Category: News
“It’s Unbelievable”: Taxpayers’ Money Still Flowing To Indicted Fraud Suspect: Minnesota Lawmaker
“It’s Unbelievable”: Taxpayers’ Money Still Flowing To Indicted Fraud Suspect: Minnesota Lawmaker
Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A Minnesota lawmaker alleged on Dec. 17 that a man awaiting trial on federal charges that he laundered $1.1 million in taxpayer dollars and his wife continue to collect payments from other government programs, a state lawmaker said Dec. 17.
The Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minn., on May 11, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
That’s concerning, state Rep. Kristin Robbins told the fraud-fighting committee that she chairs.
“This is just one example of how potential fraudulent activity is being allowed to continue in Minnesota,” she said during a hearing at the state Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota. Later, she alleged on social media that the state government “continued to pay a fraudster who was indicted.”
With the help of whistleblowers, a public-records researcher uncovered an intertwined web of people and entities allegedly tied to the man. Those connections are still receiving taxpayer dollars for assisted-living facilities and adult day services despite multiple “red flags” indicating possible fraud, Robbins said.
These revelations show that state agencies are failing to employ “the most basic checks and balances” to prevent and detect fraud despite state agencies promising reforms, Robbins told fellow members of the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Policy Committee.
The committee—five Republicans and three Democrats—has met regularly since February, trying to get a handle on the state’s burgeoning fraud scandals. In recent weeks, Minnesota fraud cases have drawn national attention and multiple federal investigations. The scandals mostly involve federal programs that state programs administer, with matching state contributions in some instances.
The defendant, whom Robbins dubbed Person One, allegedly received $49 million from state-run programs from 2019 to 2024 on top of the $1.1 million he is accused of laundering, she said.
He is among 78 people charged since 2022 in the Feeding Our Future (FOF) scandal. Fraudsters connected to that now-defunct nonprofit agency reaped a total of nearly $250 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program after falsely claiming to provide 91 million meals to needy children.
Robbins alleged that Person One “changed his name months before he was indicted” for FOF, and used his new name to purchase two homes that are operating as an assisted-living facility that receives government money.
One of those homes, Robbins alleged, was bought under the same business name tied to alleged money laundering in the FOF case.
“It is unbelievable,” she said.
What’s more, Robbins said, the defendant’s wife “just recently purchased a fourth home” that will become part of an assisted-living facility that she operates—and for which she was granted a temporary license in September.
Homes that the accused man purchased or owned were still enrolled in state programs as recently as this October, Robbins said, noting that the wife has run the sites for two years after her husband’s FOF indictment.
One of the assisted-living facilities that Person One administers has four beds. “Despite this limited capacity,” the facility was paid $826,000 in 2024 and was “on pace to double that” this year, Robbins said.
“We need to be concerned about that,” she said, adding, “This home was purchased with cash, which is a red flag because there’s a lot of money laundering going on in these spaces.”
Minnesota law allows the state to stop government program payments based on “credible allegations of fraud,” Robbins said. “And, my friends, if someone has been indicted in Feeding Our Future, that’s a credible allegation of fraud, and they should not be getting state money for any other program.”
Robbins urged state agency leaders: “At a minimum, any business with ties to Feeding Our Future indictments should receive higher scrutiny,” especially if involved parties are also seeking money from other government programs.
“Any business owner should be checked to see if the owner has a history of other violations,” she said.
State agency officials who testified at the hearing included Dr. Brooke Cunningham, the state health commissioner. She testified about the “large and growing” assisted-living industry, acknowledging a “need for oversight.”
But Cunningham noted that health care professionals who are involved in licensing and on-site reviews do not process billing claims. Therefore, they would not be privy to financial matters.
However, Cunningham said those staffers do pass along any concerns they notice “to our partners who do handle the billing for those services and who do investigate any sort of criminal activity.”
James Clark, inspector general for the Department of Human Services, said the department is putting a two-year “pause” on licensing new adult day centers.
