Category: Conservative Review
Charlotte school district attendance plummets after immigration raid, sparking concerns about illegal alien numbers
With the launch of Operation Charlotte’s Web in North Carolina over the weekend, some have speculated that law enforcement has stumbled upon a large number of illegal aliens in a major city.
Social media was set ablaze on Monday and Tuesday as early reports were released about school attendance in one of the largest school districts in the country.
‘President Trump and Secretary Noem will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won’t.’
On Monday night, WSOC-TV reporter Joe Bruno posted on X: “A spokesperson for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools says unofficial attendance data from today indicates that approximately 20,935 students were absent from school today. This accounts for approximately 15% of students enrolled in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.”
Photo by Ryan Murphy/Getty Images
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser, highlighted the report, saying, “So a conservative estimate is that one-seventh of a major southern public school district is here illegally.”
According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools attendance data obtained by Blaze News, attendance did indeed drop precipitously on the Monday following the commencement of Operation Charlotte’s Web.
Data from November 17 reveals that 30,399 students were absent, a number significantly higher than early reports suggested. Only 79.0% of the 145,030 students enrolled in the district attended school on Monday.
The vast majority of those absences, moreover — 28,136 — were marked as unexcused.
Blaze News also obtained data from the previous Monday.
On Nov. 10, 132,043 of the 144,909 students enrolled, or 91.1%, were in attendance. Only 12,866 students were absent, most, again, unexcused.
This constitutes a roughly 12% drop in attendance week over week, though there are likely other factors that contributed to this significant drop.
Operation Charlotte’s Web, one of the Trump administration’s latest immigration enforcement operations, was launched on Saturday. The operation is set to target Charlotte, North Carolina, a well-known sanctuary city where one out of every six residents was born in a foreign country.
“Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a press release Saturday. “We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed. There have been too many victims of criminal illegal aliens. President Trump and Secretary Noem will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won’t.”
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Zelenskyy’s hold on power uncertain as criminal charges reach his inner circle
Volodymyr Zelenskyy — the Ukrainian leader who suspended elections, dissolved rival parties, sanctioned a political opponent on suspicion of “high treason,” consolidated Ukraine’s media outlets, banned a Christian denomination, and remains president despite his term officially ending 18 months ago — rose to power on a pledge to give Ukrainians “a life without corruption, without bribes.”
Zelenskyy’s hold on power, however, now appears uncertain, as it is threatened by a historic corruption scandal that has swept up some of his closest allies.
Zelenskyy, allies prove unable to hinder probe
Earlier this year, the Ukrainian president and his closest aides attempted to neutralize the independent anti-corruption agencies that were scrutinizing Zelenskyy’s inner circle.
In July, Zelenskyy’s party pushed through legislation stripping Ukraine’s National Anticorruption Bureau of its independence and giving the prosecutor general, a Zelenskyy appointee, oversight. This took place the day after the State Bureau of Investigation — which is helmed by a Zelenskyy loyalist — arrested NABU officials and conducted numerous raids of corruption fighters’ homes.
‘Zelensky faces a day of reckoning.’
The director of the anti-corruption bureau, Semen Kryvonos, indicated at the time that “this pressure campaign is a direct response to the effectiveness of our investigations, including those targeting high-ranking officials and members of Parliament.”
Photo by TETIANA DZHAFAROVA/AFP via Getty Images
The Financial Times indicated that in the face of mass protests and outrage from Ukraine’s Western partners, Zelenskyy and his allies ultimately had to abandon their efforts to torpedo the 15-month investigation.
Zelenskyy desperately condemns his close allies
Despite the obstacles erected by the regime, the anti-corruption investigation conducted by NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office exposed an alleged $100 million kickback scheme in which Zelenskyy officials and business figures allegedly conspired to force suppliers to Ukraine’s nuclear power company, Energoatom, to pay kickbacks valued at 10%-15% of each contract’s value.
In their searches of suspects’ residences, law enforcement reportedly found duffel bags filled with cash and, in one case, a Kyiv apartment with a golden toilet.
Kryvonos indicated the funds allegedly pilfered as part of the scheme have largely been dispersed through a number of foreign nations and used to purchase property and other assets, reported the Wall Street Journal.
