “under investigation by...

WASHINGTON — They’re a shady bunch. A California family that swindled $18 million in COVID-19 relief cash to splurge on various trappings — including a Harley-Davidson, diamonds and luxury homes — inspired a Senate crackdown on so-called “fraudster families.” Two of the family members, Richard Ayvazyan and his wife, Marietta Terabelian, cut off their ankle bracelets and ditched their three children via a goodbye note to flee the US after being convicted on fraud charges, before being caught in Montenegro. Years later, the saga inspired Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has led the Senate DOGE Caucus, to push for legislation...

An academic who made plagiarism allegations against Professor Jason Arday before his death has been suspended by a university. Professor Arday resigned from his role at the University of Cambridge this month after he faced intense scrutiny over accusations of plagiarism initially made by fellow academic Nathan Cofnas. Mr Cofnas, who has advocated for 'race realism', is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University's department of philosophy and moral sciences, according to his website. In a post on X on Thursday, he said: 'I am under investigation by my university for discriminating against Arday.' In a separate post, Mr Cofnas...

FIRST ON FOX: ActBlue co-founder Matt DeBergalis pleaded the Fifth Amendment during his closed-door deposition before three key House committees, sources familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. The Committee on House Administration, House Oversight Committee, and House Judiciary Committee are conducting a joint investigation into ActBlue, a massive fundraising platform for Democrats, over allegations that lax fraud prevention standards may have allowed foreign donations to seep into U.S. campaigns. DeBergalis' deposition, which was scheduled for Thursday morning, lasted less than half an hour. Fox News saw DeBergalis entering and exiting the committee room within roughly 25 minutes.

California Democrats on Wednesday passed AB 2624, dubbed the 'Stop Nick Shirley Act' by Republicans. The bill, introduced by Democrat Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, restricts the release of investigative videos exposing immigration support service providers. Mia Bonta is married to California's radical far-left Attorney General Rob Bonta. The California Democrats got to work on AB 2624 earlier this year after investigative journalist Nick Shirley exposed rampant hospice and daycare fraud. The bill will fine journalists (and regular citizens) a minimum of $4,000 for exposing potential fraud inside certain immigration support service providers. The bill passed the California Senate on Tuesday and...

Salman Elmi was awarded “Outstanding Refugee” by Minnesota. He was just charged for a $1 million Medicaid fraud scheme. The award was given by the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which ironically administers Medicaid payments. Today, a DHS spokesperson sent me this statement: “Salman Elmi’s alleged actions are disturbing and do not reflect the goal of the Outstanding Refugee Awards. They also do not represent Minnesota’s refugee community. We are surrounded by neighbors, coworkers, employees and friends, with powerful stories of resilience in the face of difficult circumstances, who are showing leadership in small as well as large ways to...

Our new report on the size, scope and cost of illegal immigration in NJ is now out. We’ve found a state so hopelessly compromised that we’ve officially requested federal intervention from the DOJ, DHS and House Judiciary Committee. A staggering 8.2B is being spent every single year on 737,000 illegal invaders in New Jersey. And it’s costing each of you $1,700 a year! If you rent, you can add another $1,000 annually onto that figure from illegals driving up housing costs. What’s even crazier is this is all despite an overall drop in illegals due to deportations and self deportations!...

When it comes to investigating and exposing voter fraud in Michigan, Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf is arguably the most committed law enforcement official in the state. This evening, after speaking with a whistleblower who works at the Michigan Secretary of State’s office, he dropped a major bombshell that should make every United States Senator who’s been resisting the idea of signing on to the SAVE Act, which would require every voter to prove their citizenship, think twice. MI SOS Jocelyn Benson and Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf Here’s a quick summary of Sheriff Dar Leaf explaining how non-citizens are...

A smirking mayor refused to answer questions outside of court after being charged with fraudulently obtaining pandemic loans worth over $1 million and using the money to fund his election campaign as well as pay off high-interest mortgages. Brian DePena, the Mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and a Dominican native, made an initial appearance in federal court in Boston Friday, where he was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. He was released after agreeing to several conditions, including turning his passport over and not seeking any loans without court approval, the Associated Press reports....

Lead Anchor at CNN Jake Tapper comes out and admits THEY ALL KNEW Joe Biden wasn’t really President and calling the shots. He says there was an elite inner circle of advisors who would make the decisions and “steer the country.” He gives the names of the people in that group. Again, the mainstream media ALL KNEW Joe Biden wasn’t making decisions. “Tell me about the word choice, and then tell me about those people who were really calling the shots around the president.” Jake Tapper “So the Politburo, not a term we came up with, it's a term from...

