(Brett Rowland, The Center Square) Existing home sales fell 5.9% in March ahead of the busy spring selling season as the median price topped $400,000 – the highest median home price for any March, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Sales decreased in all four major U.S. regions.
Total existing-home sales – which includes transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 5.9% from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million in March. Year-over-year, sales drew back 2.4%, down from 4.12 million in March 2024.
“Home buying and selling remained sluggish in March due to the affordability challenges associated with high mortgage rates,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “Residential housing mobility, currently at historical lows, signals the troublesome possibility of less economic mobility for society.”
Total housing inventory at the end of March was 1.33 million units, up 8.1% from February and 19.8% from one year ago when it stood at 1.11 million. Unsold inventory sits at a 4-month supply at the existing sales pace, up from 3.5 months in February and 3.2 months in March 2024. A six-month supply is generally considered a balanced market.
The median existing-home price for all housing types in March was $403,700, up 2.7% from one year ago when it was $392,900.
“In a stark contrast to the stock and bond markets, household wealth in residential real estate continues to reach new heights,” Yun said. “With mortgage delinquencies at near-historical lows, the housing market is on solid footing. A small deceleration in home price gains, which was slightly below wage-growth increases in March, would be a welcome improvement for affordability.”
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.83% as of April 17. That’s up from 6.62% one week before, but down from 7.1% one year ago, according to Freddie Mac.
When Trump first created DOGE, before taking office, he said it would be the government cost-cutting equivalent of the “Manhattan Project.” Both Trump and Musk promised Americans would get a more efficient government after DOGE addressed government waste and cut regulations, but the final product – a streamlined government – isn’t due until July 4, 2026, the nation’s 250th birthday.
Starting in May, Musk said he plans to spend less time in Washington after Tesla reported a 71% drop in profits during the first quarter of 2025. Musk’s time working in government had been limited from the outset, with both Trump and Musk saying so from the beginning.
Musk made that position clear during an earnings call with investors on Tuesday.
“I think starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” he said.
But Musk is not leaving DOGE and he said DOGE’s mission remains critical to the nation’s future.
“I’ll have to continue doing it for I think we’ll play it the remainder of the president’s term just to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stop does not come roaring back,” he said. “So I think I’ll continue to spend, you know, a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so and as long as it is useful.”
Musk touted his DOGE accomplishments, despite the toll it has taken on Tesla.
“There’s been some blowback for the time that I’ve been spending in government with the Department of Government Efficiency or Doge. I think the work that we’re doing there is actually very important,” he said. “And the Doge team has made a lot of progress in addressing waste and fraud. I believe the right thing to do is to just fight the ways and forward and get the country back in the right track and working together with President Trump and his administration. Because if the ship of America goes down, we all go down with it, including Tesla and everyone else. So I think this is this critical work.”
Musk said most of the start-up work for DOGE was already done.
“I do think there’s you know, the large slug of work necessary to get the votes team in place and working in the government to get the financial house in order is mostly done,” he said. “The major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done.”
Musk initially said DOGE would aim to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, but he later cut that in half. At a Cabinet meeting earlier this month, Musk said DOGE was on pace to cut $150 billion from the federal budget.
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) In response to concerns from Martin Luther King Jr.’s family about potentially damaging FBI surveillance recordings of the civil rights leader being released as part of President Donald Trump’s pro-transparency efforts, the Justice Department said Thursday that it only intends to publish records about MLK Jr.’s assassination.
The DOJ’s Thursday filing comes weeks after it moved to unseal FBI records about MLK Jr. Those records were sealed pursuant to a nearly 50-year-old lawsuit filed by King associate Bernard Lee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference against the FBI in June 1976. That lawsuit stems from allegations that the FBI unconstitutionally monitored the conversations of King and other Conference members.
In 1977, U.S. judge dismissed the lawsuit, but ordered the FBI to provide surveillance tapes and related documents to the National Archives as a “compromise.” Those recordings and documents were sealed by court order in 1977 for 50 years, and were set to remain classified until January 31, 2027.
UPDATE: The DOJ says it will only release MLK Jr. records related to his assassination — and not any FBI recordings or other documents that might tarnish his legacy.
