Category: The Washington Free Beacon
China’s New Hongqi Bridge Collapses — Could California’s Chinese Bridge Be Far Behind?
On Tuesday, a landslide caused China’s newly built Hongqi Bridge “to fracture and collapse,” NBC reports, “sending large pieces of…
George Soros Paid Columbia University $600K for an ‘Oral History’ of Himself and His Philanthropy
The left-wing philanthropy funded by George Soros, Open Society Foundations (OSF), paid Columbia University $600,000 to produce an “oral history” of the left-wing billionaire—a vanity project undertaken months after the organization laid off nearly half of its workforce.
The post George Soros Paid Columbia University $600K for an ‘Oral History’ of Himself and His Philanthropy appeared first on .
Europeans want US missiles to defend them, not America — and Rubio’s had enough of their hypocrisy
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called out European officials on Wednesday for criticizing America’s self-defense while expecting the U.S. to provide military support for their own.
The Trump administration has obliterated at least 19 alleged narco-terrorist drug boats since Sept. 2 with the stated aim of “protecting the homeland and killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people.”
‘I don’t think that the European Union gets to determine … how the United States defends its national security.’
President Donald Trump has suggested that each drug boat vaporized by U.S. fighter jets, AC-130J gunships, and drones amounts to 25,000 American lives saved.
A day after War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. had sunk an additional two boats in the Eastern Pacific, altogether killing six alleged narco-terrorists, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot joined the chorus of foreign dignitaries who have been complaining about the strikes.
Barrot reportedly said at the G7 summit on Tuesday, “We have observed with concern the military operations in the Caribbean region, because they violate international law and because France has a presence in this region through its overseas territories, where more than a million of our compatriots reside.”
RELATED: ‘Begin repatriating’: German chancellor admits it’s time to give Syrian migrants the boot
Photo by Omar Zaghloul/Anadolu via Getty Images
When confronted with questions about the U.S. maritime strikes during a meeting with Latin American leaders last week, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that the EU upholds international law and “international law is very clear on that. You can use force for two reasons: one is self-defense, the other one is the U.N. Security Council resolution.”
Rubio addressed the European pearl-clutching on Wednesday, politely suggesting to reporters that the continentals should pound sand.
“I don’t think that the European Union gets to determine what international law is, and what they certainly don’t get to determine is how the United States defends its national security,” said Rubio. “The United States is under attack from organized criminal narco-terrorists in our hemisphere, and the president is responding in the defense of our country.”
After indicating that the Europeans are out of their depth, Rubio hammered America’s allies across the Atlantic for their apparent hypocrisy.
“I do find it interesting that all these countries want us to send, you know, and supply, for example, nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to defend Europe, but when the United States positions aircraft carriers in our hemisphere where we live, somehow that’s a problem,” said the secretary of state.
Rubio added, “The president ordered it in defense of our country. It continues. It’s ongoing. It can stop tomorrow if [terrorist cartels] stop sending drug boats.”
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Trump’s pardons expose the left’s vast lawfare machine
On Sunday night, the Oversight Project announced the culmination of a long effort: President Trump’s pardons for the so-called “alternate electors” and their affiliates who faced state-level prosecution for their role in the 2020 election.
Credit belongs to President Trump and Pardon Attorney Ed Martin for seeing this process through — and for having the political will and moral memory to leave no MAGA supporter behind. These pardons are the result of over a year of focused work by the Oversight Project. And because the corporate left-wing media has predictably denounced them for their politics, prudence, and legal effect, it’s worth explaining the pardons’ justification and impact.
Participation in a constitutional process is not a crime. Operation Arctic Frost and its imitators will not define the future of American justice. These pardons will.
First, terminology matters. “Contingent electors” is the correct phrase. “Alternate electors” or “fake electors” are loaded terms invented by the press to imply criminality.
In reality, these electors prepared slates to be submitted to Congress while investigations and legal challenges into the 2020 presidential election were still pending. Their purpose was simple: to preserve flexibility should fraud or irregularities be confirmed.
