Gold prices extended to another record high on Monday‚ with expected U.S. interest rate cuts. 

Recording artist Sean “Diddy” Combs posted on Instagram on Easter Sunday‚ just days after his mansions in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by federal agents in connection with a sex trafficking investigation. The 54-year-old rapper and music mogul posted a photo carousel featuring images of his 17-month-old daughter‚ Love‚ dressed up for the holiday. “HAPPY EASTER from Baby Love‚” Diddy wrote in the caption.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by LOVE (@diddy) The recording artist has more than 20 million followers on the platform. Commenting was turned off on the post.  Diddy shares his youngest daughter with Dana Tran. He also has six other children with various women.  The Bad Boy Records founder has been making headlines all week following the Department of Homeland Security serving search warrants at Combs’ multiple homes. He also faces sexual assault lawsuits from five different people dating back to last year. Two of the complaints also include sex trafficking allegations. TMZ reported last week that companies doing business with Combs‚ including a private charter jet firm‚ phone provider‚ and computer specialists‚ were being issued subpoenas during the investigation.  Diddy’s lawyers condemned the raids on his properties. “There was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences‚” lawyer Aaron Dyer said in a statement‚ per People. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.” “This unprecedented ambush — paired with an advanced‚ coordinated media presence — leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits‚” Dyer continued‚ adding that “there has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP Diddy had also declared his innocence at the end of last year when the sexual assault lawsuits were initially filed.  “For the last couple of weeks‚ I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character‚ destroy my reputation and my legacy‚” Combs said in December. “Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday‚” he said. “Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name‚ my family and the truth.”

The House will consider foreign aid legislation that would provide more assistance to Ukraine along with “important innovations” after the Easter recess‚ Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Sunday. Johnson told Fox News host Trey Gowdy that lawmakers have been “working to build a consensus” to address national security issues that he said begins with U.S. border security. “We’ve been talking to all the members‚ especially now in the district work period. When we return after this work period‚ we’ll be moving a product‚” Johnson said‚ suggesting there could be action as early as next week. “It’s going to — I think — have some important innovations: The REPO Act. If we can use the seized assets of Russian oligarchs to allow the Ukrainians to fight them‚ that’s just pure poetry‚” he said. Johnson also mentioned a “loan concept” that has been floated by former President Donald Trump as a way to continue aid to Ukraine. “We’re not just giving foreign aid‚ we’re setting it up in a relationship where they can provide it back to us when the time is right‚” Johnson said. The speaker said lawmakers want to “release” American energy and have natural gas exports that will “help unfund” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort in Ukraine. “There’s a lot of things that we should do that make more sense and that I think we’ll have consensus around. We’re putting that product together and we’ll be moving it right after the district work period‚” Johnson added. In February‚ the Democrat-led Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill that would allocate money for Ukraine‚ Israel‚ and Taiwan‚ responding to President Joe Biden’s national security supplemental request. While the House has refused to consider the legislation‚ with Johnson insisting border security reforms must be part of the equation‚ some GOP members have pushed for alternatives. During his conversation with Gowdy‚ Johnson also responded to a motion from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to oust him as speaker after the House passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “I think all of my other Republican colleagues recognize this is a distraction from our mission … to save the Republic and the only way we can do that is if we grow the House majority‚ win the Senate‚ and win the White House‚” he said. Calling Greene a “friend‚” Johnson said he shares her frustrations about government spending. He added that they have exchanged text messages and plan to talk soon. “I want to talk with her about reforming the budgeting and spending process going forward. That’s what Republicans are for. That’s the transformational kind of changes that we can forge‚ if we all stand together‚” he said.

The results of new municipal elections in Turkey may indicate that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan‚ a harsh critic of Israel‚ may be in trouble in future presidential elections. Two major parties exist in Turkey‚ the Justice and Development Party (AK)‚ headed by Erdogan‚ and the Republican People’s Party (CHP). The election on Sunday in the two major cities of Istanbul and Ankara featured the mayors of the two cities‚ both of whom belong to the CHP‚ successfully defending their positions from candidates from the AK. Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas of the CHP won over 60% of the votes. In addition‚ in 35 of Turkey’s 81 provinces‚ the CHP won in the municipal elections; the AK won in only 25. That represented the first time in 20 years the CHP led AK in local elections. “Voters have chosen to change the face of Turkey‚” CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel stated. “They want to open the door to a new political climate in our country.” “Unfortunately‚ we have not obtained the results that we wanted‚” Erdogan acknowledged. According to analysts quoted by The Times of Israel‚ Turkish voters have become disenchanted with Erdogan because of roughly 70% inflation and an economic slowdown. The significance of the two major cities voting for the CHP is that Ankara is the political capital of the nation and major financial centers reside in Istanbul. In late December‚ Erdogan compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler‚ prompting Netanyahu and other leading Israeli officials to fire back. Speaking in Ankara‚ Erdogan once said‚ “A Muslim could not commit genocide; he is not capable of it.” He also declared‚ “They used to speak ill of Hitler. What difference do you have from Hitler? They are going to make us miss Hitler. Is what this Netanyahu is doing any less than what Hitler did? It is not.” That catalyzed this response from Netanyahu: “Erdogan‚ who is committing genocide against the Kurds and who holds the world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his regime‚ is the last person who can preach morality to us. The IDF‚ which is the most moral army in the world‚ is fighting to eliminate the most abhorrent and brutal terrorist organization in the world‚ Hamas-ISIS‚ which has committed crimes against humanity‚ and which Erdogan has praised and whose leaders he hosts.” Israeli President Yitzchak Herzog added‚ “I strongly condemn and utterly reject the words of Turkish President Erdogan. In all of human history‚ the Holocaust stands alone in its horror and enormity‚ and his words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world‚ and to the memory of the millions of Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis. The command ‘Never Again’ remains an imperative for the State of Israel — the nation state of the Jewish people — which is committed to the safety and protection of every Jew. There is no struggle more just than the war against the terrorist organization Hamas‚ which brutally and barbarically murdered Jews‚ as well as Muslims‚ and those of other faiths and nationalities.”

