CA’s Retirement Fund Committed $282M to Chinese Firm Investigated for Human Rights Abuses

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CA’s Retirement Fund Committed $282M to Chinese Firm Investigated for Human Rights Abuses

(Kenneth Schrupp, The Center Square) Since 2022, California’s main state pension fund has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to a Chinese venture capital firm that has been investigated by Congress for its close ties with the Chinese Communist Party.

Experts warn these investments are not only risky, given China’s record on property rights and growing economic challenges, but undermine the security of the United States and its allies.

“CalPERS should not be investing in China because in China, the Communist Party takes a stake in every major company,”  said Diana Furchtgott-Roth, who is director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Climate, Energy, and the Environment, in an interview with The Center Square.

Since 2022, the California Public Employee Retirement System has committed $282 million to HongShan, a Chinese venture capital firm that was formerly the Chinese branch of American venture capital titan Sequoia, state records show. $59.3 million of that has been invested, with an estimated loss of $7.7 million as of March 31, 2025. Management fees paid to HongShan for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2024, the first and latest year for which data is available, were $3.3 million.

HongShan was investigated by the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, with a 2024 report detailing the high volume of now-HongShan investments linked to the Chinese military and human rights abuses.

These include investments in Bytedance, which owns TikTok, and Yitu, a facial recognition software firm used by the Chinese government and blacklisted by the United States Treasury Department in 2021 for its involvement in human rights abuses against the Uyghur minority. It also includes Qihoo 360, a “military-civilian PRC enterprise focused on cybersecurity that has been blacklisted by the Commerce Department and Defense Department over its support for the [People’s Liberation Army].”

The report also noted that while Sequoia split its China business into HongShan in 2023, the split “may insulate some types of capital flows from regulatory scrutiny they would have otherwise been subject to.”

The report details that while many kinds of technology transfers from the United States to China were and are banned, American funding of Chinese companies generally was legal, at least until a 2023 executive order from President Joe Biden started to place some limits on outbound American investment in “countries of concern” regarding “national security technologies” and related products.

CalPERS responded to financial and geopolitical concerns by stating it actively monitors investment regulations and chooses responsible investment managers.

“CalPERS is a global investor that looks for opportunities across national boundaries and business sectors to deliver the returns needed to provide retirement security to our more than 2 million members,” said CalPERS information officer Abram Arredondo to The Center Square in an email. “We closely monitor discussions in Washington D.C. to comply with government requirements on investments overseas. CalPERS also conducts a rigorous selection process for managers and regularly engages with them to ensure our investments are being responsibly overseen.”

Beyond national security, Furchtgott-Roth says investing in China exposes foreign investors like CalPERS to undue risks.

“It’s possible that CalPERS thinks they can get a greater return than in other areas, but it’s very risky, investing in these Chinese companies, because who knows what China is going to do, and who knows what President Trump is going to do about China, which would send the value of these investments down,” said Furchtgott-Roth. “Already last month, Chinese exports were diminishing, which is going to hurt the Chinese economy — President Trump is already harming the Chinese economy with these tariff threats.”

Furchtgott-Roth also pointed to China’s inverted demographic pyramid — in which an aging population is supported by fewer and fewer young people due to the nation’s one-child policy — as a long-term economic challenge.

Other experts pointed to the aftermath of the financial implosion of Chinese real estate developer Evergrande as evidence that American investors could end up at a significant disadvantage compared to Chinese investors when companies run into financial difficulty.

“Foreign bond investors lost more money than domestic creditors, and that’s the kind of thing that can happen both with debt investments and equity investments — the government can arbitrarily decide to discriminate against foreign investors,” said Marc Joffe, a public finance expert and visiting fellow at the California Policy Center, in an interview with The Center Square.

Joffe also said that in addition to the transparency, liquidity, and high management fee concerns typical of public pension investments in private equity, “the additional dimension in investing in Chinese startups and private companies is the government can just say, hey, you, CalPERS … you’ve made too much money and this is not good for the Chinese people, so we’re going to expropriate you.”

