TikTok Prepares for Shutdown as Ban Looms

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TikTok Prepares for Shutdown as Ban Looms

(Shirleen Guerra, The Center Square) Faced with a potential U.S. ban, TikTok plans to shut down its app nationwide on Sunday unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes.

The company informed its nearly 170 million American users that, in the event the shutdown takes place, they will encounter a pop-up message directing them to a website with details on the ban, including instructions on how to download any personal data.

The preemptive move exceeds what is legally required of the platform.

Signed in April by President Joe Biden, the law mandates that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, sell by Jan. 19, 2025, or face a nationwide ban, citing national security and content manipulation concerns.

Federal lawmakers argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 10 that the ban was necessary to safeguard sensitive data, while TikTok’s legal team argued that it violates First Amendment rights and failed to provide sufficient evidence related to those concerns.

U.S. tech publication The Information first reported the news.

Growing cries of national security concerns by the government surrounding the issue of the app’s Chinese ownership has seemed to only spur TikTok users further into other Chinese-owned platforms.

“This ban could be a step toward a broader ‘Tech Cold War’ where nations isolate themselves digitally and innovation becomes fragmented,” said Adam Nathan, CEO and co-founder of Blaze, an AI marketing tool.

“Imagine an internet where your choice of apps, tools, and even AI systems depends on where you live,” he added. “That’s a future no one wants, but it’s where we might be heading.”

Nathan said that the ban wasn’t only about the platform but trust.

“How do we rebuild trust between governments, tech companies, and users in an age of constant surveillance and cyber threats?” he said. “The answer can’t just be bans and restrictions; we need systems that allow trust to be earned and verified.”

Americans flocked to another Chinese-owned app, RedNote, sparking fresh concerns over data privacy and national security ahead of the ban.

Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., criticized the ban on the Senate floor and argued the ban was rushed through without fully considering its “broader consequences.”

Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity expert at NordVPN, is warning those moving to other platforms like RedNote to know what they are getting into.

“A major red flag is the app’s lack of transparency—its terms and conditions are mainly in Mandarin, leaving non-Chinese-speaking users unclear about what data is collected and how it’s used,” Warmenhoven said. “This makes it difficult for users to make informed decisions about their privacy.”

Warmenhoven said that anyone downloading RedNote could face significant privacy and security risks, describing the move as a “quick fix” with potential dangers.

In a brief filed on Dec. 27, Trump’s legal team requested a postponement to allow his incoming administration to address the national security concerns through “political negotiations” rather than an outright ban.

IRS Gave Jeffrey Epstein’s Estate a $111M Tax Refund Last Year

Ken Silva
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IRS Gave Jeffrey Epstein’s Estate a $111M Tax Refund Last Year

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) In the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal, a fund was created with the deceased sex criminal’s assets to compensate his victims. The fund ended up paying nearly $165 million million to more than 135 people.

It turns out, Epstein’s estate has made nearly all the money it paid to sex trafficking victims in one tax return last year. According to the New York Times, the Internal Revenue Service provided Epstein’s estate with a $111.6 million tax refund last fall—swelling the total assets to $145 million. The executors of Epstein’s will initially projected that his estate would shrink to less than $40 million from its original $600 million once all the payments to victims were made.

According to the Times, “the tax refund stems from an estimated $190 million payment the estate made to the IRS in July 2020, based partly on assumptions about the value of assets that have since been sold for far less.”

“Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan, for instance, sold for nearly $40 million below the asking price,” the Times explained.

Adding insult to injury for the victims, none of the tax return will go to the victims. Instead, it will likely go to  the estate’s coexecutors, Richard Kahn and Darren Indyke,  along with other beneficiaries chosen by Epstein before his death—most of whose identities remain largely shrouded in secrecy, according to the Times.

Marijke Chartouni, who was sexually abused by Epstein when she was 20 and has already received a payment from the estate, told the Times that it’s “morally objectionable for anyone other than a victim to benefit from acts of injustice or wrongdoing.”

“Victims continue to suffer,” she said.

Epstein’s estate reportedly declined to comment on the matter.

