Individual Economists

Appeals Court Halts DOT Restrictions On Commercial Driver's Licenses For Illegals

Zero Hedge -

Appeals Court Halts DOT Restrictions On Commercial Driver's Licenses For Illegals

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

A federal appeals court in the District of Columbia has temporarily blocked the Department of Transportation (DOT) from enforcing a new rule that narrows the conditions under which states may issue commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens.

The ruling followed an Oct. 20 petition from two truck drivers and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) seeking judicial review of the interim final rule by the DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in September.

The rule limits eligibility for nondomiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) to holders of H-2A (temporary agricultural workers), H-2B (temporary non-agricultural workers), and E-2 (treaty investors) visas, with no other immigration categories eligible, according to a document published on the Federal Register on Sept. 29.

In its Nov. 13 ruling, the appeals court said the federal government didn’t follow proper procedure in drafting the rule and failed to “articulate a satisfactory explanation for how the rule would promote safety.”

The court said the FMCSA’s data show that nondomiciled CDL holders make up roughly 5 percent of all CDL holders but are involved in only about 0.2 percent of fatal crashes in the United States.

“FMCSA does not appear to have demonstrated any safety benefit from the rule, the county petitioner has furnished evidence that the rule would harm public safety by forcing it to replace safer experienced drivers with less-safe new drivers,” it stated.

The ruling also found that the petitioners will likely succeed in their claims that the FMCSA issued the rule without prior consultation with the states.

The agency has argued that it did not consult states because the total cost of compliance with the rule was not expected to be substantial and that such consultation was “not practicable,” according to court documents. The court rejected that argument.

Circuit Judge Karen L. Henderson dissented, noting that FMCSA had presented five recent fatal crashes involving foreign-domiciled CDL drivers—which killed 12 individuals—suggesting that an audit of their foreign driving records might have barred them from obtaining CDLs in the United States.

“These examples merely bolstered the FMCSA’s already reasonable determination that allowing CDL-holders with unverified driving histories on our roadways is unsafe,” Henderson stated.

In a statement to multiple news outlets, a DOT spokesperson said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will continue efforts to keep “unqualified, foreign drivers off American roads.”

“This is not a ruling on the merits of the case,” the spokesperson noted.

AFSCME president Lee Saunders applauded the court’s decision on Nov. 14.

“Many public service workers who provide essential services like keeping our streets clean and driving our children to school require commercial drivers’ licenses,” Saunders said in a statement.

The FMCSA posted the court’s decision on its website, noting that the interim final rule is on hold until further notice, while states facing corrective action must continue to adhere to the guidance.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) had supported the new rule.

“For too long, loopholes in this program have allowed unqualified drivers onto our highways, putting professional truckers and the motoring public at risk,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in a statement.

The DOT took emergency action in September following a fatal crash in Florida on Aug. 12 that involved a semitruck driver who illegally entered the United States in 2018 through the southern border. The driver, identified as Harjinder Singh, obtained a commercial driver’s license in California.

The federal government has already withheld more than $40 million in funding from California after an investigation found that the state had not met federal English-language proficiency standards for truck drivers.

On Nov. 12, the DOT stated that California has revoked about 17,000 illegally issued trucking licenses, which were issued to nondomiciled CDL drivers.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 19:15

Threats Of Sanctions, Economic Warfare, As Japan-China Relations Sink To Decades Low

Zero Hedge -

Threats Of Sanctions, Economic Warfare, As Japan-China Relations Sink To Decades Low

China and Japan are experiencing their most intense diplomatic tensions in years after Beijing issued economic warnings in response to recent comments by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about a potential Taiwan conflict. As we featured previously, Takaichi had suggested that any Chinese use of force against Taiwan could be considered a "situation threatening Japan’s survival" - which could justify Tokyo supporting allied nations in defense of the self-ruled island.

Beijing reacted swiftly, with a Chinese state broadcaster over the weekend having cautioned that the country is "fully prepared for concrete countermeasures," which could include sanctions, trade repercussions, and even the suspension of all diplomatic or military engagement - as cited in Bloomberg. All of this comes after NATO scrapped highly provocative plans to open a 'NATO office' in Japan.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi

Takaichi is only a month in office, and became the first Japanese leader in decades to publicly raise the Taiwan Strait crisis alongside the possible deployment of Japanese troops.

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Monday repeated Beijing's demand for a full retraction and apology. She called on Japan to "Stop crossing the line and playing with fire, retract the wrongful remarks and deeds and honor its commitments to China with real action." 

She further declared there is "no space" for ambiguity on what China sees as its territory. She further explained, "China has made its serious position clear several times on Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s wrongful remarks on Taiwan." She added: "The remarks seriously violate the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, and cause fundamental damage to the political foundation of China-Japan relations."

Bloomberg has cited one regional analyst who says a full severing of relations is likely not on the agenda:

"Although China’s reaction has been very strong so far, it’s very calculated," said Rui Aoyama, a professor of Japan-China relations at Waseda University in Tokyo. "China is aiming to deal a blow to Japan’s economy, but I don’t think there’s an intention to cut ties."

Yet this will be a serious test for Takaichi, and there could be painful economic repercussions for Japan just around the corner.

Already last week China urged its nationals not to travel to Japan, and summoned the Japanese ambassador to Beijing to condemn Takaichi's remarks.

State media ramping up the trolling and attacks...

The situation then turned into a tit-for-tat of outrage. Fox example Japan has been most angered at a social media post issued a week ago by China's consul general in the Japanese city of Osaka, Xue Jian. He had shared article about Takaichi's parliamentary remarks on X with his own words, "the dirty head that sticks itself in must be cut off." Tokyo quickly lodged its own diplomatic protest over the "high inappropriate" commentary.

But China has still maintained all of this ultimately stems from the "extremely wrong and dangerous" words of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi related to defending Taiwan.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 18:50

Threats Of Sanctions, Economic Warfare, As Japan-China Relations Sink To Decades Low

Zero Hedge -

Threats Of Sanctions, Economic Warfare, As Japan-China Relations Sink To Decades Low

China and Japan are experiencing their most intense diplomatic tensions in years after Beijing issued economic warnings in response to recent comments by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about a potential Taiwan conflict. As we featured previously, Takaichi had suggested that any Chinese use of force against Taiwan could be considered a "situation threatening Japan’s survival" - which could justify Tokyo supporting allied nations in defense of the self-ruled island.

Beijing reacted swiftly, with a Chinese state broadcaster over the weekend having cautioned that the country is "fully prepared for concrete countermeasures," which could include sanctions, trade repercussions, and even the suspension of all diplomatic or military engagement - as cited in Bloomberg. All of this comes after NATO scrapped highly provocative plans to open a 'NATO office' in Japan.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi

Takaichi is only a month in office, and became the first Japanese leader in decades to publicly raise the Taiwan Strait crisis alongside the possible deployment of Japanese troops.

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Monday repeated Beijing's demand for a full retraction and apology. She called on Japan to "Stop crossing the line and playing with fire, retract the wrongful remarks and deeds and honor its commitments to China with real action." 

She further declared there is "no space" for ambiguity on what China sees as its territory. She further explained, "China has made its serious position clear several times on Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s wrongful remarks on Taiwan." She added: "The remarks seriously violate the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, and cause fundamental damage to the political foundation of China-Japan relations."

Bloomberg has cited one regional analyst who says a full severing of relations is likely not on the agenda:

"Although China’s reaction has been very strong so far, it’s very calculated," said Rui Aoyama, a professor of Japan-China relations at Waseda University in Tokyo. "China is aiming to deal a blow to Japan’s economy, but I don’t think there’s an intention to cut ties."

Yet this will be a serious test for Takaichi, and there could be painful economic repercussions for Japan just around the corner.

Already last week China urged its nationals not to travel to Japan, and summoned the Japanese ambassador to Beijing to condemn Takaichi's remarks.

State media ramping up the trolling and attacks...

The situation then turned into a tit-for-tat of outrage. Fox example Japan has been most angered at a social media post issued a week ago by China's consul general in the Japanese city of Osaka, Xue Jian. He had shared article about Takaichi's parliamentary remarks on X with his own words, "the dirty head that sticks itself in must be cut off." Tokyo quickly lodged its own diplomatic protest over the "high inappropriate" commentary.

But China has still maintained all of this ultimately stems from the "extremely wrong and dangerous" words of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi related to defending Taiwan.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 18:50

Trump Says He Plans To Meet With NYC Mayor-Elect Mamdani To "Work Something Out"

Zero Hedge -

Trump Says He Plans To Meet With NYC Mayor-Elect Mamdani To "Work Something Out"

Update (1700ET): Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he hoped to press President Trump to help ease the affordability crisis.

