02a U.S. Politics – Conservative

Blurb:

Fraud is not isolated nor an anomaly in Minnesota, but part of a longstanding pattern, state lawmakers will tell a congressional panel Wednesday, as they detail interactions with whistleblowers.

Members of the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee will testify to the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Daily Signal reviewed their prepared opening remarks.

The congressional hearing comes two days after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was the 2024 Democrat vice presidential nominee, dropped his bid for a third term as governor, as he faced increased scrutiny over questions of widespread fraud in the state.

Blurb:

It’s becoming increasingly clear why Tim Walz dropped out of the Minnesota Governor’s race. The news about the massive fraud that took place in the state on his watch gets worse by the minute. As Townhall reported earlier, Walz’s malfeasance means actual disabled children, adults, and their families will suffer while the reputable care centers that serve them are forced to close.

The DOJ has not only opened up a criminal investigation into Walz, but now Minnesota’s Legislative Auditor has just dropped a damning bombshell into Walz’s lap. According to a report by the auditor, the Minnesota DHS — under Walz’s tenure — had almost zero internal controls and oversight as it awarded more than $400 million in grants.

To make matters worse, it appears DHS also fabricated records.

Blurb:

Events inside Iran are accelerating at a breathtaking pace as the freedom uprising enters a decisive phase. Brave Iranians have torched an Islamic City Council building, openly defying the clerical state as the regime reels from cascading losses abroad—its influence in Venezuela, Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza has collapsed, while at home the economy is in freefall, electricity and water are scarce, and the rial has lost roughly 60 percent of its value.

Islamic occupation is visibly cracking: police units in Ilam have joined protesters, IRGC-linked banks such as Bank Sepah have been attacked, and parts of the security apparatus are retreating. Despite reinforcements, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has lost effective control of Tehran, with Abdanan and Malekshahi reported fully liberated as chants of “Death to Ali Khamenei” echoed through the streets.

Blurb:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has introduced a program offering financial rewards to individuals who provide information on fraud in Minnesota’s government benefits programs.

The announcement aims to encourage whistleblowers to share details that could assist ongoing investigations into the misuse of public funds. This initiative is part of broader efforts by the federal government to address financial irregularities in the state.

“We are going to offer whistleblower payments to anyone who wants to tell us the who, what, when, where and how this fraud has been done,” Bessent told Fox News.

The update comes as the administration has surged federal resources to the state to crack down on fraud and illegal immigration. Rewards are intended to cover information related to various aspects of the fraud, including participants, methods, and timelines.

Federal authorities have indicated that such incentives have proven effective in similar cases by prompting individuals to come forward with evidence that might otherwise remain undisclosed.

Blurb:

 

Eating real food is not quite that simple, and might even constitute “bowing to Big Meat,” depending on who you ask.

After Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his department dropped the new federal dietary guidelines — which have been historically referred to as the food pyramid — the recommendation of eating “real food,” including red meat and full-fat dairy, was seen as an attack by many in the dietary sphere.

‘Beef is responsible for 20 times more greenhouse gas emissions per gram of protein than beans.’

The new guidelines emphasized protein (from meat and vegetables), dairy, fruit, and some grains as part of a healthy diet. While some cleverly accused HHS of copying a popular “South Park” scene where scientists simply “flip the pyramid” to solve America’s health crisis, others decided to criticize the guidelines for promoting animal meat intake.

Blurb:

 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has ordered Members of Congress to provide at least seven days’ advance notice before visiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, following a growing pattern of Democratic lawmakers turning “oversight” visits into confrontational spectacles that have disrupted operations and endangered federal officers and detainees.

The policy became public late Saturday after three Minnesota Democrats were denied entry to an ICE processing center in Minneapolis, triggering accusations that DHS was unlawfully blocking congressional oversight.

Politico first reported the change, explaining that the restriction was quietly implemented earlier in the week and only surfaced after the lawmakers were turned away.

“That order… forces lawmakers to seek a week’s advance notice before conducting oversight visits to ICE facilities,” Politico reported, noting that the policy appeared to explain why three House Democrats were blocked from entering an ICE facility in Minnesota.

Blurb:

The term “freedom fighters” is so often abused that at times it’s hard to take it seriously. Plenty of goblins agitating for one form of totalitarian rule or another have claimed to be freedom fighters: Communists, Islamists, even your run-of-the-mill American leftist nutcases like the ones we’re seeing making fools of themselves in places like Minneapolis and Portland, right now.

