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Trump AG nominee Pam Bondi: ‘Sending informants into Catholic churches must stop’

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From LifeSiteNews

By Emily Mangiaracina

Garland’s DOJ targeted Christians, including Catholics, as shown by the FBI’s infamous memo issued from its Richmond, Virginia office declaring that so-called “Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology” is a magnet for “violent extremists”

Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, pledged Wednesday during her Senate confirmation hearing to put an end to the Department of Justice’s targeting of Catholics and of anyone for their “faith” or exercise of peaceful protest.

On the first day of the confirmation hearing for the former Florida Attorney General, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah asked Bondi how she would “prevent the weaponization” of the DOJ against Americans, including the targeting of “Catholics attempting to practice their faith,” parents speaking out at school board meetings, and those peacefully protesting outside of abortion facilities.

“Going after parents at a school board meeting has got to stop,” Bondi said, adding that so must the targeting of Americans “for practicing your religion.”

“Sending informants into Catholic churches must stop,” she told Lee.

 

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri also highlighted the “unprecedented attack and campaign against people of faith” that has occurred under President Joe Biden’s DOJ, citing the “over 100 pregnancy care centers and over 300 churches that were attacked, vandalized, (and) firebombed” during Biden’s term.

“We’ve never seen anything like it before in American history. It has been one of the most disgraceful chapters in American history,” remarked Hawley, according to whom only two of these crimes were prosecuted under Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Hawley pointed out that, meanwhile, Garland’s DOJ targeted Christians, including Catholics, as shown by the FBI’s infamous memo issued from its Richmond, Virginia office declaring that so-called “Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology” is a magnet for “violent extremists,” and expressing interest in recruiting Catholics to spy on fellow churchgoers who attend the Traditional Latin Mass.

Asked by Hawley whether she would put an end to “abuses” like this memo, Bondi replied, “Of course,” adding, “I think what you’re talking about is the ultimate weaponization (of government),” Catholic News Agency reported.

Hawley also asked Bondi whether she would investigate the federal agents involved in the memo. She assured him she “will personally read that memo” and discuss it with Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to head the FBI.

Bondi was Florida’s Attorney General from 2011 until 2019, serving under then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who is now a U.S. senator. In 2014, she took a strong public stance in defense of marriage. She has also targeted child trafficking and was floated as a possible replacement for Jeff Sessions during Trump’s first term.

In 2012, Bondi sued the Obama administration to overturn its mandate that religious employers provide contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients to their employees as part of their health care plans. She also defended Florida’s pro-life protections.

Her selection as AG nominee came after Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration when it was clear that GOP Senators Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins and Senator-elect John Curtis of Utah would not vote to confirm him.

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Trump signs executive order banning gender-confused men from women’s and girls’ sports

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From LifeSiteNews

By Doug Mainwaring

The new executive order declares it ‘the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs’ that allow gender-confused men to compete against women and girls and extends beyond schools to the Olympics.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning men, including those who “identify” as female, from participating in women’s sports in order to “protect opportunities for women and girls to compete in safe and fair sports.”  

“The war on women’s sports is over,” declared the president to the delight of the crowd.  

 

The scene in the White House East Room on Wednesday where the president was flanked by dozens of women and girl athletes who had been waiting for this moment presented a stark contrast with Joe Biden’s action on his first day in office, when he signed an executive order defending students’ ability to compete in sports based on their perceived “gender identity.”  

Prominent in the crowd standing behind President Trump was former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines who, as the president noted, has been on the forefront of the battle to keep men out of women’s school and professional athletics.   

Gaines became a popular, outspoken activist after “losing” to a gender-confused male, William “Lia” Thomas, at a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) swimming championship in 2022.   

Title IX’s original intent restored 

“From now on, women’s sports will be only for women,” said Trump.  

He warned educational institutions, “If you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding.”  

Passed in 1972, Title IX was enacted in order to prohibit sex-based discrimination in schools that receive federal funding. In recent years, Democrats have contorted its original intent to include gender-confused males and females under its umbrella.   

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt explained that the order “upholds the promise of Title IX” and requires “immediate action, including enforcement actions, against schools and athletic associations” that currently permit gender-confused males to to participate in women’s sports and use locker rooms  previously reserved for women and girls only.  

‘Demeaning, unfair, and dangerous’ for female athletes, no more 

“In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports,” notes the executive order, aptly titled “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports.” “This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.” 

“As some Federal courts have recognized, ‘ignoring fundamental biological truths between the two sexes deprives women and girls of meaningful access to educational facilities,’” it continues.  

Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.    

It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth. 

Trump admin to Olympics: ‘America categorically rejects transgender lunacy’

The president’s directive extends beyond U.S. schools and sports leagues to the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics to be held in Los Angeles.  

Trump authorized Secretary of State Marco Rubio to inform the International Olympic Committee that “America categorically rejects transgender lunacy. We want them to change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.”  

