The Supreme Court has come under attack in recent years. But now it’s coming from within.

And Supreme Court Justice shocked all after turning on the Court.

The Supreme Court opted Monday not to take up a case challenging the affirmative action policy at three prominent Boston schools, but several justices signaled that the issue is far from resolved and will require the Court’s attention in the future.

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. expressed concern, noting that this is the second instance in recent months where the Court has declined to hear a case involving high schools pushing the boundaries of affirmative action policies in light of last year’s landmark decision striking down race-based admissions practices.

The case stemmed from Boston’s decision to overhaul its admissions rules for the 2021-2022 school year.

The new approach aimed to boost Black and Hispanic enrollment at three elite high schools by shifting from a primarily grade and exam-based system to one prioritizing students from lower-income neighborhoods.

However, the policy’s development was clouded by controversial remarks from Boston officials, who derided “White racists,” mocked Asian American names, and explicitly stated their goal of increasing Black and Latino representation in the schools.

Justice Alito said such comments revealed a troubling bias.

“As the Committee members made ’explicit,’ they worked to decrease the number of white and Asian students at the exam schools in service of ’racial equity,’” he wrote. “That is racial balancing by another name and is undoubtedly unconstitutional.”

For the Supreme Court to take up a case, four justices must agree to hear it.

Justice Clarence Thomas joined Justice Alito in favoring a review. Meanwhile, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch raised concerns about Boston’s actions but argued the case wasn’t ready for Supreme Court consideration, as the city has since replaced the disputed policy.

However, Gorsuch cautioned lower courts against interpreting the refusal to hear the case as an endorsement of Boston’s geography-based admissions rules and encouraged scrutiny of the issues Alito highlighted.

Boston is one of many jurisdictions grappling with how to achieve diversity in selective schools following last year’s Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions.

That 6-3 ruling struck down race-based policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, with the Court declaring such preferences unconstitutional after exceeding their constitutional limits.

In response, several public school systems have turned to geography-based admissions policies to foster diversity.

Among them is Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Virginia, whose policy also faced a legal challenge that the Supreme Court declined to hear earlier this year.

Justice Alito warned that the Court’s reluctance to intervene now does not signal approval.

“We have now twice refused to correct a glaring constitutional error that threatens to perpetuate race-based affirmative action in defiance of Students for Fair Admissions,” he wrote.

“I would reject root and branch this dangerously distorted view of disparate impact.”

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

Vice President Harris can’t escape the embarrassment. And it’s only getting worse.

And now Kamala Harris was just humiliated by Jill Biden in a spectacular way.

President Biden, who’s stumbling through his lame-duck tenure, and first lady Jill Biden blatantly snubbed a beaming Vice President Kamala Harris at the Kennedy Center Honors.

Harris, clapping enthusiastically for the couple, was left ignored as the Bidens basked in a standing ovation, as awkward footage reveals.

Despite standing right next to Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the Bidens avoided so much as a glance toward their vice president during the 47th annual event.

The frosty interaction was impossible to miss.

Clips of the cold-shoulder moment quickly lit up X (formerly Twitter), with viewers pointing out the Bidens’ deliberate avoidance.

“Jill and Joe Biden are refusing to even look at Kamala Harris tonight,” the popular X account End Wokeness noted in a post alongside the video, which garnered more than 780,000 views by early Monday.

Jill and Joe Biden are refusing to even look at Kamala Harris tonight 😬 pic.twitter.com/qL6jftoLsu

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) December 9, 2024

Social media users had a field day, mocking the strained interaction. Many cracked jokes about the Bidens’ demeanor, with some suggesting they “must have voted for President Trump,” a sly nod to his decisive victory over the Democrats in last month’s election.

Critics also speculated on the apparent fractures within the party. “What happened to the joy?” one user asked, highlighting the Democrats’ seemingly defeated and divided state.

