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'It’s a disgrace'

The Justice Department is missing out on collecting $10 billion from convicted criminals to go to crime victims, according to federal prosecutors.  Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, led a letter with four other Republican senators telling Attorney General Pam Bondi that “there appears to be billions of dollars right at the DOJ’s finger tips that could be collected.”   Congress created the Crime Victims Fund in 1984 as a resource for survivors of crime. The fund is intended to be self-sustaining through collecting criminal penalties and fines from federal convictions. The theory, as noted in the senators’ letter, was “criminals, not innocent taxpayers, will pick up the tab for the havoc they force on victim’s lives.”   The senators’ primary concern is the 2024 United States Attorneys’ Annual Statistical Report, the most recent published, noting that $10 billion in outstanding fines remained uncollected.   The Government Accountability Office opened an inquiry into the fund after senators found in 2024 that the Biden administration was using money collected from criminal penalties to offset more than $1 billion in spending rather than directing it to the victims fund, according to the letter. The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General also opened a review into the fund.  “In addition to holding criminals accountable, the collection of outstanding fines and penalties would allow DOJ to provide critical resources to support victims and survivors of crime nationwide, as these funds are statutorily required to be deposited into the CVF, with very limited exceptions,” the senators state.   Joining Grassley in the letter were Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine; Joni Ernst of Iowa; and Mike Crapo and Jim Risch of Idaho.   Grassley launched oversight efforts of the Crime Victims Fund in 2023, and the fund’s balance increased from $1 billion to $3.5 billion.   “While the CVF balance sits at $3.5 billion and appears trending in the right direction, DOJ still has a lot of work to do,” the senators say in the letter. “Specifically, there appears to be billions of dollars in outstanding criminal fines and penalties that are available for deposit into the CVF that DOJ has yet to collect.”  “According to reports, victim advocacy groups have been in search of additional funds to help shore up the CVF and to stave off potential cuts to the services they provide in our hometowns,” the letter states. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to inquiries for this story.   The senators gave a deadline of Feb. 25 to respond with “rolling updates” on the status of collecting criminal fines.   The post GOP Lawmakers Want to Know Why DOJ Hasn’t Collected $10 Billion for Crime Victims appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Border Patrol agents in California have arrested 23 individuals in a human smuggling bust, according to Customs and Border Protection.   Four of the individuals arrested are believed to be human smugglers, and 19 are Mexican nationals, the agency reported.   Border Patrol agents spotted a vehicle on Jan. 31 in the El Centro Sector of the U.S. border with Mexico, which they believed was being used for smuggling activity.  An investigation led agents to an apartment complex in Seeley, California, about 100 miles east of San Diego, where they saw individuals being transferred between vehicles.   Seven individuals attempted to flee the scene when agents approached, but officials pursued them. In addition to the 23 arrests, federal agents seized six vehicles that are connected to the investigation.   “El Centro Sector was the most secure section of the entirety of the 2,000-mile Southwest Border for fiscal [year] 2025, a fact that this transnational criminal organization must have overlooked,” acting Chief Patrol Agent Joseph A. Remenar says.   “Our agents are dedicated to ensuring that El Centro Sector retains this level of security moving forward, as evidenced by this noteworthy interdiction,” he said. “This criminal organization found out the hard way that El Centro is not a conducive environment to conduct their illicit activities.”  The 23 individuals CBP apprehended in Seeley, California, Jan. 31. (CBP) Those arrested face federal prosecution, according to the agency.   Encounters with illegal aliens at the southern border have declined significantly over the past 12 months.  CBP agents reported encountering 4,633 illegal aliens in the El Centro Sector in fiscal year 2025, down from over 17,000 in 2024 and over 50,000 in 2023.  Since returning to office in January 2025, President Donald Trump has taken a number of actions to discourage illegal immigration, including reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, ending the “catch and release” policy, installing more border walls, and launching a large-scale deportation operation across the U.S.   