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Vance tapped as ‘fraud czar’ as Trump targets blue states over taxpayer theft

Politics 3 Mins Read

Amid several monumental Cabinet shakeups, President Donald Trump is signaling his continued confidence in Vice President JD Vance by having him address an “unprecedented” problem in Democratic-run states and declaring him the nation’s “fraud czar.” 

Vance announced Thursday his fraud task force busted an alleged $50 million hospice and healthcare fraud scheme in Los Angeles. Following this news, Trump took to Truth Social Friday morning to officially proclaim he was naming Vance fraud czar. 

Trump said Vance’s focus would be “EVERYWHERE” but with a special emphasis on Democratic-controlled states.

“Vice President JD Vance is now in charge of ‘FRAUD’ in the United States,” Trump wrote. “We will call him the ‘FRAUD CZAR,’ and his focus will be ‘EVERYWHERE,’ but primarily in those Blue States where CROOKED DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS, like those in California, Illinois, Minnesota (Somalia beware!), Maine, New York, and many others, have had a ‘free for all’ in the unprecedented theft of Taxpayer Money.”

VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE SUSPENDS 221 CALIFORNIA HOSPICE AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS SO FAR

The president called the fraud problems in the U.S. “massive and pervasive” and suggested the implications for the country are enormous.

As fraud czar, “the job (Vance) will be doing, in conjunction with many great people within the Trump Administration, will be a major factor in how great the future of our Country will be,” Trump wrote.

“The numbers are so large that, if successful, we would literally be able to balance our American Budget.”

He emphasized the work Vance already has done in California, writing, “Raids have already started in L.A.” and concluding, “Good Luck JD!”

The president already had placed Vance in charge of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which is a government-wide crackdown on fraud in federal benefit programs. 

However, Trump’s designation of Vance as fraud czar, an informal title, emphasizes the significance he is placing on the task force and his confidence in Vance to get the job done.

PAM BONDI ALREADY FIRED AS ATTORNEY GENERAL, CABINET OFFICIAL TEED UP AS REPLACEMENT: SOURCES

Trump first announced he would be putting Vance in charge of the “war on fraud,” and the position was solidified by Trump’s executive order establishing the fraud task force and placing Vance at the helm.

The announcement followed reporting revealing allegations of widespread fraud and abuse in Minnesota largely involving the state’s Somali immigrant community. 

Trump’s announcement comes the day after news broke that the president was removing Attorney General Pam Bondi from her role at the Department of Justice, a move that political analyst Jonathan Turley said hit Washington, D.C., like a “thunderclap.”

JD VANCE RELEASING BOOK ABOUT FAITH JOURNEY, CONVERSION TO CATHOLICISM

Just weeks before that, the president also removed former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. 

There are widespread rumors of Trump being displeased with several other high-ranking members of his Cabinet, though he has not publicly said so himself.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Vance’s office for comment. 

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Investing

Syntholene Selects Papadakis Engineering as Integration Partner for Novel Thermal-Hybrid Synthetic Fuel Demonstration Facility Heat Exchanger System

Investing 9 Mins Read

Experienced Thermal Integration Specialist Team Adds Depth to Syntholene’s Construction and Operational Roster

Syntholene Energy CORP (TSXV: ESAF,OTC:SYNTF) (FSE: 3DD0) (OTCQB: SYNTF) (‘Syntholene’ or the ‘Company’) announces that it has selected Papadakis Engineering (‘Papadakis’), the advanced fabrication and systems division of Papadakis Racing, as its development and integration partner for the geothermal heat exchanger system supporting Syntholene’s planned thermal-hybrid synthetic fuel Demonstration Facility.

Papadakis Engineering is a U.S.-based engineering and fabrication firm with deep expertise in high-performance thermal systems, precision manufacturing, and complex system integration.

The Papadakis organization is internationally recognized for its championship-winning motorsports engineering program, having designed and built record-setting powertrains and vehicle systems for top-tier professional racing series, including multiple Formula Drift titles.

The firm is known for translating extreme performance requirements into reliable, precision-engineered systems operating under continuous thermal and mechanical stress, a pedigree that directly informs its approach to advanced industrial thermal and integration challenges.

‘Thermal integration is one of the most important levers for Syntholene’s vision of lowering the cost of electrolytic hydrogen and, by extension, synthetic fuels,’ said Dan Sutton, Chief Executive Officer of Syntholene Energy Corp. ‘Papadakis brings an uncommon combination of thermal engineering, fabrication discipline, and execution speed. Their experience delivering tightly integrated, high-performance systems makes them an ideal partner as Syntholene moves from design into physical system validation.‘

The Company’s engagement of Papadakis is pursuant to a written project proposal dated January 28, 2026. The project scope covers detailed engineering, fabrication, containerized integration, and electrical scope associated with a geothermal heat exchanger skid designed to provide low-grade process heat to Syntholene’s Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Cell (SOEC)-based hydrogen production system. Under the proposal, Papadakis has agreed to provide electrical and heat exchanger integration services for a total contract value of US$289,026 payable in tranches during the term, with delivery of services expected to be complete by June 1, 2026. The work is intended to support factory acceptance testing and delivery of a fully integrated demonstration-scale system. This proposal was entered into by the Company in the ordinary course of its business in furtherance of the previously announced proposed Demonstration Facility. Papadakis and the Company are arm’s length parties.

