Category: The Washington Free Beacon
Democrat ex-lawmaker who heckled Trump convicted in COVID fraud scheme
A leftist former lawmaker was sentenced last month after being convicted of fraudulently obtaining a COVID-19 relief loan.
Ibraheem Samirah, a former Democratic Virginia state delegate, made headlines in 2019 for interrupting President Donald Trump’s Jamestown speech, holding up a sign that read, “Deport hate” and “reunite my family.”
‘The defendant was stealing federal tax dollars at the same time he was deciding how to spend Virginia tax dollars.’
Samirah, 34, was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $88,000 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, according to a Tuesday report from the Washington Post.
Prosecutors argued that the former lawmaker received an $83,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan in May 2020 for his dental practice in Fairfax County. He applied in August 2021 to have the loan forgiven, which would require the PPP funds to have been used for payroll, rent, or mortgage payments.
Samirah claimed that the loan would be used to pay four workers at his practice. However, court documents revealed that his business had no payroll employees. Additionally, it had no active financial account to disburse payroll funds until a few days before applying for the loan.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Samirah allegedly fabricated payroll and tax records to secure the loan. The funds were distributed through bank accounts belonging to the supposed employees and then transferred into Samirah’s own account, according to prosecutors.
“The defendant was stealing federal tax dollars at the same time he was deciding how to spend Virginia tax dollars,” prosecutors wrote.
Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Samirah told the Post that he had a “mistaken understanding of the PPP loan process,” which he claimed was “weaponized by Donald Trump’s Justice Department.”
He told the news outlet that he intended to use the cash to hire workers to market his business; however, on the loan application, he claimed that the funds would go to existing employees. He explained that he changed his mind about hiring new workers after realizing the pandemic would be prolonged. Instead, he spent the money on dental equipment and office furnishings, which were not authorized uses of the funds.
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Here’s everything Senate Republicans accomplished while Democrats forced record-breaking shutdown
While Democrats forced the longest government shutdown in American history, Senate Republicans continued to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Democrats initially shut down the government for a record-breaking 43 days in an attempt to force Republicans to negotiate on Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Over 40 days into the shutdown, eight Senate Democrats eventually caved and voted with Republicans to pass the funding bill Monday night.
‘Democrats stood on the sidelines.’
Senate Democrats walked away from the shutdown with nothing to show for it except for a commitment from Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to hold a vote on ACA subsidies. Notably, this offer was available to Democrats on day one of the shutdown.
As Democrats feigned outrage over the shutdown they started, Thune and his Republican colleagues were hard at work confirming Trump’s nominees and passing legislation with conservative wins.
RELATED: ‘Temporary crumbs’: Out-of-touch Democrat gives stunning rebuke of Trump’s ‘No Tax on Tips’ policy
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
In the early days of the shutdown, Senate Republicans confirmed a batch of 107 of Trump’s nominees in a 51-47 party-line vote. Throughout the shutdown, the Senate also confirmed 11 nominees to serve as federal judges.
Since Trump took office in January, the Senate has confirmed 310 civilian nominations, including high-profile Cabinet members, federal judges, and ambassadors.
The Senate also passed several key pieces of legislation to advance Trump’s agenda during the shutdown while Democrats stood on the sidelines.
Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Senate Republicans unanimously passed four Congressional Review Act resolutions aimed at addressing and even repealing former President Joe Biden’s energy policies. One resolution even secured the support of Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who consistently voted with Republicans throughout the shutdown to reopen the government.
The National Defense Authorization Act also got the Senate’s stamp of approval, providing an additional $6 billion in addition to the $25 billion allocated in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to boost the production for crucial munitions like F-35s and shipbuilding.
In addition to bolstering American military dominance, the NDAA “repeals or amends more than 100 provisions of statute to streamline the defense acquisition process, reduce administrative complexity, and remove outdated requirements, limitations, and other matters.”
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EXCLUSIVE: We Tracked Down the Demon Who Attacked Tucker Carlson in His Bed and You’ll Never Believe What He Had to Say About the Jews
Tucker Carlson, the edgelord podcaster and former Swiss boarding school student, made headlines this week for several reasons. He risked his life by agreeing to interview “chemtrail” expert Dane Wigington, one of the only men on Earth with the knowledge and fortitude to expose the global plot to manipulate weather patterns with airplane-guided geoengineering. He followed that up by valiantly defying the outdated convention wisdom surrounding Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran pastor jailed for speaking out against the Nazi regime and executed for allegedly plotting to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Carlson shrewdly denounced Bonhoeffer as a “great man in some ways” who was nevertheless a bad Christian for trying to kill a fellow Christian who was just trying to solve a problem and defend his country from the Jewish-backed imperial aggression of Winston Churchill.
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Newsom Says California Will Oppose Offshore Drilling Expansion As State Relies on Iraqi Imports To Meet Energy Demands
California governor Gavin Newsom (D.) declared this week that a Trump administration proposal to expand oil drilling off the coast of his state is “Dead on arrival.” His opposition comes as California relies on imported oil from authoritarian states like Iraq and Saudi Arabia to meet its energy demand.
The post Newsom Says California Will Oppose Offshore Drilling Expansion As State Relies on Iraqi Imports To Meet Energy Demands appeared first on .
Hasan Piker Geeks Out After Receiving Mao Zedong’s Infamous ‘Little Red Book’: ‘Really, Really Special’
Anti-American streamer Hasan Piker—a rising left-wing darling featured in glowing mainstream media profiles—was visibly elated after receiving a copy of Mao Zedong’s “little red book,” which was essential reading in China as the authoritarian carried out a murderous purge.
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Schumer Shutdown: Georgia Swing Voters Blame Record-Breaking Government Closure on Dems
A majority of Georgia swing voters surveyed in focus groups this week are blaming Democrats for the record-breaking 42-day government shutdown that ended Wednesday.
The post Schumer Shutdown: Georgia Swing Voters Blame Record-Breaking Government Closure on Dems appeared first on .
Why No One Cares About the Climate Conference
Suppose they held an international summit and nobody came? The Brazilian organizers of the annual United Nations climate conference are close to finding out. They pulled out all the stops, including bulldozing tens of thousands of acres of rainforest to clear a new highway to the host city, Belém. International business leaders flocked to earlier summits, and 150 heads of government attended the one in Dubai two years ago. The moguls are steering clear of Brazil, though, and only 53 national leaders are making the trek (a shame, considering all those temporarily converted “love motels”).
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Fetterman Falls
“Fetterman Falls,” editorial cartoon by Tom Stiglich for The American Spectator on Nov. 14, 2025.
Georgia Judge Drops Three Of Trump’s Charges In Election Interference Case
‘informed and transparent determination’