Another commentator speculated on the cause of the tension:

“Can you blame them[?] Best case scenario she convinced him she would win, worst case the[y] ousted him so she could run. Either way, they probably feel robbed.”

One observer simply summed up the night: “I love how awkward it is for them.”

The uncomfortable moment unfolded during Sunday night’s Kennedy Center Honors, a ceremony that typically celebrates unity and achievement.

Hosted by Queen Latifah, this year’s event honored artists such as members of the Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, and Francis Ford Coppola at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

But the Bidens’ glaring snub of their vice president overshadowed the celebrations.

Despite reports that Kamala may try another run for president in 2028, it seems certain that her aspirations are dead in the water.

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

Donald Trump has always been good at making deals. Now he’s trying his hand at law.

And Trump’s genius move in court is putting Democrats on notice.

President-elect Donald Trump is fighting back against what his team calls politically motivated legal attacks, asking a Georgia appeals court to toss out the criminal racketeering case against him in Fulton County.

Trump’s legal team argues that the U.S. Constitution shields him from prosecution as he prepares to assume the presidency in January.

In a decisive five-page filing, Trump’s attorneys assert that a sitting president must be “completely immune” from criminal charges at both the state and federal levels, emphasizing that such prosecutions would obstruct the executive branch’s ability to govern effectively.

“Any ongoing criminal proceeding against a sitting president must be dismissed under the U.S. Constitution,” declared defense attorney Steve Sadow.

“The two federal criminal cases have already been dismissed by the [Department of Justice].”

Sadow referred to the cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith, who recently asked federal courts in Washington and Florida to drop charges against Trump relating to the 2020 election and classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump’s critics claimed these cases were legitimate, but their unraveling highlights what many of his supporters have always believed: they were politically motivated from the start.

Meanwhile, a New York judge indefinitely postponed sentencing in Trump’s conviction for alleged falsification of business records, leaving the Georgia case as the final hurdle in what Trump’s legal team hopes will be a clean sweep of these partisan-driven prosecutions.

The filing urges the court to act decisively:

“President Trump respectfully submits that upon reaching that decision, this court should dismiss his appeal for lack of jurisdiction with directions to the trial court to immediately dismiss the indictment against President Trump.”

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis initiated the Georgia case, claiming Trump pressured Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find votes” to challenge Joe Biden’s controversial 2020 win in Georgia.

However, the case has been riddled with problems, including explosive allegations about Willis’s conduct.

The defense argued that Willis had a romantic relationship with lead investigator Nathan Wade, creating a financial conflict of interest.

Though Wade exited the case, the revelation cast a shadow over the investigation.

While the trial judge allowed Willis to remain, the defense appealed, leading to significant delays.

Trump’s resounding victory in last month’s election gives him the upper hand as president-elect, bolstering his argument that these cases were nothing more than politically driven attempts to block his return to the White House.

As his legal team works to dismantle the final case standing, Trump’s message remains clear: the American people rejected the weaponization of the justice system, and his presidency will ensure it never happens again.

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

Joe Biden has seen better days. Who knows how long he has left.

And now Biden passed out in a foreign meeting and now the White House is freaking out.

During a summit with African leaders in Lobito, Angola, President Joe Biden was caught on video appearing to rest his eyes, sparking a wave of commentary online.

The 82-year-old president, seated among African officials, was seen closing his eyes and briefly resting his head while Tanzanian Vice President Philip Mpango spoke.

The moment, lasting over a minute, drew widespread attention despite Biden being otherwise alert and delivering remarks before and after the incident.

The White House has not yet commented on the video.

Social media quickly lit up with reactions, with some speculating that Biden fell asleep during the meeting.

Outkick founder Clay Travis posted on X, “Joe Biden fell asleep during a meeting with African leaders today. He’s sharp as a tack though! Honestly, this feels intentional. Who puts an 82 year old on a plane for a THREE DAY trip to Africa?! Three days! So dumb.”