However, the ongoing rebellion in Iran is the real deal. The Iranian people are in the streets, demanding their liberation from the cabal of Bronze-Age barbarians that have driven Iran to ruin, most especially from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. These are for-real freedom fighters, and at the moment, it looks like they’re winning.

The son of the late Shah, who was deposed in 1979 in the Islamic Revolution that started Iran down this dark road, has emerged as a key figure supporting this resistance. On Saturday, Reza Pahlavi took to X to offer support to the rebels – and to promise to return to Iran.

Translated from Persian, the post reads:

Know that you are not alone. Your compatriots around the world are proudly shouting your voice, and you must surely see images of their numerous and widespread presence through your television screen. The world today stands beside your national revolution and admires your courage. In particular, President Trump, as the leader of the free world, has carefully observed your indescribable bravery and has announced that he is ready to help you.

Do not abandon the streets. My heart is with you. I know that I will soon be by your side.

Blurb:

Portland’s police chief cried over illegal-alien Tren de Aragua criminal cartel members being wounded, even though they were running sex slaves in his city; the Philly sheriff is a TDS head case who can’t explain what a “real” cop is; and finally,amid the suicidal empathy from the wokest places in the country, we get some real talk and sound advice from, of all places, the Chicago police chief.

It’s been open season on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol officers for months in the Chicago area. The local cops have refused to stop rioters from attacking federal immigration officers and infamously failed to come to their aid when they were surrounded by rioters in an ambush. That hands-off policy by local cops last fall resulted in federal cops having to shoot their way out of an ambush as rioters surrounded and blocked their vehicles. A woman who used her car as a weapon was shot five times and survived.

The Minneapolis “poet” who had been bird-dogging and blocking ICE agents all day last Wednesday and rammed her 4,000-pound vehicle into an ICE officer was shot and killed for her efforts.

 

Blurb:

Don’t you love how college students always seem to believe they’re in a position to make demands?

Student group demands ‘racism’ inquiry following resignation of univ. DEI chief

A branch of the Canadian Federation of Students is demanding an investigation into “racism” regarding the departure of Memorial University‘s diversity, equity, and inclusion chief.

Delores Mullings has been Memorial’s “inaugural vice-provost of EDI-AR” since 2021 (Canadians use “EDI” instead of “DEI”; “AR” stands for “anti-racism”). According to The Hamilton Spectator, Mullings complained of “a lack of understanding among senior administration about what equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism mean” and how they “should interact” with the EDI-AR office.

Mullings said her job left her “feeling lonely,” adding that “while I’m the one in the role, it doesn’t mean that I’m the only one that needs to be talking about equity issues.”

She also bemoaned that Memorial’s new president, who took office last August, “not once reached out to [her] to arrange a meeting.”

Blurb:

Independent journalist Cam Higby was reportedly stalked and threatened while covering the escalating protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 

Blurb:

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem isn’t having it from Democrat lawmakers who wish to further inflame rising tensions in the wake of the shooting death of far-left agitator Renee Nicole Good last Wednesday in Minneapolis. A day after the shooting, Noem quietly updated DHS’s policy, which will now require Members of Congress to submit visit requests at least one week prior to the intended visit date.

The move by Noem comes after a December decision by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Joe Biden appointee, that blocked a previous DHS directive requiring a one-week notice of congressional visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. It’s a bit nuanced, but it looks like Noem is able to sidestep Cobb’s order by using funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).

In issuing the new/old guidance, Noem stated that she disagreed with Judge Cobb’s finding, but intended to use funds derived from the OBBBA that are not subject to limitations cited by the judge in her ruling. DHS will use the OBBBA-derived funds to “ensure adequate protection for Members of Congress, congressional staff, detainees, and ICE employees alike.”

Blurb:

Mohammad Movahedi Azad, Attorney General of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has pronounced that arrested protesters will now be executed. This announcement came after a scheduled televised address by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was cancelled.

Protesters are ‘enemies of Allah’: Iran warns of death penalty in crackdown

Blurb:

“Killer Agent Unmasked,” screamed a headline in The Drudge Report. I know, I know, hardly anyone sane reads the Drudge Report anymore. But its headline and accompanying stories did stake out the let’s-see-if-we-can-spark-the-George-Floyd-reboot territory. So did a supremely irresponsible opinion column in The Chicago Tribune, which argued that “every last American” should agree that the shooting death of Renée Nicole Good in Minneapolis a few days ago was “an abomination.”