Epstein died at a federal jail in New York in August 2019 while awaiting trial. He had pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually abusing dozens of girls, some as young as 14 years old.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Marco Rubio Warns China Is America’s ‘Biggest Threat’ as He Seeks Confirmation

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Marco Rubio Warns China Is America’s ‘Biggest Threat’ as He Seeks Confirmation

(Headline USA) Florida Sen. Marco Rubio received a warm welcome from Senate colleagues Wednesday as he sketched out his plans for implementing President-elect Donald Trump’s “America First” vision as secretary of state.

“I hope I can earn your support, whether it’s because you believe I would do a good job, or because you want to get rid of me,” Rubio joked in testimony the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he served for 14 years.

But in between the niceties, Rubio painted a dark image of the dangers of facing the U.S., most specifically from China, who he said is America’s “biggest threat.”

He blamed this growing risk on America’s shift to globalism, which he says “is now a weapon being used against us.”

He said the U.S. must begin placing “our core national interests above all else.”

The confirmation hearing begins a new chapter in the political career of the 53-year-old Florida Republican, whose relationship with Trump has evolved over the last decade.

Unlike many of Trump’s Cabinet selections, Rubio is expected to easily win confirmation, notching support not only from Republicans but also Democrats.

Many expect he will be among the first of Trump’s Cabinet picks approved.

Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, who served alongside Rubio on the Foreign Relations Committee, said he has high hopes for the Florida Republican.

“I think Marco is a hawk, but he’s also an internationalist, and I think the challenge for him will be to maintain the long bipartisan tradition of America being indispensable in world affairs,” the Hawaii lawmaker told The Associated Press. “And there are people in the Trump world who want us to run away from being the leaders of the free world. And I’m hoping that Marco’s instincts towards American strength will win the day.”

Rubio’s approach to foreign affairs is grounded in his years of service on the Foreign Relations committee and the Senate Intelligence panel.

In his speeches and writings, he’s delivered increasingly stern warnings about growing military and economic threats to the United States, particularly from China, which he says has benefited from a “global world order” that he characterizes as obsolete.

China, Rubio told the committee, has “lied, cheated, hacked, and stolen their way to global superpower status, at our expense.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday declined to comment on Rubio’s remarks.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Biden Tries to Take Credit for Gaza Ceasefire Brokered by Trump

Ken Silva
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Biden Tries to Take Credit for Gaza Ceasefire Brokered by Trump

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal—telling America that it took “months of intensive diplomacy.”

But according to both Arab leaders and the Israeli press, President-elect Donald Trump is far more deserving of credit than the outgoing Biden.

 

Indeed, two Arab officials told The Times of Israel on Tuesday that Trump did more to sway Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a single sit-down than outgoing President Joe Biden did all year.

The Times of Israel was referring to Trump having sent his incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to negotiate with Netanyahu on Saturday. Witkoff  told Netanyahu “in no uncertain terms that Trump expected him to agree to a deal,” Amos Harel, the Haaretz military analyst, reported on Tuesday.

“Witkoff’s blunt reaction took them by surprise. He explained to them in salty English that Shabbat was of no interest to him. His message was loud and clear,” Haaretz reported. “Thus in an unusual departure from official practice, the prime minister showed up at his office for an official meeting with Witkoff, who then returned to Qatar to seal the deal.”

According to the White House, the six-week ceasefire will allow for negotiations to bring about a permanent end to the war. If negotiations take longer than six weeks the ceasefire would continue as long as talks continue.

Biden noted that his administration negotiated the deal but that Trump’s team will soon be charged with making sure it’s implemented. “For the past few days, we have been speaking as one team,” Biden said.

The New York Times also gave Trump credit for brokering the deal. Columnist Bret Stephens warned that the pro-Israel right may soon become disenfranchised with him.

“Thanks largely to Trump, a deal demanded by the Israeli left and reviled by the right is about to come into effect. A year’s worth of diplomacy by the Biden administration is finally about to bear fruit on account of its political nemesis,” Stephens wrote.

“The far-right parties that are part of Netanyahu’s coalition may bolt the government. And Netanyahu is far more prepared to bend the knee to Washington than he was when there were Democrats in the White House,” he wrote.

