A TikTokker in Dorchester, Massachusetts, LauraSimplson213, filmed the buses of paid protesters showing up at Target to protest ICE. When you see these people making it seem as if the country is rising up against ICE and President Trump, consider that many of these bused-in radicals are paid for and transported by organizations like CASA, […] The post The Paid, Bussed-In Protesters at Target appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

President Donald Trump is sending what he calls an “armada” to the Middle East, after the Islamic Republic of Iran ignored his repeated warnings to halt the killing of protesters and executions of prisoners. The USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group, which left the South China Sea earlier this month, is now believed to be near Iran in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. Its arrival brings about 5,700 additional service members to the region. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and its three Arleigh Burke-class destroyer escorts are part of the 10 U.S. warships believed to be in the region. A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Delbert D. Black, docked Friday at the Red Sea port of Eilat, Israel, in a rare port call. The vessel is also an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer designed to counter threats in the air, on land, at sea, and underwater. It is equipped with the AEGIS combat system, which can defend against aircraft, missiles, and surface threats, and is capable of launching long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.  More than 30 Tomahawks were used in the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 during the 12-day war. Others in the region include guided missile destroyers the USS McFaul and USS Mitscher, as well as the littoral combat ships USS Canberra, USS Santa Barbara, and USS Tulsa, AFP reported. Trump said Wednesday that a “massive Armada” of American ships was headed toward Iran and that it was prepared to take action if Iran didn’t “come to the table” to negotiate a nuclear deal. “A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.” On Friday, CENTCOM highlighted its F/A-18E Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 151 launching from the USS Abraham Lincoln, stating it was “conducting routine flight operations in the Arabian Sea” with the vessel that is “deployed to support security and stability within the Middle East region.” A F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 151, launches from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. (CENTCOM) While Trump continues to press Iran for a nuclear deal — or to buy time until he is ready to strike the regime, which may have killed as many as 36,000 protesters and continues executing political prisoners — other U.S. military assets are on the way.  “Trump has put enough assets in the region to destroy vast assets of the Iranian regime,” Jonathan Schanzer, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The Daily Wire. “It’s unclear whether the regime would fall as a result of a U.S. strike or if the goal is to degrade the regime. That all comes down to the battle plans provided to Trump.” Apart from the aircraft assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group — F-35C Lightning IIs, F/A-18 Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2D Hawkeyes, and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters — other aircraft have reportedly been tracked moving toward the region. The RC-135V Rivet Joint electronic surveillance aircraft flew to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Wednesday morning, according to online flight trackers. The aircraft is one of the U.S. military’s most advanced spy planes, capable of intercepting radio, radar, and other electronic signals and identifying where they originate. It is used to map an adversary’s air defenses and military communications. According to The War Zone, an E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) jet landed in Crete, a common stopover for flights to the Middle East. The E-11A acts as an airborne communications hub, linking aircraft and ground forces during operations, and has a long history of use in past Middle East conflicts. Earlier this month, CENTCOM announced that a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron landed at a base in the Middle East. “The F-15’s presence enhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability,” CENTCOM posted to X. On Monday, CENTCOM also announced a multi-day readiness exercise “to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across” its area of responsibility. It claimed that by “practicing tactics, techniques, and procedures,” the U.S. Air Force is underscoring its “commitment to regional defense and security alongside partner nations.” Dozens of U.S. military cargo planes have also been tracked heading to the region, the Associated Press reported.  The current U.S. buildup resembles the deployment of forces during the 12-day war in June, but Schanzer says the earlier effort was primarily defensive. “I think it’s quite a bit more because the U.S. just came in at the end,” he said. “The rest was mostly defensive posture.” Many cargo aircraft were deployed in June to bring over equipment to protect U.S. servicemembers deployed to bases across the Middle East in case of an Iranian attack. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, there is renewed cause for concern about an attack on the 30,000 to 40,000 servicemembers stationed across facilities in the region. “All are within the reach of an array of thousands of Iranian one-way UAVs and short-range ballistic missiles that threaten our troop presence,” Rubio said, while testifying before the Senate Wednesday. “We have to have enough force and power in the region just on a baseline to defend against that possibility.” As more U.S. military assets move to the Middle East, let’s remember what Secretary Rubio said earlier this week: “What I think you’re seeing now is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel. They… pic.twitter.com/Cn1ZqM3JuL — Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) January 30, 2026 He added that Trump “reserves the preemptive defensive option” if the United States concludes Iran is preparing to strike U.S. service members. Iran previously struck Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, where thousands of U.S. troops are typically stationed, in retaliation for U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites. The attack caused minimal damage and was widely viewed as a limited response intended to allow Tehran to save face. Following the strike, Trump publicly thanked the Iranian regime for providing advance notice. Rubio said the current military posture is aimed at preventing a more dangerous scenario. “That’s what I think you’re seeing now, is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel,” Rubio said. “They certainly have the capability to do it because they’ve amassed thousands and thousands of ballistic missiles that they’ve built. Despite the fact that their economy is collapsing, they keep spending money on it.”