Should they? Was it?

Soon-to-be ex-Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey certainly think so. Walz has been comparing ICE agents to the Gestapo for years. Frey abetted the “fiery but mostly peaceful” burning of Minneapolis in 2020 after George Floyd died of a drug overdose while resisting arrest, and Frey acted entirely according to form in denouncing ICE and Donald Trump in response to the shooting of Good by an ICE agent.

The destructive, anti-American left thought they were getting the band back together. Mobs in various cities have been protesting, harassing, and impeding the lawful activities of ICE. In Minneapolis, mobs are going from hotel to hotel in search of ICE agents, smashing windows, blaring horns, and screaming obscenities.

Blurb:

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that his administration is moving to ban major investors from buying up single-family homes in the U.S. in an attempt to lower housing prices.

Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that former President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have caused “record high inflation,” which has caused the “American Dream” to become “increasingly out of reach for far too many people.”

“For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream,” Trump wrote in the social media post. “I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it.”

“People live in homes, not corporations,” the president emphasized.

Blurb:

Angie Craig is a Minnesota congresswoman seeking the Dem nomination for an open Senate seat. Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, Craig’s ultraliberal primary opponent, has accused Craig of being too tough on immigration. Craig committed the unforgivable sin — in leftist eyes — of voting for the Laken Riley Act, and supporting a House resolution condemning antisemitism and expressing gratitude for ICE.

So Craig is clearly on a campaign to atone for her transgressions, and prove to the kind of far-left Dems who vote in Minnesota primaries that she is just as out there as the wackiest of them.

MS NOW’s The Weekend gave Craig an opportunity to do that, having her as a guest on Saturday’s show.

The first topic was the blatant stunt Craig pulled on January 7th, picking an argument on the House floor–with cameras conveniently rolling–with Republican congressman Tom Emmer on the subject of the ICE shooting of Renee Good. Craig repeatedly poked her finger toward Emmer’s chest, and a colleague eventually had to pull her away. She described herself to The Weekend hosts as “a pissed off congresswoman on the House floor.” Oh, the bravery of this woman warrior! Peggy Flanagan is a hopeless lefty, but she got one thing right, saying Craig “cravenly picked a fight” with Emmer.

Blurb:

Don’t believe your lying eyes.

That’s effectively what the hoax-peddling Washington Post told its readers when it ran what can only be surmised as the most dishonest piece of left-wing propaganda published (so far) this year.

Splattered across the top of the outlet’s homepage on Thursday was an ” analysis” titled, “Video shows ICE agent in Minneapolis fired at driver as vehicle veered past him.” (An earlier version of the article had the headline, “ICE agent was not in the vehicle’s path when he fired at driver, video shows.”)

Right from the get-go, it’s clear that make-pretend “reporters” Aaron Davis and Jonathan Baran aren’t trying to inform their audience of what actually happened but are instead seeking to advance the Democrat Party’s anti-ICE agenda.

Upon navigating the Orwellian article, readers are immediately bombarded with the presumption that the Trump administration’s central (and well-documented) claim — that the now-deceased woman disobeyed ICE and then hit an agent with her car — is false. In typical legacy media fashion, Davis and Baran play up such framing by asserting that their “frame-by-frame analysis” “raises questions” about the administration’s account of the incident.

Blurb:

Florida can now enforce a state law aimed at preventing children from attending what it defines as “sexually explicit” live performances, following a new ruling from a federal appeals court.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower court order that had blocked enforcement of the law for the past two years. In an order issued on December 15, the court said the state may enforce the 2023 law statewide, except against Hamburger Mary’s, the Orlando-based venue that challenged the law’s constitutionality.

The appeals court’s decision was influenced by a June ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that limited the use of universal injunctions, which previously allowed judges to block enforcement of laws for parties not directly involved in a case.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier praised the ruling in a post on X. “For two years, our law preventing children from attending sexually explicit drag shows was held up in court. Starting today, the law is in effect thanks to a win on appeal by our office. If you’re exposing children to lewd conduct, you’re on notice. We’re watching, Pensacola.”