The conservative David Horowitz Freedom Center has weathered a barrage of attacks from a number of institutions‚ from the Southern Poverty Law Center to credit card giants Visa and Mastercard‚ but it now believes its very existence is threatened by what it says is a politically-motivated probe by the Internal Revenue Service. The California-based non-profit has been advocating for conservative values since its founding in 1988. Its non-profit status‚ however‚ could be eliminated by a pending judgment from the Internal Revenue Service‚ which claims that the organization engaged in electioneering. The Center disputes the claim‚ and says the investigation into its work comes only because the IRS is weaponized against conservatives. Daniel Greenfield‚ a Vice President of the Freedom Center‚ says the IRS has taken issue with articles the Freedom Center wrote about Hillary Clinton and Trump in 2016. “The basis for the investigation is that we’ve been covering the election‚” Greenfield explained to The Daily Wire. “Leftist nonprofits are actually engaged in straight up electioneering. They register voters. They fund litigation‚ they’re engaged in protest. All we did was engage in journalism.” The IRS complaint‚ which began in 2019‚ hinges on the claim that the Freedom Center engaged in electioneering. The IRS allegation specifically highlighted journalistic work from the Freedom Center‚ which claimed “that Hillary Clinton had violated U.S. espionage laws and obstructed justice by destroying 30‚000 emails subpoenaed by the United States Congress.” “The key rule we were alleged to have violated was to have participated in a political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office‚” an article from David Horowitz explains‚ before pointing out that the Freedom Center has never endorsed a candidate nor involved itself in any campaign. The Freedom Center maintains that the IRS investigation is politically motivated‚ and Greenfield believes it’s “no coincidence that this is happening right before an election.” Greenfield explained that the IRS complaint is the latest‚ and most serious‚ in a series of attacks against the Freedom Center. Color of Change‚ a now-defunct non-profit established by Van Jones‚ waged a campaign called “Blood Money” against the Freedom Center in an attempt to get the organization de-banked by Visa and Mastercard. The campaign‚ which came after the leftwing Southern Poverty Law Center listed the Freedom Center as a hate group‚ resulted in Mastercard briefly refusing to process payments to the organization. Then‚ after a series of articles from The Washington Post calling for the Freedom Center to lose its non-profit status‚ the IRS launched its complaint in 2019. Now that complaint threatens to destroy the organization entirely. “We’re looking at $600‚000 in legal fees and we’re a pretty small organization that employs very few people‚” Greenfield explained. While the Freedom Center maintains that it and other organizations have been politically targeted by the IRS‚ it also asserts that leftist organizations that appear to engage in genuine electioneering get let off the hook. Investigations by the Freedom Center’s publication‚ Front Page Magazine‚ point to organizations like ProGeorgia‚ which boasted that it conducted “31‚000 face-to-face conversations‚ 10 million texts‚ and 133‚000 phone conversations” and registered “tens of thousands for the midterm election” so that “voters of color turned out in early voting at higher levels than their white counterparts.” There’s also Black Votes Matter‚ which partnered with the SPLC to drive voter turnout in the Peach State. Black Votes Matter head LaTosha Brown bragged that “Georgia voters practically handed victories to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris with a historic election outcome.” While leftist organizations influence elections and boast of the results‚ the Freedom Center says that its case is just the latest instance of the IRS being weaponized against conservatives. The IRS has previously admitted to mistreating conservative organizations‚ many of which were associated with the Tea Party movement‚ by applying “heightened scrutiny and inordinate delays” when handling tax exempt status requests. “I’d like to say we’re a unique target‚” Greenfield said. “We’re not a unique target. There’s a larger phenomenon going on here.” Now the Freedom Center is at risk of dissolution as a result of the IRS’s actions. Greenfield noted that the organization expects to receive a final judgment from the IRS in the coming months‚ bringing the situation to a decisive crossroads. “At that point we face a choice between fighting them directly in court or just closing up shop‚ and we’re an organization with a lot of history‚” he said. “We’ve been around for decades. Other people in the conservative movement have come through us one way or another.”