Saturday, April 19, 2025

FBI Official Who Approved of Bogus ‘Steele Dossier’ Placed on Administrative Leave

Luis Cornelio
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FBI Official Who Approved of Bogus ‘Steele Dossier’ Placed on Administrative Leave

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The FBI has placed one of the central figures who concocted the Russiagate hoax on administrative leave—signaling what appears to be a long-overdue purge of officials who undermined President Donald Trump in his first term. 

The official, Brian Auten, was among the agents peddling the Russia collusion hoax during the 2016 presidential election. Equally damning, he worked on the FBI’s investigation of the Hunter Biden laptop—a probe that whistleblowers said did not receive proper scrutiny, likely in a bid to protect former President Joe Biden. 

Auten’s suspension, reported first on Friday by the liberal New York Times, comes as no surprise. 

During his FBI tenure, Auten would quickly rise to become the FBI’s top Russian analyst. In 2016 and 2017, he infamously cleared the Steele dossier— a collection of salacious allegations created for Hillary Clinton’s campaign which sought to tie Donald Trump to the Kremlin. The dossier became the central piece of evidence used by the FBI to obtain warrants to spy on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Auten also never informed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court about the FBI’s longstanding concerns about FBI informant Igor Danchenko, who helped Christopher Steele compile his bogus dossier.

Auten was later suspended 30 days for that fiasco.

In Government Gangsters, Patel documents how more than 50 “corrupt actors” within the deep state actively worked to undermine Trump’s election and subsequent administration after 2016. 

“Yet just like his superiors, Auten has faced no real accountability in light of these findings,” Patel wrote, as quoted by The Times. “The fact that Auten was not fired from the F.B.I. and prosecuted for his part in the Russia Gate conspiracy is a national embarrassment.” 

According to Patel, the FBI attempted to “hide and spin” the “Biden family corruption” revealed by the laptop.  

For instance, communications within the laptop indicated that at least 10 percent of the payments received by Hunter during the Obama-Biden administration were earmarked for someone known as the “Big Guy.” 

Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter, testified before Congress that the “Big Guy” was none other than Biden. 

Biden would ultimately run for president in 2020, and later moved to pardon his son and siblings for their roles in influence-peddling schemes exposed by congressional investigators. 

Doctors Remove Pig Kidney from an Alabama Woman after a Record 130 Days

Headline USA Editor
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Doctors Remove Pig Kidney from an Alabama Woman after a Record 130 Days

(Headline USA) An Alabama woman who lived with a pig kidney for a record 130 days had the organ removed after her body began rejecting it and is back on dialysis, doctors announced Friday – a disappointment in the ongoing quest for animal-to-human transplants.

Towana Looney is recovering well from the April 4 removal surgery at NYU Langone Health and has returned home to Gadsden, Alabama. In a statement, she thanked her doctors for “the opportunity to be part of this incredible research.”

“Though the outcome is not what anyone wanted, I know a lot was learned from my 130 days with a pig kidney – and that this can help and inspire many others in their journey to overcoming kidney disease,” Looney added.

Scientists are genetically altering pigs so their organs are more humanlike to address a severe shortage of transplantable human organs. More than 100,000 people are on the U.S. transplant list, most who need a kidney, and thousands die waiting.

Before Looney’s transplant only four other Americans had received experimental xenotransplants of gene-edited pig organs – two hearts and two kidneys that lasted no longer than two months. Those recipients, who were severely ill before the surgery, died.

Now researchers are attempting these transplants in slightly less sick patients, like Looney. A New Hampshire man who received a pig kidney in January is faring well and a rigorous study of pig kidney transplants is set to begin this summer. Chinese researchers also recently announced a successful kidney xenotransplant.

Looney had been on dialysis since 2016 and didn’t qualify for a regular transplant – her body was abnormally primed to reject a human kidney. So she sought out a pig kidney and it functioned well – she called herself “superwoman” and lived longer than anyone with a gene-edited pig organ before, from her Nov. 25 transplant until early April when her body began rejecting it.