The Center Square recently reported CalPERS’ private equity Clean Energy & Technology Fund lost 71% of the nearly half a billion dollars it invested in the fund, as private equity fund managers raked in tens of millions of dollars, highlighting the risks of public pension investments in private equity.

HongShan did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for comment.

Flight Troubles Not Likely to End When Shutdown Does

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Flight Troubles Not Likely to End When Shutdown Does

(Thérèse Boudreaux, The Center Square) With Congress on track to end the ongoing government shutdown, the mass flight delays and cancellations Americans have experienced could soon abate, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday.

But aviation groups said it will take time to resolve the issues even after the government reopens.

“Airlines’ reduced flight schedules cannot immediately bounce back to full capacity right after the government opens. It will take time, and there will be residual effects for days,” Airlines for America, a lobbying group for major airlines, said in a statement posted on its website Monday.

Duffy projected cautious optimism on the 42nd day of the record-long government shutdown, noting that the U.S. House could pass a funding deal as soon as Wednesday. The U.S. Senate approved a deal on Monday to end the shutdown.

Air traffic controllers and other federal employees deemed “essential” have been forced to work without pay for over a month. Many have not returned and have found odd jobs while the shutdown dragged on.

If air traffic controllers return to work quickly, Duffy told reporters, “I think we’re going to be back to regular flight schedules” in time for the Thanksgiving travel rush.

“I want you all to travel on time, I want your flights to not be delayed or canceled, but that is not the primary concern. The primary concern is safety,” Duffy added. “We’re trying to manage risk in the system so that people fly, and fly safely.”

Millions of U.S. travelers have already faced thousands of flight delays and cancellations since Nov. 5, when the Federal Aviation Administration ordered 40 major U.S. airports to incrementally reduce flight volumes by 10% as a safety measure.

Airports have faced increasingly severe staffing shortages since federal funding ran dry on Oct.1, after Senate Democrats filibustered Republicans’ bill to keep the government open.

Even before the shutdown, a shortage of air traffic controllers and an aging system caused delays at major airports across the nation, prompting Congress to approve $12.5 billion to modernize it.

Duffy said the FAA will alleviate its flight restrictions “only when the data says we should.” In the meantime, passengers whose flights are cancelled due to the FAA’s order are entitled to refunds from airlines.

President Trump on Monday demanded that all air traffic controllers return to work or face a substantial dock to their pay. He also said controllers who work through the entire shutdown should receive a $10,000 bonus.

Duffy said he “couldn’t agree more” with Trump about the bonus but took a softer stance on how to deal with absent employees.

“I think what we have to realize is, we have some controllers who are put in a very difficult position,” Duffy said. “They were confronted with a real problem: ‘Do I not feed my family, or do I try to find another pathway to put food on the table?’ And that was very real. And I’m cognizant of that; I don’t want to be unfair to people.”

The FAA will investigate any “continual bad actors,” such as those who skipped work before their first missed paycheck and used the shutdown as an excuse not to return, Duffy said.

Report: Biden Gave Away Billions of Tax Dollars for ‘Climate Justice’ Without Public Consent

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Report: Biden Gave Away Billions of Tax Dollars for ‘Climate Justice’ Without Public Consent

(Tate Miller, The Center Square) Billions of U.S. tax dollars have been used to fund climate initiatives in foreign countries without the American people’s consent, all while government officials travel on jets to attend climate conferences where they “give away other people’s money over beef, seafood, and cocktails,” a new report says.

Director of Protect the Public’s Trust Michael Chamberlain told The Center Square: “This report details an undemocratic redistribution of American wealth in the name of something called ‘climate justice.’”

Protect the Public’s Trust released the report. The organization is dedicated to ensuring there is only one standard that all leaders must live by, according to its website.

Chamberlain told The Center Square that “these [climate] agreements were never ratified and the American public was never asked permission.”

“At a moment when Bill Gates is backing off the doomsday climate rhetoric, Americans should know what’s been done in their name and with their money,” Chamberlain said.

Protect the Public’s Trust’s report is especially timely in light of the The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) COP30 event taking place this week in Brazil.

The report said that Conference of Parties (COPs) are “negotiating sessions, but with aspects of themed conventions, educational seminars, and social events.”

