Fraud And Fancy

 

"I Flagged Them All": Attorney Says US Gov't Investigating Somali Welfare Fraud In Ohio

Allegations of welfare fraud involving Minneapolis daycare centers tied to Somali operators have circulated in the news cycle for years with limited traction; however, it was not until a high-visibility, bombshell investigation by citizen journalist Nick Shirley that the topic was reignited and thrust back into the news cycle. The focus is now shifting from Democrat-run Minneapolis to what is being framed as a potentially nationwide welfare fraud epidemic.

On Sunday, Breitbart News published an interview with Ohio attorney Mehek Cooke, who alleges that members of the Somali community in Ohio have defrauded millions of dollars from the state's Medicaid program.

"So these individuals tried to report the fraud that was happening in Ohio and eventually came to me saying that we are watching providers rubber-stamp paperwork for home health.

And there are many states like this, Pennsylvania and others too, where you can go in and say, 'My aging parent needs home health care. I want to provide it.'

The state will, as long as a doctor has approved it, continue to pay you. It could be for 10 hours, 12 hours, up to 24 hours when it is critical care.

So you could sit at home without caring for an elderly parent who really does not need it and make about $75,000 to $90,000 a year. Now you add two parents, that is $180,000. Now you add your in-laws, $250,000.

You continue to add this and you wonder, what services are actually being provided? So a lot of providers came to me and said fraud is occurring because we refused to rubber-stamp this paperwork.

So they went to other providers in their home health care networks saying, 'We will make it worth your while.' Well, that sounds like a kickback to me.

So we really need to investigate the Medicaid system, how much it has expanded since the Somali population arrived, and who truly needs critical care, because that is meant for the disabled, the elderly, and people who genuinely need it, not for people to live off the system.

And that is what is happening in Ohio. I think it is ridiculous. I think it is despicable. But authorities are now looking at it, from the Attorney General's office to the U.S. Attorney's office.

I flagged them all because these are Ohio tax dollars and we have to take it seriously. I am tired of people telling me, 'Well, this is the way it has always been. It is subjective, and we cannot really check.'

No, you can. Audit America. Audit Ohio now."

.@MehekCooke: Taxpayer-funded medical fraud is also widespread in Ohio.

"We really need to investigate the Medicaid system and how much it's increased since the Somalian population came." pic.twitter.com/8pJCzjK4qo

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 28, 2025

Little Mogadishu Is Getting Nervous

 

Boots On The Ground: Federal Agents Descend On Somali-Linked Minneapolis Businesses

Update (1315ET):

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, the primary investigative arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are on the ground in Minneapolis Monday morning, conducting what DHS Secretary Kristi Noem described as a “massive investigation into childcare and other widespread fraud.”

"Homeland Security Investigations @ICEGov are on the ground in Minneapolis right now conducting a massive investigation on childcare and other rampant fraud," Noem wrote on X, adding, "More coming."

Homeland Security wrote on X, "The American people deserve answers on how their taxpayer money is being used and ARRESTS when abuse is found. Under the leadership of @Sec_Noem , DHS is working to deliver results."

Meanwhile.... This X post did not age well. 

Nor did this one. 

While allegations of Somali-linked welfare fraud in left-wing-controlled Minnesota have been known for years, the timing of Nick Shirley's bombshell investigation suggests the federal government needed positive sentiment in the news cycle to begin the action phase on the ground. That's usually how these types of operations work.

*   *   *

A viral video that has topped 76 million views on X within 48 hours has significantly heightened public scrutiny of multiple Minneapolis daycare centers linked to Somali operators that received millions in state and federal funding despite showing minimal operational activity. The apparent mismatch between allocated taxpayer funds and observable services strengthens a recent report by Christopher F. Rufo, which alleges that Somali-linked fraud in the left-wing-controlled state may involve front companies potentially diverting taxpayer funds to at least one overseas terrorist network.

Update: And according to FBI Director Kash Patel, the agency will "continue to follow the money" in Minnesota, and their investigation is "ongoing." (And why did it take Chris Rufo cracking the case before they took action?)

"To date, the FBI dismantled a $250 million fraud scheme that stole federal food aid meant for vulnerable children during COVID. The investigation exposed sham vendors, shell companies, and large-scale money laundering tied to the Feeding Our Future network," Patel said on Sunday. 