‘Syntholene’s proposed Demonstration Facility represents the kind of engineering challenge we’re built for: integrating complex subsystems into a cohesive, performance-driven platform,‘ said Stephan Papadakis, Founder of Papadakis Engineering. ‘My team is excited to apply our high-performance engineering discipline to a program aimed at improving the efficiency and economics of synthetic fuel production.’

The selection of Papadakis represents a key milestone in the execution of Syntholene’s thermal-hybrid production architecture, which aims to integrate electricity with process heat to reduce net electrical demand and improve overall SOEC system efficiency. The proposed Demonstration Facility is designed to validate this approach and to generate operating data required to inform future commercial deployment plans.

The proposed Demonstration Facility is intended to serve as a validation platform for Syntholene’s thermal-hybrid production system, enabling the Company to de-risk system integration, operating performance, and unit economics ahead of targeted future commercial scale-up. Data to be generated from the facility is expected to inform subsequent project development, engagement with strategic partners, and discussions with policymakers and capital providers.

About Papadakis Engineering

Papadakis Engineering is an agile engineering, procurement, and construction firm specializing in advanced design, prototyping, precision fabrication, and integrated system development. The company bridges the gap between engineering and execution, enabling clients to move efficiently from concept through validated hardware.

Papadakis Engineering has deep experience solving complex mechanical, thermal, and electrical integration challenges under compressed timelines and high-performance requirements. Originally founded by champion Stephan Papadakis in the high-performance environment of professional motorsport, the firm applies that same discipline to industrial, energy, and advanced technology programs requiring precision, reliability, and secure operations.

About Syntholene Energy Corp

Syntholene is actively commercializing its novel Hybrid Thermal Production System for low-cost clean fuel synthesis. The target output is ultrapure synthetic jet fuel, which the Company seeks to manufacture at 70% lower cost than the nearest competing technology today. The Company’s mission is to deliver the world’s first truly high-performance, low-cost, and carbon-neutral synthetic fuel at an industrial scale, unlocking the potential to produce clean synthetic fuel at lower cost than fossil fuels, for the first time.

Founded by experienced operators across advanced energy infrastructure, nuclear technology, low-emissions steel refining, process engineering, and capital markets, Syntholene aims to be the first team to deliver a scalable modular production platform for cost-competitive synthetic fuel, thus accelerating the commercialization of carbon-neutral eFuels across global markets.

For further information, please contact:
Dan Sutton, CEO
comms@syntholene.com
www.syntholene.com
+1 608-305-4835

X: @Syntholene
Linkedin: Syntholene Energy
Youtube: Syntholene Energy

Investor Relations
KIN Communications Inc.
604-684-6730
ESAF@kincommunications.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words ‘expect’, ‘anticipate’, ‘aims’, ‘continue’, ‘estimate’, ‘objective’, ‘may’, ‘will’, ‘project’, ‘should’, ‘believe’, ‘plans’, ‘intends’, ‘targets’ and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including but not limited to statements regarding the proposal with Papadakis and proposed services, the timeline and cost for service delivery pursuant to the Papadakis proposal, proposed Demonstration Facility, testing planned at the proposed Demonstration Facility and the proposed use of data from such testing, commercial scalability,proposed benefits to the project from the skills of the engaged service providers, economic benefits of the Company’s products relative to competitive products; protection of the Company’s intellectual property through provisional patents and patents; the Company’s ability to execute on its plans for advancement and commercialization of its technology; technical and economic viability, anticipated geothermal power availability, anticipated benefit of eFuel, and future commercial opportunities, are forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including without limitation the assumption that the Company will be able to execute its business plan in the manner and timeline set forth in its public disclosure or at all, that the engaged service providers have the skills to advance the Company’s business plans, that Papadakis will be able to complete the propsal on time and budget, that the eFuel will have its expected benefits, that there will be market adoption, that the Company’s review of the competitive landscape and that its understanding of being the world’s first Company to have geothermal-SOEC integration remain accurate, that any potential competitors to the Company would not be able to develop or execute geothermal-SOEC integration as quickly or as well as the Company, that the Company will be able to produce the eFuel at competitive pricing in the range anticipated in this news release or at all, that the proposed validation testing will be able to be completed, and that the results from such tests will validate the Company’s technology and support further commercialization, that geothermal heat will be available to the Company at the necessary levels, that the proposed Demonstration Facility will be completed on time and on budget, that the Company will continue to have access to skilled personnel with relevant experience, that regulatory requirements remain favourable for the Company, and that the Company will be able to access financing as needed to fund its business plan. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties.

Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks, including, without limitation, Syntholene’s ability to complete the testing, that the results of the testing will support continued commercialization and the Company’s technology, that the engaged service providers do not have the necessary skills to and do not advance the Company’s business plan, that Papadakis is not able to complete the scope of services on time and on budget or at all, that there are competitors in geothermal-SOEC integration that are unknown to the Company, that the Company may not be able to produce eFuel at the targeted prices or at a price that is lower than potential competitors, that definitive commercial purchase orders for Syntholene’s eFuel may not materialize, Syntholene’s ability to meet production targets, realize projected economic benefits, overcome technical challenges, secure financing, maintain regulatory compliance, manage geopolitical risks, and successfully negotiate definitive terms. Syntholene does not undertake any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws.

