Republican J.D. Vance thanks supporters upon his U.S. Senate victory on Election Night, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.

A senator from Ohio is warning voters that some Republicans in the Senate have gone along with Democrats to set up a plan to force President Donald Trump, if he is elected in the fall, to continue sending billions of American tax dollars to Ukraine.

Worse yet, explains Sen. J.D. Vance, the schemes could be interpreted to be used as impeachment fodder should Trump, as he has suggested, be able to resolve that conflict and see hostilities end.

Vance, in an article posted at The American Conservative, explains GOP members were working on a plan to secure the border and provide aid to Ukraine and Israel.

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However, the border section turned out to be unacceptable, so Republicans simply tossed the border security and moved ahead on funding Ukraine.

And they made that mandatory.

"It gets worse. Back in 2019, Democrats articulated a novel theory of impeachment, based on Trump’s refusal to spend money from the USAI—Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Five years after impeaching Trump for refusing to spend money on Ukraine, they have drafted a new law that again requires Trump to spend money on Ukraine. If he negotiates an end to the war, as he has promised to do, they will undoubtedly argue that he has broken the law. We are nearly a year away from an election that could give Trump the presidency, and Ukraine-obsessive Republicans have already given the Democrats a predicate to impeach him," Vance warned.

An article at The Gateway Pundit addressed the same issue, and said, "President Trump was wrongfully impeached by the partisan Pelosi-led House of Representatives on December 18, 2019! At the core of the impeachment was a pause on funds appropriated to Ukraine: …$391 million in security assistance: $250 million through the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and $141 million through the State Department’s Foreign Military Financing program.

"The false argument put forward by Democrats was/is as follows: as President Trump had allegedly paused these funds because he wished to see the corrupt nexus between the Biden family and Ukraine investigated, President Trump had abused his power, with the aim of interfering with the U.S. presidential election."

The Gateway Pundit continued, "Page 425 of the Committee Report on the first impeachment states: 'The President froze military assistance to Ukraine against U.S. national security interests and over the objections of career experts.' The impeachment inquiry report states, 'The President did so despite the longstanding bipartisan support of Congress, uniform support across federal departments and agencies for the provision to Ukraine of the military assistance, and his obligations under the Impoundment Control Act.'

"The Supplemental Impeachment Time Bomb: President Trump has said, in regard to the war in Ukraine, 'We got to get that war settled and I’ll get it settled.' He has stated that he would resolve the war in 24 hours.”

The report noted that senators want to allocate money to the same accounts now over which Democrats claimed the right to impeach Trump then.

"These funds expire on September 30, 2025 nearly a year into the possible second term of President Trump. … If President Trump were to withdraw from or pause financial support for the war in Ukraine in order to bring the conflict to a peaceful conclusion, 'over the objections of career experts,' it would amount to the same fake violation of budget law from the first impeachment, under markedly similar facts and circumstances."

The report said not only would Democrats jump at another impeachment scheme, "The Washington Post has reported that tying President Trump’s hands on foreign policy is very much top of mind for Biden administration officials, who are openly boasting about their plans."

Vance said the border security provisions fell apart because they would have "done little to secure the border in the future, would have been a massive political gift to the Democrats, and would constrain Trump’s border enforcement if he was ever elected president."

In fact, Joe Biden opened the southern border when he took office and repeatedly has fought states in court and elsewhere, to keep it open to millions of illegal aliens. Critics of the schemes contend it is a plan to move millions of people into the country and turn them into Democrat voters to secure a perpetual one-party rule in America.

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Tucker Carlson

Ep. 74 The Ukrainian government canceled elections and killed an American journalist. Congress is about send them another $60 billion. J.D. Vance is trying to stop it. pic.twitter.com/x6mQFfuZFL

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 12, 2024

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By Jason Cohen
Daily Caller News Foundation

Several large credit card companies are taking steps to track gun purchases in California with a new code, CBS News reported on Monday.