NYU xenotransplant pioneer Dr. Robert Montgomery, Looney’s surgeon, said what triggered that rejection is being investigated. But he said Looney and her doctors agreed it would be less risky to remove the pig kidney than to try saving it with higher, riskier doses of anti-rejection drugs.

“We did the safe thing,” Montgomery told The Associated Press. “She’s no worse off than she was before (the xenotransplant) and she would tell you she’s better off because she had this 4½ month break from dialysis.”

Shortly before the rejection began, Looney had suffered an infection related to her prior time on dialysis and her immune-suppressing anti-rejection drugs were slightly lowered, Montgomery said. At the same time, her immune system was reactivating after the transplant. Those factors may have combined to damage the new kidney, he said.

Rejection is a common threat after transplants of human organs, too, and sometimes cost patients their new organ. Doctors face a balancing act in tamping down patients’ immune systems just enough to preserve the new organ while allowing them to fight infection.

It’s an even bigger challenge with xenotransplantation. While these pig organs have been altered to help prevent immediate rejection, patients still require immune-suppressing drugs. Which drugs are best to prevent different, later forms of rejection isn’t clear, said Dr. Tatsuo Kawai of Massachusetts General Hospital, another xenotransplant pioneer. Different research groups are using different combinations, he said.

“When we have more experience, we’ll know what kind of immunosuppression is really necessary for xenotransplant,” Kawai said

Montgomery said Looney’s experience offers valuable lessons for the upcoming clinical trial.

Making xenotransplant ultimately work “is going to be won with singles and doubles, not swinging for the fence every time we do one of these,” he said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Judge: Immigrants Biden Flew into the U.S. are Allowed to Stay, For Now

Ken Silva
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Judge: Immigrants Biden Flew into the U.S. are Allowed to Stay, For Now

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A federal judge said Thursday that she will prevent the Trump administration from ordering hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans that were flown into the country by the Biden administration to leave the country later this month.

The ruling is a significant, although perhaps temporary, setback for the administration as it dismantles Biden-era policies that directly flew third-world immigrants into the United States, generally for two years with work authorization.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said she would issue a stay on an order for more than 500,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to leave the country, sparing them until the case advances to the next phase. Their permits were to be canceled April 24.

Humanitarian parole is a long-standing legal tool presidents have used to allow people from countries where there’s war or political instability to enter and temporarily live in the U.S.

However, the tool was abused by the Biden administration to parole some 30,000 migrants per month. Federal law allows the Homeland Security Secretary to grant parole to migrants only on a “case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.”

Last November, the House Judiciary Committee published a report on Biden’s abuse of the program.

“Through CHNV, each month up to 30,000 aliens, who otherwise have no basis to enter the country and who have ‘a supporter’ in the United States, can bypass the U.S. border and fly directly into the country ‘on commercial flights’ to be ‘granted parole’ for a period of two years by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security,” the House report said last November, quoting DHS’s own press releases.

“As of ‘the end of September 2024, more than 531,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans’ had done so.”

Earlier in 2024, an internal DHS report found that the CHNV program was plagued with fraud. For example, the internal review found that the same social security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers were being used hundreds of times in some cases.

The program was also found to have been exploited by sex traffickers. “In one such case, 21 supporter applications were submitted from the same IP address on behalf of 18 females and only three males. At least six of the females were under the age of 18,” the House report said.

After the fraud was found, the CHNV program was temporarily shuttered. But the Biden administration restarted it about a month later. More than 3 million CHNV applications have been filed and more than 600,000 were approved before Biden left office—meaning hundreds of thousands more Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans could have flown into the country before the DHS suspended the program Friday.

