What’s Up With Silver? It’s Still on Sale!

Money Metals News Service
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What’s Up With Silver? It’s Still on Sale!

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) Silver is still on sale. Despite the June rally that pushed silver from $33 to over $37 an ounce, the metal remains historically underpriced based on several metrics.

To begin with, there is still a historically wide gap between the price of silver and the price of gold.

The gold-silver ratio tells you how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold. The ratio is hovering right around 90-to-1. In the modern era, that ratio has averaged closer to 60-to-1. In other words, even with the recent rally, silver is underpriced compared to gold.

Historically, when the ratio has gotten out of whack like this, it has eventually snapped back to the mean with a surge in the price of silver. This has often happened in the midst of a gold bull rally, with silver outperforming gold.

For instance, in 2020, the gold-silver ratio set a record of 123-to-1 as Covid hysteria gripped the world and then plunged to around 60-to-1 as central banks around the world cranked up the money creation machine to cope with governments shutting down economies.

In another example of this snap-back, the gold-silver ratio fell to 30-to-1 in 2011 after rising to over 80-to-1 during the money creation of the Great Recession in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Before the recent rally, the ratio was over 100-to-1, so silver has closed the gap some, but there is still a long way to go before we’re back to the historical average.

Meanwhile, silver also appears underpriced given the supply and demand dynamics.

Silver demand outstripped new supply for the fourth straight year in 2024 as industrial demand set another record.

Despite record industrial offtake, overall silver demand fell by about 3 percent to 1.16 billion ounces in 2024. This was primarily due to tepid investment demand, with coin and bar off-take falling 22 percent to a five-year low.

Even so, global silver demand exceeded silver supply last year, resulting in a structural market deficit of 148.9 million ounces.

These market deficits are expected to continue, and when investors hop on the train, we could see even larger supply shortfalls.

Bullish Technical Signals

We also have an extremely bullish technical setup with a classic “cup and handle” chart.

You can see the “cup” with the twin highs of around $50 per ounce in 1980 and 2011. Following the 2011 peak, we see a sharp decline in the price, followed by a consolidation “handle.”

A handle pattern on the chart of a stock or commodity often precedes a breakout.

This cup-and-handle pattern has played out over an extremely long timeframe. Historically, this longer pattern, often referred to as a secular cup and handle, portends a bigger breakout with a broader base, signaling a bigger upside case.

Gold followed a similar long-term pattern, resolving with a breakout to new all-time highs beginning in 2023.

Analyst Clive Maund argues that the technicals show silver is poised for another upleg similar to the one we saw in June.

Taken together, the technicals and the supply and demand dynamics tell us that despite the recent rally, silver is still on sale and there is plenty of life left in the bull’s legs.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

Scam Alert! Don’t Click That Link!

Money Metals News Service
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Scam Alert! Don’t Click That Link!

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) The other day, I was sitting at my desk when my phone buzzed. It was a text.

According to the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), I had unpaid traffic tickets. Apparently, the FDOT moved its HQ to the Philippines, based on the phone number from which the text originated.

If I didn’t act right that moment, well, it was going to be bad.

Real bad.

  1. DMV violation recording
  2. Vehicle registration suspension effective June 16
  3. Suspension of driving privileges for 30 days
  4. Referral to debt collection (with 35% additional fee)
  5. Potential court action and negative credit impact

I don’t know what number six might involve – and I don’t want to.

Thankfully, the fine people at the DMV gave me a link to click so I could pay my fine and avoid the litany of consequences.

So, I clicked the link…

No. I didn’t click the link.

Because I knew it was a scam.

And here is the very simple point of this article.

Never click the link!

If I thought that there was a possibility that I had unpaid traffic tickets, I would have looked up the appropriate agency and contacted them directly.

On a side note, there is no Florida Department of Motor Vehicles – or DMV as the text called it. The agency in Florida is the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV). Also, if I had unpaid fines, I would have to deal with them through the court.