Jake Schneider, a former rapid response director for President Trump’s campaign, added, “Biden literally falls asleep during his own meeting in Africa. Who’s running the country?”

Denver-based radio host Ross Kaminsky echoed the criticism, calling the incident “embarrassing” for the nation.

“It’s incredible that our enemies haven’t challenged us more while we’re basically without a president,” Kaminsky wrote on X.

Despite the uproar, Biden used the summit to announce significant U.S. aid to address Africa’s humanitarian crises.

Earlier in the day, he pledged $1 billion in humanitarian aid to assist Africans displaced by extreme drought and food shortages.

“The United States continues to be the world’s largest provider of humanitarian aid and development assistance. That’s going to increase, you know, that’s the right thing for the wealthiest nation in the world to do,” Biden stated.

“Today I’m announcing over $1 billion in new humanitarian support for Africans displaced from homes by historic droughts and food insecurity. We know African leaders and citizens are seeking more than just aid. You seek investment.”

Biden’s visit to Angola marks his first trip to Africa as president.

The timing, however, has raised questions as parts of the United States are still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which devastated North Carolina in late September.

Last month, the White House requested $98 billion in additional disaster relief funding to aid Helene-stricken communities, underscoring the administration’s challenges in balancing domestic and international crises.

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

The Clintons and Bidens used to be close. But now there’s bad blood.

And Bill Clinton backstabbed Biden with one surprising attack.

During an interview on Wednesday, former President Bill Clinton reflected on his decision to pardon his brother, Roger Clinton, while weighing in on President Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden.

Speaking at the *New York Times* DealBook Summit, Clinton shared his thoughts on the complexities of presidential pardons and the public scrutiny they attract.

“I think that the president did have reason to believe that the nature of the offenses involved were likely to produce far stronger adverse consequences for his son than they would for any normal person under the same circumstances,” Clinton stated, urging people to consider all the facts.

Clinton acknowledged comparisons to his own controversial pardon of his half-brother Roger, who served time in prison during the 1980s for cocaine charges.

According to *The Washington Post*, Roger had already completed his sentence by the time Clinton granted the pardon. However, less than a month after being pardoned, Roger was arrested for drunk driving.

Addressing these comparisons, Clinton explained, *”Mr. Clinton said that he did not believe the two situations were analogous, even as he stressed that presidential pardons are often complicated and politically fraught,”* according to the *New York Times*.

“My brother did 14 months in the federal prison for something he did when he was 20,” Clinton clarified.

“I supported it, and he testified, told the truth about what he’d done when he had a drug problem and helped to bring down a larger enterprise. And they sentenced him, and then he served 14 months, and then he got out. The real question was, would he ever be able to vote again? Would he ever be able to have normal citizenship responsibilities?”

Clinton also criticized the broader pardon system, saying, “I’ve been sort of upset that there’s been no discussion about the larger problem, which is does the pardon system we have work?”

He highlighted the often burdensome process of applying for a pardon and the uneven outcomes for deserving cases.

Echoing sentiments from Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Clinton noted that while he understood Biden’s decision, many others serving excessive sentences were equally deserving of pardons.

Responding to a *Politico* critique suggesting that Biden’s pardon of Hunter undermines trust in the justice system and bolsters accusations of elitism,

Clinton responded bluntly: “We had a lot better record than the Republicans did, didn’t we? And what good did it do us? I mean, nobody believes anybody anymore.”

He added, “I personally believe that the president is almost certainly right that his son received completely different treatment than he would have if he hadn’t been the president’s son in this kind of case.”

Clinton admitted that politics inevitably influence presidential pardon decisions, remarking, “I wish he hadn’t said he wasn’t going to do it. I think it does weaken his case.”

Biden’s pardon of Hunter has sparked backlash from both Republicans and Democrats. Defending his decision, Biden accused the Justice Department of treating his son unfairly. “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden wrote in a statement.

“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

Republicans can’t stop winning. It’s looking like it’s going to be a good four years under Trump.