American Express, Visa and Mastercard are working on putting a merchant code in place for firearm and ammunition stores, CBS News reported. They are doing this to adhere to a California law that could enable banks to monitor certain gun purchases that are deemed suspect to forward to law enforcement agencies, which Second Amendment advocates have pushed back against.

Gun stores at present are categorized with various retailers, including sporting goods sellers, according to CBS News. These credit card companies previously consented to establish a unique code specifically for firearm vendors but halted the effort following resistance from Second Amendment advocates who said it could violate the rights of lawful gun owners.

However, gun control advocates are hopeful the code can help prevent gun-related crime by detecting questionable purchases, according to CBS News. They compare it to how banks and credit unions notify law enforcement about identity theft or terrorism funding.

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The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved the code in 2022 and California passed a law mandating firearm retailers adopt it by May 2025, according to CBS News. Executives from each company wrote to congressional Democrats that the code would be ready by then.

Seven or more Republican state legislatures have passed legislation to ban this code and nine additional states are deliberating about doing so, CBS reported.

“If governments or credit card companies start to require certain purchase patterns at gun stores be reported to police, that could put a lot of innocent people under suspicion depending on how broad the criteria are,” Stephen Gutowski, a gun expert who founded The Reload, told the Daily Caller News Foundation after the approval.

Visa, American Express and Mastercard did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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President Donald J. Trump delivers an update on the COVID-19 Coronavirus vaccine development Operation Warp Speed, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, in the Rose Garden of the White House. (Official White House photo by Tia Dufour)

President Trump on Monday pushed a fight over the immunity he held – or did not hold – as president to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A leftist prosecutor has claimed he engaged in election interference during the 2020 election, and Trump has charged that his comments and actions were protected by presidential immunity.

A lower court disagreed with him, setting up Trump's appeal to the Supremes.

The Washington Examiner explained that prosecutor Jack Smith has been pushing for a trial as soon as possible, in an apparent attempt to obtain a "conviction" before the presidential election in the fall.

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But there is no timetable for the high court to act.

The report noted, "The Supreme Court’s options could include rejecting Trump’s emergency appeal, which would allow U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to restart the trial proceedings in Washington’s federal court. The trial was initially slated to begin in early March. Justices on the high court could also extend that delay while they hear arguments on the immunity dispute. Given the unprecedented nature of the request, some legal experts have suggested the Supreme Court may not want to give the appeals court the last word over the dispute, even if the nine-member bench ultimately comes to a similar conclusion on Trump’s presidential immunity argument."

If the justices do take the case, arguments and a ruling aren't even on the calendar.

Trump's lawyers have charged that Smith is following a partisan agenda to hold a trial while Trump is campaigning for president.

It's the second Trump-related case that could come before the court. Last week the justices heard arguments in a decision by Colorado's all-Democrat state Supreme Court to take Trump's name off the 2024 ballot, apparently concluding in their own minds and without a conviction, that Trump was guilty of "insurrection."

The report explained the high court already has held that presidents are immune from civil liability for their official acts, and this question is whether there's immunity if prosecutors allege criminal acts.

The Washington case being brought by Smith is one of four Trump is facing. Another was brought by Smith in Florida over the papers he apparently kept from his presidency and a state claim of organized crime over his comments about the 2020 election.

The documents case now undoubtedly will be the subject of motions, as a special counsel just concluded that Joe Biden likely violated federal law by keeping such documents from his years as senator and vice president, but he wouldn't be charged because of his diminished mental capabilities.

The difference with the Trump case is that Biden never had the authority to declassify those documents while Trump, as president, did. Further, Biden has established a record in recent years of lots of mental blunders, flubs and gaffes, displaying for the public a deterioration in his grasp of ordinary events, including how to get off a stage.

And he's made multiple comments that he's had talks with people who already are dead.

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White House illuminated in the blue and white colors of the Israeli flag on Oct. 9, 2023, as a symbol of the ironclad support and solidarity of the American people with the people of Israel in the wake of the terrorist attacks committed by Hamas. (Official White House photo by Adam Schultz)

Joe Biden, after America's staunch Middle East ally Israel was attacked by Hamas terrorists last Oct. 7, emphasized the nation is standing with Israel in its war on terrorism.