This news release contains future-oriented financial information and financial outlook information (collectively, ‘FOFI’) about the cost and pricing of the eFuel product that Syntholene is seeking to commercialize, which is subject to the same assumptions, risk factors, limitations, and qualifications as set forth in the above paragraphs. FOFI contained in this news release was made as of the date hereof and was provided for the purpose of describing the anticipated effects of advancement of Syntholene’s business operations. Syntholene’s actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such FOFI. Syntholene disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any FOFI contained in this news release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required pursuant to applicable law. Readers are cautioned that the FOFI contained herein should not be used for purposes other than for which it is disclosed herein.

Readers are advised to exercise caution and not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and FOFI in this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/288190

News Provided by TMX Newsfile via QuoteMedia

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

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Business

When will TSA lines go back to normal? Travelers may face delays for days or weeks

Business 3 Mins Read

Travelers frustrated by long security lines may not see immediate relief, even as Transportation Security Administration officers begin receiving pay again on Monday after working without wages for more than a month during the partial government shutdown.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing federal officials to ensure that TSA workers are paid despite the shutdown, breaking a more than 40-day stretch in which officers went without salaries.

But the move is unlikely to bring instant relief at airport checkpoints, according to former TSA Administrator John S. Pistole.

“It’s a temporary fix,” he told NBC News.

The more pertinent question, he said, is how many workers actually return to their posts now that paychecks are set to resume Monday.

More than 500 officers have quit during the shutdown, according to the Department of Homeland Security, while thousands more have called out because they can’t afford basic expenses.

TSA callout rates reached a high of 12.35% of the workforce on Friday, accounting for more than 3,560 employees, a DHS spokesperson said Saturday. The department added that at Trump’s direction and under Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, TSA has “immediately begun the process of paying its workforce” and that officers “should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday, March 30.”

Those shortages have forced travelers to contend with missed and canceled flights, long security lines and growing uncertainty around air travel.

If most officers report back beginning Monday and airports are able to restore staffing, wait times could start to ease within several days to a couple of weeks, Pistole said.

“It really depends on that asterisk of how many people show up,” he said.

Some workers who left may already have other jobs lined up, raising questions about whether some will return at all.

“How many of them come back after they get this paycheck? Or maybe they already have another full-time job lined up, they’re just waiting to inform TSA after they get their check on Monday,” Pistole said. “So there are a number of variables there.”

Pistole said the uncertainty, coupled with TSA’s typical annual attrition rate of about 7%, could mean delays will continue even after pay resumes.

Until then, some travelers may want to consider alternatives such as driving, rail or bus.

“I think many will and are looking at those options to say, ‘Is that more reliable? Because the last thing I want to do is get to Bush International Airport in Houston and have a four-hour wait,’” Pistole said.

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Investing

Lahontan Announces Private Placement

Investing 6 Mins Read

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

Lahontan Gold Corp. (TSXV:LG,OTC:LGCXF, OTCQB:LGCXF, FSE:Y2F) (the ‘Company’ or ‘Lahontan’) is pleased to announce that it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 24,390,244 units (each, a ‘Unit’) in the capital of the Company at a price of Cdn $0.41 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to Cdn $10,000,000 (the ‘Offering’).

Each Unit shall be comprised of one common share (each, a ‘Common Share‘) in the capital of the Company and one-half of one whole Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a ‘Warrant‘). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price of Cdn $0.60 per Common Share for a period of two (2) years from the date of issuance, provided, however, that should the closing price at which the Common Shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange (or any such other stock exchange in Canada as the Common Shares may trade at the applicable time) is equal to or exceeds Cdn $1.00 for ten (10) consecutive trading days at any time following the date that is four months and one day after the date of issuance, the Company may accelerate the Warrant Term (the ‘Reduced Warrant Term‘) such that the Warrants shall expire on the date which is 30 business days following the date a press release is issued by the Company announcing the Reduced Warrant Term.

Gross proceeds raised from the Offering will be used for general working capital purposes and for exploration at the Company’s Santa Fe Mine and West Santa Fe Projects.

All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance and the resale rules of applicable securities legislation. Subject to compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, all securities to be issued pursuant to the Offering in jurisdictions outside of Canada and the United States pursuant to Ontario Securities Commission Rule 72-503 – Distributions Outside Canada will not be subject to any statutory hold period under applicable Canadian securities laws. The closing of the Offering is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the ‘U.S. Securities Act‘) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons as defined under applicable United States securities laws unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

About Lahontan Gold Corp.

Lahontan Gold Corp. is a Canadian mine development and mineral exploration company that holds, through its US subsidiaries, four gold and silver exploration properties in the Walker Lane of mining friendly Nevada. Lahontan’s flagship property, the 28.3 km2 Santa Fe Mine project, had past production of 359,202 ounces of gold and 702,067 ounces of silver between 1988 and 1995 from open pit mines utilizing heap-leach processing. The Santa Fe Mine has a Canadian National Instrument 43-101 compliant Indicated Mineral Resource of 1,539,000 oz Au Eq (48,393,000 tonnes grading 0.92 g/t Au and 7.18 g/t Ag, together grading 0.99 g/t Au Eq) and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 411,000 oz Au Eq (16,760,000 grading 0.74 g/t Au and 3.25 g/t Ag, together grading 0.76 g/t Au Eq), all pit constrained (Au Eq is inclusive of recovery, please see Santa Fe Project Technical Report and note below*). The Company plans to continue advancing the Santa Fe Mine project towards production, update the Santa Fe Preliminary Economic Assessment, and drill test its satellite West Santa Fe project during 2025. For more information, please visit our website: www.lahontangoldcorp.com