The 2020 election was unlike any in modern history. Under the pretext of COVID-19, officials across multiple states expanded mail-in voting without the safeguards required by law. Signature verification, chain-of-custody rules, and registration requirements were ignored. Courts refused to hear evidence, dismissing cases on procedural grounds rather than the merits.
And somehow, we were told that the vice president and Congress — bodies that have historically played a role in adjudicating electoral disputes — no longer had any role to play. As a result, President Biden’s victory will forever carry an asterisk in the history books.
Debunking modern myths
The notion that elections can only be challenged in court is a modern myth. Since the founding, Congress has played a central role in resolving disputed elections, as have state legislatures empowered to ensure the integrity of their own processes — including, when necessary, selecting electors directly.
The list of precedents is long.
- In 1797, John Adams, as president of the Senate, allowed time for objections to Vermont’s votes.
- In 1801, Thomas Jefferson counted Georgia’s contested votes — for himself.
- In 1857, a snowstorm kept Wisconsin’s electors from voting, but their ballots were counted anyway.
- In 1876, during the Hayes-Tilden standoff, Congress created a commission to adjudicate dueling slates from four states.
- In 1961, Hawaii submitted a contingent slate while its results were still being certified.
- In 2005, both chambers of Congress debated and ultimately rejected objections to Ohio’s votes.
- And as recently as 2017, multiple House members objected to electors from several states, though they lacked Senate co-sponsors.
This long record makes clear that the use of contingent electors is not criminal — it is, in fact, perfectly constitutional.
From constitutional to criminal
So why are good-faith contingent electors from 2020 now facing state prosecutions and financial ruin? The answer is weaponization.
During the Biden years, the federal government, blue-state prosecutors, and activist networks have coordinated to transform lawful political activity into criminal conduct. The same machinery that pursued President Trump through endless investigations was turned on ordinary citizens whose only “crime” was preserving constitutional options.
Operation Arctic Frost — the campaign of “map, harass, and isolate” tactics aimed at Trump allies — illustrates this perfectly. It was designed to intimidate lawyers, donors, and officials who supported Trump’s legal challenges, freezing them out of professional and financial life. The contingent electors were swept up in that same apparatus: coordinated prosecutions, media smears, and punitive lawfare intended to silence dissent.
RELATED: Biden FBI’s Arctic Frost surveillance of lawmakers could cost the government
Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
From Fani Willis’ politically motivated prosecutions in Georgia to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s efforts to organize partisan coalitions against perceived “threats,” the coordination has been unmistakable. Government, activist, and media arms all moved together with one goal: to erase the America First movement and criminalize its constitutional exercise of power.
That is the true definition of weaponization — using the law to destroy political opposition.
The legal case for Trump’s pardons
Critics claim the president cannot pardon state-level offenses. But that view collapses under constitutional scrutiny. States cannot prosecute conduct that falls under federal authority once it has been pardoned.
The selection of electors is a hybrid function — both state and federal — but the contingent electors acted in service of a federal purpose: the certification of the presidency. By issuing these pardons, the federal government has declared that these individuals acted lawfully, in good faith, and consistent with historic precedent.
If the federal government deems their actions lawful, how can states claim they committed crimes? That’s a question any fair court — or any fair jury — should be able to answer easily.
If these pardons are treated honestly, the state cases will collapse. More important, this should reassure every American committed to election integrity that defending the Constitution will never again be treated as a criminal act.
RELATED: The bureaucracy strikes back — and we’re striking harder
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Now what?
The toll on those targeted has been immense. Many have endured years of legal harassment, public vilification, and financial ruin simply for acting according to their constitutional duty.
The Oversight Project is exploring every possible avenue to secure restitution for those harmed — whether through private support, legislative action, or further executive remedies. These pardons mark the first step in correcting the record and restoring faith in the justice system.
They are not merely acts of mercy; they are acts of correction. They affirm that Americans who act to preserve election integrity, often at great personal cost, were right to do so.
The message is clear: Participation in a constitutional process is not a crime. Operation Arctic Frost and its imitators will not define the future of American justice. These pardons will.