But the statements quickly faded and Biden more and more has been giving Israel, through Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, instructions on what it should be doing.

Withdraw from one region, making accommodation for civilians in another, allowing more time, providing more resources, and much more, Biden instructions have insisted.

But Israeli leaders aren't necessarily at his beck and call, and he's finding that frustrating.

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Just in the last few days Biden had objected to a planned Israeli military operation in Rafah, in southern Gaza, instructing Netanyahu that no plan should go ahead without a "credible" plan for protecting a million people "sheltering" there.

A "senior administration" official told reporters some 1.3 million people are in the city who have "dire humanitarian needs."

Israel's goal has been to accelerate operations so that there is a path to its goal of eliminating the terror threat that Hamas provides.

Biden officials have warned that Israel's plans are too much and more attention must be paid to Biden's desires for progress on a cease-fire and a way to halt the shooting entirely.

Now the Daily Caller reports Biden is losing what patience he had, and has been delivering angry and insulting outbursts against Netanyahu.

The report said three sources told NBC that Biden reportedly has been calling Netanyahu an "a******" in various conversations.

Benjamin Netanyahu

As the Israel-Hamas war rages on in the Middle East, Biden has been "venting" against Netanyahu because Israel has not been following Biden's instructions as he wants, the report said.

Biden has been under pressure from antisemitic individuals and groups around the globe, including in Congress and in the State Department, to reduce or eliminate support for Israel.

Subsequently, Biden's characterizations have changed, and recently he called Israel's work "over the top."

A White House spokesperson claimed then that the president's position "hasn't changed."

WND previously reported on Biden's foul-mouthed outbursts, including those against President Trump.

It was then Biden called the Israeli leader, a "bad f***ing guy," according to Biden.

It was the Jerusalem Post that cited a column from Politico that described Biden's egregious actions.

The name-calling happened in a private conversation, the report said.

Biden's White House denied it.

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By Robert Schmad
Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden administration is funding a study that will stretch into 2027 to help “transgender people” cope with financial and psychological “stress” related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has approved more than $1.4 million in funding for Duke University and other organizations to “develop interventions” that will help “transgender people” cope with “COVID-19 pandemic-related financial and mental health harms” and to “promote COVID-19 prevention behaviors,” according to a federal spending database. The program will end in March 2027, nearly five years after HHS declared the pandemic was over.

The most recent payment HHS disbursed in relation to the transgender pandemic stress study was paid out on Jan. 31, more than a year after HHS’ May 11, 2023, announcement that the pandemic had ended.

“Transgender people” are “particularly vulnerable” to the “financial and mental health harms” presented by COVID-19, the research grant’s description claims.

The study itself consists of giving transgender people money and financial literacy education, followed by surveys at six-month intervals.

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The majority of the 360 trans people enrolled in the study will receive monthly “microgrants” for the duration of the six-month research period. One group will only receive one microgrant at the beginning of the period.

One group of trans people participating in the study will receive “peer mentoring,” in addition to monthly grants.

Today, for #TransDayofVisibility, the transgender pride flag is flying proudly outside the HHS Headquarters in Washington, D.C. – for the second year in a row.

Today and always, transgender health care is health care. Period. #TDOV pic.twitter.com/6FBVVYvqAy

— HHS.gov (@HHSGov) March 31, 2023

The National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition is listed as a sub-recipient of the award, having received $87,746 from HHS to assist with Duke’s research. The coalition was founded to “collectively address the inequities faced in the black transgender human experience,” according to its website.

Beyond “addressing the pressing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on a vulnerable health disparities population,” the taxpayer-funded study also seeks to “advance the science of minority stress and mental health inequities.”

President Joe Biden’s HHS has funded several programs for transgender individuals during his tenure.

HHS, in September 2023, paid out nearly $700,000 to develop a national pregnancy prevention program for transgender males. In May 2023, the agency offered $1.7 million in grants to groups promoting LGBT youth acceptance.