* Please see the ‘Preliminary Economic Assessment, NI 43-101 Technical Report, Santa Fe Project’, Authors: Kenji Umeno, P. Eng., Thomas Dyer, PE, Kyle Murphy, PE, Trevor Rabb, P. Geo, Darcy Baker, PhD, P. Geo., and John M. Young, SME-RM; Effective Date: December 10, 2024, Report Date: January 24, 2025. The Technical Report is available on the Company’s website and SEDAR+. Mineral resources are reported using a cut-off grade of 0.15 g/t AuEq for oxide resources and 0.60 g/t AuEq for non-oxide resources. AuEq for the purpose of cut-off grade and reporting the Mineral Resources is based on the following assumptions gold price of US$1,950/oz gold, silver price of US$23.50/oz silver, and oxide gold recoveries ranging from 28% to 79%, oxide silver recoveries ranging from 8% to 30%, and non-oxide gold and silver recoveries of 71%. 

Qualified Person

Brian J. Maher, M.Sc., CPG-12342, is a ‘Qualified Person’ as defined under Canadian National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approved the content of this news release in respect of all technical disclosure other than the Mineral Resource Estimate as noted above.‎ Mr. Maher is Vice President-Exploration for Lahontan Gold and has verified the data disclosed in this news release, including the sampling, ‎‎analytical and test data underlying the disclosure.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Kimberly Ann

Founder, CEO, President, Executive Chair

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Lahontan Gold Corp.

Kimberly Ann
Founder, CEO, President, Executive Chair

Phone: 1-530-414-4400

Email:
Kimberly.ann@lahontangoldcorp.com

Website: www.lahontangoldcorp.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain ‘forward-looking information’ within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as ‘plan’, ‘expect’, ‘project’, ‘intend’, ‘believe’, ‘anticipate’, ‘estimate’ and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions ‘may’ or ‘will’ occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the TSXV. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company’s control. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company’s filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com.

News Provided by GlobeNewswire via QuoteMedia

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

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Business

House Republicans pass DHS funding bill that Democrats call ‘dead on arrival’ in the Senate

Business 5 Mins Read

WASHINGTON — House Republicans voted Friday evening to pass a short-term funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security that has no viable path in the Senate and is likely to extend the shutdown stalemate on Capitol Hill.

The vote of 213-203 came after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rejected the Senate-passed bill, which would fund all of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Funding for DHS lapsed in mid-February.

He called the Senate measure “a joke,” placing full blame for it on Democrats, even though Republicans control the Senate and the bill passed by unanimous consent early Friday morning.

“They have taken hostage the funding processes of government so that they can impose their radical agenda on the American people,” Johnson told reporters before the House vote.

His remarks came around the same time President Donald Trump signed an order directing the Department of Homeland Security to pay Transportation Security Administration employees who have missed paychecks during the DHS shutdown, leading to high TSA callout rates that have created long lines for passengers at U.S. airports. The dollar amount and authority for tapping the funds was not immediately clear, but a DHS spokesperson said paychecks should start arriving as early as Monday.

We’d like to hear from you about how you’re experiencing the partial government shutdown, whether you’re a TSA agent who can’t work right now or a federal employee who is feeling the effects at your agency. Please contact us at tips@nbcuni.com or reach out to us here.

The House-passed bill, which would fund DHS through May 22, is not expected to become law. The Senate left town Friday for a two-week recess, and Democratic senators have consistently vowed to block funding for ICE and CBP without constraints on immigration enforcement operations.

Asked if Trump has endorsed his plan, Johnson told reporters on Friday afternoon: “I spoke to the president a few moments ago; he understands exactly what we’re doing and why, and he supports it.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has no plans to bring back the Senate because there is no realistic path to passing the House bill, a GOP aide told NBC News.

The belief among Senate Republican leadership is that it does not make sense to pursue a path other than the bipartisan bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, minus ICE and CBP, that the Senate passed early Friday morning, according to a senior GOP aide.

The Senate over the past six weeks has attempted to pass numerous measures identical to the one passed by the House on Friday night, and all have failed in the face of Democratic opposition.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned that a House bill that funds ICE and CBP without guardrails would go nowhere in the Senate, where it would require 60 votes to advance. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.

“We’ve been clear from day one: Democrats will fund critical homeland security functions — but we will not give a blank check to Trump’s lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms,” Schumer said, adding that the House GOP’s short-term funding bill would be “dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., sided with Schumer in favor of the Senate-passed bill.

“We have this bipartisan bill sent over by the Senate that House Democrats are prepared to support,” he told reporters Friday. “If that bill is brought to the floor today it will pass. The Trump-Republican DHS shutdown will be over. Unfortunately, MAGA extremists in the House of Representatives continue to inflict pain on the American people.”

Johnson put forward the short-term funding bill after a bloc of House conservatives expressed outrage over the Senate-passed measure and vowed to vote against it, complicating any move toward swift passage in the House.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., called the Senate bill “irresponsible” and added that voter identification provisions and parts of ICE funding must be included.

“Those two things will have to be in,” he said.

Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., said Democrats won’t support a bill to fund ICE without constraints after immigration enforcement agents killed two Americans in Minneapolis.