America’s addiction to Chinese money runs deeper than we care to admit
In a recent interview, President Trump defended his earlier claim that bringing 600,000 Chinese college students into the United States would be good for the country. When the interviewer questioned how that aligned with an America First agenda, Trump replied that without those students, “Half the colleges in America would go out of business.”
To most Trump supporters, that sounds like a win-win — fewer foreign students and fewer left-wing universities to subsidize. But Trump seemed to view the issue as a business transaction: Closing locations is bad, losing revenue is bad, and the substance of those “economic units” doesn’t really matter.
Why should we play Russian roulette with our national security to pad universities’ bottom lines?
His comments revealed a deeper confusion about what America First really means.
The China contradiction
America’s relationship with China has long been incoherent. Every Republican politician insists China is our chief geopolitical rival — a totalitarian power bent on unseating the United States as global hegemon. Yet few make any effort to restrict Chinese immigration, investment, or influence. At some point, it becomes difficult to take any of the rhetoric seriously.
The problem is obvious: China has too many people and too much money. The country’s strength lies in what America abandoned: manufacturing. While American corporations chased financial gimmicks and “service economies,” China focused on making tangible goods at scale. That discipline built a vast middle class and positioned Beijing at the center of global production. Now nearly every Western industry — film, retail, education — depends on access to China’s markets.
The result: American institutions bend over backward to please a government they claim to fear. Chinese nationals can buy land, start companies, and enroll by the hundreds of thousands in U.S. universities. It would be funny if it weren’t so corrupt.
The university addiction
Trump knows mass immigration hurts Americans, but he struggles to say no when big money is involved. Foreign students pour billions into universities, and administrators have built their entire business models around them. But counting up dollars isn’t the same as serving the national interest.
Universities are publicly subsidized and supposedly dedicated to educating Americans first and foremost. Instead, they’ve turned into pipelines credentialing foreign elites — and sometimes, spies. Every seat filled by a Chinese student is one less for an American, and every dollar that props up a hostile regime’s protégés deepens our dependence on that regime.
The Department of Justice has charged three Chinese nationals at the University of Michigan for smuggling research materials and stealing technology. Eric Weinstein has even suggested that theoretical physics is being throttled for fear of espionage. Yet the universities — and now, apparently, Trump — seem unfazed.
Why save the enemy’s seminary?
Propping up higher education with Chinese cash isn’t just shortsighted — it’s insane. Colleges and universities have become leftist seminaries, charging astronomical tuition for courses that teach Americans to despise their parents and their nation. They already receive lavish government subsidies and still demand more.
Trump’s claim that “half the colleges” would collapse without Chinese money is dubious, but if it were true, those institutions deserve to fail. Let them. Destroying the patronage networks that produce radical activists was once a Trumpian goal. Reviving them with foreign money would be an act of political masochism. Why should we play Russian roulette with our national security to pad their bottom line?
RELATED: The ‘China class’ sold out America. Now Trump is calling out the sellouts.
Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The broader threat
Chinese money poisons more than academia. Nationals and shell companies routinely buy American land — including, alarmingly, property near military bases. One recent purchase of an RV park in Missouri by a Chinese couple just happened to place them next to Whiteman Air Force Base, home of the B-2 stealth bomber fleet. Similar shadowy transactions dot the map.
The pandemic exposed the madness of this dependence. The same regime that unleashed a virus on the world also controlled the supply chains for the medicine and protective gear we needed to fight it. Yet America’s political class still refuses to sever the tie. They are too addicted to Chinese money — and too invested in pretending that dependency equals diplomacy.
If the GOP is serious about confronting China, it must start by cutting every cord of reliance. Banning Chinese students from U.S. universities would be a simple, symbolic first step — and it would strike directly at the heart of the progressive academic machine.
Trump officially ends ‘pathetic’ Democrats’ record-breaking shutdown
President Donald Trump officially ended the Democrats’ record-breaking shutdown after House Republicans passed the funding bill Wednesday night.
Trump signed the GOP’s continuing resolution into law after the House passed the bill in a 222-209 vote, bringing the 43-day shutdown to a close. The House vote largely fell on party lines, with 216 Republicans voting in favor and 207 Democrats voting against the funding bill. Notably, two Republicans voted against the bill and six Democrats voted in favor of it.
