The Somali fraud might reach more than $8 billon. It’s still growing as the investigation continues. Gov. Tim Walz, who is credibly accused of covering up the fraud, is taking an aggressive stance against Republicans, while claiming his state is doing great economically and educationally (it is not). He is very angry about being called […] The post Somali Fraud Is Expected to Exceed $8 Billion appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

The Small Business Administration on Friday ordered all companies that get preference for government contracts due to their status as “socially disadvantaged” minorities to provide detailed financial information to show they are not defrauding the program, The Daily Wire has learned. The change represents a move to reevaluate a decades-old program that Washington insiders have long recognized as openly corrupt. The 8(a) program is one of the largest and oldest DEI initiatives in the country, affecting contracts at almost all federal agencies. SBA administrator Kelly Loeffler said there is mounting evidence that minority contracts had become “a pass-through vehicle for rampant abuse and fraud,” especially after the Biden administration raised the target for contracts that are “set aside” for minorities from 5% to 15% of all contracting dollars. “We’re committed to thoroughly reviewing every federal contract, contracting officer, and contractor — while working alongside federal law enforcement,” she said. The records will shed light on the extent to which companies are subcontracting out the work to non-“disadvantaged” firms, while keeping a cut for serving as a middleman or “front” company. That would defeat the purpose of the program and result in higher prices for government services across the board. Undercover journalist James O’Keefe caught employees from one such firm boasting that they did exactly that. O’Keefe Media Group published a video exposing ATI Government Solutions, an 8(a) firm based on Native American ownership that is run by whites. Anish Abraham, senior director at ATI Government Solutions, acknowledged that his company was a “pass-through” that got a $100 million contract, kept $65 million, and paid another firm $35 million to do the work. Such reports “have raised questions about widespread misconduct within the 8(a) Business Development Program, adding to years of credible concerns that the program designed to serve ‘socially and economically disadvantaged’ businesses has become a vehicle for institutionalized abuse at taxpayer expense,” the SBA wrote to each of the 4,300 “disadvantaged” contractors. The letter, exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire, requires that the companies upload their general ledger, bank statements, payroll register, subcontracting agreements, and other detailed internal information to the agency. Those who do not comply by January 5 risk losing their eligibility for contracts. Most of the records are requested in the computer-friendly CSV format, which may suggest a plan to use artificial intelligence to help find “pass-through” abuse. Loeffler said SBA’s top-to-bottom review of the so-called 8(a) minority contracting program, which has been in place since 1978, began in June after a criminal case revealed that one such firm had received more than half a billion dollars in USAID contracts after bribing a government official with $1 million. The 8(a) program is also called “set-aside” contracting because contracts are set aside from open competition and can be “sole-sourced” to a specific company, without needing to show that it’s the best qualified or provides the best value. Without the 8(a) program, the contracting officer would have had difficulty following through on the bribe because he would be tasked with running a competition and awarding the work to the firm that was objectively best. Pleading guilty were USAID official Roderick Watson; Walter Barnes, founder of Vistant, a company whose business model was getting contracts based on “disadvantaged” status and pairing with other companies who did the work; and Darryl Britt, founder of 8(a) form Apprio Inc. Britt was, at the time of his guilty plea, a member of Carnegie Mellon University’s Business Board of Advisers. A mark of how minority set-aside contractors routinely game the system is how small companies receive contracts for widely divergent fields of work — a sign that they are simply having others do it or hiring staff afterwards with little knowledge of the subject area. Apprio’s contracts with government agencies range from developing websites to medical care to human resources to “ebola efforts.” Other USAID contracts to Vistant include a $15 million contract “to help protect cyberspace and communications network domains to block the spread of insecure information.” A $28 million USAID contract was for “lab institutional contractor – mega bridge contract,” and a $40 million contract was for “creation of the PDEX award.” A $204,000 contract was for a “senior advisor to the Belarus country director.” Even after Barnes’s misconduct had been detected, a joint venture between Vistant and a “small business” operating out of a home, called CollaborateUp, was awarded potential work up to $800 million to solve “the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States.” Since the O’Keefe exposé of ATI Government Solutions, whose website openly advertised its main selling point as its ability to easily win government contracts through its affiliation with a Native American tribe, the SBA suspended the firm and a slew of others tied to its chief executive, Firmadge Crutchfield, who is white. Tribe members emotionally said they were victims of the pass-through scheme, and that if a contracting program intended to steer work to Native Americans, that work should actually be done by Native Americans. The minority set-aside program will need to be re-evaluated anyway because of recent court rulings blocking the government from doling out benefits based on race.

