Firm tied to Kristi Noem secretly got money from $220 million DHS ad contracts
On Oct. 2, the second day of the government shutdown, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrived at Mount Rushmore to shoot a television ad. Sitting on horseback in chaps and a cowboy hat, Noem addressed the camera with a stern message for immigrants: “Break our laws, we’ll punish you.” Noem has hailed the more than $200 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign as a crucial tool to stem illegal immigration. Her agency invoked the “national emergency” at the border as it awarded contracts for the campaign, bypassing the normal competitive bidding process designed to prevent waste and corruption. The company running the Mount Rushmore shoot, called the Strategy Group, does not appear on public documents about the contract. The main recipient listed on the contracts is a mysterious Delaware company, which was created days before the deal was finalized. No firm has closer ties to Noem’s political operation than the Strategy Group. It played a central role in her 2022 South Dakota gubernatorial campaign. Corey Lewandowski, her top adviser at DHS, has worked extensively with the firm. And the company’s CEO is married to Noem’s chief spokesperson at DHS, Tricia McLaughlin. “It’s corrupt, is the word,” said Charles Tiefer, a leading authority on federal contract law. “Hiding your friends as subcontractors is like playing hide the salami with the taxpayer,” Tiefer added.
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VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump issues crazy announcement about Epstein
Brian Tyler Cohen breaks down Trump's surprising announcement that the Department of Justice would be investigating Epstein's associates — but only the Democratic ones, like Bill Clinton and Larry Summers.
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Veteran Richard Ojeda takes on one of Trump’s top allies
Richard Ojeda for Congress: Richard Ojeda served his country for 24 years in the US Army, and now he’s ready to do it again in Congress. He’s running against one of Trump’s top cronies, Richard Hudson, who just so happens to be the man who told his fellow Republicans to stop holding town halls and just ignore their constituents. It’s time the American people had some leaders who will actually listen to them and not just their millionaire donors. Will you chip in to help Ojeda flip this critical seat in a must-win battleground state?
Indiana redistricting push likely dead despite White House pressure
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Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino did not undergo standard bureau background check before beginning the job
FBI Director Kash Patel granted waivers to Deputy Director Dan Bongino and two other newly hired senior FBI staff members, exempting them from passing polygraph exams normally required to gain access to America’s most sensitive classified information, according to a former senior FBI official and several other government officials. Bongino’s role as the FBI’s second-highest-ranking official means he is responsible for day-to-day operations of the agency, including green-lighting surveillance missions, coordinating with intelligence agency partners and managing the bureau’s 56 field offices across the country. The deputy director receives some of the country’s most closely held secrets, including the President’s Daily Brief, which also contains intelligence from the CIA and the National Security Agency. People familiar with the matter say his ascent to that position without passing a standard FBI background check was unprecedented.
Judge to approve $7bn settlement with OxyContin maker that requires Sackler family members to pay victims
A federal bankruptcy court judge on Friday said he would approve OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma’s latest deal to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids that includes some money for thousands of victims of the epidemic. The deal overseen by US bankruptcy judge Sean Lane would require some of the multibillionaire members of the semi-reclusive Sackler family who own the company to contribute up to $7bn and give up ownership of the Connecticut-based firm.
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Justice Department prepares to pay Trump ally Michael Flynn millions
Michael Flynn is seeking restitution from the government to the tune of $50 million. Donald Trump’s onetime national security adviser is now negotiating a settlement with his Department of Justice, claiming that he was unjustly prosecuted by former special counsel Robert Mueller for lying to the FBI about conversations with a Russian official. Flynn initially pleaded guilty and then fought the prosecution, eventually receiving a pardon from Trump in 2020. Flynn later filed a lawsuit against the government for damages, only to have a federal judge dismiss the case in December last year. While the Biden administration fought Flynn’s case, the Trump administration seems open to a settlement.
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