Nashville Democratic Mayor Freddie O’Connell blasted the city’s electric service over the weekend just days after praising its efforts to restore power to residents left in the cold. O’Connell said that he met with Nashville Electric Service (NES) leaders on Sunday and told them that the agency’s response and messaging around widespread power outages has been “unacceptable.” Tens of thousands of Nashville residents have gone nine days without power following a massive ice storm that ripped down trees and power lines across the city. At least four deaths have been linked to the storm and ensuing power outage in Nashville. “What I learned today is that NES is unequipped to communicate about a crisis,” O’Connell said after the meeting. “Nashvillians can’t get the last week back—nights huddled under blankets, unplanned shelter or hotel stays, the uncertainty and fear of not knowing what’s happening and how long it will take to simply return home. And that’s why it’s so troubling that details NES leadership shared about their internal outlook—that they hadn’t previously shared with us—would’ve had a huge impact on the public guidance we gave from the beginning of the crisis. That is unacceptable.” The mayor’s statement following the meeting marked a change in tune from when O’Connell defended the Nashville Electric Service last week as residents grew frustrated with the agency’s response. “Let’s be clear about what this is — it is a historic ice storm. This is the largest single outage in NES history. We do not have these kinds of weather events all the time,” O’Connell said at a press conference last Tuesday. On Thursday, O’Connell suggested that the Nashville Electric Service’s response was a “success.” “The fact that this is their largest ever number of line crews out with line workers and vegetation support ever, I think that’s a sign of their success,” he said, according to Fox 17 Nashville. Later during Thursday’s briefing, O’Connell said he was “not satisfied” with the power restoration efforts. The Nashville Electric Service is led by a CEO, but it also has a five-member board that is appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council. Two of the current NES board members have been appointed by O’Connell. The Daily Wire reached out to the mayor’s office and asked if O’Connell met with NES leaders before the storm hit on January 24 to discuss the city’s response. The Nashville Electric Service has faced increased criticism as over 20,000 homes and businesses remain without power in the Music City on Monday. The agency deployed only 200 linemen at the beginning of the storm to repair downed lines, far below the total number of linemen that would eventually be needed. NES officials said over 1,000 linemen are now working on restoring power in the city. “Progress has been made with power restored to 80% of our customers who had outages,” NES CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin said on Saturday. “By Tuesday, 90% will be restored, and by Sunday, February 8, 99% of our customers will have power back.” She added that extensive damage in some areas means it will take the electric service more time to get power restored. Broyles-Aplin’s past comments on tree maintenance have also come under scrutiny. Last August, the NES leader stressed the importance of saving Nashville’s tree “canopy” and avoiding aggressive trimming practices. Some Nashville tree service professionals argued that the Nashville Electric Service doesn’t do enough to keep trees away from power lines. Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn also ripped the electric service for spending time focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion. “The Nashville Electric Service held 102 DEI-related training sessions by the end of 2024. They should’ve been using those resources to trim trees and bury utilities. This is what happens when companies put woke politics over the needs of the people they serve,” Blackburn said on Sunday. Last week, the Tennessee Star highlighted a 2024 NES “community investment” report, which stated, “To foster a culture of civility and belonging within our organization with the hopes of extending that dynamic beyond our walls, NES’ Human Relations Department implemented Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, & Belonging (DEIAB) trainings, hosting a total of 102 sessions in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 for both organization-wide education and nuanced resources for leadership positions.” Blackburn argued that while linemen are working hard to restore power to Nashville residents, leaders are botching the response. “The linemen who are on the ground making repairs and working in the frigid temperatures to restore power are the unsung heroes of the response to this horrible winter storm,” Blackburn said. “So grateful for these men and women.”