Chamberlain told The Center Square that “the COPs crystallize the hypocrisy of the UNFCCC grift.”

“The spectacle of thousands of government and NGO officials arriving on private jets to give away other people’s money over beef, seafood, and cocktails should appall anyone who cares about public probity,” Chamberlain said.

“During the Biden administration, it was not uncommon for individual agencies to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each to send representatives to give presentations on topics such as indigenous knowledge or to tout the billions their agency had already committed to the cause,” Chamberlain said.

Chamberlain pointed out that “they also had employees who were teleworking during Covid because it was apparently unsafe to go to the office who nevertheless were able to hobnob with the thousands of other COP attendees in person.”

As an example of climate hypocrisy associated with the COPs, the BBC reported in March that a 4-lane highway was paved through an Amazon rainforest for COP30 this year in order to “ease traffic” to Belem, where the conference is being held.

Nonetheless, developing countries make a point to show up for COP events as they are “eager for the cash infusions,” Protect the Public’s Trust’s report said.

In addition to outlining several of the past few COPs under the Biden administration, Protect the Public’s Trust’s report discussed the amount of tax dollars given to the climate agenda.

As stated in the report, “the executive branch spent $776 billion across 25 agencies on nearly 700 climate programs” during Joe Biden’s tenure.

One notable climate spending project stateside was the “Greendoggle,” or the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund  that was a part of the Inflation Reduction Act.Chamberlain said

This fund gave the “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) $27 billion to disperse by the end of 2024,” a sum that would serve as “the foundation of clean energy and other green industries and markets.”

“This massive influx of taxpayer cash went to well-connected Biden administration political allies – some of whom may have helped design the program while they were in the administration,” the report said.

As far as money being shipped off to other nations, more than $14 billion was given and another $8 billion pledged as a part of the UNFCCC, according to the report – and many of these foreign recipients are “no friends to America.”

These billions of dollars from American citizens go toward “the $1 trillion per year third world countries are supposed to be receiving by 2030, according to the Paris Agreement of the UNFCCC,” the report said.

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the UNFCCC in his first term and is expected to do so this term as well, the report said.

Regardless, “the Biden administration still sent more than 250 delegates to Baku, Azerbaijan” for the UNFCCC’s COP29 last year that took place in November between the election and inauguration.

The UN Climate Change Press Office has not yet responded to The Center Square’s request for comment concerning what the purpose of COP30 is and what its response is to those who would say the conference is hypocritical.

Trump Admin Signals Support for Paramount Bid as Warner Bros. Considers Sale

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Trump Admin Signals Support for Paramount Bid as Warner Bros. Considers Sale

(Tom Joyce, The Center Square) Warner Bros. Discovery has put itself up for sale, and the Trump administration is showing signs of support for a potential merger with Paramount Skydance while raising concerns about Big Tech or Comcast taking control of one of Hollywood’s most influential studios.

Warner Bros. Discovery owns the Warner Bros. studio and cable brands, including CNN, HBO, and the Discovery Channel. Paramount Skydance, the parent company of CBS, recently made several offers to buy the company. However, Warner executives are waiting for competing bids. Netflix, Comcast, and Amazon are among the potential bidders, reports say.

Conservatives warn that a sale to Netflix or Comcast would further concentrate power in the media industry.

Former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colorado, said mergers with Big Tech often lead to fewer competitors and less diversity of viewpoints, and that federal regulators should tread carefully.

“No doubt, Big Tech will marshal their resources to fight authorities — as they have before  — but regulators can, and should, use this moment to carefully examine mergers in the entertainment industry that will have an impact on free speech,” he wrote in a Newsmax column.

Tom Giovanetti, president of the Institute for Policy Innovation, said competition helps preserve balance in news and entertainment.

“But consumers also need media to end its leftward slant on news and entertainment, and Paramount Skydance intends to correct biases in its media properties,” he wrote in a column for the Daily Caller. “Viacom stagnated for decades because of family and corporate infighting, but the newly invigorated Paramount Skydance wants to correct the leftward leanings of some of their properties like CBS News and 60 Minutes. There would certainly be a benefit to the public in that, as would extending those changes to CNN.”