Blurb:

After an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a female who drove her vehicle into him on Wednesday, anti-ICE sentiment has risen to a fever pitch, fueled by the legacy media and Democrat politicians. They have argued, essentially, that the shooting means America can no longer enforce its immigration laws. What the incident actually highlights is the need for a just and decisive crackdown on anti-ICE obstruction, a crackdown that parallels the Jan. 6 manhunt, not in its corrupt politicization, but in its scale and effectiveness.

The incident in Minneapolis marks nearly one year of the deportations Trump promised during his campaign. Despite a relentless legacy media air war on the removals, they maintain broad U.S. support, with 31 percent saying all illegal immigrants should be deported and 51 percent stating some should be deported. But even as the Trump administration ramped up deportation efforts, so did the sheer number of bad actors assaulting, impeding, harassing, and blocking ICE agents. The more serious attacks garnered the headlines: Antifa members allegedly launched an attack on an ICE facility; in Dallas an anti-ICE gunman opened fire on a law enforcement vehicle, killing two and injuring a third; the Department of Homeland Security reported roughly 100 vehicular attacks on agents in 2025.

Blurb:

Surveillance footage nearby reported by CNN shows Good’s vehicle positioned perpendicular in the roadway moments before the shooting.

Newly released video of the fatal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shooting of Renee Good shows her SUV blocking the street for several minutes before the moment she drove at a federal agent and was shot.

Surveillance footage from nearby, first reported by CNN, shows Good’s vehicle positioned perpendicular in the roadway moments before the shooting. At one point, a person is seen leaving her vehicle from the passenger side and she remains in the road until federal law enforcement arrives.

Cellphone video released on social media by Alpha News revealed the moments before the fatal shooting, which showed Good sitting in her SUV as ICE officers approached her vehicle. The recording shows the agent walking around the front and passenger side of the SUV while Good speaks to him. She is heard saying, “That’s fine, dude, I’m not mad at you,” as her wife appears to taunt the agent by telling him to reveal his face.

Blurb:

Renee Nicole Good, the woman who was shot and killed while attempting to run over a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis on Wednesday, was an anti-ICE “warrior” and was part of a group of activists who worked to “document and resist” federal immigration operations, according to a new report.

According to a report from the New York Post, Good moved to Minneapolis last year and linked up with the anti-ICE group through parents at her six-year-old son’s charter school. The school boasts that it puts “social justice first” and prioritizes “involving kids in political and social activism,” local sources told the outlet.

“She was a warrior. She died doing what was right,” a mother named Leesa, whose child attends the same school, told The Post at a vigil near the site of the shooting on Wednesday night.

Blurb:

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner held a press conference on Thursday and issued a stark warning to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Krasner told ICE agents who are in his city, or planning to come to his city, to “get the F out of here” if they were coming to “commit crimes.” Krasner’s press conference was in response to the death of Renee Nicole Good, who was shot after seemingly driving her car into an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this week. The press conference was somewhat unusual, given that the incident had no connection to Philadelphia whatsoever.

“Let me be clear,” Krasner said. “If any law enforcement agent — any ICE agent — is going to come to Philly to commit crimes, then you can get the F out of here. Because if you do that here, I will charge you with those crimes, you will be arrested, you will stand trial, you will be convicted — whether it’s in state or federal court, it’s my office prosecuting it, that’s how the law works — and you will do your time. Because Donald Trump cannot pardon you for a state court conviction.”

Blurb:

This weekend, Democrat Somali Rep. Ilhan Omar joined thousands of leftists in Minnesota to protest ICE.

But, she might be wishing she hadn’t, now…

At one point during the protest, Rep. Omar stood right next to a woman who started screeching into a microphone about two of Omar’s buddies — Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

And, it’s obvious that it started to make Rep. Omar feel very uncomfortable.

Watch this for yourself:

Blurb:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent Jonathan Ross shot Renee Nicole Good in her SUV during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday, after giving her an order to get out of the car which she failed to obey, instead trying to leave the scene in her car, resulting in the fatal shooting.

Throughout is coverage thus far, PBS News Hour has leaned heavily on a selection of facts and assumptions to skew against the officer’s defensive shooting action, and ignoring inconvenient facts — like the fact that Good, a radicalized mother of a toddler, showed up in a dangerous situation to block legal immigration enforcement action, spurred by her wife who urged Good to “drive, baby, drive” before the officer shot at Good three times, killing her.