The DOJ’s Thursday filing comes weeks after it moved to unseal FBI records about MLK Jr.
The DOJ has argued that the records should be released now since the Trump administration is about to publish a trove of MLK Jr. assassination records—and so publishing them all at once would assist scholars in their research. MLK Jr.’s family objects to that on numerous grounds, including that the records might tarnish King’s legacy, and that some of them may even be “fake.”
“We understand that the purpose of these recordings was to discredit our father and harm the civil rights cause that he championed. Some, perhaps many, of the recordings may be fake,” King’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III, said in a sworn declaration this month.
MLK Jr.’s family may have reason to be concerned. FBI records have been released in the past that accuse King of sexual misconduct.
However, the DOJ’s Thursday filing sought to reassure the King family that only assassination-related records will be made public.
“The Attorney General will not seek to disclose any attorney-client privileged or personal communications as part of its response to the Executive Order. Indeed, the Executive Order directs the Attorney General to release only materials about the King assassination,” the DOJ said Thursday.
“And because the FBI’s surveillance recordings of the Reverend King and the SCLC occurred prior to the assassination on April 4, 1968, the surveillance tapes and transcripts themselves will presumably not be related to the assassination and therefore generally not released to the public,” the DOJ added.
“Finally, SCLC implies that the public may be misled by the release of the sealed records because the FBI’s motivations for surveilling the Reverend King were ‘corrupt.’ But there is no reason to suspect that any assassination-related material in the sealed records would unfairly malign the Reverend King. Nor is there any reason to credit SCLC’s unsupported speculation that some of the sealed materials ‘may be fake.’”
It’s not clear when a judge will rule on the matter. Either way, the records in the King lawsuit are set to be unsealed in January 2027.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Federal agents have arrested a New Mexico county judge and his wife for housing illegal immigrants, including a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member.
“KFOX14/CBS4 were on the scene Thursday afternoon when the home of former Dona Ana County Magistrate Judge Joel Cano and his wife, Nancy Cano, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement executed a search warrant and a probable cause arrest warrant, and both were taken into custody,” KFox14 reported Thursday.
“Cano was charged with tampering with evidence, while Nancy was charged with conspiracy to tamper,” the outlet added.
The raid comes after HSI agents executed a search warrant at the Canos’ home on Feb. 28—arresting suspected 23-year-old gang member Cristhian Ortega-Lopez there. Agents also took an undisclosed number of other illegal immigrants into custody, and seized four firearms that he handled illegally.
The home of a former judge in Las Cruces was raided Thursday, following accusations that he and his wife had an alleged Tren de Aragua member living in their home. KFOX14/CBS4 cameras captured the moment both Cano and his wife, Nancy, were handcuffed. https://t.co/LWvz39b8btpic.twitter.com/sL5zjafIdC
According to court records, the Ortega-Lopez made his way to the Canos’ house months after he was arrested for entering the U.S. illegally on Dec. 15, 2023. Due to overcrowded Border Patrol facilities, Ortega-Lopez was released three days later—and he left Colorado, where he was supposed to stay pending his immigration proceedings.
It was in El Paso where Ortega-Lopez met Nancy Cano, the wife of Judge Cano. The Canos admitted they hired Ortega-Lopez to install a glass door for them—which is illegal since the Venezuelan was not authorized to work.
Ortega-Lopez was evicted from his apartment last April, after which he moved in with the Canos.
The suspected Tren de Aragua member’s relationship with the Canos became cozy, so much so that he was introduced to their daughter, April Cano, who let him use her guns—which, like him working without authorization, is illegal.
Unfortunately for the Canos, Ortega-Lopez posted pictures of himself with those firearms on social media.
The story became arguably even stranger after the HSI agents executed the Feb. 28 search warrant. On March 13, Nancy Cano wrote to U.S. Judge Damian Martinez, pleading for him to have mercy on Ortega-Lopez. In that letter, Cano seemingly admits that she illegally hired the immigrant—and also hired him out to others.