The post EXCLUSIVE: Border Patrol Stops Large Human Smuggling Attempt in California   appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Four days later, the Super Bowl halftime debate appears to be outlasting memories of the game itself. Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show”—staged in response to the NFL’s selection of Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime act—triggered viral reactions, celebrity criticism, and extreme online responses—exposing deep cultural divides.  The Final Numbers  Bad Bunny’s performance drew over 128 million viewers, according to audience measurement firm Nielsen. That’s 5.3 million less than last year’s halftime performer Kendrick Lamar.Turning Point’s show peaked at about six million concurrent views and 21 million views total.  Crucially, Nielsen data indicates overall Super Bowl viewership dropped by approximately 7.7 million viewers during halftime. With 30-second Super Bowl ads costing millions, halftime retention is crucial for advertisers who pay premium rates for both halftime and second-half placements.  The TPUSA alternative option to the Super Bowl halftime show, headlined by Kid Rock, was intended to reflect Turning Point USA’s view of American culture, featuring country music performances and themes centered on faith and patriotism.   Bad Bunny’s performance was an early valentine to Puerto Rico and the Latino countries in North, Central and South America. The Grammy winner made his intentions clear from the moment of his selection.  Bad Bunny announced on “Saturday Night Live” that he would perform his Super Bowl halftime show in Spanish, also arrogantly suggesting Americans learn the language if they had a problem with that.  Riley Gaines, Turning Point USA Contributor, wrote on X, “Bad Bunny told Americans they had 4 months to learn Spanish if we wanted to understand the Super Bowl halftime show. No thanks. We’ll just have our own. Enjoy your low-rated halftime show.”  Bad Bunny told Americans they had 4 months to learn Spanish if we wanted to understand the Super Bowl halftime show. No thanks. We'll just have our own. Enjoy your low-rated halftime show. pic.twitter.com/VjGkNrjS00— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 9, 2025 These divisive performances, providing two visions of America, stirred mixed reactions from celebrities, social media, and even colleges.  The Case for Bad Bunny  Katy Perry, who herself has performed at the Super Bowl halftime show, praised Bad Bunny on X, writing: “You got this @sanbenito [Bad Bunny], remind the world what the real American dream looks like.”  you got this @sanbenito remind the world what the real American dream looks like ??? #SuperBowlLX— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) February 8, 2026 Country singer Kacey Musgraves joined Bad Bunny’s team: “Well. That made me feel more proudly American than anything Kid Rock has ever done.”  Well. That made me feel more proudly American than anything Kid Rock has ever done.— K A C E Y (@KaceyMusgraves) February 9, 2026 Major news outlets practically fell over themselves to respond, rushing out positive coverage of Bad Bunny’s performance with unmistakable eagerness. The Washington Post, for example, described the performance as “wholesome,” despite rows of derrieres wiggling for the cameras, men grinding on men, and obscene lyrics. The Case for Kid Rock  Influencer Amanda Vance went viral for posting a video of herself watching the “All-American Halftime Show” at the Super Bowl while Bad Bunny was performing. She said she lost 1,000 followers in two minutes on Instagram and even received violent threats.  Watching the American halftime performance at the Super Bowl instead of Bad Bunny pic.twitter.com/OroLSYgz8C— Amanda Vance (@amandacvance) February 9, 2026 Vice President JD Vance promoted Turning Point’s halftime show on X. “Fantastic lineup for the TPUSA halftime show, including the great Bob Ritchie AKA KID ROCK.”   Fantastic lineup for the TPUSA halftime show, including the great Bob Ritchie AKA KID ROCKhttps://t.co/ZXvvlIBtkE— JD Vance (@JDVance) February 3, 2026 While Turning Point supporter @jackunheard posted: “Now THAT! Is how you do a halftime show. This needs to happen EVERY SINGLE YEAR.”  TURNING POINT USA. Now THAT! Is how you do a halftime show. This needs to happen EVERY SINGLE YEAR. ??God bless America. pic.twitter.com/M8VDEoLObw— Jack (@jackunheard) February 9, 2026 Kid Rock’s single—a cover of Cody Johnson’s “’Til You Can’t”—overtook Bad Bunny on the Apple charts after the show, a surprising post-Super Bowl twist.  Turning Point has confirmed they will be hosting another halftime performance in 2027 due to the success they saw this year. The NFL has not officially commented on either show’s performance or advertiser reactions.  During the TPUSA show, Hillsdale College launched its “Learn Like Charlie” campaign, encouraging viewers to take the same free online courses Charlie Kirk completed, including “Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution” and “The Genesis Story: Reading Biblical Narratives.”   A 60-second commercial aired during the show, highlighting moments when Kirk recommended the courses, such as when a caller to The Charlie Kirk Show said, “I listen to your podcast, I’m taking Hillsdale online courses,” to which Kirk replied, “Now that’s what I’m talking about. I love it.”  While the game itself is already fading from memory, both halftime shows will be leaving a lasting cultural footprint.  The post Bad Bunny vs. Turning Point USA Super Bowl Halftime Shows Still Sparking Viral Reactions, Highlighting Cultural Divide  appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Germany's Energie Wende Looking More and More Like Das Ende