“I think we made it very clear, and the American public is demanding some sort of guardrails on an agency that has basically terrorized communities across this country, resulted in the death of two American citizens,” she said. “We have shone a light on just how rogue ICE was acting.”

Leaving the Capitol on Friday, Johnson told NBC News that he gave Thune a heads up before deciding to reject the Senate-passed measure and its omission of funding for ICE and CBP.

“We talked today, and I told him it shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody we would not be able to do that,” Johnson said. “We’re not going to split apart two of the most important agencies in the government and leave them hanging like that. We just couldn’t do it.”

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Politics

Dem fundraising giant ActBlue rocked by allegations it misled Congress about foreign donations

Politics 4 Mins Read

ActBlue, a central piece of the Democratic Party’s fundraising infrastructure, potentially misled Congress when it said it was adequately vetting incoming donations, according to a new report released this week.

The head of ActBlue, a major nonprofit fundraising platform that helps steer donations to left-wing candidates and causes, wrote in 2023 to Congress — in response to concerns about the platform’s ability to vet foreign donors — that it was taking all the necessary steps to ensure it was following the rules to ensure money from foreign sources were not making it through, according to a Thursday report from The New York Times. 

However, behind the scenes, ActBlue’s attorneys at Covington & Burling were expressing grave concerns that ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones’ claims in her letter to Congress were misleading and could open up the platform to significant legal risk, the report said.

ActBlue was already facing scrutiny from Trump, with him calling on the Justice Department last year to investigate the group over concerns the platform was allowing straw and foreign donations, which are barred by federal election laws. The fundraising platform has also been targeted by several congressional probes led by Republican House Committees.

SENATE HOPEFUL WITH DEEP DEM TIES SLAPPED WITH SCATHING COMPLAINT TARGETING ALLEGED FAMILY PAYOUT ‘SCHEME’

The concern from ActBlue’s legal counsel was found by the Times after reviewing memos between ActBlue and its legal counsel, resignation letters, and other communications. The Times also held interviews with ActBlue employees on the basis of anonymity. 

The memos reportedly communicated that claims to Congress by Wallace-Jones, indicating that ActBlue had a multi-layered vetting framework and processed contributions with foreign mailing addresses only if the donor supplied a U.S. passport number, were not fully accurate. Wallace-Jones also reportedly wrote in her letter that ActBlue’s framework would contact donors to request their U.S. passport information in order to process donations and would return any money when they could not reach the donor. However, this was also reportedly not happening on a consistent basis, according to The Times’ reporting.

“It can be alleged that ActBlue accepted and/or facilitated the acceptance of foreign-national contributions into American elections,” one memo reportedly stated. “In addition, because ActBlue’s staff was aware that its system was not as robust as necessary, it could be alleged that these violations were ‘knowing and willful,’ a standard that both increases the penalties the F.E.C. might seek and gives the Justice Department jurisdiction for a potential criminal investigation.”

FOREIGN BILLIONAIRES FUNNEL $2.6B TO US ADVOCACY GROUPS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, WATCHDOG REPORT CLAIMS

“An aggressive prosecutor may view the November 2023 letter not just as a false statement but as an effort to conceal the foreign contributions,” ActBlue’s legal counsel wrote, The Times reported.

The concerns about Wallace-Jones’ statements to Congress and what to do subsequently resulted in behind-the-scenes chaos at the political fundraising nonprofit, including a slew of departures at ActBlue that were reported publicly by The Times. Additionally, the relationship between ActBlue and its legal firm, Covington & Burling, which is known for representing some of the most high-profile political clients in the United States, was ultimately severed amid disagreements over whether Wallace-Jones’ claims in 2023 were the fault of the legal counsel,or ActBlue, according to the Times’ reporting on Thursday. 

“We have complete confidence in the legal advice our lawyers provided to ActBlue,” a Covington spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

ActBlue did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment in time for publication. 

In May, ActBlue put out a press release informing people about “what’s really happening and what you need to know,” pertaining to the investigation into ActBlue’s vetting mechanisms. The press release called it a “myth” that the platform allows foreign nationals to illegally contribute donations.

“While ActBlue has always had strong measures in place that have successfully prevented illegal foreign donations, beginning in 2025 we have gone even further,” the press release states. “We now require that Americans living abroad be physically present in the United States to make a contribution on our platform, despite campaign finance laws allowing citizens to contribute to campaigns while living abroad.”

Trump called on the DOJ early in his term to return a report within 180 days to him about the status of its findings into ActBlue. However, according to The Times, that report has never been made public. The outlet added that three investigations by GOP-led House committees remain ongoing. 

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Business

God and bitcoin: Why some Christians are going all in on cryptocurrency

Business 2 Mins Read

Todd and Janet Gatewood launched their Nashville-based radio show “God, Freedom and Bitcoin” in January, blending their passion for cryptocurrency with their strong faith.

Then the market crashed. At roughly $69,000 on Thursday, the price of the cryptocurrency is down by 45%, struggling to recover and nowhere near the $126,000 high it reached in October.

But the couple sees the slide as a blessing.

Janet, a real estate agent in the Nashville, Tennessee, area, told her husband and a guest appearing on a Feb. 9 show that she hoped to close on more houses, so she could buy bitcoin at a lower price.

“This is what we call ‘on sale,’” she said. “Buy the dip. If you’ve ever heard anything in the bitcoin space, this is when you want to buy.”