And this massive federal court ruling throws Democrats’ plans directly in the trash.

A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a major decision on Friday, affirming that the U.S. government has the authority to deport illegal immigrants and override local attempts to obstruct federal agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from operating in their jurisdictions.

Judges Daniel Bress, Michael Hawkins, and Richard Clinton issued the ruling in a 29-page decision, upholding the district court’s summary judgment in the case.

According to The Center Square, the case stemmed from a 2019 executive order issued by King County Executive Dow Constantine in Washington. The order aimed to block ICE from utilizing a local Boeing airfield for deportation operations. The outlet explained:

Constantine’s order prohibited King County International Airport from supporting “the transportation and deportation of immigration detainees in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, either traveling within or arriving or departing the United States or its territories.”

The Boeing airfield, located near Seattle, a self-declared “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants, is also close to ICE-Seattle’s operational hub. The Trump administration sued King County in 2019, arguing that Constantine’s order violated the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, the administration cited the clause’s intergovernmental immunity doctrine and a “World War II-era Instrument of Transfer agreement,” which guaranteed federal access to the airfield.

The Trump administration prevailed in the initial lawsuit, prompting King County to appeal to the Ninth Circuit. The Instrument of Transfer agreement explicitly states:

“The United States of America . . . through any of its employees or agents shall at all times have the right to make nonexclusive use of the landing area of the airport at which any of the property transferred by this instrument is located or used, without charge.”

In his opinion, Judge Bress, joined by Judges Hawkins and Clinton, found that Constantine’s order interfered with the Instrument of Transfer clause by obstructing ICE operations at the airfield. The order imposed the following:

Among other things, King County officials shall “[t]ake appropriate actions, consistent with the County’s federal obligations, to minimize County cooperation with, facilitation of, and permission for, operations associated with transportation of immigration detainees.”

In addition, and importantly, County officials shall Ensure that all future leases, operating permits, and other authorizations for commercial activity at King County International Airport contain a prohibition against providing aeronautical or nonaeronautical services to enterprises engaged in the business of deporting immigration detainees (except for federal government aircraft), to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.

As a result, ICE contractors faced discrimination, forcing the agency to move its operations from King County to Yakima, Washington. This relocation introduced security risks and additional expenses.

The court ruled that the King County order “improperly regulated the way in which the federal government transported noncitizen detainees by preventing ICE from using private FBO contractors at Boeing Field, and on its face discriminated against the United States by singling out the federal government and its contractors for unfavorable treatment.”

The court also detailed how the order violated the intergovernmental immunity doctrine under the Supremacy Clause:

In recognition of the federal government’s independence from state control, the intergovernmental immunity doctrine prohibits states from “interfering with or controlling the operations of the Federal Government.” Washington, 596 U.S. at 838. It does so by proscribing “state laws that either ‘regulate the United States directly or discriminate against the Federal Government or those with whom it deals’ (e.g., contractors).”

Judge Bress concluded, “We hold that the Executive Order violates the intergovernmental immunity doctrine and that the anticommandeering and market participant doctrines do not apply.

King County’s Executive Order PFC-7-1-EO breached the Instrument of Transfer and violated the Supremacy Clause. The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.”

It remains unclear if King County will escalate the case to the Supreme Court.

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

Partisanship has infected the judicial system. But rarely is it this blatant.

And now two federal judges just hit Donald Trump with a devastating loss.

Here’s a fresh rewrite with all quotes unchanged:

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell took aim Monday at two federal judges who reversed their retirement plans following former President Trump’s re-election in November.

McConnell, R-Ky., criticized what he described as “partisan Democrat district judges” for their decision to “unretire” after “the American people voted to fire Democrats last month.”

“Looking to history, only two judges have ever unretired after a presidential election. One Democrat in 2004 and one Republican in 2009. But now, in just a matter of weeks, Democrats have already met that all-time record. It’s hard to conclude that this is anything other than open partisanship,” McConnell remarked during a Senate floor speech.

