Anti-Trump Judge Boasberg Assigned To Lefty Lawfare Group's 'SignalGate' Suit

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

The activist federal judge who tried to thwart the Trump administration’s deportation flights to El Salvador earlier this month has been assigned to a left-wing lawfare group’s lawsuit related to the “SignalGate” nontroversy.

Embattled U.S. District Judge James Boasberg will handle the lawfare case alleging that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Trump officials violated record retention laws.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that the officials’ use of an encrypted app that allows messages about government business to be erased is a violation of the Federal Records Act.

But as  CIA Director John Ratcliffe explained in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday, the use of Signal among intelligence officials is permissible, routine, and precedes the current administration.

Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was somehow included in a Signal group chat discussing plans about a forthcoming attack on Houthis in Yemen. Goldberg publicized the chat in the Atlantic on Monday, withholding details purportedly over national security concerns.

After multiple Trump officials denied that any “classified materials” or “war plans” were discussed, the Atlantic on Wednesday published the entire group chat, showing that Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth had posted the “exact times American aircraft were taking off for Yemen” 31 minutes before the first warplanes launched.

Hegseth hit back with a statement on X, Wednesday, saying: 

“So, let me get this straight. The Atlantic released the so-called “war plans” and those ‘plans’ include: No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information. Those are some really shitty war plans. This only proves one thing: Jeff Goldberg has never seen a war plan or an “attack plan” (as he now calls it). Not even close.”

The Defense Sec added: 

“As I type this, my team and I are traveling the INDOPACOM region, meeting w/ Commanders (the guys who make REAL “war plans”) and talking to troops. We will continue to do our job, while the media does what it does best: peddle hoaxes.”

The lawsuit against Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent was brought by the activist litigation group “American Oversight.”

Although frequently referred to as a “nonpartisan watchdog group” in the media,  American Oversight was launched in March 2017 specifically to conduct lawfare against President Trump during his first term in office, according to Influence Watch.

The group formed shortly after a now infamous confab took place at a Florida resort, where more than 100 “liberal mega-donors” met to hear Media Matters founder and Clinton-aligned operative David Brock proposed a lawfare operation to produce a “steady stream of open records requests” and lawsuits against Trump with the ultimate goal of defeating him in 2020 or “through impeachment.”

AO claims to be “the top Freedom of Information Act litigator investigating the Trump administration,” with more than 1000 open records requests filed in 2018 – an average of four requests made every business day. In addition, it reports 56 lawsuits filed during the year (more than one per week). The website also provides searchable databases for both the open records documents and the overall investigations to which those documents pertain.

President Trump clashed with Boasberg last week over the judge’s decision to stop flights deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act.

Of those deported, 101 were TdA Venezuelans, 21 were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members, and two were MS-13 ringleaders and “special cases” for El Salvador, according to Fox News. Their offenses reportedly include “kidnapping, sexual abuse of a child, aggravated assault, prostitution, robbery and aggravated assault of a police officer.”

Judge Boasberg, an Obama appointee and key Russia hoax player, ordered an immediate stop to the deportations so he could have more time to consider whether Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act was legal. Incredibly, the judge ordered planes that were already in the air to turn back to the United States.

The next morning, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele posted on X, “Oopsie … Too late,” with a laughing emoji.

The Trump administration’s refusal to comply with the judge’s order prompted a sharp response by Boasberg, who demanded answers. The matter is now being played out in the courts.

On Truth Social, Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment, calling him a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama.”

“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Trump wrote on March 18.

Trump’s outburst prompted a rare rebuke from Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts, who stated, “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/26/2025 - 20:05

Five Reasons Why Eliminating The Department Of Education Is A Good Thing

The Department of Education, much like USAID, is treated as if it's a sacrosanct charity instead of a government institution subject to scrutiny and regulation.  The message surrounding government agencies and federal employees is generally unhinged these days; when did these people suddenly become saints and martyrs?  Most of them are, in fact, parasites feeding on taxpayer dollars and they serve no purpose.

To be sure, progressives often elevate bureaucracy in their minds to a sanctified level.  The Shadow Government is their god and the bureaucrats slithering through the dimly lit corridors of unaccountable power are treated like high priests.  The system is worshiped because it is at war with America's foundations.  The left wants the west to die, and the bureaucracy is more than happy to accommodate while filling their pockets with easy cash. 

The Department of Education (ED) is particularly beloved by the political left because it is the mechanism by which public schooling is twisted into a propaganda machine.  The ED is the key to everything; in cooperation with teachers and teachers unions they are creating the next generation of woke adherents, and your kids are the target.  

But beyond the issue of political indoctrination there's the obvious problem of obligation versus outcome - What does the ED actually do to fulfill its supposed duties?  In truth, it does absolutely nothing.  Lets examine five reasons why the Department of Education is a complete failure as an agency and why it deserves to be eliminated.

The More Money The ED Receives The Less Education American Students Get

In 2010 the ED's budget was $94 billion, by 2024 it had ballooned to $268 billion (a 160% increase).  But what are US taxpayers getting for this massive chunk of change they are spending annually?  National testing averages in reading and math continue to decline dramatically in the past decade.  Scores barely eek out gains on testing results from the 1970s before the ED was founded.  

      

In other words, the more money Americans spend on the ED, the worse the results get.  Despite the agency enjoying a budget that surpasses the GDP of many countries, the US is 28th in the world for math, 24th in the world for science according to PISA results for high school age students.  It is also rated 36th in global literacy rankings. For the richest country in the world with the largest education budget in the world, this is abysmal.

The ED Has Even Failed To Help Minorities Despite DEI Programs

Some people argue that minority demographics (except Asians) consistently test lower and they are dragging US scores down compared to the rest of the developed world.  This is a fair point, however, with the amount of funding and fanfare paid to DEI by the Department of Education in recent years you would think those scores would be going up.  They haven't.  More minorities than ever are getting college degrees but their testing scores continue to plummet. 