The Gatewoods are among a diverse group of Christian financial influencers, entrepreneurs and even pastors working to pitch the faithful on digital currencies. Their positions vary — some are bitcoin hard-liners. Others dabble in meme coins — crypto assets that are quickly spun up and traded around memes and cultural moments.

During this time of volatility, some of the Christian investors who are following them are doubling down.

“It’s not fazing me at all,” said Alicia Tappin, 55, who has purchased bitcoin during the dip. “I’m not emotionally tied to it right now — if I was I would be a wreck.”

Tappin said she follows updates from a Christian businesswoman named Michelle Renee, whose firm charges $499 a year for a VIP membership that provides access to webinars, its “cryptocurrency watchlist” and a Telegram chat.

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Investing

Canada’s Junior Miners Still in Challenging Financial Climate as Metals Prices Climb

Investing 7 Mins Read

Canada is a premier destination for mineral exploration and mining, but the nation’s exploration-stage companies are still struggling to attract investment dollars.

The country’s appeal is showcased in the Fraser Institute’s most recent Annual Survey of Mining Companies, which tracks the investment attractiveness of global mining jurisdictions. It places the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Saskatchewan among the world’s top mining jurisdictions, behind only Nevada.

The Canadian mining industry “serves as a proxy for the global (mining) industry” as it is home to “the largest concentration of public mineral companies in the world,” with Toronto at “the center of the mining finance universe,” said Douglas Silver, partner and senior advisor at Benwerrin Investment Partners, during his presentation at this year’s Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, held last week.

Jeff Killeen, director of policy and programs for PDAC, shared similar sentiments in his own presentation, telling conference attendees, “Almost 30 percent of every dollar raised somewhere in the world for the (mining) sector comes through the Canadian marketplace: the TSX, the Venture and the CSE.”

Canada’s unique tax incentives crucial for mining investment

Canada owes its leading position in the global mining industry to its large landmass and abundance of natural resources. However, both Silver and Killeen pointed out that the nation’s flow-through share tax incentive — unique to Canada — is also “incredibly critical” to the success of the natioin’s mining sector.

Flow-through shares are a highly specialized financing tool that allow resource companies to transfer eligible exploration and development expenses to investors, who then deduct them from their own taxable income.

Under the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (METC), funds generated from this type of capital raise must be put into a project within 18 months. There’s also the Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (CMETC), which applies to critical minerals used for batteries and magnets, including rare earths, nickel, uranium, lithium and graphite, among others.

Generational shift shrinking pool of mining investors

Although Canada dominates the global mining finance sector and is teeming with multiple types of mineral deposits, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the nation’s exploration-stage companies to attract investment dollars.

The tight financial landscape for today’s explorers stems in part from both a complex regulatory system that limits the areas open to mining activity, and a lack of proper infrastructure in the more remote regions of the country. Both of these shortcomings strike at the heart of perceived jurisdictional risk for both retail and institutional investors.

During his presentation, Killeen highlighted a few of the key financing trends affecting access to capital in the mineral industry, noting that last year saw a dramatic uptick in investment in the mining sector.

Where is capital originating from? Most of it was equity raised through private placements, which poses a problem as it represents a very narrow investor base that consists of friends and family of the management team and strategic investors that probably already own shares in the company.

“That just tells us that we’re not broadening the investor base. We’re not pulling in more investors. There’s no more new retail folks coming in investing in shares in Canada. This tells us that we’re in a very risky balance in terms of who actually can fund the sector through the next generation,” he warned the PDAC audience.

“There is a lesser population of retail investors as time goes on. You know that the Boomer generation is going away in terms of an investment pool, and the next generation isn’t necessarily replicating that.”

Silver also views the generational shift in the investment landscape as a problem for raising money in the mining industry. “There’s no question from what I’ve read and heard that the younger generations don’t pick individual stocks. They tend to lean towards ETFs or crypto or other stuff,” he said. “Crypto is definitely competing with mining.”

Gold grabbing all the dollars

Canada’s minerals industry did experience a strong rebound in terms of equity investment in 2025, but it was heavily targeted at producers and developers with large-scale, near-production projects. Gold dominated, but investment also increased in projects associated with critical minerals like lithium, nickel, copper and graphite.

“How much is going to the bottom end, to those sub-$100 million market cap companies, the lion’s share of the junior explorers that are out there? Well, in the Canadian marketplace, only about 10 percent of every dollar raised is getting down to those size of companies,” explained Killeen, highlighting the discrepancy.

In his view, the lack of investment over the past decade is bringing about a decline in grassroots exploration.

Gold is grabbing many mineral investment dollars, not only because its price is surging to unprecedented highs, but also because there’s a faster return on investment compared to other metals. Killeen said that’s due to the fact that gold mining doesn’t require large amounts of infrastructure such as railways and ports.

“In some cases, you don’t need roads. The capital to develop a gold mine might be one-sixth of, one-10th of or one-20th of a copper mine or a zinc mine,” he commented. “So the rate of return for the average investor who’s looking at an exploration stock saying, ‘Could I get money back into this? Could I get value back into this?’ Today that timeframe is much shorter, and the capital to bring it to market is much lower.”

Looking at copper, which is much more capital intensive, Killeen said production is down nearly 30 percent from seven or eight years ago. Reserves are also down, even though rising copper prices have resulted in more resources being upgraded to reserves. Silver agreed with that take — his research shows that the Canadian mining industry is overflowing with gold companies. Of the 1,555 mining companies in Canada in 2024, 42 percent of them were gold-focused firms compared to only 17 percent for copper, the second highest amount.

