According to a Putin envoy, Russia and US discussing a rare earths deal. Some companies have expressed interest. The envoy says Putin offered to work with the United States on rare earths. Zelensky wants to back out of the minerals deal. Russia and the United States have started talks on joint rare earth metals and […] The post Putin Envoy Says US & Russia Began Talks on a Minerals Deal appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced today that they have successfully kneecapped the Sinoloa Cartel, one of the most vicious. They leveled sanctions against six individuals and seven entities involved in a money laundering operation. They cut off financing for these evil people. The US Is Back to Enforcing the Law “President Trump and I have […] The post Treasury Secretary: They Kneecapped the Sinoloa Cartel appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

A French court has now banned Marine Le Pen, who is highly likely to win the next election in France, from seeking public office for five years. The court convicted her of misusing European Union funds. “The court ruled that Le Pen and other members of her party illegally used 4.4 million euros, equivalent to $4.8 million, in EU funding that was earmarked for assistants helping lawmakers in the European Parliament with their work,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “Monday’s sentence bars Le Pen from seeking public office for the next five years, thrusting her far-right party into limbo. Le Pen also received a four-year prison sentence. Half of that term was suspended, judges said, adding that she could serve the remaining two years by using an electronic bracelet or other alternatives to jail time. The ruling takes Le Pen out of contention for the 2027 race, unless she can win a swift appeal. Le Pen had been expected to enter that contest as a front-runner as President Emmanuel Macron will be term limited and other prominent contenders have yet to emerge.” This is crazy — but this is part and parcel of the broader attempt by Left-wing judiciary activists across the globe to stop “populist politicians” from being able to run. We saw it with President Trump, where the DOJ went after him for supposed crimes, the same crimes for which they let Joe Biden off the hook. We saw it in New York, where a New York attorney general filed a civil fraud lawsuit in an attempt to stop then-candidate Trump. We have seen it in Brazil, where the entire judicial apparatus has been brought down on the head of Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, in favor of Lula da Silva, who was then freed by that same exact judiciary. We’ve seen it in Romania, where Cǎlin Georgescu won the election in 2024 and then the judiciary decided the election had been rigged by the Russians and annulled it.  We have seen it in Israel, where the attorney general of Israel has been targeting Benjamin Netanyahu on specious charges for literally years, and the judiciary keep saying that Netanyahu can’t perform the basic functions of an executive, such as fire his attorney general or fire anyone in the executive branch. And now we are seeing it in France. WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show It is absolutely amazing to watch these unelected officials going out of their way to thwart the will of the people in supposed democracies. It’s really insane. You want to talk about undermining democracy itself? This undermines democracy because the reaction to this is, “Okay, what if we just overthrow the judicial institutions?” Why do I feel like this is a put-up job? Because it takes effect immediately. The point is to get her out of the elections. Thus they’re suspending her jail sentence but they are not suspending her ban from running. Le Pen had denied the charges, “testifying in court that it was appropriate for the assistants to perform other party-related work because they were political aides, not direct employees of the European Parliament,” the Journal noted. In other words, if the European Parliament didn’t want them focused solely on party-related tasks, perhaps it should have hired them directly, rather than paying the party to handle some of its work. That sounds like a strong defense. Is the idea here that Marine Le Pen desperately needed a couple of million euros in order to pay off her political party? I feel like she probably could have raised it. Her party’s pretty big in France. This is just the latest NATO member to reject a populist candidate by some sort of judicial intervention. If you want to talk about undermining the argument that democracy must flourish in Europe, this would be a great way to do it.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt unloaded on a reporter who asked, during a Monday press gaggle, whether President Donald Trump’s administration was profiling and detaining alleged gang members based solely on their clothing. The reporter asked about the criteria being used by the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to positively identify those associated with violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua — many of whom are being targeted for deportation to a Salvadoran prison under the Alien Enemies Act — and noted that certain tattoos, symbols, and clothing items were a part of that list. WATCH: ?HOLY SMOKES! White House @PressSec Karoline Leavitt just TORCHED a "reporter" for claiming that illegal immigrants are being PROFILED and deported for nothing more than their clothing choice: "That's not true, actually…Have you talked to the agents who have been putting… pic.twitter.com/cz0pRLXQsh — Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 31, 2025 “That alone is enough to get someone classified as TdA and sent to El Salvador,” the reporter claimed, despite his own earlier acknowledgement that they had to meet eight separate criteria in order to be classified as such. “That’s not true, actually,” Leavitt shot back. “According to this document, it is,” he tried again. “No, according to the Department of Homeland Security and the agents — have you talked to the agents who have been putting their lives on the line to detain these foreign terrorists who have been terrorizing our communities?!” “TDA is a vicious gang that has taken the lives of American women!” Leavitt continued. “And our agents on the front lines take deporting these people with the utmost seriousness, and there is a litany of criteria that they use to ensure that these individuals qualify as foreign terrorists and to ensure that they qualify for deportation!” “And the president made it incredibly clear to the American public that there would be a mass deportation campaign — of not just foreign terrorists, but also illegal criminal aliens who have been wreaking havoc on American communities,” she said. “And shame on you and shame on the mainstream media for trying to cover for these individuals — this is a vicious gang … this is a vicious gang that has taken the lives of American women!”