The Ukrainian president — who was “floored” by the scale of the charges made against members of his ruling clique, sources in the government told the Economist — has done his apparent best to distance himself from those named in the criminal corruption probe, which has been dubbed Operation Midas.
For instance, Zelenskyy, who was not named in the corruption probe, imposed sanctions last week on one of his closest associates and former business partner, Timur Mindich.
Mindich, who fled to Israel just prior to NABU’s Nov. 10 raids, has been charged with allegedly managing a criminal organization that laundered millions of dollars.
Mindich is reportedly a close business associate of Israeli-Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoysky, a backer of Zelenskyy’s presidential campaign who was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine in 2023 on fraud and money-laundering charges, and a relative of Leonid Mindich, who was arrested by Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities earlier this year on charges of embezzling $16 million from an electric power company.
Zelenskyy also asked his ministers of justice and energy — German Halushchenko and Svitlana Grynchuk — to resign last week, stating, “This is also a matter of trust. If there are accusations, they must be addressed. The decision to dismiss them from office is prompt and necessary.”
Grynchuk said in a Facebook post, “There have been no violations of the law in the course of my personal activities.”
Halushchenko, who served as energy minister until his dismissal in July and was removed as justice minister on Nov. 12, has indicated that he will defend himself against the accusations.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, Timur Mindich allegedly built connections with Halushchenko through his relationship with Zelenskyy and then exerted influence over both the ex-justice minister and Rustem Umerov, secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council and ex-defense minister.
Although Umerov is presently in the U.S., Ukraine’s Center for Counter Disinformation indicated he is planning to return to Ukraine despite reports that he was hoping to stay abroad to avoid charges.
Other suspects tied to the alleged kickback scheme reportedly include:
- Ihor Myroniuk, an ex-adviser to Halushchenko and former deputy head of the State Property Fund whose lawyer claims he was not a member of a criminal organization;
- former Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, a close Zelenskyy ally who was removed from his position in July after being charged with bribery and abuse of office, then arrested on Tuesday on charges of illicit enrichment in connection with the alleged kickback scheme;
- Serhiy Pushkar, a current member of the National Energy Commission;
- Oleksandr Tsukerman, a Ukrainian businessman accused of running the money laundering back office in the scheme, who reportedly left Ukraine for Israel and denies wrongdoing; and
- Dmytro Basov, former head of the Energoatom security department, who also denied any wrongdoing.
Daria Kaleniuk, executive director at the Anti-Corruption Action Center in Kyiv, told France 24 on Monday that the investigation is far from over and that Zelenskyy has to look very closely into his closest inner circle, starting with his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who Kaleniuk claimed is wielding unconstitutional powers in the country and is at the heart of the problem.
“If there will be more attempts from Zelenskyy to attack anti-corruption bodies like there was attempt[ed] in summer, there would be also for me the clear signal that Volodomyr Zelenskyy didn’t learn his lesson,” added Kaleniuk.
Sources close to the anti-corruption bodies made clear to the Economist that the investigation’s next phase may focus on corruption in the defense sector, which may prompt greater demands for a full reset of the Ukrainian government.
“Zelenskyy faces a day of reckoning,” a senior official told the Economist. “The choice isn’t great. Either he amputates a leg, or he gets an infection going through the whole body and dies.”
“I think that right now, both society and the political class understand that a political crisis would be too dangerous,” Volodymyr Fesenko, a political scientist based in Kyiv, told the Financial Times. “A lot depends on the next steps of the investigation, if new information comes out that involves Zelenskyy or the office of the president … then of course, it’ll be a new round.”
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With Trump’s blessing, House approves resolution to release the Epstein files: ‘We have nothing to hide’
After months of pushback, the House passed a resolution to release the highly anticipated Epstein files.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California co-authored the resolution to release the Epstein files and forced the House vote Tuesday using a discharge petition. Lawmakers forced the floor vote after the petition secured 218 signatories last week, including Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and Massie.
‘Of course we’re for maximum transparency.’
Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana was the lone no vote.
Although only four Republicans signed onto the petition, initially bucking their party, President Donald Trump changed course and encouraged rank-and-file GOP members to vote in favor of the resolution. Republican leadership later followed suit, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) confirming Tuesday that he would vote in favor of the resolution.
RELATED: Mike Johnson changes course ahead of key Epstein vote
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,'” Trump said in a Truth Social Post Sunday.