I knew all of this, but even if I didn’t, I still wouldn’t have clicked the link.

Because you never click the link!

A Cautionary Tale

A lady in Olympia, Washington, clicked the link. She ended up getting herself tangled up in a gold coin scam.

Barb Putnam thought she was clicking a shortcut link to Facebook Messenger. According to a report by KING5 in Seattle, her computer went black. Then a pop-up appeared saying her computer was compromised, and she needed to call Microsoft Tech Support.

She did.

She shouldn’t have.

Of course, the guy on the other end of the line promising to “fix your windows” wasn’t tech support.

Putnam told KING5 that “tech support” filled her with fear.

“It’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, look how many people are hacking your machine. Look how many people are hacking your phone and have access. They’re listening. All these foreign people are listening to your phone calls.’”

The man told Putnam that hackers were using her IP address and social security number to buy child porn on the dark web. He told her to call her investment firm’s fraud department and report the incident. Of course, the scammers hijacked that call.

According to the news report, “The scammers began a campaign of fear, intimidation, isolation, and coercion. They convinced Putnam the only way out was to follow their direction: get her money into a government-protected account. She needed to liquidate her assets and buy gold coins. A courier would pick up the coins, and a U.S. Marshal would show up with a check for reimbursement.”

She followed the instructions, wiring her savings to an online gold dealer. Once the coins arrived at her home, Putnam handed them off to a courier. However, the U.S. Marshal who was supposedly going to bring her a reimbursement check for the gold never showed up.

Shocking.

Putnam lost over $300,000. At today’s gold price, that’s about 89 ounces of gold.

“It’s taken my safety net. I worked 40 years to have that safety net and now it’s gone.”

Putnam bemoaned the fact that her bank and investment firm didn’t do more to deter her. U.S. Bank initially refused to transfer the $300K to the coin company, but she went into her local branch and they initiated the transfer “without many questions asked.”

“I don’t understand how that was not caught and flagged [at the bank],” her daughter told KING5. “It’s mind-boggling to me that it was allowed to proceed at the pace it proceeded at.”

You can understand their frustration. On the other hand, it is up to each one of us to be vigilant.

And as I’ve already advised, don’t click that link.

On another side note, have you noticed scammers love gold?

That’s because its value is recognized around the world. You can’t spend dollars everywhere, but everybody wants gold.

Gold is also difficult to track because it is a physical, tangible thing you can hold in your hand.

I doubt the scammers are thinking about this, but receiving their ill-gotten gains in gold also shields them from the relentless depreciation of fiat currencies. If you’re going to work that hard on your scam, you don’t want price inflation eating away at your wealth.

Of course, gold is good for honest working people as well – for many of the same reasons.

Anyway, don’t forget: don’t click that link.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

U.S. Forest Service to Cut $391M

Headline USA Editor
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U.S. Forest Service to Cut $391M

(, The Center Square) The U.S. Forest Services plans to cut its budget by $391 million for fiscal year 2026, according to a proposed budget request.

A large portion of the cuts to the forest services budget are expected to be implemented into the new U.S. Wildland Fire Service within the Department of the Interior.

Tom Shultz, chief of the U.S. Forest Service, laid out plans to integrate fire service operations within the department and highlighted its focus on a “back-to-basics approach” at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources hearing on Thursday.

“The fiscal year 2026 President’s budget refocuses forest service efforts on active forest management, critical minerals permitting, recreation [and] energy development,” Shultz said.

Some senators on the committee criticized the forest service’s plans to consolidate fire operations in the Department of Interior.

“Instead of moving quickly, you all have trotted out yet another new and described as improved reorganization in the middle of a very dangerous fire season,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said he was concerned about staffing cuts at the forest service from the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program, which allowed federal workers to resign from their positions while still receiving pay and benefits until Sept. 30.

“The staffing reductions coupled with the president diverting National Guard units in California mean that those resources are no longer available to support our wildfire response capacity,” Padilla said.