“Each job he got I was told he did an excellent job. No one was ever disappointed. I started to receive more requests for him to return or referral for more jobs,” she said, also enclosing pictures of Ortega-Lopez with the Cano family.
This is absolutely bonkers: It looks like the judge's wife disclosed that the Tren de Aragua member was living with them — and she seemingly discloses multiples crimes, including that he worked illegally and crossed the border 5 times in recent months
“On five different occasions he went through Border Patrol check points with no problems,” she added—perhaps disclosing yet more crimes. “I took him in as my own son … Please consider his future and give him a chance.”
During a court hearing the next day, U.S. Judge Damian Martinez asked Justice Department prosecutor Maria Armijio if she knew Judge Cano. When the prosecutor said she didn’t know Judge Cano, Martinez said he did know him—and trusted him.
Judge Martinez found that Ortega-Lopez was not a flight risk, and ordered him to be released. The DOJ appealed on March 28, disclosing more information about Ortega-Lopez’s relationship with the Canos, as well as his affiliation with Tren de Aragua.
According to the DOJ, agents found ample evidence of his gang affiliation while searching his cell phones—including photographs of two brutal murder victims that includes mutilated bodies, decapitated heads and dismembered hands on Ortega-Lopez’s cell phones.
A hearing is schedule for April 30 for Judge Martinez to reconsider allowing Ortega-Lopez to remain free on bail. The Canos have reportedly declined to comment on the matter.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “stop” following major Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, which local officials said killed at least 12 people.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!”
According to The Associated Press, the strikes on Kyiv were the heaviest since July. At least five neighborhoods in the capital city were hit, and multiple residential buildings were heavily damaged. On top of the 12 people killed by the bombardment, at least 90 were wounded.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces carried out “massive” strikes on Ukraine, claiming that it targeted Ukrainian industries linked to its military. “The goal of the strike has been accomplished. All targets have been hit,” the ministry said, according to RT.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia fired a total of 66 missiles and 145 drones. Ukrainian forces also fired drones at Russian territory, with the Russian Defense Ministry saying its forces downed 90 Ukrainian drones.
Zelensky also offered criticism of the Trump administration on Thursday, claiming the US wasn’t putting any pressure on Russia to reach a peace deal. “I don’t see any strong pressure on Russia or any new sanctions packages against Russia’s aggression,” he said.
A day earlier, Trump slammed Zelensky for harming peace talks by rejecting the idea of recognizing Crimea as Russian as part of a potential future deal. Zelensky has signaled he’s not interested in the US proposal to end the war, which the Trump administration has presented as a final offer.
“This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion,” Trump said on Wednesday.
US envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet with Putin on Friday to discuss the prospects for a potential peace deal, although the meeting hasn’t been officially confirmed.
(Headline USA) A New York man told federal agents, “I know I’m finished,” when he was arrested Thursday on charges that he concealed his leadership role in the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 in his applications for a green card and U.S. citizenship, prosecutors said.
Faustin Nsabumukunzi, 65, was charged with hiding from U.S. authorities his role as a local leader in Rwanda when the genocide began in 1994. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis were killed during the three-month-long genocide. The indictment of the Bridgehampton man was unsealed in Central Islip on Long Island.
Nsabumukunzi was scheduled to make an initial court appearance Thursday afternoon on Long Island on charges including visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud, which carry potential penalties of up to 30 years in prison. Prosecutors requested that he be detained without bail as a risk of flight and danger to the community.
Evan Sugar, a lawyer for Nsabumukunzi, described his client in an email as “a law-abiding beekeeper and gardener who has lived on Long Island for more than two decades.”
He described Nsabumukunzi as “a victim of the Rwandan genocide who lost scores of family members and friends to the violence.”
Sugar said Nsabumukunzi was rightfully granted refugee status and lawful permanent residence and planned to “fight these 30-year-old allegations” while maintaining his innocence.
In a detention memo, prosecutors said interviews of witnesses who knew him in Rwanda indicated that Nsabumukunzi falsely assured Tutsis at public meetings when the genocide began that they would be protected.
But, they said, he then, in private meetings, urged Hutus to begin killing Tutsis.