Analysts note the Trump administration has previously criticized Comcast and NBC for bias in its political coverage.

In 2023, Trump pledged to investigate NBC for “knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage.” More recently, he posted that Comcast and its chairman, Brian Roberts, were “a disgrace to the integrity of broadcasting.”

Craig Moffett of Moffett Nathanson said a successful Comcast bid is “nearly unthinkable.”

“Given past commentary against all-things-Comcast from both the White House and the FCC over the past year, a successful Comcast acquisition of almost anything seems nearly unthinkable,” he told Deadline.

Additionally, Blair Levin of New Street Research told CNBC that “it is almost certain that the Trump DOJ would not allow [Comcast] to buy WBD and the result would be decided in court.”

Netflix may also face skepticism. Company chairman Reed Hastings is a longtime Democratic donor, and Netflix employees sent 98% of their political donations to Democrats in 2020. Analysts warn that a merger with Warner Bros. would make Netflix more than twice the size of its nearest competitor.

By contrast, Paramount’s ties with the Trump administration may work in its favor.

“[Paramount Skydance] got on Trump’s good side to get the Paramount deal closed so there’s still some of that good will that they could use … Not everyone has that good will,” Raymond James analyst Brent Penter told BBC.

Officials Fear Permanent Israeli Occupation of More Than Half of Gaza

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Officials Fear Permanent Israeli Occupation of More Than Half of Gaza

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Reuters reported on Tuesday that European officials and other sources are concerned that, without more progress on the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal, the so-called “yellow line” dividing Israeli-occupied Gaza from the rest of the Strip will become a de facto border, meaning there will be an indefinite Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory.

The report comes as the Trump administration is pushing for a plan to allow reconstruction only in the Israeli-occupied side of Gaza, which accounts for about 58% of the territory. The Atlantic has reported that the US is considering building housing on the Israeli side of the yellow line that could be used by Palestinians who have been “screened” and approved by Israeli intelligence.

Arab countries have been warning against the plan as they fear it will lead to a permanent Israeli occupation and expressed skepticism about the idea of Palestinians being willing to live on the Israeli side.

“Palestinians may not want to live under the rule of Hamas, but the idea that they’ll be willing to move to live under Israeli occupation and be under control of the party they also see as responsible for killing 70,000 of their brethren is fantastical,” an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel last week.

The Atlantic report said that less than 2% of Gaza’s population lives on the Israeli-occupied side of the yellow line. Israel is backing at least four anti-Hamas militias and gangs behind the yellow line, and the US has reportedly been in contact with the groups about “enforcing order” in Gaza.

One of the gangs, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, who admitted in 2024 that his group was looting aid trucks, has members with ties to ISIS. Israeli media reported on Tuesday that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who has been pushing the plan to divide Gaza into two, met with Abu Shabab, but the State Department denied that the meeting took place. The reports said that the US believes the Abu Shabab gang could help facilitate the movement of an estimated 150 Hamas militants trapped in Rafah on the Israeli-occupied side of the yellow line.

Under the US ceasefire plan, Israel is required to withdraw further from the yellow line as an international force is deployed into Gaza and as the Strip is “demilitarized.” But there has been little progress on forming the international force, as the countries willing to participate want more clarity on the mission and don’t want to end up fighting Hamas on behalf of Israel. 

Hamas has also ruled out the idea of disarming without the establishment of a Palestinian state, an idea the Israeli government has repeatedly rejected.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

 

Prosecutors Reveal Trove of Evidence in Minnesota Lawmaker Murder Mystery

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Prosecutors Reveal Trove of Evidence in Minnesota Lawmaker Murder Mystery

(Headline USA) Attorneys in the case of a man charged with killing a top Minnesota Democratic lawmaker and her husband said Wednesday that prosecutors have turned over a massive amount of evidence to the defense, and that his lawyers need more time to review it.

Federal prosecutor Harry Jacobs told the court that investigators have provided substantially all of the evidence they have collected against Vance Boelter. He’s pleaded not guilty to murder in the killing of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and to attempted murder in the shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife. Some evidence, such as lab reports, continues to come in.