He said that if the president were willing to find common ground on the issue, he would be willing to work with him.

“The president ran a campaign where he spoke about a promise to deliver cheaper groceries, a promise to reduce the cost of living,” Mr. Mamdani said at news conference at a food pantry in the Bronx, where he served meals to visitors.

But he has also expressed doubt that the president has any such intentions.

“We are seeing his actions and that of his administration in Washington leading to the exact opposite effect for New Yorkers.”

Oh to be a fly on that wall!?

*  *  *

As Tom Ozimek detailed earlier for The Epoch Times, President Donald Trump said Nov. 16 that he plans to meet with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and “work something out,” signaling that he may be open to a working relationship with the self-described democratic socialist, whom the president has repeatedly said is a threat to the city.

“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us and we’ll work something out,” Trump told reporters on Nov. 17 as he prepared to return to Washington after a weekend in Florida.

“We want to see everything work out well for New York.”

Mamdani—who defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo by nearly nine points to become the city’s first democratic socialist mayor—said during a Nov. 12 interview with NBC New York that he intends to reach out to the White House in the coming weeks.

The 34-year-old Ugandan-born, naturalized U.S. citizen called the relationship with Washington “critical to the success of the city” and said he is prepared to work with Trump on issues such as lowering the cost of living and delivering cheaper groceries.

Trump’s comments mark a softer stance for a president who has described Mamdani as a “communist” and threatened to cut off federal support to New York if voters elected him. At rallies and public appearances throughout the mayoral race, Trump was highly critical of Mamdani, at one point suggesting he could be arrested if he interfered with federal immigration enforcement.

Mamdani rose to national prominence by casting himself as an opponent of Trump’s agenda.

Mamdani has vowed to make New York the “strongest sanctuary city” in the nation, including by ending all cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and getting ICE out of all city facilities.

His broader plan to “Trump-proof” New York aims to insulate the city from federal pressure, including by boosting immigration-related legal defense funding, shielding personal data from federal access, and expanding protections for transgender medical procedures.

The meeting—if it occurs—would come as Mamdani prepares to undergo federal vetting for a security clearance that incoming New York mayors are required to obtain before taking office.

Despite the heated campaign-era rhetoric, Trump’s tone toward New York has softened in recent days. Speaking at a Miami business forum shortly after Democrats notched several statewide wins on Nov. 4, Trump said he wanted the country’s largest city “to be successful” despite his misgivings about Mamdani’s policies.

“We’re going to see how that works out,” the president said.

“We‘ll help them. We want New York to be successful. We’ll help them a little bit.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that no date has been set for a Trump–Mamdani meeting.

The early signals from both men suggest a cautious opening for cooperation once Mamdani takes office in January.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 18:25

Trump Says He Plans To Meet With NYC Mayor-Elect Mamdani To "Work Something Out"

Zero Hedge -

Trump Says He Plans To Meet With NYC Mayor-Elect Mamdani To "Work Something Out"

Update (1700ET): Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he hoped to press President Trump to help ease the affordability crisis.

He said that if the president were willing to find common ground on the issue, he would be willing to work with him.

“The president ran a campaign where he spoke about a promise to deliver cheaper groceries, a promise to reduce the cost of living,” Mr. Mamdani said at news conference at a food pantry in the Bronx, where he served meals to visitors.

But he has also expressed doubt that the president has any such intentions.

“We are seeing his actions and that of his administration in Washington leading to the exact opposite effect for New Yorkers.”

Oh to be a fly on that wall!?

*  *  *

As Tom Ozimek detailed earlier for The Epoch Times, President Donald Trump said Nov. 16 that he plans to meet with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and “work something out,” signaling that he may be open to a working relationship with the self-described democratic socialist, whom the president has repeatedly said is a threat to the city.

“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us and we’ll work something out,” Trump told reporters on Nov. 17 as he prepared to return to Washington after a weekend in Florida.

“We want to see everything work out well for New York.”

Mamdani—who defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo by nearly nine points to become the city’s first democratic socialist mayor—said during a Nov. 12 interview with NBC New York that he intends to reach out to the White House in the coming weeks.

The 34-year-old Ugandan-born, naturalized U.S. citizen called the relationship with Washington “critical to the success of the city” and said he is prepared to work with Trump on issues such as lowering the cost of living and delivering cheaper groceries.

Trump’s comments mark a softer stance for a president who has described Mamdani as a “communist” and threatened to cut off federal support to New York if voters elected him. At rallies and public appearances throughout the mayoral race, Trump was highly critical of Mamdani, at one point suggesting he could be arrested if he interfered with federal immigration enforcement.

Mamdani rose to national prominence by casting himself as an opponent of Trump’s agenda.

Mamdani has vowed to make New York the “strongest sanctuary city” in the nation, including by ending all cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and getting ICE out of all city facilities.

His broader plan to “Trump-proof” New York aims to insulate the city from federal pressure, including by boosting immigration-related legal defense funding, shielding personal data from federal access, and expanding protections for transgender medical procedures.

The meeting—if it occurs—would come as Mamdani prepares to undergo federal vetting for a security clearance that incoming New York mayors are required to obtain before taking office.

Despite the heated campaign-era rhetoric, Trump’s tone toward New York has softened in recent days. Speaking at a Miami business forum shortly after Democrats notched several statewide wins on Nov. 4, Trump said he wanted the country’s largest city “to be successful” despite his misgivings about Mamdani’s policies.

“We’re going to see how that works out,” the president said.

“We‘ll help them. We want New York to be successful. We’ll help them a little bit.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that no date has been set for a Trump–Mamdani meeting.

The early signals from both men suggest a cautious opening for cooperation once Mamdani takes office in January.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 18:25

Man Stabbed In Broad Daylight In Times Square Collapses While Yelling "Save The Children"

Zero Hedge -

Man Stabbed In Broad Daylight In Times Square Collapses While Yelling "Save The Children"

Zohran Mamdani's election is already making Manhattan safer...and more sane. A man believed to be homeless was stabbed twice in Times Square in broad daylight on Saturday, then staggered around shouting “save the children” as he bled heavily, according to the NY Post. 

The 30-year-old was attacked around 11:40 a.m. outside 1501 Broadway near West 44th Street, where a suspect stabbed him in the left ribs and arm.

A nearby vendor said the victim, shirtless and bleeding from the chest, kept yelling after being wounded.

He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition but was described as “highly uncooperative,” leaving police unsure of the motive. The attacker fled and was last seen wearing a black jacket and dark pants. Blood was left pooled on the sidewalk outside the Raising Cane’s restaurant in the middle of Times Square.

The Post writes that according to NYPD data, felony assaults in the 14th Precinct are up 1% this year, rising to 476 from 471.

Felony assaults are down 0.2% citywide, and major crime has fallen 3% compared with this time last year, according to NYPD data.

But with new Mayor-elect Mamdani’s well-known anti-police stance, the stability of that trend is far from guaranteed — and who knows how long any decline will last. Our guess: probably not long.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 18:00

ICE, Partners Launch Initiative To Protect 450,000 Children From Unvetted Sponsors

Zero Hedge -

ICE, Partners Launch Initiative To Protect 450,000 Children From Unvetted Sponsors

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched an initiative aimed at protecting 450,000 unaccompanied children (UAC) who were illegally smuggled into the United States, and then placed with unvetted sponsors during the Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement on Nov. 14.

A migrant child awaits to be processed by Border Patrol agents in Otay Mesa, Calif., on Feb. 29, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

ICE is carrying out the UAC Safety Verification Initiative in partnership with state and local law enforcement agencies under the 287(g) program, DHS said. The 287(g) program allows local and state law enforcement to enforce certain aspects of federal immigration law.

The primary focus of the initiative will be to carry out welfare checks on nearly half a million children to ensure they are living safely and are not subject to any exploitation, DHS said.

The department blamed the Biden administration’s open border policies for having “empowered” human and sex traffickers and stated that the Trump administration is taking a “sledgehammer” to such trafficking rings.

Between Jan. 21 and Oct. 31 this year, there were 106,134 total enforcement encounters along the southwest border compared to the monthly average of 155,485 encounters under President Joe Biden, according to a DHS statement on Nov. 5.

The UAC Safety Verification initiative kicked off on Nov. 10 in Florida and will soon roll out to other parts of the country, DHS said in its recent statement.