Thursday’s CBS Mornings continued its recent streak of standing up for illegal immigrants — as opposed to those in favor of upholding our country’s laws on the books — by spotlighting the case of an Irishman who’s been in the U.S. illegally for almost 20 years and, after being detained late last year by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE), says his current life inside an El Paso, Texas-area facility is akin to “a modern-day concentration camp.” As we’ll see, only in the second to last sentence did CBS bring up the fact that Irish national Seamus Culleton has been wanted back across the Atlantic on drug charges for over 25 years. Daily Wire’s Jennie Taer posted on X that, “[i]n one instance, he allegedly threw 25 ecstasy tablets on the ground as he tried to hide them from police.” Back on the supposedly MAGA-aligned CBS, featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers declared this in a tease: “A married Irish national held by ICE for months compares his detention center to a concentration camp.” Duthiers also had the lead-in that went right for the shock value and emotional blackmail: “Reports of shocking conditions inside an ICE detention center from a man who’s being detained there. Seamus Culleton was pulled over and arrested by ICE last fall. The Irish national has been in the United States for 17 and was in the process of trying to obtain a green card. His wife is a U.S. citizen. Now, he spent months at a facility in Fort Bliss, Texas.” WATCH: Thursday’s ‘CBS Mornings’ had a full story expressing disgust that the Trump administration has detained and seeking to deport a man from Ireland who’s been here illegally for almost 20 years and touted as fact his claims that DHS holding facilities are like a “modern-day… pic.twitter.com/3Jgffhr6uM — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 12, 2026 And we’re supposed to believe from all the so-called media reporters that CBS News is now MAGA TV? Correspondent Shanelle Kaul began the piece with more explosive claims from an interview Culleton gave to Irish state radio: “The best way I could describe it is probably like a modern-day concentration camp.” Kaul finally spoke, saying Culleton detailed “kid’s-size meals, filthy facilities, rampant sickness, and limited time outdoors,” which “[t]he Department of Homeland Security has called any claim of substandard conditions at ICE facilities false.” After a soundbite of Culleton lamented he’s unsure “how much more I can take,” Kaul said ICE “apprehended Culleton on September 9 for overstaying a visa” and having “been in the U.S. since 2009, ran a local plastering business in the Boston area, and had no criminal record.” Kaul left out a key point that said visa he overstayed was only for two weeks. His wife argued they were just about to rectify his immigration status when ICE nabbed him. To recap, Culleton arrived in the U.S. on a two-week visa in the late 2000s and hasn’t done a thing until quite recently to fix it...and we’re supposed to feel bad for him? At this point in the story, Kaul gave Homeland Security a second sentence to explain their position: “In a statement, DHS said in part ‘a pending green card application and work authorization does not give someone legal status to be in our country,’ and suggested that Culleton’s detention was the consequence of a choice, not to self-deport.” She flipped right back to currying more sympathy for Kaul and concluded with the admission about drug charges and that Homeland Security can, in fact, deport anyone whose immigration status is influx (click “expand”): KAUL: Culleton said this about the process of being transferred to El Paso. CULLETON: Cuffed, sham willed, we had waist bracelets on, we had ankle bracelets on. We’re shuttled on to a plane in the middle of the night and you don’t know where you’re going. The fear and the, the anxiety and the depression, it’s just — it’s just crazy. It’s just unbelievable. KAUL: The Irish Daily Mail is reporting that Culleton faced outstanding drug charges there dating back to 2008. Now, under U.S. law, Homeland Security can deport people with pending immigration applications, even if they haven’t been convicted of crimes[.] To see the relevant CBS transcript from February 12, click here.

