Raw Story

DHS chief maintains stake in company despite founder's 'abuse' admission

2 hours agoFar Left

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin maintains an investment of up to $1 million in Botanic Tonics, a company manufacturing Feel Free energy drinks.Feel Free is widely known as "gas station heroin" due to its addictive properties, reports Punch Up. The company's founder, J.W. Ross, a convicted felon who has admitted deliberately testing abusive dosages before launching the product, said he knew people would abuse it. Feel Free combines kratom and kava, plant-based compounds that act on the brain's opioid receptors, exploiting neurological pathways that make opioids addictive. "In February 2010, Cash pleaded guilty to a federal charge of falsely certifying the company’s financial controls. That November, U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot sentenced him to nine years in federal prison and ordered him to repay $5 million, rebuking him,” according to the FBI’s account of the hearing.Notably, Mullin championed a federal crackdown in July that specifically spared Feel Free while targeting competitors. Both Mullin and Ross are Oklahoma businessmen with connections to Broken Arrow, where Botanic Tonics operates. The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on whether Mullin and Ross have ever communicated or met.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.

Read Full Story at Source

Compare Perspectives

Found 8 stories

Wife Of Kansas City Chiefs Coach Eric Bieniemy Shot Inside Home

The Daily Caller

4 hours ago

Wife Of Kansas City Chiefs Coach Eric Bieniemy Shot Inside Home

The couple’s son, Elijah, is being held without bond

Right

Read →

'Confused, angry and frustrated' MAGA supporters fed up with Trump's DHS

Raw Story

5 hours ago

'Confused, angry and frustrated' MAGA supporters fed up with Trump's DHS

Hardcore supporters of President Donald Trump who are enamored with his anti-immigrant policies are less in love with the numbers coming out of the Department of Homeland Security.When they can get them.Trump's base is turning on the administration over what they view as deliberately inflated deportation claims and a failure to deliver on campaign promises. The crack in the MAGA coalition is widening as immigration hardliners realize they've been played, The Dispatch is reporting.The problem is transparency. According to the report, DHS has stopped releasing the underlying data that would back up its press release deportation claims."Since January 2025, the Trump administration has stopped releasing data tables from the DHS statistics office that break down how many people have been removed from the country, under what circumstances, and by which enforcement agency. Other agency-specific data sources have also not been updated since Trump took office, including the ICE statistics portal, which was previously updated quarterly," Grayson Logue of The Dispatch reported. The silence has fueled suspicions.Mark Morgan, a former CBP and ICE official from Trump's first term, is now openly accusing the administration of deception. "I'm confused, I'm frustrated, and quite frankly, I'm angry because I believe we're being intentionally misled," Morgan said this week. He's part of the Oversight Project, an activist group that recently sued the administration to force release of enforcement data.DHS touts deportation figures like 356,000 or 400,000, but immigration researchers "struggle to verify these numbers using available data." When activists break down the figures, they discover the numbers include exits, returns, and other removals that don't constitute interior deportations—the mass deportation campaign Trump promised.MAGA media personalities are now expressing buyer's remorse. Fox News personality Tomi Lahren dedicated a recent podcast to attacking DHS for "fudging the numbers" and delivering underwhelming results.Rosemary Jenks, co-founder of the Immigration Accountability Project, articulated MAGA's feelings during an appearance on Steve Bannon's podcast: "I think the numbers aren't as good as they want them to be. That's really the only conclusion we can get to.""We just gave billions and billions of dollars to ICE, and we're happy for that, we supported that, and we want to cheerlead for ICE and for the Trump administration, but we need the numbers in order to do that," she complained.

Far Left

Read →

Jeffries says DNC chief ‘has my full support’ amid scrutiny

The Hill News

5 hours ago

Jeffries says DNC chief ‘has my full support’ amid scrutiny

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters on Sunday that Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin “has my full support” after multiple news outlets detailed an increasingly stressed national party chair struggling with morale. “The chairman has my full support,” the top House Democrat said while campaigning in Pennsylvania, according to NOTUS. “We look forward to our continued partnership.” The…

Center

Read →

What would a rate hike signal about the new Fed chief's MO?

Axios

6 hours ago

What would a rate hike signal about the new Fed chief's MO?