He further directed Homeland Security head Kristi Noem to “deny any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying themselves as women athletes to try and get into the Games.” 

NCAA welcomes a ‘clear, national standard’ 

The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) seemed to welcome the president’s executive order, saying it provides a “clear, national standard.”   

“The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes,” noted a statement by NCAA President Charlie Baker. “We strongly believe that clear, consistent and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”

“The NCAA Board of Governors is reviewing the executive order and will take necessary steps to align NCAA policy in the coming days, subject to further guidance from the administration,” continued Baker. “The Association will continue to help foster welcoming environments on campuses for all student-athletes. We stand ready to assist schools as they look for ways to support any student-athletes affected by changes in the policy.” 

Soon after Trump added his signature to his latest executive order, Harvard University fell in line with the order, removing its “transgender inclusion” policy from its athletics website.  

LGBT activist groups infuriated 

GLAAD, an organization that identifies itself as “the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization,” was infuriated by the executive order, claiming that men confused about their sex should be recognized as “women” and allowed to compete against women “if they want.”

LGBTQ+ Washington, D.C., lobbying group, the Human Rights Campaign, also attacked the executive order, as did National Women’s Law Center president and CEO, Fatima Goss Graves. 

Graves insisted that gender-confused students “do not pose threats to sports” or schools, despite numerous incidents of “transgender” males severely injuring women and girls in competitions, among other harms.

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90% of Ukraine news outlets get funding from USAID: new report

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By Matt Lamb

USAID, targeted by Elon Musk and Donald Trump for cuts, is a heavy funder of news outlets in Ukraine, according to a new report. The agency has come under scrutiny for wasteful and ideological projects.

The United States Aid for International Development (USAID) provides funds to 90 percent of Ukrainian news outlets, according to a new report from the Columbia Journalism Review and Reporters Without Borders.

While much focus has been on USAID and other federal entities subscribing to news outlets such as Politico, a broader issue may be taxpayers paying for news coverage in foreign countries.

Working off data from Reporters Without Borders, the Columbia Journalism Review reported that “USAID had boasted of supporting more than six thousand journalists, around seven hundred independent newsrooms, and nearly three hundred media-focused civil society groups in thirty or so countries.”

The Trump administration reportedly froze $268 million for these endeavors.

“RSF also noted the harsh effect on journalism in Ukraine, where 90 percent of news organizations rely on USAID funding, some very heavily,” the Journalism Review reported.

The United States has spent nearly $66 billion on direct military assistance to Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia. Taxpayers have sent another $120 billion or so to the country in other foreign aid, according to an inspector general report current as of September 30, 2024.

The journalism groups released the reports ostensibly to defend U.S. funding of outlets.

On a related issue, the Trump administration is also cutting off taxpayer-funded subscriptions that government employees set up with news outlets.

“I can confirm that the more than $8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayers’ dime will no longer be happening,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press conference yesterday.

“The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now,” she said.

She stated further:

Again, this is a whole-of-government effort to ensure that we are going line by line when it comes to the federal government’s books. And this president and his team are making decisions across the board on ‘Do these receipts serve the interests of the American people? Is this a good use of the American taxpayers’ money? If it is not, that funding will no longer be sent abroad and American taxpayers will be seeing significant savings because of that effort.

Conservatives celebrated the news.

“The Federal Government is not a good steward of your tax dollars,” Josh Tanner, an Idaho state representative, wrote on X. “They spent $8 Million on propaganda media. This is even more of a reason for Idaho tax dollars to be accounted for, applied appropriately, and reduced where necessary. The Fed has failed, our state must succeed.”

“Even if the govt money to Politico wasn’t an outright grant, providing $8 Million in taxpayers funds for ‘subscriptions’ to a super Lefty publication is just absurd and abusive to hard-working Americans!” conservative commentator Steve Cortes wrote.

payroll issue with Politico‘s payroll was initially blamed on the funding freeze, though the company said it was a “technical error” that created the problem.

USAID under scrutiny, uses tax dollars to promote DEI around the world

The Trump administration has closed, at least temporarily, USAID. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now the administrator of the agency, which has funded a variety of ideological projects across the globe.

“USAID has a history of ignoring [the national interest of the United States] and deciding that they’re a global charity. These are not donor dollars, these are taxpayer dollars,” Secretary Rubio said recently.

Leavitt highlighted some of the ideological and wasteful projects funded through this agency, including “$1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia’s workforce.”

The agency has also been used to pressure conservative, poorer countries into adopting pro-abortion policies, as LifeSiteNews previously reported.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce highlighted other wasteful projects in a post on X.

She listed projects the freeze had stopped, including “$16 million in unjustified funding for institutional contractors in the gender development offices,” “$4 million to unjustified funding for the Center for Climate-Positive Development,” and “$600,000 to fund technical assistance for family planning in Latin America.”

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