The Today Show’s Savannah Guthrie delivers the news to millions every morning, but her own life became the headline when her mother, Nancy Guthrie, was reported missing on Sunday from her Arizona home outside of Tucson, Arizona. Local authorities called off the search and rescue mission Monday morning and are now investigating Nancy’s house as a crime scene. “We do in fact have a crime scene, we do in fact have a crime,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said at the press conference Monday. Evidence gathered during the ongoing investigation in the 84-year-old’s home suggests Nancy did not leave on her own. Authorities are reviewing camera footage at her house. “So we make a plea to anyone who knows anything about this, who has seen something, heard something, to contact us,” Nanos said. “Call 911. We don’t need another bad, tragic ending. We need some help.” Nanos said the community needs to check their cameras and see if they have seen anything that at first didn’t look suspicious, but now the Sheriff said you should know it is suspicious. Authorities have Nancy’s cell phone, and officials added that her family, including Savannah, are in Arizona and fully cooperating with authorities. The Sheriff added that Nancy isn’t in good physical health but has “no cognitive issues” and is “very alert” and “very sound of mind.” Savannah released this statement on The Today Show on Monday. “On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support,” she said. “Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear mom. We thank law enforcement for their hard work on this case and encourage anyone with information to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at (520) 351-4900.” Nanos described Nancy as 5 feet, 5 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds. The 84-year-old has brown hair and blue eyes. The last time her family saw her was at 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Nanos said the family was alerted that Nancy wasn’t at church Sunday morning, and after a brief search for her, the family alerted authorities. Nanos said the public is not in danger. According to The Today Show, Savannah has often described her close relationship with her mother, and Nancy would make appearances on the national morning show from time to time. Per the outlet, her father, Charles, died when Savannah was 16 years old, leaving Nancy as a single mother of Savannah and her two siblings. Nanos said when they get more information, they will let the public know.

WASHINGTON – Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the partial government shutdown would continue if a major voter registration bill known as the “SAVE Act” is included in government spending legislation. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is leading an effort to have the measure added to the package. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would require states to obtain documentary proof of U.S. citizenship and identity to register to vote, a requirement already in place in a small number of states. “I have said it before and I’ll say it again, the SAVE Act would impose Jim Crow-type laws to the entire country and is dead on arrival in the Senate,” Schumer said in a statement on Monday. “It is a poison pill that will kill any legislation that it is attached to. If House Republicans add the SAVE Act to the bipartisan appropriations package it will lead to another prolonged Trump government shutdown.” “Let’s be clear, the SAVE Act is not about securing our elections,” he continued. “It is about suppressing voters. The SAVE Act seeks to disenfranchise millions of American citizens, seize control of our elections, and fan the flames of election skepticism and denialism,” adding that it is “reminiscent of Jim Crow era laws and would expand them to the whole of America.” “Republicans want to restore Jim Crow and apply it from one end of this country to the other. It will not happen. Democrats will go all out to defeat the SAVE Act and defend free and fair elections.” Luna responded to the reports of Schumer’s opposition by posting on X that “the SAVE Act is dead on arrival unless Thune removes the filibuster or Democrats break from Schumer to save their own billions of dollars in projects.” The Senate sent five spending bills and a short-term Department of Homeland Security continuing resolution to the House under a deal between the White House and Schumer to split DHS funding from the other appropriations measures, allowing immigration negotiations to continue without a prolonged government shutdown. The House had already passed six appropriations bills prior to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a leftist protester who was killed by federal immigration agents last month. If the House makes further changes to the spending package, it will have to return to the Senate. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he wants to see the shutdown end by Tuesday. “Our intention is by Tuesday, all agencies of the federal government, except for that one, and then we’ll have two weeks of good faith negotiations, to figure it out,” Johnson told the NBC News program. “Republicans are going do the responsible thing and fund the government.” The House Rules Committee is expected to meet at 4 p.m. to begin the procedural steps needed to bring the funding bills to the floor.