The DHS said on March 22 that parolees without a lawful basis to stay in the U.S. “must depart” before their parole termination date.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

‘Non-Negotiable’: Republican Budget Hawks Warn Johnson to Stand by Promises

Headline USA Editor
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‘Non-Negotiable’: Republican Budget Hawks Warn Johnson to Stand by Promises

(Thérèse Boudreaux, The Center Square) Following a nail-biter budget resolution vote in the House Thursday that unlocked the next steps in the budget reconciliation process, top Republican lawmakers are now faced with finding the promised spending cuts demanded by fiscal hawks.

The passed budget resolution, initially proposed by the House and then significantly amended by the Senate, promises $1.5 trillion in House committee cuts and only $4 billion in savings from Senate committees.

Republican leaders were eventually able to gather enough House votes for the $5.8 trillion budget framework to pass, but only after committing to cut more spending than required by the actual budget package.

U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., initially opposed the revised budget resolution due to the discrepancy in the chambers’ cost-cutting instructions.

But he ended up voting for the bill after receiving verbal commitments from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., that the final budget package will mandate Senate committees also find $1.5 trillion in cuts, rather than $4 billion.

“We also received written assurances from the Speaker that no final budget reconciliation bill will come to the House floor unless it is budget neutral or reduces the deficit,” Clyde said. “As a fiscal hawk, I will hold both my House and Senate colleagues accountable in delivering on this promise.”

Originally priced at $4.5 trillion — with $3.8 trillion due to extending much of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for the next ten years — the final budget resolution adopted a current policy baseline through a Senate amendment to recalculate the costs.

The current policy baseline, which critics are calling a “gimmick,” treats the tax cut extension as a continuation of current law rather than new policy, putting the cost at zero dollars instead of $3.8 trillion.

Outside fiscal watchdogs, Democrats, and multiple House Republicans have condemned the budget plan for using “magic math” to finance what will amount to an explosion of the federal debt and deficit.

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who had dubbed the current policy baseline “a joke” but eventually folded, called the Senate’s promise a “non-negotiable deal-breaker” that he expects to see in the final product.

Republican leaders also enticed Roy and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., to vote yes with promises of repealing green energy-related subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act and student loan forgiveness to make new spending deficit-neutral.

“Speaker Johnson has reiterated that he will not bring a bill to the Floor that does not conform to the House’s framework – this means any proposed budget must contain spending cuts of at least $1.5 trillion, must pay for new tax relief programs, and must not increase the deficit or our national debt,” Biggs said.

In the coming weeks, House and Senate committees will begin the arduous process of crafting legislation directing how, and how much, specific programs must cut or can spend under the budget resolution’s framework.

The massive final package, expected by early summer, would allow President Donald Trump to implement his promised tax, border security, defense, and energy policies. Due to the rules of the budget reconciliation process, Thune only needs 51 votes for the legislation to pass.

Transparency Group Sues Trump’s DOJ for Jeffrey Epstein Client Documents

Ken Silva
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Transparency Group Sues Trump’s DOJ for Jeffrey Epstein Client Documents

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have yet to fulfill their promise to release all the government’s files on notorious sex trafficker and likely intelligence asset Jeffrey Epstein, and a conservative transparency organization is apparently tired of waiting.

The non-profit group Judicial Watch sued the Justice Department over the matter on Wednesday, alleging that the DOJ ignored its Freedom of Information Act requests for records on Epstein, as well as for Bondi and Patel’s internal communications about the release of those records.

“Simply put, the Justice Department needs to respond to public demands for transparency under law and release the Epstein files under FOIA,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a press release.

Judicial Watch’s lawsuit comes nearly two months after the White House staged a publicity stunt, in which  a gaggle of pro-Israel conservative political commentators were provided binders that read “The Epstein Files.” It turned out, all the documents in the binders had already been released, and that the binders contained more redactions than the already-public documents.

Bondi later blamed FBI duplicity for her phony disclosure, alleging that the bureau’s New York office has been suppressing hundreds of documents.

“I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein,” she said in an open letter to Patel on Feb. 27.

“By 8 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained.”