The National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, HHS and Duke University did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Joe Biden poses in an electric Hummer on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (Official White House photo)

If all of the existing headaches for those pushing expensive electric vehicles on resisting American consumers could vanish, there's still a big one that may have no ready solution.

Already, it appears the U.S. could end up dependent on unfriendly nations for materials for all those batteries. Then there's the fact that the nation's grid simply can't support all that recharging – California already has been sending out advisories for owners not to charge. And then there's the limited range, extended recharging times, both worsened by bad weather.

But now a report in the Washington Times explains that those batteries are heavy, and EVs can weight up to 50% more than internal combustion motor vehicles.

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And that weight damages roads, bridges and parking garages, with those vehicles easily plowing through safety guardrails while posing a higher danger to other drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists traveling the same routes.

"The problems associated with EVs are poised to grow as more consumers purchase the cars under the Biden administration’s plan to eliminate gas-powered vehicles and the tailpipe emissions that come with them," the report explained.

It explained engineers writing recently for Structure Magazine suggested construction companies, and building codes, need to make accommodation for the higher weight.

Parking garages, they said, should be redesigned to hold more weight.

That's because some hold hundreds of vehicles, and just one EV. A Ford truck, weighs in at 8,240 pounds, nearly a ton more than the gas-powered version of the same pickup.

"Significantly increasing passenger vehicle weights combined with recently reduced structural design requirements will result in reduced factors of safety and increased maintenance and repair costs for parking structures," the engineers wrote. "There are many cases of parking structure failures, and the growing demand for EVs will only increase the probability of failure."

Then there are those guardrails, installed to minimize damage when traffic goes awry.

They are installed between lanes for traffic moving opposite directions, between lanes and edge drop-offs and more.

That concern comes out of a procedure at a test facility in Nebraska, where examiners took a 3.6-ton Rivian R1 and sent it into a metal guardrail at 62 mph, first headon, then at an angle.

Both times it "ripped through" the guardrail and continued into what would have been lanes for oncoming traffic, the report revealed.

The conclusion was simple: making vehicles much heavier means "a lot more force" is required to redirect the vehicle.

University of Nebraska professor Cody Stolle, told the Times, "We found these guardrail systems don’t have great compatibility with these [electric] vehicles yet."

The heavier vehicles also could cause more damage to other vehicles in collisions.

The report said an insurance institute expert confirmed the weight provides more protection to those inside the EV, but at the expense of anyone in another vehicle involved in an accident.

Joe Biden has insisted over and over that consumers should be buying the much more expensive and often less reliable electric cars the government programs subsidize.

The weight differences are significant. The report said the Tesla Model Y is more than 4,400 pounds while the similar size gas-powered Honda Accord is 3,300. Kia makes multiple SUVs, with the gas model weighting 3,900 pounds and the EV unit nearly 6,500.

Residential roads already are not engineered to handle the heavy weight on highways, and the lifespan of bridges could be reduced with much heavier traffic, the report said.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., recently said, "EVs are typically much heavier compared to similarly sized, gas-powered vehicles, which will put additional strain on America’s transportation infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers warns that an increase in EVs could substantially reduce the lifespan of roads and bridges, necessitating further investment in infrastructure."

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(Photo by Joe Kovacs)

By Will Kessler
Daily Caller News Foundation

Investors flush with cash are looking to buy up commercial real estate properties that developers are putting on the market at deep discounts as companies struggle to pay debts, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Many investment firms are looking to buy up discounted real estate after stacking up cash during the COVID-19 pandemic, including Ares Management, which is buying up 3 million square feet of office space with offers to buy up assets related to $500 million in high-priority property debt, according to the WSJ. Commercial real estate is facing around $2.81 trillion in loans that are set to expire through 2028 at a time when the industry is struggling with low demand and huge debt costs from high interest rates.

“We’re in a period of time where it’s great to have dry powder,” Rich Banjo, co-president of Artemis Real Estate Partners, told the WSJ. Artemis recently closed a $2.2 billion fund at the end of last year that has been buying up discounted properties.