“The White Lotus” actress Carrie Coon says a scene featuring her discussing a child who was “maybe trans” got cut following the re-election of President Donald Trump. The dark comedy-drama HBO series satirically explores the lives of wealthy guests and hotel staff at luxurious resorts. Each season features a different location and cast of characters. The latest season is set in Thailand. Coon plays one of three adult best friends who are on vacation together and increasingly getting more annoyed with each other. “There was a bit more context to her home life. You originally found out that her daughter was actually non-binary, maybe trans, and going by they/them,” the actress said of her character, Laurie, during a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar. One of the three friends, Kate (Leslie Bibb), seems to imply during season 3 that she and her husband may have voted for Trump.  “You see Laurie struggling to explain it to her friends, struggling to use they/them pronouns, struggling with the language, which was all interesting,” Coon continued. “It was only a short scene, but for me, it did make the question [in episode 3] of whether Kate voted for Trump so much more provocative and personally offensive to Laurie, considering who her child is in the world.” Coon said series creator Mike White cut the scene following the 2024 election. “The season was written before the election. And considering the way the Trump administration has weaponized the cultural war against transgender people even more since then, when the time came to cut the episode down, Mike felt that the scene was so small and the topic so big that it wasn’t the right way to engage in that conversation,” she said. “[White’s] father wrote a very influential book about what it was like to come out as a gay man himself in the evangelical church as an adult, which a lot of young men have read and was a very meaningful text for them in their own journeys,” Coon added. “So Mike doesn’t shy away from challenging cultural conversations, and I really appreciate that about his work.” Every season of “The White Lotus” includes graphic sexual content and violence. The latest installment includes instances of incest between two brothers who are on vacation together.

Biden Allies Reportedly Prepped For His Death As Early As 2023

'Locked in a room and forced to watch porn while he did heroin'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will issue a memo setting equal standards for men and women in combat roles across the armed services, he announced on X Monday. The memo aims to implement the same set of standards for all service members involved in combat, regardless of sex, Hegseth said on X. Hegseth said the services would review the guidance to ensure the “highest and equal standards for men and women in combat.” “For far too long, we have allowed standards to slip,” Hegseth said in his post. “We’ve had different standards for men/women serving in combat arms [Military Occupational Specialty] MOS’s and jobs…. That’s not acceptable, and it changes right now!” For far too long, we have allowed standards to slip. We’ve had different standards for men/women serving in combat arms MOS’s and jobs….That’s not acceptable, and it changes right now! pic.twitter.com/Zn9OyBew6G— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) March 31, 2025 Men and women currently have different standards for combat roles, with the U.S. Army deciding to make different standards for men and women in the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) in 2022 after the RAND Corporation found in a study that women failed the test at much higher rates than their male counterparts; 65% of women were failing the ACFT test at one point in 2021, which prompted the change in standards. Additionally, female candidates in Army Ranger school were reportedly given more chances to pass tests during the so-called “RAP week,” the first five days of ranger school, according to multiple Army Rangers’ testimonies. Hegseth took flak from Senate Democrats during his confirmation hearing for his past comments on potentially barring women from combat roles. However, he walked back the comments during the hearing, instead saying he supported standards that “maximize efficacy” instead of setting different standards based on sex. “Women will have access to ground combat roles given the standards remain high,” Hegseth said during the hearing. “We’ll have a review to make sure standards have not been eroded in any of these cases.” The Pentagon deferred to their press release when asked for comment. Originally published in The Daily Caller The post Pete Hegseth Announces He Is Ordering Equal Standards For Men And Women In Combat Roles appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Voters in Wisconsin head to the polls on Tuesday to decide the ideological majority and direction of their state Supreme Court. The race involves who will replace outgoing left-leaning Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Republicans are supporting Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel, while Democrats are backing Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford. That said, judicial elections in Wisconsin are officially nonpartisan.  Schimel previously served as the state’s attorney general. He is a practicing Catholic who has been supported by the Women Speak Out PAC, a partner of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. SBA characterized Schimel as a candidate who “respects life, the Constitution, and the rule of law.” While Crawford is also a state circuit court judge, the similarities with Schimel end there. She has been a prominent supporter of abortion rights in Wisconsin, having represented Planned Parenthood as a lawyer in previous private practice and has been endorsed by the organization.  Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are elected for 10-year terms, and this year’s judicial race is seen as a bellwether of whether the Trump coalition will turn out to vote in an off-year election. Supporters of Schimel have urged the need for a massive turnout on Tuesday to overcome Crawford’s slight lead in some polling.  