The NFL may be touting Super Bowl LX as another ratings success, but BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock believes the fine print tells a very different story.“The ratings dropped for the Super Bowl and for Bad Bunny, and they got to spin it in some sort of way,” he says, though he notes there is “no positive spin on what just happened.”“The viewership’s down 2% to 124 million,” Whitlock points out.“If you read the fine print of the stories that are coming out and trying to spin these Super Bowl ratings, it actually tells the real story,” he explains, before reading an excerpt from a Front Office Sports report.“Notably, this was also the first Super Bowl with Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurement process. The methodology, first introduced last September, brings in millions of additional data points from set-top boxes and smart TVs. That expanded view of the market has helped produce viewership gains across much of live sports, and particularly pro and college football — but not with the Super Bowl,” the article reads.“What that means is since September, when we rigged up this new accounting system at Nielsen that counts all of these extra people, we’ve boosted up the TV ratings for football. And since September, everybody in live sports has been benefiting from this new calculation and new system that keeps producing these record ratings,” Whitlock explains.“They had a system in place designed to boost the ratings of the Super Bowl and didn’t boost the ratings of the Super Bowl. That’s an indicator. That’s an indicator that the NFL and the Super Bowl are losing their grip. They’ve become too arrogant,” he continues.Whitlock believes that the drop in ratings means that “people are finally starting to wake up to the diminished content.”“They’re producing more content, and they’re giving us more content, but the content is no good,” he adds.Want more from Jason Whitlock?To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is urging Georgia law enforcement officials not to release an illegal alien charged with sexual crimes against a child, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.Juan Carlos Salvador Diaz, 29, was accused of sexual battery against a 10-year-old girl on August 1, 2025, and on December 1, 2023. Salvador Diaz allegedly committed these crimes at a Marietta apartment complex.'We need cooperation from state and local authorities to return these types of sickos over to us, so we can get them OUT of our country before they victimize more Americans.'Local authorities arrested him on January 30, and he is facing two counts of aggravated sexual battery.Salvador Diaz is currently being held without bond. The DHS reported that the Honduran national illegally entered the U.S. in 2019. The day after his arrest, ICE lodged an arrest detainer with the Cobb County Sheriff's Office.RELATED: 'Not true': Chicago Mayor Johnson's ICE order has his own prosecutors up in arms Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesICE is urging the Cobb County Sheriff's Office not to release Salvador Diaz from its jail without first notifying the federal immigration agency. "This monster sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl. We are now asking Georgia authorities to commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainer to ensure this pedophile is not released and able to prey on more innocent children," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to Blaze News. "We need cooperation from state and local authorities to return these types of sickos over to us, so we can get them OUT of our country before they victimize more Americans." RELATED: Sanctuary city official cries ‘abduction’ when ICE arrests alleged drug trafficker — DHS fires back Photo by Jim Watson - Pool/Getty ImagesThe Cobb County Sheriff's Office's website acknowledges that the DHS has a detainer against Salvador Diaz. In January 2021, then-newly elected Sheriff Craig Owens terminated the sheriff's office's participation in ICE's 287(g) Program, which allowed local law enforcement to identify and process immigration violators in its correctional facilities.However, in 2024, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed HB 1105 into law, which requires "any custodial authority" to "comply with, honor, and fulfill any request made in the immigration detainer notice."The Cobb County Sheriff's Office did not respond to a request for comment.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Liberal activists in Los Angeles are organizing a new way to warn illegal aliens about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.Amanda Alcalde founded the Highland Park Community Support Group for ICE operations and began posting flyers about their new plan: Install sirens.'It feels dystopian in a way.'"We'd like to ultimately have this along all the different streets so they can take shelter," Alcalde said to KTLA-TV.The effort is not sanctioned by the city, so the group will have to find private property supporters and businesses where it can install the sirens.She added that she was "really taking a lot of that influence from Minneapolis and trying to turn it into our own here."Activists already use whistles to alert each other about ICE agents."We don't directly get ourselves involved with ICE, but we will get involved protecting the community to stay in their office or home," activist David Trujillo said to KTLA.Alcalde claimed that the ICE operations have led to a reduced presence of ethnic minorities in Los Angeles."I've seen a lot of fear in people's eyes. I don't see a lot of our ethnic minorities out in the day-to-day. It's big change. It feels dystopian in a way," she said.Blaze News reached out to DHS for comment but did not receive a response by time of publishing. RELATED: ICE accuses LA of giving 'a middle finger to the law' after county paves way for illegal aliens to receive funding Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, has openly opposed the Trump administration's order to surge ICE operations in the city. "There is no plan other than fear, chaos, and politics," Bass said in July. "Home Depot one day, a car wash the next, armed vehicles and what looked like mounted military units in a park the next day."The KTLA report promoted the group's efforts to raise donations from people who oppose ICE.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!