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party and its PR machine across left-wing corporate media outlets, including CBS, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, 60 Minutes, The New York Times, and the Associated Press, have largely remained silent on citizen journalist Nick Shirley's investigation.

 

The Adjustment Bureau

 

Futures Drop As Silver Slides From Record

Stocks are extending their modest losses from their pre-Christmas record as another shortened trading week starts. As late last week, much of the market action is in precious metals, with silver first smashing through $80 for the first time before sliding while gold also retreated from Friday’s all-time high and platinum pulling back sharply after surging nearly 10%, and hitting limit down in China along with Platinum.As of 8:15am, S&P 500 futures were 0.3% lower while Nasdaq 100 contracts were down 0.4% as Tesla and Nvidia slid more than 1% to lead premarket losses among Mag 7. Europe’s Stoxx 600 was little changed following talks about a peace deal for Ukraine that yielded no breakthrough. Treasuries gained with 10Y yields down 0.2bps from Friday's close to 4.11% while the BBG dollar index rose. Bitcoin briefly surged back over $90,000 before getting summarily slammed right back down. Trading is likely to be light again, accompanied by a threadbare economic calendar and the absence of major planned corporate events. 

In premarket trading, Tesla and Nvidia underperform Mag 7, putting pressure on US stock futures (Tesla -1%, Nvidia -1%, Alphabet -0.5%, Meta -0.4%, Apple -0.2%, Microsoft -0.1%, Amazon +0.1%)

• Silver stocks including Coeur (CDE) and Hecla (HL) fall as the precious metal retreated sharply after smashing through $80 an ounce for the first time. Coeur -4.5%, Hecla -4%
• Coupang (CPNG) gains 2% after offering compensation worth more than $1 billion to all customers affected by South Korea’s biggest-ever data breach.
• DigitalBridge Group (DBRG) soars 33% as SoftBank Group is said to be in advanced talks to acquire the private equity firm that invests in assets such as data centers.
• Energy Fuels (UUUU) gains 3% after saying it exceeded 2025 uranium production and sales guidance.
• Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU) rises 0.9% after the WSJ reported that founder Chip Wilson is launching a proxy fight at the retailer.

In corporate news, Japan’s SoftBank is in advanced talks to acquire DigitalBridge Group, a private equity firm that invests in assets such as data centers, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

With stock trading rather subdued, precious-metal price swings remained the overnight highlight, with silver spiking as much as 6% on Monday, before profit takers stepped in to send it back below Friday’s close. As a result, silver retreated sharply after smashing through $80 an ounce for the first time, halting a record-breaking rally powered by Chinese speculative demand.

The white metal fell by more than 6% as it took a roller-coaster ride Monday after earlier hitting $84 an ounce. Surging Chinese investment demand has pulled the metal higher, with premiums for spot silver in Shanghai rising above $8 an ounce over London prices, the biggest spread on record. Elon Musk fed the early momentum with his reply to a tweet about Chinese export restrictions due to start on Thursday, saying on X over the weekend: “This is not good. Silver is needed in many industrial processes.”

Silver, which had risen more than 40% since the start of the month through Friday, has been spurred like other precious metals this year by elevated central-bank purchases, inflows to exchange-traded funds and three rate cuts by the Fed. Lower borrowing costs burnish the attraction of commodities and traders are betting on more rate cuts in 2026. Frictions in Venezuela and strikes by Washington on Islamic State targets in Nigeria have also added to the haven appeal of metals. With silver inventories near their lowest on record, there’s a risk of supply shortages that could impact multiple sectors.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said he expects the Trump administration to de-escalate trade tensions next year after tariffs sent shockwaves through the US economy in 2025. He said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS News that BofA now sees “de-escalation, not escalation,” with an average of 15% tariffs and higher rates for countries that won’t commit to US purchases or lowering non-tariff barriers.

Despite the market closing out 2025 at an all time high, tariffs and other curve balls made it a brutal year for stock pickers. About $1 trillion was pulled from active equity mutual funds over the year, according to estimates from Bloomberg Intelligence using ICI data, marking an 11th year of net outflows and, by some measures, the steepest of the cycle. By contrast, passive equity exchange-traded funds got more than $600 billion.

“The question of ‘is AI a bubble’ will remain front and center for investors in 2026,” wrote Richard Flax, chief investment officer at Moneyfarm. “The scale of current investment and the pace of innovation mean that even the sceptics cannot ignore its influence on both markets and the real economy.