Among the many sponsors already arrested by ICE for criminal activity are a Honduran immigrant sponsor from Florida who has been convicted by state authorities for assault, a Guatemalan sponsor from Georgia convicted of domestic violence by authorities, and an El Salvadoran sponsor from Michigan who was convicted of drug trafficking.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is “leading efforts to rescue and stop the exploitation of the 450,000 unaccompanied children the Biden administration lost or placed with unvetted sponsors. Many of the children who came across the border unaccompanied were allowed to be placed with sponsors who were smugglers and sex traffickers,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said that the Trump administration has so far located over 24,400 of these children across the country.

“We’ve jumpstarted our efforts to rescue children who were victims of sex and labor trafficking by working with our state and local law enforcement partners to locate these children,” McLaughlin said.

An August 2024 report from the DHS Office of Inspector General found that 323,000 illegal immigrant children were unaccounted for in the country.

As of May 2024, this included more than 32,000 children who were served notices to appear in court but failed to do so. In addition, the safety of an additional 291,000 children could not be verified, according to the report.

The Trump administration has faced legal challenges regarding illegal unaccompanied minors.

In October, advocacy groups American Immigration Council and the National Immigrant Justice Center filed an emergency motion in court, seeking to enforce a 2021 ruling that prohibits ICE from transferring unaccompanied immigrant children to adult detention centers once they hit the age of 18, according to an Oct. 4 statement from the council.

When unaccompanied children enter the country, they are initially placed in shelters operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and later released to family members or vetted sponsors and not ICE’s detention centers, the council said, adding that “these policies recognize that children need care and support, not punishment.”

“Locking up these young people in ICE jails rife with overcrowding and hazardous conditions, and far from their support systems, does nothing to make our communities safer; it only inflicts more harm on vulnerable youth,” Michelle Lapointe, legal director at the council, said. The emergency request was granted by the court.

According to ICE, its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) is tasked with managing the civil immigration detention system. ICE clarified that it does not detain unaccompanied children except in certain rare instances.

The responsibilities regarding the care and custody of these minors lie with the ORR, an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services, it said.

“In accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008, ERO coordinates closely with inter-departmental partners to ensure the timely and safe transfer of unaccompanied alien children from DHS to HHS ORR custody,” the agency said.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 17:40

ICE, Partners Launch Initiative To Protect 450,000 Children From Unvetted Sponsors

Zero Hedge -

ICE, Partners Launch Initiative To Protect 450,000 Children From Unvetted Sponsors

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched an initiative aimed at protecting 450,000 unaccompanied children (UAC) who were illegally smuggled into the United States, and then placed with unvetted sponsors during the Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement on Nov. 14.

A migrant child awaits to be processed by Border Patrol agents in Otay Mesa, Calif., on Feb. 29, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

ICE is carrying out the UAC Safety Verification Initiative in partnership with state and local law enforcement agencies under the 287(g) program, DHS said. The 287(g) program allows local and state law enforcement to enforce certain aspects of federal immigration law.

The primary focus of the initiative will be to carry out welfare checks on nearly half a million children to ensure they are living safely and are not subject to any exploitation, DHS said.

The department blamed the Biden administration’s open border policies for having “empowered” human and sex traffickers and stated that the Trump administration is taking a “sledgehammer” to such trafficking rings.

Between Jan. 21 and Oct. 31 this year, there were 106,134 total enforcement encounters along the southwest border compared to the monthly average of 155,485 encounters under President Joe Biden, according to a DHS statement on Nov. 5.

The UAC Safety Verification initiative kicked off on Nov. 10 in Florida and will soon roll out to other parts of the country, DHS said in its recent statement.

Among the many sponsors already arrested by ICE for criminal activity are a Honduran immigrant sponsor from Florida who has been convicted by state authorities for assault, a Guatemalan sponsor from Georgia convicted of domestic violence by authorities, and an El Salvadoran sponsor from Michigan who was convicted of drug trafficking.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is “leading efforts to rescue and stop the exploitation of the 450,000 unaccompanied children the Biden administration lost or placed with unvetted sponsors. Many of the children who came across the border unaccompanied were allowed to be placed with sponsors who were smugglers and sex traffickers,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin said that the Trump administration has so far located over 24,400 of these children across the country.

“We’ve jumpstarted our efforts to rescue children who were victims of sex and labor trafficking by working with our state and local law enforcement partners to locate these children,” McLaughlin said.

An August 2024 report from the DHS Office of Inspector General found that 323,000 illegal immigrant children were unaccounted for in the country.

As of May 2024, this included more than 32,000 children who were served notices to appear in court but failed to do so. In addition, the safety of an additional 291,000 children could not be verified, according to the report.

The Trump administration has faced legal challenges regarding illegal unaccompanied minors.

In October, advocacy groups American Immigration Council and the National Immigrant Justice Center filed an emergency motion in court, seeking to enforce a 2021 ruling that prohibits ICE from transferring unaccompanied immigrant children to adult detention centers once they hit the age of 18, according to an Oct. 4 statement from the council.

When unaccompanied children enter the country, they are initially placed in shelters operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and later released to family members or vetted sponsors and not ICE’s detention centers, the council said, adding that “these policies recognize that children need care and support, not punishment.”

“Locking up these young people in ICE jails rife with overcrowding and hazardous conditions, and far from their support systems, does nothing to make our communities safer; it only inflicts more harm on vulnerable youth,” Michelle Lapointe, legal director at the council, said. The emergency request was granted by the court.

According to ICE, its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) is tasked with managing the civil immigration detention system. ICE clarified that it does not detain unaccompanied children except in certain rare instances.

The responsibilities regarding the care and custody of these minors lie with the ORR, an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services, it said.

“In accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008, ERO coordinates closely with inter-departmental partners to ensure the timely and safe transfer of unaccompanied alien children from DHS to HHS ORR custody,” the agency said.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 17:40

Nihilistic Accelerationism: Kirk Assassin & Butler, PA Shooter Share Disturbing Online Far-Left Radicalization, Furry Fetish

Zero Hedge -

Nihilistic Accelerationism: Kirk Assassin & Butler, PA Shooter Share Disturbing Online Far-Left Radicalization, Furry Fetish

Building on Tucker Carlson's reporting about President Donald Trump's would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks, and what increasingly appears to be a major FBI cover-up of Crooks' political leanings and far-left radicalization, a new New York Post investigation reveals even more disturbing details, including a strange "furry" obsession strikingly similar to that of Charlie Kirk's suspected shooter. 

Sixteen months after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Carlson dropped bombshells of Crook's online history, including dozens of social media posts that show the young man was radicalized in just a few short years to a radical leftist who apparently had a weird obsession with furry culture. 

Here's more color on NYPost's reporting of Crooks' furry fetish:

When told of Crooks' online threats, he said there was no way the FBI would not be aware of the teenager.

Among the 17 accounts uncovered by our source, only one, on PayPal, was operated under an alias: "Rod Swanson."

Rod Swanson is a former senior FBI agent who was the chief of investigations for the state of Nevada during the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.

. . . 

"No matter how ridiculous the allegation, no matter if it's COVID or not, somebody is going to knock on somebody's door," Swanson said. "If they investigated that kid there's a record of it and there's an assessment that some leader made that this was not a threat or it rose to a level and they did something else."

He also said that "if the FBI had that information [about his name on the PayPal account], I can't even imagine they would not have reached out to me right away."

. . .

He described himself with the pronouns "they/them" on the platform DeviantArt, which is one of the biggest online hubs for "furry" art and the "furry" community. (A furry is someone who has an interest in anthropomorphized animal characters, often as a sexual fetish.)

. . .

Two accounts linked to Crooks' primary email were found on DeviantArt, under usernames "epicmicrowave" and "theepicmicrowave." The account suggests he had an obsession with scantily clad cartoon characters sporting muscle-bound male bodies and female heads.

What's especially troubling is that Crooks' radicalization, along with his embrace of furry culture and gender-identity experimentation, reflects the same pattern of behavior seen in Charlie Kirk's accused shooter, Tyler Robinson.

On Friday, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) made a bold claim during an interview with Benny Johnson, saying, "Crooks was groomed by the CIA through MKUltra-style mind-control programs and dark intelligence operations for the sole purpose of taking out President Trump in Butler, PA."

Related: 

The real question we should all be asking:

  • What in the world is happening to America's kids?

  • How are they being radicalized online in such a short span of time?

  • What is triggering young people to carry out such heinous acts driven by what can only be described as a kind of nihilistic accelerationism?

Mike Benz warns: "something in the water…" 

Right. 

Even the Deep State-controlled media outlet The Atlantic had to point out "Left-Wing Terrorism Is on the Rise." 