In inner city schools where minorities are the majority, the lack of effective education is stark.  In urban areas of Illinois, for example, at least 30 schools do not have a single student that can pass a reading proficiency exam. 

If the Department of Education's real intention was to create "equity" for minorities in public schools, they have failed miserably.

Woke Propaganda And DEI Ideology In Schools

The ED had at least $600 million allotted for DEI and Critical Race theory programs for teachers, not to mention extensive programs for LGBT and gender studies.  Its not a coincidence that public schools across the nation started allowing gender ideology to invade the classroom all at the same time.  The Department of Education was a big part of the indoctrination push.  Incentivizing teachers and school districts with extra federal cash certainly helped things along.

Until the Supreme Court finally blocked "race conscious" admissions in colleges due to discrimination against Asians and Whites, the ED was highly active in promoting DEI based campuses.  The agency specifically encouraged equity based student admissions, allowing underqualified applicants access to top universities while rejecting high achieving applicants because of their race.

With the lowest common denominator getting easy access, it's no surprise that American colleges are churning out far less desirable graduates and less workers with STEM degrees.  

The ED Has Driven Secondary Education Costs Into The Stratosphere

In 2024 the Department of Education spent around $160 billion on federal student aid grants and loans.  This might sound like a humanitarian effort that would expand America's professional labor base, but that's not the case.  In-demand career fields like those in STEM are desperate for qualified graduates.  Meanwhile, all that easy government cash has inflated college tuition costs beyond reckoning.

There is a direct correlation and causation between the ED's increased grant programs and the rising costs of a college education.  

The ED Consistently Loses Money

For years, the ED vastly underestimated the true cost of the federal Direct Loan program. Between 1997 and 2021, ED expected these loans to generate more than $100 billion in government revenue.  Researchers and watchdogs have warned about the flaws in ED’s budget model for years - the agency did nothing to address these concerns. 

Federal student loans issued during this period cost taxpayers $200 billion, meaning ED’s faulty budgeting was off by more than $10 billion a year on average according to a GAO report in 2022. 

ED’s budget is consistently wrong due to incorrect assumptions about: 

The number of borrowers who would choose to enroll in Income-Driven Repayment (IDR).

The income growth for borrowers repaying loans through IDR.    

The probability that borrowers would default on their loans.    

The effects of new programs enacted by Congress and ED

Like most federal agencies the ED only serves to lose money while never actually accomplishing its supposed purpose.  It is a failure by every metric and should be shut down forever.  When an institution bombs this hard for this long, there's no excuse.  The political left appeals to emotion by painting a picture of a dystopian future filled with uneducated American children without the guiding hand of the Department of Education, but the opposite is true.  They have already created an uneducated America, and now its time to remedy the problem.

 

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/26/2025 - 19:40

Homeland Security Secretary Confirms Plans To Eliminate FEMA

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said during a Cabinet meeting this week that she would eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

While providing a report on the border and Coast Guard operations, Noem said, “We’re going to eliminate FEMA.” 

She didn’t provide more details.

“That’s great. Great job,” President Donald Trump said in response to Noem’s remarks during the meeting.

Earlier this year, Trump suggested in public remarks that he may dissolve the emergency management agency—or at least overhaul it.

“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA. I think, frankly, FEMA’s not good,” Trump said in January.

He mentioned it again when he visited the aftermath of wildfires in Los Angeles in January, saying: 

“I say you don’t need FEMA, you need a good state government. FEMA is a very expensive, in my opinion, mostly failed situation.”

After Trump said he wanted to overhaul or scrap FEMA, the agency’s acting head, Cameron Hamilton, wrote to staff and assured them that “FEMA is a critical agency which performs an essential mission in support of our national security.” Hamilton is a former Navy SEAL whom Trump appointed to temporarily lead the agency.

On March 19, Trump signed an order that seeks to hand over responsibility to state and local governments to deal with natural disasters or cyberattacks.

"Federal policy must rightly recognize that preparedness is most effectively owned and managed at the state, local, and even individual levels, supported by a competent, accessible, and efficient federal government,” the order said. 

“Citizens are the immediate beneficiaries of sound local decisions and investments designed to address risks, including cyberattacks, wildfires, hurricanes, and space weather.”

This order is designed to provide more power to “state, local, and individual” preparation efforts and will bring “common sense into infrastructure prioritization and strategic investments through risk-informed decisions that make our infrastructure, communities, and economy resilient to global and dynamic threats and hazards.”

FEMA has a workforce of 20,000 staffers that can increase to more than 50,000 active members during disasters, according to the agency website. The agency was officially created in 1979 and was placed under DHS in 2004.

Aside from FEMA, federal agencies have fired nearly 25,000 newer workers, officials said in court filings last week.

Eighteen agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, started terminating workers after Trump took office, and the Office of Personnel Management directed officials to fire probationary workers who were not critical to agency missions. Many did not disclose the number of workers who were terminated.

The Epoch Times contacted DHS for comment on March 26.

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/26/2025 - 19:15

Appeals Court Refuses To Lift Judge Boasberg's Block On Trump Deportations

With a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has denied President Donald Trump’s request to halt US District Judge James Boasberg's decision that blocked his proclamation applying the Alien Enemies Act to support deportations of suspected members of a Venezuelan gang.

The Justice Department had urged the three-judge panel on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to immediately block Boasberg’s order, casting it as an intrusion on the president’s executive authority over national security.

Judges Karen Henderson and Patricia Millett opposed the administration’s request while Judge Justin Walker dissented.

In a concurrence, Henderson said that:

“the Executive’s burdens are comparatively modest compared to the plaintiffs’. Lifting the injunctions risks exiling plaintiffs to a land that is not their country of origin.”