“Donald Trump may have the soul of a bully, but he also has the instincts of a dealmaker — and a yearning for acclaim, including the Nobel Peace Prize he thinks he was denied for the Abraham Accords. Whatever else his next four years in power bring, it won’t conform to ideological type. Somewhere out there, the spirit of Richard Milhous Nixon is smiling.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Group Linked to Stacey Abrams, Raphael Warnock Fined $300K for Breaking Ga. Campaign Laws

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Group Linked to Stacey Abrams, Raphael Warnock Fined $300K for Breaking Ga. Campaign Laws

(Headline USA) The Georgia Ethics Commission on Wednesday fined two advocacy groups that were founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams and led by Raphael Warnock before voters elected him to the U.S. Senate.

The commission found that the New Georgia Project and its affiliated New Georgia Project Action Fund illegally did election work for Abrams and others without disclosing their campaign contributions and spending.

The groups’ current leadership admitted illegal activity in a consent decree and will pay a $300,000 fine, the largest in state history according to the commission’s director, David Emadi.

The commission found that the entities raised $4.2 million and spent $3.2 million to support Abrams and other candidates in the 2018 election cycle. Abrams—who previously served as a minority leader in the state legislature—was defeated in that year’s gubernatorial race by Republican Brian Kemp, although she has refused to concede the election, maintaining that it was stolen.

Ethics officials said the groups failed to register as an independent campaign committee before taking contributions for electioneering, and failed to file campaign finance reports of contributions and spending.

Abrams founded the New Georgia Project in 2013 to register more nonwhite and young voters in Georgia and to urge them to turn out. The project is a charity that can accept tax-deductible donations.

The New Georgia Project Action Fund is a nonprofit social welfare organization that can directly endorse candidates, although donations aren’t tax deductible. Neither group normally has to disclose donors.

Abrams stepped down in 2017 and said she had no role with the groups thereafter. Warnock, a close Abrams ally and Baptist minister, was listed as the New Georgia Project’s CEO on corporate filings in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

The groups repeated the same illegal activity in 2019 when they campaigned to extend public transportation in suburban Gwinnett County, failing to disclose $646,000 in contributions and $174,000 in spending for voter referendum to join the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. The referendum lost.

Michael Brewer, a spokesperson for Warnock’s Senate office, said Warnock was working “as a longtime champion for voting rights” and didn’t know anything about violations.

“Compliance decisions were not a part of that work,” Brewer wrote in an email.

The complaint was filed in 2019 and eventually survived court challenges, accessing emails in an effort to prove that the groups improperly coordinated with Abrams’s 2018 campaign.

The commission fined another group, Gente4Abrams, $50,000 in 2020 for failing to register and file reports on $240,000 it spent to help Abrams in the 2018 Democratic primary.

The group registered after the commission ruling, reporting it spent an additional $685,000 for Abrams in the 2018 general election.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Trump’s AG Pick Fields Questions on FISA, Pardoning J6ers and FBI Counterterrorism

Ken Silva
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Trump’s AG Pick Fields Questions on FISA, Pardoning J6ers and FBI Counterterrorism

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Donald Trump’s pick to run the Justice Department, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, fielded numerous “gotcha” questions Wednesday from Democrats looking to derail her appointment, as well as that of potential FBI Director Kash Patel.

Bondi also answered questions directly related to Trump’s diehard base, including warrantless surveillance, pardoning Jan. 6 protestors, and the future of the FBI’s weaponized counterterrorism section.

When questioned on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Bondi disappointed civil libertarians and privacy activists when she voiced support—saying that the tool delivers crucial intelligence to national security officials.

Section 702 allows the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of targeted foreigners located in other countries — including when those subjects are in contact with Americans or other people inside the U.S. The arrangement often results in Americans having their communications read.

As for pardoning Jan. 6 protestors, Bondi claimed she’ll review them on a case-by-case basis if asked for assistance.

“I have not seen any of those files. If confirmed and asked to advise the President, I will look at each and every file,” she said. “Let me be clear: I condemn violence against any law enforcement officer in this country.”

Additionally, Bondi said the FBI’s counterterrorism unit is indispensable to the country’s national security. The counterterrorism section was once a relatively small part of the FBI, growing to be its main priority in the wake of 9/11. The counterterrorism section is what terrorized the J6ers over the last four years—but Bondi said she has no plans to downsize it.