The bigger question is, why did the FBI cover up Crooks? It becomes incredibly apparent by now.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 17:20

Nihilistic Accelerationism: Kirk Assassin & Butler, PA Shooter Share Disturbing Online Far-Left Radicalization, Furry Fetish

Zero Hedge -

Nihilistic Accelerationism: Kirk Assassin & Butler, PA Shooter Share Disturbing Online Far-Left Radicalization, Furry Fetish

Building on Tucker Carlson's reporting about President Donald Trump's would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks, and what increasingly appears to be a major FBI cover-up of Crooks' political leanings and far-left radicalization, a new New York Post investigation reveals even more disturbing details, including a strange "furry" obsession strikingly similar to that of Charlie Kirk's suspected shooter. 

Sixteen months after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Carlson dropped bombshells of Crook's online history, including dozens of social media posts that show the young man was radicalized in just a few short years to a radical leftist who apparently had a weird obsession with furry culture. 

Here's more color on NYPost's reporting of Crooks' furry fetish:

When told of Crooks' online threats, he said there was no way the FBI would not be aware of the teenager.

Among the 17 accounts uncovered by our source, only one, on PayPal, was operated under an alias: "Rod Swanson."

Rod Swanson is a former senior FBI agent who was the chief of investigations for the state of Nevada during the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.

. . . 

"No matter how ridiculous the allegation, no matter if it's COVID or not, somebody is going to knock on somebody's door," Swanson said. "If they investigated that kid there's a record of it and there's an assessment that some leader made that this was not a threat or it rose to a level and they did something else."

He also said that "if the FBI had that information [about his name on the PayPal account], I can't even imagine they would not have reached out to me right away."

. . .

He described himself with the pronouns "they/them" on the platform DeviantArt, which is one of the biggest online hubs for "furry" art and the "furry" community. (A furry is someone who has an interest in anthropomorphized animal characters, often as a sexual fetish.)

. . .

Two accounts linked to Crooks' primary email were found on DeviantArt, under usernames "epicmicrowave" and "theepicmicrowave." The account suggests he had an obsession with scantily clad cartoon characters sporting muscle-bound male bodies and female heads.

What's especially troubling is that Crooks' radicalization, along with his embrace of furry culture and gender-identity experimentation, reflects the same pattern of behavior seen in Charlie Kirk's accused shooter, Tyler Robinson.

On Friday, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) made a bold claim during an interview with Benny Johnson, saying, "Crooks was groomed by the CIA through MKUltra-style mind-control programs and dark intelligence operations for the sole purpose of taking out President Trump in Butler, PA."

Related: 

The real question we should all be asking:

  • What in the world is happening to America's kids?

  • How are they being radicalized online in such a short span of time?

  • What is triggering young people to carry out such heinous acts driven by what can only be described as a kind of nihilistic accelerationism?

Mike Benz warns: "something in the water…" 

Right. 

Even the Deep State-controlled media outlet The Atlantic had to point out "Left-Wing Terrorism Is on the Rise." 

The bigger question is, why did the FBI cover up Crooks? It becomes incredibly apparent by now.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 17:20

Google Sued For Allegedly Using Gemini AI Tool To Track Users' Private Communications

Zero Hedge -

Google Sued For Allegedly Using Gemini AI Tool To Track Users' Private Communications

Authored by Lear Zhou via The Epoch Times,

Google LLC is accused in a civil lawsuit of using its artificial intelligence program Gemini to collect data on users’ private communications in Gmail as well as Google’s instant messaging and video conference programs.

Until around Oct. 10, the Gemini AI assistant required the user to deliberately opt into its feature. After that date, the feature was allegedly “secretly” turned on by Google for all its users’ Gmail, Chat, and Meet accounts by default, enabling AI to track its users’ private data in those platforms “without the users’ knowledge or consent,” according to the complaint filed Nov. 11 in federal court in San Jose.

The class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that Google is violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act, a 1967 law that prohibits surreptitious wiretapping and recording of confidential communications without the consent of all parties involved.

Although Google provides a way for users to turn off the feature, it requires users to look for it in the privacy settings to deactivate it, despite never having agreed to it in the first place, the complaint said.

The AI feature is categorized in “Google Workspace smart features” in Google settings. Once turned on, it means the user consents to the program using “Workspace content and activity” across Workspace or in other Google products.

When the feature is turned on, Gemini can “scan, read, and analyze every email (and email attachment), message, and conversation on those services,” according to the complaint.

Technology writer Ruben Circelli wrote in a PCMag article that Gemini is “downright creepy” in diving deep into his personal history, analyzing 16 years’ worth of emails after he signed up for a more advanced pro feature.

In a series of tests by Circelli, Gemini told him one of his character flaws and even knew who his first crush was in elementary school.

“This invasion of privacy wasn’t just disconcerting, though; it was unexpected,” Circelli wrote.

“Google didn’t explain what this integration would do before I signed up for its AI Pro plan, nor did it give me a way to opt out at the start.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Google for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

“We do not use your Workspace data to train or improve the underlying generative AI and large language models that power Gemini, Search, and other systems outside of Workspace without permission,” the company has stated.

Thomas Thele, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, stated in the complaint that he suspected his private information, such as medical records, employment records, religious and political affiliations and activities, and more has already been exposed to Gemini.

“The data from these communications enables Google to cross-reference and conduct unlimited analysis toward unmerited, improper, and monetizable insights into users’ private lives, including their social, professional, and other relationships,” the court file states.

In late October, Google agreed to pay $1.37 billion to settle multiple lawsuits with the state of Texas. The lawsuits alleged that the company violated residents’ privacy rights through location tracking, biometric identifiers, and other means.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 17:00

Google Sued For Allegedly Using Gemini AI Tool To Track Users' Private Communications

Zero Hedge -

Google Sued For Allegedly Using Gemini AI Tool To Track Users' Private Communications

Authored by Lear Zhou via The Epoch Times,

Google LLC is accused in a civil lawsuit of using its artificial intelligence program Gemini to collect data on users’ private communications in Gmail as well as Google’s instant messaging and video conference programs.

Until around Oct. 10, the Gemini AI assistant required the user to deliberately opt into its feature. After that date, the feature was allegedly “secretly” turned on by Google for all its users’ Gmail, Chat, and Meet accounts by default, enabling AI to track its users’ private data in those platforms “without the users’ knowledge or consent,” according to the complaint filed Nov. 11 in federal court in San Jose.

The class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that Google is violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act, a 1967 law that prohibits surreptitious wiretapping and recording of confidential communications without the consent of all parties involved.

Although Google provides a way for users to turn off the feature, it requires users to look for it in the privacy settings to deactivate it, despite never having agreed to it in the first place, the complaint said.

The AI feature is categorized in “Google Workspace smart features” in Google settings. Once turned on, it means the user consents to the program using “Workspace content and activity” across Workspace or in other Google products.

When the feature is turned on, Gemini can “scan, read, and analyze every email (and email attachment), message, and conversation on those services,” according to the complaint.

Technology writer Ruben Circelli wrote in a PCMag article that Gemini is “downright creepy” in diving deep into his personal history, analyzing 16 years’ worth of emails after he signed up for a more advanced pro feature.

In a series of tests by Circelli, Gemini told him one of his character flaws and even knew who his first crush was in elementary school.

“This invasion of privacy wasn’t just disconcerting, though; it was unexpected,” Circelli wrote.

“Google didn’t explain what this integration would do before I signed up for its AI Pro plan, nor did it give me a way to opt out at the start.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Google for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

“We do not use your Workspace data to train or improve the underlying generative AI and large language models that power Gemini, Search, and other systems outside of Workspace without permission,” the company has stated.

Thomas Thele, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, stated in the complaint that he suspected his private information, such as medical records, employment records, religious and political affiliations and activities, and more has already been exposed to Gemini.

“The data from these communications enables Google to cross-reference and conduct unlimited analysis toward unmerited, improper, and monetizable insights into users’ private lives, including their social, professional, and other relationships,” the court file states.

In late October, Google agreed to pay $1.37 billion to settle multiple lawsuits with the state of Texas. The lawsuits alleged that the company violated residents’ privacy rights through location tracking, biometric identifiers, and other means.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 17:00

US Designates Venezuela's "Cartel Of The Suns" As Terrorists, But Its Existence Is Dubious

Zero Hedge -

US Designates Venezuela's "Cartel Of The Suns" As Terrorists, But Its Existence Is Dubious

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Sunday that the State Department would be designating the so-called Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" - though many analysts and reporters have questioned whether the group actually exists.

"Based in Venezuela, the Cartel de los Soles is headed by Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking individuals of the illegitimate Maduro regime who have corrupted Venezuela’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary," the official US statement said. "Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela’s legitimate government."