“So why do we have so many gold companies? I think the answer is pretty obvious to me, which is if you want to build a porphyry copper mine, you’ve got to go raise $5 (billion) or $10 billion,” said Silver. “That’s very difficult in the mining industry, because we just don’t have that much gross capital available to us relative to what some of the other industries have … but you can build a gold mine for a couple hundred million (dollars).’

Despite the massive focus on gold, Killeen and Silver both noted that Canada is actually seeing increasing exploration activity for rare earths, lithium, cobalt, graphite and uranium.

Improving the investment case for Canada’s juniors

Killeen said PDAC and its members are pushing for the Canadian government to make the METC and CMETC permanent to bring more investment into mineral exploration in greenfield regions and making new discoveries.

Last year, flow-through shares generated C$1.6 billion in investment into the sector, according to Silver’s research, or about 76 percent of funding received by mineral exploration companies in Canada.

“When you look at the role of Canadian flow through, it’s so incredibly critical to Canadian mining,” he said. Silver too is advocating for the mining industry and investors to “fight for flow through way more than you do.’

To address infrastructure challenges for bringing critical metals projects into production sooner for a quicker return on investment, Killeen suggested more pension funds investing in Canada and easing government regulations.

“We need them cooperating together with the federal government to develop major infrastructure that doesn’t exist beyond 100 kilometers from the border,” he said.

Killeen noted that “the world is changing” and governments, including Canada’s, are becoming more focused on securing domestic sources of critical minerals. For example, at PDAC, Tim Hodgson, Canada’s minister of energy and natural resources, announced a C$3.6 billion suite of investments targeting the critical minerals sector.

Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

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Politics

Bipartisan senators probe Kremlin-linked delegation’s meetings with US officials

Politics 3 Mins Read

FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan pair of top-ranking senators want to know why sanctioned Russian officials were in Washington, D.C., and given access to the Capitol and meetings with administration officials as wars in Iran and Ukraine rage on.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised counterintelligence concerns over the recent visit of a delegation of Russian Duma members, all of whom are sanctioned for “conduct deemed to be harmful to U.S. national security.”

“The delegation came onto U.S. soil for one purpose: to advance the Kremlin’s strategic aims — including gathering additional useful intelligence,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

TRUMP EYES NEXT ATTORNEY GENERAL AS KEY GOP SENATOR SIGNALS POTENTIAL ROADBLOCK

“They did not come to engage in dialogue or pursue democratic aims,” they continued.

The lawmakers argued that Duma members “include Kremlin subordinates who have committed numerous cyber and ransomware attacks on Americans and have facilitated war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.”

“Remarkably, they are now helping Iran target U.S. military and diplomatic personnel across the Middle East,” Wicker and Shaheen wrote.

SENATE TO QUESTION TRUMP INTEL LEADERS ON IRAN WAR AFTER TOP OFFICIAL QUITS IN PROTEST

Several members of the Russian Duma visited Washington, D.C., late last month on a trip organized by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla. She was joined by Reps. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, for a meeting with the delegation.

Luna later gave them a tour of the Capitol after posing for photos outside the United States Institute of Peace.

“As representatives of the world’s two greatest nuclear superpowers, we owe our citizens open dialogue, the exchange of ideas, and open lines of communication,” Luna said on X following the meeting. “We will continue to foster this dialogue and push for peace in support of this [administration’s] efforts, as well as economic opportunity.”

GRAHAM SAYS RUSSIA SANCTIONS BILL ‘NEVER GOING BACK ON THE SHELF’ AFTER TRUMP BACKS PUSH

Wicker and Shaheen noted that the Duma members were “far from innocent participants in a cultural exchange.”

“It included Vyacheslav Nikonov, who in 2023 referred to the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the ‘Fourth Reich’ on Russian television. Mikhail Delyagin has advocated for destroying Ukraine’s energy sector. Boris Chernyshov once claimed that Russian retaliatory strikes were ‘an expression of our hatred [of Ukraine],’” they wrote.

Wicker and Shaheen demanded that Rubio and Bessent explain why sanctions were waived for the Russian officials’ visit, what meetings the delegation had with Trump administration officials, what counterintelligence assessments were conducted on the visiting Russians, and provide a complete manifest of who traveled from the Russian Federation.

The lawmakers wrote that the delegation’s visit came “at a time when Russia’s intentions are unambiguously clear.”

“Numerous public reports have cited Russian support for Iran’s military targeting of American service members in the Middle East,” they wrote. “European intelligence agencies have reported that Russia intends to attack NATO member states in the coming years. And [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has made it clear that peace in Ukraine is a mirage. His singular ambition for Ukraine is to erase its existence.”

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Investing

Benchmark: Surging Copper Prices Highlight Looming Global Supply Challenges

Investing 7 Mins Read

Copper prices surged through 2025 and into 2026, placing the red metal firmly back into the spotlight as concerns about a looming global supply shortfall mount among market watchers.

Analysts say the tightening outlook reflects a powerful mix of rising demand — driven by urbanization, the energy transition and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure — against a backdrop of stagnant mine supply.

Speaking at the Benchmark Summit, held in Toronto on March 2, Carlos Piñeiro Cruz, principal copper analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, outlined the key forces shaping the copper market in the near term, while warning that structural supply challenges could intensify over the coming decade.

