“The Government Accountability Office confirmed Thursday it opened a probe into Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, amid complaints about Pulte’s efforts to go after President Trump’s opponents. The GAO inquiry will raise the heat on Pulte, who is also reportedly caught up in a grand jury probe related to the various mortgage fraud investigations he has pursued this year. … As the nation’s top housing regulator, Pulte used the role to accuse perceived Trump administration rivals of mortgage fraud.” (12/04/25)
It’s a FIREHOSE FRIDAY at the freedom movement’s daily newspaper — as in “drink from the firehose.” We’ve got more than 100 news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links on tap for you this morning. That’s far too many to fit in our normal email/social media format, so check them out at our web edition:
THANK YOU to subscribing contributors T, SH, and MH, whose donations totaling $8 yesterday bring our year-end fundraiser total to $1416.34!
Our goal is $5,501. Once we’ve raised $2,750.50, reader GL has pledged to “match funds” for the other half. We’re $1,334.16 short of the mark. Please help us get there at:
We keep the sob stories to a minimum here, but this one’s also a matter of safety: Yesterday my fellow editor, Steve Trinward, took his car to a shop and got told he needs more than $2,000 in brake work (sounds high to me, and sounded high to him too). A shade tree mechanic friend offered him an “interim solution,” but he’s clearly going to be spending money on repairs or on other transportation, and I’d rather he gets that done quickly and lives through the experience. If that tugs at your heartstrings, far be it from me to tell you not to help out … which you can do at:
“The UK has fined a porn operator called AVS Group £1 million ($1.33 million) for failing to have strong enough age checks, regulator Ofcom announced. The company which was also hit with an additional £50,000 fine for its failure to respond to information request and now has 72 hours to introduce effective age checks or face a further penalty of £1,000 a day. In July, the UK government announced it would start checking compliance by websites that publish or display pornographic content to implement a system for ‘highly effective age checks.’ Methods approved by Ofcom include credit card checks, photo ID matching and even estimating a user’s age with a provided selfie. However, users have been circumventing the age checks via methods like using a VPN and providing a fake ChatGPT-generated photo ID.” (12/04/25)
“A Lithuanian court on Thursday convicted the leader of one of the parties in the country’s coalition government for making antisemitic comments and fined him 5,000 euros (about $5,800). The district court in the capital, Vilnius, found that Remigijus Žemaitaitis incited hatred against Jews, grossly downplayed Nazi Germany’s crimes and grossly minimized the Holocaust in an offensive and insulting manner. The punishment fell short of prosecutors’ call for him to be fined 51,000 euros (around $60,000) and ordered to pay into a fund for victims of crimes. The case relates to social media posts and public statements from May and June 2023 in which, among other things, he wrote: ‘Apparently, for our journalists and local Lithuanian Jews, the demolition of schools in Palestine is yet another pastime?!’ He also quoted an antisemitic nursery rhyme and made comments related to events during World War II.” (12/04/25)
“The FBI made an arrest on Thursday in its nearly 5-year-old investigation into pipe bombs placed outside the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. The arrest marks the first time investigators have settled on a suspect in an act that had long vexed law enforcement, spawned a multitude of conspiracy theories and remained an enduring mystery in the shadow of the dark chapter of American history that is the violent Capitol siege. The suspect in custody has been identified as Brian Cole, according to three people familiar with the matter. Two of the people said he lived in Woodbridge, Virginia, a Washington suburb. No other details were immediately available, including the charges Cole might face. The people who described the arrest weren’t authorized to publicly discuss a case that hasn’t yet been made public and spoke on the condition of anonymity.” (12/04/25)
“A federal appeals court restored the 58-month prison sentence for Norman Seabrook, the former head of New York City’s correction officers union who was convicted of bribery, saying a trial judge should not have reduced the sentence because it was much longer than that of the hedge fund founder who bribed him. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said ‘nothing extraordinary and compelling’ justified U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein’s decision in February 2023 to grant Seabrook, who led the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, compassionate release after he served 21 months in prison. … Prosecutors accused Seabrook, 65, of steering $20 million of union members’ money to Platinum [Partners] in exchange for a $60,000 cash bribe from [Murray] Huberfeld, which was delivered in a Salvatore Ferragamo bag. The union lost about $19 million of its investment.” (12/04/25)
“A prominent international human rights organization is warning that the United States’ plan for postwar Gaza will impose ‘unlawful collective imprisonment’ on the Palestinian civilians who have survived two years of genocide. In November, several news outlets reported on the Trump administration’s plan to carve Gaza in two: a so-called ‘green zone’ controlled by Israel and a ‘red zone’ controlled by the militant group Hamas. The US would construct what it called ‘Alternative Safe Communities’ for Palestinians to live in the Israeli-controlled portion of Gaza, which is over half of the territory under the current ‘ceasefire’ agreement. The New York Times described these communities as ‘compounds’ of 20,000 to 25,000 people, where Israeli officials reportedly argued they should not be allowed to leave.” (12/04/25)
“Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain have said they will boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, following the decision to allow Israel to compete. The response on Thursday came immediately after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs the competition, said there would not be a vote on whether to exclude Israel, despite calls from some countries to do so. Opponents of Israel’s participation criticise it over its genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza – which has so far killed at least 70,125 people – and over allegations that it unfairly intervened in the most recent competition to the benefit of its entrant.” [editor’s note: Why would Israel, which is in Asia, be included in a European music competition anyway? – TLK] (12/04/25)
“The Navy admiral who reportedly issued orders for the U.S. military to fire upon survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat is on Capitol Hill for a classified briefing with top congressional lawmakers overseeing national security. The information from Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who is now the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, comes at a potentially crucial moment in the unfolding congressional investigation into how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth handled the military operation in international waters near Venezuela. There are mounting questions over whether the strike may have violated the law. The briefing in a secure facility at the Capitol is with congressional leaders, including the Republican chairs and ranking Democrats of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, and separately to the GOP chairman and Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.” (12/04/25)
“A commission chosen by the late Pope Francis to study the possibility of women becoming deacons in the Catholic Church has voted against it. Francis established the ‘Study Commission on the Female Diaconate’ in 2020 to follow up on a previous group that studied the history of women deacons in the New Testament and early Christian communities. Though the group said women could not be deacons, it expressed hope that access to other ministries could expand for women.” (12/04/25)