“We’re shifting staff … so that they can squarely focus on existing adult day businesses,” he said.
Thus, he said, they can be more vigilant for signs of fraud.
In addition, he said, “we are aggressively suspending payments” whenever investigators are seriously concerned about fraud.
“I am sick of Medicaid fraud. I want to shut off payments to any provider that is stealing from us,” Clark said, adding that he would welcome information from the committee.
Robbins replied that the committee has not shared whistleblowers’ disclosures with Clark’s office because “this fraud has been perpetuated on your watch,” and the whistleblowers insist on confidentiality. They report being “terrified,” Robbins said, because many of them allege they were subjected to retaliation or surveillance when they previously tried to sound alarms about fraud.
Committee members interviewed whistleblowers and relayed information to federal prosecutors, the FBI, and the Office of Legislative Auditor, all of whom have access to bank, health, and payment records that legislators cannot obtain, Robbins said.
Robbins also said the Department of Human Services so far has responded to only one of her recent requests for data; six such requests remain unfulfilled.
The Epoch Times sought a response from Clark’s office and received no reply prior to publication.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/18/2025 – 08:40
Merrillville’s Charles Hardiman goes from freshman phenom to sophomore sensation. ‘He just wants to win.’
Expectations could have been a burden for Merrillville’s Charles Hardiman after his breakout freshman season.
Instead, the 6-foot-4 guard is shattering them.
“People talk about ‘sophomore slump,’ but he’s started off very hot,” Merrillville coach Bo Patton said. “It’s the weight room, his willingness to work, his willingness to make his teammates better and just his humbleness. He’s a team-first guy.
“We have other guys that can make plays, and Charles is a very willing passer. He’s very efficient, shooting over 50% from the field. Although he’s scoring 30, nothing’s forced.”
That’s only a slight exaggeration. Hardiman is averaging 29.3 points, posting totals of 35, 30 and 23 in the first three games before the Pirates (1-2) played East Chicago Central on Friday.
“My seven, eight years of being a coach, I don’t know if we’ve ever had a player score at this rate, even with Keon Thompson,” Patton said. “Score 30 off the bat, people know who you are. They’re still game-planning for him because of last year. I’d call it special.”
Merrillville’s Charles Hardiman (14) drives to the basket past Chesterton’s Logan Pokorney (5) and Rob Czarniecki (23) during a Duneland Athletic Conference game in Chesterton on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)
Hardiman burst onto the scene last season, setting a team record for points scored by a freshman. He also was chosen to participate in the Indiana All-Stars Futures Game after averaging 15.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.0 steals.
“It was a great experience,” Hardiman said. “Having a season and a year like that, it really built me. It was good individually.
“But from a team standpoint, things weren’t where we wanted them to be. But I know this is my path. Everyone has a journey. I didn’t have expectations to do what I’ve done. I just believed in myself. I was confident. I just went out there and gave it my all.”
Hardiman’s efforts continued during the offseason, when he grew 2 inches and gained 10 pounds.
“I took the weight room more seriously,” he said. “I got taller. Mentally, I’m more mature, just realizing I have even a bigger role this year. Being a leader on the team, I have to do whatever it takes and be an example for my teammates.
“I can take more hits. I’m not as tired anymore.”
Patton applauds Hardiman’s commitment to getting stronger.
“The biggest thing’s the weight room,” Patton said. “It’s just his work ethic. The guy puts a lot of work in.
“Last year, you could tell he was a scrawny little freshman. Now he steps on the court, he looks like a Division I prospect. He’s taller. He has that wiry strength. He doesn’t look like a scrawny freshman on the court anymore.”
Merrillville’s Charles Hardiman, left, takes the ball to the basket past Valparaiso’s KJ Avery during a game in the first round of the Class 4A Valparaiso Sectional on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. Andy Lavalley / Post-Tribune)
In Hardiman’s freshman season, the Pirates went 7-19 — “obviously a down year for us,” Patton said — although they did reach a Class 4A sectional final.