Federal defender Manny Atwal said at the status conference that the evidence includes over 130,000 pages of PDF documents, over 800 hours of audio and video recordings, and over 2,000 photographs from what authorities have called the largest hunt for a suspect in Minnesota history.

Atwal said her team has spent close to 110 hours just downloading the material — not reviewing it — and that they’re still evaluating the evidence, a process she said has gone slowly due to the federal government shutdown.

“That’s not unusual for a complex case but it is lot of information for us to review,” Atwal told Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster.

Jacobs said he didn’t have a timeline for when the Department of Justice would decide whether to seek the death penalty against Boelter. The decision will be up to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Foster scheduled the next status conference for Feb. 12 and asked prosecutors to keep the defense and court updated in the meantime about their death penalty decision. She did not set a trial date.

Hortman and her husband, Mark, and Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot by a man who came to their suburban homes in the early hours of June 14, disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car.

Boelter, 58, was captured near his home in rural Green Isle late the next day. He faces federal and state charges including murder and attempted murder in what prosecutors have called a political assassination.

Boelter, who was wearing orange and yellow jail clothing, said nothing during the nine-minute hearing.

Boelter’s attorney has not commented on the substance of the allegations. His motivations remain murky and statements he has made to some media haven’t been fully clear. Friends have described him as a politically conservative evangelical Christian, and occasional preacher and missionary.

Boelter claimed to the conservative outlet Blaze News in August that he never intended to shoot anyone that night but that his plans went horribly wrong.

He told Blaze in a series of hundreds of texts via his jail’s messaging system that he went to the Hoffmans’ home to make citizens’ arrests over what he called his two-year undercover investigation into 400 deaths from the COVID-19 vaccine that he believed were being covered up by the state.

But he told Blaze he opened fire when the Hoffmans and their adult daughter tried to push him out the door and spoiled his plan. He did not explain why went on to allegedly shoot the Hortmans and their golden retriever, Gilbert, who had to be euthanized.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said when she announced Boelter’s indictment on state charges in August that she gave no credence to the claims Boelter had made from jail.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

 

Trump Formally Asks Israeli President To ‘Fully Pardon’ Netanyahu in Corruption Case

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Trump Formally Asks Israeli President To ‘Fully Pardon’ Netanyahu in Corruption Case

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Donald Trump has sent a letter to the Israeli President Isaac Herzog asking him to “fully pardon” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his corruption case, a strong show of support for the Israeli leader, who is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in war crimes in Gaza.

“As the Great State of Israel and the amazing Jewish People move past the terribly difficult times of the last three years, I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister, and is now leading Israel into a time of peace, which includes my continued work with key Middle East leaders to add many additional countries to the world changing Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote to Herzog (the full letter is at the end of the article).

While Trump is portraying Netanyahu now as a “peace-time” leader, Israel has been conducting regular attacks in Gaza despite the US-brokered ceasefire deal, and has also continued bombing southern Lebanon, while in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jewish settlers have been on a rampage, and the IDF has stepped up raids.

“While I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli Justice System, and its requirements, I believe that this ‘case’ against Bibi, who has fought alongside me for a long time, including against the very tough adversary of Israel, Iran, is a political, unjustified prosecution,” Trump said.

Trump concluded the letter by saying it was “let Bibi unite Israel by pardoning him, and ending that lawfare once and for all.” He has previously called for Netanyahu to be pardoned in a post on Truth Social and during a speech at the Israeli Knesset.

In response to Trump’s request, Herzog did not take a position on the matter, and his office said in a statement that anyone seeking a pardon must go through the proper channels.

“The president holds great respect for President Trump and repeatedly expresses his appreciation for Trump’s unwavering support of Israel and his tremendous contribution to the return of the hostages, the reshaping of the Middle East and Gaza, and the safeguarding of Israel’s security,” Herzog’s office said.

“Without detracting from the above, as the president has made clear on multiple occasions, anyone seeking a pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures,” the statement added.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

 

House Dems Release Emails of Jeffrey Epstein Mentioning Donald Trump

Ken Silva
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House Dems Release Emails of Jeffrey Epstein Mentioning Donald Trump

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have released a set of emails between deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and author Michael Wolff, all of which mention President Donald Trump.