PBS hype of liberal “outrage” began on Night One of the controversy, when few facts were in. Outraged Democrats were presented as nonpartisan:

Co-anchor Amna Nawaz: State and local officials in Minneapolis are outraged tonight after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a woman there. Federal officials accuse that woman of trying to run over officers with a vehicle, claiming the shooting was in self-defense.

Co-anchor Geoff Bennett: The city’s mayor says the video tells a different story….

Blurb:

The new cellphone video from the point of view of the ICE agent involved in the shooting of Renee Good in Minnesota blew up all the false narratives the Democrats were spreading about the shooting.

Yet, not only did the Democrats seem to want to ignore reality, they manipulated it with what they were tweeting out to their followers, as they stoked division with their X account. They left out the fact that she hit the ICE agent in a despicable graphic they posted. That’s a rather critical part of the story to leave out. Instead, they suggested she said something non-confrontational, and then there were “gunshots.”

Now comes the next part — the part they seem to have been agitating for: the agitators in the streets over the “murder.” It doesn’t matter that the facts don’t support the lie. The Democrats don’t care about reality.

Blurb:

A tense moment during an anti-ICE demonstration in Minneapolis has drawn widespread attention after a vocal agitator told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that she was being “paid” to attend the protest.

Ingraham was reporting from outside the Whipple Federal Building as demonstrations erupted following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.

Good was shot dead while ramming an armed ICE agent with her vehicle during a confrontation with federal immigration authorities.

“Do you have a job?” Ingraham asked a masked protester.

The loud agitator had been shouting “shame” and profanities at law enforcement and the media while riling up the crowd.

“I’m [getting] paid right now,” the woman replied.

Blurb:

Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) ended his political career on Monday, announcing that he would abandon his reelection campaign in light of the fraud scandals involving his state’s nutrition, healthcare, and child care programs. But as bad as Walz’s welfare fraud scandals are, and they are very bad, the more important lesson to learn from his failed administration is about the real damage that can be done to a state’s finances when the Democratic Party achieves full control.

Blurb:

The woman legally married to Renee Good — shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis — released a statement Friday, her first public remarks since the Wednesday incident.

Rebecca “Becca” Good was present at the scene when an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good, 37. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Renee Good attempted to run over law enforcement with her vehicle. Rebecca Good said her spouse “literally sparkled” and “kindness radiated out of her,” in her statement shared with Minnesota Public Radio News.

On the same day Rebecca Good made her remarks, Minnesota-based Alpha News released video footage of the shooting from an ICE agent’s perspective in which Rebecca was seen repeatedly asking the agent “You want to come at us?” before appearing to shout “Drive, baby drive” to Renee.

Blurb:

On January 3, 2026, U.S. armed forces and law enforcement extracted Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela. I join President Trump in praising the men and women who led “Operation Absolute Resolve” and brought Maduro back to the United States to stand trial—all without the loss of American life.

Maduro is an indicted narco-terrorist who poisoned over 100,000 Americans. His “rap” sheet also includes involvement with transnational criminal organizations and befriending our foreign enemies like China, Iran, and Russia.

President Trump wants to fight this corruption, as do I. Operation Absolute Resolve made real progress on that front. Now people are asking, “How do we move forward?” My bill, the Americas Act, gives us that path forward.

The U.S. needs a clear plan for the Western Hemisphere that supports U.S. manufacturing, ends corruption, and counters foreign powers trying to muscle their way into our neighborhood. Look at Venezuela. Under Maduro, China was moving in fast, locking in influence while the country fell apart. If we don’t get a unified strategy together, we risk letting the Chinese Communist Party shape the future of our hemisphere instead of us.

Blurb:

The anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis have escalated as a “black bloc” has broken into a hotel in which federal law enforcement is assumed to be residing.

Once the mob gained access to The Depot Minneapolis, they began throwing various items across the lobby and into doors and windows. The video further showed agitators spray painting “f*** ICE” repeatedly onto the hotel windows.

Blurb:

 

Anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement extremists have come out of the woodwork after the lethal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, and Blaze News has exclusive footage of some of their unhinged demonstrations.

The footage shows chaotic chants and epithets tossed by dozens of activists against agents outside of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in the Minneapolis area.

‘What have you done?! What have you done?! You terrorize our community! What do you know? Bunch of cowards!’

The video was recorded by Blaze News on the ground among the protesters.

“F**k you, you fascists pigs!” yells one protester.

“You murderers!” yells another.