The controversy centers on U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley of Ohio and U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn of North Carolina.

Both judges had announced plans to step down and assume senior status before the election, allowing them to take reduced caseloads while awaiting replacements.

However, after President Biden failed to nominate their successors before the election results, both judges decided to rescind their retirement plans.

In mid-November, Judge Marbley, who was appointed by President Clinton, informed Biden of his decision to stay on the bench, stating, “I have therefore decided to remain on active status and carry out the full duties and obligations of the office.”

Similarly, Judge Cogburn, a President Obama appointee, also reversed his retirement plans, as reported by *Reuters*.

McConnell pointed to their decisions as evidence of partisan motivations, describing it as “a political finger on the scale.” He urged the incoming Trump administration to “explore all available recusal options with these judges.”

McConnell also issued a warning to other judges who might consider similar moves, emphasizing that no circuit court judge has ever reversed a retirement decision following a presidential election.

“Never before has a circuit judge unretired after a presidential election. It’s literally unprecedented. And to create such a precedent would fly in the face of a rare bipartisan compromise on the disposition of these vacancies,” McConnell stated.

His remarks referred to a recent bipartisan agreement on judicial nominations. In this deal, Republicans agreed to allow Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to hold votes on nine of Biden’s district court nominees before Thanksgiving.

In return, Democrats agreed to withdraw four circuit court nominees who lacked the votes for confirmation, enabling Trump to fill those vacancies after taking office in January.

A Democratic source, however, told Fox News Digital that only two of the circuit court vacancies are guaranteed, while the other two judges may decide not to retire after all.

McConnell didn’t mince words about potential consequences, warning that “significant ethics complaints” could follow if any judges reversed their retirement plans simply because Trump had won re-election.

“As I repeatedly warned the judiciary in other matters, if you play political games, expect political prizes. So let’s hope these judges do the right thing and enjoy their well-earned retirement and leave the politics to the political branches,” McConnell concluded.

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

The tides are changing. And there’s nothing the Left can do.

And now a Big tech CEO broke with Democrats to team up with Donald Trump.

One of billionaire Mark Zuckerberg’s key executives recently revealed that the Meta CEO is eager to take on an “active role” in shaping technology policy under the Trump administration.

Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairs, made these remarks less than a week after Zuckerberg had dinner with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

Zuckerberg wants to be “an active participant in the debates that any administration needs to have about maintaining America’s leadership in the technological sphere,” Clegg told journalists, as reported by the Financial Times.

He emphasized that U.S. dominance in technology is “tremendously important given all the geostrategic uncertainties around the world, and particularly the pivotal role that AI [artificial intelligence] will play.”

In a rare admission, Clegg acknowledged that Meta “overdid it a bit” when it came to censoring posts about COVID.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has faced criticism over its handling of content moderation in recent years.

The Trump-Zuckerberg dynamic has been complicated. During Trump’s first term, he was banned from both Facebook and Instagram in January 2021. However, Meta reinstated Trump’s accounts just two years later, paving the way for his return to the platforms.

According to the Financial Times, “Clegg’s comments come as Silicon Valley leaders are jockeying to curry favor with Trump, who in the past has repeatedly clashed with what he considers a left-leaning constituency that has funded his opponents and censored him.”

Clegg, a former UK Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2015, transitioned to the U.S. after losing his parliamentary seat in 2017.

The New York Post reported that Zuckerberg’s meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago was arranged at the Meta CEO’s request to discuss “the incoming administration.”

A Meta spokesperson described the dinner as a crucial moment, saying, “It’s an important time for the future of American innovation.

Mark was grateful for the invitation to join President Trump for dinner and the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the incoming Administration.”

Incoming White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller praised Zuckerberg’s approach during an interview with Laura Ingraham on FOX News, stating:

“Mark Zuckerberg has been very clear about his desire to be a supporter of and a partnership in this change that we’re seeing all around America, all around the world, with this reform movement that Donald Trump is leading.”