In geopolitical news, President Donald Trump said he made “a lot of progress” in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy over a possible peace deal, but that it might take a few weeks to get it done.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 was little changed following talks about a peace deal for Ukraine that yielded no breakthrough. Miners outperform, driven by surging metals prices, while industrial goods and services stocks are among the biggest laggards. Here are some of the biggest movers on Monday:

• Fresnillo shares climb as much as 5.3% on Monday to the highest level on record, leading a rally in mining stocks driven by surging metals prices.
• International Personal Finance rises as much as 6.8% in London trading after Basepoint agreed to buy the consumer finance company in a deal valuing IPF at about £543 million.
• BioGaia shares gain as much as 4.2% as DNB Carnegie lifts its price target on the Swedish probiotics firm and says the stock may break out on the upside from its five-year trading range in 2026 as margins improve.
• Bonesupport shares advance as much as 4.5% on Monday as DNB Carnegie repeats its positive stance on the Swedish medical equipment firm and says valuation seems attractive given potential for growth.
• Leonardo shares fall as much as 4.7% after US President Donald Trump said he made “a lot of progress” in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy over a possible peace deal.

Earlier in the session, Asian equities extended gains for a seventh day, the longest winning streak in three months, buoyed by advances in tech firms. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed as much as 0.6%, boosted by TSMC, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. South Korea led gains in the region, while benchmarks in Taiwan and Tokyo also rose. China’s markets reversed earlier gains despite Beijing’s pledge to broaden its fiscal spending base in 2026. Meanwhile, mining shares across Asia climbed after silver rallied to a new peak, before sliding. 

Elsewhere in commodities, copper, fueled by concerns over tighter supply, pushed hard toward $13,000 a ton, setting a fresh record on the London Metal Exchange.  Oil also rose as the US-led talks failed to yield a breakthrough and as China vowed to support economic growth next year. Brent crude is still on track for a fifth monthly drop in December, which would be the longest losing streak in more than two years.

Bitcoin topped $90,000 before erasing the gain. A gauge of the dollar was steady. US Treasuries strengthened across the curve, with the 10-year yield falling one basis point to 4.12%.

In rates, treasuries hold small gains on lower-than-average futures volumes to begin the year’s final week, amid similar price action in most European bond markets where trading resumed after Friday’s holiday. Yields are lower by about 1bp-2bp across tenors with the curve slightly flatter; 10-year declined as much as 2.5bp to 4.10%, lowest level since Dec. 18. Treasuries remain headed for a small monthly loss amid signs of US economic resilience, yet still on pace for their best annual performance since 2020 following three Fed interest-rate cuts in response to weakening labor-market conditions

The US economic data calendar includes November pending home sales (10am) and December Dallas Fed manufacturing activity (10:30am); no Fed speakers are scheduled until Jan. 3

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 mini -0.3%,
• Nasdaq 100 mini -0.4%,
• Russell 2000 mini little changed
• Stoxx Europe 600 little changed,
• DAX -0.2%,
• CAC 40 little changed
• 10-year Treasury yield -2 basis points at 4.11%
• VIX +1.2 points at 14.82
• Bloomberg Dollar Index little changed at 1200.67,
• euro little changed at $1.1777
• WTI crude +2% at $57.89/barrel

Top Overnight News

• Ukraine Seeks 50-Year U.S. Security Guarantee, Trump Offers 15: WSJ
• China stages record drills designed to encircle Taiwan: RTRS
• Chinese Military Drills Send ‘Stern Warning’ After U.S. Arms Sales to Taiwan: WSJ
• Why a Chinese Attack on Taiwan Would Be Japan’s Problem: WSJ
• China Swipes at Trump in Move to Be Thai-Cambodia Peacemaker: BBG
• Netanyahu Meets Trump as Gaza Ceasefire Approaches Crossroad: BBG
• US pledges $2 billion in humanitarian support to UN, State Department says : RTRS
• Justice Department Using Fraud Law to Target Companies on DEI: WSJ
• Every Wall Street Analyst Now Predicts a Stock Rally in 2026: BBG
• Xi’s Triumphant Year Staring Down Trump Belies Woes in China: BBG
• Lululemon Founder Launches Proxy Fight to Change Board: WSJ
• Copper Rallies to Record Near $13,000 in London on Supply Fears: BBG
• Ph.D.s Can’t Find Work as Boston’s Biotech Engine Sputters: WSJ
• Publicly Traded Private-Credit Funds Set for Worst Year Since 2020: BBG
• Canada Pensions Overseeing $1.2 Trillion Revamp Private Equity Model: BBG
• SoftBank Nears Deal for Data Center Investment Firm DigitalBridge: BBG
• How a Reclusive Ex-Glencore Trader Became Indonesia’s Nickel King: BBG

US Event Calendar

• 10:00 am: Nov Pending Home Sales MoM, est. 0.96%, prior 1.9%
• 10:30 am: Dec Dallas Fed Manf. Activity, est. -6, prior -10.4
• via zer0hedge

Smoking What?