Johnson echoed Trump’s message for transparency but mentioned several “dangers” in the current resolution he hopes will be amended in the Senate, including concerns for victims’ privacy and inadequate handling of child sexual abuse materials.
“There’s a handful of Republicans, Judiciary Committee members, and a few others who are really struggling, as I have been, about whether or not they can even vote yes today because of this,” Johnson said during a presser Tuesday. “Because we don’t have an absolute guarantee that this will be fixed in the Senate.”
RELATED: Democrat lawmaker faces censure for ‘colluding’ with Epstein during congressional hearing
Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Despite these concerns, Johnson urged the conference to “vote their conscience.”
“Having now forced the vote, none of us want to go on record and in any way be accused of not being for maximum transparency,” Johnson said. “So the only intellectually consistent position to have right now … is to allow for everyone to vote their conscience and to go on record to say, ‘Of course we’re for maximum transparency.'”
The resolution is now headed to the Senate. If it passes, Trump confirmed that he would sign the resolution into law.
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US NEXT? Sightings of humanoid robots spike on the streets of Moscow
Delivery robots have been promoted in Moscow since around 2019, through Russia’s version of Uber Eats.
The Yandex.Eats app from tech giant and search engine company Yandex released a citywide fleet of 20 robots across the city that year.
‘Yandex plans to release around 1,300 robots per month by the end of 2027.’
By 2023, Yandex added another 50 robots from its third-generation production line, touting a delivery proficiency rating of 87% of orders delivered between eight and 12 minutes.
“About 15 delivery robots are enough to deliver food and groceries in a residential area with a population of 5,000 people,” Yandex said at the time, per RT.
However, what started as a few rectangular robots wheeling through the streets has seemingly spiraled into what will become thousands of bots, including both harmless-looking buggies and, perhaps more frightening, bipedal bots.
The news comes as sightings of humanoid robots in Russia are increasing.
RELATED: Cybernetics promised a merger of human and computer. Then why do we feel so out of the loop?
According to TAdvisor, Yandex plans to release around 1,300 robots per month by the end of 2027, for a whopping total of approximately 20,000 machines. The goal is to have a massive fleet of bots for deliveries, as well as supply couriers to other companies, while reducing the cost of shipping.
At the same time, Yandex also announced development of humanoid robots. Videos have recently popped up of a smaller bot walking alongside a delivery bot in 2024, but it is hard to tell if it was real or a human in costume.
RT recently shared a video of a seemingly real bipedal bot running through the streets of Moscow with a delivery on its back. The bot also took time to dance with an old man, for some reason.
However, it is hard to believe that any Russian autonomous bots are ready for mass production given the recent demo showcased at a technology event in Moscow.
RELATED: ‘You’re robbing me’: Morgan Freeman slams Tilly Norwood, AI voice clones
Aldol, a robot developed by a company of the same name, was described as Russia’s first anthropomorphic bot powered by AI.
Last week, the robot was brought on stage and took a few shaky steps while waving to the audience before tumbling robo-face-first onto the floor. Two presenters dragged the robot off stage as if they were rescuing a wounded comrade, while at the same time a third member of the team struggled to put a curtain back into place to hide the debacle.
Still, Yandex is hoping it can expand its robots into fields like medicine, while simultaneously perfecting the use of its delivery bots. The company plans to have a robot at each point of contact before a delivery gets to the human recipient.
The plan, to be showcased at the company’s own offices, is to have an automated process in which a humanoid robot picks up an order and packs it onto a wheeled delivery bot. Then, the wheeled bot takes the order to another humanoid bot on the receiving end, which then delivers it to the customer.
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Ramming attacks on ICE spike, endangering agents as Democrats continue to spew hateful rhetoric
As Trump’s Department of Homeland Security continues its deportation campaign across the country, violence against law enforcement has skyrocketed. On Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin joined Fox to discuss the increase in attacks and the resistance the DHS has faced from Democrat politicians.
Fox showed Tricia McLaughlin a montage of Democrat leadership, particularly from Chicago, seemingly advocating resistance against law enforcement.
‘It really is a shame that the Democrat Party has decided that violence against law enforcement is OK.’
“We need ICE out of our city,” Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson stated, claiming in a separate clip that federal agents had “broken laws” and “acted with impunity.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said, “Don’t believe it when they tell you they’re busting the worst of the worst gang and gang members. They’re attacking peaceful neighborhoods.”