Millett, meanwhile, praised the district court’s handling of the case and said:

“there is neither jurisdiction nor reason for this court to interfere at this very preliminary stage or to allow the government to singlehandedly moot the Plaintiffs’ claims by immediately removing them beyond the reach of their lawyers or the court.”

Walker’s dissent stated that:

“the government has ... shown that the district court’s orders threaten irreparable harm to delicate negotiations with foreign powers on matters concerning national security.”

Republicans have criticized Boasberg as allegedly overstepping his power by questioning President Donald Trump's national security authority.

The Trump administration could now seek emergency review from the Supreme Court, but the case is meanwhile progressing in Boasberg’s court.

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/26/2025 - 17:20

President Trump Unleashes 25% Tariffs On Foreign-Made Auto Imports

Update (1600ET): President Trump has announced a 25% tariff on all cars not made in the US.

“This will continue to spur growth,” Trump told reporters.

Trump confirmed that these new tariffs are in addition to existing tariffs and are expected to result in $100 billion in revenues.

To underscore his seriousness, Trump said, “This is permanent.”

In addition to the tariffs, Trump discussed his plan to allow Americans to deduct interest payments on cars that are made in America.

If the car is built in the US, there will be no tariffs.

"We are going to charge countries for doing business in our country and taking our jobs, taking our wealth, taking a lot of things that they have been taking over the years."

GM and Ford shares are tumbling further on the news...

European and Canadian officials have already thrown their teddy-bears out of the stroller.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford (who folded like broken deckchair on his last threat to hike electricity costs to Americans), warned that:

...he'll "encourage Carney to target US automobiles... and will inflict as much trade pain as possible."

Canadian PM Mark Carney commented that US tariffs are a "direct attack" on Canadian auto workers, adding that the Trump tariffs "will hurt us."

"We will defend our workers, our companies, and our country."

European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen immediately posted her disappointment on X:

I deeply regret the US decision to impose tariffs on European automotive exports.
 
The automotive industry is a driver of innovation, competitiveness, and high quality jobs, through deeply integrated supply chains on both sides of the Atlantic.
 
As I have said before, tariffs are taxes – bad for businesses, worse for consumers equally in the US and the European Union.
 
We will now assess this announcement, together with other measures the US is envisaging in the next days.
 
The EU will continue to seek negotiated solutions, while safeguarding its economic interests.
 
As a major trading power and a strong community of 27 Member States, we will jointly protect our workers, businesses and consumers across our European Union.

"Our automobile industry will flourish like it's never flourished before," Trump commented, seemingly unflapped by the possibility of retaliation.

There's a lot of nations to upset...

The auto tariffs are part of a broader reshaping of global relations by Trump, who plans to impose what he calls “reciprocal” taxes on April 2 that would match the tariffs, sales taxes charged by other nations.

*  *  *

Update (1315ET): White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt just confirmed that President Trump will hold a press conference at 4pmET today to announce auto tariffs.

The level and scope of the auto tariffs are not clear, including what, if any, exemptions would be included or considered.

It’s also unclear if the tariffs would go into effect immediately or over time, and whether they would hit finished vehicles or also auto parts.

*  *  *

Following President Trump's comments earlier in the week that he would detail the scale of auto levies in the coming days, Bloomberg reports that - citing the usual people familiar with the matter - the Trump administration is readying an announcement on auto tariffs as soon as today.

Bloomberg adds that the people shared the timing of the expected announcement on condition of anonymity, to discuss plans not yet made public. 

One of the people, though, cautioned that the president’s plans could still shift.

This is a move that would escalate Trump's fight with global trading partners ahead of a broader tariff push next week.

The broad market was already lower but accelerated on the report...

Treasury yields also sank...

The president has said the levies will help spur growth in the domestic auto sector and force companies to move more production to the US.

The move risks disrupting operations for North American automakers, who rely on highly integrated chains across the US, Mexico and Canada; and Ford and GM shares are falling on the report.

Minutes after Bloomberg's report, the following headlines hit: 

• *GM CEO MARY BARRA TO MEET TRUMP ADMIN. OVER TARIFFS: FREE PRESS

• *FORD CHAIR BILL FORD TO MEET TRUMP ADMIN THIS WEEK: FREE PRESS

The level and scope of the auto tariffs are not clear, including what, if any, exemptions would be included or considered. It’s also unclear if the tariffs would go into effect immediately or over time.

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/26/2025 - 17:15

Judge Reverses Decision, Says Unions Can Sue Over Federal Worker Firings

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Unions representing federal workers can sue the Trump administration over its mass terminations, as opposed to being restricted to bringing challenges to federal labor boards, a judge said on March 24.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup said that the boards would not be able to adjudicate the unions’ claims that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) violated the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.

“In sum, but for district court jurisdiction, the public-sector unions will be precluded from judicial recourse and relief even for their separation-of-powers claim,” Alsup said in the ruling.

The American Federation of Government Employees and other unions sued the administration in February over OPM directives sent to agency heads, which aimed to further President Donald Trump’s goal of reducing the federal workforce and said agencies should fire newer employees who were not deemed critical to the mission of each agency.

Alsup concluded on Feb. 27 that OPM lacked authority to hire or fire any employees outside of the office but also ruled that while he had jurisdiction over newly fired workers, unions must take their complaints to federal labor boards rather than the courts.

In the new order, Alsup said he was wrong, breaking from three recent rulings in other cases.

The claims brought by the unions, including that OPM violated the separation of powers by directing other agencies to terminate their employees, are standard constitutional law questions that are considered by the courts, the judge said.

The expertise of the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board would not help resolve the claims that revolve around OPM’s authority and do not directly implicate the Civil Service Reform Act, which outlines the system for reviewing terminations and other personnel action against federal employees, according to the ruling.