 

Zelensky Wants 50-Year(!) Security Guarantee From Trump

There were no substantial breakthroughs in the latest Trump-Zelensky talks on Ukraine peace at Mar-a-Lago resort on Sunday, and fresh reporting on Monday reveals why.

A major point of disagreement remains security guarantees. Ukraine has been pushing maximalist demands for something akin to NATO Article 5 protections. It would be like getting all the benefits of being in NATO but without being a formal member of the Western military alliance.

The Ukrainian side has revealed that President Trump had offered security guarantees for 15 years following a peaceful settlement, but Zelensky considered this much too short to protect from future potential Russian aggression.

But in classic Zelensky fashion, he wants way more than this. Also, maximalist demands are something that European leaders have backed him on all along - and they may have even put him up to. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Kyiv had asked for security guarantees to last up to 50 years after the end of the conflict during weekend discussions. In the documents currently being discussed, the U.S. offered a 15-year guarantee with the possibility of extension, Zelensky said in audio messages to journalists on Monday.

That's half a century! Would Congress and the American public sign off on this? Congressional hawks like Lindsey Graham surely would, but others might not want to be hitched to the Ukraine wagon for yet decades more to come.

50 years? What's he been smoking...

"We have been at war for almost 15 years, and therefore we would very much like the guarantees to be longer," Zelensky has disclosed that he told Trump. "And I told him that we would very much like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years, and that this would then be a historic decision by President Trump."

As for Trump, he has said he "would think about it" and further that "There will be a security agreement, it’ll be a strong agreement and the European nations are very much involved."

But alas there's been no agreement.

Last week we detailed that Zelensky actually wants to keep the contents of any US-Ukraine security deal a secret. He ultimately would like to bypass the American public and thus potential criticism by keeping the future deal's contents from public knowledge.

"There is a separate document between us and the United States – bilateral security guarantees," the Ukrainian leader wrote on X a week ago. "This is what we see: they must be reviewed by the U.S. Congress, with certain details and annexes remaining classified."

The American people might have something to say about that, especially on a 'classified' backroom deal which could drag future generations into war with nuclear-armed Russia.

Got Drugs?

 

 America's Seniors Are Being Overmedicated Into Oblivion

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

So many seniors that were once so full of life are now just shadows of their former selves.  It can be really easy to assume that they are “just getting old” and that nothing unusual is happening to them.  

But the truth is that in so many cases the reason why America’s seniors are shutting down is because they are simply being overmedicated.  Our entire medical system has been designed to push pills, and so when our seniors seek medical help that is usually the solution that they are offered.  As you will see below, the proportion of our seniors that are on at least 8 pharmaceutical drugs is truly alarming.  Of course those that consume pharmaceutical drug cocktails on a daily basis for an extended period of time are quite likely to experience very serious consequences.

Most people don’t realize that modern terms such as “pharmacy” and “pharmaceutical” originally come from the Greek word “pharmakeia”…

The word “pharmacy” has a fascinating origin story that’s as complex as the practice itself.

It comes from the Greek word “pharmakeia”, which referred to “the practice of the druggist”. But here is the twist: “phármakon”, the root of the term, was a double-edged sword – it meant a plant or herb that could be used for either healing or harmful purposes, blurring the line between medicine and poison.

No society in the entire history of the planet has taken “pharmakeia” to the extremes that we have.

We are the most drugged nation that the world has ever seen, and this is particularly true for our seniors.

The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed an 83-year-old woman named Barbara Schmidt that has “filled prescriptions for more than a dozen different drugs in the past year”…

For years, Barbara Schmidt’s family feared an illness was behind a pattern of terrifying falls that repeatedly landed the 83-year-old great-grandmother in surgery with broken bones. Instead, Schmidt’s frequent tumbles might have been tied to something else: medications intended to make her better.