“Scoring is one thing, but Charles just wants to win, and eventually his scoring will lead us to some wins,” Patton said. “Being a sophomore trying to lead a team, it’s a tough job.
“When I think about when coach (TJ) Lux was the head coach and I was an assistant, we had DJ Wilkins and Jairus Stevens and those guys. When they were sophomores, we won four games. By the time their senior year came around, we were the No. 1 team in the state. So we’re just trusting the process, game by game, not trying to get it all at once and just trying to get Merrillville back to where we need to be. Obviously, Charles is a big part of that.”
Hardiman has set a high bar.
“Obviously, you always want to win a state championship,” he said. “That’s the main goal. Just play hard and do what we need to do to win and see how far that takes us.”
Junior guard Michael Hill Jr., a star quarterback who continues to recover from a broken left collarbone suffered in the Class 5A state championship game, believes Hardiman can help take the Pirates far.
“Charles is an amazing all-around guy,” Hill said. “He does a lot as a scorer, but he’s very unselfish. He loves being around his teammates, having fun with us. He loves the game of basketball. He always gives 100%. He always tries to help the team as much as possible.
“You would think he cares about scoring, but he doesn’t. He just wants to win. That’s the end goal. He really wants to win a state championship. He wants to bring a culture and bring life to Merrillville basketball.”
Merrillville’s Charles Hardiman, right, tries to shoot the ball as Chesterton’s Malachi Ransom, left, goes for the block during a Duneland Athletic Conference game in Chesterton on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)
Meanwhile, Hardiman is taking his hot start in stride.
“Keeping God first, not worrying, trusting the coaches and my teammates to put me in positions where I can be successful — me just growing as a player, a person, a leader,” he said. “I just want to be the best version of myself.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/basketball-merrillville-charles-hardiman/
La última gran lluvia de meteoros del año será justo antes de Navidad
Por ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN
NUEVA YORK (AP) — La última gran lluvia de meteoros del año, conocida como las Úrsidas, alcanzará su punto máximo pronto, trayendo destellos brillantes a los cielos nocturnos y de madrugada. Comparada con otras lluvias de meteoros, es más moderada, pero los expertos dicen que aún vale la pena echarle un vistazo.
Las lluvias de meteoros ocurren cuando rocas espaciales golpean la atmósfera de la Tierra a velocidades extremadamente altas y se queman, ganando colas de fuego, el final de una “estrella fugaz”. Los meteoros aleatorios son visibles desde la Tierra en cualquier noche despejada, pero las lluvias de meteoros más predecibles ocurren anualmente cuando la Tierra pasa a través de corrientes de restos cósmicos de cometas o asteroides.
Las Úrsidas alcanzan su punto máximo desde la noche del domingo hasta la mañana del lunes y serán visibles hasta el 26 de diciembre desde el hemisferio norte. Los observadores del cielo suelen ver de cinco a diez meteoros por hora durante el pico y hay una posibilidad de estallidos de hasta 25 meteoros por hora, según la Sociedad Estadounidense de Meteoros.
Qué tan activa aparecerá una lluvia desde la Tierra depende de la cantidad de escombros y del brillo de la Luna, que puede ocultar los meteoros brillantes. Las Úrsidas presentan menos escombros espaciales que otras lluvias como las Gemínidas, pero la estrecha luna creciente no será un gran obstáculo cuando alcancen su punto máximo.
No se necesita equipo especial para ver una lluvia de meteoros. Para ver las Úrsidas, que provienen de un cometa llamado 8P/Tuttle, abrígate y aléjate de las luces de la ciudad.
“Cuanto más oscuro sea tu cielo, mejor será la lluvia”, aconseja el astrónomo Peter Brown de la Universidad Occidental, en Canadá.
Los meteoros pueden verse en todo el cielo, pero todas las estelas parecerán provenir de un punto central cerca de una constelación por la cual la lluvia lleva su nombre. En este caso, es la constelación de la Osa Menor, también conocida como el Pequeño Cazo.