The consequences of the botched Afghanistan withdrawal during the Biden administration have made their way to the American homeland after the deadly National Guard shooting in Washington, D.C., according to many Republicans, including Senator Jim Banks (R-IN), who was deployed to Afghanistan while serving in the Navy. Shortly following the suspect’s identification as an Afghan national, Banks immediately called for proper vetting of individuals who came into the country as refugees following the withdrawal from Afghanistan. In a Thursday interview with The Daily Wire on Capitol Hill, Banks elaborated on why he “predicted that this would happen.” “If you flood the country with unvetted Afghan nationals, we knew that there would be a large population within that group who were aligned with terrorists, and now this is playing out and proving to be true,” Banks said. “Go back and vet all of them,” the senator said, further adding that the role of Congress should be to support the president and “fund the effort to do that.” The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which passed in July, paved the way for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hire thousands of agents, along with providing funding for immigration and border security measures. “And all of them who weren’t properly vetted — every single one of them — should be vetted. And if they shouldn’t be in the United States, then they should be sent back to where they came from,” the Republican said. “I served in Afghanistan, I served with translators and Afghan troops and others, and I can just tell you, not every single one of them should be allowed to come to the United States,” Banks continued. “They should be vetted. Just because they did something in Afghanistan during the war that … aligned with America, doesn’t mean that they support American values, and no one should … be allowed to come to America that doesn’t love America,” he added. Banks noted that the country’s immigration woes are arguably what won President Donald Trump a second term in 2024, adding that “he has a mandate to do what he’s doing.” Millions of people were let into the U.S. through asylum and parole programs, as well as by illegally crossing the southern border, during the Biden administration. Roughly 14 million immigrants “unauthorized” to be in the U.S. were in the country as of 2023, according to the Pew Research Center. As for Afghans who entered after the withdrawal, they came in through Operation Allies Welcome and other programs. The suspect in the deadly National Guard shooting last month in Washington, D.C., Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, reportedly worked alongside the CIA as a member of “Zero Unit” in Afghanistan. Rahmanullah has also dealt with mental health issues since coming to the United States. The deadly shooting killed Sarah Beckstrom and seriously injured another National Guard member, Andrew Wolfe, who remains in serious condition, CNN reported. Following the National Guard tragedy, Trump ordered the immigration processes for individuals from 19 “high-risk” nations halted to allow for “a thorough re-review process,” according to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services policy memorandum from Dec. 2. “In light of identified concerns and the threat to the American people, USCIS has determined that a comprehensive re-review, potential interview, and re-interview of all aliens from high-risk countries of concern who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021 is necessary,” the memo stated. “Lastly, USCIS may, when appropriate, extend this review and re-interview process to aliens who entered the United States outside of this timeframe.” 50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek. “We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country,” Trump said in the immediate aftermath of the Nov. 26 shooting. As for the suspect in the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” “We believe he was radicalized since he has been here in this country. We do believe that it was through connections in his home community and state.” The Indiana senator pointed out that even though the withdrawal from Afghanistan was in 2021, “there hasn’t been a successful effort for accountability in its aftermath.” During the exit of American troops, 13 American soldiers died in an ISIS-K attack, and the Taliban regained control of the country.