The Federal Reserve typically telegraphs its interest rate moves in advance, then follows through. This week will provide the clearest evidence yet on whether chairman Kevin Warsh is ending the era of the no-surprises Fed.The big picture: Markets are now putting meaningful odds on the Fed delivering an interest rate hike at the conclusion of its two-day meeting this week.If the Federal Open Market Committee were to do so, it would suggest a new era in which the central bank is less predictable — accepting more volatility and surprise as the price to be paid for greater policy nimbleness.State of play: In the final public communications before the Fed entered its pre-meeting blackout period, signs were pointing to the FOMC leaving rates unchanged at this meeting, but holding out the possibility of a future rate hike if inflation doesn't move down.Since then, there has been a re-escalation of hostilities in the Persian Gulf that sent oil prices and longer-term bond yields upward.That led traders to put greater weight on the possibility of a rate hike — currently about 34% in the CME's FedWatch tool, up from 16% a week ago.Zoom out: Warsh often speaks of not pre-judging the outcome of policy meetings and of officials going in with an open mind and having a "family fight" decide optimal policy.That would imply a wider aperture of potential moves (or non-moves) than has been the norm under his immediate predecessors.Yes, but: The flip side of greater agility in policy is that there is more risk of appearing skittish and overly reactive to the latest headlines.If Fed officials were inclined to be a bit more patient on raising rates 10 days ago, should a $10 move in the price of crude oil (much of which has already reversed itself) really shake those plans?Warsh will face pressure in a post-meeting news conference Wednesday to explain either a move or non-move more clearly than he has been inclined to do in his public comments to date.What they're saying: "Since markets have priced in about a one-third chance at this meeting, there will be some surprise no matter what the FOMC does," Bill English, a former top Fed economist, tells Axios."They should do the right thing, given the information they have," adds English, now a professor at the Yale School of Management. "I don't see a problem with the Committee surprising markets at a particular meeting — that should happen from time to time," he says. "But I do see a problem with not explaining the reasoning behind a move (or lack of move) because that could lead markets to react unexpectedly."Of note: The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged last week, with Warsh's European counterpart Christine Lagarde arguing that policymakers could not overinterpret fast-moving swings in oil prices while the conflict remained unresolved."We have seen so abrupt changes, occurring in a matter of days, not just in terms of the level of the conflict but also the consequences in terms of energy prices," Lagarde told reporters.A brief history of surprise Fed rate movesIn recent decades, the Fed has surprised markets most often when it aims to send a deliberate shock through the system.In the 2008 global financial crisis, and again in the 2020 onset of the pandemic, several emergency meetings resulted in supersized rate cuts, intended to instill confidence that the Fed wouldn't allow an economic collapse.Conversely, supersized interest rate hikes starting in June 2022 hoped to signal the Fed's resolve to contain inflation.The intrigue: Those were undertaken in extreme circumstances — not just routine adjustments to try to recalibrate rates based on the state of the economy, but rather moments when the surprise itself was part of the goal.And even in those cases, the moves weren't complete shocks on the day of the meeting. In June 2022, a last-minute pivot to a supersized 0.75-point rate increase was preceded by press reports foreshadowing the decision.Flashback: When the FOMC met in September 2008, two days after Lehman Brothers failed, it elected not to adjust interest rates. Many officials spoke of the need to wait to see how the event rippled through the economy before taking action."In uncertain circumstances like these, I think it would be unwise to react too hastily to a fluid situation," said then-St. Louis Fed president James Bullard.Zoom in: The downside of surprising markets was evident with the "taper tantrum" in May 2013, when chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed could soon begin slowing its quantitative easing policies.That took bond markets by surprise and fueled a sell-off, driving longer-term interest rates sharply higher at a time when the U.S. economic recovery was tenuous — which hadn't been Bernanke's intention.The episode weighed on then-governor Jerome Powell, who said in a September 2015 policy meeting that he didn't want to raise interest rates until market odds were "way north of 50 percent.

Center Left

Read →

Wife of Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy shot in Virginia

The Hill News

6 hours ago

Wife of Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy shot in Virginia

The wife of Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy was shot Sunday at their home in the Northern Virginia suburb of Ashburn, police said. The shooting, which was first reported by ESPN, occurred on the 20000 block of Northpark Drive, where police said they were called just after 7:30 p.m. ESPN reported that Mia…

Center

Read →

Trump DHS accused of scanning peaceful protesters' faces, then revoking their Global Entry

Raw Story

8 hours ago

Trump DHS accused of scanning peaceful protesters' faces, then revoking their Global Entry