Schmidt, who lives with her husband of 65 years in Lewes, Del., filled prescriptions for more than a dozen different drugs in the past year, according to pharmacy and medical records.

After taking so many medications in such a short period of time, it really is a miracle that she is still alive today.

But she is far from alone.

Burn Bags?

 

Ilhan Omar's Husband's Venture Capital Firm Removes Names From Website Under Scrutiny

Authored by Bryan Jung via PJMedia.com,

A venture capital firm run by Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) husband quietly scrubbed important names from its website, as the Minnesota congresswoman faces mounting questions on her sudden wealth amid a multi-billion Somali welfare fraud scheme in her district.

Rose Lake Capital, the $60 million dollar firm managed by Omar’s husband, political consultant Tim Mynett, deleted key officers from its website, including former Obama Administration officials, reported the New York Post in an exclusive.

The news comes as Somali communities across multiple states are currently facing scrutiny over dozens of similarly fraudulent schemes that have seen billions of taxpayer dollars flowing overseas, with some even going to jihadist terrorist groups in Somalia.

Nine billion dollars from Minnesota’s social services programs were illegally pocketed via scams mostly perpetrated by local members of the Somali community in Omar's congressional district, according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Minnesota congresswoman, a member of the "the Squad" who was born in Somalia, is an outspoken figure on the far-left wing of the House Democratic caucus

Omar suspiciously went from holding tens of thousands in debt to earning tens of millions in a single year, not long after taking office in 2019 on a congressperson's annual salary of $174,000, the Washington Free Beacon reported in September. 

Her critics have recently pointed to the fact that she was the prime mover in introducing the federal legislation that enabled what the DOJ has called the largest fraud committed in the United States during the pandemic.

Minnesota’s Democrat governor and failed vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz is continuing to face criticism for his part in the mismanagement and alleged complicity in the debacle, as calls for federal charges against him grow louder.

The Somalia-born Omar introduced in 2020 the MEALS Act, which severely weakened oversight of government-sponsored children’s meals programs during the pandemic.

This allowed criminals to fraudulently claim that they served millions of meals without verification, while pocketing millions of dollars in government subsidies, say critics.

The $9 billion stolen is nearly equivalent to the entire economy of Somalia, whose GDP was under $12 billion last year, according to the World Bank.

The total losses accounts for roughly half of the $18 billion in total federal funds provided to the Minnesota-run services since 2018, say federal prosecutors.

Meanwhile, while one of the largest government subsidies frauds in American history was underway, Mynett launched Rose Lake Capital, his venture capital management firm, in 2022.

Mynett's firm saw its reported value skyrocket from less than $1,000 in 2023, to between $5 million and $25 million by the end of the year, despite its address remaining a WeWork office in Washington, D.C., according to its LinkedIn page.

Rose Lake Capital apparently was able to amass significant assets under management through its “deep global networks built from on-the-ground work in more than 80 countries,” an amount which is normally unheard of in the industry.

Her husband's other business, eStCru, was a failed California winery venture that has also faced fraud allegations and, strangely enough, was also listed as operating out of a WeWork office.

Mynett's winery, which was worth between $1 million and $5 million in 2024, agreed to an out-of-court settlement with a former investor in November who accused Omar's husband of swindling him out of $900,000, as he “fraudulently misrepresented … that estCru, LLC was a legitimate company.”

The winery was only worth between $15,000 and $50,000 in Omar’s financial disclosure report in 2022, making its 9,900%  earnings windfall the following year suspect, say critics.

About 90 Minnesotan Somalis have been arrested so far, including at least three suspects with direct ties to Omar, though she has not been charged.

“The magnitude cannot be overstated,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson told reporters last week.

Houston?

 

Silver Tops $83: "When Prices Move Like This, An Awful Lot Of Bad Things Become Possible..."

The final week of the year begins with silver adding to a stunning month of gains, topping $83 for the first time...

Platinum and gold are also catching an early bid, with Treasury futures lower. 

Silver is now at its most expensive relative to gold since Feb 2013...

Analyst and financial writer John Rubino has been warning of a currency crisis., expounding on his warning via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com.

On Friday, we saw a record high price spike for silver that produced a record high price for the white metal.  Meanwhile, we saw record high prices for gold on the same day. 