Miller further added, “Mark Zuckerberg, like so many business leaders, understands that President Trump is an agent of change, an agent of prosperity.”

As of this week, Zuckerberg holds the title of the fourth-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $212 billion, according to Forbes.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk, tapped to co-chair Trump’s upcoming advisory commission, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), remains the world’s wealthiest individual with a staggering net worth of $333 billion.

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

The American government has turned its back on our military. They don’t appreciate the sacrifice they make.

And now US soldiers’ lives are on the line after what the US Senate just approved.

Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, famously captured in the viral night-vision photograph as the last American soldier to leave Kabul during the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, has quietly been confirmed by the Senate to lead U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa.

Donahue, who commanded the 82nd Airborne Division during the withdrawal, was nominated by President Biden for promotion to four-star general.

However, his confirmation was notably absent from a batch of over 100 military promotions approved by the Senate ahead of its Thanksgiving recess, due to a procedural hold by one senator, Politico reported.

Multiple outlets identified Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., as the lawmaker responsible for the delay.

Mullin, an outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, has repeatedly condemned the disastrous operation, which included the tragic Abbey Gate suicide bombing that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members and around 170 Afghan civilians.

Donahue oversaw the 82nd Airborne Division’s mission to secure Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport during the frenzied evacuations as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban.

On the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing, Mullin directly called out Donahue and other officials for a lack of accountability.

“Three years later, not one person has been held accountable for the disaster—not Gen. Milley, Gen. McKenzie, Gen. Donahue, U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan John Pommersheim, or anyone at the State Department,” Mullin said on August 24, 2024.

“To this day, no one has testified before Congress as to who gave this directive. No one has been held accountable for the 13 brave American heroes who died at Abbey Gate, or the countless Americans who lost their lives trying to escape Kabul.”

Donahue’s nomination had its defenders, including former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who urged the Senate to move forward.

“Responsibility for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 rests with the White House, not the Defense Dept, and certainly not with the uniformed leaders who faithfully executed Pres Biden’s misbegotten decisions,” Esper posted on X.

On the campaign trail, President-elect Trump had vowed to hold senior military leaders accountable for the withdrawal but did not specifically mention Donahue.

Reports suggested Trump’s transition team was considering court-martialing certain military officials over the chaotic exit from Afghanistan.

Despite the controversy, Donahue’s promotion to commander of U.S. Army Europe-Africa was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on Monday after the hold was dropped.

Mullin did not issue any public comments about his decision to lift the procedural block.

Donahue, who has led the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, since 2022, brings extensive experience to his new role.

He previously served as leader of the Special Operations Joint Task Force Afghanistan and as the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s deputy director for special operations and counterterrorism.

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

We knew the Left didn’t love this country. But this goes beyond the pale.

And now Biden lined the pockets of terrorists according to this bombshell report.

Here’s the rewritten version:

Mahmoud Al Hafyan, a Syrian national, faces serious charges for defrauding the U.S. government by funneling over $9 million in humanitarian aid to a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda, as detailed by the Department of Justice.

On November 19, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia revealed that funds meant to provide food and medical relief for Syrian refugees were instead used to bolster the Al-Nusrah Front, a known terrorist organization, and to line Al Hafyan’s pockets.

According to the Washington Times, “Court documents didn’t name the NGO but listed the federal grant numbers involved. Those grants were traced back to Catholic Relief Services.”

Despite mounting allegations, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has remained silent, neither responding to the Washington Times nor CatholicVote, which has also reached out for comment.

“Not only was Al Hafyan supporting violent terrorists, but he was stealing money from the U.S. government that was meant for humanitarian efforts,” said Sanjay Virmani, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Counterterrorism Division, in the DOJ’s press release.

Al Hafyan, tasked with managing the NGO’s operations in Syria, allegedly falsified records, inflated beneficiary lists, and redirected food supplies to Al-Nusrah Front operatives.