Three people who observed federal immigration enforcement during the Trump administration’s sometimes-violent surge said in a federal lawsuit filed Friday the Department of Homeland Security illegally recorded them and revoked their status in the department’s trusted traveler programs.The suit, filed in the Southern District of California, says the administration violated a federal privacy law, administrative law and the First Amendment by targeting people who observed and protested aggressive immigration enforcement, including during the deadly operation in Minneapolis in January.The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a legal group that advocates for privacy issues related to technology, is also a plaintiff in the case.Amid a nationwide surge of immigration enforcement that has included federal agents shooting and killing protesters, observers and immigrants, opponents “did what anyone is supposed to do when they disagree with government action: They exercised their First Amendment rights” by assembling, protesting and recording DHS agents’ activity in public, the suit says.“In response, DHS decided to record the Americans who were peacefully observing its agents,” the suit says.Officers with the DHS agencies Immigration and Customs Protection and Border Patrol killed two observers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis in incidents 17 days apart in January.‘Driven home by ICE’ICE and Border Patrol agents used facial recognition technology, license plate readers and other technology to identify protesters and observers. The agents would then use that information in efforts to intimidate and retaliate against protesters, the suit says.Federal immigration officers addressed many legal observers by name, despite having never spoken to them. In Minnesota, legal observers tailing DHS agents in a car would commonly be led back to their own home addresses, according to the suit.“The experience … is so widespread that Minnesota residents have coined a term for it: being ‘driven home by ICE,’” the suit said.The practice shows that DHS is no longer following its own 2023 policy on facial recognition, the suit says. The department quietly removed the policy from its website — omitting it even from a set of archived pages — during President Donald Trump’s first month back in office, the suit says.The complaint argues that amounted to a policy change, which DHS did not conduct through the process agencies must follow under the Administrative Procedure Act.The department also retaliated against protesters and observers by revoking their status in DHS trusted traveler programs TSA Precheck and Global Entry, the suit says.Nicole Cleland, a Minnesota woman who is one of the individual plaintiffs in the suit, said Global Entry status was revoked three days after an encounter with a Border Patrol agent whom she was following at a safe distance, according to the suit.Chilling rightsThe suit alleges DHS’ actions have had a chilling effect on First Amendment-protected activity.Cleland has stopped observing DHS operations for fear of further retaliation, according to the suit.The two other individuals who brought the suit, Jacquelyn Ivey of South Carolina and Anna Walker of California, said they experienced “fear, anxiety and emotional distress” following their interactions with DHS officers.The suit also mentions activity in Maine, North Carolina and Chicago.DHS responseIn response to a request to DHS for comment, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection, which administers Global Entry, said trusted traveler status can be denied for “inability to demonstrate low-risk traveler status.”“Global Entry or other CBP Trusted Traveler Program memberships are not revoked because someone exercises their First Amendment rights,” the spokesperson wrote. “Membership may be denied or revoked for reasons such as criminal activity (including pending charges or warrants), violations of customs or immigration laws, or inability to demonstrate low-risk traveler status.”The spokesperson added that travelers whose Global Entry is denied or revoked can ask for additional review. A Global Entry ombudsman provides “additional oversight” of some cases, the spokesperson said.A denial of Global Entry is not an impediment to travel, they wrote.DHS did not respond to questions about its policies for recording or using facial recognition on observers.

Far Left

Read →

Inside the dangerous DOJ move that could supercharge Trump’s abuses

Alternet.org

8 hours ago

Inside the dangerous DOJ move that could supercharge Trump’s abuses

Warning in a new piece for The Hill about the potential to supercharge President Donald Trump's abuses and fraud, a former federal director urged Congress to oppose the nomination of Todd Blanche, due to his aiding of "the most corrupt president in the nation’s history."Previously serving as Trump's personal attorney prior to his White House return, Blanche was first appointed to serve as Deputy Attorney General before being elevated to acting Attorney General after the exit of Pam Bondi. His time in the administration has been marked by scandal and controversy, from his involvement in the botched release of the Epstein files to his support of Trump's "slush fund" lawsuit settlement, but he has managed to impress the president, who nominated him to lead the Department of Justice as the proper Attorney General.William S. Becker is a climate action activist who previously served for over a decade as the Department of Energy's central regional director, as well as a special assistant to the department’s assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy. On Monday morning, he published a new piece for The Hill sounding the alarm about Blanche, warning that he has aided in corruption by Trump that would make Richard Nixon's misdeeds look like "child's play" and strongly urged Congress to reject his nomination."As deputy attorney general, Blanche proved that he will not only tolerate Trump’s lawlessness but also participate in it," Becker wrote. "He has openly violated Congress’s bipartisan law requiring the release of all Epstein files. He has collaborated with Trump’s scheme to reward Jan. 6 rioters with millions of dollars in compensation for their prosecution and convictions related to Trump’s effort to steal the 2020 election."He continued: "Blanche has collaborated to make the department Trump’s personal weapon of retribution with specious and malicious charges against the president’s perceived enemies. The Brennan Center for Justice says grand juries have refused to indict Trump’s targets at least 18 times. Courts or prosecutors have aborted 16 grand jury subpoenas, along with nearly half the cases against protesters and immigrants for alleged assaults of law enforcement officers. Courts have dismissed 16 lawsuits that sought state voter data and thousands of misdemeanor charges against migrants, quashed nine subpoenas that tried to force hospitals to turn over records on gender-affirming care, and dropped at least 79 cases related to ICE protests."Becker also noted that Blanche has had a hand, alongside Bondi, in the massive purge of talent from the DOJ, with around 5,000 staffers being fired or pushed out under their watch, creating a "toxic and ethically challenged" environment. Blanche's push for the charges against former FBI Director James Comey, which accuse him of threatening Trump's life by sharing the "86 47" seashell photo on social media, has also been criticized as an effort to chill dissent that is right out of "the authoritarian playbook.""Those who most covet the job of attorney general may not be worthy to have it," Becker concluded. "The best candidates are willing to resign from the department in its defense. The best outcome would be for Blanche’s nomination to die in committee."