Via Associated Press

At a moment of unprecedented US military build-up off Venezuela, including the presence of the USS Ford carrier strike group, Rubio's statement laid out, "Cartel de los Soles by and with other designated FTOs including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel are responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe."

But AntiWar.com's Dave DeCamp outlines the case for skepticism:

The term "Cartel of the Suns" was first used in the 1990s, before Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, came to power, to describe two Venezuelan military generals with sun insignias on their uniforms who were involved in the drug trade. One of the generals was working with the CIA at the time, according to a 1993 60 Minutes report.

Today, the term is used to describe Venezuelan military and government officials who allegedly profit from drug trafficking, but the Cartel of the Suns doesn't exist as a structured organization.

And according to the investigative source, InSight Crime, quoted in AFP: "Rather than a hierarchical organization with Maduro directing drug trafficking strategies, the Cartel of the Suns is more accurately described as a system of corruption wherein military and political officials profit by working with drug traffickers." Further: 

Yet in March, the latest US State Department report on global anti-drug operations made no mention of the "Cartel de los Soles" or any connection between Maduro and narco trafficking.

Typically mainstream media parrots whatever US national security officials say when it comes to Venezuela or any other 'official enemy'; however, there's lately been a surprising degree of MSM pushback on the "Cartel of the Suns" moniker...

Trump admin officials spent the weekend in media interviews also resurrecting the "Hezbollah in Latin America" threat, a talking point which hearkens back to when Mike Pompeo was Secretary of State during Trump's first term.

Currently Hezbollah and Iran are alleged to be colluding with alleged Venezuelan narco-trafficking in a vast global plot, but which as usual comes without much or any in the way of concrete evidence. While Hezbollah and Iran may have at one time been active in establishing working relationships in this region, the current reality is that Hezbollah's leadership was decimated starting last year in the war with Israel, and Iran too finds itself on a backfoot facing multiple crises at home.

Neither entity is likely capable of currently projecting power in the Caribbean region or stands to gain much by provoking Washington's wrath, especially with such a large American force presence. 

This weekend also saw a second round of US military exercises based out of American regional ally Trinidad and Tobago. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blasted the drills as "irresponsible."

"The government of Trinidad and Tobago has once again announced irresponsible exercises, lending its waters off the coast of Sucre state for military exercises that are intended to be threatening to a republic like Venezuela, which does not allow itself to be threatened by anyone," Maduro said from Caracas.

The so-called Cartel de los Soles is a concept that is so loose that it simply encompasses the Venezuelan state leadership itself..

Via The Sun

His government has further announce a "massive" retaliatory deployment as the US carrier group arrived. This involves a large civilian militia force being put on high alert, though these are mostly unarmed and untrained local citizens.

As for the "Cartel of the Suns" designation, it is scheduled to go into effect on November 24. "Once the designation takes effect, all property and interests in property belonging to the named individuals or entities that fall under US jurisdiction will be blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)," one international media source explains. "Entities owned 50% or more — directly or indirectly — by one or more blocked persons will also be subject to the same restrictions."

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 16:40

US Designates Venezuela's "Cartel Of The Suns" As Terrorists, But Its Existence Is Dubious

Zero Hedge -

US Designates Venezuela's "Cartel Of The Suns" As Terrorists, But Its Existence Is Dubious

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Sunday that the State Department would be designating the so-called Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" - though many analysts and reporters have questioned whether the group actually exists.

"Based in Venezuela, the Cartel de los Soles is headed by Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking individuals of the illegitimate Maduro regime who have corrupted Venezuela’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary," the official US statement said. "Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela’s legitimate government."

Via Associated Press

At a moment of unprecedented US military build-up off Venezuela, including the presence of the USS Ford carrier strike group, Rubio's statement laid out, "Cartel de los Soles by and with other designated FTOs including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel are responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe."

But AntiWar.com's Dave DeCamp outlines the case for skepticism:

The term "Cartel of the Suns" was first used in the 1990s, before Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, came to power, to describe two Venezuelan military generals with sun insignias on their uniforms who were involved in the drug trade. One of the generals was working with the CIA at the time, according to a 1993 60 Minutes report.

Today, the term is used to describe Venezuelan military and government officials who allegedly profit from drug trafficking, but the Cartel of the Suns doesn't exist as a structured organization.

And according to the investigative source, InSight Crime, quoted in AFP: "Rather than a hierarchical organization with Maduro directing drug trafficking strategies, the Cartel of the Suns is more accurately described as a system of corruption wherein military and political officials profit by working with drug traffickers." Further: 

Yet in March, the latest US State Department report on global anti-drug operations made no mention of the "Cartel de los Soles" or any connection between Maduro and narco trafficking.

Typically mainstream media parrots whatever US national security officials say when it comes to Venezuela or any other 'official enemy'; however, there's lately been a surprising degree of MSM pushback on the "Cartel of the Suns" moniker...

Trump admin officials spent the weekend in media interviews also resurrecting the "Hezbollah in Latin America" threat, a talking point which hearkens back to when Mike Pompeo was Secretary of State during Trump's first term.

Currently Hezbollah and Iran are alleged to be colluding with alleged Venezuelan narco-trafficking in a vast global plot, but which as usual comes without much or any in the way of concrete evidence. While Hezbollah and Iran may have at one time been active in establishing working relationships in this region, the current reality is that Hezbollah's leadership was decimated starting last year in the war with Israel, and Iran too finds itself on a backfoot facing multiple crises at home.

Neither entity is likely capable of currently projecting power in the Caribbean region or stands to gain much by provoking Washington's wrath, especially with such a large American force presence. 

This weekend also saw a second round of US military exercises based out of American regional ally Trinidad and Tobago. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blasted the drills as "irresponsible."

"The government of Trinidad and Tobago has once again announced irresponsible exercises, lending its waters off the coast of Sucre state for military exercises that are intended to be threatening to a republic like Venezuela, which does not allow itself to be threatened by anyone," Maduro said from Caracas.

The so-called Cartel de los Soles is a concept that is so loose that it simply encompasses the Venezuelan state leadership itself..

Via The Sun

His government has further announce a "massive" retaliatory deployment as the US carrier group arrived. This involves a large civilian militia force being put on high alert, though these are mostly unarmed and untrained local citizens.

As for the "Cartel of the Suns" designation, it is scheduled to go into effect on November 24. "Once the designation takes effect, all property and interests in property belonging to the named individuals or entities that fall under US jurisdiction will be blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)," one international media source explains. "Entities owned 50% or more — directly or indirectly — by one or more blocked persons will also be subject to the same restrictions."

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 16:40

Just Spill The Beans Already...

Zero Hedge -

Just Spill The Beans Already...

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

Isn’t it obvious what’s at the heart of this Jeffrey Epstein psychodrama?

The country is sick unto near-death with official secrecy, cover-ups, black ops, stonewalling, and never-ending games of political hide-the-salami — especially when those salamis are directed up the Republic’s own rear end. The worst victim of sexual abuse is America herself. Can’t somebody please make it stop?

And so, over the weekend, psychodrama devolved to soap opera as President Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green acted-out their lovers’ quarrel on every public channel of news and gossip until, finally, Mr. Trump pulled one of his trademark ju-jitsu moves and yielded to all that implacable forward motion to release the Epstein files.

What the public really wants is to find out which celebrities, politicians and otherwise, were having sex with underage girls so said celebrities can be frog-marched out of public life. It’s hard to not sympathize with that wish. It’s kind of fundamental that perverts and degenerates are not deserving of public trust. The people in this land who are not perverts and degenerates yearn for the reestablishment of decent behavior, and sexual indecency is only the most garish sort depravity. Beyond that lies the shadowland of grift, racketeering, sedition, and treason at issue in the ongoing decline-of-empire tragedy that’s played out for a decade. And the non-depraved long to get to the bottom of that, too.

Only tertiarily do they care that Jeffrey Epstein was some kind of agent or go-between for the US / UK / Israeli spy services, though it helps to color between the lines of all this other sketchy stuff. He brokered lots of shenanigans as far back as the Iran-Contra operation in the 1980s — big arms deals and such — and for a while was the world champion money launderer for intel gangs of every flag. All the trafficking in girls was apparently part of the package. But intel agencies always dangle women as bait (and sometimes boys, too) and Epstein’s pimpery was just an additional standard service. Whether he tasted his own product is kind of beside the point.

Anyway, everything known in the matter so far suggests that Donald Trump did not submit himself to sexual blackmail and that, long before he entered politics, it’s likely he cooperated with law enforcement to put Jeffrey Epstein in jail the first time around. Of course, it was during Mr. Trump’s first term, in 2019, that Epstein was back behind bars where, as far as the public has been told, he decided to end-it-all.