Bondi was first elected Florida attorney general in 2010, defeating Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber after earning the endorsement of former Republican Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

As Florida attorney general, Bondi led a challenge brought by more than two dozen states to President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld the health care law. Bondi also fought to uphold Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage — arguing that marriage should be defined by each state.

One of her top priorities as attorney general was going after so-called pill mills, or clinics that hand out large amounts of prescription painkillers and helped fuel the country’s opioid crisis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

‘Cut to the Chase’: Pam Bondi Flips Script on Dem Senator at Confirmation Hearing

Julianna Frieman
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‘Cut to the Chase’: Pam Bondi Flips Script on Dem Senator at Confirmation Hearing

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, flipped the script on Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Bondi told the Democrat to “cut to the chase” as he slowly grilled her about a hypothetical “enemies list” at the Department of Justice.

Bondi answered that she never had an “enemies list” as attorney general of Florida, an answer that was followed by several set-up questions for Whitehouse to ask, “Would you have hired someone into the Florida attorney general’s office who you knew had an enemies list?”

“Senator, to cut to the chase, you’re clearly talking about Kash Patel,” Bondi responded, confirming that Trump’s pick for FBI director does not have an “enemies list.”

She praised the “great experience” of Kash Patel, striking down Whitehouse’s attempts at a double takedown by adding, “You’ll have the ability to question Mr. Patel when you do.”

Bondi opened her confirmation hearing by name-dropping her childhood friends. She told senators, “If you want to get dirt on me, these women have known me since I was a child.”

Trump’s attorney general pick told Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that she had personally handled “thousands” of criminal cases throughout her career — “hundreds” of which went before a jury.

Bondi blasted the Biden administration’s weaponization of the DOJ against parents, Catholics and patriotic Americans.

She told Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, that branding parents as “domestic terrorists” for disagreeing with Democrat politics “will stop.”

When asked by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, about investigating Trump’s enemies, Bondi said, “Senator, I certainly have not heard the president say that. But what I will tell you is two-thirds of Americans have lost faith in the Department of Justice, and its statements like that, I believe, that make people continue to lose faith.”

Bondi refused to give Democrats the gratification of getting her to say under oath that President Joe Biden “won” the 2020 election. Instead, she told Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., “I accept, of course, that Joe Biden is the President of the United States,” and indicated that she witnessed fraud firsthand when she went to Pennsylvania.

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

Trump Rips ‘Marble Mouth’ Late-Night Leftist

Julianna Frieman
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Trump Rips ‘Marble Mouth’ Late-Night Leftist

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) President-elect Donald Trump ripped into “Marble Mouth” late-night host Seth Meyers past midnight early Tuesday for hosting a leftist political show under the guise of comedy.

Trump fulfilled his “obligation” to torch Meyers after catching a clip of NBC’s late-night show, which he said Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, “should pay a BIG price for.”

“How bad is Seth Meyers on NBC, a ‘network’ run by a truly bad group of people – Remember, they also run MSDNC,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

MSNBC’s four-year president Rashida Jones quit the network on Tuesday, according to the Status newsletter.

This development followed Comcast’s November 2024 announcement that they would soon spin off the low-rating MSNBC into a new company, separating it from NBC News.

Trump continued, “I got stuck watching Marble Mouth Meyers the other night, the first time in months, and every time I watch this moron I feel an obligation to say how dumb and untalented he is, merely a slot filler for the Scum that runs Comcast. These guys should be paying a lot of money for the right to give these ‘in kind’ contributions to the Radical Left Democrat Party.”

“These are not shows or entertainment, they are simply political hits, 100% of the time, to me and the Republican Party,” the president-elect added. “Comcast should pay a BIG price for this!”

Meyers obsessively mocks Trump on his so-called comedy show, doing long, rambling impressions and hurling insults.

Meyers recently raged about Trump’s “whining” critiques of Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s policies that enabled the spread of California’s wildfire.

He made several flat jokes about Trump taking aim at California’s water conservation rules that left fire hydrants dry—and unable to put out the blaze.

