10. Omnibus Bill Would Bring U.S. Taxpayer Funds for Ukraine to Over $110 Billion in One Year
If the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill is passed by Congress, it would mean that American taxpayers spent more than $110 billion on aid to Ukraine in less than one year.

Congress earlier this year passed $66 billion for Ukraine aid, and an additional $45 billion contained in the omnibus bill unveiled this week would bring the total to $111 billion.
Read at Breitbart.com

9. FBI Lashes Out At 'Conspiracy Theorists' Over 'Twitter Files' Criticism
The FBI slammed the Elon Musk-allied journalists who have released internal documents relating to censorship decisions at Twitter, calling them "conspiracy theorists" for alleging that the agency had encouraged the platform to censor news about Hunter Biden.

The FBI published a statement on Wednesday responding to Monday's release of what Musk and his allies are calling the Twitter Files, which elaborated on the company's communications with the FBI. The journalist who released the files, Michael Shellenberger, said they showed the agency secretly influencing Twitter to remove the New York Post story about Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020.
Read at WashingtonExaminer.com

8. No Conclusive Evidence Russia is Behind Nord Stream Attack
After explosions in late September severely damaged undersea pipelines built to carry natural gas from Russia to Europe, world leaders quickly blamed Moscow for a brazen and dangerous act of sabotage. With winter approaching, it appeared the Kremlin intended to strangle the flow of energy to millions across the continent, an act of “blackmail,” some leaders said, designed to threaten countries into withdrawing their financial and military support for Ukraine.

But now, after months of investigation, numerous officials privately say that Russia may not be to blame after all for the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines.

“There is no evidence at this point that Russia was behind the sabotage,” said one European official, echoing the assessment of 23 diplomatic and intelligence officials in nine countries interviewed in recent weeks.
Read at WashingtonPost.com

7. House GOP Locates Emails, Texts Showing Pelosi Office Directly Involved in Failed Jan. 6 Security
House Republicans gathered a trove of text and email messages showing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office was directly involved in the creation and editing of the Capitol security plan that failed during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot and that security officials later declared they had been “denied again and again” the resources needed to protect one of the nation’s most important homes of democracy.
Read at JusttheNews.com

6. Biden Called Harris 'Work in Progress,' was 'Annoyed' with Her Husband Complaining: Book
According to a new book about the Biden presidency, there have been real tensions between President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, with the president venting to friends that he has been "annoyed" with her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, complaining about the VP's official assignments.

Biden has reportedly been frustrated with Harris and called her a "work in progress."

Politico published these quotes on Tuesday from an excerpt of the upcoming book, "The Fight of His Life," by Chris Whipple. The book provides an inside look at the Biden presidency’s first years. Whipple told Politico he was given "extensive access to Biden administration officials while writing the book."
Read at FoxNews.com

5. Why the Marine Corps May Nix Gender Identifiers for Drill Instructors
A new academic report on efforts to integrate Marine Corps boot camp recommends dropping gender-specific salutations for drill instructors, but service leaders are not convinced they want to take that step.

The lengthy report, commissioned by the Corps from the University of Pittsburgh in 2020 and completed in 2022, points out that half of the military services already have done away with gendered identifiers for training staff.
Read at MilitaryTimes.com

4. Trudeau Says Firearms Bill Will Go After 'Some' Hunting Guns That Are 'Too Dangerous in Other Contexts'
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that while the federal government is not trying to go after the right to hunt through contentious gun control legislation, the Liberals "are going at some of the guns used to do it."

Trudeau said that this is because some of these firearms "are too dangerous in other contexts."
Read at CTVNews.ca

3. Man to Spend Christmas in Jail After not Using ‘Transgender’ Student’s Preferred Pronouns
A man who has been in jail since September will reportedly spend Christmas in prison after refusing to refer to one of his “transgender” students using their preferred pronouns.

Enoch Burke, a teacher from Ireland, had requested to be released from prison ahead of Christmas during a sitting of the country’s High Court on Tuesday.
Read at Breitbart.com

2. Congress Moves to Ban TikTok from US Government Devices
TikTok would be banned from most U.S. government devices under a spending bill Congress unveiled early Tuesday, the latest push by American lawmakers against the Chinese-owned social media app.

The $1.7 trillion package includes requirements for the Biden administration to prohibit most uses of TikTok or any other app created by its owner, ByteDance Ltd. The requirements would apply to the executive branch — with exemptions for national security, law enforcement and research purposes — and don’t appear to cover Congress, where a handful of lawmakers maintain TikTok accounts.
Read at APNews.com

1. SEC Charges Two Former FTX Associates for Roles in Crypto Exchange's Collapse
The Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, charged two former associates of Sam Bankman Fried’s who allegedly participated in a multiyear scheme to defraud investors of FTX.

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and Former Chief Technology Officer of FTX Trading LTD Zixiao (Gary) Wang were charged by the SEC on Wednesday.
Read at FoxBusiness.com