Recording artist Bad Bunny, who is slated to perform the halftime show at the Super Bowl next Sunday, used the Grammys stage to promote anti-ICE messaging. The Puerto Rican-born performer won the Grammy for Best Música Urbana Album for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.”  “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ICE out,” the singer, whose legal name is Benito Ocasio, said from the stage during the awards ceremony Sunday night. The crowd of celebrities responded with thunderous applause. “We are not savage. We are not animals. We are not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans … the hate gets more powerful with more hate,” he continued. “The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So, please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. Yeah. We don’t hate them. We love our people, we love our family, and that’s the way to do it, with love. Don’t forget that, please.” Several other Grammys attendees were spotted wearing “ICE OUT” and “BE GOOD” pins to show their support for anti-ICE activism. This is not the first time Ocasio has voiced his opinion on the matter.  Ocasio previously referred to ICE agents as “motherf***ers” and “sons of b****es” in a video he posted to Instagram. The three-time Grammy Award-winner said during an interview that he didn’t book any tour stops in the United States because he was worried ICE agents would target concert attendees. “There was the issue of — like, f***ing ICE could be outside. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” he said. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell defended selecting Bad Bunny as the halftime performer at Super Bowl LX after significant backlash following the announcement last fall. “It’s carefully thought through,” Goodell said of the performance, as The Daily Wire previously reported. “I’m not sure we’ve ever selected an artist where we didn’t have some blowback or criticism. It’s pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds of millions of people that are watching.” “We’re confident it’s going to be a great show,” the commissioner added. “[Ocasio] understands the platform that he’s on, and I think it’s going to be exciting and a united moment.”

In a historic display of skill and stamina, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 to claim his first Australian Open title and seventh major overall. With the victory, the 22-year-old Spaniard became the youngest man in history to complete a career Grand Slam — winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open — surpassing a record held by Don Budge for 87 years. The final match was a clash between the fading dominance of a legend and the rising era of a new titan. Djokovic, 38, entered the match seeking a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title. Having never lost an Australian Open final in ten previous attempts, the Serbian started brilliantly, taking the first set 6-2 in just 33 minutes. However, the physical toll from a grueling five-set semifinal victory over Jannik Sinner 48 hours earlier began to show. As the match progressed, Alcaraz’s relentless speed and athleticism overwhelmed the veteran. Despite coming off a 5½-hour semifinal himself, Alcaraz showed no signs of fatigue. He neutralized Djokovic’s precision with extraordinary defensive scrambling and “feathery” drop shots. Alcaraz dominated the middle sets, and although Djokovic fought to a 40-40 deadlock at 4-4 in the fourth set, Alcaraz’s powerful forehands snuffed out the comeback. Djokovic finished with 46 unforced errors, a testament to the pressure Alcaraz exerted. “What you’ve been doing, I think the best word to describe it, is historic,” Djokovic told him after the match, per The Wall Street Journal. This victory marked Alcaraz’s first tournament since parting ways with longtime coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. By winning, Alcaraz silenced critics who questioned his level during the off-season. He now joins an elite group of men—including Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer—to win all four majors. His dominance is underscored by the fact that he and Sinner have won the last nine Grand Slams, signaling a definitive changing of the guard. Reflecting on his achievement, Alcaraz signed the camera lens with “Job finished. 4/4 Complete,” and announced plans to commemorate the win with a kangaroo tattoo. Djokovic, gracious in defeat, described Alcaraz’s trajectory as “historic” and “legendary.” While Djokovic expressed disappointment at missing his 25th title, he remained encouraged by his performance, vowing to continue competing against the younger generation. For Alcaraz, the focus now shifts to the French Open as he begins a quest for a calendar-year Grand Slam, a feat not achieved by a man since 1969, when Rod Laver — who accomplished the amazing feat twice — completed his second calendar-year Grand Slam. Budge did so in 1938; Maureen Connolly did so in 1953; Margaret Court did so in 1970; Steffi Graf did so in 1988.