Shultz said that most firefighting personnel in the forest service did not take part in the deferred resignation process. He said the forest service maintains 99% capacity for firefighting personnel.

Padilla also said he was concerned about the increased roles state and local governments would need to take up in preventing forest fires with less help from the U.S. Forest Service.

“Communities in the United States of America are at increased risk because of the actions of this administration which contradict the supposed goals and objectives,” Padilla said.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., opposed Padilla and said that state governments should have greater responsibility over public lands, rather than the federal government.

“If you take a look at the landscapes across Montana and look at federal lands versus state lands, I can tell you the state’s doing a much, much better job in terms of stewardship of public lands than the federal government,” Daines said.

As the U.S. Forest Service prepares to make cuts to its budget, state and local governments are looking for ways to address land management.

“Some of these issues that we’ve discussed, it’s just a reminder of the fact that states and tribes are incredible partners. They’re indispensable parties really, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah said.

“They’re the ones on the ground, living in communities that depend on these forests, that are right next to them, whose lives are inextricably intertwined with the land in question,” Lee added.

USDA: 45M Acres of American Land Owned by Foreign Entities

Headline USA Editor
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USDA: 45M Acres of American Land Owned by Foreign Entities

(, The Center Square) Nearly 46 million acres of forest and farmland are held by foreign investors, including by countries hostile to America, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Foreign Farm Land Purchases map, unveiled to the public Thursday, highlights the increase of “foreign persons” buying up land across all 50 states and Puerto Rico, which many lawmakers have deemed a national security risk.

As of Dec. 31, 2023, approximately 45.8 million acres, or 71,562 square miles – slightly larger than Washington state – of American soil belongs to foreign entities.

While investors from Canada, the Netherlands, Italy and the United Kingdom cumulatively own more than 60% of that land, other foreign investors are acting on behalf of countries the U.S. considers hostile.

Chinese companies and investors, some directly involved in the Chinese Communist Party, own more than 277,335 acres of agricultural land across 30 states. Texas far outranks other states in terms of Chinese-bought land, with 123,707 acres owned. North Carolina and Missouri each have over 42,000 acres under Chinese ownership, while Utah has over 33,000 acres bought by China.

Other foreign adversaries have bought U.S. farm and forest land as well. Venezuela owns more than 90,000 acres of land across 17 states, Iran has bought more than 3,000 acres across 10 states, and Pakistan owns 2,100 acres across three states.

Additionally, over 3.08 million acres of U.S. land across 43 states are owned by foreign entities of unknown origin, with 1.38 million acres having “no foreign investor listed” and 1.69 million acres having “no predominant country code.”

Foreign ownership of U.S. land is largely unregulated. The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) of 1978 is the only federal law overseeing foreign acquisition of agricultural land, relying on foreign entities to self-report farmland transactions to the USDA. This law is rarely enforced, providing an incomplete picture of how much American land is owned by which foreign entities.

State regulations provide little extra security. Many states have no restrictions at all on foreign land ownership, though in recent years lawmakers in more than 20 states have pushed for greater restrictions.

North Carolina, New Hampshire, Missouri and Texas have all recently taken steps to track, cap or outright ban foreign land buy-ups.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins cast the agency’s data release as the latest step “to defend the homeland” as part of the new National Farm Security Action Plan. She did not specify whether or how the federal government will curtail future land purchases by foreign entities.

“Gone are the days of foreign adversaries taking advantage of our farmland, farmers, and programs paid for by American taxpayers,” Rollins said Thursday. “Our work is far from done. We will continue to restore farm security and expose the extent to which our adversaries have targeted American agriculture.”

Rep. MTG: Cut Aid to ‘Nuclear-Armed Israel’

Headline USA Editor
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Rep. MTG: Cut Aid to ‘Nuclear-Armed Israel’

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has said she will be introducing an amendment to remove $500 million in military aid for “nuclear-armed Israel” from the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), marking a rare acknowledgement of Israel’s nuclear weapons from a member of Congress.