Prosecutors said witnesses told them that Nsabumukunzi not only participated in the killing of Tutsis, including in his administrative offices, but he also encouraged Hutu men to rape Tutsi women as a genocidal tool.
Prosecutors said that when the charges were described to Nsabumukunzi as he was arrested Thursday morning, he responded: “I know I’m finished.”
According to the indictment, Nsabumukunzi was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted on genocide charges in absentia by a Rwandan court. He’d been accused of using his leadership position to oversee the killings of Tutsis in his local area.
He allegedly set up roadblocks during the genocide to detain and kill Tutsis and participated in killings, the indictment says.
In 2003, Nsabumukunzi applied to settle in the U.S. as a refugee and received a green card in 2007 before applying for citizenship in 2009 and 2015, authorities said.
In his applications, they added, he falsely asserted that he was not involved in the genocide.
Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in a release that Nsabumukunzi participated in “heinous acts of violence abroad and then lied his way into a green card and tried to obtain U.S. citizenship.”
“For over two decades, he got away with those lies and lived in the United States with an undeserved clean slate, a luxury that his victims will never have,” said U.S. Attorney John J. Durham in Brooklyn.
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A lawyer for New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday urged the Justice Department to refuse a Trump administration official’s request to prosecute the Democrat for mortgage fraud, calling it “improper political retribution.”
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the lawyer, Abbe Lowell, also offered evidence that one of the central accusations against James — that she had falsely told a lenders she intended to use a house in Virginia as her primary residence — is disproven by records and correspondence related to the real estate transaction.
The lawyer’s letter was in response to the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency has referred James to the DOJ for possible charges of mortgage fraud.
“Letitia James has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans, and more favorable loan terms,” FHFA Director William Pulte said in an April 15 letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche.
“While this was a long time ago, it raises serious concerns about the validity of Ms. James representations on mortgage applications,” he wrote.
BREAKING: A criminal referral has been sent to the Department of Justice, accusing New York AG Letitia James of mortgage fraud.
How the tables have turned…
Fox News is now reporting that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has sent a criminal referral to Attorney General Pam… pic.twitter.com/7KHpkoOGpk
In one instance, James’s father listed her as his wife so he could get a better rate on her loan. Records also show that James was listed as a co-borrower on a house being purchased by her niece.
Responding to the allegation related to her niece’s property, Lowell told Bondi on Thurday that while the power-of-attorney form “mistakenly stated the property to be Ms. James’ principal residence,” James had been clear about her plans, sending an email to her mortgage loan broker two weeks earlier making clear that the property “WILL NOT be my primary residence.”
Lowell attached the emails and other records to his six-page letter to Bondi. That evidence, which he said was omitted from Pulte’s criminal referral, “refute the allegations of impropriety or make clear that a mistake on one line had no significance,” he told Bondi.
Lowell explained that Thompson-Hairston had needed financial support and that James was assisting her with the down payment on the Norfolk home. The mortgage application required only one individual to live at the property, he said.
Lowell also responded to the allegation that James’ father listed them as being married to each other in another loan application. While it is true that they’re listed as spouces in a 1983 mortgage application, other supporting documentation for that purchase lists James as her father’s daughter.
“In a predictable pattern here, Director Pulte cites a mistaken May 20, 1983 document Mr. James filled out to cast his baseless allegation while again ignoring the other supporting documentation, one on the same exact date that correctly describes Ms. James as being his daughter,” Lowell said. “The actual May 20, 1983 property deed for the Jamaica, Queen sresidence lists Robert James “and Letitia James, his daughter.”
Lowell argued to Bondi that Pulte’s letter was “seeking to revive baseless allegations.”
“We would expect a quick response confirming that this referral matter has been closed,” he concluded.
James infamously promised on the campaign trail in 2018 that she’d target Donald Trump if elected attorney general. After taking office, she launched a lengthy and broad investigation into Trump and his organization, accusing him of inflating his finances and property values to secure favorable loans.
Last year, she won a $454 million judgment against him in a controversial lawsuit claiming he had lied about the value of his assets on financial statements given to banks. Trump is appealing that verdict.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
(José Niño, Headline USA) With 61 percent of American adults reporting current use of prescription drugs, new data paints a picture of an increasingly medicated nation facing rising rates of depression, ADHD, and reliance on imported medicines.