President Donald Trump said that India would no longer buy Russian oil and instead purchase from America and “potentially” Venezuela.  Trump said he reached a trade deal with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a wide-ranging phone call Monday morning. The president first said India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil last October, but no deal was formalized at the time.  “We spoke about many things, including Trade, and ending the War with Russia and Ukraine. He agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!” After the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Trump said that the United States would take over Venezuela’s oil industry and rebuild its oil fields. He said that American companies will invest billions into Venezuela as part of the takeover. As part of the deal, Trump added that tariffs on India would be lowered from 25% to 18%.  “Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Reciprocal Tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%,” Trump continued. “They will likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and Non Tariff Barriers against the United States, to ZERO.” Trump said that Modi committed to purchasing more American products, including over $500 billion of energy, tech, and agricultural products.  “Our amazing relationship with India will be even stronger going forward. Prime Minister Modi and I are two people that GET THINGS DONE, something that cannot be said for most,” Trump said.  Since last fall, Trump has been pressuring India to stop buying oil from Russia, accusing the country of funding the war with Ukraine.  “India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian oil, they are then, for much of the oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,” Trump said in August. “Because of this, I will be substantially raising the tariff paid by India to the USA.” After the war with Ukraine started in 2022, India became the largest importer of Russian seaborne crude oil, Reuters reported. In 2025, about 35% of oil imported into India came from Russia.

Hours after the African Development Foundation’s chief financial officer admitted to bribery, the Senate voted on whether to abolish the obscure federal aid agency. The vote only required a simple majority, yet it failed 42-58 after 11 Republicans joined all Democrats to “table” the amendment. “Republicans acting alone could have defunded it — and should have done so after USADF’s acting chairman and CEO called for it to be defunded, based on what he described as a culture of chronic fraud, waste, and abuse within USADF,” the amendment’s sponsor, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), said. “I look forward to hearing my colleagues explain their votes.” The Daily Wire asked all 11 senators for their rationale over the weekend, and none replied. The Republicans are: John Boozman (AR) Shelley Capito (WV) Susan Collins (Maine) Kevin Cramer (ND) Lindsey Graham (SC) John Hoeven (ND) Mitch McConnell (KY) Jerry Moran (KS) Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) Thom Tillis (NC) Roger Wicker (MS) The African Development Foundation staff locked its doors to prevent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffers from auditing it, making the agency a cause célèbre of the Left. But its chief financial officer, Mathieu Zahui, this week agreed to plead guilty to taking bribes and lying to law enforcement. One of the African groups to which the agency steered money was run by Zahui’s friend — a fellow former federal employee — who got contracts for doing no work, and wired some of it to Zahui’s personal bank account. The Daily Wire broke the story of the African Development Foundation’s corruption, including Zahui’s bribes, in a May expose. The story showed how many of those who have seen the agency operate up-close believe it should be abolished, even though they almost all identify as liberals. The agency would give money to African groups as “grants,” so it looked like it was complying with its mission, then require the African groups to pay bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. For example, the story said: In one instance, the African Development Foundation awarded a grant to a Kenyan journalism group called Africa 24 and directed that group to, in turn, pay the salaries of Americans at the federal agency’s D.C. headquarters. It recounted how the agency allegedly retaliated against its own general counsel after he told officials to stop breaking the law. The general counsel, Mateo Dunne, found that its then-CEO, C.D. Glin, had omitted his affiliation with an outside group, Root Capital, from his legally required ethics disclosures, while ADF directed money to that group. In another example, agency program manager Kate Ristroph said in a videotaped internal investigative interview that: The agency gave grants to the Association of Ghana Industries on the condition that it pay Pyxera Global, a D.C. organization where Glin previously worked as director of business development, to “do a study of the artisan sector in Ghana.” …  “We’re in that murky territory of like, is this legal?” she said. “The CEO specifically directed it.” She said the agency trains African grantees to avoid third-world style corruption by only giving out contracts that have been competitively bid at arms length, yet she was forced to tell them that the Americans were ordering them to do the opposite. “It puts me in a compromising position,” she said. Dunne found that the African Development Foundation appeared to be pushing the for-profit pyramid scheme Herbalife on African peasants because Herbalife’s then-CEO was on the agency’s board. READ MORE: This Foreign Aid Agency