The US has a policy of ambiguity toward Israel’s nuclear weapons program and does not acknowledge its existence or pressure Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It’s estimated that Israel has somewhere between 90 and 300 nuclear weapons.

“I’m entering amendments to strike $500 million more for nuclear-armed Israel. And it’s important to say nuclear-armed Israel, because they do have nuclear weapons,” Greene told Steve Bannon on his “War Room” podcast.

“And we already give them $3.4 billion every single year in the state, from the State Department. $3.4 billion every single year. They don’t need another $500 million in our defense budget. That’s for the American people’s defense,” Greene added.

The US provides Israel with $3.8 billion in military aid each year under a memorandum of understanding signed between Israel and the Obama administration. Of that amount, $3.3 billion is provided through the State Department’s Foreign Military Financing program, and $500 billion goes toward missile defense through the Pentagon.

The US has also provided billions of dollars in additional military aid after October 7, 2023. According to Israeli media, the US has financed roughly 70% of Israel’s war-related military spending since then.

Greene went on to stress the importance of acknowledging Israel’s nuclear weapons. “And Israel, you can—nuclear-armed Israel, I think it’s really important to phrase it that way. Nuclear-armed Israel doesn’t need $500 million more from the American people. Our government just bombed Iran on their behalf and destroyed their nuclear,” she said.

The ambiguity around Israel’s nuclear weapons program allows the US to provide military assistance without worrying about the Symington Amendment, a foreign assistance law that prohibits aid to countries that traffic in nuclear enrichment equipment or technology outside of IAEA safeguards.

Greene also said she was introducing amendments to cut military aid to Taiwan and Jordan. “Another amendment, $500 million for Taiwan. I’m entering an amendment that strikes that. We give them $300 million every year in the State Department. And they just got $2 billion, $2 billion with a B, in 2024 from the foreign aid supplemental under the Biden administration,” she said.

“I’m also entering an amendment to strike $500 million to Jordan. Jordan doesn’t need it. They get $1.6 billion every single year from the State Department. So I’m entering amendments to strike those,” Greene added.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.

ICE Ambush: Ex-DACA Man Charged, Wife Accused of Attempted Murder

Luis Cornelio
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ICE Ambush: Ex-DACA Man Charged, Wife Accused of Attempted Murder

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) One of the individuals slapped with charges in relation to the violent riots targeting an ICE facility in Texas has been identified as a green card holder and former DACA recipient.  

The man, Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada, faces evidence tampering charges after allegedly trying to hide documents exposing his wife’s insurrectionist beliefs. 

Estrada was arrested earlier this week as federal agents arrested his wife, Marciela Rueda, who authorities said participated in the anti-ICE ambush on the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.

On that night, nearly a dozen masked individuals vandalized and launched over 20 shots at police and DHS officers, according to Fox News.

Rueda, rumored to be an Antifa member, was busted fleeing the scene in “black, military-style clothing, body armor, and covered in mud,” according to court documents reviewed by Fox.

She reportedly told Estrada to tow her car away from the ambush’s “staging location.”

According to an FBI affidavit, Rueda told Estrada to “move whatever you need to move at the house.”

As Fox News reported, “He then fueled up at a nearby gas station and drove to an apartment complex in Denton, unloaded a box from the bed of the truck and left it outside a second-floor apartment, according to court documents.” 

That box was later recovered by law enforcement. Inside, authorities allegedly found “a handwritten training, tactics, and planning document for civil unrest with anti-law enforcement, anti-government, and anti-Trump sentiments.” 

ICE also reported that agents found literal insurrectionist propaganda at Estrada’s home, including a file titled, “Organizing for Attack! Insurrectionary Anarchy.” 

According to ICE, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point views insurrectionary anarchism as “the most serious form of domestic (non-jihadi) terrorist threat.” 

Estrada’s arrest further undermines the left’s narrative of DACA recipients as peaceful “Dreamers.” 

“This man was granted legal status through the DACA program and then given a green card under the Biden administration in 2024,” ICE wrote on X. 