Three other U.S. district judges have found that similar cases should go before a federal board, but those cases are different in part because they challenged separate aspects of the mass terminations, such as Trump’s order to agencies to carry out firings through plans called reductions-in-force, Alsup said.

The judge ordered parties in the case, including the government, to file responses to his order by March 28.

The American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, plaintiffs in the case, did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Department of Justice did not return an inquiry.

Alsup and another judge recently ordered the government to reinstate nearly 25,000 newer workers whom officials had fired across 18 agencies. An appeals court upheld Alsup’s order, prompting the administration to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices have not yet weighed in on the matter.

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/26/2025 - 17:00

Trump Vows To Probe Ashli Babbitt Homicide, Consider Comp Fund For Pardoned J6ers

President Trump on Tuesday vowed that he would bring new scrutiny to the Department of Justice's handling of the killing of Ashli Babbitt by a Capitol police officer during the Jan 6, 2021 riot, and to explore the possibility of a compensation fund for the 1,500 Capitol riot defendants he pardoned.   

Trump's promises came in a Roosevelt Room interview with Newsmax's Greg Kelly. When Kelly asked Trump about the DOJ continuing to mount a defense against a $30 million wrongful death claim filed by Babbitt's husband, Trump said he wasn't aware of it but would look into the matter: 

"Well, I'll look into that. I mean, you're just telling me that for the first time, I haven't heard that. I'm a big fan of Ashli Babbitt. And Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan. And she was innocently standing there; they even say trying to sort of hold back the crowd. And a man did something to her that was unthinkable when he shot her. And I think it's a disgrace. I'm going to look into that. I did not know that."

Unarmed and posing no threat of death or serious harm, Babbitt was shot to death by Capitol Police on Jan. 6 (via Stark Realities)

Babbitt was shot and killed by US Capitol Police (USCP) Lieutenant Michael Byrd as she attempted to climb through a broken window that was part of an interior doorway close to the House chamber. Though the unarmed, 5'2", 115-pound Babbitt posed no imminent threat of inflicting death or serious injury as she awkwardly navigated the narrow space -- with a furniture barricade still ahead of her --  Boyd opted against using any type of nonlethal force, and instead shot her from an ambush position, killing her with a bullet that perforated her trachea and lung. 

While it's been little-publicized by major media or leftists who screech that Babbitt "got what she deserved," Byrd had some serious disciplinary issues before Jan. 6, with some of the incidents involving the irresponsible handling and even firing of his weapon.  

Despite the damning facts of the case, leftists in and out of media have treated Byrd as a hero for fending off a nonexistent "insurrection." He was not only officially cleared of wrongdoing, but promoted to the rank of captain in 2023. In Tuesday's interview, Kelly also asked Trump how he felt about Byrd still being on duty, with a pay raise and higher rank. The president replied: 

"I think it's a disgrace. I'm going to take a look at it. I'm going to look at that, too. His reputation was ... I won't even say; let's find out about his reputation. We're going to find out. But I watched that and I saw that. And by the way, she was killed, but nobody else was killed."

Noting that the 1,500 Jan 6 defendants pardoned by Trump had "lost opportunity, lost income," Kelly asked Trump if there was any plan in the works to compensate Jan 6ers for their excessively harsh treatment.  "There's talk about that," said Trump. "A lot of the people that are in the government now talk about it, because a lot of the people in government really like that group of people. They were patriots as far as I was concerned...they were treated very unfairly.”

President Trump addresses the latest on the case of Ashli Babbitt, the Trump supporter who was shot and killed at the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, rips the police shooting, the overall treatment of now-pardoned defendants, and the actions of the former House J6 select committee. pic.twitter.com/kPXPyGVuJT

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) March 26, 2025

Given how the left went bonkers over Trump's pardons, the reaction to a reparations package for Jan 6ers would be a sight to behold. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/26/2025 - 16:40

"We've Created A Class Of People Who Are Effectively Grifters" - Rubino Rages At US Govt's "Big Money-Laundering Operation"

Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com,

Analyst and financial writer John Rubino warned last October that “Chaos is Coming.”  

With exploding Tesla dealerships, mass deportations of violent gangs, DOGE uncovering massive fraud and waste, and an out-of-control Leftist judiciary trying to stop President Trump at every turn, you could say chaos is here.  

Rubino contends it’s not going away anytime soon as government grifters are going to try to keep the cash flowing.   Now, AG Pam Bondi says her office is going after the fraudsters ripping off America. Rubino explains,

“We are finding out that the federal government is a big money laundering operation.  There are so many different ways and so many different avenues that take cash from taxpayers or newly created cash . . . and it basically funnels it to political operatives, political class and the ‘expert’ class all around the world...

We have created this class of people who are effectively grifters . . . because they don’t do anything worthwhile at all.  Do you think that think-tanks produce anything of value, or lobbyists or Washington law firms or regulators?  The regulator is basically on a long job interview for the company you are regulating.  

You prove you are a team player and then Pfizer hires you for 10 times your FDA salary.  So, everywhere you look it’s a form of money laundering.”

So, now interest payments are spiraling to infinity with massive amounts of debt and currency creation.  Rubino says, “We have hit the death spiral point for the dollar and the other big fiat currencies, which means the cost to maintain this debt starts to spiral out of control and people lose faith in the currency or the currency collapses or you have a currency reset..."

" What is really interesting about the Trump Administration is it contains a lot of gold bugs...

There is a decent chance of instead of having this gigantic collapse because the dollar is basically evaporating, that this government will be smart enough to do the monetary reset.  Go back to a gold standard . . . go back to some sort of commodity base standard where we peg the dollar to something that is real and cannot be created in infinite quantities on a printing press.  It could be we do that without insane amounts of pain and stress, but it would still be painful.  Anybody who has dollars will watch those dollars be devalued dramatically.”