Other examples of Democrats using highly charged rhetoric include Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) challenging the Trump administration to a “street fight,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) comparing ICE to “slave patrols,” and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) calling efforts to resist ICE “inspiring.”
Photo by Abel Uribe/Getty Images
In response to these speeches, McLaughlin said, “It really is a shame that the Democrat Party has decided that violence against law enforcement is OK. We will continue to do our jobs each and every day and get these violent criminal illegal aliens out of Chicago’s streets and out of sanctuary cities all over the country.”
“There is going to be no safe haven for violent criminal illegal aliens,” she added.
Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin confirmed the meteoric rise in vehicular attacks on federal immigration officers.
On X, Melugin wrote, “There have been 71 vehicular attacks against Customs and Border Patrol since January 20, compared to 45 vehicle assaults during the same period in 2024 — a 58% increase.”
The most shocking statistic, however, is the increase in attacks against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers: “There have been 28 vehicular attacks against ICE since January 20, compared to just 2 such incidents in the same period of 2024 — a 1,300% increase.”
Asked by Fox News about the mandate to hire 10,000 more ICE employees and the more than 200,000 applications for the positions, McLaughlin quipped, “We are looking for the best of the best to get the worst of the worst off our streets.”
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‘No More Delays’: GOP Senators Demand D.C. Circuit Chief Suspend Boasberg Amid Impeachment Efforts
‘No more delays. Judge Boasberg must be suspended immediately,’ Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., wrote.
Activist Democrat judge sabotages National Guard surge in Memphis after 100 children rescued
Officials, including activist judges, refuse to let Republican efforts to fight crime go unpunished, with the most recent challenge coming from Tennessee.
On Monday, a Tennessee judge blocked the deployment of the National Guard to clean up the city of Memphis.
‘I’m grateful for the President’s commitment to keeping Memphians safe by ensuring we have every federal resource at our disposal.’
According to the AP, Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal, a Democrat, decided that Republican Governor Bill Lee does not have the power to deploy the Tennessee National Guard in the absence of rebellion or invasion.
The judge found that the deployment of the National Guard likely violates the state’s military code and that state officials “are suffering or will suffer irreparable harm” if the injunction isn’t granted, according to NBC News.
Photo by AUSTIN JOHNSON/AFP via Getty Images
Moskal paused the order for at least five days to give the government time to file an “immediate application for permission to appeal.”
Democrat Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, a plaintiff in the case, said he was “pleased” with the decision.
“This is a positive step toward ensuring the rule of law applies to everyone, including everyday Tennesseans and even the Governor,” Harris said on X.
The National Guard arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 10 as part of the so-called Memphis Safe Task Force.
Upon the task force’s establishment in the middle of September, Governor Lee posted on X, “I’m grateful for the President’s commitment to keeping Memphians safe by ensuring we have every federal resource at our disposal.”
Democrat Memphis Mayor Paul Young, who is not party to the lawsuit, said that he wanted the task force to target violent offenders, a major problem in the city.
The Memphis Safe Task Force has been highly successful by many metrics, including recovering over 100 children from human trafficking networks by November.
Newsmax host Todd Starnes said in response to the judge’s ruling, “Will the Democrats also demand that the missing children recovered by the task force be returned to the human traffickers?”
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Mike Johnson changes course ahead of key Epstein vote
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is following in President Donald Trump’s footsteps ahead of the House vote to release the Epstein files.
After months of pushing back on Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s Epstein discharge petition, Trump changed course and encouraged House Republicans to vote in favor of the resolution Tuesday.
‘We have nothing to do with Epstein.’
“As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,'” Trump said in a Truth Social Post Sunday.
Rank-and-file Republicans followed suit and began to embrace Massie’s petition publicly, and Johnson, who previously expressed misgivings about the discharge petition, later announced that he will vote for the resolution.
However, there are a few caveats.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Johnson conceded that he would vote in favor of the resolution but maintained that there were several “dangers” regarding victim privacy, inadequate handling of child sexual abuse materials, and the lack of protections for whistleblowers.
“There’s a handful of Republicans, Judiciary Committee members, and a few others who are really struggling, as I have been, about whether or not they can even vote yes today because of this,” Johnson said during the presser. “Because we don’t have an absolute guarantee that this will be fixed in the Senate.”