Epstein’s crimes and connections to famous people have long been a subject of public fascination and media scrutiny. Over the years, thousands of pages of records have been released through lawsuits, his criminal dockets, public disclosures and Freedom of Information Act requests.

In January 2024, a court unsealed a trove of documents that had been collected as evidence in a lawsuit filed Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre. Much of the material, including transcripts of victim interviews and old police reports, had already been publicly known.

Epstein sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, exploiting vulnerable girls as young as 14. He allegedly killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial in his Manhattan jail cell.

The case has drawn widespread attention because of Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s links to royals, presidents and billionaires. Maxwell herself is the daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who once owned the New York Daily News.

Maxwell, 62, was found guilty in December 2021 of luring young girls to Epstein so he could molest them, between 1994 and 2004. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Numerous researchers have determined that Epstein and the Maxwells were intelligence assets, providing information to agencies such as the FBI, CIA, and Israel’s intelligence agency, the Mossad.  An ongoing lawsuit from an unknown Epstein victim, “Jane Doe 200,” is seeking to compel Epstein’s estate to release records that would confirm these connections.

Given the pro-Israel stance held by the White House and its conservative influencers, many researchers are skeptical that the DOJ’s Epstein document dumps will reveal the truth about who he was working for, and why.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

WATCH: NYC Helicopter Plunges into River, Killing 6

Headline USA Editor
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WATCH: NYC Helicopter Plunges into River, Killing 6

(Headline USA) A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists in the latest U.S. aviation disaster, officials said.

The victims included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company, and three children, in addition to the pilot, a person briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press. The person could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Photos posted on the helicopter company’s website showed the couple and their children smiling as they boarded just before the flight took off.

The flight departed a downtown heliport around 3 p.m. and lasted less than 18 minutes. Radar data showed it flew north along the Manhattan skyline and then back south toward the Statue of Liberty.

Video of the crash showed parts of the aircraft tumbling through the air into the water near the shoreline of Jersey City, New Jersey.

Witnesses describe the helicopter’s plunge into the Hudson

A witness there, Bruce Wall, said he saw it “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and main rotor coming off. The main rotor was still spinning without the helicopter as it fell.

Dani Horbiak was at her Jersey City home when she heard what sounded like “several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air.” She looked out her window and saw the chopper “splash in several pieces into the river.”

The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with “a bunch of smoke coming out” before it slammed into the water, said Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey.

On air traffic control radio, an NYPD helicopter pilot can be heard saying, “Be advised, you do have an aircraft down. Holland Tunnel. Please keep your eyes open for anybody in the water.”

About five minutes after that, someone asks, “Hey Finest,” a reference to the NYPD’s call sign, “what’s going on over there by the Holland Tunnel?”

“The ship went down,” someone else responds.

Rescue boats circled the submerged aircraft within minutes of impact near the end of a long maintenance pier for a ventilation tower serving the Holland Tunnel. Recovery crews hoisted the mangled helicopter out of the water just after 8 p.m. using a floating crane.

The bodies were also recovered from the river, Mayor Eric Adams said.

The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officials said. No one answered the phones at the company’s offices in New York and New Jersey.

A person who answered the phone at the home of the company’s owner, Michael Roth, said he declined to comment. Roth told the New York Post he was devastated and had “no clue” why the crash happened.

“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” the Post quoted him as saying. He added that he had not seen such a thing happen during his 30 years in the helicopter business, but noted: “These are machines, and they break.”

Emails seeking comment were sent to attorneys who have represented Roth in the past.

The Federal Aviation Administration identified the helicopter as a Bell 206, a model widely used in commercial and government aviation, including by sightseeing companies, TV news stations and police. It was initially developed for the U.S. Army before being adapted for other uses. Thousands have been manufactured over the years.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate.

Tragedy strikes a family from Spain

Escobar worked for the tech company Siemens for more than 27 years, most recently as global CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, according to his LinkedIn account. In late 2022 he briefly became president and CEO of Siemens Spain. In a post about the position, he thanked his family: “my endless source of energy and happiness, for their unconditional support, love … and patience.”