In this scenario, the dollar sinks in value.  What happens to gold?  Rubino says, 

“Everybody who runs the numbers says gold has to be $10,000 per ounce at a minimum and maybe much higher.  Gold has to go way up in price in a currency reset. . . . So, your gold becomes much more valuable, and your silver gets pulled along by gold and goes up by some multiple of gold’s percentage gains.  If gold goes up three times, silver will go up five to ten times.”

Rubino thinks Europe is headed for war with Russia or civil war.  Either way, the Euro will not survive.  Rubino says the domestic violence will continue here in America but thinks the Deep State won’t stop President Trump’s agenda.  Rubino also says everybody should concentrate on owning real things such as farm land, gold, silver and a good vehicle.  Rubino also says some emergency food and a garden are good ideas too.

There is much more in the 58-minute interview.

Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with financial writer John Rubino of the popular site called Rubino.Substack.com for 3.25.25.

*  *  *

To Donate to USAWatchdog.com Click Here

John Rubino is a prolific financial writer, and you can see some of his work for free at Rubino.Substack.com

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/26/2025 - 16:20

RFK Jr. Is Pushing Big Pharma Ad Ban - And Corporate Media Is Panicking

Authored by Kyle Becker via relentless,

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary, is pushing a plan to ban pharmaceutical ads from television. He’s right to push for it—and not just because the U.S. is one of only two countries on earth that allows such advertising (the other being New Zealand).

America’s health system isn’t just flawed; it’s harming public health, distorting journalism, and fueling Big Pharma’s malignant influence over our daily lives.

Let’s start with the obvious: TV drug ads aren’t designed to inform—they’re designed to manipulate. The formula is always the same. Cue soft lighting and sappy piano music. A sad, listless person pops a pill and suddenly life is vibrant again. They’re running through fields, laughing with family, walking dogs across idyllic bridges.

Then, in a breathless voiceover, the side effects come tumbling out like a legal disclaimer roulette wheel—stroke, heart failure, suicidal thoughts. The goal? Make viewers want a drug before they even talk to their doctor. It’s emotional coercion dressed up as health education.

This completely inverts how medicine is supposed to work. Health care decisions should be made inside the exam room, not in a 60-second marketing spot. Patients should go to their doctors with symptoms, and those doctors—armed with clinical training and knowledge of the patient’s full health profile—should decide whether a drug is even necessary.

Many issues could be better addressed through lifestyle changes, diet, supplements, or preventative care. But instead, America has normalized a pill-for-everything culture, supercharged by the fact that doctors are often nudged by patients demanding whatever drug they saw advertised last night during a commercial break.

This isn’t just bad medicine—it’s dangerous. And it’s no accident.

Big Pharma isn’t spending billions on advertising because it cares about your health. It’s doing it because the return on investment is enormous. Studies estimate the ROI on direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug ads ranges from 100% to 500%, depending on the drug. In 2025 alone, pharmaceutical companies are projected to spend over $5 billion on national linear TV ads, according to iSpot.tv. That number balloons even higher when you include digital and streaming. Just a handful of blockbuster drugs—like Skyrizi, Jardiance, and Ozempic—are burning through tens of millions in TV ads every month.

This revenue isn’t just padding Big Pharma’s pockets—it’s quietly buying influence in the media. Nearly 31% of ad minutes on major nightly news broadcasts in 2024 came from pharmaceutical brands. That means a huge portion of media budgets depend on the very companies they should be holding accountable. And surprise, surprise: when Big Pharma misleads the public, many news outlets are either silent or hesitant to report critically. The financial conflict of interest is baked in.

We saw the worst-case version of this during the COVID-19 pandemic. The novel mRNA shots—rushed to market under emergency use—were sold to the public as miracle solutions. Government officials and media outlets claimed these vaccines would "stop infection," "prevent death entirely," and "end the pandemic." Younger, healthy individuals were told they needed them for everyone’s safety, despite already low statistical risk. None of these claims held up. As the data evolved, we learned the vaccines offered some reduction in severe disease, but not sterilizing immunity. Yet the media rarely corrected course.

Why would they? Pharma ads were paying the bills. Meanwhile, federal workers were mandated—and many private sector employees coerced—into getting injections under false pretenses. Billions of dollars flowed to Big Pharma. The American public was misled.

This pattern of deception is not new. Pfizer alone has paid billions in legal penalties over the years for unethical marketing, off-label promotion, and other violations. The most infamous: a $2.3 billion settlement in 2009—the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history at the time. Yet companies like Pfizer, AbbVie, and Johnson & Johnson still enjoy a polished image on TV, thanks in part to relentless ad spending and regulatory leniency.

RFK Jr.’s plan, while legally uphill, is not without precedent. In 1970, President Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, which banned tobacco ads from TV and radio. Cigarettes were legal, yet too dangerous to promote on air. The same principle should apply here. Just because a drug is FDA-approved doesn’t mean it should be marketed like soda. Approval doesn’t equal infallibility—just ask anyone who took Vioxx or OxyContin.

Critics, including the Wall Street Journal, have framed RFK’s proposal as a personal vendetta. That’s both lazy and misleading. In reality, there’s wide bipartisan and public support for reining in pharma ads. The American Medical Association called for a ban back in 2015. A STAT/Harvard poll found that 57% of Americans support banning TV drug ads. Even hosts on CNBC—hardly anti-business—agreed the ads are unnecessary. “Don’t you think doctors should prescribe it if you need it?” asked Joe Kernen. Exactly.