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Private-equity firms operating global real estate funds had $544 billion in cash in the second quarter of 2023, up from $457 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the WSJ. Around $85.8 billion of commercial property was in distress at the end of 2023, up from $56.9 billion at the end of 2022.

Commercial real estate remains a risk in the US even after prices fell the most in at least 50 years. See our blog for more on how this heightens risks for investors and lenders. https://t.co/18dN2zRBuW pic.twitter.com/7NrZy83ng7

— IMF (@IMFNews) February 4, 2024

Investors in particular are looking at struggling office building owners who have had their profits cut from a widespread shift to remote work that began during the COVID-19 pandemic, lowering office space needs, according to the WSJ. Hotel owners who have failed to keep up with repairs and apartment buildings that are behind on construction schedules due to pandemic-related supply chain shortages and work stoppages have also been targets for investors.

Interest rates for commercial properties are facing upward pressure from hikes to the federal funds rate by the Federal Reserve, which has been placed in a range of 5.25% and 5.50%, the highest rate in 22 years, in an effort to combat high inflation.

The collapse of top developer China Evergrande Group, prompted by a judge in January, has led to the liquidation of more than $300 billion in liabilities, which could depress global property prices as the firm sells off assets. The increases in the cost of borrowing have resulted in a $1 trillion loss in office property values around the world.

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(SPORTING NEWS) -- There is no better opportunity for advertisers than the Super Bowl, which is watched by an average of more than 100 million Americans each year.

Naturally, the price of running a commercial during the game is enormous. A 30-second ad is estimated to cost about $7 million for Super Bowl 58, on top of the money it takes to create what are often elaborate commercials designed to grab headlines.

Viewers who watched Super Bowl 57 took note of a commercial with this tagline: "He Gets Us." This year, the ad campaign will have two separate commercials run during the CBS broadcast.

Read the full story ›

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By Nick Pope
Daily Caller News Foundation

• A jury found two critics of climate scientist Michael Mann and his signature “hockey stick” model liable for defamation on Thursday, and the ruling could have serious repercussions for scientific discourse in the U.S. going forward, according to several critics of mainstream scientific consensuses.
• Each defendant must pay Mann $1 in compensatory damages. Additionally, Mark Steyn, one of the defendants, will have to pay $1 million in punitive damages, while Rand Simberg, the other defendant, owes Mann $1,000 in punitive damages.
• “I would not be surprised to now see a flurry of lawsuits against people who have been critical of climate science or climate scientists. Such legal action may not be limited to climate — debate over COVID-19 also presents a target-rich environment for unwanted speech to silence,” Roger Pielke, Jr., an academic who writes extensively about the politicization of science, wrote on Friday.

A Washington, D.C., jury found two critics of a high-profile climate scientist liable for defamation on Thursday, an outcome that has the potential to introduce a “chilling effect” on those who criticize scientific consensus, according to several of those dissenting voices.

Michael Mann won a defamation suit he originally filed in October 2012 against Rand Simberg, who compared Mann to convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky for Mann’s alleged data manipulation in his landmark 1998 “hockey stick” climate model in a blog post for the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), and Mark Steyn, a right-of-center political pundit who referenced Simberg’s blog post in his own writing about the “hockey stick” model for National Review. Simberg was ordered to pay Mann $1,000 in punitive damages and $1 in compensatory damages, while Steyn must pay $1 million in punitive damages on top of $1 in compensatory damages.

The results of the lawsuit could dissuade critics from vocalizing dissenting opinions against scientific orthodoxy, both in discourse about climate change and beyond, according to some of these dissenting voices.

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“I hope this verdict sends a message that falsely attacking climate scientists is not protecting free speech,” Mann wrote in a Thursday statement posted to X, formerly Twitter. Mann has also already suggested that he will continue attempts to sue National Review and CEI, which were dropped from the suit in 2021.