‘Don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.’
“People were hurt so badly,” Trump said from the Oval Office Wednesday night. “Nobody’s ever seen anything like this one. This was a no-brainer. This was an easy extension. But they didn’t want to do it the easy way. They had to do it the hard way.”
“They look very bad, the Democrats do,” Trump added.
Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Trump urged Americans across the country to remember the pain inflicted by the Democrat shutdown when the 2026 midterms come around.
“I just want to tell the American people: You should not forget this,” Trump said. “When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country.”
Democrats initiated the government shutdown after blocking the GOP’s clean continuing resolution from passing in the Senate before the September 30 funding deadline.
After prolonging the shutdown for over 40 days, eight Senate Democrats caved and passed the funding bill in the Senate, sparking intraparty outrage for agreeing to a “pathetic” political deal.
The only concession Democrats managed to secure was a reversal of reduction-in-force notices implemented during the shutdown and the prevention of any more RIFs through January 30, the day the new funding deal expires. This affects only about 4,200 of the roughly 150,000 federal layoffs that have taken place during President Donald Trump’s second term.
RELATED: Democrat senator makes stunning admission about Obamacare failures
Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
The main reason Democrats shut the government down in the first place was to renegotiate Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Rather than securing any commitments from Republicans to negotiate or amend any health-care-related policies, Democrats walked away with a promise from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to hold a vote on extending the subsidies.
This is the same deal that was on the table since day one of the government shutdown.
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‘THIS WILL SAVE LIVES’: Kash Patel Provides Update on Fentanyl Fight, New Agreement With China [WATCH]
![‘THIS WILL SAVE LIVES’: Kash Patel Provides Update on Fentanyl Fight, New Agreement With China [WATCH]](https://hannity.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/GettyImages-2245821070-300x200.jpg "US-POLITICS-BRIEFING-LEAVITT")
Progress in the fight against fentanyl.
Michigan Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed Helped Lead Anti-Police Group as It Organized Detroit Protest Turned Deadly Riot
Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate in the 2026 Democratic primary for Michigan’s open Senate seat, was on the board of an anti-police group when it organized Detroit protests that turned deadly in May 2020, public disclosure records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show.
The post Michigan Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed Helped Lead Anti-Police Group as It Organized Detroit Protest Turned Deadly Riot appeared first on .
House Democrats cave, vote for GOP bill to end record-breaking shutdown
House Republicans passed a government funding bill late Wednesday night, bringing Democrats’ record-breaking shutdown closer to a welcome end.
The continuing resolution passed in a 222-209 vote, with 216 Republicans voting in favor and 209 Democrats voting against the funding bill. Two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida, voted against the bill.
‘Democrats gained nothing from their shutdown while hardworking families paid the price.’
Several Democrats also crossed the aisle, with a handful voting in favor of reopening the government. Democrat Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, who is retiring at the end of this term, bucked his party, alongside Reps. Adam Gray of California, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Tom Suozzi of New York.
The resolution is now headed to President Donald Trump’s desk, where he is expected to sign the bill into law Wednesday night and reopen the government.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
The House vote took place just days after eight Democrat senators caved over the weekend and voted alongside Republicans to pass the funding bill in the Senate Monday night. These Democrats include Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Angus King (I) of Maine, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.
Although some lawmakers crossed the aisle to reopen the government, Democrats ultimately failed to secure commitments from Republicans to negotiate health care policy.
“For over six weeks, Democrats held our country hostage over demands for health care for illegal aliens and to prove to their base they could ‘stand up’ to President Trump,” Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (Texas) told Blaze News.
“Let me be clear: Democrats gained nothing from their shutdown while hardworking families paid the price,” Pfluger added. “Now, it is time to get back to governing and delivering on the mandate we were given by the American people last November.”
RELATED: Senate Republicans pass key deal with Democrat defectors as end to record-long shutdown draws near
Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The reason Democrats shut down the government in the first place was to force the GOP to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
Democrats fell short, securing only a commitment from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to hold a vote on extending the subsidies. Notably, this offer was available to Democrats on day one of the government shutdown.
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