Una vez que oscurezca, evita las luces brillantes de los teléfonos móviles, que dificultarán que tus ojos se ajusten.
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El Departamento de Salud y Ciencia de The Associated Press recibe apoyo del Departamento de Educación Científica del Instituto Médico Howard Hughes y de la Fundación Robert Wood Johnson. La AP es la única responsable de todo el contenido.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Fed Inflation Target Nears As US CPI Tumbles More Than Expected In November
Fed Inflation Target Nears As US CPI Tumbles More Than Expected In November
‘A grain of salt’ is how many have described their position on this morning’s government shutdown-delayed release of October and November Consumer Price Inflation data.
Headline CPI slowed to 2.7% YoY in November (dramatically below the 3.1% YoY expected)
Core CPI fell to 2.6% YoY in November (well below the 3.0% YoY expected) and the lowest since March 2021…
There is very little additional data for now with Core Goods and Services down modestly while Energy prices were higher…
…but will drop notably as oil prices have plunged…
Shelter and Rent inflation also continues to slow dramatically…
As expected in Sept, both Rent and Shelter CPI are freefalling as they catch down to real-time 3rd party metrics.
This is also Miran’s thesis on disinflation and CPI extending its slide in 2026. https://t.co/xcwlPzTjQO pic.twitter.com/9cQdYTHKXj
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 18, 2025
SuperCore CPI also plunged…
3m annualized CPI tumbled to 2.08% YoY… very close to The Fed’s target…
Finally, we end with three words from Goldman’s Delta-One desk-head with regard this morning’s data: ‘beware the noise’.
Disinflation remains a key pillar of the equity bull case, and these levels still imply inflation hovering closer to 3% so not quite there yet (but heading in the right direction… a lot faster than many expected).
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/18/2025 – 08:36
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/us-consumer-price-inflation-tumbles-november
Israel launches intense airstrikes in Lebanon as deadline looms to disarm Hezbollah
BEIRUT — Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on southern and northeastern Lebanon on Thursday as a deadline looms to disarm the militant Hezbollah group along the countries’ tense frontier.
The strikes came a day before a meeting of the committee monitoring the enforcement of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago. The gathering on Friday will be the second meeting of the mechanism after Israel and Lebanon appointed civilian members to a previously military-only committee. The group also includes the United States, France and the U.N. peacekeeping force deployed along the border.
In Paris, Lebanon’s army commander, Gen. Rodolph Haikal, was scheduled to hold meetings with American, French and Saudi officials to discuss ways of assisting the army in its mission to boost its presence in the border area. Haikal started his meetings first by holding talks with French military officials.
Gen. Fabien Mandon, the French armed forces’ chief of staff, posted on X Thursday that he discussed with Haikal the strategic environment and security challenges in Lebanon and the region.
Mandon said that France’s help to the Lebanese army is guided by a common objective, which is “to contribute to maintaining stability and lasting peace, in respect with Lebanon’s sovereignty.”
The Lebanese government has said that the army should have cleared the whole border area south of the Litani River from Hezbollah’s armed presence by the end of the year.
The Israeli military said that the strikes hit Hezbollah infrastructure and launching sites in a military compound used by the group to conduct training and courses for its fighters. The Israeli military also said that it struck several Hezbollah military structures in which weapons were stored, and from which Hezbollah members operated recently.
The intense airstrikes stretched from areas in Mount Rihan in the south to the northeastern Hermel region that borders Syria, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, or NNA.
Shortly afterward, a drone strike on a car near the southern town of Taybeh wounded four people, NNA reported.
“This is an Israeli message to the Paris meeting aiming to support the Lebanese army,” parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri said about the strikes.
“The fire belt of Israeli airstrikes is to honor the mechanism’s meeting tomorrow (Friday),” Berri said during a parliamentary meeting in Beirut.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon in September 2024 that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.
Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since then, mainly targeting Hezbollah members, but also killing 127 civilians, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Over the past several weeks, the U.S. has increased pressure on Lebanon to work harder on disarming Hezbollah.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/israel-airstrikes-lebanon-hezbollah/
US government admits role in causing helicopter-plane collision that killed 67 in Washington
The U.S. government admitted Wednesday that the actions of an air traffic controller and Army helicopter pilot played a role in causing a collision last January between an airliner and a Black Hawk near the nation’s capital, killing 67 people.
It was the deadliest plane crash on American soil in more than two decades.
The official response to the first lawsuit filed by one of the victims’ families said that the government is liable in the crash partly because the air traffic controller violated visual separation procedures that night. Plus, the filing said, the Army helicopter pilots’ “failure to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid” the airline jet makes the government liable.
But the filing suggested that others, including the pilots of the jet and the airlines, may also have played a role. The lawsuit also blamed American Airlines and its regional partner, PSA Airlines, for roles in the crash, but those airlines have filed motions to dismiss.
And the government denied that any air traffic controllers or officials at the Federal Aviation Administration or Army were negligent.
At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter collided with the American Airlines regional jet while it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in northern Virginia, just across the river from Washington, D.C., officials said. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members, and three soldiers were aboard the helicopter.
Attorney says loss of life was needless
Robert Clifford, one of the attorneys for the family of victim Casey Crafton, said the government admitted “the Army’s responsibility for the needless loss of life” and the FAA’s failure to follow air traffic control procedures while “rightfully” acknowledging others –- American Airlines and PSA Airlines -– also contributed to the deaths.
The families of the victims “remain deeply saddened and anchored in the grief caused by this tragic loss of life,” he said.
The government’s lawyers said in the filing that “the United States admits that it owed a duty of care to plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident.”
An American spokesman declined to comment on the filing, but in the airline’s motion to dismiss, American said “plaintiffs’ proper legal recourse is not against American. It is against the United States government … The Court should therefore dismiss American from this lawsuit.” The airline said that since the crash it has focused on supporting the families of the victims.
The lawsuit had accused the airlines of not doing enough to mitigate the risks of flying so close to helicopters around Washington, D.C., and not adequately training their pilots to handle it.
Investigators highlight contributing factors
The National Transportation Safety Board will release its report on the cause of the crash early next year, but investigators have already highlighted a number of factors that contributed, including the helicopter flying 78 feet higher (24 meters) than the 200-foot (61-meter) limit on a route that allowed only scant separation between planes landing on Reagan’s secondary runway and helicopters passing below. Plus, the NTSB said, the FAA failed to recognize the dangers around the busy airport even after 85 near misses in the three years before the crash.
The government admitted in its filing that the United States “was on notice of certain near-miss events between its Army-operated Black Hawk helicopters and aircraft traffic transiting in and around helicopter routes 1 and 4” around Washington.
Before the collision, the controller twice asked the helicopter pilots whether they had the jet in sight, and the pilots said they did and asked for visual separation approval so they could use their own eyes to maintain distance. FAA officials acknowledged at the NTSB’s investigative hearings that the controllers at Reagan had become overly reliant on the use of visual separation. That’s a practice the agency has since ended.
Witnesses told the NTSB that they have serious questions about how well the helicopter crew could spot the plane while wearing night vision goggles and whether the pilots were even looking in the right spot.
Investigators have said the helicopter pilots might not have realized how high they were because the barometric altimeter they were relying on was reading 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) lower than the altitude registered by the flight data recorder.
Swift admission
The crash victims included a group of elite young figure skaters, their parents and coaches who had just attended a competition in Wichita, Kansas, and four union steamfitters from the Washington area.
Retired pilot Richard J. Levy, an aviation litigation expert witness, said the government’s admission of some responsibility less than a year after the crash is unusual, especially considering the amount of money that could be involved in the case.
“They would not have done that if there was a doubt in their mind about anything the controller did or that the Army did,” said Levy.
Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/us-washington-government-role-helicopter-plane-collision/
Turquía advierte a Rusia y Ucrania sobre la seguridad en el mar Negro tras derribo de dron
ANKARA, Turquía (AP) — Turquía advirtió a Rusia y Ucrania que ejerzan mayor precaución respecto a la seguridad del mar Negro después de que su fuerza aérea derribara un dron que ingresó al espacio aéreo turco, informó el ministerio de defensa el jueves.
El lunes, se enviaron aviones de combate F-16 después de que un dron “fuera de control” se acercara al espacio aéreo turco desde el mar Negro. El aparato fue derribado en un área segura para proteger a los civiles y el tráfico aéreo, dijeron las autoridades. El incidente se produjo tras los recientes ataques ucranianos a buques petroleros de la “flota en la sombra” rusa frente a la costa turca, así como a advertencias de funcionarios turcos sobre el riesgo de que la guerra en Ucrania se extienda a la región.
“Debido a la guerra en curso entre Ucrania y Rusia, se advirtió a nuestros homólogos que ambas partes deben ser más cuidadosas respecto a incidentes que podrían afectar negativamente la seguridad del mar Negro”, declaró el ministerio.
Las autoridades turcas no han revelado el origen del dron.
El ministerio dijo que es probable que el objeto se haya desintegrado en pequeños fragmentos que se dispersaron en un área amplia, lo que dificulta su identificación. Los esfuerzos de búsqueda y análisis técnico aún estaban en curso, añadió.
Ucrania dijo que sus drones navales atacaron dos buques petroleros el 28 de noviembre. Un tercero fue atacado el 2 de diciembre mientras se dirigía hacia el puerto turco de Sinop.
El presidente Recep Tayyip Erdogan condenó los ataques anteriores como una amenaza para “la seguridad de la navegación, la vida y el medio ambiente, especialmente en nuestra propia zona exclusiva”.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Pentagon Escalates Probe Of Sen. Mark Kelly Over ‘Illegal Orders’ Video
Pentagon Escalates Probe Of Sen. Mark Kelly Over ‘Illegal Orders’ Video
Authored by Arjun Singh via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a former astronaut and captain in the U.S. Navy, is now facing a “command investigation” into his conduct by the Department of War.
A “command investigation” is a procedure by which a commanding officer conducts an official inquiry into allegations of serious misconduct by a military person, which involves sworn witness testimonies, multiple personnel working on the matter, and the opportunity for the target to submit evidence in response. At the end, a report is prepared by the investigating officer and is used as a basis for action, such as a court-martial.
“The Office of the Secretary of War, in conjunction with the Department of War’s Office of the General Counsel, is escalating the preliminary review of Capt. Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.), to an official Command Investigation. Retired Capt. Kelly is currently under investigation for serious allegations of misconduct,” a spokesperson for the Department of War told The Epoch Times by email.
On Nov. 18, Kelly and five other members of Congress with military or intelligence community experience released a video exhorting U.S. military personnel to refuse what they called “illegal orders” from President Donald Trump.
“Like us, you all swore an oath. … Our laws are clear, you can refuse illegal orders,” Kelly says in the video, while Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) adds, “You must refuse illegal orders.”
Trump has criticized Kelly on social media for his statement and accused him of treason, as well as suggested that he should receive the death penalty for that alleged crime.
“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand,” the president wrote on Nov. 20. “Seditious behavior from traitors!!! Lock them up???”
The Department of War, after Trump’s comments, announced that it had initiated a review of Kelly’s record.
Kelly responded to the news on social media.
“We learned the Pentagon is escalating its review of me into ‘an official command investigation.’ If Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth think they can stop me from doing my job and serving the American people, they’ve got the wrong guy,” he wrote on X on Dec. 15.
Kelly is being represented by law firm Arnold and Porter, which wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy John Phelan defending the senator.
“To be clear: there is no legitimate basis for any type of proceeding against Sen. Kelly, and any such effort would be unconstitutional and an abuse of power,” wrote Paul J. Fishman, Kelly’s attorney.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/18/2025 – 08:05
Trump Media se fusionará con empresa de energía nuclear
Trump Media & Technology se fusionará con una empresa de energía nuclear en un acuerdo totalmente en acciones que, según dijeron las compañías el jueves, está valorado en más de 6.000 millones de dólares.