The pharmaceutical industry’s defenders like to invoke the First Amendment, claiming that banning ads would be unconstitutional. But commercial speech does not enjoy absolute protection. Under the Central Hudson test, the government can regulate ads if it has a substantial interest, the regulation directly advances that interest, and the restriction is narrowly tailored. Protecting public health from misleading pharmaceutical marketing clears all three hurdles. Even if a full ban doesn’t survive, tighter restrictions—like banning ads for certain drug classes, or requiring full price transparency—could pass muster.

More importantly, even the threat of a ban could pressure drugmakers to change course voluntarily. They did it before in 2008, when criticism led to updated self-regulatory guidelines. If Kennedy’s push forces them to rethink their practices, that alone is a win.

Pharma companies will no doubt fight this tooth and nail. But that’s not a reason to back down—it’s a reason to press harder. We’ve allowed an industry with an immense profit motive to shape our health decisions for too long. The result? A country drowning in prescriptions, mired in chronic disease, and confused about who to trust.

Enough is enough. RFK Jr.’s proposal to kick drug ads off TV isn’t radical—it’s responsible. And it’s long overdue.

~~~ KB

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/26/2025 - 15:40

Four Missing US Army Troops In Lithuania Found Dead: NATO

An unusual and alrming headline is emerging out Europe, as a major search was underway since yesterday for four US Army soldiers who had gone missing in Lithuania. The Associated Press in a breaking headline is now reporting they are dead:

NATO CHIEF SAYS 4 MISSING US SOLDIERS WERE KILLED: AP

The incident of the missing personnel and military search operation was first reported by Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT and subsequently picked up in European media. They first disappeared on Tuesday, along with a military vehicle, and belonged to the US Army's 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

Scene at Belarusian border, via LRT

"A possible scene has now been identified, and a search and rescue operation is underway," the Lithuanian military said in a statement hours prior to the announcement of their deaths.

The troops had been undergoing tactical training at the time the went missing. According to The Guardian:

The Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported that four US soldiers and a vehicle were reported missing on Tuesday afternoon during an exercise at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė, a town located less than 10km (6 miles) from the border with Belarus.

The Belarus angle and the proximity of the border could be alarming, given the US essentially considers it an 'enemy' state given its support to the Russian side of the Ukraine war.

"A search operation is currently under way, involving military personnel, rescue services, and firefighters. Lithuanian police also have launched an investigation," US state-funded RFERL writes. According to further statements and details:

Lithuanian officials have given few details, with Gintautas Ciunis, a military spokesman, confirming only that "these are foreign soldiers."

US Army Europe and Africa on March 26 confirmed that the soldiers had gone missing, saying in a statement that they were "conducting scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident."

“I would like to personally thank the Lithuanian Armed Forces and first responders who quickly came to our aid in our search operations,” said Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, the V Corps commanding general.

Via BBC

Lithuania has been a NATO member since 2004, and is one of the Baltic countries which has been outspoken and hawkish in condemning Moscow.

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US Intelligence Says Iran Is 'Not Building A Nuclear Weapon'

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

US intelligence agencies have reaffirmed that there’s no evidence Iran is developing nuclear weapons or that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has reversed his 2003 fatwah that banned the production of weapons of mass destruction.

"The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003," Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.

Via Associated Press

Gabbard’s comments were based on the annual threat assessment, which is released by the ODNI with input from all US intelligence agencies. The report did note that there have been more calls inside Iran to reverse the ban on nuclear weapons, which have grown in response to Israeli aggression in the region.

"In the past year, there has been an erosion of a decades-long taboo on discussing nuclear weapons in public that has emboldened nuclear weapons advocates within Iran’s decision-making apparatus," the report reads.

"Khamenei remains the final decision maker over Iran’s nuclear program, to include any decision to develop nuclear weapons," it notes.

The threat assessment comes amid increasing US sanctions and threats of military action over Iran’s nuclear program. Iranian officials have rejected the idea of talks with the US in the face of President Trump’s "maximum pressure campaign," but have said the door is open for indirect negotiations.

The hype over Iran’s nuclear program revolves around the enrichment of some uranium at 60%, the highest level Iran has achieved but still lower than the 90% needed for weapons-grade. Iran first took the step to enrich at 60% in response to a 2021 Israeli sabotage attack against its Natanz nuclear facility, which was meant to sabotage talks between the Biden administration and Tehran.

Iran is still a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it won’t enrich uranium beyond the 60% level.

Still, more of this alarmism is coming out...

BREAKING: "Iran has reduced the time required to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear device from 10-15 days to presumably less than one week." -- U.S. STRATCOM

— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) March 26, 2025

Amid increasing US and Israeli threats about its nuclear program, Iran has recently pointed out that Israel has a secret nuclear weapons stockpile, and its nuclear program is not subject to IAEA inspections since Israel is not a signatory to the NPT.

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/26/2025 - 14:20

Peter Schiff: Printing Money Is Not the Cure for Cononavirus



In his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff talked about coronavirus and the impact that it is having on the markets. Earlier this month, Peter said he thought the virus was just an excuse for stock market woes. At the time he believed the market was poised to fall anyway. But as it turns out, coronavirus has actually helped the US stock market because it has led central banks to pump even more liquidity into the world financial system. All this means more liquidity — central banks easing. In fact, that is exactly what has already happened, except the new easing is taking place, for now, outside the United States, particularly in China.” Although the new money is primarily being created in China, it is flowing into dollars — the dollar index is up — and into US stocks. Last week, US stock markets once again made all-time record highs. In fact, I think but for the coronavirus, the US stock market would still be selling off. But because of the central bank stimulus that has been the result of fears over the coronavirus, that actually benefitted not only the US dollar, but the US stock market.” In the midst of all this, Peter raises a really good question. The