NBC’s late-night host frequently attempts to make Trump look like a fool, highlighting “nonsense catchphrases” while pedaling the Left’s “convicted felon” talking point.

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

Trump, DeSantis Reunite w/ Golf Round as GOP Looks to Fill Senate Vacancy

Julianna Frieman
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Trump, DeSantis Reunite w/ Golf Round as GOP Looks to Fill Senate Vacancy

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) President-elect Donald Trump reunited with Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., on the golf course Tuesday as his former presidential primary rival looks to fill a Senate vacancy in his state, according to The Hill.

Bo Loudon, a Mar-a-Lago regular and best friend of soon-to-be First Son Barron Trump, posted video of Trump returning from the greens on Tuesday.

Trump nominated Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as his secretary of state nominee, which leaves DeSantis to appoint Rubio’s replacement if the Senate approves him for the high-profile Cabinet position.

Republican Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is thought to be the frontrunner for Rubio’s Senate seat, according to the outlet. Other contenders include Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez and DeSantis’s chief of staff, James Uthmeier.

Rubio’s Senate confirmation hearing began Wednesday.

Trump’s meeting with DeSantis came after the Florida governor announced Monday his intent to call a special legislative session on Jan. 27 to ensure the president-elect’s illegal immigration agenda goes ahead unobstructed.

Additionally, DeSantis threatened during the same press conference announcement to fire government officials who intended to subvert Trump’s mass deportations.

On Tuesday, Trump thanked DeSantis for his strong support in a Truth Social post.

With a screenshot of DeSantis’s announcement on X, Trump wrote on his own social media platform, “Thank you Ron, hopefully other governors will follow!”

DeSantis also ordered Tuesday that all U.S. flags in Florida would be raised full-staff for Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, despite the 30-day mourning period overlap in place for the late former President Jimmy Carter.

The GOP governor said U.S. flags would return to half-staff the day after.

“On this unique occasion, where we simultaneously celebrate the service of an incoming president and commend the service of a former president, our nation’s flag will be prominently displayed at full-staff to honor the tradition of our founding fathers and the sacrifices made by those who have served to ensure the torch of liberty continues to burn strong,” DeSantis’s order stated.

Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, ordered Monday that U.S. flags in his state be at full-staff the day of Trump’s inauguration, noting the importance of celebrating the 47th president’s swearing-in.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., issued a similar proclamation Tuesday morning for flags at the U.S. Capitol, where the inauration ceremony itself is expected to take place.

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

Cruz Slams Pro-Commie Dems Saying ‘Screw You,’ Predicts Trump’s First Move on Cuba

Julianna Frieman
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Cruz Slams Pro-Commie Dems Saying ‘Screw You,’ Predicts Trump’s First Move on Cuba

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, slammed pro-communist Democrats saying “screw you” through outgoing President Joe Biden’s removal of Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism on Tuesday.

On Wednesday’s episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz, the senator predicted that President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, would reverse the Biden administration’s last-minute move relinquishing Cuba from its rightful status as a dangerous, pro-terror country.

“I believe this determination will be reversed next week. I fully expect next week,” Cruz said, mentioning that he believes Rubio will be confirmed the same day as Trump’s inaugeration on Monday.

Cruz clarified that Biden’s removal of Cuba’s state sponsor of terrorism designation was mostly symbolic, as the lame duck Democrat must know Trump would not leave such an anti-American order in place.

The senator added, “This is not gonna be a fundamental shift in U.S. policy. This  is just Biden saying ‘screw you’ on the way out.”

Cruz, whose father fled Cuba after being thrown in the country’s prison at age 17, said the Biden administration “stands with communists” and thinks “they are really cute and lovely.”

“This is yet another manifestation of Biden and Harris’s and Democrats’s contempt for democracy. And in the closing hours, they’re trying to do everything they can to make it difficult for the Trump administration and to just say ‘screw you’ to the voters in November who gave a clear and unequivocal mandate,” he said.

Cruz first reacted to the Biden administration’s “appeasement of the Cuban regime” in a statement posted on X.

“Today’s decision is unacceptable on its merits. The terrorism advanced by the Cuban regime has not ceased,” the Texas senator’s statement read in part. “I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to immediately reverse and limit the damage from this decision.”

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

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