Devin Nunes, el congresista republicano que renunció en 2021 para convertirse en director general de Trump Media, será codirector general de la nueva empresa junto con el CEO de TAE Technologies, Michl Binderbauer.
Las acciones de Trump Media & Technology, la empresa matriz de la red social Truth Social del presidente Donald Trump, han caído un 70% este año, pero subieron 20% antes de la campana de apertura el jueves.
TAE es una empresa privada y la fusión con Trump Media crearía una de las primeras empresas de fusión nuclear que cotizan en bolsa.
“Estamos dando un gran paso hacia una tecnología revolucionaria que consolidará la dominancia energética global de Estados Unidos por generaciones”, dijo Nunes en un comunicado preparado.
TAE se centra en la fusión nuclear, una tecnología que combina dos núcleos atómicos ligeros para formar uno más pesado. Libera una enorme cantidad de energía, un proceso que ocurre en el sol y otras estrellas, según el Organismo Internacional de Energía Atómica de Naciones Unidas.
Los accionistas de TAE y Trump Media poseerán aproximadamente el 50% de la empresa combinada.
Las empresas dicen que la transacción valora cada acción común de TAE en 53,89 dólares por acción.
Al cierre, Trump Media & Technology Group será la empresa matriz de Truth Social y TAE, junto con sus subsidiarias TAE Power Solutions y TAE Life Sciences.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/trump-media-se-fusionar-con-empresa-de-energa-nuclear/
Instacart Shares Slide As FTC Reportedly Investigates AI Pricing Tool
Instacart Shares Slide As FTC Reportedly Investigates AI Pricing Tool
Instacart shares fell in premarket trading in New York after an overnight report said the Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into the online grocery delivery and pickup platform.
Reuters reported that the FTC’s investigation is focused on Instacart’s AI-driven pricing tool and whether it led shoppers to be charged different prices for identical goods.
The scrutiny comes as the Trump administration places renewed emphasis on lowering consumer prices after four years of failed Bidenomics.
The FTC has sent Instacart a civil investigative demand seeking information on the Eversight pricing tool. Instacart shares fell about 7% in premarket trading.
“The Federal Trade Commission has a longstanding policy of not commenting on any potential or ongoing investigations. But, like so many Americans, we are disturbed by what we have read in the press about Instacart’s alleged pricing practices,” the FTC told the outlet.
According to a study of 437 shoppers across four metro areas conducted by nonprofit groups Groundwork Collaborative, Consumer Reports, and More Perfect Union, shoppers paid different prices for the same supermarket items, with some paying more than 23% more than others.
“Some shoppers found grocery prices that were up to 23% higher than prices available to other shoppers for the exact same items, in the exact same store, at the exact same time,” the study’s authors wrote.
EXCLUSIVE: We uncovered a secret corporate scheme to raise grocery prices.
We found that Instacart is using AI algorithms to charge customers different prices for the same items.
The scary part? It’s not just online. It’s in physical grocery stores too.
Our months-long… pic.twitter.com/WGo56GoaaK
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) December 9, 2025
Instacart says Eversight enables retailers to run randomized price tests and argues the system is not based on shopper data or demand fluctuations. The company also says retailers, not Instacart, set prices, except at Target, where Instacart scrapes public prices and adds its own margin.
FTC emphasized that an investigation does not imply wrongdoing. The probe comes amid heightened political focus on affordability and AI-driven pricing practices.
Overnight, President Trump addressed the nation in a live-stream from the White House about the successes of his first year back in office. One of the topics he started with was affordability…
As we’ve pointed out, Democrats know their constituents can’t read charts and have launched multiple misinformation campaigns, attempting to pin the power price surge on Trump. However, much of the surge in power prices occurred during the nation-killing years of the Biden-Harris administration (see here).
Affordability seems likely to be a hot topic in the 2026 midterm election cycle.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/18/2025 – 07:45