Locked Its Doors To Keep DOGE Out. Now We Know Why. Glin was so abusive that one white junior employee soiled herself after Glin made her afraid to leave her desk to use the bathroom, Dunne’s investigation found. When USADF blocked DOGE from accessing their building last year, Democrats applauded. Now we know it is because USADF was hiding bribes, kickbacks, and fraud. I have filed the Terminate Unaccountable Spending, Abuse, Deception, and Fraud (USADF) Act to defund these crooks. https://t.co/UoQ0qW1OYc — Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) January 30, 2026 Employees warned the public through the employee review site Glassdoor about how dysfunctional the agency was: Brandi James, the agency’s chief of staff, said in an internal email that she tried to use government funds to pay GlassDoor to remove negative posts, but the site refused, leaving them available for anyone who cared to look. Glin was later replaced by Travis Adkins, who arrived in 2021 after a stint at USAID as a political appointee in the Biden administration. Adkins’ assistant, who is black, filed a sworn affidavit saying “Mr. Adkins told me that he wanted his entire team (to include the General Counsel) to consist only of Black people. He wanted all of his direct reports to be Black.” Adkins has denied the allegations. “The contracts don’t make sense, and they know [DOGE] will find lots of wrongdoing and illegal activity,” the assistant said. “I’m not a fan of DOGE, but some of the things they’re doing need to be done. They have been operating like this for years, and no one did anything about it.” It is impossible to know why Democrats and 11 Republicans are defending the agency, since they won’t say. But if it is because they believe misconduct was limited to just Zahui, Dunne told The Daily Wire that “this is not the story of one rotten apple. It is the story of an agency that is corrupt, root and branch.” After Dunne raised issues of misconduct, he has said, a broad spectrum of the agency’s brass began viciously retaliating against him, with Acting CEO Elisabeth Feleke even calling the police on him. Adkins placed Dunne on leave for six months, despite a law limiting “investigative leave.” The evidence of insubordination was that he had investigated apparent spending on luxuries and personal items by top staff, when Acting CEO Elisabeth Feleke said, “I have not given Mateo direction or mandate to investigate credit card fraud.” Adkins was forthright with the board’s chair, Jack Leslie, about what was really going on: He wrote to Leslie that Dunne was placed on leave for his “efforts to damage USADF’s reputation via the Office of Inspector General.” The Office of Inspector General investigation led to Zahui’s guilty plea. A left-wing law firm has been suing to prevent President Donald Trump’s appointee as acting chairman, Pete Marocco, from leading the agency. “The U.S. African Development Foundation provides no value to the American people, and every one of the Senators know it–even the ones who vote in favor of it,” Marocco, who led the abolition of USAID, said.

Country star Jelly Roll responded to questions about current political controversies by saying he’d prefer to stay out of it — for now. The 41-year-old celeb made the remarks at the 2026 Grammy Awards ceremony, where he took home three trophies. When asked about the topic of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the red carpet, Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, managed not to answer the question directly. “So I can tell you that people shouldn’t care to hear my opinion,” DeFord said. “You know, I’m a dumb redneck. I haven’t watched enough.”  He went on to describe himself as “disconnected” from current events. “I grew up in a house of, like, insane pandemonium. Like, I didn’t even know politics were f*cking real until I was in my mid-20s in jail. Like, that’s how disconnected … when you grew up in a drug addict household,” he went on. “You think we, like, had common calls about what’s happening in rural politics? Like, we’re just trying to find a way to survive, man.” DeFord did promise he’d “have a lot to say about” ICE on social media in the coming days and told fans they would get his thoughts “loud and clear.” The “Need a Favor” singer also spoke openly about his Christian faith during his Grammys acceptance speech.  “They’re going to try to kick me off here, so just let me try to get this out. First of all, Jesus, I hear you, and I’m listening. Lord, I am listening, Lord. Second of all, I want to thank my beautiful wife. I would have never changed my life without you,” Jelly Roll said while becoming emotional. “I would have ended up dead or in jail. I would have killed myself if it wasn’t for you and Jesus. I thank you for that.” “There was a time in my life, y’all, that I was broken. That’s why I wrote this album. I didn’t think I had a chance, y’all,” he said. “There was days that I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human.” “There was a moment in my life that all I had was a Bible this big, and a radio the same size, and a six-by-eight-foot cell,” he said. “And I believe that those two things could change my life. I believe that music had the power to change my life, and God had the power to change my life.” While Jelly Roll didn’t take a stance on ICE, there were several celebrities at the Grammys who did, opting to wear “ICE OUT” buttons with their outfits. Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey Bieber sported the buttons, as did Billie Eilish, Kehlani, Samara Joy, Joni Mitchell, and Jack Antonoff. Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny devoted his Grammys acceptance speech to protest ICE enforcing immigration laws.