For the losers, it just means that the conspiracy must just run deeper and wider:
“The fix was in!”
“DC Jury” [note the racist dogwhistle]
“liberal jurors”
etc. https://t.co/nGpSqeF6WL

— Prof Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) February 10, 2024

During the trial, Abraham Wyner, a tenured statistics professor and the chair of the undergraduate statistics program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, testified that Mann engaged in “improper manipulation” of data that made his signature model “misleading,” according to National Review.

Mann’s critics made the connection to highlight what they contend to be the abuse and manipulation of data in the “hockey stick” model, which purports to show that global temperatures have risen sharply in the past several decades relative to the preceding centuries. Critics, including Steyn and Simberg, have targeted the “hockey stick” model for many years, generally positing that it should not be treated as a credible assessment of climate trends because of its perceived flaws.

“The mainstream media, led by The Washington Post, is already salivating over how this court decision could impact criticism of vaccines, COVID measures, election results and climate change,” Marc Morano, a former senior staffer for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee who later founded ClimateDepot.com, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This will only embolden claims that some scientific claims are above public scrutiny and will lead to more ‘consensus’ enforcement in areas like climate and public health. Mann’s victory in court may embolden more defamation cases against anyone who dissents from the official government narratives.”

Indeed, several virologists have already implied that the verdict should send a clear message to skeptics who contend that COVID-19 leaked from a laboratory as opposed to originating naturally. The Department of Energy and Federal Bureau of Investigation have both stated that the lab leak theory is currently the most plausible explanation.

Other climate scientists apparently followed the Mann trial closely, Kate Cell, a senior climate campaign manager for the Union of Concerned Scientists, told The Associated Press. Many of these scientists were hoping for a good result for Mann to “reduce the comfort and regularity with which those who do not accept climate change science speak, and speak very nastily, about climate scientists,” Cell told the AP.

The case was about “the ability of myself and others to speak freely about the most important issues of our day, whether climate change or another issue,” Simberg told the AP before the verdict came down. “If others are faced with over a decade of litigation for giving their opinions, we will all suffer.”

Roger Pielke, Jr., an academic who writes extensively about the politicization of science, agrees with Simberg about the possibility that the verdict could alter scientific discourse on topics reaching beyond climate change, which he believes climate change to be a real and serious threat.

“The case was formally about defamation, but in reality it was not at all about defamation. As Michael Mann stated after the verdict, the case was really about politics and ideology,” Pielke, Jr. wrote on Friday. “The defense made a big mistake in thinking that it would be sufficient to win by proving their case while Mann chose not to put one on. That was wrong … I would not be surprised to now see a flurry of lawsuits against people who have been critical of climate science or climate scientists. Such legal action may not be limited to climate — debate over COVID-19 also presents a target-rich environment for unwanted speech to silence. Watch this space.”

“The larger issues here are not about Mann, but rather the continued failures within the climate science community to uphold fundamental norms of conduct among its own ranks,” Pielke, Jr. added.

While Mann and The Washington Post framed the suit’s outcome as a victory for purportedly principled scientists, he has proven himself not to be above launching harsh insults and accusations at his peers. For example, Judith Curry, a climatologist who has been critical of Mann in the past, said that Mann falsely suggested she had effectively exchanged sex for career advancement when she was younger, according to National Review.

Mann contributed to the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007; the IPCC, as an institution, won the Nobel Prize for “its efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change” that year alongside former Vice President Al Gore.

The IPCC later released a 2012 statement making clear that the institution won the prize, not individual members and contributors. Mann intimated in the original complaint against Steyn and Simberg that he had won a Nobel Prize.

“Proponents of false narratives and apologists for fraud have been gloating about the decision on social media,” Richard Ebright, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers University, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Ebright was an early advocate of the lab leak theory for the origin of COVID-19, a point of view that many in the corporate press, scientific community and government officials initially derided as bigotry or a conspiracy theory.

Unlike Morano and Pielke, Jr., Ebright is not convinced that the Mann suit will have a pronounced effect on the ability of critics of scientific consensus to speak out.

“I do not anticipate a ‘chilling effect.’ The decision sets no precedent, and persons making truthful claims and having courage in their character will not self-censor,” Ebright told the DCNF.

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