The first email is from April 2011, when Epstein told Maxwell about Trump saying at his house with one of his alleged victims, whose name was redacted.

“I want you to realize that the dog that hasn’t barked is trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. Police chief. Etc. im 75% there,” Epstein wrote, to which Maxwell replied: “I have been thinking about that…”

While the email lacks critical details, it does call in to question Maxwell’s interview with the Justice Department this year, when she told the DOJ that she never witness Trump commit any wrongdoing.

However, the House Republicans immediately responded to the email, saying that the victim referenced therein is Virginia Giuffre—someone who also said she never saw Trump commit any wrongdoing.

“Why did Democrats cover up the name when the Estate didn’t redact it in the redacted documents provided to the committee? It’s because this victim, Virginia Giuffre, publicly said that she never witnessed wrongdoing by President Trump,” the House Oversight Committee said on Twitter/X. “Democrats are trying to create a fake narrative to slander President Trump.”

The second email is between Epstein and anti-Trump author Wolff in December 2015, when Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was in its early stages.

Trump was set to appear on CNN the night of Dec. 15, 2025, and Wolff said he heard that a reporter was going to ask Trump about his relationship with Epstein. When Wolff informed Epstein of this, Epstein asked about how he should respond to what Trump tells CNN.

Wolff gave Epstein advice.

“I think you should let [Trump] hang himself. If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit to you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt,” Wolff wrote.

“Of course, it is possible that, when asked, he’ll say Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness, which is to be outlawed in a Trump regime.”

The final email is from Epstein to Wolff on Jan. 31, 2019, after Trump had already been president for two years, and about seven months before Epstein would be arrested. The two discussed the reports that Trump kicked Epstein out of his resort, Mar-a-Lago.

[VICTIM] mara lago. [REDACTED…]. Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. Of course he knew about the girls he asked Ghislaine to stop.”

Upon publishing the abovementioned emails, Democrats called for the Trump administration to release the full set of what’s now referred to commonly as the “Epstein files.”

Trump and Epstein were once considered friends, but they had a falling out in 2004 over a bidding war for a mansion near Mar-a-Lago. Trump also kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago in 2007 for harassing the daughter of a member there—an event that Epstein may have been referencing in his email to Wolff.

Additionally, Wolff reported last November that Epstein was “afraid” of Trump up until his final days, when he died in prison.

According to Wolff, Epstein believed that Trump caused him to be initially investigated by law enforcement in 2005 after the two had a fight over the property near Mar-a-Lago—an allegation that, if true, could arguably be seen as a heroic move by Trump, regardless of his motives.

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

Leaked Emails Reveal How Jeffrey Epstein and Israeli Officials Built African Surveillance State

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Leaked Emails Reveal How Jeffrey Epstein and Israeli Officials Built African Surveillance State

(José Niño, Headline USA) Newly released documents reveal Jeffrey Epstein played a critical role facilitating Israeli intelligence operations in Côte d’Ivoire, working alongside former Defense Minister Ehud Barak to broker mass surveillance deals with the embattled West African nation, according to a report by Drop Site News. 

The revelations come from leaked emails released by the Handala hacking group and documents published by the U.S. House Oversight Committee last month, including Epstein’s personal emails and appointment calendars from 2012 and 2013.

After a disputed 2010 presidential election triggered violence in Côte d’Ivoire, President Alassane Ouattara sought to consolidate power following a French and United Nations military intervention. Just days after Ouattara announced foiling a coup attempt in June 2012, he traveled to Jerusalem to meet Barak and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about counterterrorism cooperation.

That same day, according to House Oversight documents, Epstein met with Ouattara’s son David Dramane Ouattara in New York City. Three months later, Epstein hosted Ouattara’s niece Nina Keita before going directly to meet Barak at the Regency Hotel. Keita had traveled on Epstein’s plane as a young fashion model in Jean Luc Brunel’s agency.

In October 2012, Epstein traveled to Africa, instructing his assistant to arrange stops in Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, and Senegal. Two weeks after this trip, Ivory Coast’s Interior Minister was in Tel Aviv meeting with Barak about a bilateral security accord.