According to a 2023 survey conducted by KFF, approximately 61 percent of U.S. adults report currently taking at least one prescription medication.
The same survey found that 13 percent of adults are taking one prescription drug, 11 percent are taking two, 10 percent are taking three, and 27 percent are taking four or more prescription medications.
Older Americans are the most likely to use prescription drugs. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey for 2021–2022 indicate that an estimated 89 percent of adults aged 65 and older took prescription medication within the past 12 months.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine notes that the average number of medications used by adults in this age group increased from 3.0 in 1999–2000 to 4.3 in 2017–2020, reflecting a growing reliance on prescription drugs among older adults.
The prevalence of certain diagnoses has also increased. According to new CDC data, nearly 18 percent of Americans had depression in 2023, the highest rate on record. In 2005, that figure was approximately 5.4 percent
Women in the United States are prescribed antidepressants at higher rates than men. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2015–2018 found that 17.7 percent of women aged 18 and older reported using antidepressants in the past 30 days, compared to 8.4 percent of men.
Children and adolescents are also affected by the increasing use of prescription drugs. The number of prescriptions for stimulants to treat ADHD has risen sharply. From 2012 to 2022, prescriptions for ADHD stimulants increased by nearly 60 percent, with boys aged 10 to 14 experiencing the highest rate of increase.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
“Waste that shit,” Fetterman told The Washington Free Beacon in an interview published on Wednesday. “You’re never going to be able to negotiate with that kind of regime that has been destabilizing the region for decades already, and now we have an incredible window, I believe, to do that, to strike and destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
The hawkish comments come a few weeks after US intelligence agencies said in their annual threat assessment that there’s no evidence Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon.
Fetterman also downplayed the risk of a strike on Iran turning into a regional war, even though Iranian missiles could reach many US military bases in the region and cause thousands of American casualties.
The Pennsylvania senator, who is extremely pro-Israel, also expressed support for Israel blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza amid warnings that Palestinian children in the besieged territory are starving.
In a post on X responding to European countries calling Israel’s blockade “intolerable,” Fetterman said, “What’s truly intolerable? Innocent civilians held in tunnels for 565 days and counting. European allies should demand the elimination of Hamas and for the release of all remaining hostages. These actions would quickly end the suffering in Gaza.”
Since entering the Senate in 2023, Fetterman has met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu several times. When Fetterman visited Israel last year, Netanyahu told him that Israel “has had no better friend than Sen. John Fetterman.”
The Interceptreported in February that many Fetterman staffers were quitting due to the focus on Israel. One former staffer said people were “probably frustrated that working in the Fetterman office means you’re just working on Israel all the time.”
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A controversial ATF informant who forewarned her handlers about the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing has reportedly turned up dead 30 years later.
The ex-ATF informant, Carol Howe—who warned her handlers in early 1995 that neo-Nazi extremists in Oklahoma were planning to attack federal buildings—had vanished in the late 90s after being acquitted from explosives charges. In the remaining years of her life, she was reportedly living in Sparta, Tennessee under the name “Sarah Collins.” She died in a house fire on Jan. 6, according to documentarian Jon Ronson.
I've just released a brand new epilogue episode of my Audible show THE DEBUTANTE, about the very mysterious Carol Howe. It's because of an extraordinary, dreadful message I received out of the blue in January. Everything is explained HERE: https://t.co/3BfD0urC8jpic.twitter.com/pGixhOzfAn
Ronson, who produced a podcast in 2023 about Howe, said he was contacted by a listener earlier this year.
“Mr. Ronson…. I just listened to an interview you did about Carol Howe. I have been listening to anything I can about her because she died Monday in a house fire across the street from me. She was going by the name Sarah Collins, but it has been confirmed that she was Carol Howe. She was a complete recluse. About 4 1/2 years ago she went inside her house and never came out,” the listener told him.
Ronson went to Sparta to find out more about Howe, including whether she indeed knew about the OKC bombing before it happened.