Escobar regularly posted about the importance of sustainability in the rail industry and often traveled internationally for work, including journeying to India and the UK in the past month. He also was vice president of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic helicopter crash in which Agustin Escobar and his family lost their lives. Our heartfelt condolences go out to all their loved ones,” Siemens said in a statement early Friday.

Camprubí Montal worked in Barcelona, Spain, for energy technology company Siemens Energy for about seven years, including as its global commercialization manager and as a digitalization manager, according to her LinkedIn account.

Spanish regional government officials said the family resided in Barcelona.

“(I am) dismayed by the tragic helicopter accident in the Hudson River in New York which cost the lives of six people, five of which were members of a Barcelona family,” Catalan regional president Salvador Illa wrote on X.

Another regional official said Agustin Escobar was originally from Puertollano, a town in central Spain.

“I want to express my sorrow for the traffic helicopter accident in New York that claimed the lives of Agustín Escobar and his family,” Castilla La Mancha regional president Emiliano García-Page wrote on X. “Agustín is native of Puertollano and in 2023 we named him a Favorite Son of Castilla La Mancha.”

What may have caused the crash

Video of the crash suggested that a “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no chance to save the helicopter, said Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps.

It is possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Green said.

“They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,” Green said. “There’s no indication they had any control over the craft. No pilot could have prevented that accident once they lost the lifts. It’s like a rock falling to the ground. It’s heartbreaking.”

The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights. Manhattan has several helipads from which business executives and others are whisked to destinations throughout the metropolitan area.

At least 38 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York City since 1977. A collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed nine people, and five died in 2018 when a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights went down into the East River.

New York Helicopters also owned a Bell 206 that lost power and made an emergency landing on the Hudsonduring a sightseeing tour in June 2013. The pilot managed to land safely and he and the passengers — a family of four Swedes — were uninjured. The National Transportation Safety Board found that a maintenance flub and an engine lubrication anomaly led to the power cutoff.

Thursday’s crash was the first for a helicopter in the city since one hit the roof of a skyscraper in 2019, killing the pilot.

The accidents and the noise caused by helicopters have repeatedly led some community activists and officials to propose banning or restricting traffic at Manhattan heliports.

Other recent crashes and close calls have already left some people worried about the safety of flying in the U.S.

Seven people were killed when a medical transport plane plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January. That happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in a generation.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Feds Paid Russia Hoax Source $1.2 Million, Even After He Provided False Intel

Luis Cornelio
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Feds Paid Russia Hoax Source $1.2 Million, Even After He Provided False Intel

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The federal government made it rain on an FBI informant tied in the debunked Russia collusion hoax—paying him nearly $1.2 million in taxpayer dollars over three decades, a trove of newly declassified documents reveals. 

Even worse, the informant—Stefan Halper—was partially motivated by “monetary compensation” and continued working with the federal government despite pushing a false story about Mike Flynn, President Donald Trump’s first national security advisor. 

These findings, reported first by Just the News, came after FBI Director Kash Patel handed nearly 700 pages of previously classified documents to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan. 

Halper, a U.S.-born retired Cambridge professor, was one of the key players used by the FBI to launch the infamous Crossfire Hurricane probe in the lead-up to the 2016 election. Another player was Christopher Steele, the author of the lie-ridden Steele Dossier. 

The FBI paid Halper $70,000 in tax money between August 2016 and February 2017. 

According to Just the News’s assessment of the memos, Halper was the primary source behind “the most sensational bogus claims” in the Russia hoax. Among these claims was the claim that Flynn held a secret meeting with Russia scholar Svetlana Lokhova in 2014. 

The FBI knew the claim was “not plausible” and “not accurate,” but nonetheless launched an investigation that ended in a guilty plea after FBI agents entrapped Flynn over false statements. 