Jeffrey Epstein’s afterlife has had an impressively long run right here on planet earth, where he enjoys more attention these days than even Sidney Sweeney. He’s more alive to us than any incarnation of Dracula conjured out of Hollywood and he’s draining the blood out of what’s left of a once-workable political system. What has prevented all that hoarded evidence of Epstein’s depredations from getting released? Did Christopher Wray stuff it down the memory hole? Were there hidden cameras in his various lodgings or not? How is possible no video recordings survived?

We are still mystified by the Pam Bondi bait-and-switch dodge back in February when she handed out files of old Epstein news clippings to select reporters instead of anything fresh and substantial from the FBI vaults. And since then, the DOJ’s resistance has only hardened. There’s chatter lately that the president’s Chief-of-staff, Susie Wiles, has acted to block full disclosure on Epstein. Whatever’s going on has been the opposite of Mr. Trump’s promised “transparency,” and all the maneuvering around that broken promise has mounted to a serious political liability.

On Sunday night, Mr. Trump stepped out of the way in one of his customary Truth Social blurts. Wouldn’t it be better if he just went on-the-air with an Oval Office speech to level with the American people, telling all he knows and what the people need to know about this drawn-out Epstein business? Why wait for all the sorting through new files (if there are any)? Mr. Trump has had many years to familiarize himself with the salient details of Epstein. He must know exactly what this guy was up to, and who he catered to as a global finance figure and a trafficker of girls to the political elite. What could possibly shock anyone at this point?

Mr. Trump should give that speech whether the House and Senate vote to release the DOJ’s files or not. Above all, I’m sure you realize, the country can’t stand anymore lying, most particularly from Donald Trump and his entourage. The institutional damage is just too grave.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 16:20

Just Spill The Beans Already...

Zero Hedge -

Just Spill The Beans Already...

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

Isn’t it obvious what’s at the heart of this Jeffrey Epstein psychodrama?

The country is sick unto near-death with official secrecy, cover-ups, black ops, stonewalling, and never-ending games of political hide-the-salami — especially when those salamis are directed up the Republic’s own rear end. The worst victim of sexual abuse is America herself. Can’t somebody please make it stop?

And so, over the weekend, psychodrama devolved to soap opera as President Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green acted-out their lovers’ quarrel on every public channel of news and gossip until, finally, Mr. Trump pulled one of his trademark ju-jitsu moves and yielded to all that implacable forward motion to release the Epstein files.

What the public really wants is to find out which celebrities, politicians and otherwise, were having sex with underage girls so said celebrities can be frog-marched out of public life. It’s hard to not sympathize with that wish. It’s kind of fundamental that perverts and degenerates are not deserving of public trust. The people in this land who are not perverts and degenerates yearn for the reestablishment of decent behavior, and sexual indecency is only the most garish sort depravity. Beyond that lies the shadowland of grift, racketeering, sedition, and treason at issue in the ongoing decline-of-empire tragedy that’s played out for a decade. And the non-depraved long to get to the bottom of that, too.

Only tertiarily do they care that Jeffrey Epstein was some kind of agent or go-between for the US / UK / Israeli spy services, though it helps to color between the lines of all this other sketchy stuff. He brokered lots of shenanigans as far back as the Iran-Contra operation in the 1980s — big arms deals and such — and for a while was the world champion money launderer for intel gangs of every flag. All the trafficking in girls was apparently part of the package. But intel agencies always dangle women as bait (and sometimes boys, too) and Epstein’s pimpery was just an additional standard service. Whether he tasted his own product is kind of beside the point.

Anyway, everything known in the matter so far suggests that Donald Trump did not submit himself to sexual blackmail and that, long before he entered politics, it’s likely he cooperated with law enforcement to put Jeffrey Epstein in jail the first time around. Of course, it was during Mr. Trump’s first term, in 2019, that Epstein was back behind bars where, as far as the public has been told, he decided to end-it-all.

Jeffrey Epstein’s afterlife has had an impressively long run right here on planet earth, where he enjoys more attention these days than even Sidney Sweeney. He’s more alive to us than any incarnation of Dracula conjured out of Hollywood and he’s draining the blood out of what’s left of a once-workable political system. What has prevented all that hoarded evidence of Epstein’s depredations from getting released? Did Christopher Wray stuff it down the memory hole? Were there hidden cameras in his various lodgings or not? How is possible no video recordings survived?

We are still mystified by the Pam Bondi bait-and-switch dodge back in February when she handed out files of old Epstein news clippings to select reporters instead of anything fresh and substantial from the FBI vaults. And since then, the DOJ’s resistance has only hardened. There’s chatter lately that the president’s Chief-of-staff, Susie Wiles, has acted to block full disclosure on Epstein. Whatever’s going on has been the opposite of Mr. Trump’s promised “transparency,” and all the maneuvering around that broken promise has mounted to a serious political liability.

On Sunday night, Mr. Trump stepped out of the way in one of his customary Truth Social blurts. Wouldn’t it be better if he just went on-the-air with an Oval Office speech to level with the American people, telling all he knows and what the people need to know about this drawn-out Epstein business? Why wait for all the sorting through new files (if there are any)? Mr. Trump has had many years to familiarize himself with the salient details of Epstein. He must know exactly what this guy was up to, and who he catered to as a global finance figure and a trafficker of girls to the political elite. What could possibly shock anyone at this point?

Mr. Trump should give that speech whether the House and Senate vote to release the DOJ’s files or not. Above all, I’m sure you realize, the country can’t stand anymore lying, most particularly from Donald Trump and his entourage. The institutional damage is just too grave.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 16:20

Judge Says 'Government Misconduct' By DOJ Prosecutor May Have Tainted Comey Case

Zero Hedge -

Judge Says 'Government Misconduct' By DOJ Prosecutor May Have Tainted Comey Case

A federal magistrate judge on Monday said that "government misconduct" may have tainted the DOJ's case against former FBI Director James Comey, and has ordered prosecutors to turn over records of secret grand jury proceedings to Comey's defense counsel as they seek to dismiss the false-statement and obstruction-of-Congress charges pending against him in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

"The Court recognizes this is an extraordinary remedy," wrote judge William Fitzpatrick in a 24-page opinion. "but given the factually based challenges the defense has raised to the government’s conduct and the prospect that government misconduct may have tainted the grand jury proceedings, disclosure of grand jury materials under these unique circumstances is necessary."

The decision came after Fitzpatrick personally reviewed records of the grand jury proceedings that led up to Comey's Sept. 25 indictment on charges that he lied to Congress in 2020. The indictment was signed by lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan - who Trump picked for the job, and who was installed by AG Pam Bondi after other prosecutors resisted pursuing the Comey case. 

Fitzpatrick accused the DOJ of flouting attorney-client privilege and potential "fundamental misstatements of law" - and also noted unexplained irregularities in the grand jury transcript. 

Specifically, the judge laid out a timeline of the day the two-count indictment of Comey was handed up, noting that Halligan claimed to the court that she last had contact with the grand jury at 4:28 p.m., while the panelists were deliberating.

However, the grand jury rejected one additional count against the former top lawman, necessitating prosecutors to draw up a second indictment for Halligan to sign. 

The interim US attorney’s declaration stated that she learned that one count had been rejected at 6:40 p.m. and the hearing on the return of the indictment began seven minutes later. -NY Post

Based on timing evidence, Fitzpatrick finds it nearly impossible that the prosecution team:

  • Learned of the grand jury’s vote,

  • Drafted a new indictment,

  • Presented it to the grand jury, and

  • Received a vote in the 7–12 minute window before it was filed in court.

"The short time span between the moment the prosecutor learned that the grand jury rejected one count in the original indictment and the time the prosecutor appeared in court to return the second indictment could not have been sufficient to draft the second indictment, sign the second indictment, present it to the grand jury, provide legal instructions to the grand jury, and give them an opportunity to deliberate and render a decision on the new indictment," Fitzpatrick wrote. 

"If the prosecutor is mistaken about the time she received notification of the grand jury’s vote on the original indictment, and this procedure did take place, then the transcript and audio recording provided to the Court are incomplete,” he added. “If this procedure did not take place, then the Court is in uncharted legal territory in that the indictment returned in open court was not the same charging document presented to and deliberated upon by the grand jury … and provides another genuine issue the defense may raise to challenge the manner in which the government obtained the indictment."

Warrants Under Scruitny

Fitzpatrick also criticized prosecutors' handling of four search warrants executed by the FBI in 2019 and 2020 as part of the bureau's Arctic Haze probe into how classified information was leaked from Comey's FBI to news outlets.