An estimated 380,000 meal kits — valued between $9.3 million and $10.1 million — were misappropriated, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Inspector General and the NGO.

The Washington Times noted that the fraud surfaced thanks to whistleblowers within the NGO who flagged suspicious activity. Witnesses reported seeing Al-Nusrah Front militants displaying their flags and seizing food kits meant for refugees. USAID’s on-ground inspections eventually confirmed the scam, leading to the program’s shutdown in late 2017.

Though Al Hafyan claimed coercion and staged a fake kidnapping to deflect suspicion, investigators uncovered spreadsheets detailing food allocations directly to Al-Nusrah Front members.

Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, sharply criticized USAID and the NGO’s lack of oversight in Syria.

“The NGO that received the USAID grant is reported to be a large international aid agency and, as with others like it, apparently had no independent oversight on the ground in Syria,” Shea said in an email to CatholicVote.

“It presumably unwittingly relied on a man it didn’t know very well to distribute millions of dollars of US taxpayer funds, and he funneled the money to the local al-Qaeda branch franchise — the very terrorists American troops have been fighting in the Middle East.

“So this is a double travesty,” she added. “Innocent Syrian refugees were deprived of the US aid, and our enemy was strengthened.”

Shea pointed out that this isn’t the first time U.S. aid has been diverted from those in need in the Middle East.

“We saw this as a big problem in Iraq eight years ago when the U.S. gave generous aid to the UN, which diverted it away from Christian and Yezidi victims of ISIS,” Shea noted.

“The latest Syria case is yet another outrageous example of USAID handing over massive sums of our money to large international agencies without them having adequate oversight on the ground. This is counterproductive and hurts American interests.”

Shea called for a change, urging USAID to prioritize partnerships with local civic groups, including churches, to ensure that aid reaches its intended recipients rather than being exploited by those who seek to harm American interests.

Meanwhile, CRS has yet to address the accusations or its role in the oversight breakdown. Although its grant allocations were intended for humanitarian relief, the absence of rigorous monitoring allowed Al Hafyan to manipulate the system.

The Washington Times reports that Al Hafyan remains at large, with his last known location being Gaziantep, Turkey.

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

Being Biden’s press secretary has to be hard. Lying through your teeth can get exhausting.

And now Karine Jean-Pierre ducked behind the podium after being asked this one question.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced a barrage of tough questions Monday, her first time addressing the press since President Biden’s controversial decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden.

The move has sparked outrage, especially after both Biden and Jean-Pierre repeatedly and emphatically ruled out any possibility of a pardon in the past.

One reporter zeroed in on the administration’s credibility, asking Jean-Pierre if prior denials of a pardon “could be seen as lies” to the American people.

Jean-Pierre deflected, claiming, “One thing the president believes is to always be truthful with the American people,” while insisting that Biden “wrestled with [the decision].”

Her responses offered little new insight, as she stuck closely to Sunday night’s statement from Biden, where the president argued that Hunter had been “singled out politically.”

Jean-Pierre echoed the claim that Hunter’s prosecution was motivated by his last name and repeated that Biden believed, “enough is enough.”

But the press secretary also raised eyebrows by hinting at the possibility of further pardons.

“There’s a process in place, obviously,” Jean-Pierre said.

“And so, I’m not going to get ahead of the president on this, but you could expect more announcements, more pardons, clemency at the end of this term.”

Jean-Pierre doubled down on portraying Hunter as a victim, claiming prosecutors targeted him “because he was the president’s son” and sought to “break his son in order to break him.”

This defensive posture comes as Biden embarks on a trip to Africa to promote a U.S.-backed railway project aimed at countering China’s growing influence on the continent.

Meanwhile, critics at home are questioning why the president prioritized Hunter’s pardon during such a critical moment for the nation.

Adding fuel to the controversy is Jean-Pierre’s documented history of denying any consideration of a pardon, even as Hunter faced serious legal troubles.