Despite these “dangers,” Johnson said he has a “high degree of confidence” that the Senate will implement the necessary changes, allowing him to vote yes on the resolution.
“Having now forced the vote, none of us want to go on record and in any way be accused of not being for maximum transparency,” Johnson said. “So the only intellectually consistent position to have right now … is to allow for everyone to vote their conscience and to go on record to say, ‘Of course we’re for maximum transparency.'”
RELATED: ‘Temporary crumbs’: Out-of-touch Democrat gives stunning rebuke of Trump’s ‘No Tax on Tips’ policy
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Massie and Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California co-led the discharge petition, securing 218 signatures Wednesday to force a vote on the House floor. All 214 Democrats signed on to the petition alongside four Republicans: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Massie.
Although the petition received the support of only four Republicans, the vote is expected to pass with overwhelming GOP support after Trump gave the conference the green light on Sunday.
He also confirmed Monday that he would sign the resolution once it passes Congress.
“We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “All of his friends were Democrats.”
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Democrat INFIGHTING: Progressives blast congresswoman for opposing leftist’s apparent rigged succession scam
The Democratic Party, whose unfavorability rating is 58% according to the RealClearPolitics poll average, appears to be consumed by internal squabbles. In the latest, one Democrat’s campaign to shame a colleague has prompted retaliation from other radicals on her side of the aisle.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) introduced a House resolution on Monday to formally rebuke one of her Democratic colleagues, Illinois Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, for allegedly “undermining the process of a free and fair election.”
Garcia filed to run for re-election on Oct. 27. Days later — after the deadline for candidates to file to run for Illinois’ 4th congressional district had passed — Garcia announced his retirement and indicated that he would be withdrawing his nominating petitions.
‘Some people need to learn how to stay in their lane.’
What appears to have really rankled Perez and other Democrats was that while Garcia failed to provide anybody else with a heads-up about his real intentions, he apparently tipped off his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, who managed to file to run in the district at the last minute, ensuring herself an opposition-free Democratic primary. Rep. Garcia subsequently endorsed his chief of staff.
Perez’s resolution, which was also supported by Democratic Maine Rep. Jared Golden, claimed that Garcia’s “actions are beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the United States Constitution.”
Garcia’s office stated, “He followed every rule and every filing requirement laid out by the State of Illinois.”
“It’s not fun to call out a member of your own party,” Perez told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. “But I think it’s important that we’re consistent.”
“Election subversion is always wrong. That’s not how we run things in this country, and that’s not the party that I want to be a part of,” added Perez.
RELATED: Socialism ‘will f**k you’: Bill Maher warns Democrats the radical left is leading party to ruin
US Rep. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia (D-Ill.). Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.
Perez attempted last week to have Garcia punished for his underhanded succession play, prompting scorn from Garcia’s Progressive Caucus ally Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), who said of the Washington congresswoman, “Some people need to learn how to stay in their lane.”
Unswayed by the criticism of her peers, Perez made the case for his reprimand on Monday, stating on the House floor, “No one has the right to subvert the right of the people to choose their elected representatives.”
The House advanced Perez’s resolution as the motion to table it failed in a 211-206 vote.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) defended Garcia on Monday, telling reporters, “I do not support this so-called resolution of disapproval, and I strongly support Congressman Chuy Garcia. He has been a progressive champion in disenfranchised communities for decades.”
Congressional Progressive Caucus members, all of whom reportedly stood up on Monday to condemn Perez, are reportedly now working to punish the Washington Democrat for championing transparency and choice in Democratic politics.
A lawmaker and a senior aide familiar with the matter told Axios that Progressive Caucus members are considering a resolution that would accuse Perez of lying about not taking corporate PAC donations.
Last year, End Citizens United, a group that endorsed and backed Perez’s congressional campaign, claimed that while then-Republican congressional candidate Joe Kent had supposedly taken money from corporate PACs, “Perez has continued to abide by her pledge to reject corporate PAC contributions.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee noted, however, that the Perez campaign had received numerous corporate PAC donations.
Sources told Axios that the resolution targeting Perez would reference reporting that her campaign and PAC accepted donations from various corporate sources, including the American Petroleum Institute PAC and American Forest and Paper Association PAC.
A spokesman for Perez did not respond to Axios’ request for comment.
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