According to Drop Site News, Epstein wrote to Barak about the opportunities civil unrest created, saying “with civil unrest exploding and the desperation of those in power, isn’t this perfect for you.” Barak replied, “You’re right in a way. But not simple to transform it into a cash flow.”

After leaving his defense minister position in March 2013, Barak continued negotiating covertly with Côte d’Ivoire. One day after his departure, he received materials from French-Israeli security contractor MF Group detailing plans for a mobile and internet surveillance center and video monitoring system in Abidjan.

Communications between Barak and his brother-in-law Doron Cohen used cryptic language, referring to players by initials and arranging calls when Cohen would be “in the car alone” to avoid being overheard.

Progress stalled after a UN report discovered “dozens of crates” of Israeli ammunition at the presidential palace, leading to extended arms embargo enforcement. Barak then contacted key Israeli security figures with Côte d’Ivoire connections, including Amos Malka, former head of Israeli intelligence, and Michael Federmann, chairman of military technology giant Elbit Systems.

In August 2013, Barak traveled to Abidjan under the pretext of building hospitals, meeting with Ouattara and his security chiefs. Upon returning to Israel, he received a 13-page proposal from Aharon Ze’evi-Farkash, former head of Israeli intelligence, mapping complete architecture for eavesdropping on phone calls, satellites, and internet communications.

During the UN General Assembly session in New York that September, Epstein coordinated meetings for Barak with prominent figures and arranged another meeting with Ouattara’s chief of staff. Epstein sent Barak the official’s contact information, writing “chief of staff of outara, he arrives tomorw, try to coordianate,” Drop Site News reported. 

After UN peacekeepers conducted joint operations with Ivorian forces in November 2013 and sanctions were lifted in April 2014, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman arrived in Côte d’Ivoire on June 13, 2014 to sign the defense and internal security agreement, accompanied by over 50 businessmen.

Since the agreement, Ouattara has banned public demonstrations, arrested peaceful protesters, and won a fourth term despite constitutional limits while opposition candidates were barred. 

Exiled activist Boga Sako Gervais stated, “Under Ouattara, since 2011, freedoms of opinion, thought, and expression have been criminalized. It has become forbidden to criticize the head of state.”

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

Trump Says Marjorie Taylor Greene Has ‘Lost Her Way’ After She Criticized Him for Hosting Former Al-Qaeda Leader

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Trump Says Marjorie Taylor Greene Has ‘Lost Her Way’ After She Criticized Him for Hosting Former Al-Qaeda Leader

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Donald Trump on Monday said that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has “lost her way” after the Georgia congresswoman criticized the president for hosting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader, at the White House and focusing on foreign policy over domestic policy.

“I don’t know what happened to Marjorie. She’s a nice woman, but I don’t know what happened. She’s lost her way, I think,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office when asked about Greene’s comments.

“But I have to view the presidency as a worldwide situation, not locally. I mean, we could have a world that’s on fire, where wars come to our shores very easily, if you had a bad president,” the president added.

In response to Trump, Greene told NBC News: “I haven’t lost my way. I’m 100% America first and only!”

Earlier in the day, Greene strongly criticized the president’s meeting with Sharaa in a post on X that included a picture of a State Department wanted poster for when the Syrian leader was known by his al-Qaeda nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al-Julani.

“The new leader of Syria is a former Al Qaeda terrorist wanted by our government who is meeting with President Trump today at the White House on the US Marine’s 250th anniversary. He rose to power in Dec 2024, sanctions were lifted off Syria in June, and many Christians and minority groups have been killed before and after sanctions were lifted,” Greene said.

“Syria is the oldest home of Christianity outside of Israel. The apostle Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. I pray the persecution ends, not only in Syria, but all around the world. However, I would really like to see nonstop meetings at the WH on domestic policy not foreign policy and foreign country’s leaders,” she added.

In recent months, Greene has emerged as a harsh critic of US support for Israel and became the first Republican member of Congress to label Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a genocide. For her stance, Greene has come under attack from the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC and pro-Israel commentators in the US media.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

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