This has never happened before, and that shows the currency crisis long predicted is here.  Rubino says,

“Currencies are pouring into real money in anticipation of the existing fiat currencies dying.  That is a whole different thing and on a much bigger scale because the numbers are grossly inflated after 70 years of a credit super cycle.  So, what we have seen so far is really just the beginning. 

Gold and silver have had huge runs, but they are doing it when things are more or less still normal.  Precious metals are starting to soar in anticipation of something abnormal coming. 

Right now, this is a bigger gold than silver story because gold is the money we go back to when national currencies fail.  Silver is a more complex story because it is also an industrial metal. 

There are new industries that are using more and more silver, and there is just not enough silver to satisfy that demand.”

Rubino contends the silver price spike will bring on a lot of volatility.  Rubino points out, “That is pretty much a lock..."

"Silver is probably going to bounce around a lot in the next week or so. . .. All the silver is being sucked away, and when they run out, they say we will just pay you cash for these futures contracts.  If that happens, that is basically the end of paper exchanges. 

We will just totally stop trusting them. 

Why would anybody want a long futures contract on an exchange that just defaults . . ..  This is another big thing that might happen in the coming weeks. 

When you see prices move like this, an awful lot of bad things become possible. . ..

There are a lot of shorts out there that just went massively underwater on Friday. . .. Somebody big has a lot of losses. . .. It’s like Warren Buffett says, ‘You only know who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out.  Well, the tide has gone out for silver, and now we are going to find out who was unwisely short that market in the past week.”

Rubino sees silver resetting to at least $200 per ounce in the not-too-distant future.  Gold will also reset to at least $10,000 per ounce.  

Rubino says the next big trend is Big Tech players buying actual silver mines and bypassing metal exchanges altogether.  Rubino says,

“Big Tech players are going to go out and get silver now, so they are set for the next few years.  Yes, some of them are starting to buy silver mines. 

In the mining sector, this is one of the big changes we will see coming soon. 

Maybe Tesla buys First Majestic or some mine like that.  Tesla buys a big silver mining company with multiple silver mines to guarantee silver supply going forward. . .. Google, Meta or Microsoft can pay insane amounts of money for commodities if they need to.  It’s inventory building and panic buying in some cases. . ..

All roads lead to higher precious metals right now.  The only way it doesn’t is if there is a global nuclear war that extinguishes civilization. 

Take that out of the equation, and everything points to weaker currencies and higher precious metals prices.”

There is more in the 49-minute interview.

Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with financial writer John Rubino of the popular site called Rubino.Substack.com for 12.27.25.

Silver Bells

 

Working For Who?

 

Education Department Has Rejected Over 300,000 Requests For Lower Student Loan Repayments

Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Department of Education has so far denied requests from more than 300,000 existing student loan recipients seeking new repayment terms, according to documents filed in a federal court earlier this month.

The Dec. 15 status report in the American Federation of Teachers’ ongoing lawsuit against the federal government, filed in the District of Columbia earlier this year, said President Donald Trump’s administration rejected 327,955 applications from borrowers who sought “the lowest monthly payment possible.”

More than 800,000 applications for income-driven repayment plans, which would result in lower monthly payments, are pending, according to court papers.

The Trump administration is required to provide these status reports under an Oct. 17 agreement between the two sides in this case that stipulates the Department of Education will continue to process applications for repayment plans based on income, even though Trump has ended President Joe Biden’s far-reaching student loan forgiveness initiatives.

The lawsuit alleges that the president did not have the authority to disrupt existing federal programs such as the Income-Based Repayment plan, as well as Income-Contingent Repayment, Pay as You Earn, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

The Dec. 15 status report said the Trump administration did not disclose the total number of rejected applications in the previous required reporting period due to “logistical issues related to the government shutdown in October-November.”

Earlier this week, the Department of Education confirmed that it will soon begin garnishing wages from borrowers who have defaulted on their loans.

Students typically go into default if a payment hasn’t been made in 270 days, according to the Federal Student Aid website.

Under federal law, loan holders can order employers to withhold 15 percent of the borrower’s pay without taking them to court until the loan is paid back. Those who receive the notices have the right to a formal hearing or the chance to negotiate other terms with the Department of Education, according to the website.