Rs need to swamp turnout tomorrow https://t.co/BHSx1Qum4K— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 31, 2025 Liberals currently control the state’s highest court with a 4-to-3 majority. The race has received significant national attention because of its implication for the slim Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Wisconsin Supreme Court could affect the redistricting of congressional seats in the state. Democrats in the state have openly promised to deliver two additional House seats in play for the 2026 midterm elections. Both Democrats and Republicans have poured money into the race, with spending approaching $100 million. That number has exceeded the previous record of $51 million in 2023, which was also for a state Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin. Leftist billionaire George Soros has given $2 million to the Wisconsin Democratic Party and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has donated $1.5 million.   Meanwhile, Elon Musk and affiliates have spent about $17.5 million on the race, and the tech magnate has also organized a rally in the swing state. At one point wearing a foam cheesehead hat, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur handed out two $1 million oversized checks to two Wisconsin voters. Musk had used a similar high dollar-value sweepstakes during the 2024 presidential election to drive turnout in Pennsylvania.  The post Nominally Nonpartisan, Wisconsin High Court Election Likely to Set Ideological Direction of Bench appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Activist judges have courted disaster with abusive nationwide injunctions to stop policies they don’t like. Unlike the executive and legislative branches, the courts have only their reputation to give them power. With the recent spate of overzealous universal injunctions, some prominent members of Congress are threatening to intervene. It was only a matter of time. Activist judges in lower-level courts are pulling a reverse Marbury v Madison. They are directly challenging the power of the executive and legislative branches, claiming power they don’t have, and are paralyzing the proper function of federal government. The Supreme Court has in the past called universal injunctions proper in only under the most “extraordinary” circumstances. Now, activist judges are making them ordinary and are creating a crisis of their own making, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote in the Wall Street Journal Monday that he has proposed legislation to deeply curtail the use of national injunctions. “Federal district judges have increasingly—and inappropriately—inserted themselves into the national policy debate,” Grassley wrote. “They have repeatedly chosen not only to decide the cases before them, but also to issue orders derailing executive policy nationwide.” Grassley explained how the use of universal injunctions exploded during President Donald Trump’s first and especially now his second term. “More than two-thirds of all universal injunctions issued over the past 25 years were levied against the first Trump administration,” Grassley wrote. In the first few months of Trump’s second term the courts have now issued more universal injunctions than the entirety of President Joe Biden’s four years in office. Grassley noted that scholars have found no evidence of the use of the universal injunction used by federal courts before 1963. It’s clearly a modern phenomenon with major constitutional implications. Surely the framers of the Constitution did not intend for a single district court judge to dictate the terms of U.S. foreign policy. Grassley proposed that if the Supreme Court does not step in soon to control the abuse of judicial power, then the way to reduce the scope of the injunctions without curtailing the proper role of the courts to review constitutional cases is to “limit district courts to resolving the cases only between the parties before them.” The Iowa senator wrote that curtailing nationwide injunctions had bipartisan support in the past, though given that the courts have been the only effective measure the Left has had so far in stopping Trump’s agenda, that bipartisan support may quickly evaporate. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., another member of the Judiciary Committee, has also proposed a bill to stop nationwide injunctions and has called on Republican leadership to take up the issue. “Unelected district judges are usurping the authority of a duly-elected president and dictating national policy for 330 million Americans,” Hawley wrote in a press release about his bill. “Congress must stop this unconstitutional weaponization of the judiciary. My bill would be a critical step toward doing just that.” It’s not just the Senate. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has advanced legislation in the House mirroring the Senate proposals. The House and Senate will hold hearing on the issue this week. The House is slated to conduct a hearing Tuesday featuring former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Paul Larkin. The Senate’s hearing will take place on Wednesday. The injunction issue will likely be addressed again by the Supreme Court. But given the direct challenge the Courts have posed to a fast-acting Trump administration, it appears increasingly likely that Congress may get involved. This isn’t a denial of judicial review as some critics claim. Instead, it reflects reality that our Constitution cannot simply be the purview of the courts. All three branches have a duty to uphold the constitutional system we live under. If the courts step outside their proper role and deign to dictate policy, that is tyranny just like tyranny committed by either of the other branches. What activist judges have done with these escalating universal injunctions is an imprudent attempt to win temporary victories at the expense of the judiciary’s reputation as a whole. It’s bad for the courts and bad for the country. The post Congressional Republicans Seek to Slap Down Activist Judges, Curtail Universal Injunctions appeared first on The Daily Signal.