ANOKA CO., Minn. (FOX 9) - A Minnesota prostitution investigation uncovered the alleged involvement of former Anoka County Assistant Attorney Andrea Sampson, who is accused of maintaining fake companies to hide the profits of a sex trafficking operation. The criminal complaint also names Frank Devone Reeves, described by victims as a "pimp," Viktoriya Sergeyevna Komonash, who victims called a "house mom" and Katherine Michelle Thomes, who investigators say owned and operated the online commercial sex website "Minnesota Erotica Personals." Investigators say Sampson, along with Komonash and Thomes, believed they were in a romantic or sexual relationship with Reeves as they...

Prime Healthcare leaders cultivated ties to Biden, Obama, Harris, Newsom and other top Democrats while their hospitals marketed “Birth Packages in South Texas” to pregnant women abroad. Two Texas hospitals under investigation for allegedly marketing childbirth packages to foreign women belong to a politically connected healthcare empire led by a Biden-honored billionaire and a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s leadership network. Dr. Prem Reddy founded Prime Healthcare and created the nonprofit Prime Healthcare Foundation, which owns Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center, the two hospitals now under investigation. In 2024, Reddy received the Joseph R. Biden...

Former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, the official Joe Biden publicly threatened and forced out of office in 2016, claims in his book Biden’s Corruption and War: The True Story of the 1 Billion Dollar Prosecutor that hundreds of billions of American taxpayer dollars connected to Ukraine were recycled through political interests and “globalist networks.” According to a Blaze Media column citing Shokin’s first-person account, massive sums of U.S. aid intended for Ukraine were recycled through political and globalist networks. He alleges $350 billion in American taxpayer money was diverted into these opaque channels amid the chaos of war. Arms...

🚨FIVE City officials were just ARRESTED for fraud in Refugio, Texas - mayor - ⁠city secretary - ⁠city councilor - ⁠2 former city councilors They allegedly mishandled HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of public dollars. THE FRAUD NEVER ENDS

The high-flying academic at the centre of a Cambridge University plagiarism row has been found dead. Professor Jason Arday was found unresponsive at a London address shortly after 3pm on Friday. It comes after a tumultuous few weeks in which fellow dons had questioned if the 41-year-old academic’s work was original. It had also prompted an examination of his previous academic posts. As questions mounted from academics, journalists and broadcasters, Arday resigned his prestigious role. He had been Cambridge University’s youngest ever black professor, having been appointed a professor of sociology of education in March 2023. But after a succession...

Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor, has been found dead. Mr Arday was found “unresponsive” at an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said officers were called by the London Ambulance Service at 3.12pm on Friday. He said: “Sadly, a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next-of-kin have been informed and are being supported by officers. “At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious. The case is being investigated by...

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday restored several pieces of a 2021 Texas election law that overhauled mail-in and assisted voting, overturning a lower court’s block on those provisions. Five years ago, Texas passed Senate Bill 1, a wide-reaching election law that changed the way local officials administer elections and how some Texans vote, particularly aimed at initiatives Harris County implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The law was denounced by voter advocacy groups, civil rights organizations and Democratic lawmakers, who broke quorum in an attempt to stifle the bill. After several lawsuits over accessibility concerns created by...

Federal law requires the retention of voting records for 22 months after an election. Democrats don't like that. They believe in keeping things tidy by deleting all the evidence ASAP. With BleachBit, if possible. (Anthony Fauci, call your office.) And there is no set of records they want cleaned up and tidy quite like election records; otherwise, you face the need to fight like hell in court to keep them locked away, as Fulton County did for years until the FBI got a warrant and seized them. And even after that, Fulton County has fought to keep them sealed. Nothing...

Five current and former Refugio, Texas, city officials were arrested on Wednesday for fraud after they allegedly mishandled hundreds of thousands of dollars that spanned 19 transactions. Refugio Mayor Wanda Dukes was charged with misapplication of fiduciary property, a first-degree felony, for misusing funds from the Refugio Economic Development Corporation between October 2023 and October 2025. City Secretary Callie Shreckengost was also charged with misapplication of fiduciary property. Current City Council Ixtlazihuatl Vasquez, former City Council Frank Hosey, and former City Council Michael Rocha were all hit with third-degree felony charges of abuse of official capacity. According to the indictment,...