Estrada was charged with “knowingly and willfully altered, destroyed, mutilated, or concealed a record, document, or other object, or attempted to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding.” 

Meanwhile, Rueda is one of the 10 individuals facing attempted murder charges for the “planned ambush.”

Rubio Announces US Sanctions Against UN

Headline USA Editor
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Rubio Announces US Sanctions Against UN

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday that the US was imposing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, a UN special rapporteur who is very critical of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and its genocidal war in Gaza.

The sanctions come after Albanese issued a report titled “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide” that called out dozens of private companies, including several US tech firms, that she says are involved in supporting Israel’s violence against Palestinians.

“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Rubio wrote on X.

“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated. We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense,” he added.

The US has previously called for the UN to end Albanese’s mandate as the special rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

“The United States once again expressed its grave concerns to UN Secretary-General António Guterres about the continued activities of Francesca Albanese … and again called upon the Secretary-General to condemn her activities and call for her removal,” the US mission to the UN said in a statement on July 1.

The US mission accused Albanese of “virulent antisemitism” for her criticism of Israel. The Biden administration also smeared Albanese as an antisemite after she authored a report accusing Israel of genocide.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.

Democratic Party’s Israel/Palestine Divide Reaches Tipping Point

Jose Nino
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Democratic Party’s Israel/Palestine Divide Reaches Tipping Point

(José Niño, Headline USA) In a stunning reversal, new polling shows Democrats now sympathize with Palestinians by a wide margin.

Harry Enten, CNN’s data expert, analyzed the latest Democratic Party polling on attitudes toward Israel and the Palestinians earlier this month during a morning segment on CNN’s “News Central.”

He expressed amazement at the dramatic change in opinion and said he’s “rarely” witnessed anything like it in his extensive experience examining polling data.

Enten discussed these findings with anchor Kate Bolduan, referencing Zohran Mamdani’s decisive win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in last week’s New York City Democratic mayoral primary, where Mamdani’s progressive stance on Israel became a defining campaign issue. 

The polling data Enten presented painted a picture of a significant political realignment.

“What are we talking about here? All right, who do Democrats sympathize more with: Israelis or Palestinians? In 2017, the Democratic Party was a pro-Israeli party. Look at this. They sympathized with the Israelis by 13 points—more with the Israelis than the Palestinians. But look at this sea change. Now, Democrats sympathize more with the Palestinians by 43 points,” Enten added. 

The magnitude of this shift clearly struck Enten, who has spent years analyzing polling trends. “Oh my God! That is a change in the margin of 56 points over the course of just eight years. So all of a sudden, it’s the pro-Palestinian position that actually reigns supreme in Democratic politics, not the Israeli position,” he observed.

Enten emphasized that this transformation helps explain why Cuomo’s attacks on Mamdani’s Israel stance failed to resonate: “Those attacks over Israel, simply put, did not ring true for Democrats. They’re now on the side of the Palestinians, not the Israelis.”

The data becomes even more dramatic when examining younger Democrat voters, who formed Mamdani’s core constituency. When Bolduan asked about the breakdown among younger Democrat voters, Enten revealed an even more striking pattern: 

So take a look here. Who do aged 18 to 49 Democrats sympathize more with: the Israelis or the Palestinians? Again, in 2017, younger Democrats sympathized more with the Israelis by 14 points. Look at this shift: now, Palestinians—they sympathize with the Palestinians by 57 points. That is an over 70-point shift in the margin in just a matter of eight years!

Enten’s breakdown of these numbers underscored their historical significance. 

“I rarely ever see shifts like this, Kate, in which you see one side of the equation leading by 14 points eight years ago, and then all of a sudden the other side of the equation leading by 57 points,” he said to Bolduan. 

He connected this demographic shift directly to the broader progressive movement within the Democratic Party, noting that “younger Democrats—Mamdani’s base, and also the base of democratic socialists like himself, like Bernie Sanders, like AOC—they have just shifted more so than I think anyone could possibly have imagined, say, eight years ago.”