Despite that, the FBI still described Halper’s behavior as “excellent,” adding: “The CHS has agreed to assist the case agent in the goals of the investigation. The CHS has devoted significant time and energy to assisting the FBI in its goals.” 

In one instance, the FBI was asked if anything Halper claimed could be derogatory to which the bureau replied: “none.” 

The memo’s revelations are damning. 

In 2019, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded that the FBI “did not comply” with the attorney general’s guidelines, or even its own policies, when managing Halper as a confidential human source. 

Sassy Rep. Jasmine Crockett under Federal Investigation

Luis Cornelio
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Sassy Rep. Jasmine Crockett under Federal Investigation

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Oh, no they didn’t.

The Federal Election Commission has launched an investigation into Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, the young rising star infamous for her edgy and vocal outbursts during congressional hearings. 

The probe follows complaints that her campaign received several donations from an individual who later claimed he had not authorized them. 

It specifically centers on one donor—Randy Best, a 73-year-old Texas resident—who reportedly made 53 separate contributions totaling $593 to Crockett’s campaign through ActBlue. Best’s wife reportedly denied any knowledge of the donations. 

FEC assistant general counsel Wanda D. Brown told the advocacy group Coolidge-Reagan Foundation, which filed a complaint on April 2, that the “respondents will be notified of this complaint within five business days.” 

“You will be notified as soon as the Federal Election Commission (FEC) takes final action on your client’s complaint,” Brown added. “Should you receive any additional information in this matter, please forward it to the Office of the General Counsel.” 

The Coolidge-Reagan Foundation has also submitted similar complaints to the Trump-led DOJ and the Office of Congressional Ethics, as reported first by The Daily Signal. 

“The FEC opened an investigation. There is a process, but they are investigating,” reiterated Dan Backer, one of the attorneys with the nonprofit. 

The suspicious donations were brought to light in a video recorded by Crockett’s opponent, Sholdon Daniels, who inquired with Best’s wife about the repeated contributions. The donor’s retired wife appeared to be unaware of them. 

It remains unclear whether the couple inadvertently set up recurring donations or if Best’s wife was intimidated by Backer’s in-person visit to her home. 

In total, Crockett has raised $870,000 through donations from ActBlue, prompting concerns from the Coolidge-Reagan Foundation about potentially fraudulent contributions. 

The FEC complaint noted that “Rep. Crockett, through her principal campaign committee Respondent Jasmine for US, has received thousands of other donations through ActBlue totaling over $870,000.” 

“It is unclear how many of these are similarly fraudulent transactions, made in the name of unsuspecting innocent people who did not actually provide the funds,” the complaint continued. 

Crockett did not respond to The Signal’s request for comment, nor did her campaign or ActBlue. 

DOJ Moves for Release of Ex-FBI Informant who Falsely Fingered Bidens

Headline USA Editor
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DOJ Moves for Release of Ex-FBI Informant who Falsely Fingered Bidens

(Headline USA) The U.S. government now wants a former FBI informant who fabricated a story about former President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes to be released from prison while he appeals his conviction, it was revealed Thursday in court records.

Alexander Smirnov, 44, was sentenced to six years in prison in early January after pleading guilty in Los Angeles federal court to tax evasion and lying to the FBI about the phony bribery scheme, which was described by prosecutors at the time as an effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Smirnov had been prosecuted by former Justice Department special counsel David Weiss, who resigned in January just days before President Donald Trump returned to the White House for his second term. Smirnov’s case was reassigned Thursday to a new federal prosecutor, court records show, who jointly filed a motion the same day with Smirnov’s attorneys seeking his release.

In the motion, the U.S. government said it will review its “theory of the case.” The motion also notes that Smirnov’s release from custody would allow him to receive proper treatment for health issues related to his eyes.

Smirnov has been in custody since February 2024. He was arrested at the Las Vegas airport after returning to the U.S. from overseas.

A hearing on the motion was not immediately scheduled Thursday.

Smirnov, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, falsely claimed to his FBI handler that around 2015, executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million each.