primary economic concern is that coronavirus will slow down output and ultimately stunt economic growth. Practically speaking, the world would produce less stuff. If the virus continues to spread, there would be fewer goods and services produced in a market that is hunkered down. Why would the Federal Reserve respond, or why would any central bank respond to that by printing money? How does printing more money solve that problem? It doesn’t. In fact, it actually exacerbates it. But you know, everybody looks at central bankers as if they’ve got the solution to every problem. They don’t. They don’t have the magic wand. They just have a printing press. And all that creates is inflation.” Sometimes the illusion inflation creates can look like a magic wand. Printing money can paper over problems. But none of this is going to fundamentally fix the economy. In fact, if central bankers were really going to do the right thing, the appropriate response would be to drain liquidity from the markets, not supply even more.” Peter explained how the Fed was originally intended to create an “elastic” money supply that would expand or contract along with economic output. Today, the money supply only goes in one direction — that’s up. The economy is strong, print money. The economy is weak, print even more money.” Of course, the asset that’s doing the best right now is gold. The yellow metal pushed above $1,600 yesterday. Gold is up 5.5% on the year in dollar terms and has set record highs in other currencies. Because gold is rising even in an environment where the dollar is strengthening against other fiat currencies, that shows you that there is an underlying weakness in the dollar that is right now not being reflected in the Forex markets, but is being reflected in the gold markets. Because after all, why are people buying gold more aggressively than they’re buying dollars or more aggressively than they’re buying US Treasuries? Because they know that things are not as good for the dollar or the US economy as everybody likes to believe. So, more people are seeking out refuge in a better safe-haven and that is gold.” Peter also talked about the debate between Trump and Obama over who gets credit for the booming economy – which of course, is not booming.

We are living in crazy times. I have a hard time believing that most of the general public is not awake, but in reality, they are. We've never seen anything like this; I mean not even under Obama during the worst part of the Great Recession." Now the Fed is desperately trying to keep interest rates from rising. The problem is that it's a much bigger debt bubble this time around , and the Fed is going to have to blow a lot more air into it to keep it inflated. The difference is this time it's not going to work." It looks like the Fed did another $104.15 billion of Not Q.E. in a single day. The Fed claims it's only temporary. But that is precisely what Bernanke claimed when the Fed started QE1. Milton Freedman once said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." The same applies to Q.E., or whatever the Fed wants to pretend it's doing. Except this is not QE4, according to Powell. Right. Pumping so much money out, and they are accusing China of currency manipulation ? Wow! Seriously! Amazing! Dump the U.S. dollar while you still have a chance. Welcome to The Atlantis Report. And it is even worse than that, In addition to the $104.15 billion of "Not Q.E." this past Thursday; the FED added another $56.65 billion in liquidity to financial markets the next day on Friday. That's $160.8 billion in two days!!!! in just 48 hours. That is more than 2 TIMES the highest amount the FED has ever injected on a monthly basis under a Q.E. program (which was $80 billion per month) Since this isn't QE....it will be really scary on what they are going to call Q.E. Will it twice, three times, four times, five times what this injection per month ! It is going to be explosive since it takes about 60 to 90 days for prices to react to this, January should see significant inflation as prices soak up the excess liquidity. The question is, where will the inflation occur first . The spike in the repo rate might have a technical explanation: a misjudgment was made in the Fed's money market operations. Even so, two conclusions can be drawn: managing the money markets is becoming harder, and from now on, banks will be studying each other's creditworthiness to a greater degree than before. Those people, who struggle with the minutiae of money markets, and that includes most professionals, should focus on the causes and not the symptoms. Financial markets have recovered from each downturn since 1980 because interest rates have been cut to new lows. Post-2008, they were cut to near zero or below zero in all major economies. In response to a new financial crisis, they cannot go any lower. Central banks will look for new ways to replicate or broaden Q.E. (At some point, governments will simply see repression as an easier option). Then there is the problem of 'risk-free' assets becoming risky assets. Financial markets assume that the probability of major governments such as the U.S. or U.K. defaulting is zero. These governments are entering the next downturn with debt roughly twice the levels proportionate to GDP that was seen in 2008. The belief that the policy worked was completely predicated on the fact that it was temporary and that it was reversible, that the Fed was going to be able to normalize interest rates and shrink its balance sheet back down to pre-crisis levels. Well, when the balance sheet is five-trillion, six-trillion, seven-trillion when we're back at zero, when we're back in a recession, nobody is going to believe it is temporary. Nobody is going to believe that the Fed has this under control, that they can reverse this policy. And the dollar is going to crash. And when the dollar crashes, it's going to take the bond market with it, and we're going to have stagflation. We're going to have a deep recession with rising interest rates, and this whole thing is going to come imploding down. everything is temporary with the fed including remaining off the gold standard temporary in the Fed's eyes could mean at least 50 years This liquidity problem is a signal that trading desks are loaded up on inventory and can't get rid of it. Repo is done out of a need for cash. If you own all of your securities (i.e., a long-only, no leverage mutual fund) you have no need to "repo" your securities - you're earning interest every night so why would you want to 'repo' your securities where you are paying interest for that overnight loan (securities lending is another animal). So, it is those that 'lever-up' and need the cash for settlement purposes on securities they've bought with borrowed money that needs to utilize the repo desk. With this in mind, as we continue to see this need to obtain cash (again, needed to settle other securities purchases), it shows these firms don't have the capital to add more inventory to, what appears to be, a bloated inventory. Now comes the fun part: the Treasury is about to auction 3's, 10's, and 30-year bonds. If I am correct (again, I could be wrong), the Fed realizes securities firms don't have the shelf space to take down a good portion of these auctions. If there isn't enough retail/institutional demand, it will lead to not only a crappy sale but major concerns to the street that there is now no backstop, at all, to any sell-off. At which point, everyone will want to be the first one through the door and sell immediately, but to whom? If there isn't enough liquidity in the repo market to finance their positions, the firms would be unable to increase their inventory. We all saw repo shut