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

Secret Service Tracked James Comey after Trump Death Threat

Luis Cornelio
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Secret Service Tracked James Comey after Trump Death Threat

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Secret Service tracked down disgraced former FBI Director James Comey after he posted what appeared to be a veiled death threat against President Donald Trump. 

Federal investigators reportedly followed Comey as he and his wife drove from their vacation on the North Carolina coast back to their home in the Washington area.

They also tracked his location through his cellphone signal, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. 

The leftist outlet cited three anonymous “government officials” as sources for the report. 

The aggressive investigation began a day after Comey posted a photo of seashells arranged to spell out “86 47.”  

The number “86” is colloquially known as slang for getting rid of something or someone, while “47” refers to Trump’s position in the presidential lineup. 

“Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” Comey wrote as the photo’s caption. 

The photo gained viral attention after Trump’s youngest son, Don Jr., said that Comey was “casually calling for my dad to be murdered.” 

In response to the backlash, Comey later deleted the photo and posted a follow-up, dubiously claiming ignorance of the interpretation. 

“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” he wrote. 

Trump himself rejected Comey’s excuse outright: “If you’re the F.B.I. director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination.” 

Several Trump officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, also blasted the post. 

“We are aware of the recent tweet by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump,” Patel wrote on X. “We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director (Sean) Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.” 

Noem echoed Patel’s sentiment, adding: “Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of @POTUSTrump. DHS and Secret Service is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.” 

It is unclear if the probe remains open and whether Comey will face any consequences for the post. 

A U.S. Senator Referred an Epstein Client to the DOJ; You’ll Never Guess What Happened Next

Ken Silva
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A U.S. Senator Referred an Epstein Client to the DOJ; You’ll Never Guess What Happened Next

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., reportedly said this week that he provided the Justice Department with “actionable” information about Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with a prominent billionaire and an untold number of Wall Street banks—but the DOJ hasn’t doing anything with the info.

“I’ve handed the Trump administration a ready-made Epstein case involving a billionaire financier and Wall Street banks, and they have done nothing with it,” Wyden told All Rise News.

“I know for a fact that the Trump administration is sitting on an Epstein file that contains new actionable information,” Wyden reportedly added. “So I don’t blame anybody for asking what’s going on.”

Wyden could be talking about former Apollo Global CEO and billionaire Epstein client Leon Black, whom the senator investigated for years. Black paid Epstein $158 million between 2012 and 2017 for his advice on several tax and estate planning matters.

In 2023, Wyden wrote an open letter to Black, suggesting that he may have engaged in tax evasion with Epstein.

“As you are aware, the Committee is investigating the $158 million in payments you made to Epstein for services related to a variety of tax and estate planning matters,” Wyden told Black in the letter.

“In particular, the Committee seeks information on Epstein’s participation in structuring trusts and other complex transactions designed to avoid federal gift and estate taxes on as much as $2 billion in wealth transferred to your children.”

Wyden revealed that his investigation has been ongoing since June 2022.

Thus far, the investigation has found that Epstein helped Black avoid more than $1 billion in federal taxes, Wyden said.

The senator also revealed that the IRS has not audited any of Black’s trusts or transactions that are subject to the congressional probe.

It’s unclear whether Black ever responded to the senator. And according to Wyden’s 2023 letter, Black had not been cooperative in the probe.

“You have refused to answer questions or provide documents related to payments you made to Epstein or substantiate how such payments were calculated or were compensation for services,” the senator said at the time.

“Your failure to substantiate Epstein’s compensation scheme has heightened the Committee’s concerns about whether such payments were properly characterized as income or gifts for tax purposes.”

Wyden asked Black to provide him with information on a number of Epstein- and Apollo-related topics. Wyden seeks, among other things, a copy of a “written service agreement” between Epstein and Black, as well as information about Epstein’s financial advice related to Black’s private art collection, which is worth over $1 billion.

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

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