The total debt carried by 43 million student loan borrower

When Everyone Is In On The Action

 

Network Mapping Nick Shirley's Bombshell Report Of 'Empty' Minnesota Daycares

A viral video that has topped 76 million views on X within 48 hours has significantly heightened public scrutiny of multiple Minneapolis daycare centers linked to Somali operators that received millions in state and federal funding despite showing minimal operational activity. The apparent mismatch between allocated taxpayer funds and observable services strengthens a recent report by Christopher F. Rufo, which alleges that Somali-linked fraud in the left-wing-controlled state may involve front companies potentially diverting taxpayer funds to at least one overseas terrorist network.

The Democratic Party and its PR machine across left-wing corporate media outlets, including CBS, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, 60 Minutes, The New York Times, and the Associated Press, have largely remained silent on citizen journalist Nick Shirley's investigation.

We assess that as the dominant narrative of the widening Somali-linked fraud scandal in Minneapolis continues to go viral on X through "America First"-linked accounts, Democrats and their PR machine will move to advance a counter-narrative, given how optically damaging these revelations are ahead of the midterm cycle.

The days of Democrats defaulting to labeling opponents as "racists" or "fascists" appear to be over. They will likely need to develop new pejoratives to target those investigating allegations of welfare fraud on a scale larger than Somalia's GDP.

In just one day, Shirley and a private investigator visited Somali-linked businesses operating in the child daycare, adult and autism care, home healthcare, and non-emergency medical transportation industries. They say they uncovered $110 million in highly questionable payments, largely because many of these companies were not operating as they should during peak hours of operation and appeared mostly inactive.

The next critical step, and one we suspect federal investigators are already pursuing, is comprehensive entity mapping of the targets Shirley identified.

This analysis moves beyond isolated entities and enables the detection of network behavior, including shared addresses, recycled officers, repeated vendors, circular payment flows, and clusters of entities with minimal real-world operations. Such pattern recognition is essential for identifying front companies.

Here is the network mapping of Shirley's identified targets:

Mako Childcare Center, Inc.

Mini Childcare Center Inc.

Crime Boss At Golf Course

 

Zelensky Meets With Trump At Mar-a-Lago As Ukrainian Capital Pounded By Russia

Just ahead of President Zelensky arriving in Florida where he hopes that talks with President Trump on the US-proposed Ukraine peace plan can achieve something favorable for Ukrainians, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov once again blasted European leadership as the main obstacle to peace.

"After the change of administration in the U.S., Europe and the European Union have become the main obstacle to peace," Lavrov told TASS. "They are making no secret of their plans to prepare for war with Russia," he continued, and underscored that the ambitions of European politicians are "literally blinding them."

"Not only do they not care about Ukrainians, but they also don't seem to care about their own population," he added.

December 27, 2025 attacks on Kyiv, via Reuters.

However, he did also say that Moscow plans to continue its "engagement with American negotiators" and "address the root causes of the conflict."

Just the day prior, starting Saturday morning,  Russia carried out one of the biggest attacks on the Ukrainian capital in months, involving powerful Kinzhal missiles along with over 500 drones. Kiev was pounded, and several buildings were on fire.

Zelensky has in the meantime been seeking as much leverage from the European corner as possible, before getting face to face with Trump. Russia demands territorial concessions, but Zelensky seems only willing to talk about a temporary freeze to the war, and not necessarily the kind of full, permanent political recognition of Russia's hold over most of the Donbass.

Ahead of the Mar-a-Lago meeting, Zelensky commented that his capital is on fire as winter temperatures freeze:

The meeting, to be hosted by Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence at 1:00 p.m. (18:00 GMT) according to the White House, will be their first in-person encounter since October, when the U.S. president refused to grant Zelensky's request for long-range Tomahawk missiles.

Zelensky said during a stopover in Canada on Saturday he hoped the talks would be "very constructive," adding that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had shown his hand with the latest assault on the Ukrainian capital.

"This attack is again Russia's answer [to] our peace efforts. And this really showed that Putin doesn't want peace," he said.

Things aren't looking ideal for a finalized peace plan, also given that Zelensky during a Christmas Day message essentially wished for Putin's death. 

Zelensky will push for NATO 'Article 5-style' security guarantees for Ukraine in his Sunday meeting with Trump:

As the The Hill reviews of the message:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged in his Christmas Eve message that many Ukrainians want to see Russian President Vladimir Putin dead.

"'May he perish,’ each of us may think to ourselves," Zelensky said in the broadcast. "But when we turn to God, of course, we ask for something greater."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded soon after the message by blasting it as "uncultured, embittered, and coming from a seemingly unhinged person" - while further questioning whether "he’s capable of making any rational decisions."