The warrants targeted Daniel Richman, a Columbia Law School professor and friend of Comey - and sought information from Richman's iPhone, iPad, iCloud account and hard drive. 

According to Fitzpatrick, while the government allowed Columbia, Richman and his attorney to identify privileged content among those devices and iCloud account, they "never engaged Mr. Comey in this process even though it knew that Mr. Richman represented Mr. Comey as his attorney as of May 9, 2017, and three of the four Richman Warrants authorized the government to search Mr. Richman’s devices through May 30, 2017, 21 days after an attorney-client relationship had been formed."

Will Comey get off scot-free?

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Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 15:40

Judge Says 'Government Misconduct' By DOJ Prosecutor May Have Tainted Comey Case

Zero Hedge -

Judge Says 'Government Misconduct' By DOJ Prosecutor May Have Tainted Comey Case

A federal magistrate judge on Monday said that "government misconduct" may have tainted the DOJ's case against former FBI Director James Comey, and has ordered prosecutors to turn over records of secret grand jury proceedings to Comey's defense counsel as they seek to dismiss the false-statement and obstruction-of-Congress charges pending against him in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

"The Court recognizes this is an extraordinary remedy," wrote judge William Fitzpatrick in a 24-page opinion. "but given the factually based challenges the defense has raised to the government’s conduct and the prospect that government misconduct may have tainted the grand jury proceedings, disclosure of grand jury materials under these unique circumstances is necessary."

The decision came after Fitzpatrick personally reviewed records of the grand jury proceedings that led up to Comey's Sept. 25 indictment on charges that he lied to Congress in 2020. The indictment was signed by lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan - who Trump picked for the job, and who was installed by AG Pam Bondi after other prosecutors resisted pursuing the Comey case. 

Fitzpatrick accused the DOJ of flouting attorney-client privilege and potential "fundamental misstatements of law" - and also noted unexplained irregularities in the grand jury transcript. 

Specifically, the judge laid out a timeline of the day the two-count indictment of Comey was handed up, noting that Halligan claimed to the court that she last had contact with the grand jury at 4:28 p.m., while the panelists were deliberating.

However, the grand jury rejected one additional count against the former top lawman, necessitating prosecutors to draw up a second indictment for Halligan to sign. 

The interim US attorney’s declaration stated that she learned that one count had been rejected at 6:40 p.m. and the hearing on the return of the indictment began seven minutes later. -NY Post

Based on timing evidence, Fitzpatrick finds it nearly impossible that the prosecution team:

  • Learned of the grand jury’s vote,

  • Drafted a new indictment,

  • Presented it to the grand jury, and

  • Received a vote in the 7–12 minute window before it was filed in court.

"The short time span between the moment the prosecutor learned that the grand jury rejected one count in the original indictment and the time the prosecutor appeared in court to return the second indictment could not have been sufficient to draft the second indictment, sign the second indictment, present it to the grand jury, provide legal instructions to the grand jury, and give them an opportunity to deliberate and render a decision on the new indictment," Fitzpatrick wrote. 

"If the prosecutor is mistaken about the time she received notification of the grand jury’s vote on the original indictment, and this procedure did take place, then the transcript and audio recording provided to the Court are incomplete,” he added. “If this procedure did not take place, then the Court is in uncharted legal territory in that the indictment returned in open court was not the same charging document presented to and deliberated upon by the grand jury … and provides another genuine issue the defense may raise to challenge the manner in which the government obtained the indictment."

Warrants Under Scruitny

Fitzpatrick also criticized prosecutors' handling of four search warrants executed by the FBI in 2019 and 2020 as part of the bureau's Arctic Haze probe into how classified information was leaked from Comey's FBI to news outlets.

The warrants targeted Daniel Richman, a Columbia Law School professor and friend of Comey - and sought information from Richman's iPhone, iPad, iCloud account and hard drive. 

According to Fitzpatrick, while the government allowed Columbia, Richman and his attorney to identify privileged content among those devices and iCloud account, they "never engaged Mr. Comey in this process even though it knew that Mr. Richman represented Mr. Comey as his attorney as of May 9, 2017, and three of the four Richman Warrants authorized the government to search Mr. Richman’s devices through May 30, 2017, 21 days after an attorney-client relationship had been formed."

Will Comey get off scot-free?

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Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 15:40

EBITDA And The Warnings Of Charlie Munger

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EBITDA And The Warnings Of Charlie Munger

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

This past week, Greg Feirman wrote an interesting article about “The Perils Of Adjusted EBITDA.” Before we get into his discussion, let’s discuss what EBITDA is.

EBITDA is an acronym that stands for “Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.” Over the years, EBITDA has become a go-to metric for evaluating corporate performance as it offers a simple way to assess a company’s profitability by removing non-cash charges and financing effects. However, the problem with EBITDA is that simplicity often comes at the cost of accuracy. Why do I say that? Because EBITDA ignores critical costs, such as depreciation, which can distort a company’s true economic picture in capital-intensive industries. When companies extend the lives of their assets to reduce depreciation expenses, EBITDA increases, even though the underlying cash outflows remain unchanged.

Read that last part again, because this is where Greg’s commentary hits home. Historically, capital expenditures tend to surge following recessions and economic downturns. This makes sense as companies expend capital to ramp up production as economic growth returns. You will notice a high correlation between economic and capital expenditures (CapEx) growth rates. Notably, this is particularly relevant in the AI sector, where firms are investing billions into chips, servers, and data centers, which will likely coincide with an increase in economic activity.

This is also where Greg’s comments are most relevant.

“On Monday morning, Michael Burry tweeted out more details about his AI Bubble thesis. He claims that the AI hyperscalers are “understating depreciation” by extending the period over which they are depreciating the Nvidia chips and all the other capital equipment they are buying to build out AI. This morning Jim Chanos applied the same logic to CoreWeave (CRWV). The first thing to understand is that Net Income is an accounting number. It is not the amount of cash that the company actually earns because it reflects certain approximations – one of the most important of which is depreciation.“

As Greg notes, a good example is CoreWeave (CRWV), which reported earnings this past week.

“Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $838 million from $379 million a year ago. On the surface, then, they are a profitable company – at least on this metric. But they backed out $630 billion in Depreciation and Amortization from their GAAP Net Loss of $110 million to arrive at that number. It’s only when we turn to the Cash Flow statement that we understand the how CoreWeave is financing their operations. Cash Flow from Operations in the first 9 months of 2025 was $1.5 billion. CapEx was $6.25 billion. Those are cash figures, not accounting ones. In other words, Free Cash Flow for the first nine months of the year was -$4.75 billion. That’s right: CRWV has burned up nearly $5 billion so far this year. How are they financing this? By selling debt. Essentially the whole difference is made up by their net debt issuance of ~$4.5 billion.”

This reveals the disconnect: EBITDA suggests “operating profitability looks good,” but the cash flow dynamics tell a very different story. If you rely only on EBITDA, you may miss the fact that the business is burning cash, depending on borrowing, or stretching asset lives unrealistically.

As Greg concluded:

“Clearly, the hyperscalers are spending an enormous amount of money on Nvidia chips and the other capital equipment required to build out AI. Their thesis is that the ROI on these investments over the long term will be excellent. If AI is truly the game changer many say it is, the returns may well outweigh any current concerns about the accounting. If not, a lot of this CapEx may be malinvestment and have to be written down in the future.

The overall point is that we are operating in the dark here because we don’t know the future returns on investment and we don’t know the appropriate rate to depreciate these huge Capital Expenditures to get the right Net Income numbers in the present.”

This is why investors need to be more realistic about understanding earnings reports and be cautious of the metrics they use to invest in companies. There are several pitfalls associated with EBITDA that you should be aware of. For example:

  • It ignores capital expenditures (CapEx) and replacement needs.

  • It omits changes in working capital—such as inventory, receivables, and payables—which can erode cash even when EBITDA is positive.

  • It may mask interest and debt burdens—two very real cash drains. Since interest is excluded, two companies with similar EBITDA may have vastly different risk profiles.

  • It allows for subjective “adjustments” (adjusted EBITDA) that reduce comparability across companies and time periods.

  • It may mislead in asset‑intensive sectors where hidden replacement or upgrade costs are large.

However, it isn’t just EBITDA, but earnings in general, that require closer inspection.

Earnings Aren’t What You Think

Just like the hit series “House of Cards,” Wall Street earnings season has become rife with manipulation, deceit, and obfuscation that could rival the dark corners of Washington, D.C. What is most fascinating is that so many individuals invest hard-earned capital based on these manipulated numbers. The failure to understand the “quality” of earnings, rather than the “quantity,” has always led to disappointing outcomes at some point in the future. 