Copper supply side increasingly tight

It would be a lie to suggest that the copper supply and demand situation is tenable.

In 2025, mining disruptions led to significant declines in output. Cruz noted that production in Q4 2024 exceeded that of any quarter in 2025; in fact, the sector lost around 1 million metric tons (MT) of output in total.

Much of the reduction was due to unforeseen situations, such as the mudslide at Freeport-McMoRan’s (NYSE:FCX) Grasberg in Indonesia, seismic events at Ivanhoe Mines’ (TSX:IVN,OTCQX:IVPAF) Kamoa-Kakula in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and worker strikes at BHP’s (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP) Escondida in Chile.

While the operations will eventually recover, the incidents come at a time when the copper market is increasingly tight and is expected to enter into a supply deficit in the coming years.

Cruz is predicting copper production growth of 1.5 percent in 2025, suggesting that the growth rate is behind what is expected from refined copper demand. The majority of the increase will come from mines returning to normal operations, with additional amounts from projects or expansions that began ramping up in 2025.

Cruz stated that pre-disruption growth was originally forecast at around 2 million MT in 2026, but has since been downgraded by around 700,000 MT, with the majority of the reduction coming from Escondida.

“We see that supply coming in this year will be highly skewed towards H2 as mines recover, with a 9 percent increase between Q1 and Q4, with most of this growth coming from South America, Africa and Asia, ex-China,” Cruz said.

From there, he expects growth to stabilize in 2027 at a much higher rate than this year, with Africa to experience a faster growth rate than the overall market. In the long run, Cruz predicts a compound annual growth rate of 0.9 percent between 2025 and 2035, with copper output peaking in 2033 at 27 million MT.

Copper demand drivers to watch

One of the main areas Cruz focused on was the acceleration of demand driven by the energy transition, artificial intelligence and technology. A lot of the new demand is coming from electric vehicles (EVs) — while the amount of copper in each EV is seen declining, demand growth will remain strong as sales increase.

“We do think that copper density on EVs is going to go down substantially. From 2010 to 2035, it’s going to go from 85 kilograms per unit to 64 kilograms per unit. In spite of this, we still think that copper demand from battery EVs and hybrid vehicles will grow substantially from around 2.3 million MT in 2025 to 6 million MT in 2035,” Cruz said.

It’s not just EVs, other technologies like artificial intelligence, data centers and communications are placing additional strains on the electrical infrastructure. Increasing demand for new power lines, electrical generators and energy storage is further bolstering downstream demand for copper.

“We anticipate demand from these particular sectors will grow from around 10 million MT in 2025 to 14 million MT in 2035. With most of the demand coming from energy transmission and generation,” Cruz said.

He went on to explain that transmission and generation account for 77 percent of the anticipated growth.

Cruz thinks energy demand has been overshadowed by the growth in data centers, where he suggested that copper demand will increase by only about 400,000 MT between 2025 and 2035.

“Of the growth I told you about from EVs with almost 4 million MT, or the demand from energy infrastructure with a little less than 3 million MT, it’s not that impressive. Although it still adds up to a substantial growth,” he said.

100 new copper mines by 2035?

The key takeaway from Cruz’s presentation was that a copper supply gap is developing. While he pointed out that the annual supply growth rate will come in at around 1 percent, demand is nearly double at 1.9 percent.

“This basically means that with the mines that currently exist, plus the projects that are under construction, we expect to see a difference in what needs to be mined and what will be mined in 2035 of around 7.4 million MT,” he said.

When probable projects are factored in, the supply gap narrows, but a 2.2 million MT shortfall still exists. However, these additional projects are not guaranteed. Cruz suggested that to avoid shortfalls, 100 new mines with output in the 75,000 MT range need to be built by 2035 — but this won’t be an easy task. Of the 10 largest mines in the world, only two were built after 2010; meanwhile, many of the others are decades or over 100 years old.

One reason new mines are scarce is long permitting processes, but Cruz also acknowledged that newly found large-scale deposits are at greater depths and lower grades. This has led to a scarcity of greenfield projects, with most growth coming from expansions at existing mines, a trend Cruz expects to continue over the coming years.

“Looking ahead, we expect this trend to continue to the point that we anticipate that by 2031, new production from greenfield projects will be half of what it was in 2011,” he said.

Additionally, Cruz said the copper market is becoming increasingly bifurcated, with China set to be a dominant force in both production and refinement of the red metal moving forward.

“The supply gap, or the future copper shortage, is something that the industry has been warning about for years now. The truth is, it seems not a lot of people are paying attention to it, but China has,” he said.

Cruz explained that China’s involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo was the result of extensive planning and considerable investment. In fact, Chinese companies have collectively surpassed western producers and are securing their own supply chain.

Investor takeaway

Overall, Cruz believes the copper sector is well positioned for investment.

While he has some concern that smelting capacity is nearing saturation, he expects the situation to return to balance by 2031 and thinks that competition for concentrate will keep producer costs lower until then.

The combination of low treatment charges, high copper prices and even higher by-product gold, silver and molybdenum prices has helped increase margins and profitability for operators.

“We think that the market is in a very good position right now for miners at least. You could argue that for smelters it’s good as well despite the treatment and refinement charges, and we think that if these factors last a little bit longer, we expect some of these projects to bring the copper that humanity needs,” Cruz said.

Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

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