Since July 2023, Jean-Pierre publicly dismissed the idea at least six times.

As recently as November—just days after President-elect Trump’s stunning election victory—she told reporters, “Our answer stands, which is no.”

Now, with Biden’s complete reversal, those repeated denials are coming under fire as deceptive.

The timing of the pardon, issued just weeks before Hunter’s sentencing, has drawn sharp criticism for its blatant disregard of Biden’s previous promises to let the justice system run its course.

The decision has left Democrats scrambling to defend what many see as an indefensible act, further highlighting the Biden administration’s crumbling credibility at a time when Republicans are poised to dominate Washington.

For an administration that promised transparency and accountability, this episode only underscores the deepening doubts about Biden’s leadership and integrity.

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.

The Democrat party may be heading towards a schism. It doesn’t look like there is any reconciling anymore.

And now Top Democrats announced they are jumping ship after this despicable act from Joe Biden.

Still reeling from their bruising November defeats, Democrats now face another political crisis: President Joe Biden’s controversial pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, for federal crimes.

The move has left the party grappling with accusations of hypocrisy after years of portraying Donald Trump as a lawless threat to democracy.

Late Sunday, Biden issued a sweeping pardon for Hunter, covering more than a decade of potential federal crimes. The clemency, which includes charges of tax evasion and lying on a federal gun purchase form, marked a reversal of Biden’s previous vows.

The 82-year-old president defended his decision by calling the charges “politically motivated.”

“He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. For months, Jean-Pierre, Biden, and other officials had insisted that Hunter would not receive a pardon.

The pardon has infuriated some Democrats, who argue it undermines their ability to confront Trump, who has claimed his own legal troubles stem from politically motivated prosecutions by Biden’s Justice Department.

“This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis wrote on X.

He added, “Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.”

Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) echoed that sentiment, posting on X, “This wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”

Still, Biden has his defenders within the party, many of whom pointed to Trump’s history of using presidential clemency to shield allies.

Democratic fundraiser Jon Cooper highlighted Trump’s pardons for figures like Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, and Paul Manafort, writing, “Sorry, but Biden was right to pardon his son Hunter to protect him against Kash Patel’s weaponized FBI.” Patel is a Trump ally who has proposed using the FBI to target political opponents.

First Lady Jill Biden also stood by her husband’s decision, telling reporters, “Of course I support the pardon of my son.”

The controversy comes as Democrats prepare for a daunting political landscape. Following Trump’s November victory, the GOP will control the presidency, the Senate, and the House.

Democrats had hoped to make Trump’s legal troubles—stemming from efforts to overturn the 2020 election and a state fraud conviction—central to their attacks. But with many of those cases now delayed or dismissed after Trump’s win, Biden’s pardon complicates their narrative.

Adding to the backlash is Biden’s own history of ruling out clemency for his son. In June, as Hunter faced trial, Biden said, “I will do that and I will not pardon him.”

As recently as Nov. 8, White House press secretary Jean-Pierre reiterated that position, saying, “Our answer stands, which is no.”

But the president’s abrupt reversal comes just weeks before Hunter’s sentencing in his gun case and his guilty plea on tax charges. The pardon not only covers these crimes but any federal offenses Hunter may have committed from January 2014 to December 2024.

Hunter Biden’s legal troubles began in 2020, when he revealed he was under federal investigation shortly after his father’s election.

In June, he was convicted in federal court of lying on a 2018 gun purchase form by denying he was using drugs. He also faced a California trial for failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes, but he pleaded guilty to multiple charges just as jury selection was set to begin.

In a statement defending his decision, Biden argued that such cases are rarely prosecuted with the same intensity as Hunter’s.

“The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” he said. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son. … I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”

As Democrats wrestle with the fallout, one thing is clear: the president’s decision has reshaped the political landscape, creating fresh challenges for a party already on the defensive.

Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.