As Drew Bernstein recently penned for CFO.com:

“Non-GAAP financials are not audited and are most often disclosed through earnings press releases and investor presentations, rather than in the company’s annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Once upon a time, non-GAAP financials were used to isolate the impact of significant one-time events like a major restructuring or sizable acquisition. In recent years, they have become increasingly prevalent and prominent, used by both the shiniest new-economy IPO companies and the old-economy stalwarts.”

In the 1980s and early 1990s, companies typically reported GAAP earnings in their quarterly releases. If an investor dug through the report, they would find “adjusted” and “pro forma” earnings buried in the back. Today, GAAP earnings are buried in the back, hoping investors will miss the ugly truth.

These “adjusted or pro forma earnings” exclude items that a company deems “special, one-time, or extraordinary.” The problem is that these “special, one-time” items appear “every” quarter, leaving investors with a muddier picture of what companies are really making. This growing divergence between the earnings calculated according to accepted accounting principles and the “earnings” touted in press releases and analyst research reports has put investors at a disadvantage in understanding precisely what they are paying for.

As BofAML stated:

“We are increasingly concerned with the number of companies (non-commodity) reporting earnings on an adjusted basis versus those that are stressing GAAP accounting, and find the divergence a consequence of less earnings power. 

Consider that when US GDP growth was averaging 3% (the 5 quarters September 2013 through September 2014) on average 80% of US HY companies reported earnings on an adjusted basis. Since September 2014, however, with US GDP averaging just 1.9%, over 87% of companies have reported on an adjusted basis. Perhaps even more telling, between the end of 2010 and 2013, the percentage of companies reporting adjusted EBITDA was relatively constant, and since 2013, the number has been on a steady rise.

So, why do companies regularly report these Non-GAAP earnings? Drew has the answer:

“When management is asked why they resort to non-GAAP reporting, the most common response is that these measures are requested by the analysts and are commonly used in earnings models employed to value the company. Indeed, sell-side analysts and funds with a long position in the stock may have incentives to encourage a more favorable alternative presentation of earnings results.”

How much of a difference are we talking about? About $3.59/share in earnings, where revenue comprises only about 25% of the result.

But here is the real question:

“If non-GAAP reporting is used as a supplemental means to help investors identify underlying trends in the business, one might reasonably expect that both favorable and unfavorable events would be “adjusted” in equal measure.”

However, research presented by the American Accounting Association suggests that companies engage in “asymmetric” non-GAAP exclusions of mostly unfavorable items as a tool to “beat” analyst earnings estimates.

So, why has there been such a rise in all these accounting gimmicks? Money, of course.

Better Earnings = Higher Stock Prices = Higher Compensation via Stock Buybacks

Why Munger Said “EBITDA is BullS***”

Wall Street is an insider system where the practice of legally manipulating earnings to create the best possible outcome and increase executive compensation has run amok. The adults in the room, a.k.a. the Securities & Exchange Commission, have “left the children in charge,” but will most assuredly leap into action to pass new regulations to rectify reckless misbehavior AFTER the next crash.

For investors, the manipulation of EBITDA and earnings not only skews valuation analysis but also specifically impacts any analysis involving earnings, such as P/E ratios, EV/EBITDA, and PEG.

Ramy Elitzur, via The Account Art Of War, expounded on the problems of using EBITDA.

“One of the things that I thought that I knew well was the importance of income-based metrics such as EBITDA, and that cash flow information is not as important. It turned out that common garden variety metrics, such as EBITDA, could be hazardous to your health.”

The article is worth reading and chock-full of good information; however, here are the four crucial points:

  1. EBITDA is not a good surrogate for cash flow analysis because it assumes that all revenues are collected immediately and all expenses are paid immediately, leading to a false sense of liquidity.

  2. Superficial common garden-variety accounting ratios will fail to detect signs of liquidity problems.

  3. Direct cash flow statements provide a more detailed insight into the operating cash flows than indirect cash flow statements. Note that the vast majority (well over 90%) of public companies use the indirect format.

  4. EBITDA, just like net income, is very sensitive to accounting manipulations.

The last point is the most critical. As Charlie Munger once stated:

“I think there are lots of troubles coming. There’s too much wretched excess. I don’t like when investment bankers talk about EBITDA, which I call bulls*** earnings. It’s ridiculous. EBITDA does not accurately reflect how much money a company makes, unlike traditional earnings. Think of the basic intellectual dishonesty that comes when you start talking about adjusted EBITDA. You’re almost announcing you’re a flake.”

In a world of adjusted earnings, where every company consistently outperforms its peers, investors often lose sight of what truly matters in investing.

“This unfortunate cycle will only be broken when the end-users of financial reporting — institutional investors, analysts, lenders, and the media — agree that we are on the verge of systemic failure in financial reporting. In the history of financial markets, such moments of mental clarity most often occur following the loss of vast sums of capital.” – American Accounting Association

Imaginary worlds are nice, but it’s just impossible to live there.

Where To Look Instead

So, if “operating earnings” and EBITDA are enough, where should you look? The answer is to focus on metrics that reflect real cash generation and sustainable operations. Free cash flow, which is operating cash flow minus capital expenditures, is one of the most important. It shows what’s left over after a business funds its maintenance and growth needs. A positive free cash flow tells you the company is generating more cash than it needs to sustain itself. A negative one warns that it’s living on borrowed money.

You should also examine trends in working capital, specifically, changes in receivables, payables, and inventory, to determine if the company is overextending itself to maintain operations. Asset lives and depreciation schedules should be realistic, not inflated to improve margins. Debt levels and interest costs matter too. EBITDA ignores both, but if a company’s cash flow can’t cover its debt service, that’s a red flag.

Here are the key metrics to prioritize over EBITDA:

  • Free Cash Flow (operating cash flow minus CapEx)
  • CapEx trends and whether they are delivering returns
  • Depreciation policy and asset life assumptions
  • Working capital changes in inventory, receivables, and payables
  • Debt and interest obligations
  • Reconciliation of EBITDA to net income and cash flow

When companies show a large gap between EBITDA and these real-world numbers, investors should be skeptical. In a capital-intensive sector like AI, where the future remains uncertain, the risks of relying on EBITDA are amplified. It may look clean on paper, but it can leave you blind to the business’s real financial health.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 14:40

Still No Deal: Rare Earth Talks Between China And U.S. Drag On With Little Tangible Progress So Far

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Still No Deal: Rare Earth Talks Between China And U.S. Drag On With Little Tangible Progress So Far

The US and China are still hashing out the details of how Beijing will loosen rare-earth export restrictions, weeks after a trade truce that Washington said would boost shipments, according to Bloomberg. 

In other words, there's still no rare earth mineral trade deal, despite the "truce" between the two countries. 

Negotiators have until the end of November to finalize terms for “general licenses” China promised to issue for US-bound rare earths and other critical minerals, though the reason for the delay is unclear.

The White House framed the pledge as the “de facto removal” of China’s curbs imposed since 2023, calling it a major win for supply chains. Washington has already eased tariffs and paused some national-security measures, but China hasn’t publicly addressed the licensing promise, even as it confirmed other parts of the deal, including a one-year halt to new rare-earth controls.

Bloomberg writes that the outcome remains uncertain. Alicia Garcia Herrero said, “The deal is far from done,” noting Beijing can use licenses as leverage. Exporters say they’ve received no new guidance, with Christopher Beddor commenting, “Everyone is still in wait-and-see mode… I would not characterize the general licenses as a de facto removal of controls.”

The general-license system would allow repeated shipments over as long as three years, unlike the current requirement for case-by-case approvals. But buyers would still need to pass government vetting. The White House says these licenses will apply to restricted rare earths and metals such as gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten, and graphite; China has also agreed to lift its ban on direct shipments to the US for the first three.

Recall days ago we wrote that disagreements were emerging over the deal and we have been skeptical that a deal would take place since the "truce" was first announced. We wrote that the so-called US–China “truce” looked far too fragile to last, and recent developments have only reinforced that view.

Even as both sides publicly celebrated their agreement, Beijing immediately began laying down new “red lines” — and Washington just as quickly took steps guaranteed to test them. Analysts, exporters, and investors all saw the same thing: a deal heavy on spin and light on substance, with China able to wield licensing power as leverage and the US racing to secure alternative supply chains.

In short, we argued that this ceasefire was never more than a temporary pause before the next escalation, and nothing since has suggested otherwise.

Tyler Durden Mon, 11/17/2025 - 13:40

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