The European Union fined Elon Musk’s X $140 million on Friday as the bloc targets American social media companies under its expansive internet accountability regulations. The European Commission, which is the European Union’s executive branch, accused Elon Musk’s company of deceiving its users, failing to meet advertising transparency requirements, and failing to give researchers access to the platform’s data. The commission argues that X violated its Digital Services Act, regulations put into place in 2022 that are designed to clamp down on what it views as illegal content and misinformation on social media. Before the fine was officially announced, Vice President JD Vance ripped the European Union for planning to impose the penalties against X. “Rumors swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage,” Vance wrote. Secretary of State Marco Rubio added, “The European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on @X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments. The days of censoring Americans online are over.” The European Commission’s top complaint against X on Friday is that the social media company allows any user to “obtain the ‘verified’ status without the company meaningfully verifying who is behind the account, making it difficult for users to judge the authenticity of accounts and content they engage with.” The commission said that the Digital Services Act does not require platforms to verify users, but added that the regulation “clearly prohibits online platforms from falsely claiming that users have been verified, when no such verification took place.” “Deceiving users with blue checkmarks, obscuring information on ads and shutting out researchers have no place online in the EU,” said Henna Virkkunen, the executive vice president for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.” DSA protects users. The DSA gives researchers the way to uncover potential threats. The DSA restores trust in the online environment. With the DSA’s first non-compliance decision, we are holding X responsible for undermining users’ rights and evading accountability.” Musk also responded to the commission’s complaint, writing on X that his goal with X’s verification system “was to democratize verification, rather than have it be controlled by a group of biased elites!” The European Union’s move against X was condemned by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, with FCC Chair Brendan Carr saying that Europe is “taxing Americans.” “Once again, Europe is fining a successful U.S. tech company for being a successful U.S. tech company,” Carr said. “Europe is taxing Americans to subsidize a continent held back by Europe’s own suffocating regulations.” Conservatives have argued that the Digital Services Act is a way for Europe to clamp down on free speech, even for Americans. “The DSA can impact anyone, can impact content creators and influencers and preachers and political dissidents and any kind of content online can be regulated by the DSA through its architecture,” Dr. Adina Portaru, a senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom International, told The Daily Wire earlier this year. X was given 60 days to inform the European Commission of how it plans to address the issues laid out by the bloc. The social media platform has 90 days to submit an “action plan” to the commission, and the Board of Digital Services will then have one month to issue its opinion and another month to release its final decision.

December 5 marked a huge day for the royal family. Prince William, Princess Kate, and their three children appeared together for the first time in nearly six months for a very special reason. Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis joined their mom and dad for Princess Kate’s annual Together at Christmas carol event at Westminster Abbey in London. The Prince and Princess of Wales beamed as they walked with their children, looking picture-perfect for Christmas. Inside the service, the family held candles and sang with the congregation. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales (@princeandprincessofwales) Prince William and Princess Kate Have a Beautiful Family There is no doubt that Princess Kate and Prince William adore their children, and the five of them in blues and greens looked like the perfect family. The pair shared photos on Instagram featuring giant smiles from Kate, Charlotte, and Louis. William and the eldest boy, George, kept a more stoic expression. “So special to come together this evening for this year’s ‘Together at Christmas’ Carol Service.Grateful to everyone who helped make it such a warm and memorable celebration of love at Christmas,” Prince William and Princess Kate shared. “That sweet adorable Louis smile! Looking so much like his grandfather Middleton! Lovely pics!” A royal enthusiast shared. “One of my favourite royal event of the year. Thank you so much to Catherine for creating such a special Christmas concert, our new favourite tradition & so nice to see George, Charlotte and Louis, always there to support their parents in the best way,” someone wrote. “Together at Christmas is truly the most magical Christmas event,” another person agreed. Seeing Prince William and Princess Kate with their family was a beautiful start to the holiday season. “Wonderful family, love this carol service, l look forward to watching this on Christmas Eve xxx,” someone shared. This story’s featured image is by  Samir Hussein/WireImage.

Some people say there’s no such thing as true love. Perhaps they are eternally cynical or just haven’t found the right person yet. If you’ve ever doubted the power of love, we’d like to introduce you to a man named Colin. The 82-year-old shared with @oldfriendclub that if he could time-travel, he’d go back to the first time he danced with his wife. He said she was the only woman he ever wanted. But after he got her, “she died,” he said through tears. The touching moment was shared on Instagram by @pubity, and it got so many people right in the feels. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pubity (@pubity) Colin’s Love for His Wife Will Never Die The clip is only a few seconds long, but in that time, we can see just how much Colin’s late wife meant to him. It’s the kind of love we see in the movies. So many chase that connection, and Colin was lucky enough to have it. Seeing the elderly man break down in tears thinking about the love of his life brought out emotions in many people. “’I got her. And then she died’ absolutely tore me,” someone wrote. “Welp, that’s one cry down out of my daily goal,” another person admitted. This man understands just how Colin feels about his wife. “I have been married to my wife for 35 years. I was even at school with my wife. Walking in this earth without her is utterly unconscionable. I feel his pain and I still have my wonderful woman waiting for me at home every day,” he wrote. Another follower left a very kind and uplifting comment for Colin. “I know she’s taking care of her man from wherever she’s at. That kind of love transcends time & dimensions,” they wrote. We believe in heaven and know Colin and his wife will be together again one day, dancing. This story’s featured image can be found here.

The host reviews the mayor's history of pandering to Somalis

'Never been more critical'