The explosive claim in 2020 came after Smirnov expressed “bias” about Biden as a presidential candidate, according to prosecutors at the time. In reality, investigators found Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017 — after Biden’s term as vice president.

Authorities said Smirnov’s false claim “set off a firestorm in Congress” when it resurfaced years later as part of the House impeachment inquiry into Biden, who won the presidency over Trump in 2020. The Biden administration dismissed the impeachment effort as a “stunt.”

Weiss also brought gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden, who was supposed to be sentenced in December after being convicted at a trial in the gun case and pleading guilty to tax charges. But he was pardoned by his father, who earlier in his administration promised not to do that.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

 

The Sound Money Surge: States Reclaim Gold and Silver in 2025

Money Metals News Service
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The Sound Money Surge: States Reclaim Gold and Silver in 2025

(Money Metals News Service) Mike Maharrey, a reporter and analyst at Money Metals Exchange, recently spoke with Jp Cortez, executive director of the Sound Money Defense League, about the major strides being made in sound money policy across the United States.

As of early April 2025, five states have already passed pro-sound money legislation, with more expected before the legislative season wraps up in June.

(Interview Starts Around 4:17 Mark)

On April 10, 2025, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 130 into law. Carried by Senator Tim Melson, the legislation reaffirms gold and silver as legal tender for voluntary transactions in the state. This marks the third major sound money bill passed in Alabama since 2018.

The state’s journey began with a 2018 law that expanded the sales tax exemption on precious metals. In 2023, Alabama eliminated the state capital gains tax on the sale of gold and silver. Now, with the signing of SB 130, Alabama continues to position itself as a leader in restoring constitutional money.

In practical terms, this means that when residents of Alabama purchase precious metals, they are not subject to sales tax, and when they sell, they are not required to pay capital gains taxes to the state. While federal taxes remain, Alabama has removed all state-level friction that would otherwise discourage the use of gold and silver as money.

Incremental Policy Wins Build a Foundation

Cortez emphasized the importance of the step-by-step legislative approach adopted by Alabama and other states like Utah and Arkansas. Rather than attempting to pass sweeping reform all at once, these states have focused on building legal frameworks incrementally.

In Arkansas, for example, the state has not only affirmed gold and silver as legal tender but is now considering a system allowing vendors who do business with the state to transact using precious metals. Cortez noted that while some bills are more symbolic than functional, they play an important psychological role by reaffirming to the public and businesses that gold and silver are, in fact, money.

This process, Cortez explained, is part of a broader strategy employed by the Sound Money Defense League with support from Money Metals Exchange. Each legislative win helps pave the way for larger reforms such as the establishment of state gold reserves or bullion depositories.

Five States Leading the Charge in 2025

As of today in early April, five states have passed sound money legislation in 2025 alone: Alabama, Wyoming, Idaho, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

Each state has contributed to the growing movement to restore gold and silver as viable forms of constitutional money.

  • Wyoming
    • Passed Senate File 96, establishing a multi-million-dollar physical gold reserve for the state.
    • Builds on the 2018 Legal Tender Act, which removed taxes on gold and silver and reaffirmed their status as legal tender.
    • Positions Wyoming to better protect state funds and taxpayers from inflation and currency volatility.
  • Idaho
    • Passed House Bill 40, the largest tax cut in Idaho history, including a capital gains tax exemption on the sale of precious metals.
    • Followed up with House Bill 177, reaffirming gold and silver as legal tender.
    • Allows residents to buy and sell precious metals without being subject to state taxation, making Idaho one of the most metal-friendly states in the West.
  • Tennessee
    • Advancing legislation to establish a state gold reserve, initially estimated at $60 million.
    • Built upon earlier success removing sales tax and income tax on precious metals.
    • Jp Cortez recently testified in Nashville in support of the current reserve legislation.
  • Kentucky
    • Removed the sales tax on gold and silver retroactively after years of legislative battles.
    • Overrode a veto by Governor Andy Beshear, who had opposed the measure.
    • New law includes penalties for wrongful taxation and allows taxpayers to sue the state for improper tax collection related to bullion purchases.
    • Money Metals is also helping to lead a class action lawsuit against Gov. Andy Beshear.
  • Alabama
    • Passed Senate Bill 130, reaffirming gold and silver as legal tender.
    • Marks the third sound money law passed in the state since 2018, following the elimination of the sales tax and capital gains tax on precious metals.
    • Now offers a fully frictionless environment for buying and selling gold and silver at the state level.