Much of Ronson’s podcast paints Howe as a mentally unstable, unreliable source. According to Ronson, Howe became increasingly paranoid towards the end of her life, she lived like a hoarder, and was possibly using fentanyl and other drugs.
However, Ronson did report new information that corroborates Howe’s claims of seeing OKC bomber Timothy McVeigh before his attack. Howe’s cousin, Lucy, told Ronson that Carol mentioned McVeigh in the Christmas of 1994.
“I do have a story that proves [Carol] knew [McVeigh],” Lucy told Ronson.
“The Christmas before, we were altogether, and my grandmother had passed away. My grandmother’s maiden name is McVeigh, so I said that I wanted to name my kid ‘X McVeigh.’ Carol said, ‘I doubt you’ll want to use that name,’” Lucy said.
“I said, ‘What?’ And she said, ‘I don’t think you’re going to want to use the name McVeigh.'”
Ronson said he didn’t know what to make of Lucy’s story. Regardless of whether Howe knew McVeigh, the public record shows that she definitely warned the ATF about the OKC bombing.
Indeed, the truth about Howe came out after she was arrested in 1997 for allegedly making bomb threats and having an explosive device at her home. During her trial Howe’s allegations were corroborated by her former ATF handler, Angela Finley-Graham.
The ATF agent testified that Howe had indeed warned the federal government that people from Elohim City had plans to attack federal buildings in early 1995.
“Ms. Howe told you about Mr. Strassmeir’s threats to blow up federal buildings, didn’t she?” said Howe’s attorney, Clark Brewster, referring to German national Andreas Carl Strassmeir.
Carol Howe, the former Tulsa, Okla. debutante, walks into the Tulsa Federal Courthouse Monday, July 28, 1997, for the start of her trial for bomb threats and conspiracy. She is a former ATF informant, who claimed she told federal officials of a bombing conspiracy before the Oklahoma City bombing. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
ATF agent Finley-Graham responded: “Yes.”
“And was this before the Oklahoma City bombing?” Brewster asked.
Again, agent Finley-Graham said, “Yes,” in response.
A jury exonerated Howe of all charges. The former informer went into hiding soon thereafter, and lived under an assumed name for the next 20-plus years.
Two years ago, Headline USA interviewed Strassmeir, the man Howe implicated in the bombing. Strassmeir had been living at Elohim City in the 90s, and is confirmed to have met McVeigh at a gun show in Tulsa before the attack. He says he didn’t know McVeigh, and that he had nothing to do with the bombing.
Strassmeir, who was never a suspect in the FBI’s investigation of the bombing, said he knew Howe was a federal informant from the moment she stepped inside Elohim City. He tried to warn Elohim City’s spiritual leader, Robert Millar, but said Millar’s religious beliefs dictated that all of Christ’s children were welcome at his property.
“I was 99% she was an informant when she was there. She was such a dishonest person, and I caught her lying all the time. I said, ‘We shouldn’t allow her to be here.’ And they had a little meeting with the elders,” he said.
“But Millar said, ‘We’re not doing anything illegal here, so what harm is it for her to be here?’ I said, ‘I hope you don’t regret this situation.’ And I guess I was right.”
Strassmeir further said he thought that Howe and the ATF were targeting him in particular, because he was staying in the U.S. illegally. This would have given law enforcement the excuse it needed to raid Elohim City, he said.
Strassmeir maintains to this day that Howe is a serial liar who fabricated her claims for attention. Strassmeir said he fed Howe disinformation on purpose so he could prove she was an informant when she spread his fabrications.
“She’s making stuff up to give her handlers something, so she could stay employed as a snitch,” he said. “So what’s the most likely thing she’ll tell them? She’ll talk about assassinating federal agents, blowing up buildings—I mean, that’s the oldest trick in the book.”
Headline USA reached out to Strassmeir upon the news of Howe’s death, and he responded with the following message: “Karma? … or is somebody covering his tracks? Howe played an essential part in the conspiracy to frame innocent people for the OK-City bombing.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified “Lucy” as Carol Howe’s sister. Lucy is her cousin.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