Left

Read →

DHS admission suggests sham emergency will justify ICE arrests at midterm polls

Raw Story

10 hours ago

DHS admission suggests sham emergency will justify ICE arrests at midterm polls

ICE won’t rule out making arrests at polling places during the November midterm elections in the event of “an active public safety threat,” the Department of Homeland Security admitted to Raw Story.The details of what would constitute such a threat were left vague.The statement comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement faces an Aug. 7 deadline to begin turning over some 11,000 documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Democratic Party, and Secretary Markwayne Mullin is threatening prison time for election officials who refuse to go along with a demand by the Trump administration that states purge alleged noncitizens from the voter rolls.“ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations,” the department said in an email to Raw Story last week that was attributed to a “DHS official.” “ICE conducts intelligence-driven targeted enforcement and if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.”The statement from DHS is the strongest signal yet of the administration’s intentions to potentially deploy federal agents or soldiers to polling places — an intimidation tactic promoted by Trump ally Steve Bannon that has raised alarms among Democrats and democracy advocates.ICE had previously told the Democratic National Committee, or DNC, it had no records in response to its FOIA Lawsuit seeking documents from DHS, the Department of Justice and Department of Defense on potential deployment of federal forces to voting sites and other election locations.But the agency was forced to take a second look after the DNC pointed to media reports on ICE agents showing up at voting sites during primary elections in Texas and California, and entering a polling place in New York state to question a poll worker about a social media post she made that was critical of the agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis.Separately, the government disclosed that the Department of Justice’s FOIA office is consulting with “other DOJ components and Executive Branch agencies,” suggesting a high-level review of 55 pages of “potentially responsive records,” according to the government’s report to a federal judge overseeing the case. The government has committed only to “issuing a response” on those documents by Saturday.While Democrats brace for the presence of ICE agents and other federal officers at polling places in November, the Trump administration is making wide-ranging claims about supposed foreign interference in U.S. elections and trumpeting a claim that DHS found 250,000 noncitizens on voter rolls in four states — California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.David Becker, executive director of the pro-democracy group Center for Election Innovation & Research, cast doubt on that claim.“The public voter files used by the federal government do not have any unique identifiers, so no matter what list they compare to, there’s no methodologically sound way to get valid voter registration matches,” he said, adding that it’s impossible to accurately match names from public voter lists with commercial data if either is missing a Social Security number.“All you would get — and this may have been the intent — is a boatload of false positives,” Becker continued. “I suspect this is why DHS is hiding the ball, refusing to share its list with the states or even disclose in detail its methodology, even as they threaten the states. This number has no bearing on reality and may just as well have been made up.”DHS’s statement to Raw Story about ICE potentially making arrests at polling places echoes Mullins’ comments during an interview last month with CNN’s “State of the Union.”“ICE agents are there to flex, if we need to,” Mullin said. “You saw ICE at TSA lines, not processing, but in the soft areas. If a threat were to arise, for whatever reason, at a polling station — say a bomb threat would be called in — our ICE agents are more than just immigration customs enforcement; they’re also trained to have SRT, which means that we can have an emergency team respond quickly.”Mullin added that agents would not engage in “voter identification.”Todd Blanche, who is up for confirmation as attorney general, has also expressed support for deploying ICE agents to polling places.“Why is there objection to sending ICE officers to polling places?” Blanche asked during an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March. “Illegals can’t vote.”The White House did not respond on the record to an inquiry about whether Trump or other White House officials have held discussions with Mullin, Blanche or other leaders about the possibility of deploying federal agents to voting sites during the midterm elections.During his July 17 press briefing, Mullin invoked “national security” as a component of election administration, moving the midterm elections into a realm in which courts have historically granted the...

Far Left

Read →

DHS chief maintains stake in company despite founder's 'abuse' admission

Summary

Related Coverage

Daily Analysis

More Headlines From July 27, 2026

DHS chief maintains stake in company despite founder's 'abuse' admission

Compare Perspectives