Cortez described these victories as part of a long-term, strategic process to normalize the use of precious metals in commerce. With the 2025 legislative season still underway, he expects more states to join the movement before the year is out.

Upcoming Battles and Legislative Opportunities

The legislative season in many states continues through May and June. Cortez outlined several states where important bills are still under consideration.

In Alaska, a bill is advancing that would prohibit municipalities from imposing local sales taxes on gold and silver. The state does not levy a sales tax at the state level, but localities still can. The bill would also reaffirm gold and silver as legal tender.

Maine is again debating a bill to exempt precious metals from sales tax. A similar bill failed by just one vote two years ago, but this year it has bipartisan support and broader momentum.

In Iowa, legislators are reviewing a bill to exempt gold and silver from the state capital gains tax. And in Tennessee, the push to fund and establish a gold reserve continues.

Cortez described the expanding interest in sound money as a nationwide movement that has grown significantly since the Sound Money Defense League began its work in 2014. Whereas only a handful of states used to consider such legislation, it is now common for multiple states to propose and pass bills each session.

Federal Efforts: Gold Audits and Tax Reform

At the federal level, the Sound Money Defense League has also been active. Cortez highlighted legislation first introduced in 2019 and again in 2021 by Congressman Alex Mooney of West Virginia to audit the gold held at Fort Knox and other U.S. depositories.

Mooney has also reintroduced the Monetary Metals Neutrality Act of 2024. This bill would eliminate federal capital gains tax on gold and silver, which could automatically nullify state-level taxes in many jurisdictions that base their tax codes on federal income tax structures.

Cortez stressed the importance of a real audit—complete with bar serial numbers, weight verification, and assays—not just a superficial walkthrough for the media. He warned against another theatrical event like the one that occurred in the 1970s, where pre-selected gold bars were displayed for cameras but no true accounting was done.

A complete audit, he said, should include a full inventory of encumbrances such as leases or swaps and determine who actually owns the gold. Many of the bars, Cortez added, are not refined to current international standards and would need to be updated to become market-liquid.

The Sound Money Index: Tracking Progress

To track this legislative progress, the Sound Money Defense League publishes the annual Sound Money Index. This scorecard ranks all 50 states based on how supportive or hostile they are to sound money policies.

Top-ranking states typically have removed sales and capital gains taxes, recognized gold and silver as legal tender, and may even hold bullion in reserve. States at the bottom of the index tend to impose high taxes and offer little legal or policy support for precious metals as money.

With the 2025 legislative wave, Cortez expects significant changes in the next edition of the index. States like Alabama, Kentucky, Idaho, and Wyoming are likely to move up in the rankings thanks to their recent actions.

The Sound Money Index can be accessed at SoundMoneyDefense.org and also through the Money Metals website.

Conclusion

As Cortez travels from state to state testifying on behalf of pro-sound money bills, the movement continues to gain steam. He credited the success of these efforts in large part to support from Money Metals Exchange, which not only funds legislative efforts but also activates grassroots support from its customer base.

With more states advancing legislation, and growing federal interest in gold audits and tax reform, Cortez believes that America is witnessing the early stages of a widespread monetary renaissance.

The legislative season is not yet over, and Jp Cortez is optimistic that additional wins are still to come before summer. As more Americans feel the effects of inflation and dollar devaluation, the call for sound money is no longer fringe—it is becoming mainstream.

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