down on the 2008 crisis. Wall St runs on money. . OVERNIGHT money. They lever up to inventory securities for trading. If they can't get overnight money, they can't purchase securities. And if they can't unload what they have, it means the buy-side isn't taking on more either. Accounts settle overnight. This includes things like payrolls and bill pay settlements. If a bank doesn't have enough cash to payout what its customers need to pay out, it borrows. At least one and probably more than one banks are insolvent. That's what's going on. First, it can't be one or two banks that are short. They'd simply call around until they found someone to lend. But they did that, and even at markedly elevated rates, still, NO ONE would lend them the money. That tells me that it's not a problem of a couple of borrowers, it's a problem of no lenders. And that means that there's no bank in the world left with any real liquidity. They are ALL maxed out. But as bad as that is, and that alone could be catastrophic, what it really signals is even worse. The lending rates are just the flip side of the coin of the value of the assets lent against. If the rates go up, the value goes down. And with rates spiking to 10%, how far does the value fall? Enormously! And if banks had to actually mark down the value of the assets to reflect 10% interest rates, then my god, every bank in the world is insolvent overnight. Everyone's capital ratios are in the toilet, and they'd have to liquidate. We're talking about the simultaneous insolvency of every bank on the planet. Bank runs. No money in ATMs, Branches closed. Safe deposit boxes confiscated. The whole nine yards, It's actually here. The scenario has tended to guide toward for years and years is actually happening RIGHT NOW! And people are still trying to say it's under control. Every bank in the world is currently insolvent. The only thing keeping it going is printing billions of dollars every day. Financial Armageddon isn't some far off future risk. It's here. Prepare accordingly. This fiat system has reached the end of the line, and it's not correct that fiat currencies fail by design. The problem is corruption and manipulation. It is corruption and cheating that erodes trust and faith until the entire system becomes a gigantic fraud. Banks and governments everywhere ARE the problem and simply have to be removed. They have lost all trust and respect, and all they have left is war and mayhem. As long as we continue to have a majority of braindead asleep imbeciles following orders from these psychopaths, nothing will change. Fiat currency is not just thievery. Fiat currency is SLAVERY. Ultimately the most harmful effect of using debt of undefined value as money (i.e., fiat currencies) is the de facto legalization of a caste system based on voluntary slavery. The bankers have a charter, or the legal *right*, to create money out of nothing. You, you don't. Therefore you and the bankers do not have the same standing before the law. The law of the land says that you will go to jail if you do the same thing (creating money out of thin air) that the banker does in full legality. You and the banker are not equal before the law. ALL the countries of the world; Islamic or secular, Jewish or Arab, democracy or dictatorship; all of them place the bankers ABOVE you. And all of you accept that only whining about fiat money going down in exchange value over time (price inflation which is not the same as monetary inflation). Actually, price inflation itself is mainly due to the greed and stupidity of the bankers who could keep fiat money's exchange value reasonably stable, only if they wanted to. Witness the crash of silver and gold prices which the bankers of the world; Russian, American, Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Arab, all of them collaborated to engineer through the suppression and stagnation of precious metals' prices to levels around the metals' production costs, or what it costs to dig gold and silver out of the ground. The bankers of the world could also collaborate to keep nominal prices steady (as they do in the case of the suppression of precious metals prices). After all, the ability to create fiat money and force its usage is a far more excellent source of power and wealth than that which is afforded simply by stealing it through inflation. The bankers' greed and stupidity blind them to this fact. They want it all, and they want it now. In conclusion, The bankers can create money out of nothing and buy your goods and services with this worthless fiat money, effectively for free. You, you can't. You, you have to lead miserable existences for the most of you and WORK in order to obtain that effectively nonexistent, worthless credit money (whose purchasing/exchange value is not even DEFINED thus rendering all contracts based on the null and void!) that the banker effortlessly creates out of thin air with a few strokes of the computer keyboard, and which he doesn't even bother to print on paper anymore, electing to keep it in its pure quantum uncertain form instead, as electrons whizzing about inside computer chips which will become mute and turn silent refusing to tell you how many fiat dollars or euros there are in which account, in the absence of electricity. No electricity, no fiat, nor crypto money. It would appear that trust is deteriorating as it did when Lehman blew up . Something really big happened that set off this chain reaction in the repo markets. Whatever that something is, we aren't be informed. They're trying to cover it up, paper it over with conjured cash injections, play it cool in front of the cameras while sweating profusely under the 5 thousands dollar suits. I'm guessing that the final high-speed plunge into global economic collapse has begun. All we see here is the ripples and whitewater churning the surface, but beneath the surface, there is an enormous beast thrashing desperately in its death throws. Now is probably the time to start tying up loose ends with the long-running prep projects, just saying. In other words, prepare accordingly, and Get your money out of the banks. I don't care if you don't believe me about Bitcoin. Get your money out of the banks. Don't keep any more money in a bank than you need to pay your bills and can afford to lose.











The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more













The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more

The FBI released a summary of its file from the Hillary Clinton email investigation on Friday, showing details of Clinton's explanation of her use of a private email server to handle classified communications. The release comes nearly two months after FBI Director James Comey announced that although Clinton's handling of classified information was "extremely careless," it did not rise to the level of a prosecutable offense. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the next day that she would not pursue charges in the matter. "We are making these materials available to the public in the interest of transparency and in response to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests," the FBI noted in a statement sent to reporters with links to the documents. The documents include notes from Clinton's July 2 interview with agents, as well as a "factual summary of the FBI's investigation into this matter," according to the FBI release. Throughout her interview with agents, Clinton repeatedly said she relied on the career professionals she worked with to handle classified information correctly. The agents asked about a series of specific emails, and in each case Clinton said she wasn't worried about the particular material being discussed on a nonclassified channel.